Louella Ainsworth's Story

Anderson Montgomery March

Today was that day. Or night he supposed since it was evening already. Many months of preping and planing would finally come together. whether or not it will bare fruit though, well that was beyond The mans vision. As he sat in his study, the man known as Anderson Montgomery March contemplated just how this batch of students would turn out. It was his third undertaking in The short history of his academy. And to date only five students have ever seemed to survive. wait no that's not the right word, graduate? That was it. Only Five have ever graduated from his enigmatic school. Perhaps the challenge was to hard for most, or maybe he had not made the first few clues in his little game obvious enough? Well regardless, this would be a learning experience for both him and his students.

As he was about to go an yet another extensively long train of thought there was a knock on the door. Anderson casually righted himself and his appearance before addressing the situation. "You may come in." The door opened and a rather tall, thin man in his later years entered the room. The man bowed formally before speaking. "The children will be arriving in their limo's as we speak master. Unfortunately it appears we might not be seeing a few of them for A few days due to travel delays." Anderson looked over his glasses at his old friend and gave a soft smile. " Some things cannot be helped i suppose. Thank you Joseph, please have them shown to their rooms then brought to the dinning room for dinner. Its going to be a very interesting year." The headmaster turned in his chair to gaze out at the night sky. Joseph spoke up. "As you wish sir." The butler paused a moment before speaking again. "Do you believe these children will last longer then a year? Anderson paused and thought for a moment on this. "Yes . . . I do in fact. I have this feeling about this batch. Things will be different this time around old friend." Joseph bowed again and exited the study, off to greet the new students to Gifted Academy. Mr.March sat there, staring out at the stars in the sky. A smile slowly growing on his lips. "Yes, This time things will be much different."

Mirificum=Awesome
I'm verine, thankyou!= stuttering due to nerves. She meant to say "I'm very fine, thank you"
Bardus=Stupid

"Tristen, je pense que je ai oublié ma valise!" Louella's worried voice can be heard from the back of the limo, seconds before a calmer, deeper voice speaks up whilst climbing into the car with her. "Je l'ai ici, oiseau idiot. Without me you would lose your head." He is beyond annoyed, but much better at concealing it than his stupid sister, his twin. Sometimes he didn't even want to call her that, it was like a insult to his family. "Je ne suis pas idiot, vous jerk." But there was no fighting Tristen really, because despite how he took care of her, it was more than obvious how much disdain he felt towards her. Like she was a lesser being than him. And that wasn't even right, because Bella was just as smart as the rest of her family of geniuses. It was because of her naivety, he liked to say, blaming his dislike for her on her innocence. Bella ignored it, because she wasn't just some girl who had her head stuck up in the clouds. "Connard."

It isn't the first time either of them have been in a limo, or the second, or the third. Their parents had a lot of money, their adopted parents that is, and were very respected amongst the higher classes. Tristen and Louella had been skirted away to balls and parties from the moment they had been adopted until a few weeks ago when they started getting ready to move across the world to attend the Gifted Academy. Tristen was less pleased about it than Louella, who was excited when they got that tarot card in the mail, The Lovers. It was... oddly fitting, to say the very least. As much as Tristen would like to deny it all, rip the card up and throw away the pieces. If Bella was going, that meant he was too, and he didn't think there was really a way to talk her out of it.

They've been traveling for hours now, and whilst Bella was comfortable enough to lean against him and use him as a pillow for her eternity long nap, he had been awake for the whole thing. Instead he had found a manual on how airplanes were built, and flipped through that because the rest of his books were in his suitcase and therefore not with him. "Kay, are you nervous?" The little white haired girl asked, looking up at her twin. They might have been born on seconds apart, but they were complete opposite for the most part. Tristen towering over most people, Bella not even five foot. She was soft-spoken and easy to love, he was cold and stoic. "No, oiseau idiot, and you should not be either. Calmez-vous." His words didn't help her nerves at all, but she shut up for the rest of the ride.

They arrived as the doors slammed shut to the academy. Tristen's reaction was to sigh and rub at his brow, already frustrated with the school, while Louella's was to get wide-eyed and sink back into her seat. "We are here." The driver announced, and as if suspecting the girl was going to try and hide in his car until he drove away again, he came round to open her door first. Tristen got out on the other side by himself, going to the back to grab their suitcases. They were mostly filled with books and the essential clothes, but mostly books. The male Lover wasn't sure how well-stocked this academy's library would be, and needed to make sure he had sufficient reading material until their parents could send the rest.

"Je me ennuie de Huey," Bella said sadly as they started up the drive, and Tristen gave her an annoyed look. "I don't even know why you like that stupid horse." Again she fell quiet, staring at the ground in front of her. Tristen knew exactly what to say to shut her down, and he did quite often. Occasionally he pressed buttons that would get her riled up instead, especially if they were around others, but now they were alone and it wouldn't be so much fun to get her upset with no one to watch it happen.

Tristen pulled open the door for his sister, despite his insult a moment before, and held it for her until she was inside and he could step through himself. He let it shut slowly behind him, eyes flicking around as he tried to pinpoint who had been the one to slam it in the first place. There were so many gathered in the front hall though that it was hard to tell, so instead he settled for going to stand by the wall whilst his sister listened to a butler talk, assuring him that she would repeat the information to her brother. "Merci, et agréable de vous rencontrer monsieur!" Bella dimpled at him then went to her brother, relaying the information on how they were waiting for others to arrive, and then would be shown to their room.

Merci, et agréable de vous rencontrer monsieur! = Thank you, and nice to meet you sir!
oiseau idiot = silly bird

Day 1

When Nathan entered the front hall, he found absolutely no one there. "So I'm the first one, huh..." he mused. Abruptly, a grin blossomed on his face. "Then I guess I can just kick back for a bit!"

Looking around at the lower portions of the walls, he noticed an outlet not too far away from the door. Sitting down directly on the floor next to that outlet, he unzipped the front pocket of his suitcase and took out a charger cable, putting the Strength card in its place. His other hand took his dark blue 3DS out of his pocket, and connected the charger to it. As the orange charging light came on, Nathan opened the 3DS and immediately started up Kid Icarus Uprising.

Several minutes and murdered enemies later, the screen displayed the main character, an angel with rather small wings, flying alongside an elegant-looking starship in a beautiful ocean of stardust. From Nathan's expression, it was clear he was enjoying himself...apparently so much that he hadn't even paid any mind to the bizarre odor of multiple plants which suddenly filled the hall.

However, he suddenly saw a green skull surrounded by purple flames appearing on the screen. Oh, crap! Knowing that this skull was an enemy which would instantly kill his character, Nathan was about to take action...

The doors to the hallway slammed shut, startling Nathan and prompting him to look up. A moment later, a scream emitted from his 3DS, and he looked down to see the words "I'M FINISHED!" on the screen. Putting the 3DS in his pocket with a dismayed expression, Nathan looked up again to see who had slammed the door.

There was a girl sitting on the other side of the hallway, right next to the door, with pink hair and an extremely pale complexion--as though she had seen a ghost. What the-- Suddenly more aware of his surroundings, Nathan looked around some more and realized he was no longer alone in this hall. Including that girl, there were already six other people here!

I had my 3DS at max volume...oh, geez. Feeling extremely embarrassed, Nathan was completely unsure of if he should say something or not.

With excellent timing, the doors opened once again, and two more people entered within a few seconds of each other--a tall boy with dark brown hair, who immediately went to lean against a wall, and a much shorter girl with long, lavender hair, who immediately went to that same boy and started talking to him about...something. The atmosphere of awkwardness in the front hall was re-established perfectly.

Not much later, Mr. Wright entered the hall as well, closing the doors behind him as he did so. "We've been informed," he told them with a somewhat more somber expression, "that the final student we were expecting tonight has been delayed. It is unfortunate, but we may as well start showing you all to your new rooms. If you would all follow me?"

Pulling the 3DS charger from the outlet and pocketing it, Nathan stood up and moved to follow the butler. In turn, Mr. Wright waited for the others to gather their things and stand up before proceeding.

Several minutes of walking later, Mr. Wright spoke up again. "All of your rooms are located in this wing, I should mention. Ah...it appears we have arrived at one already." He stopped in front of one door...

...which Nate, who was at the front of the group, could see had a picture on it. To be specific, a much larger version of the Strength card's image. "This one's mine, then?" he asked quietly, pointing at the door.

"Well, you are the holder of Strength, are you not, Master Nathan?" the butler retorted with a hint of deadpan sarcasm. "And of course, the keys that we provided to you through the letters will open your room, but no one else's. Now, let the rest of us carry onward." He walked two more paces before stopping and adding, "Ah, yes, I should mention...please excuse the rigidity of our schedule, but attempt to settle yourself in with haste. In about one hour, we shall have prepared a banquet in the dining hall." He gave them directions on how to get there from this wing, and then resumed walking, leaving Nathan standing in front of the door to his room.

Wonder what this will be like... Taking the key from his pocket, Nathan inserted it into the lock and turned it clockwise. Pushing the door open slowly, he entered...

The daze Hakon had been in as he rested from hulling his bags from out of the car was broken, the sound of the slammed door and the fact that there was now many more people outside than before brought him back to reality like a brick brings a balloon back to earth. "Schisse! Vait vore me!" He called out as he followed the group from the back. He kept his head low from that point on, keeping himself from become all too noticeable as his gown dragged behind and his plush jingled with a bell in its tail.

As the group was lead to their rooms, he took mental note of everyone he could see. A large male with flaming red hair, someone he would have to walk on egg shells a lot with to keep on his goodside he thought. The male from earlier with a leopard spotted hat, no one to keep tabs on and seemed nice enough. Another male that looked more like a bussiness man than a student. An oddity, but nothing too out of the ordenary. Though he had no right to speak on the topic of being "normal". A lavender haired girl clinging on to the bussiness attired male? She's pretty and seemed nice.

He didn't have the time to asses everyone there as he noted that the butler was explaining who's door was whos. Or at least that's how he took it. "So sat mean sat... The green haired cuckoolander wandered from the group and strolled down the hall until he stopped in front of a door that matched his own card. A woman draped in blue was a moon headdress and sitting on a throne set in what seemed to be a temple of some kind. "sis is meine. ja?" He plunged his hand into the back of his gliscor plush, pulling out the key that had been given to him so long ago. He waved his head back and forth as he fumbled with his things and the key, but finally opened the door before walking inside.

The entire time he had been waiting Alex had just been standing there, just humming to himself as students slowly trickled in through the door. All lead in by The butler. Well.....almost all of them. That one girl with the pink hair practically barged with the grace of a rhinoceros. He couldn't help but snicker at this but quickly shut himself up. There was no need for him getting on anyone's bad side on the first day. Or would it be night? Well it didn't mater much now. they were all here now. The boy playing the DS looked like he had been here for a while now and seemed a bit absorbed in his game. Then there was the girl with the long green hair who smelled like his grandmothers herb garden. Alex tried to refrain from sneezing. He eyed the tall boy leaning against the wall. Something tells me I shouldn't try anything with that guy. He quickly sized up everyone else in the room. The group looked like a bunch of teens that you would never picture all hanging out together, much less being in the same room. what is this, the breakfast club?

Alex let out sigh. He better make a good first impression if he planed on surviving this kind of place. After all, everyone here was special and talented in their own right. That alone was intimidating enough for him. At least most of the girls were pretty. The girl with the silvery hair that walked in with that guy at the same time was pretty cute. The thought brought color to his cheeks for only a moment before he pulled his hat down a bit to cover his face up. aside from that, it looked as if all the students were accounted for by Alex's perspective, at least until Joseph entered and made his announcement of the late arrival. Mr. Wright waited for the others to gather their things before heading off deeper into the manor. Alex had thought to put his headphones on and listen to music, but decided against it, Realizing how rude it might appear.

When they arrived in the wing where their rooms were located. Alexander approached the butler and gave a light tap to the mans shoulder. Joseph turned his head and regarded the Fool, not looking the least bit annoyed. "Yes master Alex, Is there something you need?" While he was not accustom to being treated so politely, Alex still reciprocated by adgusting his hat so that his face could be seen easily. meeting the butler with deep blue eyes, The boy gave a bow of the head. His grandfather taught him to be respectful and polite in front of people deserving of it. "My apologies Mr.Wright, but I have a few matters that I would like to attend to right away. Could you please point out my room if it is not to much trouble to ask?" Some of the students had their eyes on him now. It made him nervous being looked at by more then one person. What made it worse was wondering what they might be thinking of him right now. The butler just smiled and pointed to what happened to be the very last door at the end of the hall. "It is quite alright dear Fool. All of you must be wanting to settle in right away, I cannot blame you for wanting to be in a more comfortable setting. The last room there is yours."

Alexander gave another bow of his head and thanked the butler. He quickly addressed the rest of his fellow students. "I hope to meet you all later tonight at the dinner. perhaps then we can be properly introduced." With that he turned on his heel and walked at a brisk pace to his door. Oh dear lord, I feel like my heart might burst out of my chest.

He stopped in front of the door. His door. On it was the same image of the jester that was on his card. The jester seemed to grin down at him in an eerie sort of way. The boy gulped. Well, might as well get it over with then. He inserted his key, turned it and opened the door . . . .

Once inside, what she could only assume to be the main hall of this place she wasn’t exactly sure what to do given that she wasn’t alone and didn’t know her presumed classmates yet. Opting for a safe choice she purposefully made her way towards a couch a little out of the way near one of the corners of the room and settled into it, lying back a little and taking out her sketchbook. She pulled her headphones up over her hat and put them back on so she could enjoy a little music while she worked, her eyes flitting around the room to take in the architecture but most importantly the people standing in it.

Spying a total of five other students, two of which were girls and three boys she tried her best from where she was to jot down their features and such while also drawing a landscape picture of the room itself from where she sat. Definitely an interesting collection of people that was for sure, she mused as she cast her eyes over to the boy sat playing on his DS quietly out of the way. She engrossed in sketching those who she’d seen and would quite possibly have missed the arrival of a girl with hair so bright it almost hurt to look at had it not been for the fact she slammed the door after her. Though Cassie had to admit, even just to herself that her reaction to the bright pink hair was probably due to jetlag finally starting to catch up to her after the journey, and an accompanying yawn did little to dissuade her of that feeling.

She’d just begun adding the girl, after trying her best not to glare since the echo from the slamming door had echoed quite loudly and wondering if she’d have a bright enough pink for the portrait later on when the door was opened again and a pair came in following Joseph. Cassie cocked her head a little towards them, watching as the small petite girl walked more into the room while the rather tall boy seemed to try and hide in the shadows rather than follow. The girl appeared to be asking Joseph something before running back to the boy. Cassandra then lifted her headphones off so they’d hang around her neck as the head butler appeared to be wanting to address them all, but her attention seemed drawn to the latest arrivals.

“Wonder if they’re a couple or something.”

She muttered to herself, flicking a page and quickly doing a speed sketching the two leaning close together, lips almost touching but with one standing in light and the other in darkness.

“We've been informed," The head Butler began, his voice a somewhat sombre tone compared to earlier "that the final student we were expecting tonight has been delayed. It is unfortunate, but we may as well start showing you all to your new rooms. If you would all follow me?"

She was only half listening to Joseph as she finished up her drawing, and wasn’t that interested that others hadn’t arrived but at the mention of room she perked up and quickly tucked her art book and pencils into her bag so she could follow Joseph to their rooms. They’d entered a long hallway with several doors branching off, each of which looked to depict a different Tarot, causing her to fetch her own out to compare with the art on the doors. However before she could she saw one of the others, a boy with blonde hair approach Joseph as he was explaining about the room and request to go straight to his own. Her ears perked up at the comment about him being the Fool which made her chuckle at little as he ran towards the furthest room. Shaking her head she wandered away from the others, looking at each of the portraits on the door and lightly brushing her fingers against the artwork before at last finding her door opposite that of the Lovers, and apparently in the middle of the corridor, similar to their place within the Major Arcana. She put away her card after momentarily comparing the detail between the two and took out her key, turning it sideways to have a look at the Roman numerals for seven before inserting it into the key and entering her room.

Louella perched on her suitcase, legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankle, whereas Tristen silently surveyed the room, memorizing faces and trying to put traits to them. That was, of course, only observation, he would not know anything for sure until he got to speak to everyone personally or see them interacting with others. Physical appearance could tell a lot though, and Tristen made sure to pay attention to everything. When he glanced down at his twin, she was typing away on her phone, a picture of a big bay gelding on the screen that their older brother must have sent her. He, unlike Tris and Lou, was the biological son of their adoptive parents, and they did not get along. On the other hand, Lou loved him, he was the nicest guy that always bought her whatever she wanted and took her wherever. The big brother that Tristen wasn't.

As you can imagine, Louella and Tristen had very different opinions on everyone else gathered in the room. The blonde boy with the white beanie, he was cute and looked nice, maybe nervous like her since he was just standing there, not bothering with anyone else. Tristen immediately didn't like his "look", though that wasn't a big surprise, but there wasn't much else for him to go off of. Green haired girl? She looked nice, very pretty. She caught Tristen's attention. Louella caught on to it as soon as she glanced over at her brother, feeling a pang of jealousy that someone else had already caught his interest and she could barely get two words in without him shutting her down. Her twin was always drawn to those who stuck out, and green hair definitely did, whereas she was just his silly sister that wasn't interesting at all.

A few minutes later and the butler reentered the room, announcing they would be heading up to their rooms. Lou had just had the chance to get up from her suitcase when Tristen grabbed it, following at the back of the herd of people. Bella stayed with him, if only because he had her things and everyone else sort of intimidated her. Tristen and Louella's rooms where across from each other, each door having half the card sort of blurred out, indicating who belonged in which. After handing Lou her suitcase, they both unlocked their doors and went inside, mimicking the rest of the students.

Half of Tristen had been concerned they were going to have to share a room, so to say the least he was pleased at having his own space. He was actually surprised as how much he liked his room, he had thought they were all going to be typical dorms, the kind he'd spent most of his school-years in so far as the twins had always attending boarding academies. Immediately the dark sort of theme appealed to him, there was a lightswitch for he assumed the lamp in the corner, but the window let in enough light that he didn't bother turning it on. Books lined two of the walls, novels he hadn't read, some of his favorites could easily be picked out, and many he hadn't gotten his hands on yet. There was a desk against one of the books walls and a bed against the other, neither that he paid much mind too, the books were much more important.

Louella's room, on the other hand, was much more simplistic. Posters of some of her favorite things lined the walls already, some she even had on her own walls at home, and there were those sort of lights you put up for christmas hanging from the ceiling. A new laptop was on a desk in the corner, as well as some brand new journals and colorful pens for her to start writing with. Clapping her hands together and tucking them under her chin, she looked at her new room happily before running towards and jumping on the bed. "Perfect!" She said out loud, even though no one was around to hear it.

Tristen's room
Louella's room

After spending a little while checking out her room, Louella went back to the door to retrieve the suitcase she had abandoned there and haul it up onto her bed. It took a bit of digging to get through Tristens' books but soon enough she found what she was looking for, her black and white cut off skirt which she paired with a tucked in black vneck and combat boots. It was going to take awhile to get used to wearing shoes anytime she wanted to leave her room, since even though the rest of the academy was technically 'home' for the time being, it was also their school so she couldn't just run around barefoot. She heard people out in the hallway and figured they were heading down to dinner, and even though she wasn't particularly hungry she knew Tristen would be, and he wouldn't willingly be in the same room as the rest of them unless he could say she was the reason he was even tolerating them. Bella might not know why Tristen does some things, but she can usually predict what he's going to do.

Tristen was going through the books on the shelves in his room, fingertips brushing over spines as he made his way down the wall. There wasn't one title here that he had ready already, which surprised him quite a bit, there wasn't even any of the books he had brought with him in his suitcase. It was suspicious and he wondered just how much 'research' they did on them before they got invited here, and he was reminded all over again how much he hated the place already. At least the room was nice, since he was going to be in it a lot, avoiding all the other students. He heard them out in the hallway now, heading down to dinner, and he rolled his eyes. They couldn't pay him enough money to make him go sit in a room with every one of those idiots. He's in the process of pulling books out of his bag when there's a knock on his door, and he hears his twin outside, asking if he was coming to dinner. Of course she knew exactly what he didn't want to do, and was about to force him to do it.

The twins walked downstairs together but said little to each other. Tristen was acting grumpy because he had to go sit in a room with all the others, and Lou was more than a little nervous about meeting new people. They didn't stand together for more than a few seconds after walking into the room side by side, Tristen heading to sit at the table furthest away from people, abandoning Lou in the doorway. "Um..." the light haired girl hummed quietly to herself, gaze flitting around the room to try and figure out where she was going to go. Eventually she settled on the boy in the beanie, who seemed like he wasn't busy talking to anyone, and after a bit of talking herself up to it she approached and took the sit opposite him, smiling in a friendly manner. "Um, hello. I'm Louella, one of the Lovers, it's very nice to meet you." He seemed as nervous as she was, so that made her feel a little better about how soft her voice sounded, and how awkward her introduction must have been. She was used to being dragged around by her mother at parties, and being introduced by her.

Hakon's mind raced, never before had he had someone willingly introduce themselves to him aside from his foster parents. Normally he would have been persuaded, pushed and forced to even make himself known to the rest of the group. His eyes darted around, as if looking for the words to come to him in subtitles of some sort. "Uh...V-V-Vergnügen*. He stuttered, shaking the pink girl's hand. "Mein name ist Astapora." his German mother tongue breaking through, though he had noticed that some German did sound like English for the most part.

The gliscor plush rattled in his lap as his leg shook harder, dropping the card out from it's back and causing him to dive for it. He popped back up, his face crimson with embarrassment from dropping what he was just about to say. The green started to pet his own hair, attempting to calm his nerves as he looked around again.

The Red was still by his lonesome thankfully. To Hakon, he felt like a minnow in a tank full of sharks around him. Two more people arrived this time, The lavender and the business man. Though the latter seemed to be in a foul mood for some reason. Maybe just a sourpuss or he had just woken up from a nap. He mentally shrugged at this, looking toward the lavender and the beanie this time. Both looked nervous, but doing much better than he was at the moment. Leopard hat and Purple headphones were hitting it off quite nicely it seemed, but his English didn't permit him to understand whatever jokes they were making. At the very least everyone else was acclimating to their environment. Him?

He just wanted to eat and then run back to his room for some peace and quiet.

(*Vergnügen = Pleasure)

The sound of ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ by the Arctic Monkeys was steadily echoing from the headphones hanging around Cassie’s neck now, causing her fingers to lightly tap out the tune against the page while her pencil started to draw oscilloscopic lines that were half matching that of the music and half that of the words passing between her and Nathan. She sighed a little and shook her head as he made a massively over emphasised pun and resulted in her nodding along with his self-declaration of how beyond horrible it had turned out to be.

She ended up rolling her eyes a little at it and saw out of the corner of her eye that two more from earlier had arrived with the seemingly bubbly pink haired girl deciding to approach the girl with the lovely green hair who had been sat cuddling a plush creature of some sort for a while now. While the Fool had entered the room, apparently singing a little before taking a seat on his own, and seeming a little dejected at first glance. She turned her focus back to Nate following his unusually long pause and stared at him a little perplexed at him trying to make yet another badly designed joke which resulted in her a response being a little unsure as his enthusiasm began overwhelm her a little.

”Yeah, I think we probably are. Though I don’t seem to notice most of your puns, unless they’re obvious.”

She smiled at him again before glancing around the room to see what the others were up to and saw that the couple from earlier had finally arrived. The rather cold boy seemed to keep his distance while the girl approached the fool and started to speak to him. Beyond that she’d lost her interest in the couple, though her hands had other ideas and had begun to doodle an intricate yin-yang symbol in the empty area of the sky. Within the darker half she sketched a prowling panther that seemed to dominate the piece while the other side held a strong yet demure seeming silvery leopard.

Her eyes swept back across the room and settled on the boy with red hair sitting alone and a mischievous grin spread across her face and she flipped the book onto a fresh page and began to draw a intricate message, pulling in aspects and references of the major arcana and repeating them within the image with the primary focus on that of Strength to the side and the Chariot on the other with a rather blank space left for another card to take centre stage between them. From here she ripped the paper out of the book and folded it a few times it now looked like a paper airplane, and the artwork merged to look completely different in this new shape with the words “What is your name?” placed above the cards now on the left wing while the words “What is your Tarot?” placed on the other wing rather than below the cards on the full picture.

She smiles a little at herself and shows Nate the result, both unfolded and folded before making sure it’s ready to fly, then points over towards the redhead.

”You seen the guy over there? I’m dying to know what his tarot is so I figured this would get his attention.”

Laughing a little to herself she shrugs and pulls back her arm to launch the airplane towards the solitary boy, and watches with interest as it soars straight towards him and the point lands directly on his head. Her eyes wide in surprise and panic she sinks into her chair and pulls her hat down over her face, but not enough so her eyes can’t peak out underneath to see what the damage truly is.

Day 1

"Yeah, I think we probably are. Though I don’t seem to notice most of your puns, unless they’re obvious.”

Oh...hm, maybe I should tone it down a little. Maybe. Nonetheless, Nathan felt things were getting off to a pretty good start here. Hopefully keeping this friendship wouldn't be too hard as well...

Noticing Cassandra was looking around the room at the others, Nathan considered following her gaze. After all, his 3DS was still charging in his room, so there was no using that as a distraction. He could keep trying to talk to Cassandra, but then again, what if he screwed up, and she got tired of him?...plus, he was basically out of things to say without getting downright nosy.

A rustle of paper caused him to glance down at Cassandra's sketch pad again, just in time to see her flip to a blank page. From there, her hands started moving again and creating another picture...Nathan quickly averted his eyes, trying not to think about what her drawings reminded him of.

...well, that didn't last long, because there was another sound--tearing this time--and he found the drawing being held up in front of his face. Among the intricate designs, he could see the lady in the white dress from the Strength card standing to one side, holding the lion's maws closed. On the opposite side, a man with a scepter and a crown sat in a cart pulled by two sphinxes. That must be Cassandra's card...the Chariot, right?

What confused him was the blank space in the middle of the drawing...until Cassandra's hands started moving, folding it up into a paper airplane. "You seen the guy over there? I’m dying to know what his tarot is, so I figured this would get his attention,” she told him with a laugh.

"Uh..." For once, Nathan didn't really have anything to say, though he did catch a glimpse of the words "What is your name?" and "What is your Tarot?" on the wings. "Well, uh...okay then."

By the time he managed to think of a good pun (something about "winging it"), Cassandra was already throwing the airplane. It sailed clean across the table...and promptly landed near the targeted red-haired boy. And by "landed near", we mean "nosedived into in his hair."

Seeing where it ended up, Cassandra seemed to panic, and she quickly slumped back into her chair, pulling her hat over her face, as if to make herself look less suspicious. Nathan looked down at her in confusion, then looked back at the red-haired boy...until it finally registered in his mind that he might be the only other possible suspect for throwing that thing. Oh yes, not to mention how muscle-bound that guy was.

Crap. He didn't even have any excuses ready. Alright, time to slooooooooowly turn my head and look the other way, like none of that even happened...

He was well aware of the two other students as they both walked through the door. It looked about the same as when the two had entered the front hall. Alex gave relatively quick glances towards the girl and boy. Which was not long since only seconds after entering, the boy walked off to the furthest table end. Away from as many of them as possible. not the social type it seems

The boy, from the look he had on his face, did not seem pleased when he had walked through the door. If anything he looked like a grumpy kid not getting thee way. I could bet money that he is spoiled. No way he isn't with an attitude like that.

It was only when Alexander went to bring his attention to the girl that he realized she was now right across from him. The poor boy almost jumped in his seat. Oh dear god when did she get there?? before he had time to think she had introduced herself with a nice smile.

"Um, hello. I'm Louella, one of the Lovers, it's very nice to meet you."

Alex blink for a second, trying his best not to turn scarlet again. Thank goodness he found his voice when he did. Awkward silence between him and a girl was the last thing he needed. The fool smiled back warmly, " I'm Alexander, The Fool. It's nice to meet you too." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously but kept smiling. Which wasn't hard, but he still felt a bit out of place in front of a girl that looked like her. Like comparing a crow to a dove. Oh god help me I'm getting poetic now. It was then when it dawned on him that she was as nervous as he was. That came as a relief. Though his introduction might not have been so great, he could have sworn his voice had cracked halfway through it.

Paenitet-Sorry
Akuma-Devil
Tenshi-Angel

Hakon's head sunk into his shoulders as Ruko laughed at his slight mishap. As minor as it was, in his mind, it was a bad first impression. Possibly something that she'd put over his head for a while. Although it was something he was used to, it still hurt him to have said thought. "Es ist nicht so lustig.*" he muttered in protest under his breath as he stuffed the card back into Axel. Looking back at her again once she stopped laughing, he bowed slightly as he scratched the back of his head as he looked about the room again, nodding in approval.

Leopard hat and Purple headphones seemed to look guilty this time around as he noticed something different about Big red. A paper airplane had landed on him. Snickering mentally, it was probably something to get his attention. Lavender and White hat were still hitting it off and still some missing seats. Hakon sighed and leaned back into his seat, petting the plush dolls' head for comfort. It wasn't as bad as he had thought it was going to be. Aside from dropping his card, he assumed that this Ruko was at least friendly. Things were at the very least looking up in terms of finally getting along with people outside his foster family. A slight smile swam it's way across his face.

However, the shaking of his shoulders soon rattled him out of his comfort zone. Ruko yelling in his ear and shaking him had imminently tensed him up as he did not like being touched by people he didn't know. But one word made his mind turn in the worst way possible....

dog....

Dog...

DOG...

Before the green could even register the fact that Ruko was happy about the little beast, had he literally leaped out of his chair with Axel in his mouth, onto the table on all fours, bounding off of Big Red and diving into a far corner of the room hiding behind the Shiny Gliscor plush; shaking and shivering like he had just been found after a massive fire fight. All the while screaming the word "nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein!" through the plush, though ironically sounding almost exactly like a dog's whine. Curled up in the corner of the dinning hall as tight as he possibly could, wide eyed as he kept his eyes on where he thought the dog was. The thought of him making an absolute fool of himself failed to cross his mind at this point.

Only the need to get as far away from the dog was of natural importance at this time.

*Es ist nicht so lustig. = it's not that funny.

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Makoto was, frankly speaking, quite bored. Having found the dining room, which was still without food, Makoto was, to say the least, beginning to feel grumpy. He had only started making his way down to the dining room because there were no groceries in his refrigerator up in his room. If there had been food for him up in his room, Makoto probably wouldn't have left, as he would have been perfectly fine just cooking for himself. "It'd probably taste better anyway..." Makoto mumbled to himself. "Well, I'd probably prefer it to whatever it is they're makin'." Having finished his grumbling, Makoto rubbed his aching stomach. That damn butler from before had said there would be dinner, but where was it? To ease his growling stomach, Makoto took to examining the artwork in the dining room, one hand still gingerly resting on his stomach. Makoto's hunger aside, there were some really interesting paintings here, and they captured Makoto's attention.

As he stood looking at the artwork, and waiting for that elusive butler who'd promised them food, Makoto noticed that the others had entered the dining room as well. There was the green haired little girl, who was still carrying the little plushie she'd arrived with. From what Makoto could tell, he needed to treat her with kiddy gloves. She seemed... fragile, to say the least. Then there was a pink haired girl. Makoto couldn't tell what her deal was, but she seemed nice enough. Then there were the two other boys, both with hats. One was singing to himself, quite well actually, and the other was chatting it up with the girl who'd brought a sketchpad with her. There was even a girl who'd brought a white dog with her. They were all interacting with each other pleasantly enough. However, Makoto paid them no mind. As long as they planned on leaving him alone, Makoto saw no reason to interact with them. At the very least, Makoto hoped that his appearance alone would be enough to keep that one boy away from him. The one who came in with the silvery haired girl. Of all the people here, he was the one Makoto needed to keep himself away from. Makoto could tell that, given enough time, Makoto would come to hate him, and that would lead to only one thing. Makoto would kill that boy, given time and the reason to hate him. Makoto could tell. He'd lived in this world for long enough. Makoto could tell a predator apart from prey, and that jerk was definitely a predator, a bully. As he and his sister made their way into the dining room, Makoto scoffed, scowling to himself. He turned from them as they fully entered the room, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Hopefully, Makoto's body language would tell those two, the boy and his sister, to stay away from him.

However, it was at that moment, that Makoto's position, with his back turned to the majority of the room, would keep him from avoiding a most dreadful occurrence. Unbeknownst to Makoto, a paper airplane was being folded behind him. Its creator then threw the plane, and it drifted lazily into Makoto's hair, nose first. "Ahh... what the?" Makoto griped, reaching up to extricate the airplane from his hair. What Makoto wasn't expecting, however, was the drawings on the little airplane. Unfolding the paper, Makoto studied it. There was a woman holding the jaws of a lion closed, and underneath was the question, "What is your name?" On the other side of the paper was a chariot, drawn by sphinxes. It too was labelled with a question, "What is your tarot?" Cocking an eyebrow, Makoto reached into his pocket, pulling his out the card that came with the key to his room. "Tarot? Death..." Makoto murmured to himself. Keeping a hold on the unfolded airplane and his card, Makoto turned, facing the room. Makoto squinted, his eyes seeking out guilt with all the hunger and rapaciousness of an angry wolf. He found it. The girl with the sketchpad and the boy with the leopard print hat. Both were looking away from Makoto guiltily, and the girl had hidden her sketchbook. Makoto smirked, and he strode confidently towards the pair. "Oi!" Makoto quipped, a wolfish grin on his face, his eyes flashing with excitement as he cornered the pair of them. He was only planning on teasing them a little. "Does'this belong to yeh?" Makoto asked, somewhat intimidating. As he spoke, Makoto placed the unfolded paper airplane on the table. Lying on top of it, was Makoto's Tarot card, Death. It was placed between the Chariot and Strength, its pale rider atop his black horse glaring at any who might view it, and its name, "Death," easily visible. With that, Makoto decided to play the bad guy, just a little, then they'd all have a good laugh about it. Placing one hand on the table, and the other on the back of the chair the girl was sitting in, Makoto made sure to look directly into the boy's eyes first, then the girl's, his own eyes flashing and a smirk on his face.

Tristen let his gaze drift from one person to the next, not bothering to hide the fact that he was watching them. There were only two pairs of people actually interacting though, besides his sister, so he didn't get an accurate read on how they would act around many other people. Naturally he zeroed in on the meathead in the room, mister I've got red hair and my muscle mass percentage is larger than my intelligence quotient. Next came the boy that Lou was sitting with, who looked just about as nervous as his silly sister was. She had probably said something to embarrass herself already, she wasn't very smart in any case. He only felt bad for the boy, having to deal with her, otherwise he didn't see any reason to dislike him more than he generally disliked everyone else. Then came Arty over there, who seemed to be having a good time joking with the boy across from her. Not one to like any sort of humor other than his own, he decided to stay clear of them. Besides, in his eyes, they were acting childish.

Which is funny because if he had judged Pinkie before those two, they would have seemed like the most mature people in the room besides himself. She was laughing at the poor girl next to her, or something that had happened perhaps, and Green didn't look overly pleased about it. Tristen frowned (more than he already was) and might have done something if his attention hadn't been caught by the, is that a paper plane?, white object gliding across the room, landing right on Meathead. He refrained from snickering.

That's about the time someone sat down next to him. Without warning his eyes started getting itchy, and he reached up to rub at them when the rat started barking. His hand froze midair, then came a sniffle. Of course, someone had brought their damn dog. This wasn't a school or anything. "No." Tristen answered gruffly, though it sounded a bit nasal because his allergies were already acting up. His eyes shot up when the table shook, finding Green as she launched herself across the room. He arches an eyebrow and then pushes his chair back, standing up and shoving his hands in his pocket. "You might want to keep that mutt in your room." Because she had asked for his advice, right? He started towards the door, stopping with one hand on it to look at Green, hovered in the corner not far away. "You coming? I have some snacks from the plane in my room if you're hungry." He spoke low enough that the girl could hear him, but hopefully not everyone else.

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Louella giggled softly at the boy, but not in a mean way. He seemed very nervous, which was more than endearing to her. It also helped to alleviate her own nerves, to know she wasn't the only one that wasn't totally comfortable just talking to some random stranger and trying to make friends. Tristen always teased her about it, because she often asked him to tell people things for her, or get someones attention. He said that she was silly and shy, and that she just had to get over it. As much as she tried though, nothing ever seemed to help, because she was always so quiet and people just kept talking right over her, or perhaps didn't even hear her.

"Can I call you Alex? You can call me Lou, or Bella I guess. Tris uses both." She had glanced over at her twin when she said his name, making it pretty obvious who she was talking about. Trying to keep from having an awkward silence, she continued rambling on. "He also calls me silly bird sometimes, but I'd prefer you not use that one," her words were accompanied by a soft laugh at the end, a mostly breathy noise that made her drop her eyes to the table, nervousness settling in again. Why had she come over here without having something else to talk about? This is why she didn't like starting conversations with people she didn't know well.

She had completely missed the paper plane, but she didn't fail to catch the sight of the green haired girl flying across the room. Her mouth formed an 'o' shape as her eyes flicked over to Tristen, automatically assuming it was something he had done. But no, it didn't seem like it. Instead he seemed to be annoyed with a girl sitting next to him, getting up to walk leave already, probably saying something mean. She frowned and winced a little internally, because she hoped it wasn't too harsh. Once he had walked away she shot a look across the table at Alex, maybe apologising for her next actions, or asking if he would mind. "Um, hey there!" Lou had to raise her voice a little, and she bit her bottom lip afterwards and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. "That's such a cute puppy! Um, do you want to come sit over here with us? I've always wanted a pet, could I maybe hold him... her?" She was so nervous!