Lilly Vatalini Bedford's Story

"I take a little exception to that Rob." Zac started, he was stalling for time until his spell took effect. "You see, you're trying to tell me that people like me can never beat someone like you. If I win, if Lilly wins, it means that fighting is about guts, not raw strength. That's something I'd like to believe in. That it's not about talent, it's about heart. If it comes down to heart, between me and you. There's no way I can lose!" he finished, yelling triumphantly. Things seemed to happen faster than Robert had expected, making him smile. It had always given him great pleasure to see his students grow. This was going to be a close match, but Robert couldn’t let the poor boy win. No matter how much he wanted to. He could let it drag on for as long as he wanted, but if he lost to an O rank. His seat with the council wouldn’t look so good after that. Yes, he was a teacher, but the council enforced tough teaching standards. “Never get a student’s hopes high. It’s dangerous for themselves and the magical community,” he was told before he took up this job. So he had to end it without using his special. "How's this Rob? It took me a while to get this good at chain casting. However, I've got to level the playing field here. If there's no Earth for me to use, you don't get to freeze me. Seems perfectly fair to me?" Zac taunted.

“There is plenty of earth for you, Zachary. It’s just,” he paused as he leapt back till he was standing on the railing Zac didn’t use, “down there.” He pointed to the ground below them. “Just like I have plenty of water to freeze you with,” he said as he eyeballed a fountain that had water left in it. They weren’t running this early, but they still had left over water in them. The same thing he did that with the moisture in the air, he did with the water, but there was a lot more shattered ice to work with. Getting it on the roof was something else though; a transport spell would have to do. “Let me see,” he thought as he hurriedly went through his mind. Not too long after, he thought of something. “Please don’t fail me now,” he whispered, “Sorry Zac.” Robert had to cut himself, drawing blood, to do a quick summoning spell. He was able to summon enough water to create a dome over the area just about where Zac was, also covering the little ‘storm’. It was nowhere near the other’s battle but covered enough area to guarantee Zac was inside. “Concentrate … concentrate …,” he said out loud and he tried an air spell. “Please don’t kill him.” The spell was complete and all the oxygen inside of the dome where Zac was, vanished. Robert knew how long to hold this spell in order to just knock Zac out, he just hoped it didn’t take long. Air magic wasn’t one of his strong points. Of course his outer façade was calm and capable, but on the inside he was, yes Robert, was struggling.

Just as Zac reached Robert and attempted to swallow him up, Robert lept back, way up high onto what was left of the railing Zac had made his weapons from. "There is plenty of earth for you, Zachary. It’s just down there." Robert stated simply. "Well duh." Zac began, "If we were on ground level, I'd just crush you under a mountain. Since we're up here I have to try a little harder." Zac joked, chuckling slightly.

Just as Zac was about to charge him again, Robert summoned a large amount of water and covered his entire dust storm with it. While not a massive amount of water, it was still very impressive for him to have summoned it and then shaped it into a prison so quickly.

"Come on, this can't hold me for long," Zac shouted. He slashed at the walls of the prison, but nothing happened, they just reformed and closed up again. Zac dropped his invisibility, dust storm, and ventriloquy spells and stood there with his swords, trying to figure out how to get out of his current predicament. Just then, all the air inside the dome vanished. Zac gasped for breath but couldn't draw any air. Working quickly, Zac morphed his blades into a single sword and attempted to smash his way out of the prison, but to no avail. The water wouldn't give. He tried running through it but it just pushed him back. Running out of oxygen, Zac begun the arduous transmutation of metal to pure light energy. It wasn't something he was particularly good at, but he figured it'd be useful one day so he'd practiced it before, once. Just once. Now seemed like a pretty good time to use it. The walls of water weren't giving way, he was running out of breath. Just as his world was about to go black, the spell finished leaving Zac with a basketball sized orb of pure light. Zac let the light go and it exploded out and crashed into the water prison rampaging like a tempest. The walls of water couldn't hold the brutal onslaught of light energy and blasted away, letting Zac breath precious oxygen. He flopped to the floor like a fish and just lay there, chest heaving and seeing stars. "Woo... You could have killed me there Rob. I was really scared." He didn't say anything for a moment, still just breathing and resting. At that moment, Pitt flew over from where she was watching the fight and knelt down next to Zac, placing her small hand on his cheek. "Zac... you ok?" She asked, her voice wavering and tears forming in her eyelids. "Of course you dummy, I'm not dead." Zac said, lifting his hand up and placing it on Pitt's head, he patted her softly, "I'm not going anywhere Pitt, I promised you, didn't I?" He asked her softly. "You... you... you jerk!!" Pitt yelled, sobbing, she jumped onto Zac's head and hugged him. He picked her up off of his head and laid her down on his chest, holding her with one of his arms. Zac looked up at Rob, "Was I even close getting you to fight serious? How far do I still have to go?" Zac asked. He was bummed. He'd put up an ok fight, but he really wanted to win.

"Woo... You could have killed me there Rob. I was really scared." Robert smiled as he jumped down from the railing, hands in pockets, and walked over to where Zac was laying. He wanted to express how pleased he was with Zac’s performance, but he was wiped out and didn’t want to waste any more energy. He had to keep a strong front in the presence of his students, or what kind of teacher would he be? So his outer self looked completely strong and full of energy

“You know I wouldn’t have killed you, Zachary. Detention battles are till K.O., so I had to do something to knock you out sooner than later.” Robert knelt down next to Zac and Pitt, patting Pitt on the head. “Hope you aren’t too mad at me for roughing him up a bit, Pitt.”

Zac looked up at Rob, "Was I even close getting you to fight serious? How far do I still have to go?" Zac asked. He was bummed. He'd put up an ok fight, but he really wanted to win.

“You did well. I’m proud of your improvement, but you still have some way to go. You’re doing amazing and you might just become an F rank before I did,” he said with a smile. “But take my advice and practice every day, for as long as you can, no matter where you are, and I promise you that you will get better. I come from a long line of Mages and was taught from a very young age all that I know. I still have a lot to learn myself.” Robert looked down at his bleeding wrist and licked the blood off. “You almost had me break a sweat … that’s saying something,” he smiled down at Zac. “I’m thinking of opening special training for some of you who I think have great potential. I need to have a few of you picked out before the end of second semester to show to the Council. And I think I know who I want to show off this year.” Robert looked at Luke and Lilly, and then turned his gaze back to Zac. “But I’m letting you know now, that means a LOT more time with Kira. I can barely take it and she’s my demon,” Robert said jokingly.

Al watched on the sidelines with Pitt, the battle between the blond kid, "Zac," as he was called by his demon and the ice mage was raging but the other one was at quite a standstill, most boring, as Alan would put it (if he was trying to imitate a British person). As each spell was cast, the young mage couldn't help but be captivated by the spectacle. From ice clones to flying blades, it was all amazing. He hoped he could match up to one of the two one day in the near future, however, his skill set wasn't all that impressive. He could really only compress air into various and even then, they could barely harm something."I take a little exception to that Rob." Zac started "You see, you're trying to tell me that people like me can never beat someone like you. If I win, if Lilly wins, it means that fighting is about guts, not raw strength. That's something I'd like to believe in. That it's not about talent, it's about heart. If it comes down to heart, between me and you. There's no way I can lose!" he finished, yelling triumphantly. Those lines made him chuckle a little, something so self-righteous was a little funny and he could have sworn he heard a faint chuckle come from Laius in the back. The demon would never admit to something like that, though.

The fight continued nonetheless, Alan lauding Zac's skill in chain casting and was thoroughly impressed and a little afraid of what Zac did with the dust storm. All he could do was sit in awe. The big shock came, however, when the dome went up. He had done a little research into the different kinds of magic, but he had never seen a spell like the one Robert had just performed. From the drop of blood rose a dome of water from absolutely dry concrete and surrounded them both. Alan could only stand there with a dumb look on his face until something occurred, a sixth sense, almost, he could tell the air in the dome had just disappeared. "He's gonna suffocate, what to do...what to do..." he couldn't think, he himself could only form small vacuums and one so big would surely be out of his abilities. Thankfully, though the spell dropped and Zac and Robert reappeared. He rushed over with Pitt wot Zac, "You need some help getting up? Oxygen depletion tends to mess with muscles a little." he said helping up his classmate.

“You did well. I’m proud of your improvement, but you still have some way to go. You’re doing amazing and you might just become an F rank before I did,” he said with a smile. At that, Zac smiled, it was a start. Zac sat up, still holding the crying Pitt. "Thanks Rob." Zac said. “But take my advice and practice every day, for as long as you can, no matter where you are, and I promise you that you will get better. I come from a long line of Mages and was taught from a very young age all that I know. I still have a lot to learn myself.” Robert looked down at his bleeding wrist and licked the blood off. “You almost had me break a sweat … that’s saying something,” he smiled down at Zac. “I’m thinking of opening special training for some of you who I think have great potential. I need to have a few of you picked out before the end of second semester to show to the Council. And I think I know who I want to show off this year.” Robert looked at Luke and Lilly, and then turned his gaze back to Zac. “But I’m letting you know now, that means a LOT more time with Kira. I can barely take it and she’s my demon,” Robert said jokingly.

"Kira's ok, she's just needs to lighten up with us. She's so wound up. That's just my opinion, I don't mean to insult your partner. Regardless, I'd be down for some more training." Zac said. Turning his attention to the weeping Pitt in his arms, Zac nudged the top of her head with his nose. "You gonna be ok down there?" Pitt sniffled, then whispered "Yeah... just don't do that to me again, ok?" "Of course Pitt. I can't promise you I won't lose anymore, but I'll be with you for a long time. Ok?" "Ok..." she whispered. "Just lemme stay here for a bit, ok?" "As long as you need to, but you heard what he said right? We're doubling our personal training schedule. Let's get stronger and stronger!" Zac said. "Mhmm" she whispered.

At that, a new face came up to Zac and offered his hand. "You need some help getting up? Oxygen depletion tends to mess with muscles a little." he said helping up his classmate. "I don't think I know you. New student this year?" Zac asked. "His name's Alan, he came up while you were fighting Rob." Pitt murmured. "Alan huh?" Zac said, "Nice to meet you." Shaking the hand that Alan had used to help him up.

"I don't think I know you. New student this year?" Zac asked. "His name's Alan, he came up while you were fighting Rob." Pitt murmured. "Alan huh?" Zac said, "Nice to meet you." "Likewise," Alan said shaking his hand "Laius, come meet our new partners!" He said taking his other hand and extending it like a post. Laius snapped out of his "trance" and he perched on his arm, "Laius, pleasure to meet you." The bird greeted. He extended his wing in the closest a bird could imitate extending a handshake. "Yeah, I'm new here, I actually didn't know much about this whole thing until about last year. Turns out my parents were keepers but hid it from me in shame, a shame I must admit. What's your specialty area, mines air." He was beginning to ramble, a sharp, but small prick from Laius to alert him. "So, can you give me a quick list of who's who and who's our teacher." He said.

“Ah,” Robert said, standing up straight and looking at the new student, Alan. “Welcome to the Henry Jefferson Magical Arts Club, though we really are more of a class than anything, but the school restricted us to club time and whatever else we could arrange with the students. You just happened to walk into detention, which as you can see, is a little rough, so you might want to do your best to avoid it.” Robert let out a big sigh and looked over at the battle waging between Lilly and Luke. “Luke over there is helping me serve detention to shadow girl, Lilly. They should be done soon. If you’re a first year, you might not know me. I’m Robert Beckenfield, Mr. Beckenfield that is, the teacher.” Robert stopped talking, he knew that kids didn’t like hearing to much of a teacher’s voice. “Feeling better Zachary?” He wondered if he should tell Kira he commenced battle with a student … Would she get mad? Maybe, but it was harder to tell with her these days. Maybe it would just come up in a conversation during dinner. As he thought through that, he began making small ice figures subconsciously … soldiers and ballerinas and all sorts of mystical creatures.

"Likewise," Alan said shaking Zac's hand "Laius, come meet our new partners!" He said taking his other hand and extending it like a post. At that, a little bird flitted over from a nearby railing and perched on Alan's arm, "Laius, pleasure to meet you." The bird greeted. He extended his wing in the closest a bird could imitate extending a handshake. "Yeah, I'm new here, I actually didn't know much about this whole thing until about last year. Turns out my parents were keepers but hid it from me in shame, a shame I must admit. What's your specialty area, mines air." Alan spoke hurriedly, and so very animatedly. He seemed so excited. However, the little bird pecked him sharply with his beak and Alan calmed down "So, can you give me a quick list of who's who and who's our teacher." He said. Just as Zac was about to really introduce himself, Robert spoke up.

“Ah,” Robert said, standing up straight and looking at the new student, Alan. “Welcome to the Henry Jefferson Magical Arts Club, though we really are more of a class than anything, but the school restricted us to club time and whatever else we could arrange with the students. You just happened to walk into detention, which as you can see, is a little rough, so you might want to do your best to avoid it.” Robert let out a big sigh and looked over at the battle waging between Lilly and Luke. “Luke over there is helping me serve detention to shadow girl, Lilly. They should be done soon. If you’re a first year, you might not know me. I’m Robert Beckenfield, Mr. Beckenfield that is, the teacher.” Zac spoke up, "You know that I'm Zac, and you appear to have met Pitt. I'm an Earth focus, my specialty is the transmutation of Earth to metal as well as the molding of metal. As it is now, all I can do is make swords. It suits me though, I love sword fighting. Still, kind of hard to fight up here where I've got no ground. That was fun! We should try that again sometime." Zac said, despite the loss, he was feeling more energetic than before, he wanted to go run and jump and train. “Feeling better Zachary?” Zac heard Rob ask him. "Yeah, I feel great! You think Kira is still holding practice down there? I might join late. I still wanna go!" "Already with you? Musclehead..." Pitt complained. "Just because we've done one duel today doesn't mean we can stop, especially if I want to surpass Robert. That's my new goal." Zac countered, smiling cheesily. He even gave Pitt a little thumbs up. Pitt had to admire the idiot, he was nothing if not stupidly sturdy.

"Anywho, Lilly over there is a Shadow mage and Luke is a Light mage." Zac said, answering some of Alan's questions. "Good mages too, both of them. If that's all, I'm gonna go see if Kira will let me join, see you guys later!" Zac yelled over his shoulder. He was already running towards the ledge of the school building that faced the back lot of the school, where no body was. "Zac?... Don't you think we should slow down? Maybe take it easy?" Pitt asked nervously, still nestled in Zac's arms. "No way Pitt, now I'm all fired up! Let's get even stronger! What do you think? If I'm stronger I'll never lose, so you'll never have to see me like that again. Sound good to you?" "Yeah!" Pitt shouted. "Let's go kick some ass!" They shouted together, their resolve stronger than before. At that, they made it to the ledge and vaulted the railing, falling some three stories down to the ground. Zac tilted his body forward so he was diving headfirst, placing his hands before him, Pitt holding onto his shoulders. Zac cast a softening sand spell when he hit the ground, it was like diving into a giant cushion. The sand absorbed their impact and they barely felt anything at all. Standing up and dusting himself off, Zac cast a hardening spell and returned the Earth to its original state.

"Hey Pitt, which way is the closest way to the practice field where Kira is?" Zac asked.

"Heck if I know, let's go right!" Pitt replied stupidly.

"Good enough, if we run around the whole campus we're bound to get there eventually!" Zac suggested.

"Yeah! Directions are for the weak!" Pitt exclaimed. The idiot duo continued like this until they found Kira and the rest of the class.

"Oi!!! Ms. Kira! Sorry we're late, we just got out of detention. Can we still practice? What are you guys doing now?" Zac asked, trying not to startle Kira or make her angry. He remembered his conversation with Robert about how touchy she was. Then Pitt spoke. "Yeah! We just got done fighting Robert and now we want some more punishment! Woo!" Pitt screamed like a fratboy. Zac slapped his hand to his face.

"You know she's his partner right?" Zac asked, leading Pitt.

"So?" Pitt replied, clueless.

"So you think she might take exception to us fighting her master?" Zac asked, finally making his point.

"Oh... right... Sorry Ms. Kira!!" Pitt yelled.

Robert just nodded and chuckled slightly at Zac’s new resolution. It reminded him of Lilly’s, but she was more on a world domination scale. “You should probably go down there with Zac for regular training. Kira, the cranky giant cat who just happens to be my demon, should be able to help you out and place you in a proper training group. We have a mission in 6 days and if Kira thinks you aren’t ready, then you will not accompany us on this mission. I would recommend that you follow Zac … but take a safer way.” Robert waved to the young Alan and his demon before turning to Luke and Lilly. “The stakes just got a whole lot higher you two, now finish this up Luke. Miss Bedford needs to accompany her classmates in training, whether she is tired or not.” Robert was truly fascinated by the young girl and her abilities as a shadow mage. In truth, he himself hadn’t seen many and he had seen a lot of wizards. He had maybe seen 5 or 6 shadow mages in his life. They all seemed like … well … like they had a screw loose. They were generally used as the Council’s dogs … murderers, assassins, all the people who did the dirty work. The only way the Council would allow him to teach her further would be if he swore to turn her in as soon as she graduated. If she disappeared before then, then she would have a large bounty on her head. If he wanted to keep his students safe, no matter how annoying she was, he had to watch her and try his hardest to protect her.

{Just a little side note, but –hint ^^^^^hint- things are going to start getting to where Robert acts closer to Lilly, for her protection. Noooo love connection whatsoever. ~Roland and Nasia~}

Kira eye twitched furiously as the voices of more children seemed to appear.

"Oi!!! Ms. Kira! Sorry we're late, we just got out of detention. Can we still practice? What are you guys doing now?" Zac asked.

"Yeah! We just got done fighting Robert and now we want some more punishment! Woo!" Pitt screamed like a fratboy. Zac slapped his hand to his face.

"You know she's his partner right?" Zac asked, leading Pitt.

"So?" Pitt replied, clueless.

"So you think she might take exception to us fighting her master?" Zac asked, finally making his point.

"Oh... right... Sorry Ms. Kira!!" Pitt yelled.

Kira let out a long, very audible sigh. “Robert … you dumbass.” She turned to face them completely. “You realize if Robert would have harmed you in the process of battle, both him and I would have been severely punished for it. And I would rather not suffer for his mistake. Now, since you were late and I am handling the physical portion of this, you will run 10 laps around this court yard (which is about 2 miles all together) without breaks. If I see you even begin to slow down, I will add more and I won’t hesitate to keep you here all night. After that, you will do 30 push-ups, 35 sit-ups, and 200 jumping jacks. Your muscles will burn because that is what this course was designed for. Only the toughest of the tough can be accepted as true mages. It is nearly impossible to do this without dying the first few weeks, but you should get the hang of it if you just got done battling Robert and actually lived. Now, get started. I have more children to yell at for slowing me down.”

Kira let out a long, very audible sigh. “Robert … you dumbass.” She turned to face them completely. “You realize if Robert would have harmed you in the process of battle, both him and I would have been severely punished for it. And I would rather not suffer for his mistake. Now, since you were late and I am handling the physical portion of this, you will run 10 laps around this court yard (which is about 2 miles all together) without breaks. If I see you even begin to slow down, I will add more and I won’t hesitate to keep you here all night. After that, you will do 30 push-ups, 35 sit-ups, and 200 jumping jacks. Your muscles will burn because that is what this course was designed for. Only the toughest of the tough can be accepted as true mages. It is nearly impossible to do this without dying the first few weeks, but you should get the hang of it if you just got done battling Robert and actually lived. Now, get started. I have more children to yell at for slowing me down.”

Zac's mouth hung open slightly. He swallowed hard. That was a lot of work out right after a duel, but Zac wasn't the kind to be deterred by hard work.

"Yes ma'am, we're all over it!" Zac said with gusto. "Yosh!" Pitt exclaimed. At that, they started running. They finished their two miles after about 16 minutes and got to work on their push ups. That's when Zac hit his wall.

The duel from earlier and all that running made him tired. Plus, they still hadn't eaten, and Zac's stomach was growling loudly. His arms burnt and his body felt a hundred pounds heavier. "This is so I can beat Rob. I can't afford to take it easy here." Zac said to himself. He had to keep motivating himself or else he'd never get that strong. For a moment he almost stopped. He experienced the hardest push-up he'd ever done at number 19. That moment, image of Pitt's crying face surfaced in his mind. He did another, for Pitt. Every time he did a push up, he thought of Pitt's crying face. 20. He actually started to speed up. 21, 22. "Never again..." he whispered to himself. 23, 24, 25, 26. "Never again." He said, this time a little louder. 27, 28, 29, 30. "I need you to cheer for me Pitt." Zac said, finishing his push ups and moving on to the sit-ups, still gaining speed. "Why?" she asked. Though she never needed an excuse to do so before, something was different. There was that look in his eyes. The look he had when he promised they'd be family. "I need you to cheer for me so I never give up again. So I always keep going no matter what. I need you to push me harder. So I can be strong enough to never see you cry again!" Zac finished. Pitt instantly teared up. She only nodded. She didn't know what to say. Zac was pushing himself this hard... going without lunch... for her? "Ok," she agreed tearfully. She wiped the tears from her eyes and started cheering. "Come on Zac! Harder! Faster! Go! Go! Go! Let's keep getting stronger together!" She started doing the sit-ups with him, joining him just as he hit 15, cheering all the while. "Come on Zac! Faster!" Pitt smiled wide, tears streaming down her face. After 5 minutes, Zac finally finished his sit ups and jumping jacks and laid in the grass. His chest was heaving, and his muscles were burning, but it felt good. He rolled over and looked at Pitt, she was even sweating from the hard work. "Good job Pitt," Zac said. "I can feel us getting stronger. Can you?" Yeah," she answered. "We're gonna be the strongest!" She said, raising her fist into the air. Zac labored to get up, finally besting gravity. He picked up Pitt and nestled her in the crook of his arm, as if carrying a baby, she'd fallen asleep. "We're all done Ms. Kira. Anything else you need us to do?"

"Just sit for now. Its not often, but I feel bad for makng you work so hard after dueling Robert. I know that takes a lot out of a person, especially with someone like him someone like you." Kira paused and looked at the edge of the roof, barely catching a glimps of Robert as he walked by. He was obviously watching the battle go down. "Tsk. From what I heard, that young girl should be getting more than a battle with Luke. Disrespectful kids like that need something more ... punishing if you ask me." Kira growled to herself as she crawled undrr the shade to watch the other children try and accomplish what Zac seemed to have done in no time.

Welcome to the Henry Jefferson Magical Arts Club, though we really are more of a class than anything, but the school restricted us to club time and whatever else we could arrange with the students. You just happened to walk into detention, which as you can see, is a little rough, so you might want to do your best to avoid it.” "Nice to meet you Mr. Beckenfield," Al greeted, "I would've been here yesterday but I was out sick with the bug going around school." He apologized. It was terrible as well being bed-ridden for the day, he just hoped the teacher would accept the excuse.

"Anywho, Lilly over there is a Shadow mage and Luke is a Light mage." Zac said, answering some of Alan's questions. "Good mages too, both of them. If that's all, I'm gonna go see if Kira will let me join, see you guys later!" Zac yelled over his shoulder. He was already running towards the ledge of the school building that faced the back lot of the school, where no body was. "Zac?... Don't you think we should slow down? Maybe take it easy?" Pitt asked nervously, still nestled in Zac's arms. "No way Pitt, now I'm all fired up! Let's get even stronger! What do you think? If I'm stronger I'll never lose, so you'll never have to see me like that again. Sound good to you?" "Yeah!"[b] Pitt shouted. "Let's go kick some ass!" They shouted together, their resolve stronger than before. At that, they made it to the ledge and vaulted the railing, falling some three stories down to the ground.

Al ran over to the side to make sure Zac was okay, but turns out he made a pit of sand at the bottom and dived into it, "Note to self, learn spell" he mumbled to himself. “You should probably go down there with Zac for regular training. Kira, the cranky giant cat who just happens to be my demon, should be able to help you out and place you in a proper training group. We have a mission in 6 days and if Kira thinks you aren't ready, then you will not accompany us on this mission. I would recommend that you follow Zac … but take a safer way.”

"Ok, then, I'll see you tomorrow then." Al said, he jumped the railing, too but provided a cushion of air so that he would more float down than actually fall, that's safer than sand-diving, right? Eventually, he caught up with Zac and Pitt and listened to what Kira told them to do for physical training:

"Now, since you were late and I am handling the physical portion of this, you will run 10 laps around this court yard (which is about 2 miles all together) without breaks. If I see you even begin to slow down, I will add more and I won’t hesitate to keep you here all night. After that, you will do 30 push-ups, 35 sit-ups, and 200 jumping jacks. Your muscles will burn because that is what this course was designed for. Only the toughest of the tough can be accepted as true mages. It is nearly impossible to do this without dying the first few weeks, but you should get the hang of it if you just got done battling Robert and actually lived. Now, get started. I have more children to yell at for slowing me down.”

That much, you've got to be kidding me, I'm not gonna feel my arms for a week after this. Nonetheless, he began his activities as he was told to. His run was about 4 minutes longer than Zac's and he was already nearly out of breath. He thought about cheating and using air to aid with the push-ups, but quickly thought against it when he took a look over in Kira's direction, however, he did help with the air flow to his lungs. The push ups were long and agonizing, but he longed to keep up with Zac and was done as Zac was just starting his sit ups. The jumping jacks offered a reprieve as the robotic motions allowed for Al's mind to wander and before he realized it, he was done. Kira had dismissed the other student, but did that mean he was done as well? He cautiously assumed yes and took a seat on the grass. Remaining silent until he could fully catch his breath.

(If I were you guys, I would ignore the fight scene. Its not the best, because I'm just winging it. MaxStokes gave me permission to control Luke while he couldn't. The fight scene should get fixed soon. XD)

Lilly freaked out when the odd flash of light blinded her momentarily. But she had to keep her cool, something she learned from her little ... family. Stay calm and don't let them know you have been caught off guard. "You think your little trick is going to fool me? We I'm sorry to tell you that it didn't work." She rubbed her eyes, but when her vision did clear, Luke was nowhere to be seen. One distraction seemed to come after another, as a boy appeared on the roof, shouting random things that she couldn't understand. Along with Robert and Zac making a commotion, there was too much going on. She was almost screamed when a sudden but faint gust of wind made her loose balance and fall on her butt. The embarrassment and the anger were never a good mix with her. The shadows began to wave furiously back and forth, slowly rising and becoming 3-D. They gathered around her and connected with her shadow. "Just shut up," Lilly yelled, shadowy tentacles grew from her back and her eyes were covered with 'Shadow Fire'. She thrust her arms forward, the tentacles following her command and thrust through Luke's body, bound to send a shock through him.

But Luke barely felt anything at all. So he took advantage of it and sent out another blinding flash. Once again, Lilly stumbled back with a frustrated growl. Snickers from the shadows came from everywhere, not only that, but words of discouragement also. She looked around, grinding her teeth and glaring at everything that moved. Luke was completely confused. He saw the shadows, and frankly, it was weird, but it was dead silent and she looked like she had a buzzing in her ear that wouldn’t go away. This girl was leaving to many opportunities out in the blue, making it that much easier to beat her. Robert said this was till K.O. … right, Luke questioned himself. Before she could completely recover from the flash, Luke rushed towards her with his fists ready. Lilly saw what was going on and was able to dodge before he could land a blow. Luke then kicked the back of her knees, making her fall to the ground. Lilly didn’t know what else to do. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to let herself lose. So she did what she could to win. Lilly looked back at Luke, particularly his shadow, and put all her mind into stopping him.

At that moment, Luke could barely move. He saw where her eyes were trained and since she was a shadow mage, it was easy to figure out what was happening. She was controlling him through his shadow. But with her concentration level, it wouldn’t be long before he could move again. He honestly didn’t think that it would get anywhere with her sitting there, staring at him, and him just standing still. So he had to think of something to K. O. her quick. But Lilly was already on that. Using her control powers , plus losing it earlier already had taken a toll on her. “I’ll … I’ll show you weak,” she yelled as she broke her concentration on him and lunged. Luke quickly dodged and landed a blow to Lilly’s back, giving her a start as she fell to the ground again.

“That’s it! I’m not going to lose to you,” Lilly yelled as she stood up quickly. “Show me what you can really do and I’ll show you what I can do!” The tentacles showed again and shot at Luke, going through them once again. This time, he felt the shock, which definitely surprised him. He could almost feel the energy leave his body. But that wasn’t going to stop him. It was obvious that she was running out of energy as well. Lilly was panting and slumping, looking unsteady. It was time to end it. Luke used what he could to dash forwards and land a punch on her chest before sending her flying back with a blast of air. Once Lilly hit the railing, she was out. Luke looked at her and sighed. She must not have been that well trained if she was knocked out that fast. She was definitely in for a long journey ahead.

(I’m really sorry about this really bad fight!! I hope that it will be fixed when I have the chance. It might be because I am uber tired, but it will be fixed, I promise!!!)

~Time Lapse: 2-3 hours later~

Lilly’s eyes fluttered open as the light poured in from the sun. Where was she? “You’re awake Master? After the battle, Luke was nice enough to bring you down here to the nurse’s office. Are you in pain at all?” Lilly was in shock … she had lost? She hadn’t even remembered most of what happened. She sat up fast and almost passed out again. “Take it easy … you did well. The only reason you were out so long was because they gave you some pain medication that kept you asleep just in case.”

“How can you say that when I lost so easily?!” Lilly teared up and tore the blankets off of her. The mirror opposite the bed showed that a bandage on her cheek and some on her arm. Her back and chest weren’t feeing the best either. “OZ … why am I here? If I can’t even win a freakin battle then there is no point in trying.”

“Master … he had three years on you … you couldn’t help it … you have class to attend to Master.” OZ grabbed Lilly’s hand and pulled her gently toward the door. The only plus about this was that she would probably be quiet for the entire class. The hallway was seemingly empty, so OZ pulled the quiet Lilly out and started towards the room.

Kira nodded at the demon and Keeper. “I guess you are done for the day, class at 4:45. Go rest up before then.”


Robert sighed as the battle finally finished up. “Why don’t you take her down to the nurse. I have some lesson planning to do.” Of course he was supposed to do that last night, but he was too tired. So he had some making up to do. “I won’t be surprised if nobody shows up. I know Kira’s training can be tough.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert sat in his chair, going through papers and making sure that the things he needed to hand out were all prepared. He had no idea what Kira was going to talk about, and she was lounging on the floor next to his desk. “Why are you so tired? You didn’t exercise at all today. I did more than I planned on.”

“I did plenty. Dealing with those children is exhausting.” Kira rolled over onto her back as she waited for the children to trickle in, complaining about being sore and wanting to sleep. The demons would all be quiet and ready for class, which she liked. Robert let out a big sigh and stretched. “So, you really fought with that Earth Mage,” she questioned.

“Zachary challenged me and I accepted. That guy has potential. Did he tell you about his new goal?”

“Yeah,” she said worriedly. “But you know the day one of your student’s beats you is the day you will die? How come you get them all riled up like that.” It was true. Getting their hopes up like that for nothing.

“Kira … the day I die at the hands of my students … will be the best day ever.”

The trip from the nurses office to the class room was surprisingly short for the duo … and oddly quiet as well. Almost as if all the shadows had disappeared. They were all still there of course, OZ could feel them.

They were the first ones in the classroom, which made it easier to get the seats they wanted. “Class still shouldn’t start for a few more minutes, Master. After class, we can go and get some food, if you want.” OZ was trying hard to make his Master feel better. The only time he felt anything was when she was sad. But Lilly just stared blankly forward at the teacher and his demon. She was bound to act like herself again once Mr. Bekenfield said something. His Master would not let herself look weak in front of anyone, especially with her goal. “Ms. Kira,” OZ spoke up lightly, seeing as Lilly wouldn’t reply. “Umm, what exactly are we going to be learning about today.” OZ pulled out a notebook and pen that he always had in his pocket. If he already knew what they were learning about, then he could just read during the class.

Before he even had a chance to write a single thing down, Lilly snatched the pencil and notepad out of his hand. “You aren’t going to read during that class, OZ,” she said angrily. “You could miss an important piece of information to help us take over this world.” She grabbed OZ by his collar and pulled him close so only he could hear what she said next. “From now one we are going to watch every single move everyone makes. We are not going to be beat again.” Lilly sat back and continued to stare at Robert, sending invisible hate waves at him.

Robert was truly surprised to see Lilly and OZ show up first to class. “Class still shouldn’t start for a few more minutes, Master. After class, we can go and get some food, if you want.” Robert looked down at Kira who was now perked up and staring at the Keeper and her demon. Robert hadn’t told her that the young girl had lost, though it was obvious, even without the bandages or her down look. “Ms. Kira,” OZ spoke up lightly, seeing as Lilly wouldn’t reply. “Umm, what exactly are we going to be learning about today.” Before Kira had the chance to answer, Lilly snatched the pencil and notepad out of his hand. “You aren’t going to read during that class, OZ,” she said angrily. “You could miss an important piece of information to help us take over this world.” Kira had a confused look on her face … take over the world?

“We demons are learning about the importance of our bonds with our Keepers. What do you have planned today Robert?” The teacher looked down his beautiful feline companion and smiled. “Oh, I’m just going to had out some papers, slips and talk about the creatures we will be encountering on the trip.” Robert leaned back and sighed. “Ah the wonders of having unlimited funding for these trips.” Robert then leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. “You want to know what we will be hunting, Miss Bedford? We are going to be hunting Jersey Devils.”

"Hey Alan. How're you? I napped so good after that work out. Man was that great. You get some rest in?" he said.

"Yes, and did it feel good! I'm still a little sore, though, I haven't worked that hard in a while." He replied. To demonstrate this, he pumped his arms up and down in order to help loosen up.

"Ahh, Alan, this is my new roomie Bryce. Bryce, this is a classmate of ours, Alan. Say, Alan, did you stick around to see how Lilly and Luke's fight turned out?"

"I didn't see, I went down just a little after you, by the way, thickened air is a lot safer than sand to land in. However, I think the bird here did see the fight." Alan said. "Pleasure to meet you Bryce. Alan Lapchinski."

"Light bested shadow." Laius cryptically replied to Zac's question. The group eventually arrived at the classroom, and Alan held the door open for Bryce and Zac. He could hear Mr.Beckenfield say what he was going over, it was standard up until he heard they were hunting Jersey Devils. At this, he lit up, his parents settled down in New Jersey after they had moved from Poland. He knew the Leeds myth off the top of his head. However, he took a seat towards the front of the class. Patiently waiting for class to begin, Laius hovering off to the side.

Robert sat up and smiled as more students came in. “Ah! Welcome back Zachary! You feeling rested and ready to learn?” Once again, there was a new face. “Hello there stranger,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m Robert Bekenfield, or Mr. Bekenfield, the teacher. If it’s not to much to ask, I’m actually going to have you and Alan introduce yourselves in front of the class once we get started.”

“I’m his demon, in charge of teaching the demons in a separate classroom as well.” Robert pat Kira on head as she hopped onto his desk and spoke. Good thing he move the papers he had all organized.

“Anyone feeling the burn?” Robert laughed and got up to occupy himself until the other students arrived. “Did you see Zachary and I’s spar, Miss Bedford? I actually almost broke a sweat,” he said in a joking tone as he wrote ’Jersey Devil’ in his normal cursive script on the black board. “It’s to bad you couldn’t watch. You could have learned a thing or two about strategy.” He had sent her a look that was bound to send her over the edge in anger. He loved doing that to people that made it easy, like his older sister or some of his old teammates. “Say, did you learn anything Alan?”

“I don’t think it’s right to battle with them Robert. There is a reason you match them against other students during detention.” Kira curled up on the desk and let out a long sigh. “But I’m not going to bring it up again since we already spoke about this.”

“Your such a sour old pussy cat, Kira. I maybe a teacher, but I like to have fun too.”

“Yeah, that’s why you get in trouble with the Council so much.”

"Yes, and did it feel good! I'm still a little sore, though, I haven't worked that hard in a while." Alan replied to Zac's question. To demonstrate this, he pumped his arms up and down in order to help loosen up. "Yeah, feels good, huh?" Zac said.

"I didn't see, I went down just a little after you, by the way, thickened air is a lot safer than sand to land in. However, I think the bird here did see the fight." Alan said. "Pleasure to meet you Bryce. Alan Lapchinski." Alan said, introducing himself to Bryce.

"Light bested shadow." Laius cryptically replied to Zac's question. "Ahh... so Luke did win. I'll bet Lilly's bummed out." Zac sighed.

"Hey... Nice to meet you and stuff this is Ikari." Bryce said, introducing himself. He gestures to Ikari who is sitting in the crook of his neck. Looking at Alan, Ikari greets him, "Greetings Alan it is nice to meet a friend of Zac's. Pardon Bryce... He isn't always friendly towards new people, but he's getting better... Right Bryce?" He nods. "Yeah... It's a drag."

"Ahh, come on, don't knock sand diving till you try it." Zac jokes with Alan, patting him on the shoulder Laius wasn't perched on. "Sure, I coulda flew over to the courtyard or turned myself into a rock for the impact, but sand diving is one of my favorite activities. The only downside is getting the stuff out of your ears" Zac joked.

Finally, the group makes it to the classroom. Walking in to the classroom and sitting down, they make it just in time to hear Robert say, "Oh, I’m just going to had out some permission slips and talk about the creatures we will be encountering on the trip.” Robert leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Ah the wonders of having unlimited funding for these trips.” Robert then leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. “You want to know what we will be hunting, Miss Bedford? We are going to be hunting Jersey Devils.”

"Devils, eh Rob?" Zac asked. "Awesome, can't wait!" Zac exclaimed, "Hear that Pitt? We're hunting Jersey Devils." Zac gently prodded her awake. "Hmm, yeah, devils, hope they taste yummy." She says sleepily before konking back out.

Chuckling slightly, "Well Rob? Do Jersey Devils taste yummy?" Zac asked before sitting down at a seat next to Lilly's. He dropped his backpack on the floor and pulled out his notebook and his last remaining pencil.

If Lilly was deaf, she still would have been able tell, without looking, that people had entered the room. Robert had perked up, OZ’s face quickly went to his normal apathetic look, and she could smell them … yes, smell them. Two new faces were with one old face … Zac’s face. Lilly slumped further down in her chair and pulled her knee’s up to her chest, staring angrily at the wall next to her.

"Devils, eh Rob?" Zac asked. "Awesome, can't wait!" Zac exclaimed, "Hear that Pitt? We're hunting Jersey Devils." Zac gently prodded her awake. "Hmm, yeah, devils, hope they taste yummy."

Chuckling slightly, "Well Rob? Do Jersey Devils taste yummy?" Zac asked before sitting down at a seat next to Lilly's. He dropped his backpack with a slight thud.

“They really don’t,” OZ spoke up. “Master and I have had it before.”

“You see! I already know how to hunt them, Bekensnot! I should have to go on that field trip with all those weak excuses you call mages. Besides, it’s a waste of good meat to kill them all then burn the remains. I could eat for weeks on that stuff and not have to pay an extra dime!”

OZ looked down at Lilly, who’s eyes were trained on the wall. “Master … you got sick for three days after eating only a little bit,” he whispered. “Besides, it would be fun.”