Seagus "Griever" Deaves's Story

The end of normal classes was done, and so the Magni were released to their designated classes specifically for them to learn to control their abilities. Magni filled the halls of Liuena Acamdey, the halls full of chatter and accidental slip up of their abilities.

Kirie

One such sixteen year old had that very same problem, but his was a bit more troublesome as he was bound to touch someone in the crowded halls, so every time his arm or shoulder brushed against a shoulder or arm, said person would get a light shock. Very few were lucky to only get a tingle in their arm.

”dammit! Why can’t I just stop shocking everyone, everywhere I go!” came a low tone. Some peple stared at this scrawny boy, with his shock of white hair and wine-red eyes, hidden behind the glare of his oval shaped glasses. Kirie looked around for a brief moment and put in his headphones to listen to some calming music, which helped him stop shocking people.

After the halls more or less cleared out Kirie found the room he was looking for, Room254 or as he liked to call it ”the land of misfits” a smug smile appeared on his face and he stepped into the room that he had been attending for the past few years after his Nana died. Kirie nodded to the teacher, a woman of a well-defined background of Hispanic culture and a bright smile that made anyone’s day. “Have a good summer Kirie?” ”yeah, it would have been fun if Raimei would have just gone with me to the beach” Ms. Brumfield laughed at his words and went back to her work.

you know I don’t mix well with water. What if I did come with you and killed everyone, even you Raimei’s voice never rose beyond that of a loud whisper but you could most definitely hear the fear in her voice. ”yeah, I know but still I missed you. But then again I was so busy with that damn training dad put me through I doubt I would have ever had time for the beach” shaking his head, Kirie leaned back, his hands laced behind his head and took a quick nap waiting for the new as well as old students who would no doubt be a bunch of misfits.

As his classmates reacted to his spectacular entrance, Connor flashed a huge, cheesy smile and flipped the thumbs up. He loved how his ability to brighten up a room hadn't changed. Suddenly a lot of things happened at once. His roommate Alvor caught his attention by tossing a crumpled up ball of paper at him which he caught one-handed before opening it to examine its contents. It was a comprehensive map of the school, complete with air-ducts, secret passageways, and a few things Connor hadn't seen before. The looked like whole secret rooms. He would most certainly have to test this map out. "Awesome! Thanks Al! This is sweet!" Connor waved at his roommate, thanking him for the map. Then, another pair walked up to him, first a cat, who introduced himself as Tama, followed by a nervous looking boy who said, ""I'm sorry, Tama here kind of likes to talk to whoever he finds interesting." After saying this he put Tama inside the collar of his shirt and awkwardly held out his hand. "Well my name is Jaxon Rhys, as we're to be classmates you can call me Jax." Connor took his hand and shook it. "I'm Connor, this little ball of mischief is called Hans, and we're glad to meet you." Connor said with a huge smile. "But Connor, we're not glad to meet him, or at least I'm not. I suppose meeting isn't a bad thing, but I wouldn't say that I specifically am glad to meet him. Stop lying Connor, dad told us it was bad." Hans said, his voice full of it's usual sarcasm and derision. "Sorry about him. He likes to pretend he's super aloof and hard to get along with. The little fuzz-ball actually loves people, so I'm sure he's glad to meet you." Connor explained.

Connor was just about to answer his brother, and call shenanigans because he doesn't walk anywhere, when suddenly the room was filled with a thunderous boom. The teacher, Ms. Brumfield, had walked in and clapped, signalling the young mages to sit down and get ready for their class. Connor took his seat and turned his attention to the board which had the words: Lessons on Magic control written in big loopy letters on the whiteboard. She directed a question at the class. "Okay so now that I have your attention who can tell me what you’re here for?" She asked and was immediately answered by both Kieran and a blonde haired girl Connor didn't quite recognize.

First was the blonde girl who said, "Same thing as all other years, because some people here can't control their magic." There was just the littlest bit of derision in her voice, as if she held disdain for anyone and everyone she didn't like. It was strange. Then Kieran answered, and his version made Connor have to stifle a laugh. Kieran deliberately provoked their teacher. "Well Mrs. Brumfield, that is quite simple, I am here supposedly to learn how to better control my magic. But let's all be honest here, I am probably just gonna goof off and cause trouble for you, all in the name of a few laughs out of my classmates. The same thing I did last year, and probably the reason that Mrs. Gregory said she could not teach this class again, I guess Connor and I are just too much for some people to handle." He finished with a smirk on his face. Connor buried his face in his notebook, attempting, and failing, to hide his laughter. It was just too funny. Finally, once he'd contained himself, Connor sat back in his chair and actually prepared himself to take notes. Connor would never tell Kieran, but he felt like... actually trying this year. Connor wanted to get better at controlling his water magic, the pranking capabilities with water were endless, especially because water was such a harmless medium. Further, it gave him an excuse to keep his ability to shapeshift to himself. The better he got at manipulating water, the less he'd have to rely on shifting. WHat connor didn't know, however, was that soon, shifting would become his entire focus.

It’s been about a week and a half since the students started school at Liuena Academy. Ms.Brumfield has informed her class of a field trip to the Human City outside the barrier. It’ll be the first time going to the human city since starting their new life at Liuena Academy. It’s a Sunday afternoon and a hour after walking about the city in groups four or five (two groups)

One lead by Ms. Brumfield and the other lead by Kirie Askumoto.
Ms.Brumfields Group:
Opal, Aberdeen, Kieran, Lila
Kirie's Group:
Melody, Connor, Jaxon, Jayson

No switching is permitted what’s so ever. the reason Kirie is group leader is simple, he is one of the few students in Ms. Brumfields class that actually follows her directions as has been a honored student since he started coming to the Academy(his grandmother knows the headmaster) also because she trusts Kiries ability to take care of himself and those around him. All demons are to be kept under strict surveillance. Nor is anyone allowed to use their abilities in the slightest way even if it’s to protect themselves from a human attack. There are exceptions i.e. possible deaths but other than that stay out of trouble. Both groups are allowed to go their separate ways but must stay within the portal to the Academy.

Like before an hour after walking around the City, Seagus begins his attack on the city and the only people with the chance of stopping him are the Magni who are in the city on a field trip to learn how to integrate with regular people without relying on their abilities to help them. the Academy won’t be able to enter the city for another hour after the attacks start due to the magic in the city is being drained by Seagus but not only that but the barrier that hides the Academy is getting weaker and weaker. If the Academy isn’t careful they could possible create a hole in the barrier allowing the city to see them. And for the creature to enter the Academy grounds. While all this is happening Li is stuck at the academy under the pretense of being sick with stomach aches and such. He is searching for whatever he can find to pit against the Academy which is the creature in the basement that was sealed by the previous Headmaster a few decades ago.

During this time a group of sewer workers entered the sewer system. But they are not the only ones below in the tunnels. The workers in the sewers were aghast. A giant black crystal-like material was the cause of the blockage the mayor was so worried about? "C'mon, boys get your picks!" The three workers started picking away at the crystal when they're pickaxes broke. The crystal hadn't even been scratched. Then a noise emanated from the crystal. It was like the roar of a lion, but three octaves lower than what it should be. The workers then saw a red eye looking at them. Three tendrils of darkness soon skewered them and tossed them aside as the thing made its way outside. The last surviving worker contacted police and national guard. There was a monster in the city. As it rampaged Maledict searched for sources of magical and non-magical energy to feed off from, to restore its low energy levels. And nothing was going to get in it's way in keeping itself from harm.

The workers in the sewers were aghast. A giant black crystal-like material was the cause of the blockage the mayor was so worried about? This was wierd. "C'mon, boys get your picks!" The three workers started picking away at the crystal when theyre pickaxes broke. The crystal hadn't even been scratched. Then a noise emenated from the crystal. It was like the roar of a lion, but three octaves lower than what it should be. The workers then saw a red eye looking at them. Three tendrils of darkness soon skewered them and tossed them aside as the thing made its way outside. The last surviving worker contacted police and national gaurd. There was a monster in the city.

From their windows, people could see the monstrosity in all its dreadfulness. 12 ft tall, it resembled knights armor, but was made os solid shadow, harder than any earthly material. The first and nearest police cruiser rushed to the seen. The Sheriff and his partner grabbed their shot guns from the trunk. "Freeze! Now!" The thing slowly turned around to face them. The deputy lost his nerve and unloaded his ammunition against the creature. Each slug bounced off effortlessly, like a fly hitting a windshield. All it did was piss the thing off. The monster raised both hands, summoning the shadows with the nearby buildings, then brought both hands down quickly, forcing large chunks of the building to fall and smash the two idiots. Once buried under rubble, the creature, Maledict, continued its slow march to the city's museum, then to its power plant. The National Guard, who had recived the message, had set up a blockade. "Open fire!" The roar of the guns were thunder as the sounds soon filled the city. However, each bullet bounced off seemlessly. It was too funny. If the creature could grin, it would. "Hit it with something harder. Tanks! At The ready. Do you have your marks?" The radio crackled. "Affirmative, we have target locked." "Open fire!" THe tanks added to the thunder of the chaos. THe explosions shook the ground and shattered glass until a large column of smoke remained. WAs it still there?

After five minutes of waiting, the thing charged with impossible speed. With a large black sword in one hand and a scythe in the other, it sliced through man, machine, and metal. The blockade was destroyed as the creature charged the tanks. WIth one hand, it punched one of the tanks into the air and then lsiced it in half before it touched the ground. It then used tendrils of darkness to kill the crew inside. It was a nasty way to go. Once the were skewered, he made mutliple pikes emerge from the one spike that impaled them. No way to survive that. The creature kept up its march as a missile hit it from the air. Helicopters? They sure found him quickly. THe creature was then assauklted by a barrage of 50 calibers and short range missile attacks. Fed up, the creature created wings fromt he shadow that made up its body. It launched into the sky to engage the choppers.

The choppers were not the only masters of the sky. The creature was fast for its size and that sword was more than enough to take one of the chioppers down, if not all of them. Making a gesture with its hand, the creautre destroyed the choppers with spikes of shadows from the ground below, causing them to explode. it remained in the air, searching for sources of magic and energy.

Upon seeing Kirie approaching Jaxon sighed heavily and stretched as he started speaking to him.

“Hey Jaxon, come one we got to go there’s something in the city that’s wreaking havoc. We need to group together and find Ms. Brumfield so we can go back.”

"...Fine I'll go get them, but this is a favor I hope you pay me back for. Buy a rubber pad for your bed I don't like being shocked every once in a while, while I'm sleeping sparky alright?" Smiling weakly he rubbed his nose and continued, "Anyway jokes aside I'll see what I can find out about the rampage, also I'll find a way to get all of us together. Tell our group to meet at the central park, wait there and we'll meet up with you afterward alright?" Looking down to his collar he nodded slightly at Tama who purred slightly. "Alright Let's get this done buddy. We've got to prove to Brumfield that we can stay in this school alright?" That said Jaxon instantly warped to the top of the store and yelled down to Kirie.

"HEY! I'll find out what's going on but I'll stay out of sight so that I don't attract any attention from this 'monster', you guys head to the meeting place and start discussing a plan alright?!" Waving to his classmates he then started running and jumping from building to building.

After following the giant stream of people he looked ahead of what they were running from and saw a... what could only be described as complete pandemonium, From an entire building destroyed to the wreckage of a helicopter on fire with what looked to be the remains of people in positions of agony. "Ugh... that's morbid... Anyway I have to make sure whatever caused this doesn't see me..." Looking around towards anything in the immediate area he sat down and closed his eyes. "Open your senses..." After saying this he extended his usual 10 foot aura to about 30 and noticed something abnormal in it, almost as if it saw him. After shutting off his aura as quickly as possible he hid behind a pillar with his sight looking through a portal about 10 feet from what looked like a knight spawned from hell.

"W-What is that thing... It's so... small for a monster whatever I'll keep to the sidelines and hope this thing doesn't notice me tail it for a good while to figure out what it's doing..." After closing the portal he slowly kept his distance and watched it head in the direction of a power plant and then suddenly turn around. 'Shit... this isn't good....' Warping away onto ground level he kept looking at it from behind a dumpster and kept his eyes trained on it. "I wonder if it wasn't the fact that it was going there on it's own and didn't notice me or it was letting me follow it, nonetheless I have to find the others quickly."

After saying this he ran across the ground and headed to what seemed to be another shopping district with even more people running and screaming in terror only to find Ms. Brumfield trying to keep her students in check and raced up to her. "HEY BRUMFIELD! We got a major problem, as you can see a 'monster' is on the rampage I found it but we need to leave now!" Looking at the other students he basically pulled them over to both of them and continued, "I already set up a meeting place with Kirie and the others to go to Central park and figure out some kind of plan for taking it down after we get there I'll fill everyone in on what I saw but for now we need to head there now, time wasted is time that could be put to taking that thing down!"

After saying this he ran off only to have Tama pipe up on his sudden change. "Hey Jaxon I remember you never got this excited about anything any reason?" "Yeah it's called keeping myself and those around me alive, I don't feel like dying and I don’t feel like being held responsible if I’m the only one alive.” “But still you showed genuine concern for them, any reason why?” “Don’t get smart with me Tama this is serious we don’t have time for this, now let’s go!”

Aberdeen didn’t see why shopping in the “human city” was such a big deal. She’s lived here all her life. Unlike the others, she was born into a normal family and she lived in the normal human city with no knowledge of her own powers until Brooklyn passed away. The human city was where she resided until the incident where her grandmother Alma had revealed the secret about her powers and Liuena Academy. Coming here did make her feel somewhat at home and a bit nostalgic considering the store they were shopping in.

The store they were in was a familiar store to her, though not much of it was of her interest. She was more interesting in finding out more about ghosts and ghost hunting, and what better place to look than the bookstore? Aberdeen has always loved hitting the books in this store and found it to be the most enjoyable place besides the other creepy gothic store that was a nice source of furnishings for her room. However, she had a mission this time rather than just reading for pleasure. Ever since the incident with the two ghosts that tried to strangle Opal, Aberdeen had wanted to figure out how to protect her friend and how to search for these two ghosts. Before, she had been scared to death and didn’t want to deal with ghosts, but for some reason upon eyeing a book called, “The Ghost Hunter’s Guide” she had found the motivation inside to try and figure out a way to deal with these menaces.

Luciana traveled as Aberdeen’s shadow during the whole trip, however two – no wait three-things had caught the eyes from behind her mask. There was the candy section that they passed by that had caramel candy samples. “Ella would sure love these as I do. I hope Abby doesn’t mind me taking some for her…” Luciana thought in her mind while momentarily becoming invisible and taking a few when no one was looking. The second thing was a mask (picture )in a box in the oriental section that looked like a woman’s face with short black hair, bushy eyebrows, very thin eyes, a broad nose, and deep red lips. Lucy was about to take the mask for herself thinking she did need a new one when the third thing of interest had come. Many people started running amuck in the stores and an aura of uneasiness, tension, and death was what Lucy recognized from the people.
“Abby!” shrieked somebody from behind Aberdeen. She was a little surprised at first because it did not come from Luciana or Brooklyn, however when she turned around she found Opal who seemed to be panicked over the commotion. Behind Opal, Aberdeen couldn’t believe to see a multitude of ghosts behind her panicked and confused over their sudden deaths. She could hear them saying, “What happened to me??” “Why can’t anybody hear me??” “Mommy where are you??” That last one was a little boy now a ghost and now gone from the world of living. Aberdeen almost couldn’t bear to see this many ghosts in her vicinity and especially the child ghost, considering that there is something horrible going on that she doesn’t even know, however she tried to remain calm for her friend. This time, she was going to protect her.

“Opal!” Aberdeen yelled back hoping Opal had seen her. She didn’t realize that she subconsciously placed the unpaid book in her backpack. She ran towards Opal urging Lucy to follow as a shadow and then grabbed Opal’s hand. “Opal, I don’t know what’s going on, but we have to calm down and find the others.” Aberdeen saw Jaxon waving at them as he ran to get more people, and decided it was time to get out of there. ”Opal, you’re going to have to trust me on this one.” Aberdeen said before turning both her and Opal invisible and intangible (she had just learned how to do so a few days ago) to get out of the way of everyone and down to where Ms. Brumfield was with the others. Aberdeen could only hold that for so long she nearly reached time limit and passed out, but she decided to stay strong even though her stomach was feeling a bit weak right now from keeping both her and Opal invisible and intangible. ”Sorry for the rush Opal, but I wanted to get us out of there quickly,” Aberdeen apologized while panting heavily. She wasn’t really the most fit person and running fast while trying to keep her and her friend from bumping into everyone through her magic was very taxing on her energy. Jaxon had said there was a meeting place with Kirie and the others at Central Park for a plan to take down some “monster on a rampage,” and Aberdeen thought it would be a good idea to meet with the others and try to contribute something. She would have to rest for awhile for her to regain her energy, but nevertheless she wanted to participate in some way. It was odd to her that Central Park, her favorite park to play in as a child will now become a base of operations for the Liuena team to assemble and discuss battle tactics against a monster. How could she have known growing up that she would have magic and have to participate with a class filled with other Magni in taming a beast? Aberdeen did not want to go alone however so she asked Opal, “You coming?”

Maledict soared through the skies over the city, only to realize his wings were slowly dissolving. Soon after, they deteriorated and he fell into a skyscraper, only to come out of the other side and land on top of a 7 story building. He was weakening. The Magni he had been created from was dying. The concept was the same for a battery's fuel cells. Should one go bad, the battery won't work properly. He was losing power and needed to reach the power plant before he was depleted, or else the fusion's binding spell would dissolve, and the purely independent creature that resulted from the fusion would no longer exist. The only reason he was connected to the pair that had created him was because they made up his body.

An Apache helicopter soon found Maledict perched atop the building. Without hesitation, bullets and missiles assailed the monster. The missiles inflicted damage, but only because Maledict was weakened from flying. What made it think flying was a good idea? An ideal of the Magni, or the demon, perhaps? Raising both hands, a giant spike of solid shadow struck the chopper, directly impaling the pilot and piercing the fuel canister, resulting in a large explosion. With that, the creature turned, and gently stepped off the roof and landed with a crater on its feet on the ground below. The shock from its impact sent to nearby cars onto their sides. He was fading. He had to exist. He started marching back towards the power plant, on foot.

Kirie

"Anyway jokes aside I'll see what I can find out about the rampage; also I'll find a way to get all of us together. Tell our group to meet at the central park, wait there and we'll meet up with you afterward alright?"

Kirie was about to say something but by the time he opened his mouth Jaxon had teleported to the top of the store yelling down at him and the others. "HEY! I'll find out what's going on but I'll stay out of sight so that I don't attract any attention from this 'monster', you guys head to the meeting place and start discussing a plan alright?!"

idiot what if someone sees him. Then its trouble for all of us scowling Kirie could do nothing but let Jaxon do his thing.

Kirie went in search of Jayson only to find that she was nowhere to be found. where’d she go, dammit I told her not to wonder to far from the group, but no, no one listens to me because I’m the damn teacher’s pet . Kirie growled low angry at himself for letting her out of his sight and at Jayson herself for not listening to him. However he had more important things to worry about than just one girl, and it was to get Connor and Melody to their rendezvous point with Jaxon and Ms.Brumfield. He needn’t worry about Melody since she was happily talking to a shadow that no one could forget. Especially considering the form it took on, of a dragon and was doing that same dance as before.

Shaking his head Kirie couldn’t help but smile a bit the sight of a shadow dancing but took on a more serious look. ”Melody, Kieran we need to go pronto. Also has anyone seen Jayson I can’t find her or Connor at that. But we really need to go, I already double checked and I can’t find either of them. Let’s just hope that we might run across them when we get to Central Park.” and with that Kirie lead the two to Central park, unfortunately they hadn’t come across either Jayson or Connor, but Kirie thought he had seen the trouble maker but the panicked crowd had taken him from view and there wasn’t much else to do.

---

Ms. Brumfield
She was doing her best keeping the kids in check but it seemed Kieran had run off somewhere again no doubt to joke with Melody. I swear it’s like those two were destined to make my job a living hell.

"HEY BRUMFIELD! We got a major problem, as you can see a 'monster' is on the rampage I found it but we need to leave now! I already set up a meeting place with Kirie and the others to go to Central park and figure out some kind of plan for taking it down after we get there I'll fill everyone in on what I saw but for now we need to head there now, time wasted is time that could be put to taking that thing down!"

She was surprised at Jaxon’s findings but even more so that the fact that Kirie must have let him go dawned on her. This made her a bit irritable considering Jaxon could have gotten hurt because of the boy’s decision. But once more before anyone could get a word with Jaxon he was already gone. Sparks flew off her body but they were soon doused with something more important at the moment; concern for the wellbeing of her students. Making sure everyone was with her Ms. Brumfield left the store in a hurry, leading everyone to Central Park to discuss things further.

She didn’t like the fact that Jaxon seemed to be intent on stopping this creature, it was really up to the Liuena Academy‘s Higher Counsel to do something about it. But then it dawned on her, the portal they had gone through earlier, the one she had Amon keep a look out for so no human accidentally stepped through if they had a bit of magic in them. my dear the portal has closed, it isn’t responding to anything I throw at it or the simple commands to open it. Ms. Brumfield frowned in thought it must be because of the creature, it’s heading towards where there is energy so the barrier must have closed off to keep it from reaching the academy.Finally reaching their rendezvous point Ms. Brumfield was glad to see that Kirie and his group was their waiting for them by a large oak tree. However her smile dropped at the fact that two of her students seemed to be missing. “Kirie where’s Jayson and Connor? Weren’t they with you?” concern heavy in her voice.

”I don’t know, I told them to stay in the store but I guess all the chaos got to them and they tried to find us only to get swept away by the crowd. I’m sorry Ms. Brumfield for losing them, it’s my fault but we have to figure out what the hell that thing is. And make sure Jayson and Connor are alright.” Kirie looked upset about losing them but now wasn’t the time to be moping about ones mistakes. “Alright Kirie, I know it wasn’t your fault but we just have one more person to show up and that’s Jaxon. He went to scout out what was going on but I do not like the way things are, it seems we’re not at the leisure of having the Higher Counsel to deal with this. The barrier has gone on lock down because of the creature so we’re stuck here either way.” Sighing Ms. Brumfield rubbed the bridge of her nose, Amon please if you could find my students as well as check up on the whereabouts of that creature. And if you must attack it then do so but do it with a just cause and not out of your own pleasure she spoke harshly to her demon within their link. Ms. Brumfield didn’t get an answer but that was fine with her as long as she didn’t get lip from him.

Turning back to the students Ms. Brumfield folded her arms looking over her students. “so tell me does anyone have an idea as to what you would like to do at this point?”

More law enforcement and military had arrived on the scene. Their weapons were now doing damage. Chunks and chips of the Creature were falling off, until it drew its sword and cut everything attacking it to bits. Parts of people and their pathetic tools of war fell to the ground. He was soon walking again. He reached out and absorbed all the energy from nearby cars. It wasn't much, but it would help sustain him until the power plant. He soon found a parking garage and proceeded to absorb more energy from the vehicles. This would never do!!! It wasn't sufficient! He needed more.

He walked away from the garage as more army and city police engaged him. His sword was more than enough for dealing with these meatbags. Its all Maledict needed. All he could afford until he found a more significant energy source. He was too heavy, so he began to shrink. He went from 12 feet tall to 8 feet, as well as taking on a more lean build. However, his dark body still had the power to lift a car with a single hand if it so desired. However, such a stunt was nothing more than a waste of power. Travelling was much more efficient in this form. He could move without expending too much energy.

A military Osprey twin propeller jet had been called in from the nearby Air Force base. Equip with two 50 caliber turrets, it was also supplied with explosive rounds. Soon it found the creature and opened fire. The noise and the plane marked the creature's location.

(OOC: Its not letting me untag Opal :( I guess I'll have to bare with it.

Connor had, as per the usual, become promptly lost upon entering the city. He didn't know how but he managed to separate from his group and ended up wandering around. He and Hans visited a sweet shop and picked up a huge bag of candy. There was an assorted mix of both Kieran's and Connor's favorites. He'd bought it to share. Connor and Hans stopped at a music store next. The listened to a few songs, but they didn't find the Mozart they were looking for, so they left. All in all it had been a rather pleasant day. That was, of course, until the militant alert sounded and all hell broke loose. Some massive creature was ripping apart military craft and weaponry like it did it for a living. It would have been a lot more impressive had it not been the scariest thing Connor had seen since his father had taken them to one of his independent films about food processing. The boys' father hadn't participated in the film at all, of course, he was just a cinema-phile. Regardless, the film had scared little Kieran, Connor, Hans, and Nox to such an extent that they hadn't spoken of it since. Connor shuddered at the thought.

Connor observed the monster very carefully. It was certainly not anything natural, meaning magic was a valid explanation. He'd heard of creatures made out of magic, but such practices were old and archaic. It never happened in the modern world. Still, there was something unnerving about it, it was the blackness. That's what it was. That thing was the same color as Kieran when he shifted to... shadow form. "That's it!" Connor exclaimed, and at that, he set his jaw and rolled up his sleeves. Connor had gotten, "serious". Just as Connor was about to step forward and enact the Supremely Excellent, Not Predictable, Awesome Initiation plan (or S.E.N.P.A.I. for short) he heard Kieran's voice, and boy was he mad. "CONNOR WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!" Kieran shouted, running towards his brother. Nox materialized off the ground and ran alongside Kieran as he closed the distance between them. Connor smirked and made a silly face. "You got me! Here's your prize!" Connor said, pushing the bag of candy into his brother's hands. "Be careful with that, it's got our favorites in it." Connor deflected, trying to weasel his way out of his brother's vise-like grip on his wrist.

The pair of brothers, who were nearly inseparable from birth were thinking the exact same thing. There were tanks, and planes, and other national guard equipment attacking the creature, but there was no way they could stop it. Further, there was no way Kieran was gonna let Connor fight alone. Kieran and Connor had spent less time together the last week or so, as Kieran had spent a lot of time with Melody, but he and his brother have always been a team and they always will be. Kieran arrived at Connor's side before he did anything stupid. "Dude, you ain't gonna fight that thing alone are you? Cause you know we're a team, we have been ever since that time I put superglue on the toilet and mom was stuck there for two hours. Neither of us confessed and we both got punished instead. We're doing this together, you, me, Nox and Hans. I won't have it any other way." Kieran said a serious stoic expression on his face, something almost no one has ever seen before.

Normally, Connor would have made a silly face and they would have compromised about it. Not this time. Connor matched his brother's stoic gaze with an equally stern look in his eyes. "Not this time little brother," though Kieran was his elder by almost over a year. "This time, I want you to watch me. You spent a lot of time with Mel this week, and that's been really good for you. I can see the brother of mine who you used to be. The one before the pranks and the bullies. The real you. Don't get me wrong," Connor chuckled. "We've been getting into trouble since we perfected the fake, 'I'm sorry puppy dog eyes', when we were three. Still, she's so good for you. Don't screw that up just for me. I'm your brother. I'll love you no matter what. Now do as I say and go tell Jaxon that I'm going to test that sucker out. I can give you guys some good intel if I go in first and soften it up for ya." Connor smirked. "Besides, part of me just wants to show off a little for his younger brother. After all, I was either with Ms. Brumfield or in the library all week. Lemme show you how it's done." Connor said with a wink. At that, Hans jumped down from his perch on Connor's shoulder. "Ready Hans? Begin Alpha formation." Connor said, stepping forward in time with Hans toward the giant monstrosity before them. Connor's body glowed with light, evidence of the strong magic bubbling up from deep inside. "Activating Familiar Empowerment." Connor said, clapping his hands together and feeding his strength into Hans, whose body began to rapidly change. Hans's body grew at an exponential rate. He didn't stop until he was as big as a tiger, and had long teeth, wicked claws, and dark brown stripes to match. "Take me to the horizon Hans." Connor said, mounting his not so little fox-demon. At that, Hans jumped, carrying Connor into battle. Just before it was unsafe, Connor turned around and winked at Kieran once more. He then turned back towards the eight foot tall monster before him and started working on a battle plan.

As far as combat capabilities went, the thing had a sword and was using it with deadly effectiveness. It was decently large and looked both strong and fast. The best strategy would be to either get too close for comfort, which Connor didn't like, and use even faster speed to keep the edge, or to stay back and hammer it with long range techniques. Though neither were his strong suit, Connor prefered to slug it out with his opponents. Cracking his knuckles, Connor began to chant. Unfortunately, the thing noticed them. It whipped around towards them, reaching out with its deadly blade, but Hans was two steps ahead of him and had dodged on his own, allowing Connor to keep focusing on his spell. Hans, though large, was nearly more difficult to catch than smoke. His body was full of Connor's power and it had strengthened and enhanced an already toned and battle hardened body. On his back, Connor sat in almost perfect stillness, leaving his safety to his partner. Connor was focusing on a long range water spell. He was attempting to pull the water from the nearby sewer grates and use it to unbalance the creature before moving in close while it was distracted. Once Connor had finished his seal, he signalled for Hans to take them in. Serpentining with unnatural grace, Hans weaved in and out of the monster's strike, getting ever closer until Connor was ready. With a shout, Connor jumped off his familiar's back, diving forward and placing his hand upon the ground at the creature's feet. With the sound of a cannon, Connor released all the water that was currently in the main, some several hundred gallons came bursting up through the ground, destroying the pavement and knocking the thing off balance. Not wanting to give it a chance to regroup, Connor steeled himself for what he was about to do. It would work in theory, but in practice Connor was still iffy. Not to mention he could feel the stares of his fellow Magni on his back. No time to hesitate, if he did, he could die. Once Hans was safely away, Connor clapped his hands once more, taking the power from his familiar and diverting it to himself. He smiled when he felt Hans jump into Kieran's arms. It felt safe and warm there.

At Connor's command, the power sealed within the water demanded it to take the shape of a giant serpentine dragon, which coiled around Connor like a snake, obscuring him completely. However, Connor wasn't drowning under the hundreds of gallons of water. He wasn't even suffocating. Connor was changing. His body elongated and thickened. His legs fused together and his arms flattened into fins. The water swirled around Connor, bringing him upwards towards the top of the pillar as his body took the shape of a fully grown, male Orca. Once he'd brought himself up so far, and changed his mass so much, there weren't many options for Connor to go. There was down... or down. Connor pointed his nose and smashed face first into the midsection of the creature, the water dispersing along the ground as it left Connor's control. Without pausing, and before he hit the ground, Connor shifted once again, this time into the shape of a tiny little bat. He wound his way around the creature's blind strikes using his practiced echolocation and made his way up to it's shoulders. Once there, Connor shifted once more into an Alpha male silverback gorilla, and grappled it from behind, causing it to lurch forward, Connor jumped off as it smashed into a building, shifting back into a human as he landed. He was breathing heavily, all that magic all at once was crazy tiring. He knew that he was slowing down, but he took a ready stance, waiting for the thing to emerge and to challenge it once more. However, it had grown tired of Connor. He wasn't an easy target, and the creature looked tired as well, like it needed energy. It became very clear to Connor in that moment. What it wanted, was magic. While Connor was standing still, having figured out the secret, it had used its time to choose a new target, one that looked easier. Melody.

It left Connor and rushed to attack Melody. Connor didn't know what it actually intended to do, but when he saw it blast off towards Mel, sword in hand, he did the only thing he could think of. Connor shifted once more into a cheetah, racing with the thing, but it was too fast, Connor wasn't going to make it. He needed more speed. Without thinking, without warning, Connor shifted once again, this time, taking the shape of a hawk, furiously beating his wings to overtake the giant creature. He didn't care that he'd managed trans-mammalian shifting, he needed to stop that thing from reaching Mel. Connor rocketed forward, wings outstretched. He wasn't going to make it.

Time slowed, and Connor blacked out for a moment. He remembered reaching with his arms, they were human arms, he must have shifted back. He touched something. It might have been Mel, it might have been that creature, but he didn't remember. When he woke, Mel was on the ground in front of him. She was safe, and nothing was wrong with her. She wasn't hurt. Well that was good, Connor sighed with relief, but why... Why did she have that look of sheer horror on her face. Connor's chest felt weird. He looked down. A black blade had pierced him. It had ran him through from back to front. As of this moment, it was currently lodged in his sternum. Connor had shoved Mel out of the way, and taken the blow for her. Connor smirked. Coughing up blood, he tried to make a joke, but all that came out was, "Where'd this come from, eh?" Connor's eyes rolled back in his head as the thing pulled it's blade from his body and he crumpled. Kieran caught him, bringing him gently to the ground and cradling Connor in his arms. "Did you see?" Connor asked. "I did it! I turned into a hawk..." Connor said. He couldn't hear what anyone was saying, only that something was distracting the monster from him and Mel. He looked over to where she was, a smile on his face. "You're safe. I'm glad. It used to be that I was the one who protected Kieran, made him smile. That's gotta be your job now." Connor coughed, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth. He chuckled. "How much trouble you think Mom'll put me in for this?" Connor asked, but his eyes weren't looking anywhere in particular, and he still couldn't hear what was happening around him. If words were being said, Connor didn't hear them. If first aid was happening, Connor didn't notice. He was distracted by a bird, soaring high in the sky. Connor reached up and made to grab it, resting his palm on his heart once he'd finished. "Kieran." Connor said, completely serious. "Don't eat all that candy at once. You'll get fat. Look after Hans and our sister for me. I'll see you on the flip side, but not till you're way older, ok? It's time to leave now." Connor said, feeling weak. He was so cold. "But before I go, I need you to promise me something. Be yourself. Don't live your life for me. Do it for you." Connor said, a smile on his face. With that, his eyes closed and he breathed his last; that goofy smile was still on his face.

Something...something had changed. What was that human he had killed? Maledict felt...stronger. As if the thought was the trigger, Maledict grew from the energy he had absorbed from Connor. There was plenty of energy now, at least for him to reach the power plant and absorb even more! Maledict was now 18ft tall and appeared much more demonic in appearance. Horns and barbs potruded from his being all over, and now a large mouth with razor sharp teeth was now visible. And now, Maledict could speak. With a laugh that sounded every bit like the devil incarnate, Maledict turned to the grieving duo within his midst. "So...this is what if feels like to kill a Magni. I've never had the chance to do such a thing. Truly it has opened up my eyes to the possibilities." With that, he punched the ground, causing a large fissure to appear. "I'm almost as powerful as when I was first born! Oh, to have that power once more is my goal, my one objective for this world. And, I'll start with you!" Maledict charged, only to be blown back by RPG and turret fire. "GAH!" Maledict rose three tendrils from the remaining shadows. They crossed each other a foot in front of his new mouth. This was a technique only the most powerful shadow creatures could use. No Magni could do this. "Apocalypse Beam!" A Blue beam rimmed by darkness shot out and destroyed the building that the military had been in position. Dark lightning and shockwaves rocked and decimated the structure as it came crashing down in an avalanch of death and destruction. However, there was a reason no Magni could use such an attack. It was too exerting on the being. Maledict collapsed from temporary weakness before launching himself into the skies again.

Ms.Brumfield
"I'm not sure, Ms.Brumfield, but if I could get close enough I could either make it fall or at least slow it down for a little while. I'm not positive though, I've never tried using my powers on such big scale" she said just barely loud enough for her to here. "And Ella could calm it down, maybe. It would take a while though, and there is a good chance it wouldn't work at all"

Ms. Brumfields attention focused on Opal for a moment and she could tell the girl was scared but she was glad she spoke up. Then Aberdeen spoke her part as well.

“Ms. Brumfield, I have some ideas in my head. I can maybe help Opal in this. I don’t have any offensive magic right now, but I can possibly be the distraction. I can turn invisible and then run to another place and reappear as though I teleported or something so that I can confuse the monster into following me. When the monster is in an ideal position, Opal can use her powers to either make it fall or slow down a bit. That is when the other Magni can safely attack from behind with any of their magic. If there’s any Magni that can somehow put it to sleep, Lucy can also use her dream eater and nightmare abilities. Should we perhaps split into two groups? Some Magni can help me confuse the monster to a more secure place where not a lot of people will be around. Then some other Magni can attack the monster first with their abilities after the monster is lured into the right area. Does that work? I’m not sure of everyone’s abilities so it’s hard for me to factor in what everyone can do but I just wanted to try and think of some strategy.”

Ms. Brumfield smiled thinking for a moment well it’s our best shot opening her mouth to respond to the two girls it seemed Jaxon had better ideas seeing as he did encounter it himself not too long ago, with a few shakes of his head.

"That isn't going to work, more than naught you'll attract it right to you. That thing is a magical entity and I'm guessing feeds off magic from what I gathered from my short recon mission I did, moreover it would see your presence. When I used my magic it 'saw' me and I got out of sight, not only that it seemed to have led me to an area as if to taunt and goad me into attacking it. So that said your invisibility won't confuse it, it would just attract attention to yourself." Sighing aloud he looked to Ms. Brumfield, "Before you kill me I had a plan on how to track it and I succeeded, only thing is that it didn't follow. Moreover the thing was like a knight in both appearance and movement. That said we should expect either short ranged attacks or long ranged if it fires attacks from the sword. Also from the movements I also saw that it had full mobility in the air, with Opal's help we can pull it through one of my portals as it isn't a type of magic just a gate I set up. With that we should be able to force it to the ground if I center the entry way of it to face what he would think is the ground and have it fly right into it. Also with Aberdeen's abilities I can have her be in the background and use her invisibility as a magical beacon of sorts. With enough magic pumping out of her hopefully it will draw towards us."

Ms. Brumfield stared at him somewhat shock, surprised by his sudden plan of action. And by the sounds of it he explained it pretty good and it seemed a whole lot better than the other girl’s idea. Since it was a combination of all of their ideas Ms. Brumfield understood that this would be easier and more thought out than the other twos plan of action. So with a sigh and a nod Ms. Brumfield agreed and was about to state so too, until a certain someone called out a name. A name she thought had been lost in all the chaos and turmoil.
"CONNOR WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!"

Her head snapped towards the direction of the voice and saw Kieran running towards Connor, who seemed dazed. well what did you expect. It’s not every day you witness first hand a monster attack on the human city sighing again Ms. Brumfield looked back to her students and listened to what Jaxon said next suddenly taking charge of the whole situation. Something she didn’t like as he was the student and she was the teacher. to think a child such as him can suddenly command the rest of them into doing something, rather rude if I think so myself if I were in their shoes. But enough of that at least it got some of their attention.

However things only seemed to be getting worse by the second as Connor himself decided to take matters into his own hands and attacked the monster. It was a good fight and she felt proud of him for being able to change mid form into something that wasn’t a mammal for once. But then dread filled her body as everything moved as if in slow motion. The monster headed straight for Melody its sword arm lashed out to kill her and it hit its mark. Only it wasn’t Melody that took the blow but Connor; it went clean through his sternum and it slid out of his body as if the monster didn’t give a damn about who or what it had just killed.

Rushing over to them Kieran got to him first and his emotions burst at the seams and they were no longer containable. Before she reached them a blast of air erupted from Kieran’s body sending her back as his abilities went berserk, and did things a Magni at his age shouldn’t be able to do. is this him in a couple years? When he’s my age will he be this powerful when he grows up? was all that went through her head. Standing back up Ms. Brumfield watched helplessly as another one of her students died. It brought tears to her eyes and she fell to her knees. The all too familiar memories came crashing back to her along with all that guilt and other emotions in tenfold. All she could hear was a ringing noise in her ears as someone grabbed hold of her shoulder and shook her. but it didn’t work she was in a state of shock and it would take more than a few shakes of the shoulder to bring her out.

Not even Kierans voice asking for help brought her out of it only until a searing pain in her shoulder brought her back as she yelled out in pain. Brown eyes focusing once of the real world, Ms. Brumfield looked around her and realized Amon had been the one to bring her back. His red tails lashed out in irritation and what seemed to be anger. But it wasn’t directed at her but at the monster. ”are you done moping girl. It’s time for you to get you pretty little head back in the game and protect the ones still alive. Unless you plan on failing them as well.” he sneered. The woman glared at him and wiped away the tears from her eyes and looked at her shoulder and winced at the nasty burn she got “you couldn’t have been more gentle in bringing me back?” the only response she got was a dark chuckle.

Amon shook his whole body which suddenly grew brighter and slightly in size as well getting larger but it wasn’t very noticeable. He let out a deep growl from his chest and he looked to down at his Magni with a look of impatience in his red eyes. [/i]so tell me girl. How do you plan on telling the boy about his brother’s demon? I’ve never seen one who has lost its Magni manage to stay in this realm, normally their forced to return as their anchor (Magni) was lost. If he stays her too long you know what’ll happen correct?[/i] it seemed for the first time that Amon actually cared about the well-being of Connor’s demon. “Yeah I know but we’ll have to deal with that later right now we need to handle this fellow and end it. Right here, right now and I know exactly how we’ll do it.” With a determined look in her eyes, without realizing it Ms. Brumfield had begun to spark and she knelt besides Kieran a sad expression passed over her features. Placing a gentle hand on his shoulder Ms. Brumfield was about to comfort him when a certain someone decided to butt in not appreciating the fact that he was moping around like Ms. Brumdfield had been doing.

Kirie

He watched it all in silence. His throat tightened at the sight of that black blade going through his body. Connor why him of all people. that’s when he felt the electric spark at his back, crap Raime she saw the whole thing turning around Kirie came face to face with a rather large version of Raimei. Even if he she was only made of electricity he coud tell she was shaking in fear. Kirie . . . what’s going on . . . Kirie I don’t like this story I don’t like it

“Raimei its alright please stay calm. Okay please do it for me, I told you to stay away didn’t i?” yeah but Kirie you need to change this story I don’t think I can handle it if someone else doesn’t get their happy ending. Kirie frowned sadly at his demon he knew well enough her obsession with her stories. “Raimei don’t worry this will most definitely have a happy ending don’t worry.” Kirie wished he could hug her but he couldn’t otherwise he would be contradicting what he had told her. Sighing Kirie looked about wondering how the others were handling this and that’s when Kieran went berserk.

Kirie was pushed back by the sudden rise of magic raising an arm to protect his face. Raimei had disappeared again back to her dimension. Then it stopped and he breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Kieran who seemed to be talking to the dead body of his brother. This struck a chord in Kirie, he too lost a person he cared for deeply but that was just part of the job of the shinobi. Walking over to Kieran he stood over him. “Get up Kieran. Stop moping about like coward, Connor did this to help us and protect us. Don’t let his actions go to waste so get your ass up and lets go kick that things ass” smiling Kirie offered his hand to Kieran in hopes his words didn’t affect him negatively. However the moment was ruined when the monster made use of Connors life and this time it spoke sending chills down both his and Ms. Brumfield spines.

"So...this is what it feels like to kill a Magni. I've never had the chance to do such a thing. Truly it has opened up my eyes to the possibilities." With that, he punched the ground, causing a large fissure to appear. "I'm almost as powerful as when I was first born! Oh, to have that power once more is my goal, my one objective for this world. And, I'll start with you!" thankfully he was stopped by the humans attempt at stopping him but they were soon blown away by what he called the “Apocalypse Beam”. Sparks came off both teacher and student as they sparked in anger.

[u[Ms. Brumfield[/u]

That’s when Amon butted in snarling at them but Ms. Brumfeild was sure it was just for show. [color=red] “I would think now is as good time as any to kill the damn thing. And get up boy there’s no use in moping for that which you lost. It’s a tragic thing indeed but unless you wish to join him then I say get off your sorry arse and help those which your brother entrusted you to protect.” glaring at Kieran Amon received an equally scary glare from his Magni. Who did not appreciate the way her student. Ms. Brumfield stood up and cleared her throat pushing all that emotion aside though she couldn’t stop sparking at the moment and neither could Kirie.

And so Ms. Brumfield took control of the situation, or at least she tried to. “Right let us follow the plan Jaxon has so graciously given us. It’s our best chance of success. So let’s get this plan underway.” And with that Ms. Brumfield turned to Aberdeen “Aberdeen you’ll be the bait of sorts but don’t worry Amon will make sure it doesn’t get too close to you and the same goes for you Opal. Kirie I want you to accompany Aberdeen as well, with your abilities he’ll want the both of you as his next meal. And that’s something we cannot have so I trust that you and Amon can protect each other.” Nodding to make sure they understood. Then she turned to others. “Opal, just do as you had suggested before the same goes to you Jaxon. The both of you need to work together to get this done. Kieran, Melody and Jayson I need you three to keep these two safe is that understood.” Ms. Brumfield looked at all of them and hoped she wouldn’t lose any more of their young faces to this monstrosity.

Maledict shook with contempt at the challenges of…a child? A child is challenging him?! Some would say ignorance is a principal of the young, after all. Very well, it was starting to get boring anyway. Time for some fun! This bulky form of Maledict was weighing him down. If he was going to teach these brats a lesson, it had to be more…visually spectacular. With that, Maledict shed the shadows that made up his body in a circular shockwave of darkness that knocked everything within 150 ft with shattering force as he assumed his true form: 6 ft 5 in tall, skinny body of a male human who has endured an entire year without nutrition, kept alive only by the magic within himself, his hands, forearms, calves and feet still covered in dark armor. With gray hair to his waist, and eyes just as grey and glazed over, empty, hollow, this creature was living death. A massive sword in its hand, Maledict took a step forward. All the power it had used to sustain its armor now surged through its being in an extremely thick aura of pure black. There was also one more feature that stood out…a pitch black orb of darkness lodged in its chest. “Ah, much better…what’s that, whelp? A challenge…very well. I’m going to enjoy making you scream to high heaven!” With that, the creature known as Maledict leaped into the air and came down smashing the sword to the ground, animating shadows into tendrils that struck out as soon as the blade met the ground. The 8 ft radius of power flipped cars and any Magni it hit. Then Maledict saw the others…What were they planning? Knowing the basics of battle, the more important pieces on the board were always behind the pawns. Preparing a blue ball of energy, Maledict launched Apocalypse Beam directly above the Magni further away. The building behind them erupted into rubble as a cascade of debris descended upon these supposed “key players”, or the more vulnerable, either way. Then he heard someone take a step. He couldn’t see anyone but he could feel it. Maledict began launching tendrils in every direction to try and hit the assailant. Cars and windows and any object left unattended by the fleeing human inhabitants of this place were soon shattered and riddled with holes as Maledict began his crazy attack. Then he saw the one who challenged him. An evil grin upon the creature’s face, Maledict continued his assault with the shadows as he slowly walked towards the youth, sword in hand, lusting for the blood of this insolent meatbag! This was going to be fun!

Chaos. Lots and lots of it. Opal, while still hoping she could get a piece of the action, was terrified. Ella had crawled onto her head right around the time Malidict attacked the group instead of his opponent. Though, Malidict had also made a horrible, if not cocky, mistake then. He was a human now, and Opal could stop a human. Well, she could, if not for the fact that she had to dodge flying car parts and other... pointy... things. She was just about to spend her energy on making everything fall to the ground to protect everyone, plan be damned, when Jayson seemed to have the same idea. Opal was cocooned in plant life, and safe. She sighed in relief and gave Jayson a thumbs-up before turning back to Malidict, hands raised.

This was the hard part. She had to focus very carefully on just hitting Malidict with more gravity than normal, but the confusing part was that if Malidict were to move, she would have to carefully move her power with him, which is a very exhausting task. Opal reminded herself that he was smaller and human looking now, so this would be easy. She took a deep breath and began, letting her power fluctuate around her and slowly surround the creature in a blanket of high gravity. She couldn't look (or she wouldn't, instead drawing her eyes to the people nearer the enemy, Jaxon and Kieran. She hoped she was helping. The area around Malidict was slowly pushing everything down, including a car in the immediate area and (hopefully) Malidict himself. She continued to make the force of gravity stronger and stronger until everything around the area would almost certainly collapse in on itself or be squished into pavement.

Opal was breathing hard by this point, her toes curling into her Mary-Janes and her teeth gritting. She was loosing energy quickly, and even with with Ella making her insides all happy and calm, she was still hurting, her stomach knotting and unknotting as she tried to maintain constant force, never allowing it to go far enough to kill the creature completely or let it stand up. It was like the pen on a bigger scale, and she had to keep pushing down and letting up or it would go to far in either direction.

"Hurry up" she yelled through gritted teeth, hoping Jaxon or Kieran would hear her so she could stop this quickly, because she was running out of energy very quickly.


(gah. That was horrid... hopefully I'll get into the groove of this again soon)

After being insulted by Amon, Aberdeen tried to shrug it off, ignoring him and focusing on the mission. However, she was still bothered knowing that unlike many of the Magni here, she has very limited knowledge on Magni, demons, and even her own powers. She had witnessed Kieran and Connor display such amazing magical prowess when she couldn’t even muster some aggressive powers. She tried to get her mind on something else and ended up with thinking about Melody’s responses.

“Boys get to do their manly things, the others get to sit back and watch while they pull into a thingamajiggy, then we all get to kick one percent of the things buttocks. Toht-a-lee got it, girl.”

Although Aberdeen had to admit this wasn’t exactly something different and that it was true, she couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the sarcastic way Melody summarized what Aberdeen had said. She smiled a bit remembering how she told her not to feel sorry and the thanks, even though she called it “pointless information.” Then she remembered she was in the middle of a monster battle, so she made sure to straighten out her face and get serious, keeping a footnote to talk to more people to get more responses like Melody’s. She started becoming curious about the other Magni.

Thinking about this, she almost missed Kirie’s response saying that they must wait until the attack starts which should be no problem. However, the monster had sent a shockwave knocking things down and revealed his true self…a human male who seemed malnourished with dark armor. What caught her eye was a pitch black orb of darkness that seemed to be latched onto the chest. “That black orb…is that his weak point? Or perhaps…his power source?” Aberdeen thought to herself, though unknowingly she said it out loud. She then wondered whether this boy was really himself or if he was controlled. She couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorry for the state the boy was in. Those feelings soon changed when the buildings started to crumble away by the influence of some sort of beam and the debris began falling towards her and the others. Luckily, Jayson had created a large plant barrier that kept the debris from falling on to them. Looking back at the now human formed monster smiling, Aberdeen wondered how this came to be and whether he is actually doing this on his own will or not. Still, they had to stop him, and Aberdeen focused on the plan.

Opal seemed to be in concentration and using her powers, for things around the monster like a car seemed to be making eerie screeching noises as though a powerful force was pushing on them. She can see that her friend was working really hard by the large amount of breathing she made. Opal yelled, “Hurry up!” clearly in pain from using a lot of energy. Worried about her friend and wanting to take part, Aberdeen called out to Kirie and Amon saying, “We gotta help her!” and ran out to Opal. Aberdeen called Lucy, realizing that Lucy had vanished ever since the fight to some sort of shadows, and asked her to help and assist Opal with her own magic. Lucy agreed and sent energy to Opal, hoping that it would be enough to sustain her while others react.

Finding a spot that was a short distance away from Opal, Aberdeen then did as she was told before, turning herself invisible and translucent whilst unleashing a lot of energy to draw Maledict in further. She remembered his lust for magic and power, and hoped that in his greed he would try to go for her, the more vulnerable one, without stopping to get away from Opal’s gravity. Hopefully Jaxon or Kieran can end the monster’s, Opal’s, Aberdeen’s and anyone else’s misery and finally finish the fight.

Before Kieran taunted the beast he listened to Melody's words but chose not to respond, knowing that silence was the best way to get his way. “C'mon! You're asking me to do the impossible.” she groaned, her eyes meeting Kieran's determined eyes. “I...” she began but then stopped herself “Ugh... Fine.”
“Go have your little game. But you owe me big time, buster!” she said attempting to smile but Kieran saw that in waisn't the genuine smile he was so used to seeing. “I'm serious, and this time you can't sate me with a cake or something simple.” she said before walking away. "I'll pay whatever you ask, just stay safe." Kieran thought to himself.





Kieran felt a hand on his shoulder and when he turned he saw Jaxon, he thought he had heard Jaxon say something about backing him up, but Kieran wasn't gonna have any of that. "Hey there Kieran you're sparking just like my dorm mate in the back. If it wasn't for the fact my hand is in another dimension I'd probably be in some pain no?" Jaxon smirked before continuing. "Alright hero you're the star of the show for now and I'm here to fight with you so you don't screw up. That said we'll start our attack as soon as it charges, when it does get ready to move I have Opal on standby to help us out. That said the others are there to protect those who can't fight so it's just you and me for right now. Alright here we go things are about to get interesting..." Kieran laughed "No, you see your hand might be safe now, but I have no idea what is gonna happen when I decide to let go. I have NEVER been able to produce more than a small spark, and we all saw what happened last time I let go. I'm gonna go ape shit and kick this things ass and you are gonna go be all the way over there" Kieran said pointing towards Opal, "where I won't hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone, but dad always said I was stronger than Connor, Connor only beats me cause he actually studies. So if he can nearly beat that thing, I think I got a shot. And believe what you want but he told me I could do this, I didn't think I could but he believes in me. Why don't you just back off a bit and let me do my thing. If I get in trouble then you and Opal can come help. I don't have a death wish or anything but that fucker killed my brother, it is MY right to stop it." Kieran said fiercely, it would have been impossible to miss the difference in Kieran's demeanor when compared to his usual joking self, he was dead serious about doing this alone. When Jaxon didn't leave Keiran turned back to him, "Dude I'm serious just get the hell out of here, if I didn't want Melody, or Hans helping me why would I ask you?" He said hoping that he would get the picture and leave.


The creature shook in response to Kieran's taunts and Kieran was instantly focused and paid no attention to whether or not Jaxon left, but for both their sakes he hoped he was. A thick black shockwave emanated out of the character Kieran and Nox responded instinctively and shifted into their shadow forms and were not affected by the blast, they did not see how it affected the others but it did seem quite destructive. When Keiran and Nox popped back up they saw a skinny man a little taller than Kieran with extremities covered in dark armor. His hair was long and grey and his eyes were empty. The man had a massive sword in its hand. In its chest laid a sphere of black. [ i]"probably a weak point"[/i] Kieran thought to himself before the beast spoke. “Ah, much better…what’s that, whelp? A challenge…very well. I’m going to enjoy making you scream to high heaven!” the man threatened, "I like your hair, what kind of conditioner do you use?" Kieran asked with a chuckle. The creature leaped into the air and came down striking his sword on the ground and physical shadows erupted out of the ground flipping cars and the like. Then he launched a beam sending rubble falling towards the magni but they were saved by a wall of vines and roots that grew out of the ground stopping the rubble and protecting them. He then began flailing his tentacles all over the place. "Desperate much?" Kieran said hoping the taunts would enrage him. It would seem Kieran had his attention, as the man beast thing approached Kieran sword in hand. "Ah ready for me are ya?" Kieran said, but the cocky undertones in his voice were gone, Kieran was all business.

"Well this is it Connor, I'm gonna beat that thing." Kieran thought as he stepped towards the beast, not caring about the sword, he could deal with that. Kieran's anger grew again as he looked at the thing, this is the being that killed his brother, and damn near killed his friend, girlfriend, whatever Melody was to him, he cared for her. As his anger grew the intensity of the electricity surrounding him grew, flames sprung up, the water and rocks were whipped up by the wind. Much like before excepted it was even less orderly, even more violent, these powers were acting on their own Kieran was just a conduit. Kieran was making the first and biggest mistake any Magni could make, one he had been lectured on since he was young, "you must always be in control of your powers never let them consume you. They serve you not the other way around" Kieran's father has told the brother's that many a time but now, a loss of control was precisely what Kieran wanted. Kieran knew he couldn't control it, and if he can't control it he can't use it. But if he loses control he can at least direct it at that thing and hope something hits. Kieran began to focus and just like last time the five elements surrounded Kieran in a seven foot sphere. This time however, as the power's were much, much more violent the sphere was strong enough to pick Kieran up off the ground, he hovered about ten feet off the ground. Anything that impacted the sphere was torn to shreds and Kieran himself was afraid and was quite glad he was safe in the eye of this storm. The electricity was particularly powerful, as it was the element Kieran could actually use. The electricity around him arced as far twenty feet away from the sphere. It was a truly terrifying sight to behold this maelstrom of elemental activity was the single most violent thing that Kieran had ever seen. He almost felt sorry for the beast, almost. "Both parties have finished their preparations and are ready for battle, who will win, the pissed off little shit, or the mysterious monstrosity? Stay tuned and find out" Nox said to Kieran through their mental link, Nox was on the ground, having resumed his shadow form. He found it fun to do comentary, he was rather useless in a fight like this, sure his shadow hound form was strong, but it was purely physical nothing fancy or magical about it. Kieran however did not respond and simply ignored his friend.

Hans had gone with Melody while Kieran and Nox went to fight, Hans hasn't trained with Kieran like he did with Connor so he wouldn't be of much use. “Lore, I want you to stay back for a bit. Okay?” Melody told her little demon. “No! Melly can't go without Lorelei!” she sang, pleading for her Magni to change her mind. “No, I can't. Usually. But I want you to stay back for now, Hans will keep you safe , right?” Melody said looking Hans's way . “If anything goes wrong, I don't want you in the middle of it. Just do as I say, just this once, Lore.” Melody smiled at her demon as she said her last bit, “Well, wish me luck. We'll win this, I hope...” "Good luck Melody, don't worry Lorelie and I will be fine, I'll keep her safe. I might be small again but I'm really fast so we'll be alright. You stay safe out there too. Honestly though we shouldn't worry when Kieran loses control he's stronger than Connor, too bad Connor knew what he was doing, and Kieran never loses control." The fox responded his voice trailed off at the end as he remembered his fallen friend. But he quickly perked up again "Anyway good luck." He finished with a grin, before realizing that Melody was long gone and probably missed most of his speech. "Oh well. Hey Lore? What do you say we go find somewhere safe with a good view, I have a feeling this is gonna be a sight to see." Hans said hoping to keep the little demon calm.

Kirie

The amount of power the monster had was astounding, he did his best to avoid flying debris and such but didn’t come away unscathed much to his misfortune and Raimei’s. However something good came out of it or at least Kirie would like to think so. The monster it seemed turned out to be a young man who looked like he went to hell and back. He still wore black armor but it didn’t seem as imposing as before and like Aberdeen had pointed out there was a black shadowy orb in his chest. interesting, could Aberdeen be right? Is that his weak point? unfortunately Kirie had little time to think of such things as the creature let loose a beam of energy, eradicating nearby buildings. In which huge chunks of it came falling down to splatter them onto the pavement. Thankfully Jayson took care of their protection by creating a huge barrier made up of plants.

Regaining his bearings Kirie realized Opal had begun with her side of plan. The area around the monster looked like it was being crushed by an invisible force which it was and that force was called gravity. Though it looked like she was already reaching her limit, [i[dammit Keiran Jaxon hurry up and complete your side of the plan before it’s too late[/i] he thought in anxious. Then Aberdeen called for help or rather for him and Amon to help out Opal, and so he followed after Aberdeen not really caring if Amon was with him or not. He ran over to Opal and closed his eyes for a moment praying that his plan would work. “alright Opal I’m going to try to give you a boost! I’ve never tried this before but I’m sure it’ll work trust me on this” without even waiting for her consent, Kirie took off his glasses and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and began to channel electricity into Opal. It was the kind that would keep her body going and he gave her a small steady trickle of it. That way he wouldn’t lose consciousness and Opal wasn’t overloaded.

The man covered in shadow armor continued to slowly walk towards Kieran, his tentacles flailing about, seeming almost unaffected by Kieran's elemental onslaught. "Well, here goes nothing. One blast straight to that black orb." Kieran thought as he tried to focus the energy in to a ball in his hands. The action caused great strain and Kieran was sweating profusely but he succeeded in reining in some control off his powers, the sphere around him shrinking into a ball about the size of a basketball in his hands. He took a deep breath, thought about his brother and thrust his hands forward sending a beam of elemental shadow energy right towards the beast. The beam traveled in a straight line heading straight towards the the black orb in his chest, but right before it hit him the blast dove straight into the ground, making impact a few feet in front of Maledict. The impact was huge sending rock and debris flying everywhere, and almost surely knocked him back, but it didn't finish him as Kieran had intended. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kirean screamed with as much intensity and anger as when he watched his brother die. Kieran was out of ideas, and energy. He landed on the ground and tried to summon electricity, fire anything but he couldn't he was burn out. He took two steps towards Maledict, intending fight him hand to hand, but Kieran collapsed, falling unconscious after so much exertion.

Kieran opened his eyes and all he saw was black, "What the hell, why did I miss?" He shouted into the darkness and got no response. Eventually he saw a figure walking towards him it was ... himself? "This is weird, who the hell are you?" he called out, "I'm you, you passed out, we are in your mind." the other him called back. "Well that sure is trippy, so do you have some great revelation for me or something? Actually fuck that, just tell me how I missed. It was right on target to the last minute!" Kieran said hoping for an answer. "OH that's an easy one. You sensed something familiar in Maledict didn't you?" the other Kieran said. "Well yeah but I thought nothing of it." He responded. "Ah but you did. Or at least I did, that was Seagus, well kind of. Anyway I decided I didn't want to be responsible for his death, so we pulled the shot down at the last second." the alternate Kieran explained. "Well I'm glad you can explain all this to me, but it's probably just some sort of hallucination caused by my exhaustion" Kieran said as the figure faded away, and everything was black again.

A short while after passing out, Kieran comes to, seeing Nox's snout in his face, "Oh good you're awake now. I was almost worried about you." his friend said licking his face. "Get off me, you're not Hans." Kieran said with a weak smile. As soon as Kieran stood up he began scanning for Maledict and he saw the other's completing their plan and finishing him off. "Well guess I didn't do shit" Keiran thought. He turned away from the action and walked over to where Melody was. "Hey, so that was probably pretty stupid of me, huh?" he said as he walked up to her, stumbling and nearly falling over again. He was in a lot of pain and it was quite clear to anyone that looked at him.

Gravity is a very tricky thing, and Opal had been steady using energy for a good while, even with the help she had been given. She was weakening and her eyes were clamped tightly shut, her chest heaving as she concentrated on keeping the area a constant force. So, it was no surprise when she didn't see the tentacle coming right for her. But Ella did.

Ella slid right in front of the offending force, protecting Opal. The tentacle wrapped around her body, and she squeaked out. Her paws clawed on the sides of the plant-life that cocooned them, but she wasn't strong enough.

"Opal!" Ella yelled as she was dragged to the circle of gravity. "Keep him down! No matter what happens... keep the force up." Honestly, that was a lost cause. Opal had seen the tentacle grab Ella, and was currently having a breakdown in fear of not being able to save her. Ella's leg was only feet away from the field now, and she was desperately trying to claw her way out, her paws slapping the black mass.

Opal's powers were going absolutely haywire, lights bending down and popping, and the force around Malidict increasing tenfold with out her permission. Yet Ella was still being dragged, and Opal had to get herself under control. She took a deep breath and let go of some of the area around Malidict, focusing her power on a smaller area. That would save her time. Slowly, she inched it back, but her power was still very out of her control and she couldn't get as close as she wanted. She couldn't stand it anymore, she jumped through the hole of the plants and ran forward, grabbing Ella and pulling her swiftly back. Of course, that set off another tentacle that wrapped around Opal's body, so there was that.

"Ells!" Opal yelled, as her gravity field shrunk back more. She could see it as a mass thing, though most couldn't. pulsing red in her vision. Slowly, she inched it back as best she could, focusing on it. She could feel it back up slowly, but she was still not in control. Her hands reached out for Ella and her face was set in a permanent scream. Her fingers scrapped over the black mass that wrapped around her. She knew it wouldn't help, but it still made her feel slightly better. Then she saw something. An orb-shape in the center of the creature's chest. A life force, perhaps? She took a deep breath as she stilled her body as much as possible while in horrible fear, and tried her best to get control again, and let go of all the gravity.

Even though they were still being dragged, it felt like an improvement of not being crushed to death and she was calmer and more in control. Or as much as she could be with a thrashing Ella to her right and a thing dragging her to a monster. So not so much in control. Her face showed lots of fear, but her body was limp and her tongue was out slightly. They were only five or so yards away from him now, and she knew she had to put a stop to that. So, slowly, she increased her own gravity and Ella's, until they were on the ground and almost immovable. The tentacles pulled at her, but they couldn't move her now. She then set out on putting most of her energy onto the orb, doing her best to crush it.

Jayson had managed to stand albeit wobbly but she was standing until a tentacle came at her. Her vision was becoming blurred so it seemed as if there were three of them coming at her rather than just one like there actually was. Even so when it got hold of her ankle she fought like hell to try and get if off though it was futile. It pulled at her ankle strong enough to make her lose her balance and fall to the ground scarping up her left knee in the process. "Dammit she muttered." for a moment or two it felt like she was in a horror movie where she was being dragged by her ankle in the ground trying to claw at the gravel to stop from being pulled it but again it was futile. She looked back to see what was happening and why she heard yelling from Opal. It was then she saw the same thing Opal did.

She saw the black orb in his chest. Jayson deduced Opal was aiming for it as it must've been his energy force. Now the image of a horror movie was gone as she let go and let the tentacle slide her across the ground. "Jayson!" Puru screamed tyng to get at her. "Puru it's okay. I'll be fine. Don't worry about it." she weakly smiled before pulled near Opal had been. As soon as she was close enough she seized the chance to break down the cocoon Opal had previously been in and use it for something else. The vines were thicker and stronger and wrapped around the tentacle that was attached to her ankle. It was still drawing her in closer but now that the vines had wrapped fully around it and tightened the pull was slower and weaker. Of course she was sill being pulled but now the vines had their own force that was pulling at the vines in the opposite direction subsequently slowing them.

Though half of the vines that made up the cocoon were around the tentacle the other hald were free and now fastly they suddenly aimed at the orb strong enough the put a hole in a truck if in that situation. She just hoped it'd make it there and that it would work correctly. They were thick so it was hard to cut them and at the speed and strength of them it was even more difficult to stop them. Depending how strong the orb was was also an important variable in this situation. Also she felt herself becoming weaker by the minute. Her vision kept blurring at times and she felt like wanting to pass out and not wake up for a few days but she had to remain strong now. If she passed out now the vines would return where they were intially in the ground and she'd no longer be able to put up a fight. Jayson couldn't allow that. Not now when it wasn't just her trying to complete the same task.

"No, you see your hand might be safe now, but I have no idea what is gonna happen when I decide to let go. I have NEVER been able to produce more than a small spark, and we all saw what happened last time I let go. I'm gonna go ape shit and kick this things ass and you are gonna go be all the way over there" Following Kieran's hand over to where Opal was he smirked but Kieran continued. "where I won't hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone, but dad always said I was stronger than Connor, Connor only beats me cause he actually studies. So if he can nearly beat that thing, I think I got a shot. And believe what you want but he told me I could do this, I didn't think I could but he believes in me. Why don't you just back off a bit and let me do my thing. If I get in trouble then you and Opal can come help. I don't have a death wish or anything but that fucker killed my brother, it is MY right to stop it." Jaxon stood there completely annoyed, and just started speaking to him. "Are you fucking kidding me? Your right? Unlike the others I'm not gonna baby talk you through it, your brother is dead, end of story. What you need now is the truth not pretty words to dance around to help cope with this fact, nothing else. But here's the thing, it's not your right to defeat him it's all of ours, he was our classmate too. And I for one--" Jaxon half way through his rant was cut short by a glare from Kieran with the following sentence in response. "Dude I'm serious just get the hell out of here, if I didn't want Melody, or Hans helping me why would I ask you?"

Right after he said this the monster exploded in an aura of darkness which Jaxon instinctively changed his dimensional structure and let the blow pass through him harmlessly along with all of the debris that came with it. After this had been done, the monster had seemed to shed it's armor when Jaxon felt something.... different about it. Focusing on his own aura he extended to the monster and felt a secondary presence imbedded in its chest. "What is that?..." Having this said the monster spoke arrogantly towards Kieran. “Ah, much better…what’s that, whelp? A challenge…very well. I’m going to enjoy making you scream to high heaven!”

After this had happened Kieran had started taunting the thing and then began his onslaught of the beast using a lot of power that honestly caught Jaxon by surprise and had to flash warp a few feet away just to stay out of the minimum range of it all. Sadly just after this though Kieran tried to end it all by firing a beam at the thing's chest but apparently didn't have the energy for it all and the beam fell short of it, to where Kieran collapsed right where he was. 'Idiot.... I tried to tell him but... whatever.' After shaking this thought from his head the monster started forward towards him but stopped as the ground below him started to break away. "Good this works in my favor then!" Quickly Jaxon then flashed warped back into the fray but had just enough time to Flash Warp Kieran away from the battle only to be attacked by a tentacle. Struggling against the thing he slipped out of its grip by yet again changing his dimension only to see Opal and Jayson getting dragged by the thing.

'Now I have to save these guys? Wow this is just not my day is it now?.... Whatever I have plans for taking this thing down but allies come first.' Takinlg a deep breath he flash warped to Opal first so that the vine that Jayson had sent to attack the monster could finish it's attack. "Hey how's it going? I thought I asked Kirie to protect you guys but look who's here instead. Now hold on I've never flash warped another person besides Kieran but he was out cold so I don't know how you'll feel afterward!" That said he grabbed both Ella and Opal and warped them toward Aberdeen and the others, and quickly started his next jump to Jayson. "Alright here's warp number 2, Jayson keep calm and continue with the vines if you can." Taking a deep breath he warped her to where the others were and looked over to the monster.

"This is where it ends monster, I know about you and your little secret. So either surrender now or that orb on your chest is done for got it?" Closing his eyes he spoke to Tama quietly. "Do we still have enough energy?" "We will if we use the junction." "Alright start it up I'm counting on you buddy." "You got it Jax.... JUNCTION START!" Right after their little conversation a figure resembling a blade had appeared to run down from Jaxon's forearm to his finger tips and with each movement of his arm, where the blade would be only distortions in the air were created. "Ready or not, here I come!" With this he started charging the monster flash warping every couple of steps towards it. "Here I go, Try and stop me monster! This sword is able to cut through dimensions, what chance do you have?" With that last line stated Jaxon swung straight for the orb on the monster chest. "Checkmate..."

Sand…sand and dust. That is the only thing Maledict bleeds. The blade may not have damaged the orb, but it glinted off and tore through the already dying body that Maledict control. The last of the fusion creature’s energy went into healing itself before Maledict began trembling violently. “N…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I…MUST…EXIST!! IT’S WHY I’M HERE!!!! “Then one of Maledict’s eyes filled in, becoming green, and alive. It looked to the other eye, still empty and white. A voice of a young man, though raspy, was full of life. “It’s over…this can’t continue.” “But…” “This is my body, not yours. You did your job. Now, you’re no longer needed.” “YOU CAN’T…” “Watch me.” Maledict screamed and bellowed as energy began consuming the creature. Out of desperation, Maledict launched one final attack at the base of a nearby skyscraper, causing it to begin collapsing towards himself. Falling to one knee, a now awoken Seagus was in control and stood up and looked at those responsible for stopping Maledict, then to the building. It was falling too fast. With the last of the power of the fusion, Seagus used a massive wave of shadow constructs to push all the people who had participated in the battle a safe distance away from the falling structure as rubble began to rain down upon him. He smiled. Finally, this madness was over. He waved them goodbye as he turned around. “It’s funny, all this time, I thought I would never figure out the way out, but…” He gripped the orb, recognizing it as the body of his demon partner, Malice, who was also involved in the fusion. “It was right here, the whole time. Do you think…we’ll get to start anew, right our wrongs?” The building was no almost upon them, the magic physical enhancements sustaining Seagus. “Well…” He laughed as hard and happily as he could, as a free man! “Here is our chance to find out!” With that, Seagus yanked Malice from his chest as all the energy they shared began arcing in all directions as it sought a place to go. Then, as the building began falling, a large blue fire explosion of raw energy blew a large crater in the building in the debris.

The dust has settled, the building having completed its journey to the ground. A large crater in its ruins, a young man with dark hair lays unconscious, holding a black orb in his hand. The orb then began floating. “Seagus!” The voice of a young woman emanated from the orb as the auras that surrounded it began to solidify. A body, pure pitch black save for white hair, lifted Seagus’s limp form onto her back. She couldn’t help but be amazed at how light he was now. No, cry later, Seagus needs help! She began carrying him out of the ruins. “Someone…help!”

Jayson had been helped by Jaxon and was glad it was finally over she couldn't react. She could no longer fight and could no longer even stand. Suddenly her vision was more blurred than prior. As she managed to make her way a bit farther from the aftermath of it all she heard Puru rushing over to her, hitting her with his paw. "Jayson, c'mon you gotta stay awake!" Jayson grumbled something incoherent before looking over at Puru and in her sight it looked like there was three of him. His paw tapped her face continuously trying to gain her attention but failed in doing so.

"Jayson you've got to stay awake. he said but it was futile. She had no energy left, this proven by the vines that she was just controlling had went immediately went back into the ground where they initially were. She closed her eyes was out for a few moments before Puru's voice cut through. "We need help here as well!" Puru shouted. Jayson finally gave in and passed out from how much energy she exerted despite what little energy she had to begin with. She was glad they had accomplished what they set out to do. Before she passed out though she had hoped that whomever it was that was taken over was going to be okay.

It’s been a few(3) day since the field trip to the Human City. While there a monster arrives and begins to terrorize the city, decimating a quarter of it. In turn the visiting Magni took it into their own hands and tried to stop this monster. After a long battle the Magni finally defeated this monster now known as Maledict, however it came at a terrible price. The life of Connor Flanagan the brother of Kieran lost his life in fighting Maledict.

The students and teacher later realized that Maledict was in fact a young Magni who had fused with his demon and thus created the alternate persona; Maledict who thought only of protecting its Magni at first. Now after all that’s happened Ms. Brumfield was greeted by a room ransacked for what no one will really know. But it seems the new transfer student Li Wen had a hand in it as the Headmaster has sealed his abilities away for the time being and is now on probation along with Seagus their trial student who along with Li had his abilities sealed away. Their demons own abilities have been restricted so they will be unable to perform at their best.

Now that a few days has passed since then Ms. Brumfield has brought her students to the arena where they once had to fight one another, but instead of a duel the students are to participate in a game of capture the flag. The usual rules still apply and you have permission to use your abilities however you cannot use them once you reach the area around the flag which is a neutral zone.

The teams are as listed below:
Team A (May make a name of their own if they choose to do so)
-Kirie Askumoto
-Melody Mckinley
-Cassandra Banks
-Opal King
- Kieran Flanagan
Team B (May make a name of their own if they choose to do so)
-Jaxon Rhys
-Jayson Goldsworthy
-Mallory Banks
-Amaya Sokeitsu
-Venice Mikaelo

No one is allowed to sit out on this no matter the reason. The only ones however who will be unable to participate are Li Wen and Seagus Deaves due to being on probation, the only acception to this rule is if one of the teams is short on a player during the game. As well as Aberdeen Andrews who has been holed up in her room since the trip back from the city. No one has seen the young Magni very much not even the demons have seen Luciana very much either. Ms. Brumfield has left that alone under the impression Aberdeen is sick for the time being and will not delve into the girls business.

3 new students have been welcomed to Ms. Brumfields class which are Amaya Sokeitsu, a clumsy red head who is an acquaintance of Kirie, and the two sisters Cassandra and Mallory Banks, whose father is a teacher at the academy and is known for his inventions.

The setting starts off with both teams making plans on how to win Capture the Flag. However due to the circumstances of some of the Magni, namely Jaxon Rhys and Kieran Flanagan, whose abilities allow them a means of teleportation without any interference from the opposing team. They are given the handi-cap of not being able to use said ability if they are in possession of the flag.

Two days earlier…
Mallory got off the plane to find the airport in complete chaos. “Wow…what happened?” The National Guard was here, too…no doubt to help secure this place. But still, wasn’t this a bit much? Well, that’s what she thought at first, until she saw the footage of the city, entire buildings destroyed, the obituaries, and the mysterious events that caused it. They were claiming a hijacking did all the damage; apparently 3 hi jacked planes smashed into the city. Or, so the story goes. “Mallory?!” “Oh, Captain Rhodes!” “How’s my little snowflake?!” The captain, Randy Rhodes, had been a family friend of the Banks for years and years, every now and then watching Mallory, or Snowflake, as he called her, due to her hair and skin tone. Whenever her father went on a business trip, Rhodes was there to watch her since her mother had walked out. The two hugged and laughed when two soldiers ogled her. The captain looked at them sternly and they looked away rather quickly. “So, how’s your dad doing?” “He’s doing great! I heard he’s working on some new stuff!” “Heh, I owe that man my right leg, literally. If he hadn’t fixed me up, I’d be in a wheel chair or crutches. So where did you come back from?” “Germany. It was alittle cold but it was a wonderful trip.” “Ja?” Mallory laughed. “Ja!” “So, I take it you want to go to your dad’s house?” “Yeah, but this security is so thick. What happened?” “The city was attacked; a lot of stuff went down during the event. From what I know, they’re still looking through the wreckage. You…want to go to the school don’t you?” Unlike much of the military, Randy Rhodes knew all about the Magni. He had to; otherwise he would not be able to watch her when she was little. He also, after much consultation between Henry and the Headmaster, was entrusted with a key to the portal for emergencies only. The captain and Mallory gathered her luggage and loaded up a military jeep. Rhodes turned off the GPS before driving Mallory to the school.

An hour later…

“You know, I’m used to all this magic stuff, but godamn! It always freaks me out.” Mallory chuckled. “Your reaction is pretty understandable. In fact, it’s a great reaction. My mom…walked out on my dad and I when she found out. You, on the other hand, just get a little freaked out.” This was their conversation while unloading the jeep in the Academy. They carried the luggage to her room. “Now, I have a post to return to.” “At ease, Captain!” They saluted and smiled. Then they hugged one more time before Captain Rhodes exited the Academy. Mallory began unpacking when a rather large shadow appeared in her doorway. Then someone tackled her and both her and her attacker fell on the bed. The attacker grabbed a weapon and hit Mallory in the head with…a pillow? Mallory looked up to see the grinning face of none other than Cassa. Mallory pushed her off and grabbed a pillow and they both engaged in a pillow fight, laughing their asses off while hitting each other with bags of bird feathers. Finally, after about 20 minutes of being less mature than 5th graders, they hugged and laughed. “Welcome back!’ Cassa shouted, her strong embrace slightly crushing Mallory’s rib cage. “I missed you too, Cassa!” Mallory said in between breathes. Nass, who was on the ground, was looking up. “I missed you t-AGH!” Cassa gave Nass a well deserved kick. “Cassa, you have to tell me everything that’s happened since I’ve been gone!”

Down beneath the school…

Professor Henry Banks had always welcomed the unexpected. However, that doesn’t mean he always liked what he found. A young man, no doubt a Magni, was brought to him for medical examinations. What he found, or rather what he HADN’T had surprised him more than anything. This child, this young man…had no organs. And yet…he was alive? How? No doubt his powers have some role in it, but to possess no functional organs? It was beyond belief. “Hmm, I suppose that’s what happens when you don’t eat or drink for an entire year! And you said he was a fusion?” “Yes, Henry. For the 500th time, he was a fusion.” The Headmaster examined the X-rays and the MRI scans. “Why do you take such interest in that topic, Banks?” “Well, not only is this the first fusion Magni to be seen in centuries, but he’s ALIVE! Fusions usually die once the spell is deactivated. Either that or their powers burn out. What I’m seeing here, however, is neither. You said he still had powers to seal away, and from the looks of his body, I can see why the seals didn’t need to be that powerful. His powers…they’re being used as a life support system. In a way, he’s not alive at all.” “Yet, you can change this?” Banks looked at the headmaster with a look that screamed, ‘are you serious right now?’ The headmaster shrugged. “Very well, fix him up.” “Just so you know, sir. After I fix him up, you’re going to have to fix those seals. No doubt, his powers will be quite improved once I get his body repaired.” “Noted. Also, your daughter is back from Germany.” “…Really? That’s great! I’ll go see her as soon as I get this started!” The young man, now known as Seagus Deaves , was place on a circular platform. Its twin hung 15 feet above it. Henry pressed a button and both platforms roared to life as Seagus was lifted by an invisible force produced by the two discs. Once Seagus was upright, Banks slowly turned a dial until it was in full power. Seagus, unconscious, was now in the center of a bright column of light, a powerful beam of radiation and Banks’ magic, permeating his body and skin, slowly rebuilding his organs. With a satisfied nod, Professor Banks went to go see his daughters.

Present…

Mallory and Cassandra have geared up for capture the flag. Both Disturbix and Maelstrom present, they headed to the arena to meet up with their team mates. “Good luck, Cassa!” “You too, Mal. I won’t go easy on you.” “Good!”

Aberdeen heard that the others were going to be playing “Capture the Flag” and smiled but quickly changed her expression to a frown. She didn’t have the strength to get up and go play with the others. Heck she didn’t even feel like going out of her room for the past few days since the defeat of Maledict which was rumored to be the fusion of a Magni named Seagus and his demon. She only went out to do the essentials like eating and going to the bathroom. Actually she wouldn’t have had the energy to do those things as well, but her demon Luciana made sure to force her to get up and at least take care of herself.

Luciana wasn’t sure why Aberdeen was acting the way that she was. She figured that Aberdeen was probably being her usual depressed self when she felt useless. Aberdeen had at times complained about how she was a pointless figure in battle, offering a shitty plan, having powers that only attracted the monster to herself, and worse of all, not having the strength to save anyone. Connor had died, Melody was almost killed, Kieran and Jaxon had to use a lot of strength, and everyone else had been ensnared by the tentacles, and what did Aberdeen do? Nothing. Just stand there confused and frozen. Lucy knew what Aberdeen would do when she would be depressed so she had to make sure Aberdeen didn’t self harm herself; however she couldn’t stop her all the time. Sometimes, Aberdeen would grab her fighting knife and carve symbols she had read about in books that would bring her death. Her scars were still there on her arms, but she hid them and forced Luciana not to inform the nurses of her addiction to self injury. Other times Aberdeen would grab some of her disposable rag dolls that each resembled her likeness and abuse them by slitting their throats, punching them like crazy, gouging their eyes out, and other horrible deeds. She would say ”Okay I can’t hurt myself, I’ll just hurt the “other me’s” and continue her abuse. Lucy was lost by her Magni’s silence and violence. However, this time she decided to speak.

“I can’t do capture the flag…I’m useless in that game for any team,” Aberdeen said pessimistically while lying down on her stomach.

”Sure you can Abby. You love capture the flag! You would use your invisibility when no one was looking to secretly grab the flag and make it look like someone else did,” Luciana said reminiscing the times she saw her Magni happy.

”That was when everyone was normal and I wasn’t. Here everyone is talented and I’m…I’m just weak compared to everyone else,” Aberdeen said with eyes downcast.

”Abby! Sure everyone here has talents but so do you! I know you think you cannot do much but you gotta have confidence in yourself!”

Aberdeen couldn’t take it anymore. Lucy kept on trying to keep her happy but Aberdeen just couldn’t believe she would be any good because of what had happened. She couldn’t contain the secret reason why she had been in a slump this whole time and burst out.

”LUCY I CAN’T BECAUSE I COULDN’T PROTECT MOM, DAD, or GRANDMA OKAY!!?!?”

At this point, Aberdeen covered her face with her pillow and started crying. Tears kept streaming from her eyes as she recounted the phone call she received from her cell phone.

---

~A FEW DAYS AGO~

Aberdeen heard her cell phone ring in the tone “Symposium Magarum” thinking how ominous sounding it is for what had transpired. She decided she would change it to a happier tone later and for now decided answering it. Her mother’s name appeared on the screen of her phone and she wondered whether her parents had found out about the city’s destruction.

”Hello?” Aberdeen asked.

“Is this Aberdeen Andrews?” A man’s voice said.

Aberdeen was confused as to why someone else was on the phone. It didn’t even sound like her dad or anyone else she’d know. She wasn’t sure whether to say yes but she figured that they wouldn’t be able to find her anyway if she was in the Liuena barrier. Speaking of which, phone calls seem to still work within it.

“Y-Yes, this is Aberdeen Andrews. What do you want with me?”

“My name is Dr. Sanders. We’re sorry to inform you, Aberdeen, but your parents are in the hospital in serious condition and your grandmother Alma…passed away last night.”

Aberdeen froze in her place with her sight seemingly fading in and out. She couldn’t believe what this man was saying. She slammed the front door shut and locked it, then finally asked, “How…?”

“Your family was in the city while it happened. I don’t know the details but it seemed that your grandmother was crushed in the large debris and your parents were knocked down and unconscious. They haven’t woken up yet…we’ll keep tabs on them and inform you if they do but it might be awhile. They are being treated in St. Michael’s Hospital and-“

Aberdeen pressed the end call button and hung up. She didn’t want to see anyone…not even her parents and just sat in her room all day crying.

---

After crying for a long while, Aberdeen explain to Lucy the phone call. Luciana listened faithfully to her Magni and behind her mask she expressed much grief over her loss. Lucy then tried to convince Aberdeen by saying, “Abby how is it your fault?”
“If I was strong enough…if I somehow had those seeing powers that Alma told me she had…I could’ve predicted they would go to the city and be in danger. I could’ve warn them… or I could’ve protected them! If only…”

Suddenly the air in the room began to stir and turn freezing cold. Aberdeen shivered in her spot hugging herself to keep warm while Lucy stayed in front of her on her guard.

“Abby, I feel an ominous presence, watch out!”

Aberdeen stayed on her toes trying to sense and see the presence. It was really really strong, as though there were multiple spirits in her room. She could hear them chanting something to her.

“Vengeance….Vengeance…Kill for the Vengeance…”

“What do you want from me??” Aberdeen yelled.

”Use your vengeance…kill for vengeance…”

Suddenly Aberdeen felt dizzy and fainted, the world above her turning black. She did see a familiar three familiar people: Connor, Grandma Alma, and the ghost girl in white.

---

When Aberdeen awoke, she wasn’t in her room anymore but in a different room that had medical equipment. Aberdeen was confused as to why she was in here because she doesn’t remember even getting out of her room. She tried to get up but something was on top of her. She threw whatever it was off of her and took a closer look. Aberdeen gasped upon looking at Seagus who was unconscious and bleeding on his arms. She listened to his breathing hoping that he was still alive, and upon hearing faint breaths coming out of his mouth Aberdeen relaxed a bit. Looking closer at his arms, Aberdeen noticed Japanese symbols carved in his arms (here). She wondered what the symbols meant and who carved them on there. Realizing she was holding something she looked at her hands and was shocked to find herself holding her fighting knife covered in blood! Not only that, her arms were also with new cuts that were closer to her hands than her previous ones. They had the same symbols as Seagus did on his arm. Aberdeen freaked out looking left and right trying to figure out if anyone has or would see her like this.

”Did I do this!?! Wha…what happened!?!?”

Aberdeen looked around the room and saw two disks that were broken next to Seagus and the room in disarray as though a struggle had occurred. She didn’t want to be caught like this with her bloody knife and unconscious Seagus, so she decided to run for it. Aberdeen found some bandages and wrapped her arms so that the bloody message wouldn’t be seen. She didn’t wrap Seagus because she figured they would notice something like that right away and she wouldn’t want to leave prints to her. ”Prints!” Aberdeen thought. What if I touched something?? Aberdeen began to get a cloth and started wiping Seagus, the disks, the area of the floor she was lying on, cabinets she opened to get the supplies, and random objects that were disturbed. She didn’t think she’d get to all of them but she tried her best. Afterwards she used the cloth to wipe her bloody knife, wrapped the bloody cloth with another, and placed it inside her pocket tightly in so that no one would notice. She then sheathed her knife and turned invisible and intangible in case she happened to bump into someone. Aberdeen rushed to her room as silently as possible. When she got to her bed she closed her door and collapsed on her bed, trying to act casual as she wondered what the hell just happened.

Seagus woke up to find the very room around him was trashed, as well as the equipment smashed. What had happened? Seagus stood up, the weight of his body almost crushing his frail and feeble legs. He looked over at a glass panel. For the first time he saw for himself what he really was: weak. He could barely walk, his body was lead, and the very air around him felt heavy. 'Malice, Malice, I need you!' "I'm right here!" Seagus fell over but was caught by to pitch black, feminine arms of none other than Malice, his demon partner. Her white hair, which she had tied into a ponytail, moved even without wind. She hoisted Seagus up and then onto a seat. "Wow, you're ligth a feather now. How do you feel?" 'Horrible...' "Obviously. You weren't supposed to come out of there for a little while." Then she felt his upper torso to assess the damage. She withdrew her hands in shock at what she found, then she looked down sadly and shook her head. 'Malice...' "I'm sorry Seagus. I really am. I...I can't help but feel that I did this to you..." 'Hey! We're not going to make any progress with sulking. We can grieve for what happened after we get t o the bottom of this.' "You're right." She sighed in resignation. "You're always right." 'C'mon, I need your help. I feel horrid.' Malice helped hoiste Seagus halfway onto her back and they set out to find Doctor Banks. That's when Seagus noticed two things: The marks on his arm, and the security cameras in the lab. Maybe...

Malice began to slowly dissolve into shadow once more. ‘Malice, what’s happening?’ “I don’t know, Seagus…something’s restraining my power…I-I can-“Malice turned back into an orb, leaving Seagus to fall onto his back. They had made it outside, out of the hallways that led beneath the school. Seagus winced as a single raindrop fell against his cheek. Then another. Then 10 more. Then hundreds. It was a very gentle rain, like that of a lukewarm shower. Seagus heaved and coughed, blood and bits of his unfinished organs coming up. He had never felt so weak in his life. So useless. So helpless. Malice floated next to him. Even though she had no face, he could tell what she was feeling. This was due to the extremely strong mental bond that connected their thoughts. “Seagus, are you ok?” ‘I think I will be. What about you? I haven’t asked about your wellbeing yet, now have I?’ “Ha, a true gentleman. But we both know I’m fine.” The first part was said sarcastically. Malice could be a real smartass at times. It was just how she was. But Seagus new the affection beneath her words for him. So he smiled. Then he spit a piece of flesh out of his mouth. ‘God, I taste awful! No, not another-‘ Seagus hacked again, more blood spewing out. It helped that the rain washed it off his face. ‘Ahhhhh, that’s nice.’ “You’re really happy there, aren’t you? Just lying in the grass like a lazy little cow in a field.” ‘ It’s not so bad. I don’t really feel the cold. I just feel the rain, and the promise it brings.’ “What promise, Seagus? Would you stop being a poet for one moment and talk like a normal person?” She started flying around him in high speed. “You always confuse me with your PROFOUND biblical, poetic, whatever! I don’t even know how to describe the crap that comes out your mouth! Besides, you could get pneumonia from the rain!” ‘If I had working organs, that would be true. But I don’t. As for the promise, the rain came and washed the blood off my face. Maybe a new life and a fresh slate can help wipe the blood off my hands. That’s something worth hoping for. Maybe I can even start doing good deeds with my gifts. When I get stronger…stronger…’ Seagus faded into a deep sleep as the rain fell against his skin. Malice looked at him, it was with extreme sadness. “Oh Seagus…when will you realize whose fault it really was. She flew into her Magni’s hand, the only hand she loved to be in while in this form. “Maybe you’re right. I only wish the rest of the world could hear your thoughts…”

Just after defeating the monster known as Maledict he fells to his knees right in front of the beast and was smiling to himself as the beast had started screaming to itself. "N…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I…MUST…EXIST!! IT’S WHY I’M HERE!!!!" But the thing that startled him was that the monster had started acting... Human. The thing had started talking to itself, in what seemed to be two completely different voices. Sitting there confused Jaxon stood up only to have a building come crashing down on him from the beam of energy that came from the now defeated monster. Just after this though he came to stand on his feet tired and still quite determined to fight but then he saw the boy inside the beast. The boy had such sorrow in his eyes. "H-Hey I knew it, you were human but..... how?" Before he could get an answer out he was smacked in the stomach with a wall of pure shadow. "U-ugh..." Shaking his head he looked at the collapsed building to see a giant burst of blue fire and flash warped back to see the destruction. “Someone…help!” 'What? A woman? What's she doing out here?... Wait she has that boy on his back.. His demon I'm guessing.' Shaking his head he went down into the crater and helped her with the now decrepit boy and sighed heavily. "You're an enemy but I can tell he's still alive and suffering heavily. The others might hate you but for me, you're just another boy and his demon. Now that said let's get him out of here and to where he'll be safe from harm and get medical attention alright?"

Three Days Ago
After arriving back at the academy with their enemy, Jaxon had been getting looks from both his classmates and those who had heard of the fight. Some were glares and others were looks of confusion but it was all the same to Jaxon: unneeded attention. As time went by with classes Jaxon just lost more and more focus to the idea of going to this school and was leaning more towards just skipping his classes until his magic classes began. Upon reaching his magic classes, he found that everyone had.... changed to say the least.

Sadly after class Jaxon couldn't sleep and found himself with a notebook writing out entire equations in it, some that didn't even make sense unless either read backwards, upside down, or even just piecing it around. Shaking his head Jaxon looked at the sleeping Kirie and pulled out a note from his nightstand and started writing out a small memo to himself and put it back in the nightstand. "Seems Sparky can conk out like a light but here I am unable to sleep at all... I feel watched is that normal Tama... Tama?" Looking down he also saw that the little tomcat was out cold as well. "Just great it's just me awake in this entire school... and we're not allowed to leave the dorms until morning as well." Sighing heavily he started his notes again in the notebook to be undisturbed.

The next day had been just as productive as the first one was but he decided to go to his classes only to find that like always, there was never any real challenge for him as studying has always been his forte. Upon getting to his class with the others he noticed that Aberdeen and Melody were gone yet again. "Feh... At least I had the decency to show up..." After saying this he silently started back to his notebook of many equations and started writing in it again.

On the final day before the game he didn't bother showing up and was sitting in his room now writing on the walls of the dorm room, complex algorithms and theories now littering every page of the notebook. "Tama... How many days has it been since I've slept?" "Uh... since we got back so.... this would be the third day Jax." ".... Alright just checking, I'm still within healthy parameters for sleep." Shaking his head he then pulled out the notebook and back at the walls. "Nope I got the 7th line of code mixed up with the 8th.... With that I'd need.... That's it! I forgot the imaginary numbers!" Upon reaching this conclusion he quickly scrawled on the wall what he needed opened his nightstand pulling out the note. "There we go, I'll leave this on the door so Kirie won't touch my masterpiece. Upon pinning the note to the door Jaxon passed out heavily on his bed.

Note to all Yoctograms: Any who enter this room do not touch any of the equations on the wall, floor, or notebooks. These notes were needed for the possibility of intra-dimensional travel of multiple beings by way of slip space. This testing will need for me to be at full strength so...
1. Do not disturb my sleep.
2. If it is entirely important get Tama to wake me up.
3. Upon reading this note for the CtF game, I will show up but will not participate.

Signed but not dated, Jaxon Rhys

After a few minutes, Malice was able to take on her human form again and began carrying Seagus as he slept towards the dormitories. She saw the cafeteria on the way and made a stop. Leaving Seagus on a table, she began to look at the vending machines. Her eyes widened. SODA... She searched Seagus' pockets for change but found none. In a fit of aggravation, she began punching the machine with rage. Eventually, the door swung open and cans of soda were everywhere. Malice began grabbing and chugging as many cans of soda as she could. Having a fire inside her made of the energy she used to transform, she didn't require a stomach or space, meaning she can drink to her hearts content. After she quickly downed about 32 cans of soda in about 3 minutes, she began to dissolve. "Oh no! Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" POOF. She was a ball again. "Oh crap." She tried to wake up Seagus but was unable to. No doubt the noise would attract someone close by. It would seem the dorms were close by too! Shit! Malice began flying around in panic as she tried to come up with a plan. Not good! "Not good, not good, not good, not good!"

After sitting around in her room for some while, Aberdeen got up hearing her stomach growl.

“Hmm I’m hungry. I think I’m going to get some grub. But where’s Lucy?”

Aberdeen couldn’t believe she was acting calm after what had happened but she dismissed it as just some scary dream that she didn’t want to believe. She hoped that it wasn’t real.

Aberdeen looked inside her closet, her trunk, and under her bed, but no sign of Lucy. Come to think of it, she remembered hearing Lucy warn her but she never saw Lucy in her “dream” again. Aberdeen decided to check her backpack even though Lucy was a bit too big to fit in there. Who knows, she’s a shadow. Instead of finding Lucy however, a book titled, “The Ghost Hunter’s guide” Aberdeen’s eyes widened and she put her hand to her mouth as she gasped. “Oh crap!!! I forgot to pay for this! Ahh…what the heck do I do??” Aberdeen panicked in her room a bit remembering that she slipped the book in her backpack during the fight with Maledict.

After opening her door, looking if anyone heard her, and hten shutting it again, Aberdeen decided to look inside the book again. “Hah, I already have this book and the city is in shambles. I guess I have an excuse to keep this thing!” Aberdeen thought excited with having a ghost hunting guide. Opening the book, she saw it was divided into sections. Chapter One was on The Basics to Ghost Hunting, Chapter Two was on weaponry, Chapter three was on Locations, and so on. Aberdeen skimmed to the lists of known ghosts section and read the names of known ghosts in the area until something glowing caught her eye. Golden letters glowed on top of a page in the book that said, “Only a spirit magni is capable of seeing the rest of this book.”

Aberdeen’s eyes focused on the words and scrunched her eyebrows in curiosity wondering how a book from a human store would contain knowledge of the magni, let alone a spirit one such as herself. She read on and saw more monstrous and powerful ghosts with pictures of cloaked figures emitting some sort of energy towards them, harming the creatures. “Are those…spirit magni?” Aberdeen wondered. She was getting a bit excited reading the book and hoped that it had some pointers for her. Suddenly she saw a familiar name and she turned back to the page to read, “The Vengeance.” Aberdeen recalled the “dream” once more and remembered that the voices were telling her to “kill for the Vengeance.” She suddenly closed the book not wanting to read anymore. “This can’t be real…it can’t be…” Aberdeen didn’t want to believe it and put her hands to her eyes, but just as she was about to cover them, she realized there were bandages on her arms and remembered the scene of her hurrying to cover up Seagus’s harm and the carvings and the thrashed room. Aberdeen fell back shouting, “No..No!! I didn’t…I didn’t mean to..” when Lucy entered the room intangible to the door and hugged Aberdeen.

”Abby, I was so worried about you!”

”Lucy what’s happening to me? Am I…am I becoming a killer??”

”What are you talking about Abby?”

Aberdeen then told Luciana everything that happened. Lucy’s eyes were worried behind her mask but she did her best to remain calm and nodded to show that she was listening. Lucy couldn’t believe what sort of black magic her own Magni was in and wondered how to solve this problem. What was the Vengeance and why did it choose Aberdeen?

”You said that the Vengeance was mentioned in the book that you got from the store three days ago?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, it mentioned the Vengeance but I didn’t look further into it.”

”We should give it a read and see if we can find out what this is. Maybe there’s some way we can get rid of it!”

Aberdeen was reluctant but she knew she would have to open the book again to solve this mystery. She was about to agree when her stomach rumbled again louder this time. Aberdeen turned red and then became invisible, on purpose this time.

”You must be starved Aberdeen. Come on we have to get you something to eat. Let’s go to the cafeteria. We can read there as well.”

Aberdeen agreed and they both walked towards the cafeteria wondering what food would be available at this time since the other magni were playing their game. Suddenly they heard banging noises followed by the sound of multiple items crashing downward. Aberdeen stopped in her tracks and wondered if it was the Vengeance again or if someone was there. She looked at Lucy asking in her mind if they should turn invisible just in case and Lucy agreed. They both closed their eyes and focused on invisibility and soon they were each invisible. Aberdeen made sure to quietly tiptoe inside the cafeteria hoping not to wake anyone and was shocked at what she saw. Seagus was sleeping on one of the tables and a ball of energy was flying around. ”Oh no, it’s Seagus and his demon Malice! What do I do??” Aberdeen was relieved that she was invisible but she knew that if she wasn’t careful someone could hear her. As if on cue, her stomach growled loudly and Aberdeen grabbed her stomach trying to make it quiet. ”Ahhh shut up stomach!! This isn’t the time!” Aberdeen tried to make a run for it but she tripped on one of the cans of soda and became visible again.

“Uhh…hi…er…Malliiiice?” Aberdeen said hesitantly trying to sound calm but coming out as nervous. “I don’t suppose…you have anything to eat?” Aberdeen asked thinking, ”What the hell are you doing??? Get out of there!!” She hoped she wouldn’t wake Seagus up as her arms started burning in pain. Aberdeen held her arms tightly trying to calm the burning sensation but not succeeding. She tried to maintain a calm face but she couldn’t help but flinch when the pain got even more intense.

Malice quit flying in circles as soon as soon as someone appeared as if from thin air. Malice, already in a state of complete panic, fainted and dropped to the floor in a loud CLACK! Due to the floor being slightly off balance, she rolled towards Seagus, who was beginning to wake up. 'Malice?' He slowly sat up as he stopped the ball rolling with is foot. Malice was extremely light in her ball form, even for his distrophied musculature. Hoisting her into his lap, he shook his head. 'You're such a ham...' Then he saw the girl. He waved before remembering he couldn't talk. HE found a puddle of dark soda that Malice had spilled in a rage of panic and he dipped his finger into it and wrote his name on a nearby napkin. Holding it up to the girl, he held out his hand in a hand shake gesture, then Malice woke up. She flew straight up knocking over Seagus. "Seagus! Seagus where are you?! Seagu- oh..." She transformed into her human form and helped him up and looked at the girl with curiosity at first and then, after sitting Seagus down. "What's the big idea?! Is this your idea of a good time?! Scaring us both to death? Who do you think you are?!" Malice, when angered, spoke very quickly and walked up to the girl and poked her chest as if she was truly offended. Seagus threw the girl a facial expression that suggested that Malice meant no harm. It's just the way she is. 'Again, what a ham.' As soon as the thought connected, Malice ended her barrage on the girl and turned around. "Hey! Stay out of this!" Seagus smirked and Malice began arguing with Seagus. To most, it would appear that Malice was going completely psycho bitch mode due to the fact that Seagus couldn't speak out loud. After about five minutes, Seagus held up a soda can and Malice devoured it like a bloodthirsty animal. Then, licking her fingers, she turned to the girl. "You didn't even tell us your name and you want food? Hmph, don't think so...Seagus!" Seagus walked towards the girl and handed her a Hershey's bar he picked up from Malice's wreckage. Then he beamed as Malice grumbled, shook her head, and eventually let a smile appear. That's when another girl, who had blonde hair, entered the room and Seagus waved to her as well, not noticing the strange look in the girl's eyes next to him. Malice took a defensive position between them, just in case.

Henry and the Headmaster stood side by side, gazing at the destruction before them. Then the Headmaster turned to Henry. "I know this is bad, Headmaster, but I think we can salvage it." The Headmaster looked at Henry with the most serious look he could muster. "Find him...Now!"

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

Cassa charged into battle with Disturbix drawn and ready. She took pride in her physical strength while she lacked in her powers. She knew that her sister was in there too, waiting to take her down. It wasn't personal, well, a little bit. IT was in the name of their sisterly rivalry. They competed for EVERYTHING. From games to the loudest burps, Cassa and Mallory were hands down the most competitive girls in the school, at least against each other. ITs how it always was. And it held their bond together.

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Mallory Charged with Maelstrom, ready to defend against Cassa. She needed to be quick and damaging, otherwise Cassa would land her flat on her ass. Cassa was a wrecking ball with hair and a bad temper. Unless Mallory stopped her sister, her team was in big trouble and danger. Taking Cassa 1v1 was for her alone. Powers or not, Cassa was a brutal opponent. No doubt she would make her team proud. That's why Mallory had to beat her.

Arya definitely wasn't expecting the scene that greeted her. Assorted junk food, candy, and opened soda cans littered the cafeteria, large puddles of the fizzy beverages strewn among the wreckage of what Arya assumed to be several vending machines. The place was nearly empty, save for three others; a raven-haired boy holding a chocolate bar stood next to a girl with long indigo hair, and near the two... well, it looked like a 'she', though with its ink-black skin and contrasting white hair, Arya doubted that it was human.

"Er... Uh..." Arya grunted, grasping for words. What... What is that thing? she wondered.

"Am I... interrupting something?" She finally managed, her words hesitant and choked with nervousness.

Arya thought of walking back out, but quickly decided against it That would only make me look more foolish than I probably already do.

She tried to nonchalantly look around the room, but her gaze kept coming back to the strange black-skinned creature. Curiosity overpowering her fear, she mustered up her courage and approached the white-haired entity hesitantly. "U-um... W-what are you?" she asked, her voice coming out in little more then a squeak of nervousness.

((OOC: Just so you know, this is Arya's first encounter with a Demon. Actually, this is her first encounter with any non-human entity. Haha, just imagine what she'd do if she met Amon. :) ))

Once the game had started, Opal gave a friendly smile so her teammates and ran over to an area of the field she assumed most people would ignore- it was away from the flag and away from the action that would be in the middle of the field, at least. She carefully focused herself and set up the rings she talked about around her teams flag, as well as a few larger circles further out. She honestly hoped she appeared calm- that's what she was trying to do at least. She didn't have a good opposition, so with a little luck the other team might figure they were allowing her to sit out. The only real evidence to the contrary would be her clenched fists and eyes that looked about ready to cut steal, but both of those could be put off as anger at her own team. Ella crawled up her leg onto her head, promoting an air of calm around Opal while she absentmindedly hummed a tune that Opal's mother sang fairly often when Opal was a child.

"I see the moon, the moon sees me, shining through the leaves of the old oak tree. Oh, let the light that shines on me
shine on the one I love. Over the mountain, over the sea, back where my heart is longing to be. Oh, let the light that shines on me, shine on the one I love. I hear the lark, the lark hears me singing from the leaves of the old oak tree. Oh, let the lark that sings to me sing to the one I love. Over the mountains, over the sea back where my heart is longing to be. Oh, let the lark that sings to me
sing to the one I love."" Ella stopped humming half way through and began singing, causing Opal to giggle and swat at her.

"You really aren't helping, Ells. You're about to put me to sleep!" Opal said, losing her concentration for a moment and letting one of the outer rings fall. She caught it soon enough, though, and fixed it back, still swatting at Ella every few moments, who was jumping and sliding down Opal's back in an attempt to get away from her. Ella jumped down just as Opal shook herself to remove the pesky red panda, and Ella rolled her eyes before rubbing her paw on Opal's leg. "The ground is very dirty today. I like spending the least amount of time I can on it. If you don't want me to help, I'm just going to check on Lucy and Abby. Maybe an update on her will calm you down enough to not cause your hands to lose circulation.

"That would be wonderful, Ells!" Opal said, jumping up and down. Maybe Abby would be better. Ella smiled and scuttled off the field, leaving Opal to concentrate.

Ella rushed through the doors of the room, fully intent on going to Aberdeen's room, but she stopped when she saw a sign for the cafeteria. "I wonder if they have caramel squares?" she thought before smiling lightly and turning that way, running right into the doors. The first thing she saw was a creature, a demon like herself, and a figure who seemed very week. Aberdeen was there too, as well as a girl she didn't know, so Ella to the path of least resistance and ignored them all, rushing right up to Aberdeen and rubbing against her leg like a cat. "Good to see you up and about" she said before getting a closer look at the demon figure and the man with it. Realization hit her like a brick, and she just about jumped behind Aberdeen. "What are you doing here!? You could have killed me, or worse, Opal!" she shouted, peering out and looking at the pair evilly. Then, of course, Ella noted the chocolate bar in Aberdeen's hand and looked at Seagus again. "I'll ignore you for now" with that, she turned to Abby and looked at her. "Good to see you eating. I've been very worried, and so has Opal" she said truthfully before looking at the new girl, deciding she was no threat, and turning back.

Malice perked up at a question. It was THE question to spring an entrance to. "What am I? I...am...awesoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome!" She was standing on a table with both hands in the air in a hugely dramatic display. Then, Malice look a deeper look at the girl. 'I don't think...she's seen a demon before, Malice.' Malice turned back to Seagus. "Seriously?" 'Yeah, I think you should answer her questions if she has any.' Malice pouted. "What so I'm under the microscope now? What are you playing Seagus? Why can't you...oh...right..." Malice covered her mouth with her hands as she looked at Seagus' x shaped scar directly above what used to be vocal chords. 'Geez, it's okay, Malice. I doubt you're the only one here who'll make that mistake. Seriously. And I'm not playing at anything.' Seagus started grinning in a smirkish way. 'I just thought you liked to be...interviewed?' Malice's eyes widened and she had a cheesy smile on her face. Then it turned into a pout. "Like she seriously wants to know that much about me. I know I'm awesome but still, she doesn't look too interested to meet me." Malice walked over to the girl. She was 3 inches from her face, examining the Magni. "And, just who are you?" 'Ham.' "HEY!"

Seagus looked to both the red panda and the girl he gave the chocolate bar to. 'Oh right, they were...there.' Seagus begin to slightly convulse from the memories. They were harsh ones. They also threw his powers out of whack, at least the ones not sealed. 'Mal-Malice...I need..' Seagus fell to his hands and knees and began coughing up blood and pieces of organs. 'No...not here...' Malice, who was having a conversation with the new girl (OCC: if one is occurring), ran over and lifted her Magni onto a bench in the cafeteria. Malice looked at him sadly, but he shook his head. 'Its over now. I'm okay.' For once, Malice was quiet. "But...you...you just worry me sometimes, ok? Don't do that..." 'That's right...you can feel everything through the bond.' "You need to let that go Seagus..." 'I can't. Not after what I.' Another coughing fit, and more blood was spread onto the floor again. "Just relax, okay? Don't push yourself right now." Seagus could feel her concern for him. It was almost as bad as her pity. He smiled. 'Don't worry, there's gotta be at least one person who can patch me up here. You'll see.' With that Malice noded slowly and turned back into her true form, the ball of darkness. She sadly flew around her Magni, hoping that she could help him further.

Aberdeen just stayed put observing Malice dropping to the floor making a huge clanking sound that rang out of the cafeteria. Just as she rolled and touched Seagus, Seagus opened his eyes and slowly sat up, stopping the rolling ball of shadow. After holding Malice, he turned to look at Aberdeen and waved. Aberdeen could only give back a blank stare and turn her head to the side in curiosity as Seagus dipped his finger into a dark puddle of soda and wrote his name on a napkin.

“Okay I was right it is Seagus…the guy that—“

Aberdeen’s thoughts were interrupted by the handshake gesture and Malice’s antics.

”So she has a human form I see,” Aberdeen thought. ”Who do you think I am? Who do you think you are to act so cocky when you—“

Malice came up and poked her chest, making Aberdeen’s eyes widen and clench her fists ready to attack her or the nearest thing around her. Seagus’s expression however assured her that Malice was probably just being herself like Lucy was a natural stalker and creepy. Suddenly Malice began to make odd gestures of anger to Seagus while he made facial expressions as though in communication. Aberdeen then assumed they were talking via mind like she and Lucy do, only more secretive. After five minutes Malice drank Seagus’ offered soda and then turned to Aberdeen yelling, “You didn’t even tell us your name and you want food? Hmph, don’t think so…Seagus!”

Aberdeen didn’t wish to speak. She only stared cross, not that she was very angry but she was trying to hide her stomach’s hunger and hoped that she wouldn’t growl. What shocked her was when Seagus walked to her and handed her a Hershey’s bar. Aberdeen took it and stared down into it, not noticing the blonde haired girl that walked in until she spoke, “Am I…interrupting something?” Aberdeen turned to the blonde haired girl already feeling uncomfortable and looking towards her with as much seriousness as she could. She would’ve clenched her fists but she didn’t want to ruin the chocolate bar, so she decided to vigorously take a huge bite out of it. Hungry Aberdeen also meant an angry Aberdeen and Aberdeen didn’t want to be either one right now.

After a huge bite, Aberdeen suddenly felt fur rubbing up and down her leg making her shudder. She looked down and saw Ella the red panda who greeted her, “Good to see you up and about.”Aberdeen’s cold stare turned to a slightly warmer smile and calmer eyes as she looked at the perky little panda. At first Ella growled at Seagus and Malice saying they might kill her or Opal, but then she calmed down and looked at Aberdeen again.

“Good to see you eating. I’ve been very worried, and so has Opal,” Ella said. Aberdeen then crouched down to pet Ella’s head as Lucy suddenly appeared from her invisibility and floated towards her. “Uhhh….nngg… El…lll..aa… Lucy….m..iis…” Lucy “hugged” Ella with shadowy extensions of herself and put her face..err mask.. to Ella’s head rubbing it enthusiastically. Lucy's mind however was also thinking about the newcommer. She smiled and said via mind to Ella, "Look there at the blondie.. she my knew stalking friend...hehe... wanna join? It'll be fun to scare her." While Lucy was enjoying her time with Ella, Aberdeen looked downcast thinking, ”Ella and Opal…worried about me? What am I going to tell them about what just happened to me?” Aberdeen then realized she had her one bite chocolate bar that she hadn’t finished yet so as she observed another Seagus, Malice, and unknown blonde interaction she chewed down on her chocolate bar, happy that her stomach had something rather than nothing in it.

When Malice asked the girl who she was, Aberdeen stood up and turned to the light haired girl thinking, ”Wait they don’t know who she is? What the hell is she doing here then?”Aberdeen looked cross at the girl and inspected her: long strawberry blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, thin, ivory, fragile, and…no demon. She continued to stare her down, not caring whether it was rude or not for she was highly suspicious of her. “No demon yet she’s able to cross that barrier and find this place? She looks older than me too. Then again I didn’t meet Lucy very young either…”

Her thoughts continued until she heard falling and coughing. Aberdeen turned her attention to Seagus and gasped wide eyed putting her hands over her hand as she watched Seagus cough up blood and organs. She froze and stayed where she was horrified. ”This…this wasn’t my fault right?? Wha…what’s happening to him?!”
Lucy snapped Aberdeen out of her fright when she tapped her shoulder and said via mind, “You can redeem yourself. He needs help.”

Agreeing that Lucy was right, Aberdeen spoke up and said with an urgent sound to her voice, “Lucy, Ella, you two go and find help! I think I heard of some doctor taking care of him or something.”

After Lucy and Ella left, Aberdeen stood a bit away from Seagus who was on a bench in the cafeteria. She took a close look at Seagus and noticed that he had an X shaped scar on the top of his upper throat, where vocal chords are located. “Ahh…I see… can’t speak can you?” Aberdeen thought. She wasn’t sure what she should do, but she didn’t want to move him, fearful that it would cause his condition to worsen. Suddenly Aberdeen started having flashes of the Vengeance ghost once again and she crouched to the floor, hands at her ears, trying to block out the sound of it telling her, “Kill for vengeance… let him rot and taste your vengeance…” “No…I..I don’t want to…I don’t want to kill him… please no…” Aberdeen whispered. She slowly stood up again trying to ignore the howls of the ghosts that only she could hear, and asked Malice, “What’s happening to Seagus? Should I try and um…put his organs back?” Aberdeen asked not knowing what to do exactly. She grunted in pain coming from her arms as she slowly turned to the onlooker and said in monotone, “Stay here and help. Freaked out? Your problem.”

"What am I? I...am...awesoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome!" The creature replied, drawing out the last word with a dramatic hand gesture.

Well, that's not exactly the response I was expecting... Arya chuckled silently, watching as the creature turned, apparently having some sort of one sided conversation with the raven-haired boy, whom the creature referred to as 'Seagus'. Hmm.. Some sort of telepathic bond, perhaps?

"Do you have a name? Who are you?" Arya asked the creature. "The name's Arya, by the way."

Arya glanced back at the black haired boy, wondering at the exact relationship between the two, when she noticed the x-shaped scar across his throat. He must not be able to speak; that must be why he's been silent this whole time. she realized.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ayra noticed a red haired panda approaching the indigo haired girl, wrapping around her leg and chatting with her quietly.

What IS it with all these creatures around here? What a weird place. Arya thought, closing her eyes briefly and rubbing her temples.

An all-too-familiar sound yanked Arya out of her reprieve, her eyes flying open in shock. That sound. She knew that sound. The boy, Seagus fell to the floor, coughing harshly.

Just like me... Arya couldn't help thinking. Memories of her battles with tuberculosis -and that same harsh cough, came flooding back to her, but she pushed them away, rushing over to the boy, who had been placed on a bench by the white-haired creature, whom Arya had learned was called Malice.

Another coughing fit wracked the boy, this time, spewing blood and...are those... parts of organs? she wondered incredulously. This defied all basic medical knowledge; you can't survive without your organs! What the hell IS this kid? He should be dead right now! Arya shook her head. Grah! I've gotta stop thinking about this and DO something, or he WILL be!

Arya thought she heard someone else, possibly the other girl who was here talking to her, but she couldn't be sure, she was already too wrapped up in the situation. Quickly, Arya dug through the pockets of the sweatshirt she was wearing, until she found what she needed. She tore open a small package of alcohol wipes and swabbed the boy's arm with one. Brandishing a syringe filled with an ocher colored liquid, she unceremoniously jabbed it into the teen's arm.

"There..." she murmured, half to herself. "That should stabilize him for now, but..." she looked up, only half surprised at Malice, who had somehow transformed into a small, black ball. "Malice! Is there an infirmary around here somewhere? He should be okay for right now, but he needs medical attention!" Arya shook her head slightly, wondering how he he could even be alive.

Look there at the blondie.. she my knew stalking friend...hehe... wanna join? It'll be fun to scare her." Lucy thought through her connection to Ella, causing her to smile and nod. "Of course" she thought back as smiled as much as a red panda could. Around that time, however, Seagus collapsed and began to cough, causing Ella to shudder. Lucy seemed to be talking to Aberdeen for a moment before Aberdeen nodded and told the two of them to find a nurse.

Ella nodded and scuttled off, winding her way through the halls. Her small feet ment she wasn't very fast, but she was trying her best. Eventually, they reached the nurse's quarters and Ella jumped up on the table, causing the middle-aged woman behind the counter to gasp, her demon (a small white ghost-like creature with glowing eyes that could cut off the mind so you didn't feel pain for a while) patting her on the shoulder to calm her down.

"There is a student in need of help in the cafeteria, miss. Please help- he looked to be spurting up organs and it was very frighting" Ella said in between heaves as she caught her breath. The nurse stood up immediately and took off to the cafeteria, Ella following after her and her demon.

Seagus wiped off his mouth and shuddered. 'Eh, could be worse.' Seagus stood up but Malice transformed back into her human form and pushed him back down into the seat. "Oh no you don't!" Seagus pouted at her but relented. 'Thwarted once again, it would appear.' "That's right! You're not leaving this spot." Malice turned to the girl who stabbed something into Seagus. "Sorry about all that. As for him being stable, you don't need to worry. Seagus' powers are keeping him alive. That's why he doesn't need his organs. True, its only temporary, but at least he's in much better shape now than a few days ago." Malice looked down at Seagus, who had looked up to see the nurse enter the cafeteria along with two other demons. The nurse came in and looked at Seagus. She squinted at him and shook her head. "It's like I'm looking at a corpse! I'm sorry to say this, young man, but I can't really do that much for you. I can let you rest in the infirmary if you'd like. However, I'll need to give you a physical as we-" "Hold it lady!" Shouted Malice, who was apparently back to her old self. "You are doing no such thing! I will not allow...wait, what's a physical?" "A physical examination. It'll tell me what's wrong with him." "He's coughing up organs. End of story." "That sounds like more of professor Banks' department. He's the head of both the science and medic criteria within this academy. I'm just the nurse in the clinic." She looked at Malice. "I think it would be best if we got him to the infirmary. AT least just to rest and regain a bit of his strength. He looks awful." Seagus sighed. 'Thanks for the encouraging judgment there, lady.' "Oh hush Seagus! I'm taking you to the infirmary." 'Aw, do I have to? I want to be free damnit!' Malice picked up Seagus onto her back and began walking after the nurse with him. "Yes, now shut it and enjoy the ride." Malice turned to the others in the room. "I like you two, so you guys can come along too. I'm curious about this "Physical" you humans have." With that, she kept carrying/dragging Seagus towards the nurse.

Hmm... his powers, huh? I wonder what kind of power he has? the teenager reflected silently, following Malice as she propelled Seagus towards the infirmary. I hope they don't crap out on him, then. Arya couldn't help but feel a pang of worry for the boy; after all, how much longer could he possibly use his powers for? Surely they had a limit.

Realizing that she had slowed, and was now slightly behind the pair, she began to walk faster, so that might catch up to the Demon and her Magni. "Hey," she wondered aloud, "the nurse back there said something about some Professor Banks. Ya think we should take Seagus to him?" she paused before voicing another thought, "Malice, why does Seagus look so... resistant? I mean, he does realize that we're taking him to somewhere where he'll get help, right?"

Arya fell silent; her words reminded her of something very similar said to her by one of the representatives that had come to try to persuade her into attending Liuena. She grinned wryly for a moment at the irony of the situation before her grin vanished, replaced with a frown. She couldn't help but remember... what she had did. The event that had forced her into the academy. She shivered.

They had entered the infirmary by now. Arya knew that with her pitiful strength she wouldn't be able to help Malice lift Seagus onto an exam table any time soon. Even so, she hovered nearby, uncertain.

"Oh CRAP!" Arya exclaimed, pounding her fist into her other hand for emphasis. "I'm supposed to be reporting to the headmaster right now!" In all of the excitement, she had forgotten the reason she entered the cafeteria for in the first place. "Malice, d'you know where the headmasters office is, by any chance?" she glanced down at Seagus, worry and concern plain in her face. Quieter, she asked, "Is he... do you think he's... gonna be all right?"

Aberdeen looked curiously on at Malice and Seagus as they continued to do some arguing and explanations. ”So his powers are what keeps him alive even in that state,” Aberdeen thought. ”He must’ve been really beat up after…that happened.”
She continued to look at Seagus worriedly until the nurse arrived with Lucy and Ella. The nurse seemed to be in disbelief looking at the poor boy with barely any organs. After some argument with Malice and the nurse, the group headed towards the infirmary. Aberdeen just followed silently, not knowing what to do in the situation but at the same time feeling a sense of responsibility over Seagus that she would stick around and at least make sure he was alright. She looked down at Ella and Lucy and whispered, “Hey, thanks guys,” giving them a small smile on her face.

The mystery girl then spoke up, wondering about Professor Banks and asking more about Seagus’ feelings and concerns, making Aberdeen groan and roll her eyes. Though in truth, those were sort of the same questions she was wondering herself. After they had entered the infirmary, Aberdeen signaled Lucy to help her, Malice, and the nurse lift Seagus onto the exam table gently to make sure he wouldn’t be stirred anymore. She knew she wasn’t the best at lifting but with multiple people helping the job was easier. Aberdeen couldn’t help but look cross at the blonde who just stared at the action. It irritated her that she’d ask all of these questions and yet not even help when it counted, but she held back her annoyance and just maintained her serious expression.

“Hey Ella shouldn’t you be with—“ Aberdeen was going to ask until the girl interrupted her with a loud “Oh CRAP!” pounding her fist into her hand. Aberdeen turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised up and a ‘What the hell do you want?’ look. “I’m supposed to be reporting to the headmaster right now!” ”What? Did you get in trouble or something? Oh wait…” Aberdeen lightly smacked her forehead feeling stupid. ”Gosh I’m dumb, you must be a new student. Hmm newbie..oh no don’t tell me I’m going to have to give up my newly acquired one occupant room! Damn it…” Aberdeen thought making a scrunched up look of anger at thought of having to share with a roommate, especially with a newbie. ”I better hide or burn all of those decapitated dolls before she finds them…”

After the new girl asked more questions, understandably worried about Seagus’ odd condition, Aberdeen continued her previous question to Ella. “Shouldn’t you be with Opal right now? I thought they were having a match?” Aberdeen felt horrible having to keep her depression and insanity from her newly acquired friend, but she didn’t want to frighten her or burden her, especially with this new Vengeance problem. Speaking of which, Aberdeen realized she didn’t even get to open the book or read since the cafeteria incident. She sighed, wondering what to do now. Seagus needs to be watched for physical examination, the newbie needs to go to the headmaster, Ella isn’t with Opal, and Aberdeen and Lucy need to figure out what the hell is going on with Vengeance.

Aberdeen then spoke up ignoring that the girl was addressing Malice, “Hey newbie, don’t worry he’s gonna be okay. He’s been through…a lot these past couple of days and he just needs rest.” Aberdeen then looked down at Ella asking, “Sorry to make you run all over the place, but could you take newbie here to the headmaster’s office? It should be close to the arena right? Can you make sure Opal is doing okay for me as well?” Aberdeen then reached into her pocket and grabbed a few caramel candies, unwrapping one of them and popping one into Ella’s mouth. She smiled remembering that it was hers—and now Lucy’s—favorite treat. “Here, make sure you save some for Opal okay?” Aberdeen turned to the new girl once more, still looking serious towards her, and said, “I’ll watch him…”

---

(If Arya does go with Ella, Lucy follows and this dialogue happens. If not just ignore this..)

”Abby, the new girl has a very nice face…can I keep it?” Lucy thought to Aberdeen, getting bored of the current mask she is wearing.

”Lucy, you know that you can’t just steal faces off of people!” Aberdeen turned and noticed Lucy wasn’t in the room and panicked. ”Hey!! Don’t steal her face please!!”

Lucy frowned behind her mask and sighed, ”Fine, but I get to stalk her for today.” With that thought, Lucy was again feeling content. She had found another person to creep with.

---

Aberdeen sighed and focused her gaze on Seagus lying there without any means to speak up. Despite what had happened a few days ago, she couldn’t believe what horrible shape he was in. Before the nurse began physical examinations, the nurse stared at the bandages around Aberdeen’s arms and asked, “What happened to you Ms. Andrews?”

Aberdeen quickly looked down at her arms and realized she hadn’t taken care to hide the bandages. She then glanced at Seagus but from her position she couldn’t really look at his arms well. She hoped that the nurse wouldn’t check there and notice the knife marks, but for now she had to answer the question directed to her. “Um, some slight abrasions during the um..’incident’ that happened a few days ago. That’s all. I don’t like looking at them so I wrapped them up.” The nurse seemed to look at her in disbelief, but seemed to believe it when she said, “Oh, I’m sorry.” When the nurse began the examinations, Aberdeen took care to sit far away and stare into her book, not wanting to peek at Seagus just in case, and wanting to finally find out what the hell is going on with her.

“Hey newbie, don’t worry he’s gonna be okay. He’s been through…a lot these past couple of days and he just needs rest.” Another voice interrupted Arya's thoughts. Turning towards the source, Arya found herself facing the girl that was with them in the cafeteria. She was just a little shorter than Arya herself, and about a year or two younger, with long dark hair and a light complexion.

The blonde stood there silent, watching as the indigo-haired teen instructed a red panda, which Arya had just noticed, to guide her to the headmasters office.

"Thanks," Arya smiled at the girl. "Oh, and it's Arya, not 'newbie,'" Arya informed the girl with a slight chuckle. Turning serious, Arya stared directly into the opposing girl's eyes. Something about them... Arya wasn't sure, but it was like she'd seen a ghost or something.

"Are you...alright?" Arya asked in a hushed tone.

She was suddenly struck by the stupidity of that question, and hurried to backtrack, "I-I mean... you just look sort of... freaked out, or something." Mentally, Arya facepalmed, 'freaked out or something?' REAL good, Arya, real good.

"Aggh, d-don't mind me, just... forget I said anything." Arya apologized, feeling like a complete and total idiot.

Hoping to avoid further embarrassment, she decided she should probably go before she said something stupid again. She left the infirmary, following the red panda, Ella, to the headmasters office. ((If Ella didn't lead her there, she found her way there herself))

Thanking her furry red guide ((or not)), she stood in front of a pair of grand, ornate doors. One of them, she noticed was slightly ajar. She was planning on knocking quietly, but as the knuckles of her hand collided with the wood of the door, it opened with a squeak. Inside were two men, a white haired, yet still somehow youthful looking man, and another man whom Arya assumed to me the headmaster. "Uh... Um...." Arya's nervousness returned. Finally, after several long moments of indecisiveness, she mentally steeled herself, and stepped -albeit rather timidly- into the room.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but... uh, the man who well, 'escorted' me here said to go to the headmaster's office... is one of you the headmaster?" she asked, feeling rather foolish. That reminded her...

"Oh, um... sorry I was late, but when I went to the cafeteria to ask for directions, this guy named Seagus collapsed and started coughing up blood and, well, organs... he's in the infirmary now, though." Arya fell silent, still feeling rather embarrassed about the whole situation.

After the physical, which it being a magic school made it ALOT different than what Seagus was prepared for, Seagus was sleeping in the bed after 10 minutes of wide eyed shock. Malice was watching Seagus in her human form and then sat in a chair before turning back into a ball. "Crap! Not this again!" Malice floated over to Seagus. "Seagus! Wake up! you're being boring!!!" She began flying around him trying to wake him up. "Fine." She sighed. "I guess you should be resting. I guess I'll just..." With that she flew over to the girl who helped hoist Seagus onto the bed. Malice flew right in front of her face. "Wassup?" After waiting for a reaction, Malice flew in a little circle in front of her. "Thanks for helping with Seagus. Hopefully, he'll get better. Although, truth be told. I don't think he'll stay in that bed for long. IT's likely Seagus will try to sneak out. That's just how he is. ALso I'm bored. Can we do something? I can't leave the room of course, but for God's sake I need something to do!!!!!!!!!!" Being a 3 inch wide ball of darkness with no hands, Malice lost much of her independence in this form. The nurse, overhearing Malice's quick anguish, got out a gopher ball. "Try this. A lot of the smaller demons enjoy it." "A ball? Lady are you trying to say I'm fat?" "Not at all, I'm merely making a suggestion. At least try it." Malice got into the ball, and the nurse sealed it closed. Malice began to slowly roll around in it. "Wow this is sooooo fun..." She said sarcastically. Then she went faster. And faster. And faster. "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Then Malice went into the hallway and raced back and forth at a very high speed, tripping up of knocking down any magni or demon in her way. The nurse, now realizing her folly, face palmed. "What have I done." With the high speed sound of the gopher ball's friction against the floor as it race, It sounded like the plastic version of NASCAR. "What the hell!" "The fu-OOW!" "Son of a- OOMPH" as well as the thuds of victims, could be heard all throughout the hall as Malice continued her racing in the foot wide gopher ball.

Cassandra began running back towards the other end of the arena with the flag. About halfway there, a shield came flying as fast as an arrow. Cassandra couldn't dodge the damn thing as it hit her side and knocked several feet. Getting back up she raised Disturbix just in time to block the next careening impact. Cassa swung and struck Maelstrom as Mallory kept her larger sister on the defensive. Shit, Cassa thought. Mallory grinned as she jumped back and sent Maelstrom hurtling towards Cassa. Cassa jumps out of the way and throws Disturbix. Mallory, unable to pull back Maelstrom, is directly struck by the halberd. Cassa calls back Disturbix and grins, then laughs. Mallory smirks as she calls Maelstrom. Which was directly behind Cassa. Cassa gets knocked several feet by Maelstrom and is right in front of Mallory. Cassa looks at her with shock as she grins. "Fuck..." An explosion erupts as Messy detonates and Mallory holds the flag as Cassa is blown back into the wall. "Looks like I win, sis." Then Mallory stepped into a portal...

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

After saying hello to the young lady, Henry's blood ran cold upon hearing the name Seagus. The Infirmary! Thank God! After getting a nod from the headmaster, Henry bowed his head to the new student and ran off like a madman. He had to find him. It didn't take long to find the trail...blood and organs. He followed it to the infirmary. However, he was tripped up by...a ball? Landing with a thud, Henry got up only to be tripped up again. Running and jumping like a crazy psycho, Henry was able to dodge the booby trap of a demon and finally enter the infirmary. He sighed with relief upon seeing Seagus resting. He walked up to the nurse, who covered her mouth with her hands upon seeing the bruises on the doctor's face. "How is he?" "Alive...that's all I can say. "Good. I'll wait til he's awake." Henry sat down next to another student to catch his breath. "And who might you be?"

Luciana was having fun following Arya when she didn’t know it. She made sure to stay hidden in the shadows, trying to conceal herself from Arya and later on the headmaster who was discussing with her some interesting facts that she knew Aberdeen would be interested in. ”No demon yet…and a traumatic past involving her powers… poor girl…but it makes it even more fun to creep around her dreams. Perhaps I can find out more if I scope inside them.” Upon the mention of a map, Luciana thought it would be fun to find the map, bring it to her, and scare the new girl a bit. Shake her up for initiation. Without caring about the headmaster or Arya, Luciana opened the drawers of the room while still invisible, trying her best to find the desired object. Upon finding the map, Luciana slowly moved it towards Arya with her shadowy yet invisible hands, making it float eerily above her until it slowly descended towards Arya. Just when it was about to meet her face, Luciana went through the map and made her smiling white mask appear and moaned, hoping to accomplish some feat of fright.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen was busy reading about Vengeance when Malice popped up in front of her and made her gasp. Her eyes flew open wide as she dropped the book she was holding. She made sure to close it up and pick it up without Malice seeing the contents, feeling guilty that she was thanking her when she was the one that harmed Seagus. To Malice’s question, Aberdeen thought in her head, ”Maybe you could help me with this Vengeance thing. Hmm?” By the time Aberdeen thought of a real response, Malice was using a gopher ball and shouting in the hallway to which Aberdeen merely shook her head and sighed.
Then came another man who was very much taller than her and who seemed to be clothed in what fit to be for a doctor. “And who might you be?” he asked Aberdeen. She simply looked towards him with a blank expression and said, “Aberdeen.” She couldn’t stand anymore new people, so she decided to head out of the room and told the man, “I think you’re that Doctor…person they mentioned.” Pointing to Seagus she said, “Take care of him, or I’ll let you be Abby’s new face….no wait…her pillowcase would be nicer. And you do have some lovely material for some dolls…oh…I must be heading out..” Aberdeen said. She walked out of the building chuckling to herself about ways she can freak out newbie…or wait “Arya” when suddenly she felt very faint and collapsed on the floor.

---

In her dream, Aberdeen could see the game of capture the flag, with Kirie and Jaxon waiting on each other for someone to strike. Just as somebody was to move, the lights flickered on and off and an eerie wind howled throughout the stadium. Suddenly the flags started moving and flying towards the Magni, hitting some of them. After a few seconds the lights completely shut out with all the Magni inside confused. For some reason, she could see within Ms. Brumfield’s point of view now. Ms. Brumfield had some flashes of a girl being killed and a voice of a girl in her head whispering, “Why did you leave me to die?” Then Aberdeen saw herself, yet she did not look like herself. Aberdeen’s eyes were white and her skin was sickly pale. There were hands coming out from a darkness behind her trying to grab her and all she could do was scream, but it seemed it was in Ms. Brumfield’s voice.

She flashed again to the stadium and she could hear Ms. Brumfield shouting but she couldn’t see what was happening as the stadium was still pitch black. Suddenly the lights opened up again and Ms. Brumfield was lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Aberdeen could look at her arms and see them bleeding with the same characters Seagus had. Aberdeen wanted to go help Ms. Brumfield, warn the students, or do something, but she couldn’t move. She was forced to look and she couldn’t feel anything as though she had no body. A closer look made her realize the flags were missing and the walls were in a bloody writing with the words “Murderer,” and arrows pointing somewhere. Aberdeen could feel her body being forced to follow the blood trailed walls to Seagus in the infirmary being checked on. Finally she felt herself being whisked off to what looked like Kieran’s room, or at least the front of it. By the door, Aberdeen found the two flags and when put together they said, “Avenge your brother, or I shall do so myself.” Finally Aberdeen woke up outside, wondering if that was a dream, when she saw some of the bloody handwriting pointing in the direction she came from. She decided to run to Kieran’s room to see if the flags were really there.

The lights flickered and then shut off. Next thing Cassa knew, a woman, who she assumed was the teacher, was screaming as if the devil himself were upon her. Since Cassa was still discombobulated by Maelstrom hitting her, she was not at her full mental capacity, at least not to notice that something big had just happened. Dazed and slightly in pain, she walked around looking for Mal.

Mallory, who tripped over someone, landed face first on the flag she got from Cassa. It smelled…like feet?????? She botled right up and felt the flag…it was a fake. It was…Cassa’a dirty gym sock. Mallory squealed and crawled away backwards as if the sock was a zombie trying to eat her. “Eww Eww Eww Eww, dirty nasty! Cassa! That wasn’t funny!” Then she looked around as her sister approached her.” Um…what happened, Cassa?” “No idea. We should check for injured.” “Good idea.” With that, they both went around checking. They would take any injured to the infirmary.

Banks continued to watch as Seagus slept. “Its hard to believe that this child could destroy a city. But, from what my analysis show, it wasn’t him doing that. It was that other presence in his head, Maledict. Still, when the High Council hears he’s here, no doubt they’ll put him on trial or something. You don’t just get away with leveling a city.” That’s when Banks noticed something was wrong. He slowly stood up facing the door, ready to attack.

Jayson was glad to have assitance and introduced herself to the Cassa after she did so. "I'm Jayson, weird name for a girl I know." she stated. "I control plants and terrain manipulation." she added but winced slightly in pain as she was grabbed in a bear hug by Cassa in order to dodge what seemed to be some possesed gopher. Oh it was going to be a long day she thought. After they managed to dodge the gopher Jayson held no trace of pain on her face. Puru was walking beside them at his own pace and was glad that Jayson was not going to get help.

When Jayson walked in the infirmary she noticed anothe rperson here that she didn't even see during the game. She eyed him realizing that he was handsome and didn't care about the scars but it was brief as she did not want to further anger the demon she realized was the gopher they dodged that Cassa did anger. Jayson remained silent until the doctor came up to her. She had said by to Cassa and thank you to her for helping her before turning to her gaze to the doctor. "H-Hi I'm Jayson." she introduced once again now nervous. She didn't know what was wrong and she hated hospitals so having to be checked by a doctor was a bit nerve-wracking.

She eyed the male lying beside her once more but didn't speak as she didn't want to disturb him. It was going to be a very long day indeed.

GM Post

Strange things had been happening ever since the arena incident. The lights would suddenly turn off, people would be found sleeping on the floor and nowhere near their dorm rooms or objects would be misplaced and found in the most bizarre locations. Ms. Brumfield took that entire week off so she could recuperate and try and get her thoughts back together. Among those strange things is that there have been rumors of a ghost haunting a certain hallway but only at certain times of the day as well as a rather mean one in the arena.

The Headmaster has made sure that everyone knows not to use the arena for the time being until a certain person arrived and got rid of the ghost. He held an assembly telling all the students and staff that it was most likely a student who had done all of this as a sort of joke. And most people believed him, well except the few who experienced this student’s joke and knew something just wasn’t quite right.

Sadly a fellow student won’t be with them this year. Aberdeen was asked by her parents to come home, the reason why she didn’t tell anyone other than it was a family matter nor did she tell them when she would be back. And so shortly after the arena incident Abderdeen packed up her things said goodbye and was gone.

A few days after Aberdeen had left and without any serious incidents the Headmaster released the ban on the arena but said that only teachers who had permission from the Headmaster were allowed to use it. That certain hallway however still gave people problems but after a while people got used to it.

But that didn’t matter as students were getting ready for a one week field trip outside of the school grounds. It is up to the class to decide where they want to go on this field trip. And this year Ms. Brumfields class decided to go to the beach. However the headmaster warned them to be extra careful now that word has been going around of the City incident. A lot of humans are becoming more and more aware of the magical world that Magni lived in and it could potentially put the Academy in danger.

So aside from the normal beach activities, which are up to the students, they have decided to hold a service for Connor who had died valiantly trying to protect his friends and succeeded in that. As well as a small party at the end of their one week stay at the beach. And this time the headmaster decided to be lenient with Seagus’s and Li’s punishment and has allowed the two to go along with the rest of their class on the field trip. However they still cannot use their magic and will be kept watched over nor can they go about along without a buddy.

Now we shall start off with everyone getting off the bus and finding their hotel rooms. They will be the same as how they were last time but if you would like it changed then tell me so I can change it. Also since BadBecca is away on sick leave and I’m not sure she will be able to get on the Bank sisters will room together so as not to inconvenience anyone.

Two days ago…

Henry Banks pulled down a lever that kickstarted several machines of his. His two daughters, Mallory and Cassa, were both suited up in white lab coats, gloves, goggles, and insulated clothing should there be a short circuit.

“Alright, Mal, check on him. How is he doing?”

Mallory walked to the center of the lab and checked their subject’s vitals. All seemed well. She gave her father a thumbs-up, due to the noise of the machines.

“Good, good. Let’s proceed. Cassa, start overlaying the coolant valves. We don’t want an overheat under the school.”

With that, Cassa made her way to a large tank and pump system. She flipped several switches, pushed a few buttons, and finally pulled a large lever. Soon she heard the sloshing of several liquids as well as the drumming of the pump. She signaled with a thumbs-up.

“Alright, then! It’s fry time!”

Henry pressed a button and began turning a knob. A bolt of electricity flung its way towards the subject, completing the circuit as Banks slowly increased the intensity of the bolt. The subject was writhing in what could only be pain as he shook and struggled against the restraints of the platform he was bound to. The sisters, instead of releasing the poor creature, simply watched.

An hour of excruciating pain and about 500,000 volts later…

The sisters released the subject onto the floor. He slumped onto the cold tile and slowly began to get up. Once at full height, all three scientists clapped.

“Well, girls, I think we did it.”

Mallory smiled and nodded. “I’d say so.”

Cassa gave a small smile, obviously being alittle more interested in this than usual.

“Good work, dad.”

“Thank you and thank you, but you two helped a lot, so saying it was all me wouldn’t be fair. Tell me, Seagus, how are you?”

Seagus, who was still pretty dazed from the amount of electricity he just had pumped through his body, gave a shaky thumbs-up.

Cassa grimaced a bit. “Dad, I think you overcooked him…”

“Ha, nonsense! He is perfectly, wonderfully…”

CRASH!

Mallory finished. “Tough and chewy?

“Dry and miscolored?”

Both sisters snickered at their father’s face as he got the jokes. “Haha, very funny, you two.

Then they heard a big banging noise behind a big vault door within the lab. Cassa was busy looking into Seagus’ dazed eyes. She could never get over his eyes. They were so green and lively. She couldn’t help but stare.

“Mallory, I know I’m going to regret this…let her out.”

Mallory shrugged and went and opened the door. A pitch black girl, who is now known as Malice, emerged in an enraged state.

“WHAT THE HELL, JERKS! HOW DARE YOU LOCK ME- SEAGUS!”

Malice ran over to her fallen Magni and cradled his head in her arms.

“Noooooooooooooooo. Don’t leave me, Seagus. Don’t leave me!”

Cassa rolled her eyes. “God, you’re such a ham. He’s not dead, or dying.”

“I know that! No one appreciates a dramatic scene anymore. What has this world come to.”

Banks looked at the demon. “So you can confirm he’s fine?

“Pfffffffffft, who, Seagus? Are you kidding? Alittle jolt like that won’t kill him. Although, I should help him walk though.”

“Well, now that we’ve put the finished touches to his organs, as well as regrow some of his muscle back, he should be able to function much better than before. Plus, now he can eat and drink. I would suggest starting small.”

The Bus ride…

Cassa rolled her eyes as she got on the bus. There was only one reason she didn’t like the beach; she had to wear a bikini. She had been told she looked hot in one, but she never felt it. She was quite shy about her body, which was just a habbit. Mallory, on the other hand, had already gotten started. Mallory had her bikini top on and jean shorts. If that wasn’t enough, Mallory was skipping the whole way to the bus and to her seat. Any guy’s dream.

On the bus, they sat near the back watching the other kids. They had orders from Professor Banks keep an eye on Seagus’ health. They couldn’t risk him sustaining an injury at a crucial time as this. Should he get injured, it could permanently cripple him.

That’s why they sat behind him.

The Inn…

They finally got to the inn, and Mallory and Cassa went to their room. It was really nice. Cassa set down her stuff and went to take a nice, hot shower. While she was in there, she was heavy in thought. She was thinking about everything she had learned about Seagus on the way here. So that beanpole destroyed a city…she couldn’t see it happening. That’s when she heard a giggle and saw an image of herself from beneath. She looked down.

“NASS!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Mallory heard all of the banging and slamming in the bathroom as Nass got the thrashing of his life at the hands of his Magni. Then, the door opened and he was thrown out.

“And stay out, pig!”

Nass, who couldn’t get bruised, was obviously in a motherload of pain. Mallory opted to stay out of it as she played with Messy, making a little obstacle course of pillows for him to roll around in. She couldn’t wait to hit the beach.

The bus ride…
Or
Seagus got onto the bus, and was suddenly if not ominously assailed by looks of hatred save a special few. The look from the boy named Kieran was the worst. When he sat down, he sat down next to a girl, the same one that was next to him in the infirmary. Funny how things worked out.

He waved and spoke in his mind, but not out loud. ‘Hello.’

After his attempt at a conversation, Malice snuck out of his pocket.

“Seagus! What is the meaning of this?! Keeping me in your dust filled pocket like I was forgotten candy?! The nerve you have sometimes…”

Malice was a bit hopped up on the 32 Pepsis she just drank in celebration to going to the beach.

Seagus sighed and closed his eyes while smiling sheepishly. ‘Malice, what did we talk about before coming on the bus?’

“Making a scene? How is this making a scene?! Seagus, you need to stop thinking I’m just someone you can make do whatever you want!”

‘Malice! Behave or I’ll get right off this bus and take you with me. Is that clear?!’

Malice, who was set aback by her Magni’s intense mental exclamation, whined a bit before slowly falling to his lap.

“Yes sir, sorry sir…”

‘Malice, you don’t have to be like that. It’s just that you can be such a ham sometimes.’

“Hey!!!!!!”

‘Well, it’s true. And I believe you’ve made plenty of an entrance to this bus full of people.’

Malice snuggled in the folds of Seagus’ clothes.

“I can live with that, then.”

She said this quietly, with a pleased tone in her voice. Unbeknownst to her, The girl’s demon had been watching her…

The Inn…

Seagus and Malice were taking the elevator. Seagus leaned against the wall as Malice carried the bags. She had been ogled and nearly made a guy pass out due to her racy bathing suit.

‘It’s funny, you’d think people would notice how your blacker than charcoal, but no. They just notice you’re a girl…’

“Oh, Seagus, you simply must realize. This body looks good in any color.”

‘But did you have to wear a cheese colored bathing suit?’

Malice looked down momentarily and lifted her head high, eyes closed, and chest out in pride.

“I know I’m rocking this thing!”

‘If you say so…’

DING!

Malice and Seagus exit the elevator, and then proceed towards their room. Once inside, Malice drops the bags and begins running all over the room, talking and squealing like a teenager girl meeting their fantasy star. Seagus went to his bed and simply lay down, exhausted from the walking. It was nice to have full use of his legs back, but it was so demanding. At least for now, anyway. He closed his eyes and dozed off, trying to reclaim whatever energy he could. Malice’s antics didn’t help…

After Cassa got out of the shower and dried off, she put on her typical black shirt and baggy cargo pants. She wasn’t Goth, she just liked black and clothes that she could move in. She also didn’t like to show off her body, due to her own insecurities.

“Mistress Cassa…help me…”

“No, I don’t think I will, Nass. You deserved that beating.”

“I would have preferred a beating to the atrocities you just gave me!”

Hmmm, Cassa thought to herself. The Headmaster had found a spell that could change how mortals see demons. Since, in all reality, only Magni could see the demons for what they truly were, she had to wonder; what exactly were the other people seeing? It would have to be something relevant to what the demons already resembled. With that, Cassa began to crack up. She had to go down on one knee from her laughter. The thought of Nass being a floating golf ball seemed amusing. Nass, however, wasn’t impressed.

Back at the academy…

“I feel I’m missing something here…why did you let Seagus go?”

“I needed time. With him gone, the Council will have no choice but to hear me out.”

“I still can’t believe you’re going to defend him. You were the one who reported him to the Council in the first place.”

“Do not judge me, Banks!”

“Then, why?”

The Headmaster sighed.

“When he first arrived here, I saw a monster. However, as I saw him interact and mingle with the other students, I realized I was wrong. Seagus is a child. He is also now a trial student. It is my duty to ensure his wellbeing. I also believe it is the right thing to do.”

“That may be, but when the trial comes, Seagus will be brought to justice…I can’t possibly see a way for you to prevent an execution in this situation.”

“I will find a way! I will not let Seagus die if I can help it. Enough blood has been spilt in this as it is. One more life taken will not help this situation.”

“I’ll support your testimony, Headmaster. I just don’t think it’ll be enough.”

“Well, unless there is some miracle, it’s all we have. It’s all he has.”

Jayson had been released from the infirmary a few days later in time for the trip to the beach. She wasn't fond of wearing bathing suits due to her scars though she will wear one she'll probably have a jacket over it and she did just that. She stepped on the bus wearing her bathing suit with a jacket unzipped but over it. She sat with Seagus whom she had yet to actually have a conversation with while Purur wa eyeing his demon intently.

(Sorry for the short post having technical issues.)

Ms. Brumfield

She got off the bus a tired look on her face. It had been rather busy for her the past few weeks, what happened in the gymnasium still bothered her. The scar she had gotten reminded her of it so she wasn’t sure if getting into a bathing suit was a good idea.

Shaking her head, Ms. Brumfield gently smacked her cheeks to rid herself of any remaining dark thoughts. Now is the time to be happy and relax more With a determined smile Ms. Brumfield went to find her room and unpacked her things once she was done. Once done the teacher went off on a stroll but soon got bored. “Gah! There’s nothing much to do, I’m worried something’s going to happen at any moment. Or worse one of the kids will get themselves into trouble. I swear if they do I will give them the worst punishment of their lifetime!”

And knowing Ms. Brumfield she did give out the worst punishments to her students. Suddenly hearing a dark chuckle behind her, she wasn’t surprised by the sound of Amon laughing at her. Oh shut up. after that the chuckling died away into silence and she let out a content sigh.

Suddenly standing up straighter, Ms. Brumfield remembered she had to do a debriefing on what their plans would be to the students. Letting out another sigh, Ms. Brumfield went in search of all the students and gathered them one by one to the beachside. Once there she told them of what they were planning (you guys already know) and then she moved onto what they were doing that night.

“Well for tonight I didn’t have much planned since we got here sooner than I thought. So I guess this is your free time. Make good use of it, there’s a boardwalk just down there and do behave yourselves. And do not under any circumstances use your abilities in front of humans. What with the city and all we have been getting negative effects from those who do know of our existence. But we are here on a field trip to relax and to have fun. So please don’t ruin it for the rest of us and the same goes for your demons. They need to do their best to not appear around anybody only when you’re in your rooms may they come forth. Alright now with that done have fun and like I said don’t get into trouble your all dismissed!”

Seagus , before he could even take a shower, was yet again chasing after Malice. She had heard there was a soda machine on their floor and was running at a break neck speed to get to it.

‘Malice, you’re not supposed to be out here!’

“I haven’t had a soda in 2 hours! I’m not letting you stop me!”

‘At least let me get it for you!’

At least five minutes later, Malice had located, and destroyed, the soda machine. Drinking the contents of every soda she could find, Seagus watched the horrid scene of gluttony.

‘Dear God…’

“Whuff wuf thaf, Mafter?”

Malice was trying to talk and guzzle soda at the same time…

Seagus shook his head and his elbow hit the door behind him. It was open already. Seagus couldn’t help but be nosy. What he saw worried him.

‘Isn’t that Arya? But who’s that?’

Seagus looked serious and got into a ridiculous looking fighting form, only so because he had no guns on his battleship, so to speak.

‘Malice…’

“Hang on, Master. I’m just trying to get these last 25 cans.”

‘Malice, get over here!’

“But Master!”

‘Now, Malice!’

Malice looked up from her soda carnage and rushed to her Magni’s side.

“Who the hell are you? What are you doing with our friend?”

The group was nearly at the shoreline now, the waves a few meters in front of them glittering and dancing in the light of the sun.
The dark skinned man halted, though did not let go of Arya's hand. "More interruptions..." the man mumbled, casting an annoyed glance at the new arrivals before his gaze turned to an ornate golden pocket watch he now held in his hand, opening it with a flick of his thumb. His eyes widened slightly, though his expression remained stony. He looked up, tucking the pocket watch back into the folds of his clothing while addressing the newcomers. "Come with if you wish, I have neither the time nor the inclination to satisfy your curiosity right now."

Slowly, he began to raise his free arm, his hand reaching forward as if to grasp something just beyond reach. Now muttering in a strange, archaic tongue, his brow furrowed in concentration as the glitter of the waves seemed to expand and coalesce, slowly turning a small, circular patch of the blue waves closest to him pure white.

Turning to the girl beside him, the man seemed to regard the teen for a moment. With a small nod and a murmured "let's go," to his companion, the raven-eyed male ushered Arya the last few feet between them and the small circle of white. Pausing briefly to throw one last glance at the rest of the gathered magni and their demons, they stepped into the now white patch of ocean and disappeared in a flash of light.

((OOC: So i'm guessing the dorms are right near the beach? Well, they are now (; ))

Mallory was sunbathing when she saw a man, Seagus, Arya, and Jayson, along with their demons, walking into some portal. She was about to disregard it until she remembered her father’s order: Don’t let Seagus out of your sight. Mallory jolted up onto her feet and bolted for the portal and made it just before it closed. Once in the portal, she drew Maelstrom and made it full size.

“I don’t know who the hell you are or why you’re here, but if you don’t leave, you’ll be sorry.”

Cassa was walking down the boardwalk in a bikini top and shorts. She was self-conscious of her body, quite shy and easily embarrassed. Especially when people were whistling at her. She should have worn a shirt. There were these two guys she noticed following her. About her age, one was bigger than the other. And they were giggling to themselves like schoolgirls…this couldn’t be good. Finally she turned around and put on a serious face.

“Freaks, what do you want? You’ve been following me so stop.”

“Hey, man, this is your chance. Do it.”

Cassa’s eyes grew wide with rage as one of them had just…no, she would not take that…..

There was an elderly man fishing on his rowboat near the boardwalk. It was his 68th birthday and he was enjoying it immensely. Then he heard the most unusual thing…screaming. He looked up to scold whoever was doing it, until he heard two large splashes. Two young men resurfaced, both with rearranged faces and bruises all over. The old man smiled to himself.

“Well, you two a-holes probably just scared off all the fish, but your faces are worth it.”

Cassa readjusted her bikini top. That guy had messed it up. She continued to walk and then she ran into Ms. Brumfield, who was wearing a disapproving look.

“What?”

“You know what.”

“Big deal…”

“Yes, it is. Are you okay?”

Cassa was caught off guard by that last one.

“…Ugh, yeah. A little embarrassed.”

“Well, it was funny to watch. You probably just scared the pair off a every guy who was going to approach you. You should have seen everyone’s faces. Now, keep in mind I don’t like violence, but I don’t like my students getting violated a whole lot less.”

Ms. Brumfield laughed and turned around to go ee more attractions. Cassa eventually saw Kirie.

“Hey, would you mind walking with me so people don’t…try things.”

Cassa looked at Kirie and then the guys behind them. She snarled and approached them.

“What do you want?”

“You messed with a friend of ours. Even though you’re a girl, we’re not gonna let that fly.”

“You’re funeral. You must feel like a big man, four of you on one girl.”

“Shut it, you bitch!”

The first one launched a punch for Cassa, only to hit nothing and receive a strong kick to the middle of his chest, sending him 6 feet back. Cassa then crouched as another fist came after her. Using all the strength she had in her legs, she launched herself up in a powerful leap with an uppercut, knocking the target into the air about 3 feet. She then swept the other two guys’ legs out from under them. Then she backed up and looked at Kirie.

“Gonna just watch there, or give a girl a hand?”

Mallory slowly approached with her shield out. She didn’t know who this guy was. What she did know is that he was more than just a human. She approached cautiously.

“You better tell me why you’re here, or else.”

Even though she had a quiet voice, she was obviously quite serious about the threat she had made. She was so focused on her target; she accidently tripped over herself and waved her shield about. Maelstrom hit something solid, something close. When she looked up, her face became a mask of horror.

“Oh my God, Oh my God, oh my God! Seagus, I am so sorry.!!!”

The sharp edge of the shield had nearly cut all the way through Seagus’ left arm, since it was barely two inches in diameter. She had hurt the one person she was sent to protect. Mallory began fidgeting and slightly panicking. Dad is going to be so pissed! Mallory covered her eyes and shielded her face in shame and complete embarrassment. She didn’t want to see the blood. No blood! She hated blood! She didn’t want to see blood. She eventually got into a fetal position and slightly rocked. Then she looked at Seagus only to notice that Malice wasn’t going berserk. Was she missing something?

Malice looked at her Magni, and then at Mallory, who was beginning to have a nervous breakdown. Seagus, whose nerves had pretty much died off from the result of the fusion, made him feel nothing more thn a brief pinch of pain. The real pain was about to come.

‘Malice…its happening…’

“Deep breaths, Seagus. It never lasts long…”

Seagus lurched forward and then stood upright with back arched and teeth gritted in pain as his skin began literally crawling, as if something was inside him. Suddenly, black tendrils emerged from the wound. Seagus fell to one knee out of pain as the tendrils began pulling the wound close. Eventually, when it was, small tendrils made makeshift stitches as his arm was pulled back together. Black smoke came from the wound, the skin sealing shut and the internal damage now slowly being fixed, but at a much faster rate than any normal human. Seagus moved his fingers. The pain was gone.

Malice came over and helped him up.

“You ok? That looked like a bad one.”

‘Yeah, I’m ok. I think she’s still a bit weirded out by this…’

Malice looked at the girls, who probably had different reactions.

“It’s part of Seagus’ powers. His powers help him to heal, even through large or deep wounds. True, its not instantaneous, but its still pretty fast. And thanks to these abilities, Seagus’ body can survive quite a bit of trauma. I will give oyu one thing though…I wish his skin didn’t crawl like that…”

Malice shuddered as Seagus rolled his eyes.

‘It’s a passive ability. You know I have no control over it…’

“I know that, but still…eugh…”

Malice made a hilarious serious of dramatic faces.

‘Ham.’

“Hey! Don’t call me a ham you jerk! You know what I think about that! You do that again I’m ripping your arm off and shoving it up your-hey, what are you doing, ow ow ow OW, STOP THAT!”

Seagus was pulling one of Malice’s ears as she flailed trying to get him to let go. He didn’t even have to se any real strength for this. It was a piece of cake.

“Ok, Ok you win! Just let me go!”

Seagus did. Malice looks at him and huffs before turning away from him and pouting.

‘Malice, are you upset.’

“I’m not talking to you. Shh!”

Seaus had prepared for this. He had brought a soda in his pocket just in case. He pulled it out and snapped it open. Malice looked around at him and her eyes went wide form the realization.

‘Here, Malice.’

“Master, I love you so much!!!!!!”

Malice greedily began devouring the soda happily as Seagus examined the wound that was now healing. Hopefully it didn’t freak everyone out too bad…

Mallory

Mallory had now seen it all. First, she nearly sliced off Seagus’ arm. Then, his body takes the liberty of healing itself in a way that nearly made her puke. It was soo freaky. She would have much rather seen blood than that. Next time, she’d be careful for what she wished for. With that, Mallory slowly stood up and shook herself.

“Oh…kay. Yeah, I’m fine. At least I will be. Remind me not to look at him if he gets hurt like that or something. It’ll give me nightmares….”

Mallory got up and remembered something in her past. It was when her dad showed her how to fish. She remembered how the worm would always scare her. Then she remembered that the worms tickled in her hand. Returning to the present, she began smiling and giggling, returning to her old self.

“Well, I’m glad you’re not hurt Seagus. I have to say, if Dad knew you could do that, he wouldn’t let you leave his lab. That is one heck of an ability. If only you weren’t sealed, I’d be able to see what else you could do.”

Mallory was truly impressed with the healing factor. It would explain how he survived all this time. And then she remembered! Jayson had been in the city before Seagus was sealed.

“What are his powers like?” She whispered to Jayson.

Cassandra

Cassa folded her arms and shook her head. Kirie didn’t seem to get it. He should have whooped long before she ever had to get involved. So much for chivalry.

“Next time, boy, don’t let a woman do the job of a man.”

Then she saw a nearby vendor, an old lady giving away bears for squirting water into the hole. She saw a really cute one right in front of her and she smiled, but only momentarily

Cassa realized the bear was close to her face. That’s when it happened. The proximity of something so soft and bite-able…she couldn’t help it. She sunk her teeth into the Teddy Bear’s head and locked her jaws. She also made a soft growling she always did when this happened. Ugh and in public! She was so embarrassed, but that would only affect her after they somehow got her off the damn bear…which was tough. Only Mallory knew how. Hopefully, she didn’t hurt the poor Teddy Bear. She wasn’t biting hard enough to actually do any damage, but she had an inherent love of all things cute, and she’d be damned if she hurt this poor bear.

The vendor, on the other hand was attempting to remove the bear from Cassa’s jaws. She was very unsuccessful. She called to her two helpers, one grabbed her shoulders and the other grabbed the teddy bear.

“Don’t you dare rip that bear, you lugs! I spent a small fortune for all of these and don’t make any problems that can’t be solved with disinfectant!”

Cassa wasn’t mad at them. Secretly, she wanted them to pry the poor thing from her jaw. But when one guy’s hand slipped and…groped her, then she got furious. The two guys, after a small series of blows and screams in agony, were down and the old lady was left alone holding a crow bar and shaking.

“T-T-Take the bear…I saw where he grabbed….don’t sue us!”

Cassa shook her head and went back over to Kirie and Jaxon, who had aquired a much larger cousin of the poor bear stuck in her teeth.

Oppressive.

That's what the prison was, she decided. Dark and oppressive and-

"Uugghh" A shuddering groan pierced the silence, reverberating throughout the prison as a ghostly echo. A globe of light made its way towards her cell, along with two burly, minotaur-like creatures, dragging something in the dirt between them. As they got closer, she let out a small gasp as she realized what- no who- it was; she could barely recognize the shackled form before her. Now at the entrance to her cell, the bovine guards unlocked the door. Roughly, they shoved their burden inside the small space with her before slamming the door shut again, locking it, and trudging away.

"Zephyrus!" she exclaimed softly, managing to catch the blue griffin before it fell to the ground. Weakly, the male gazed up at her.

"Lu-" he groaned before being overtaken by a harsh coughing fit. Grimacing in pain, Zephyrus rasped, "Cyrus... is he... here yet?"

"Soon," his cellmate replied in a soothing voice, trying her best to comfort her companion. "He'll be here soon."

"Cyrus..." the griffin breathed, as though contemplating the name. "Hurry, Cyrus."

The male's face grew sorrowful as he remembered what had happened, how this had come to be.

"Arya," he choked out, tears streamed down his face, mingling with the blood oozing out of his wounds. It stung, but he didn't care. "Arya, forgive me."

-x-

"Like children..." the dark-haired man murmured, his voice laced with contempt as he watched the group of Magni. He snorted, rolling his eyes. "They haven't even realized..." He shook his head.

"What about you?" he smirked, turning to Arya. "Do you realize where you are yet?"

Arya looked around. Well, it isn't the beach, that's for sure. she thought dryly. The landscape was a dull rocky gray, framed by strange, floating boulders and barren, lifeless trees. "Um... the Earth after an apocalypse?" Arya guessed, feeling rather foolish.

The man chuckled slightly, "We're in the realm of demons, girl. Literally."

((OOC: By the way, Zephyrus' companion is intentionally vague... I wonder who it could be? ;)
Zephyrus: http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs7/i/2005/2 ... mitten.jpg
the world beyond the portal: http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/UtgDQA0SlwE/hqdefault.jpg ))

Seagus was trying to drag Malice forward. She was in a fetal position and wouldn't move. Here in the demon world, she could hold her human form indefinitely. She was silently sobbing and shuddering at this place.

'Malice, come on...'

Seagus had never heard her voice this low before, or this sad.

"...Don't make me go there, please Seagus..."

'Malice, this is your home, why don't you want to be here?'

Malice looked at the demons that were imprisoned, as well as the world in general. The saddest face and expression Seagus had ever seen passed over her usually bright or angry face.

"Remember what I said about everyone here shunning me because I abandoned you?"

'Yeah...what about it.'

"...That's not exactly what happened..."

'Malice...what do you mean?'

"Abandoning your Magni is among one of the highest crimes you can imagine here...I wasn't shunned. I was imprisoned and tortured...they used magic to do horrible things to me. I was imprisoned here...until you were 5. Your power began to slightly manifest, and because of that, they had to let me go. It's the rules. Regardless of crime, when a demon's Magni begins showing their power, the Demons are to go to them. However, as punishment for my crimes, I couldn't let you know of my existence..."

Malice hung her head in shame. Seagus looked at her and shook his head. He somehow hoisted her up with his limited strength and hugged Malice very tightly. MAlice, shocked looked over his shoulder wide eyed.

"Seagus..."

'Malice, you don't have to worry about them as long as I'm here. I won't let them do anything to you again. Even with my power sealed, I will still protect you. We're in this together, right?"

Malice, began sobbing a little louder in Seagus's shoulder. They stood there like that for a few moments until she was able to pull herself together. When she finally did, Seagus and Malice walked faster to catch up with the other Magni.

Arya had had enough. The duo had only been traveling a few minutes, but already she felt her patience wear thin. She slowed to a halt.

"Hang on for a second there." She told her dark-skinned companion. He stopped and turned to face her, raising an eyebrow in question. "Before we go any further, I have a right to know... Who are you? How do you know my demon? And... What exactly happened to my demon, anyway? You said they'd been abducted... by who, and why?"

The man sighed. "You want answers? Fine- I'll tell you a little." He sat down, gesturing for Arya to do the same. My name is Rafael." He began, his voice a deep bass rumble, his eyes intent and piercing as they gazed at the teenager.

"I... owe your demon a debt. He saved my life, you see- even though when he did it, we were... enemies." Here he balled his hands up and dropped his gaze, staring at them with an odd look on his face.

"Enemies?" Arya interjected, "What do you mean? And how can you even see demons anyway? Are you a Magni?"

The corners of Rafael's mouth crinkled into a chuckle. "No. Not a Magni; I'm... well, for now just think of me as a demon. I can shapeshift, which is why I look human. I prefer this form over my own, though. Its- the form is that of someone very close to me. And as for why your demon and I were enemies.... That's a long story, and we don't have that much time. Now let's go."

Rafael stood up, offering a hand to Arya. "Aww, but you hardly answered any of my questions!" The girl complained, taking the taller man's hand and using it to haul herself to her feet.

"Enough." Rafael frowned, his face darkening, "Those who hold him captive-" he paused and turned to Arya, his expression troubled and full of worry. Leaning slightly towards the blonde, he whispered, "Let's just say that he may not live very much longer if we don't get there soon."


((OOC: Dunno why, but the image i'm having for Rafael is: http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/ ... 4bfnov.jpg
YAY! It's Ulysses from Fallout New Vegas!))

Cassa

She snatched the bear and hugged it, a silly grin on her face as she hugged her new stuffed charge. She would be its best friend…

“Miss Cassa, you realize you’re in full view of the public…”

Nass flew right next to her head and Cassa snapped out of her cutesy phase and slapped Nass as rock as she could, sending him flying. Then the boy came looking for someone.

“Oh yeah, the ghost girl, right? I remember that stunt in the arena.”

Cassa did remember, and was sorry for her. Losing control of yourself is something that can be prevented, but not everyone can do it. She remembered all the times he let her anger get the best of her and she ended up hurting someone. She looked to the two guys as to what to do next.

Mallory

A prison…and in the Demon world. She had always wanted to see this place, but never this part. She was quite glad Messy wasn’t here to see it with her. These demons…what had they done wrong?

“Why are they locked up like this? What did these poor things do to end up like this?”

As soon as she asked that, one of the demons shot a tentacle out at her and tripped her up, her head hitting a rock and her being dazed from the hit. She crawled after the others to attempt keeping up with them.

WARNING! This post gets kinda dark (well for me anyway; it's probably (definitely) the darkest post I've ever written)- it could trigger someone or something (I've seen it happen with lighter stuff than this), so that's why I'm putting this up here. After all, everyone's different, and I don't want someone freaking out on me. Contains description of blood, death, and use of psychological manipulation. If you don't want to read the worst of it, just skip the text in the code box.

Zephyrus didn't know how long it had been... An hour? Two? More? Whatever the amount of time that had passed, it didn't feel like enough. It never did, he reflected grimly as he was once again hauled out of his cell by the guards. His guards, he noted grimly; every time the same pair had come to collect him, and drag him back when... He shuddered slightly, and shook his head- it wouldn't do him to think of what lie ahead.

All too soon he arrived. The room he had come to dread stood before him. The stuff of his nightmares; every night, it was the same- for the past six months. All of his nightmares- both real, as well as those in his dreams- they all happened in this room.

It wasn't just room, though, that troubled his dreams, that made the pit of his stomach clench in fear and dread; there was something else- someone else-

Before the griffin could finish his thought, he was shoved roughly through the door.

Code: Select all

Red greeted his vision. Red, and-

"Arya... No..." Zephyrus could feel himself collapse to the ground, but he didn't care. Arya lay in a pool of crimson; burns, bruises, and cuts decorated her body. Weakly, she turned towards him, her usually bright sapphire blue eyes flat and dull. The demon knew she was fighting to hold on, to keep the last dying embers of her life from going out forever.

"Zephyrus," she whispered, reaching a trembling hand toward the demon. It was ghostly pale, and blood dripped off it in streams, staining the floor red. "Help me, Zephyrus." A shudder seemed to ripple through her body. Convulsing once, she collapsed to the floor, where she lay still. Deep inside, he knew, but he forced himself to place his ear on her chest, listening for a heartbeat. Cold silence was all that greeted his ear, as his dripped upon the chest of his now-dead Magni.

"NO!" Zephyrus howled, his eyes snapped shut, closing tightly to block out the scene before him, his front talons grasping his forehead in despair. "No..." he whispered- his heart, his mind, and his sanity threatened to collapse once again. "Enough..." he choked out, his voice still in a whisper. "That's enough... Stop this..." His eyes snapped open, full of loathing. "ISRAFIL!" he bellowed, and stood up, his talons clenched at his sides in defiance.

Suddenly, the world shifted. Gone was the gruesome image of his Magni. In its place was a purple-black creature, resembling a wingless, limbless dragon with a tentacle-like appendage protruding from it's chin. Its rows of razor-sharp teeth were widened in a cheshire-cat grin. Its irises were blood red, and the sclera were an almost inky black, yet a color darker and more intense than Zephyrus had ever seen.

"What's the matter, dear Zephyrus?" It questioned, it's tone calm and mocking. The blue griffin cringed slightly at the sound- no words could describe how Zephyrus hated that voice. It was like a snake, whispering in your ear. That voice... it seemed to worm it's way through your mind, tugging at your consciousness, your memories, your very self.

"You know what you have to do to make it end." Israfil continued, circled the demon, drawing close and whispering in his ear.

The griffin said nothing, grinding its teeth and levying a spiteful glare at it's captor.

The silence lengthened, and Israfil completed his circuit, turning to face his prisoner.

"Tell me, Zephyrus. How much do you know about... names?"

"Names?" Zephyrus echoed in spite of himself.

"Yes, names. Do you know about yours, for example? It's quite a fitting name. Zephyrus is the latinized form of Zephyros. Zephyros means "the west wind," and in Greek mythology, Zephyros was the god of the west wind."

"You," he continued, "bear the form of a griffin; your body, tail and back legs are of a lion, while your front talons are those of an eagle, as are your head and wings." The creature smirked, "isn't it fitting, then, that your name would be Zephyrus, god of the west wind?"

"Do you have a point?" Zephyrus asked bluntly, unsettled that his captor knew so much about him and what he was.

"Patience, dear Zephyrus." Israfil tsk'ed, smirked again. He paused, as if in thought. "Now that we're on the subject, my name proves equally as fitting."

"Oh?" Zephryus chuckled harshly.

"Indeed. Tell me Zephyrus, do you know of my name? Of its meaning?"

"Israfil..." the blue creature pondered, "That's... the name of the Islamic god of music, I think." he snorted, "And just how is that fitting? You don't have anything to do with music!"

Israfil chuckled, "Perhaps... But according to Islamic tradition, Israfil is the name of the angel who shall blow the trumpet that signals the coming of Judgement Day. It's the same with me." he continued, his voice rising, "I shall be the herald of Judgement Day- the Judgement Day for all demons and Magni!" He began to chuckle, his laughter ringing throughout the room.
He was serious once more as a cruel and malicious grin worked its way onto his face.

"Very soon, Zephyrus, that trumpet shall echo throughout this world and the next." his grin widened further. "After all, the very thing you've worked to avoid these past six months has happened."

Zephyrus paled, "No... You're wrong... Rafael is protecting her... She can't... she won't end up here."

"Ah, how wrong you are. She's already here. Given, she's not quite under our direct control just yet, but it's only a matter of time." The snake-dragon chuckled, seeing the horror on his prisoner's face. "Yes, soon we shall use her, and the barrier between the demon world and the mortal world shall crumble. Soon, the trumpet shall play, and judgement shall be rendered."

((OOC: Duh, duh, dun~! Pretty epic huh? Man that was a long post. Anyway I'll explain the details, as well as what's going on with Rafael and Arya, later. For now...
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/ ... 6tweff.jpg
This is the closest picture I could find of Israfil. Just ignore the ship-thingy and stuff, okay? Oh, also, he doesn't float like the picture implies. He kinda slithers like a snake, except only the lower half of him- the upper half stays upright when he moves. Oh, and in case you couldn't figure it out, Arya's not dead. Israfil's ability lets him create illusions- sorta like Aizen from the anime/manga Bleach, only less powerful (Aizen's ability is totally godmodding). ))

"We're here." Rafael announced gruffly, clambering up a ledge. Scampering up the rocky obstacle behind the man, Arya made her way to its summit and gasped.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." the Magni breathed in disbelief.

Laid out in front of them was what could only be described as a fortress. Made of a strange pitch-black stone, the complex's many buildings towered over the teen.

"Now I know what being an ant feels like..." Arya muttered under her breath.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Rafael commented. Though his tone was casual, his mouth was pulled into a grim line, and his face radiated tension. "Well, let's get going. I know a secret way in that should get us past most of the guards."

With that, the ravenette began to carefully pick his way across the ledge, beckoning for Arya to follow.

The teen hesitated, a pang of fear coursing through her; Arya had been afraid of heights since she was little, and thoughts of the sizable drop below her wasn't helping her nerves any.

She shook her head. "I've got to do this," she muttered, repeating it over and over like a mantra. Finally, with a determined look at the buildings below her, she slowly, cautiously edged one foot in front of the other, beginning her trek across the ledge.

-x-

“This facility used to be controlled by the demons’ equivalent of a government.” Rafael explained as the duo picked their way across the rocky terrain.

“The demon government, huh?” Arya pondered, taking in the new information. “So what happened?”

The dark-skinned man laughed. “Well, you wouldn’t be able to tell from looking at it, but the place was overthrown about a year ago.” He paused, stroking the stubble of his beard thoughtfully, “The staff on duty at the time weren’t expecting an assault, let alone one from the inside and the outside. They were all dead before they could even manage to call for help. Not that it would have done much good, anyway.” Rafael chuckled wryly, turning to face Arya, who was now walking in-step with the older man. “The leader of the usurpation, Israfil, has the ability to create illusions- powerful, real-looking ones. So, whenever anyone who isn’t a prisoner or loyal to Israfil comes by, he just creates a couple of illusions convincing them that everything is a-okay and then sends them on their way.”

“So they still have the image of a government prison?” Arya questioned, intrigued at the prospect.

“Yeah. Even most of the prisoners don’t know that it’s not a government prison anymore. The only ones who do are the prison staff and guards- Israfil’s cronies, and the special prisoners, like Zephyrus.”

“Zephyrus?” Arya raised an eyebrow in question.

“Your demon.” Rafael replied, a strange look on his face. “You… You really don’t know, do you? About your demon.”

Arya snorted derisively, rolling her eyes as if it should have been obvious. “No! I didn’t even know demons existed until I was contacted by the academy for the first time!”

“When was that?” Rafael interjected quietly, a solemn and somewhat grim expression on his face.

“Just after… Just after I… discovered my powers…” Arya replied quietly, looking at the ground with a painful expression. “Around six months ago…” the girl trailed off, her eyes widening as she let out a small gasp. “Wait…six months ago… Didn’t you say that my demon was abducted around six months ago? I wonder if there’s a connection…”

“Possibly,” the male shrugged, an unreadable frown on his face. “Only way to know for certain would be to ask Zephyrus.”

“What are we waiting for, then?” Arya grinned, “Let’s go!”

"Ow!" Arya yelped quietly, trying to keep her voice down through the pain as she stumbled on one of several loose bricks strewn haphazardly about the dark hallway.

"Quiet!" Rafael hissed from somewhere ahead of her. "Do you want to get caught?"

Arya huffed indignantly in response, casting an annoyed look into the darkness.

"Come on... We're almost there." Rafael whispered, "Zephyrus' cell is just at the end of this hall."

Carefully, the duo picked their way through the blackness, Arya making sure to sidestep any other debris.

"Give me a moment..." Arya could hear Rafael mutter. "And... There!" A small flame blossomed into existence, casting heavy shadows on their surroundings. Rafael stood a few feet away, a lighter in his left hand.

"Ah, here we are!" Rafael muttered; he had been rummaging through his pockets with his other hand, which he now withdrew, producing a small, golden key.

Inserting it into the lock, he turned the key with a flourish. The cell door creaked open slowly, and Arya peeked inside, her heart beating ferociously in her chest. The flame of the lighter illuminated the small cell as Rafael stepped inside, shadows dancing across the stone walls. Arya started to follow, but stopped dead as the light made it's way to the cell's familiar-looking occupant.

"Luciana!" Arya exclaimed, her jaw dropping in shock. "W-what are you doing here?! Where's Aberdeen? And-"

"Arya," The dark-skinned male cut her off, "There's no time for this. I know you're confused, but hold your questions for later." He turned, facing the ghost-like demon, "Luciana, is Zephyrus...?" the man trailed off, but Arya was under the impression that Luciana somehow understood his unfinished question. The blob nodded sadly.

"Dammit!" Rafael swore, stomping his foot in frustration. "This complicates things!"

"What?" Arya blurted in confusion, feeling lost, "What happened? What are you talking about?"

"Zephyrus was supposed to be in his cell when we were to come and rescue him. We wasted too much time getting here." The older male sighed, "But never mind that, we'll just have to go with plan B."

"That reminds me... Before I forget..." Rafael pulled out a large, sealed manila envelope from his robes, setting it down on the stone floor in front of him. "Here- what you asked for."

Arya raised an eyebrow at the exchange, but otherwise didn't comment; she had other things on her mind. "What's plan B?"

A strange sound suddenly burst forth from Luciana. Arya wasn't certain, but she got the distinct impression that she was being laughed at. Rafael too, the Magni observed, wore a smirk, chuckling deeply.

"Plan B is simple, really," Rafael explained. "We," he paused, his grin widening, "are gonna start a prison riot."

Kirie

The white hair youngster wasn’t gone for very long. The need to be with the rest of his class and to not dismiss orders ate at him so Kirie went back to where the service was being held. He stood there with the rest of his classmates not saying a word until the end of the service. Heading over to Kieran the lighting magni was well aware that Kieran didn’t quite like him or his girlfriend for that matter. Stepping up to him, Kirie placed a hand on his classmates shoulder and bowed his dipped his head. “I truly am sorry about your brother Kieran. He was and still is a good person even if he isn’t here.” Giving the other boy a sad smile Kirie knew of Kierans pain or at least how to deal with it when it was vented towards you.

Letting his hand slide from his shoulder Kirie walked off glancing in the direction of his childhood friend. She was the reason he was so used to that sort of stuff. It was his fault her brother was dead but quite a bit of time had passed since then. Shaking his head, he knew it’d be pointless to try and change Amaya’s way of thought concerning him and her brothers circumstances. If anything Kirie would pay anything to switch places with him if it meant Amaya would truly be happy. Idiot there’s no use in thinking that. she’d be sad all the same regardless of which one of us died. A look of guilt passed his usually bright face before it disappeared and he went back to the inn.

---

---

Some Time Later

The group left the beach a day after the service. They were able to do some of the activities they had planned for that week however some of their classmates were missing. Ms. Brumfield was a bit worried but since it was Jaxon they were talking about she gave up on trying to figure out where he went. Most likely he had gone back to the Academy so most didn’t give it a second thought further. Kirie was a bit lonely knowing his roommate wasn’t with him but then again they hadn’t had a good enough conversation to say that they were close friends.

Staring out the window as their bus lumbered along back to the Academy with a look that said he wasn’t quite there. Everyone sat where they did when they were going to the beach. Realizing that not much had changed in terms of everyone’s relationship with one another Kirie smiled to himself wondering if Melody would ever consider him a friend or if Amaya would forgive him for the past. Pulling away from the window his eyes scanned the row of seats in front of him. He had chosen to sit in the second to last row in the far back to get a clear view of everyone.

It wasn’t that he was shy or anything but rather with how the whole beach incursion went Kirie wasn’t really motivated to interact with everyone as he attempted to since the start of school. Thinking further on this it soon became apparent that the school year would soon be drawing into summer meaning they’d be leaving for summer break before coming back for a new school year. The way the school years worked at Liuena were still odd to him. Looking down at his hands Kirie began reminiscence about all that had happen so far this year. There was that trip to the Human City where they not only gained a new student but lost an old one. Briefly looking for Kieran he still wondered how his classmate was feeling about it all. After the incident in the city there was that crazy weird accident when they were playing capture the flag. Then there was just the time spent in class and doing other class projects to help them with their magic. At their little field trip they met Aberdeen but now when he thought about it he hadn’t seen her since she went to find Ms. Brumfield. On the other hand they did come across Austin her cousin who was closer to the front of the bus where Ms. Brumfield could talk to him about the Academy.

Finally looking up from his hands Kirie was startled upon seeing a pair of glowing eyes staring right at him. Jumping slightly in his seat he calmed down enough to realize it was just his demon Raimei. Chuckling to himself his eyes followed his companion as she drifted between the seats towards the front of the bus and then back to where he sat. “You know you’re not supposed to be out?” His demon merely glanced about nervously as she usually did however this time it seemed a bit different. Sitting up straighter in his seat Kirie regarded his demon seriously this time. Is something wrong? She merely reached out towards him with a look of fright clearly shown in her orbs of compact lightning. Something isn’t right at the Academy.

A bit confused by her thoughts Kirie glanced around the bus wondering if any of the other demons would pick up on Raimei’s thoughts. Then again she was the only one who wasn’t hidden at the moment. “What do you mean? Did something happen?” whispering quietly to her Kirie leaned forwards towards his demon. She glanced about again wringing her hands as sparks shot off her in small little bursts. I’m not really sure but there’s just something very off about Liuena. Kirie titled his head to the side a bit still a bit confused. Reaching out towards her Kirie wanted to comfort her however it’d be impossible to touch her without dying on the spot. “I’m sure it’s nothing Raimei. Now go before Ms. Brumfield actually notices you’re here.” making a shooing motion with his hand Raimei sighed and faded into nothingness.

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A Few Months Later

The sun’s heat wafted through the open windows of the classroom. A woman stood at the front of the classroom a look of triumph on her face as she regarded her class. Most of the classes occupants sat on the edge of their seats waiting for the bell to ring signaling the end of the semester and the start of summer. A young man sat close to the window seemingly oblivious to the fact that today was the last day he’d be in this classroom for a few months. Finally the bell rang and most everybody jumped up to get the heck out of the stuffy classroom.

Ms. Brumfield stepped aside just in time to get out of her students way. She called out to a specific few who had caught her attention since the beginning of the semester. They showed the most promise but they also gave her the most trouble not that she minded now since she wouldn’t have to deal with them for a good few months. Noticing Kirie was still sitting by the window she walked over to him tapping him on the shoulder. The action broke him from his careful thoughts and he glanced up at her, wine colored orbs glazed over in thought. “ Kirie it’s time for you to go.” Giving him a soft smile she patted his shoulder as she went over to her desk to gather her things. Waiting for Kirie to get his own things ready the pair left the room together but they soon went their separate ways.

Kirie went straight to his dorm room to gather his things. Knocking on the door in case Jaxon was inside he already knew that it was pointless since Jaxon disappeared during the beach incursion along with Aberdeen. The Academy was still looking into it but they were falling across a bunch of dead ends. Gathering all his clothes into a single suitcase the room was just about empty on his side, even Jaxon’s side of the room had been cleared away most of it had been sent to his family in case he came back. Staring at the room for a good solid minute Kirie sighed and closed the door and headed off towards the shuttle.

Upon arriving there he saw some of his classmates, most of whom he said his good byes to, before standing to the side awaiting the bus to take them home. Turning back around to look at the Academy despite this being a yearly routine for him for the past two years somehow this semester seemed a lot different now that it was ending. Just like his demon had told him when they were coming back from the beach there was still something off about the Academy. Shaking his head Kirie climbed a nearby tree so he was no longer in the sun. Looking down from his lofty position the white hair individual smiled to himself as those wine orbs caught sight of a bus heading towards them.

“Looks like we get to go home huh Raimei?” A single spark from seemingly nothing was the only reply he got.

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THE END
Until the next chapter begins in the coming future.