Earth

Lilly kept her eyes glued to the stars above. She knew she was blushing like crazy, which should have been enough to embarrass her ... but if she looked at him it would end up worse. Her brain was fried basically and she wasn't sure what to say back ... what to do back. Punch him? Hug him? Ignore him? It was so frustrating ... but she couldn't just sit there like an idiot. "I'm glad," she started. "I'm glad that you won't leave me ... that I'll always have someone there for me. Besides OZ of course. He has to be there. You don't have to be, but you are anyways. And that makes me really happy." Lilly rolled onto her side to see him and gave him a small smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OZ sat through what Ikari said, but it still just seemed like smoke to him. He knew Bryce ... so he had to trust him.

Ikari's question didn't come as a complete shock to OZ, but it still caught him a little off guard. "He wants to make Hell on Earth ... literally. So he needed someone with the horrible motivation to destroy the Council, someone who he knew he could stain their mind and it wouldn't be touched by others. Lilly was just a baby, so he figured what the hell. She was trained since before she could walk basically, her softening was rather a major blow to his plan. Thats why he ... combined his powers with her. He doesn't allow her to use it to its full potential, it would destroy her in the process. So he's waiting. Waiting and planning for the right moment when he can destroy the Council and rule over the world ..."

Bryce smiled back and chuckles silently to himself. 'That's almost exactly what I thought she'd say.' He leaned over to her and kisses her cheek lightly. "You know your adorable when you blush like that." He laughed and pulled her close humming along to the melody of the wind. "We should get going before to long. Unless you wanna sleep out in the forest tonight of course." He smiled and stretched waiting for her reply.

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Ikari sat in silent shock as OZ explained Liam's plan. "Your just going to let him use her to destroy the world? Your OK with this even if it destroys her in the process? You want to protect her just so she can be destroyed? OZ this doesn't make sense.

Lilly blushed a deeper shade of crimson as she hid her face in his chest. "I wouldn't mind either way. I used to live out here, so I'm used to sleeping in the woods. So honestly," she said calmly listening to the melody Bryce was humming, "it's up to you ..." The melody of the wind caught in her head and she, ever so slightly, began to hum it too. "You know, I used to hate the wind." Lilly paused for a long moment. "But now everytime I feel it, I think of you and it warms me up. I don't get that chilled to the bone feeling anymore."

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"Ikari," OZ said flatly. "Not to long ago, Lilly told me that no matter what, as her demon, I had to help her carry out her deepest desire. And that is to destroy the Council. She knows she'll go with it, but she tries to forget by saying the things she does about ruling after they are gone. Lilly made me swear that I would do everything in my power to make sure her goal was achived. I'm a man of my word ... I can't turn back even if I wanted to. Her word is almost law to me. When she means it anyways, and she is serious about the Council."

Bryce blushed deeply as Lilly finished. "Lilly I'm glad your here with me." He smiled at her hugging her even closer to himself and reached back into the dimensional storage pulling out another blanket throwing it over the pair. "Well we both grew up here alone, but now we get to stay here together." He smiled pulling Lilly into a soft kiss.

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Ikari looked down at the bed. "I-I'm sorry OZ. I know how you feel it's just... What if he destroy's her? I can't say that Lilly is my favorite person in the world." At this she looks deeper into the blanket trying to avoid OZ's gaze. "But as long as Bryce loves her I will stand by them and you in their mission." She fell silent and laid her head down onto the bed.

Lilly kissed back, smiling into it. She pulled away slightly as she snuggled into him and the blanket. "You're so weird," she muttered, avoiding his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Honestly," OZ stated, "I'm hoping that Zac or Bryce get to them first ... then Lilly would have to do something like that. I want her to keep living, to be happy, to forget any of this ever happened. "

Bryce woke up as soon as the birds started to sing. He began to stretch but stopped feeling a weight on his chest. "Hmmmm morning Lilly." He smiled and began to lightly rub her back until she woke up. After a few moments she woke up sitting up and stretching. Bryce sat up with her and pulled her into a hug. "Morning sleepy-head." He laughed lightly. "Well we should be heading back to school soon. Robert wanted to see the four of us I got a message from him this morning I already told Zac and Annie." He stood pulling the blanket up and putting it back in storage and Helping Lilly to stand. "Alright we should get moving we're gonna be late." He grabbed her jumping into the air flying off towards the school the other blanket being pulled into storage as they went. As they flew he sent a message to Ikari and OZ telling them to meet in the classroom. After a few minutes of flying through the air they reached the window of the classroom. Sliding it open and setting Lilly inside Bryce looked around at his friends and teacher. "Well good morning everyone." He hopped into the room closing the window behind him. "So what's the mission?"

Robert cleared his throat. "As I had been in the process of saying. You will be fighting Chimera in the Rocky Mountains. The most common reports are those in the area around Mount Elbert. These creatures are very dangerous which is why I've decided to send the four of you along with your Demons. This isn't just an elimination mission... You are also supposed to find the mage who is creating these Chimera and capture him to be collected and tried before the council. These beasts range from the mythological Lion-snakes to Bear-goats. We don't yet know his motivation for creating these but there is speculation that he has been trying to combine humans with different creatures so be on your guard." He looked between the four keepers and their demons. While he was trying to gauge their reactions and feelings about this Kira stepped forward to finish the explanation. "These creatures are able to breathe different elemental types. Fire, Ice, Water, Poison/Acid, there is even a report of one with Medusa's gaze. You all must work together to survive this mission. We wouldn't charge you with this if we didn't know you could handle it. Remember this is a mission to kill the Chimera and capture the mage. The Chimera can not be saved there is no way to separate the creatures that make the Chimera once the spell is completed. You all know this is one of the most heavily forbidden magics. You must stop him." With that she turned and stood behind Robert. "Well are there any questions?"

Bryce stood there Ikari having moved to stand next to him. "When do we leave?"

Robert's reply was simple. "As soon as possible."

Annie looked to her brother. 'If they can breathe fire then I have to stay near him just in case I can't let Red come out again... not after what he did to Lilly.

Bryce stood thinking. 'I'm glad I learned how to block fire without having to absorb it. As long as I use my Scythe I'll be fine. Besides it's a weapons free mission so I can't even get yelled at for it... but that Medusa gaze... How did she die in the old tales... He followed the rest of the group out of the room to prepare for the mission. He stopped them in the hallway. "Alright we finally get to go on another mission and it's just us! But before we go... Can anyone remember how Medusa was defeated in the old stories? I know I've read it but I can't remember for the life of me."

Lilly stood silently as Robert briefed them, practically glaring daggers. Being in the same room as him did wonders to her temper. After thay left, she brightened a bit, but still felt rather bummish. "Alright we get to go on another mission and its just us! But before we go ...... can anyone remember how Medusa was defeated in the old stories? I know I've read it, but I cant remember it for the life of me." Lilly perked up like a puppy about to go on a long walk to the park. It was an amazing feeling that she actually knew something.

"Perseus defeated her by using the shield of a fallen warrior to behead her. Staring at her reflection was safe, but not straight at her." If she had a tail, itwould have been wagging. Lilly caught up to Bryce, looping her arm through his and laying her head against him. But the one thing going through her mind was where was the person who had told her all the stories, Liam. He hadnt come looking for her obviously. Oh well, she didnt care. It was a simple thought that passed through her mind. "Time to get packing," she heard OZ whisper from behind. One backpack, thousands of weapons. This was going to be an amazing mission.

Bryce did a mental facepalm as Lilly quickly rattled off the story. "Gods I'm stupid! How'd I forget that. The reflection is safe, but actually looking at her turns you to stone. Thanks Lilly." He smiled and kissed the top of Lilly's head as she wrapped her arm through his. As they walked he heard OZ mutter about time to pack. "Well I've got everything packed for me already so I could tag along with you if you want." He smiled walking down the hallway not worrying about tomorrow just happy to be with Lilly. As they were walking Ikari shrunk to a smaller size and jumped up onto Bryce's opposite shoulder nuzzling down into his neck. "I may just take a nap while you guys are traveling make sure not to drop me." Bryce chuckled and responded his free hand reaching up to stroke her soft fur. "I would never dream of it."

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Annie skipped along behind the rest of the group Fenix walking calmly beside her. "Fenix I'm already packed. What should we do until we leave? Speaking of which... Hey Guys when are we meeting up to leave?" Once the group had decided on meeting back in 2 hours she skipped down the hall to tell a few of her friends that she was going to be leaving for a while. Of course by her friends she means telling every single person she comes across. "Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Annie I haven't been here for very long but I wanted to say hi to you before I had to go off on my class field trip!" Such was the way Annie spent her 2 hours repeating the process to every person she came across. Eventually meeting up with Lilly, Bryce, Zac, Pitt, Ikari, and OZ in the forest.

"Gods I'm stupid! How'd I forget that. The reflection is safe, but actually looking at her turns you to stone. Thanks Lilly." Bryce smiled and kissed the top of Lilly's head. "Well I've got everything packed for me already so I could tag along with you if you want." He smiled walking down the hallway. As they were walking Ikari shrunk to a smaller size and jumped up onto Bryce's opposite shoulder nuzzling down into his neck.

"I may just take a nap while you guys are traveling make sure not to drop me." Bryce chuckled and responded his free hand reaching up to stroke her soft fur.

"I would never dream of it." Lilly smiled as she lead them into the girls dorm and up to her dorm. She looked up and saw the three girls from their first mission standing in front of her room. Once they notice her and Bryce, they moved over to them, excitment clear.

"Your going on a solo mission! That's so cool," the one who had originally approached Lilly all those months ago, Jamie, said.

"And Mr. Bekenfield is leaving too! I wonder what kind of substitute we will have!" Kotome said more to Jamie then Bryce or Lilly.

Lilly pushed past them and opened her door. "We are leaveing soon, I need to get ready," was all she said before stumbling into her room. he almost toppled over a few things before reaching her bed, only then to be scared half to death by Liam.

"So, you're planning to go on another trip I see. Did you plan to tell me anything at all? Or were you just going to run of with that failed excuse of a mage you claim to be your boyfriend." But before Lilly could respond, Liam continued on. "Just know that I'll be traveling with you," he crossed over to Lilly and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Inside you, that is. But before we join as one again, I have a little present for you." Liam held out his hands which shadows crept into, slowly forming two objects. It was soon clear that the two objects were guns, much to Lilly's surprise. "They were mine when I was but a young demon lord, and I would love to hand them down to you. Take good care of them. Only the best of shadow mages will be able to figure them out. Connect with them. And thats why I am giving them to you, my dear Lilly." Liam slowly began to fuzz out, much like a normal shadow, but darker, and seeped through Lilly's skin. Lilly's eyes glowed black momentarily before returning to normal, only here eye color was black.

It was something Lilly didnt notice, so with a long and exaggerated sigh, she grabbed her smallest bag and stuffed two pairs of everything in it. She met Bryce back outside her room with a smile. "Im ready, I guess ...."

Bryce stood in the hallway waiting for Lilly to finish packing. The three girls decided it was time to ask every question they could think of. As he stood there his face becoming a deeper and deeper shade of red which only made the girls ask more questions. Finally Bryce had had enough. "ALRIGHT! I can understand that you are all really excited but my life is mine and none of your business. If I wanted you to know I would tell you. Now please leave me alone." He turned away from the group fuming silently his face still burning. 'Great now their going to hate me and probably be mad at Lilly and she didn't do anything. But they don't need to bug me about my being with Lilly.' After a few minutes of his fuming Lilly had finished packing and came out of the room ready to go. "Im ready, I guess ...." Bryce smiled and took her hand as they walked down the hallway. "Lilly I think I messed up. You know those three girls that were standing in front of your room when we showed up? Yeah, well they were pestering me with questions and I kninda exploded at them... I think I scared them... and I'm not really sure how I feel about that. It's been a long time since I tried to make people leave me alone, and I don't think I like it... It felt wired." Bryce continued beating himself up in his mind the entire walk to the forest. He was so distracted he didn't even notice that Lilly's eyes had changed color.

---

Lilly perched herself on a branch in the Old Forest near the school. As she watched first years pile into the school, she wondered how many of them were magic users. According to Robert, the number of them were dwindling. She wasn't going to complain. It just made her that much more unique.

But if Mages weren't going extinct, that meant the Council was going around killing newborn mages. It wasn't Lilly's concern though, and it never would be.

Lilly had spent her summer exploring, continuing on the homeless life she lead as a child. Some things had happened and she had begun to consider leaving the school and never returning. But she couldn't bring herself too. Lilly still couldn't fly straight up to the school anymore either. Liam, her 'father', had still been inhabiting his daughter as though she was a free vessel. The nonstop activity due to Liam's living in her had given her a more rugged look filled with fatigue. But Lilly was much, much stronger.

"OZ," she said in a very commanding voice. Her shadow waivered, extended, then formed into her familiar.

"Yes, Master."

"When does class start?"

"In approximately ... three ... two ... one." The bell echoed though the school and beyond just enough for any normal human to pick up on. Lilly herself had no problem picking up the middle C note that blasted out of the speakerphones. Students scrambled from the halls to their classes. "We should be leaving now, sir." OZ had referred to Liam more than Lilly, mainly because he was in the control room most the time now.

"I suppose you are right," Lilly responded, dropping out of the tree and tucking in her shadow wings. It was a good 20 foot drop, but it didn't phase Lilly in the slightest. She had filled out a little more over the summer, starting to really take the form of a Shadow Mage. Lilly was slightly taller and a lot more like a woman. Her red hair was even longer than before and her eyes had remained the same piercing black as before.

Lilly looked much older, but occasionally, a ping of childlike excitement would run though her veins.

"OZ ... Do you want to race?" OZ smiled at his Master. He gave a quick nod as they counted down simultaneously from five. "Go!"

The two took off, phasing through walls and flying up stairwells towards their destination. Lilly was in the lead, so it was her who phased through the door and flapped her wings in a way that made papers fly everywhere. She smirked at a glaring Robert and touched the ground lightly.

"Ah ... Miss Bedford. Always making an entrance I see." Lilly strolled to her seat. Seeing that it was empty, the story of the cursed seat must have remained over the summer. "Anyways ... onto the introductions. First years first then so on and so forth."

Bryce stretched out on the cloud he'd been relaxing on as he felt something or rather someone poking at his chest. 'Bryce you really do need to get up it's almost time for class and I doubt Robert will be pleased with you showing up late like always.' Bryce just rolled over grumbling. "5 more minutes Ikari I'm not looking forward to more time with Robert." Ikari grumbled and bit Bruce squarely on the ear. "We're going now Bryce, and besides Lilly's gonna be there." At this Bryce hopped up excitedly. 'Lilly I haven't seen her since school got out last year. I can't wait to see her.' "Alright Ikari, Fine I'll go to class." As he stood Ikari could have sworn she heard Bryce say something like 'Such a drag.' Ikari shook her hear as she jumped to her normal resting place on Bryce's right shoulder. Tugging at the sleeve of his suit Bryce made sure that as much of the black chain that coiled around his right arm was hidden as possible. The fewer the questions the better after all.

Finally standing Bryce stretched to his full height. He'd grown a bit over the summer standing at a lofty 6'5". He'd even bulked up a bit not that anyone would notice. He yawned reaching back stroking Ikari's ears for a second before jumping into the air and vanishing with a blinding light. He'd reached the classroom window within an instant. "Neat little trick Aelya taught me huh Ikari?" "Yes it is much faster than your normal flying but be careful with this Light magic you're still not that great at it and it drains your power really quickly." Bryce sighed running a hand through his hair. "I know I know you remind me every time I use it. Any way weren't you telling me that I needed to go to class?" before Ikari could respond Bryce tossed open the window stepping into the classroom closing it behind him. "Afternoon Robert." He looked around the classroom seeing the students gathered. "Did we look this frightened on our first day Robert? I didn't think they'd be afraid of you already." Bryce chuckled and crossed to his normal seat which was occupied by a First year. As he approached the student made to get up and move, but Bryce grabbed the boys shoulder pushing him back into the chair. "Don't give up so easily I can tell you like the spot so keep it I'll find another." Bryce chuckled at the boy's panicked expression before spinning on his heel and taking the seat next to him. "Oh I'm Bryce by the way Wind mage nice to meet all of you." With that he leaned back in his chair resting it against the wall.

With that the class resumed the introductions while Robert simply held the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Now that two of my returning students have successfully interrupted us why don't we continue?" Bryce chuckled as Ikari bat his nose with a paw. "You shouldn't be so rude to Robert or the new students you were in their place once." Bryce nodded apologetically then looked over toward the door seeing Lilly. He smiled and waved hoping she was as happy to see him as he was to see her.

---

Lilly had honestly expected Bryce to be there before her, but he apparently wanted to make an entrance as well. He looked bigger, but only ever so slightly, and the air about him was gushing with confidence. He was becoming more and more like a Zac doppelganger. Lilly ground her teeth together as she observed her significant other’s unintentional torture of a poor first year. It wouldn’t have irked her so much but Liam was also jabbing her with a string of insults at her relationship.

Lilly let out a deep, guttural growl. She blinked once and her eyes had been consumed by black. Silently commanding the shadows around her, they slithered across the floor and wrapped around the legs of Bryce’s chair. With another blink, the shadows ripped his chair clean out from under him. Almost instantaneously, they threw the chair onto him with a nice amount of force.

“Lilly,” Robert’s annoyed voice reached her just about the same times a book smacked the side of her head. Lilly growled again, looking to Robert and blinking so her eyes were their normal black again. “You two are going to be the death of me … Now, boys and girls, we are going to try something different this year. We all know there are eight basic power types: water, fire, air, earth, wind, ice, shadow and light. On the ceiling are the symbols that stand for each one. Please find your symbol and stand under it. Lilly, come up front with me.”

Lilly did as she was told, making her way behind Robert and sitting at his desk before he could seat himself. Robert simply sighed and waited as the class arranged themselves as they were told.

---

---

Finally, after everyone had been able to meet up again, just in time for Zac and Bryce to spar like idiots, it was time for summer break. Over the course of his summer, Zachary had stayed at school and trained with Pitt and Mr. Beckenfield. Zac didn't have a home he wanted to go back to, and he had no where else to go anyway. That being said, Zachary's summer hadn't been boring by any stretch of the word, not with Pitt around.

The two had always been close, but ever since their four month training session with their Master, Horatio, the two became awkward around each other. The tension grew bigger and bigger, until the two could take it no more. They ended up crossing a line that should have remained intact.


Demon and Keeper relationships weren't uncommon, but they weren't exactly normal either. That's why it had to be kept a secret. If any of the council members, or worse, Zachary's dad, found out, the two of them could get in big trouble, even put to death. The main problem with such relationships was that they usually ended up producing half-demon children, whose powers were unstable and strange. There were a lot of theories that pointed to such unions leading to the creation of the first Shadow Mages, but most of them were biased and hateful. Either way, such children were always, always, powerful. A Keeper is, after all, incomplete without their demon. The demon acts as a repository for half of the Keeper's magical power, and forms the focus for their spell-casting. A demon is, most importantly, a way for the Council to keep track of every Keeper in existence. With demon blood already stored within the Keeper itself, such a child could wield their power without the use of a demon, or even worse, consume their demon to grow even stronger. This kind of unchecked, reckless behavior was the reason that Keeper-Demon relationships had garnered such a bad reputation in the first place. Their kids always ended up doing terrible, horrible things. That was why Zac had trained over the summer.


He vowed that he would, above all else, protect her from misfortune, and be the shield between her and adversity. Becoming stronger had always been Zac's primary focus, after all, Zac's Ultimate goal was to kill his own father, a Council Class, A-Rank Mage. However, this was beyond Zachary, and it infuriated him to no end. Hence, his strict summer training regimen. That being said, we appear to have forgotten something:


Whenever Zac got too serious about training Pitt had, as all good girlfriends do, smacked him over the head with a mallet, tied him up, and hauled him off to take her on dates, effectively derailing any serious training whatsoever. In short, while Zac had remained in practice, he wasn't anywhere near as far as he wanted to be by this point. This, however, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After being re-evaluated, Zachary's Rank had jumped from being a High-O Ranking, to a Middle-I Ranking. For his age, only seventeen, this made Zachary enormously strong. However, for one as driven as Zachary, this wasn't good enough, not even close. He still had so much to learn, to achieve. If Zachary was to kill his father, and protect himself and Pitt from the Council, he needed to be even stronger.

As the bells rang, and new students flooded into Henry Jefferson High School, Zachary was sleeping in his room. Awaking to the sound of the bells, Zac rolled out of bed, got dressed, and walked to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. As he strolled out of his and Pitt's room, Zac couldn't help but marvel at his handi-work. The inside of his wardrobe was really quite breathtaking. Sure it wasn't, exactly within the realm of what was allowed by the school rules, however, Pitt had a lot of junk, and the small student dorms were not conducive to any sort of privacy, which was more than necessary for two, healthy, teenage boys, who were both in committed relationships. It was vital.

Making his way into the kitchen, Zac found something that was out of place. On the kitchen counter, next to the micro-wave, was a plate of food, that was piled high with all his favorites. Lovingly crafted, the plate was adorned with hash-browns, eggs, bacon, and toast. Further, it was even shrink-wrapped to remain fresh. Underneath the plate was a note, written in a scrawling, looping hand. There were even little hearts doodled into the margins. Grimacing, Zac read the note aloud:


Remembering the last time Pitt had tried to cook, Zachary gingerly picked up the plate and made his way to the garbage can, to dispose of the bio-hazard that Pitt had created. Upon reaching the garbage, Zac found another note taped to the lid. This note was written much more sloppily, as if crafted under great duress, and without as many other decoration. Sighing, Zac read:


Rolling his eyes, Zac stepped in the little lever which would open the garbage, only to find yet another note, taped to the underside of the garbage can lid. There were no heart decorations on this note, instead, it was written in a sloppy hand reminiscent of a serial-killer's note. Even worse, the note appeared to be written in blood, and it was still dripping when Zac pulled it off the the lid. Fearful beyond all reason, Zac stammered out:


Finally managing to get down his breakfast, Zachary stumbled into class and sat down in his usual spot. Going by the rumbling of his stomach, Zac was, probably, on the verge of death. However, he'd cleaned his plate, and, if he survived the meal, was no longer under threat of death by Demon. As he sat, he sensed her walk into class. It was her alright. No one else had red hair like that. Zac weakly lifted his head from his desk to smile at his demon, before his stomach did another back-flip and he had to put his head down once more. Rushing to his side, Pitt smiled. He ate her breakfast. He was always so lively after he'd eaten one of her meals. "Good morning Zac." Pitt chirped, leaning down to kiss Zac on the top of his head. "Morning Pitt. Can you promise me something?" Zac asked weakly. Concerned, Pitt replied, "Anything Zac." Just as his face turned green, and he was forced to run to the bathroom, Zac managed to shout, "Never make me breakfast again!"

Having evacuated the contents of his stomach, Zac felt much better. Pitt, on the other hand, was pouting. "It couldn't have been that bad." She griped. Rolling his eyes, Zac spoke up, "We've gone over this before, Pitt, you don't metabloize things the same way I do. While a raw egg is fine for you, I gotta cook it first." Pitt whined, but ceded the point. After all, if it was a matter of biology, then there was some credence to Zac's argument. "It's not that it wasn't delicious," Zac lied, "It's just not good for me. Like too much chocolate." Pitt smiled, she liked chocolate. As their conversation finished, Zac put his head down, and waited for the other kids to arrive.

Zachary had, for the most part, not, made a nuisance of himself, as his friends were currently doing. This in and of itself was rather strange, but then again, there had never been a single thing about Zac that wasn't strange.


Once everyone was accounted for, Kira, theri teacher's demon, escorted all the demons through a hole in the wall for demon only classes, and they could finally begin with the day's lesson. Robert, their teacher, spoke up, and asked that they form themselves into groups based on their powers. Sitting upright, Zac looked around until he found the symbol for Earth, and walked over to where it was, standing stoically underneath it. "I suppose getting into your groups by element is a pretty good idea." Zac chimed in. "After all, knowing who your peers are lets you figure out who would be the best to spar with." Zac said. However, the exercise seemed pretty mundane to Zachary, who was used to much more... rigorous training. "Don't get me wrong, this is real interesting, but just what's the point? If you don't mind my asking." Zac quipped, finishing with a smirk.

Bryce was rather enjoying his perch against the wall then suddenly he was flat on his back with a chair solidly in his face. 'I take it Lilly didn't like my playing around... I'm going to have to apologize aren't I... Bryce pushed the chair off of his face making sure Ikari hadn't been hit by it toppled to the floor. "Well that was fun." He coughed out as he placed a hand to the back of his head returning to his 'normal' self. Looking to the freshmen. "Sorry if I scared you been a long summer and well I'm not a great people person I was actually trying to be nice." He chuckled barely hearing Robert saying something about gathering in group related to your mage class. Seeing his above his head he decided to stand and at least try to be a role model for the younger students. Looking around he was joined by only one other student... The boy he'd teased. 'Well I can make up for it by teaching him maybe.'

Bryce smiled holding out his hand to the freshmen officially introducing himself. He learned that the boy's name was Jack and had only recently started learning how to use and control his powers. "I'd be happy to help you along. I've learned quite a bit I think I'm a.....mid.... H rank or something. I haven't taken any placement exams but that's what my mentor told me any way." The boy seemed rather taken aback for some reason not believing that this scrawny boy standing in front of him now could possibly be an H rank mage.

Ikari licked Bryce's cheek as she jumped off of his shoulder at this point joining the other daemons on their path to the demon only class. 'I'll see you after class Bryce... and PLEASE don't do anything stupid while I'm gone.' Bryce looked completely abashed at this. 'You know I would never after all worse I would do is fight Zac and destroy half the forest again.' Ikari turned and glared at him. 'Bryce I swear to the gods if you fight him again I'm going to kill you.' Bryce chuckled again playing with his hair. "No promises Ikari have fun in class." With that Ikari stormed off with a final death glare at Bryce followed by a quick glance to Lilly pleading for her to stop him from his normal stupid antics.

Bryce turned to face Robert having heard Zac's question to Robert getting an idea. "Zac's right most of us don't learn much from actual class stuff hands on is much more effective why don't we go spar like we did on our first day? I'm sure Zac and I could teach the younger students a lot if they watched us spar." He turned and smiled to Zac knowing he wouldn't let a jibe like this go unpunished. "So what do you think should be fun. You wouldn't even have to do anything Sir." He smiled rather happy with his plan the instantly grimaced thinking of the hell he'd have to pay when Ikari next found him.

---

---

As Zac stood, waiting for Robert to answer his question, his eyes glazed over, and he took on a serious expression. Pitt only sighed, deftly stepping up to the huge keeper and bonking him on his forehead, expertly knocking Zac out of the depressing daydream he must have been having. Rubbing his head, Zac blinked, and the glow of happiness returned to his eyes. "Geez Pitt, what was that for?" Zac whined playfully. "Why so serious?" Pitt asked innocently, though she already knew the answer. Zac only ever made that face when he was thinking about his father. "You're in class. Can't have you daydreaming and getting killed. Stay sharp, eh?" Pitt finished, and with that, she slipped off into the other room for the demon's only class. Just before she slid through the little hole in the wall, made just for demons, she turned, caught Zac's eyes, and smiled, blushing ever so slightly. Zac waved to his partner as he watched her go. He missed her already.

Zac had been daydreaming while waiting for Robert to answer his question, Robert, their mischievous teacher, had apparently been caught him off guard by Zac's query, as he hadn't answered yet, but that was fine too. Zac chuckled as he watched Robert puzzle over the question. "It's ok if this is all it's for Rob, no need to fret." Zac said, laughing lightheartedly. Truth be told, Zac wasn't feeling up to much of anything at the moment, having nearly been killed by his breakfast. That being said, the color was slowly returning to his cheeks, and he looked like he might actually be alive again. As the other students were still filing into their positions under the symbol that represented their main area of power, Zac Bryce speaking, so he turned his head to look at Bryce, and gave him his full attention. "Zac's right though. Most of us don't learn much from actual class stuff. Hands on is much more effective. Why don't we go spar like we did on our first day? I'm sure Zac and I could teach the younger students a lot if they watched us." He turned and smiled to Zac knowing that he wouldn't let a jibe like this go unpunished. Zac only scoffed and waved off Bryce's jibing. However, Bryce seemed to be in a playful mood, as he kept pressing forward. "So what do you think should be fun. You wouldn't even have to do anything Sir." He smiled as he finished, apparently rather pleased with himself.

Zac, growing slightly irritated, spoke. "Pfft, whining for another match already? Although I suppose that is something the loser would do." Zac taunted, a wicked smirk on his face. Ignoring any comments from the peanut gallery, Zac continued. "The scoreboard aside, the newbies wouldn't learn anything from watching us. We'd be going super-sonic as soon as the fight started, and their eyes haven't watched anywhere near enough hyper-speed combat to pick anything up. On top of that, if they were watching from anywhere within three... no... five miles of the fight, I can't guarantee they won't get caught up in it." Zac said, somewhat ominously. As he finished, his tone took a dark turn, sounding much more grim than he had intended. "Lastly, and this is more for the sake of my own conscious, I have to ask, don't you remember anything from our last match? We spent a whole day repairing the damage I did to the forest. We both know that you're not the type to get serious about a fight. If you don't come at me like you're trying to kill me, I'll destroy you, completely and utterly. That's not a threat Bryce, it's a promise. I will not bare your death on my shoulders, I won't do it." Zac finished, feeling disgusted with himself. His eyes found the ground, and Zac retreated into his own mind, his memories tormenting him.


Zac hated what happened during their match last time. Zac didn't regret that he had acted the way he had, that he'd won, or that he'd used the methods he had. Rather, Zac hated that he had to the the one who did it. No one else was qualified to teach the lesson Zac had taught them. Zac had been right though, he was certain of it. Bryce and Lilly and Annie needed to learn an important lesson. It had been the first one that Master Horatio had taught him and he'd never forgotten it. It was a simple lesson, but Zac had it engraved into his very soul: Magic is terrifying.


During his training with his Master, Zachary did nothing but spar. Every day from sun up to sun down he pit himself against the overwhelming might of his master. For every match until their last one, Zac lost every time. This constant defeat drove Zac into despair. how could he possibly win against such overwhelming odds? How could he beat his Master if he was too scared to even face him? This fear clouded Zac's mind, making his defeats increasingly more brutal. After a particularly devastating defeat, in which his Master had soundly defeated Zac with copied versions of his own spells, Zachary got up silently and quietly walked away from his Master, only to sit down in the corner with an expression of utter defeat on his face. Zachary's determination, which had appeared boundless at first, was completely shattered. Master Horatio approached a thoroughly depressed Zachary and asked him a simple question, "Young Reinhardt, do you fear your own powers?" Puzzled, Zac said he didn't know. At first he thought they were a gift, that they made him special. Now he thought that if they couldn't even be used to protect himself then what good were they? If anything, these powers were a curse. For the first time, Zac saw his master smile, gently, as if he were proud of the boy. However, that gentleness vanished in an instant. Placing his hand on the top of the blonde's head, Horatio revealed the secret of his immense power to the young boy. At first, Zac didn't believe it, how could it possibly be true? However, as he explained it all to Zac, the young Keeper's eyes lit up and he listened intently. What made his Master so vastly powerful was something that Zachary thought he would never ever need, and that thing was, "fear."

To Zac, who's life had never been in any real danger until his 13th birthday, the fear of death was all but unknown to him. Like the claws, teeth, or horns of the animal world, Keepers developed their magic through evolution for one purpose: defense. Magic was a weapon, like any gun or sword or spear. It was made, wrought from the fabric of your soul, with the intention to kill your predators, your enemies. If one was unafraid of their enemy, unafraid of the damage that magic could do, how could they every truly grasp the nature of their magic? True fear had to be experienced, only then could one forge their magic into a weapon for their defense. Only then could they possess real control over their powers. As his master had told him, "You should be afraid of your own powers. You're not qualified to use magic unless you truly understand the fear of having it used against you." By seeing the terror of his own powers, Zac learned to fear them, to despise his own strength. That fear was what made his Master so mind-crushingly strong. As Zachary had later learned, being afraid didn't necessarily mean he was a coward. By using that fear, one could become stronger than it. Although it's impossible to ignore the fear, one can channel it, make it their own, and use it as their own strength.


Zac snapped out of his daydream. Some of the other students were looking at him, concern in their eyes. Instantly changing his expression from one of sadness and fear, Zac smiled wholeheartedly. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I tend to overthink things." Somewhat embarrassed, Zac's eyes wandered across the classroom until they made their way out the windows finding the old forest. Having been struck by inspiration, Zac's ears perked up, and he addressed Robert. "Say, now that's an idea. Instead, why don't the older kids, myself included, split ourselves up and spar lightly with the younger students. No need to fret," Zac said, hearing protests from some of the younger students. "Us older kids won't use any spells over L Rank. This way, the kids might actually learn something. What're your thoughts Rob?" Zac finished, directing his thoughts towards their teacher.

---

Robert sighed. This kids were gonna kill him sooner or later. He was turning into the bitter old man he would have rather avoided. "Alright ... Ice and fire, with me. Wind and air, Bryce. Earth and Water, Zac. Shadow and light, Lilly. Now, I'm going to remind all of you that you can have any secondary power you wish. But once you pick, you cannot change it. So choose wisely. Don't choose what you think is cool, choose what you know you can do and handle. In a few days we will be taking an evaluation test, all the Freshman that is. That test will give you a general idea of what secondary you should practice along with your primary." Robert nodded to the three experienced students, standing to meet his own groups. "I know there aren't any Shadow kids, but you have a few candles," Robert smiled at Lilly. "It's good to have you guys back." Lilly looked to her teacher and nodded.

"Always good to be back." Lilly looked to the roof, locating the light symbol, then to the kids who huddled beneath it. It was two blonde kids, they almost looked like twins. It was actually kind of adorable. "You two follow me. I'm sure everyone else is going to the roof or the forest. We are going to the basement." Lilly began to lead them out and through the halls. "So what are your names?"

"I'm Amy and this is Devin. We're twins."

"I'm Lilly, Shadow Mage."

"So why the basement?"

"I can tell you that I have learned a lot since this time last year. You heard what all the other ... 'mentors' are taking their groups to do, right? They are taking them to fight. Spar, actually, but that's beside the point. It's good to be strong, but you are never going to be strong enough. You need to know how to do the simplest thing before you can do anything else. You need to know how to live." They had arrived at the top of the staircase that lead deep underground, created mainly for shadow training. "No matter what time of day it is, there is always a little bit of light emanating, but what if you get trapped in a cave or in a shadow dome? No light anywhere, and I bet that neither of you can create light. You can only manipulate it, right?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, we both just got our powers to be honest." Devin's voice started to echo slightly.

"That's fine ... we're here." The room was pitch black, not a single trace of light to be seen. "One of the easiest ways to produce light is to use fire. Either you can learn a spell or you can make fire your secondary skill." Lilly made a small fire that danced in the palm of her hand, but only for a second before it went out. "That or you can produce the light. It's the same as shadows. If I'm where there are no shadows, I have to produce them. They come from inside me, and that is exactly where your light is. Right inside of you. Give it a go."

Lilly could hear their breath cease, as if they were trying to squeeze the light out with all their might. She couldn't help but laugh at them. "If you keep that up you'll poop your pants. It's not something you can force ... you have to feel it. Feel it move inside you. It's what drives you, it's what makes you breath and live and survive. It is you." Lilly heard a steady flow of breath. The twins, whether on purpose or mere coincidence, were in complete sync with each other. That's when a small, dim light emerged in the dark. After it grew, Lilly could see it was emanating from their joined hands.

"We're doing it," Amy squealed.

Lilly looked with concern at the two. "Yes, but you have to do it alone. You two don't honestly think you will be there for one another for eternity, do you? If you can't fend for yourself ... there isn't much more I can do to help you guys."

That's my girl, giving up on the weaklings, Liam hissed inside her head.

I'm not giving up you piece of shit, I growled back.

"Do it again! This time on your own or I'm not gonna waste another minute down here with kids who won't even survive their first mission 'cause they have connection issues!" Their light immediately disappeared. Lilly had done it again. Lost control just because an 'inside source' had upset her. She was about to say something when two separate lights emerged in the darkness. But these ones were much brighter than the first. Lilly had completely misjudged them. Now she felt like a complete ass. But seeing the two do so much better to prove her wrong ... gave her happiness. "Great! Do that again!"

Bryce could barely contain his excitement at Robert's announcement. 'Alright! I get to... teach... GOD'S DAMNIT! I forgot I don't know how to do that...' Bryce's excitement quickly turned to panic and he looked to Lilly hoping for some form of encouragement. 'What did I learn first... Survive' The answer came so quickly it was barely an answer it was instinct. Recovering his earlier excitement Bryce walked up to the three waiting students. Two guys one girl. Bryce quickly looked over to Zac. "Dibs on the forest!" Returning his attention to the waiting and somewhat nervous students.

"Don't be nervous guys this is going to be... well I want to say fun. Now I need your names and ranks." The two boys looked down at their feet while the girl spoke up quickly.

"Jade wind mage rank M"

"Good good. You've got some pep. Now you two... If you want to succeed as a mage be it for profit or others you need to be confident. Do not doubt yourself. Because when it comes down to it you only have yourself to count on. That being said friends can push you beyond what you can do on your own... Sorry I'm rambling never really taught before. Sparring! That's what we're supposed to do. Let's go! Follow me closely." With that Bryce began leading the three students to the forest

After 10 minutes of running they reached Bryce's favorite training spot. "Alright everyone this is where I trained, learned,and.. for the early part of my life lived. One warning and one warning only. If you damage this stone in any way shape or form I am liable to send you to the moon. Got it?" The students quickly nodded. Smiling Bryce began again. "Alright since we all understand that Jade would you like to begin? " Swallowing deeply Jade nodded and stepped forward bringing her hands to a fighting stance.

---

Lilly had decided to move the training up to the broken fountain in the off limits area of the school. She wondered if anyone had actually thanked the principle for doing so much for them. Then again, the man was never actually in his office. No one except Robert knew who he was.

"So what are we doing up here," Amy asked, looking around in awe at the overgrown vegetation. It looked almost as if they were in a post-apocalyptic world.

"Continuing on the survival. Shadows are attracted to light because light is their natural enemy. So they want to eliminate the light." Lilly took a deep breath and watched as the shadows around began to stir. Small lumps of black surrounded her, twitching and emanating an odd noise. "So now that you guys can create light, you can decide to either use that light to defend yourself or you can manipulate the light around you. Using your light is more powerful and effective, but drains you faster. How I see it is that if you defeat the enemy fast enough, it doesn't matter how drained you are." The shadows practically already knew what to do. "Devin, you're first. For about a minute, they will go for you, then they will go after your sister as well. When missions are performed, you have to protect yourself and your group." Devin had decided to use his own light, practically obliterating all the little shadows that made their way towards him.

"You're doing amazing Devin!" Lilly nodded in approval at Amy's statement.

-Malikai-

Malikai looked around the classroom, taking in the sight and sounds. He had desperately hoped that the majority of the class was female, but it looked about 50/50. It was an eventful start to the class, three of the students making their mark clear. They must have been previous students. The instructors verbal confirmation was hardly necessary at this point. At about ten minutes into class, they had started making suggestions. Sparing? On the first day? I feel like that's a little harsh. He moved to the symbol on the ceiling that indicated ice, and not to long later, was told to follow the instructor.

Once the group had made their way to the roof, they were asked to once again introduce themselves. Malikai was the last in line and the last to announce himself.

"I am Malikai Zurita, Ice mage." He did a small but formal bow before stepping back in line. The whispers from the female students began.

"Look at him! Isn't he gorgeous?"

"I know! We should try talking to him."

Malikai smiled slightly, happy that he was already well liked. The whole reason they had come out was to spar, and all Mr. Bekenfield did was nod. The students, including Malikai took that as a signal to chose partners and have at it.

"Malikai, would you mind sparing with me," one of the freshman girls asked sweetly.

"Of course I will spar with you, ma'am. All I ask is that you take it easy on me," he replied with a handsome smile.