Bryce Zypher's Story

1:00 A.M. Bryce's Apartment

Bryce woke with a start his face covered in a cold sweat. "Bryce what's wrong?!" Ikari jumped off of Bryce's chest shuffling up closer to his head looking over him with concern. Sitting up slowly Bryce began wiping the sweat from his forehead. "N-nothing Ikari it was just that dream again." Ikari's look of concern only grew hearing this news. "This isn't good this has been getting worse ever since you agreed to become the teacher. Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Shaking his head Bryce extracted himself from his bed walking to his bathroom. "I'm going to be fine Ikari. I have to be. Someone has to teach these kids about... About what can happen. What's happening."

Bryce finally reached the bathroom turning on the sink throwing water in his face to clear his head. "About that Bryce how are we going to prepare them for what might happen when the Council has forbid you from telling them about it?" Shaking his head Bryce sat down on the toilet lifting Ikari onto his lap. "That is just another thing that I'm not sure about here Ikari. I thought this was all going to be over after that night. At least until I was to old to do anything but watch. Less than 15 years after they woke up and we put them back to sleep it was thousands of years last time Ikari what can I say to any of them. 'Oh don't worry if we do it this time we'll never have to worry about it again!' 'You may have to kill one of your closest friends, but don't worry everything's going to be better afterwards' Ikari they're asking me to throw these kids into hell and cross my fingers. We both know I can't face them again or what happened to Ro- may happen to me." Bryce folded his hands holding his head over his lap. "Ikari why did this have to happen again it was supposed to all be over after what we did. Why can't the council work out a way to stop it without putting these kids on the line." Taking a few deep breaths Bryce was able to collect himself again. "I wish I'd followed Lilly when the council asked. We could have run off and left this off to someone else." "Bryce! You know we couldn't have done that! Lilly would never go with something the council asked we can only hope that she will come back soon I know her being here would calm you down." "But that's not the case Ikari. I don't know where Lilly went, but she isn't here and I don't know if she's going to come back. As long as the Council has its nose here she probably won't." Ikari nuzzled Bryce's hands lightly. "I'm sorry Bryce, but let's go back to bed tomorrow's the first day of the Club we need to be well rested."

Nodding Bryce stood lifting Ikari to his shoulder as he began walking back to his bed. As the pair laid down for a chance at a last few hours of sleep Bryce began talking. "I don't know what to do Ikari I just wish she was here." His voice fell lower as he returned to his restless sleep.


4:00 P.M. The Medieval Club Room

Bryce began pacing the space in front of his desk Ikari resting lazily on his desk. "What should I do Ikari? These kids how can I train them?" Ikari's ear lifted at this question as she remembered something. "Well it was his position Bryce... why not follow his example?" Stopping mid step so suddenly he almost drove himself to the floor. "Ikari! Why didn't you say that sooner I've been freaking out about this all day!." Ikari gave her quiet all knowing chuckle that she could do so well. "That's exactily why Bryce I may love you, but that doesn't mean I don't like watching you panic some times." Bryce flung the pencil he'd been twirling at Ikari. "That's mean Ikari." Bryce pouted a little bit before chuckling to himself. "I'm glad I have you Ikari. No matter how crazed and stressed I get you're always right there for me. Honestly the best thing that ever happened to me." More softly, so much so that Ikari could barley hear it her self. "I love you too Ikari."

"You'd damn well better after what you put me through now look sharp I think some of the kids are coming." Ikari snapped at him gruffly. Cringing at her sudden venom Bryce looked to the door to see his first true student. "Welcome to the Medieval Club! I'm glad you were able to join us." This greeting while hopefully making Bryce seem to be the cheerfully friendly teacher he wanted to be also acted as a test of sorts. A student that wasn't supposed to be here would be confused by the us given that a normal student couldn't see Ikari. Of course the test would only work on the first student through the door. After that he needed to be observent to make sure all of the students had demons or the Council may very much have his head.

"I always have the same dream. Every single night, it never fails to appear though most of the time, I rarely mention it."

"In that dream, I see a light pouring over a small, narrow space like a doorway. The light was surprisingly bright, yet it was also surprisingly cold. A hand reaches out to me, beckoning for me to come over. I try to grab it but my hesitation kicks in at the last minute. It seemed to have sensed it as that beautiful cold hand slowly retreated into the bright light looming ahead.

Never to emerge again--

Surely..."

The sudden decrease in temperature caused Kyouko to quietly stir from her disturbed sleep. Rubbing the sleep out of her eye, she glanced at the wall clock, trying to determine what time it is. It was still early, barely even 4:00 AM and yet there she was, already awake, finding it quite hard to return to sleep.

"What's wrong? Unable to sleep again?" The Yuki-onna with her asked as the two sat down to have a light breakfast before departing for school. Kyouko just shrugged her shoulders, concentrating more on finishing up her meal. In any event, she didn't have to say much. Asami could already guess, given that it had been occurring more frequently during the last few days.

"Dream..." Kyouko managed to mutter softly without even turning to face Asami.

"Figures. So it wasn't the fact that you were sleeping with your head facing North then?" Asami asked, inquiring about a superstition she thought was the source of their trouble. Kyouko just shook her head.

After school

School wasn't exactly difficult for Kyouko to blend in, even with Asami remaining in spiritual form beside her, occasionally causing some slight disturbances as the temperature in the rooms suddenly drops down. Still, the day wasn't over yet. She still has that "club" she needs to attend as per the custom.

Entering the premises, both girls were surprised to find a person she was a little unfamiliar with standing. Granted that she's only attended a few meetings and excursions during her first year due to the fact that her training as an Onmyōji is not yet complete, she doesn't recall seeing him in the sessions she was present in either. He had a small familiar with him as well.

"Welcome to the Medieval Club! I'm glad you were able to join us." The man greeted them.

"Oh? It's a different person this time." Asami remarked, re-emerging into her full "near" 5 feet of height, taking her spot beside her retainer. Kyouko on the other hand, bowed as a gesture of greeting, leaving Asami to do all the talking for her.

"Seeing that the no one else seems to be around...Are we the first ones to arrive?" Asami asked, Kyouko only managing a sigh as judging the looks of the place now, it was a rather stupid question to ask.

05:00
It did seem a little dark outside but wasn’t it always like this in the morning? Yet there seemed to be no one around.
“It’s five in the morning you idiot, why are you even out here?” Pavati, their snake like demon snapped angrily, looking quite tired.

“For school!” Mizu chirped quite happily, despite it being quite early.

Mizu was always an early riser and had little to no sense of time. This never really bothered them as usually Pavati would point them in the right direction, their very own personal clock.
“That’s in over three hours!” the dragon like creature growled angrily,”I’m going back to bed.”

Two red eyes watched a streak of blue disappear into the darkness before shutting. They ended up alone, sitting on a railing on the steps near the school.

During school they often talked to Pavati. Even without talking to ’themselves’ they were considered weird and of course having a conversation with yourself didn’t help the matter. This meant Mizu could often be lonely but this never bothered them, they much preferred to watch the interactions of people anyway. As long as they were round people it never really mattered.

They didn’t know how long they’d been lost in their own thoughts but soon Pavati returned, claiming that it was now time for school but the dragon still seemed annoyed by it’s unnecessary awakening earlier.

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16:00
“Hey, dontcha have that stupid club thing we gotta get to?” Pavati asked, having draped himself lazily over Mizu’s shoulders, swinging about slightly.

“Huh? Yeah, that’s where I’m going!” they said, skipping happily along, through the halls of the school.

“I’m sure it’s not this way,” he sighed, shifting slightly so that he was now upside-down.

“No it’s not! You just don’t want to go,” Mizu said, knowing the demon had tried this before.

Finally they came to the familiar hallway where the club was.
“See! Told you!” Mizu grinned, slowing to more of a fast walk that a skip, still having a bounce in their step.

No sooner had they reached the door they noticed one of their club mates along with an older male.

They had never seen this male before, maybe they just hadn’t noticed.

“Hello!” Mizu grinned cheerily, with a little wave, rushing over to the two and their demons.

“Don’t be weird…” Pavati hissed quietly, sliding off their shoulders, giving them a slight flick with his tail.
They sort of ignored the girl from the club and looked the male up and down, walking around him. This made Mizu feel a bit like a detective, investigating a suspect. They then stood in front of him.

“Are you new? You seem a bit old to be in our class,” Mizu smiled at him happily, gaining a sigh from their demon.
“What did I say about being weird,” he growled softly in their ear,”Not to mention that was quite rude."

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Keira Leason


6:00 AM

Keira stretched as the morning light flooded her room through her opened curtains. It was times like this she was thankful that the school had on site dorms so she wouldn't have to make her way through busy streets and no doubt be late to class. The numbers on the clock flashed and notified her that she should begin getting prepared for the day. How would she wear her hair? What kind of outfit would she wear? All questions she contemplated while she sat in front of her mirror. Plue laid on Keira's bed, still snoring away without a care. Keira looked down with a worried glance, hoping that all the demons looked that way. Well ... not exactly like Plue, but similar. He was just so ... fragile. Callum's demon was small like Plue but looked like it could do a heck of a lot more.

Keira patted her cheeks fiercely and looked back to her waiting reflection. Plue was an amazing demon and she wouldn't replace him even if her life depended on it. After a few minutes of brushing, Keira decided to leave her hair down. Now for the outfit.

"What to wear, what to wear," Keira pondered, tapping her finger against her chin lightly. Though the dorms had rather small closets, Keira managed to fit most of her clothing into it. "It is school, I can't wear anything that I normally would ... can I?" Keira shook her head, grabbing a long sleeve shirt and a mid-thigh skirt, hoping it was modest enough for her peers. To finish the look off, she added a pair of knee high suede boots and a stylish purse big enough to fit all her supplies. The light mage moved to her bed, awakening her small demon and placing him in her bag as well, looking forward so he could see what she did. From what Callum had said, humans couldn't see him, so it would look weird if she had her arms crossed as if she was carrying something yet nothing was there.

4:00 PM

Keira made her way through the empty halls, only now holding Plue in her arms. It was a rather warm day so the small demon looked slightly deflated. The light mage was holding on tightly to her demon. Her nerves were getting the better of her. "I'm telling you Plue, I'm gonna have to lowest rank in that class! Even when I went for the evaluation, the Council looked at me like I wasn't worthy. Maybe I should go back and tell Callum they wouldn't let me in ..." The small creature didn't move at all but muttered a wavered a repetition of his name. Keira nodded in agreement. "You're right. Callum will never want to be with a low class mage. I've gotta try."

The pair reached the classroom with some time to spare. So far, only two other students had arrived to the classroom. Or maybe it was just a really small class? She paused in the doorway, debating everything. Where would she sit? Should she say hi? Was she supposed to sit in a specific seat because of her rank or mage type? She could feel the cold sweat running down her spine, making her shiver.

"I'm Keira ... Leason. I'm a new second year student." She instantly recognized Mr. Zypher from the pictures Callum had shown her. So this was one of the Legendary Trio and her new teacher. It didn't help to think of him as such a powerful man as she began to shiver even more. The other two in the room were both girls, about the same age as Keira but much shorter. Keira smiled at the two and greeted them. "Hello, I'm Keira, it's nice to meet all of you." Now that she remembered who she was, Keira lightened up a bit. There wasn't a reason to be worried. They all came for the same reason, to learn. Why was she any different than them? Well ... besides their Magical Areas. Neither looked like they were light mages, but how was she to know? "I hope we can all learn and grow as much as possible together this year!" Keira held out a deflated Plue who waved at the mages in front of him. "This is Plue, my demon."

She had been there no more than ten minutes when another person, possibly another student, walked in. She had her demon out, appearing in the form of the eastern ryu Asami had seen a lot of. They were ignored as they quickly went up to their new instructor, perhaps.

"Why don't you take a seat? Rest up a little. Your real class is just starting." Asami advised Kyouko but she just shook her head and paced around the room, searching for something. She recalls her old instructor keeping "it" stocked away somewhere but, she was a little worried if it may have been put away by the others.

"Why don't you ask the others? You're not going to make much progress randomly going through things like that." Asami suggested. Kyouko glanced around the two other people. One enigmatic student and a bestial demon and a man who looked twice her age. They weren't anything if not intimidating. Kyouko shook her head.

Another student came in shortly after. She seemed to be more cheerful than either of them, though she seemed to be a little adamant when it came to the two of them, as Kyouko observed. She lightened up sooner and made her introduction.

"Hello, I'm Keira, it's nice to meet all of you. I hope we can all learn and grow as much as possible together this year! This is Plue, my demon."

Kyouko rose up from rummaging through the things within the room and faced the other girl as Asami levitated to her side. "Hello, Keira. Plue." Asami spoke up. "I am Asami, a yuki-onna. And this is Hanabusa. Hanabusa Kyouko. Call her Kyouko if you'd like. She's my retainer and an Onmyōji in training."

Kyouko gave a small bow as a greeting, like what she did to her instructor earlier. On the other hand, Asami sniffed the air around, trying to determine what attribute Keira possessed. She motioned to Kyouko as she continued speaking. "Kyouko here's a bit on the quiet and shy side so I hope you two get along." Asami drifted around Keira before returning again to Kyouko's side. As she passed, she whispered to Keira.

"Even if she's a shadow mage..."

It'd been an eventful morning for Ceil he'd gotten up at 6 and run off to the garden he'd started the ear before to check on how it'd fared in his absence. To his mutual pleasure and disappointment the garden was overrun with weeds and all together in rough shape. "Well Briar it looks like we're going to have a lot of work to get this garden looking presentable" He smiled at his little demon who was struggling to pull a particularly deep rooted weed. "You're going to hurt yourself Briar.: His comment fell on deaf ears as slowly the weed began to give before loosing all strength causing Briar to fall over backwards. "I got it!" He cheered happily righting himself proudly holding the monstrosity out to Ceil grinning. "Good job." He was cut short by a loud buzzing coming fro his wrist looking he saw that it was already 7:30. "Crap we need to get to class Briar can't be late this year!" Briar nodded running to catch up to the already leaving Ceil. "W-wait up Ceil your so much bigger than me it's not fair!"

Classes passed slowly as they always do on the first day, but these weren't the classes Ceil was excited for he was waiting for the first meeting of the Medieval Club. Ceil took his time getting there not wanting to let show his growing excitement. Briar complained from his leg. "Ceil if we don't hurry we're going to be the last ones there I don't wanna be late." Ceil reached down picking up the little demon giving into his excitement. "Alright here we go!" Ceil took off down the hallway as fast as he could quickly arriving at the classroom where there was already 4 people waiting. Walking through the door he fell instantly back to his more quiet reserved self moving quickly past everyone and taking a seat near the front window. Briar quickly jumped down from the desk wandering over to the group. "Hi Hi everyone! It's nice to meet you all I'm Briar and that mopey one over there is my Keeper Ceil he's not good with people but he needs friends so please don't ignore him!" At this Ceil let his head fall to the desk resulting in a loud thunk. "Alright I think most everyone's here why don't we get started while the stragglers show up!" The teacher spoke up signaling the beginning of their first meeting.



Students quickly began arriving after Kyouko taking care of the introductions before he could even mention it. With the arrival of Ceil and his little demon they had a majority. "Alright I think most everyone's here why don't we get started while the stragglers show up!" Ikari nodded from atop his desk jumping down beside him growing quickly until she stood even with his waist. "I'm glad all of you took care of your introductions now it's my turn. My name is Bryce Zypher you all can call me Bryce or Mr.Zypher I don't really mind either way. I will be your new Midievil Club instructor. This is my demon Ikari she's going to be in charge of teaching your demons a little bit more about their duties to you as Keepers." He looked around the room memorizing everyone's face. "We have a good mix of mages and I'm excited to be able to teach all of you!"

Remembering Kyouko's hurried search he felt he should make mention of the weapons rules. "Miss Kyouko I believe you were searching for this." Reaching into the air next to him with his left hand he retrieved the Naginta that had been given to him for safe keeping and handed it to her. "Regarding weapons I will hold onto them while we are not in class or on a "field trip"" He pulled out a bright green Katana next handing it to Ceil. "And I believe this one is yours. Now I'm only holding onto these until you learn a way to store them with yourself that won't bring attention from the regular students. You can either develop your own method or I can teach you mine once I'm sure you can hide it well enough I will return the weapon to you permanently."

Ikari stepped forward taking over the lecture. "Now as long as you are in this club you will follow its rules. If you are caught breaking them there will be punishment. For those of you who do not know the rules are: 1. No magic outside of the classroom unless supervised. 2.You can not tell the other students what we truly do in this class. 3.We are your instructors and you will do what we say. That being said we won't be unfair we wish only to see you grow as mages yourselves. I will be teaching your demons in a separate classroom while Bryce is teaching the Keepers practical magic and monster information. We meet Monday Wednesday and Fridays though Bryce and I will be available every day of the week for those that would like more specialized training." She stepped back giving Bryce control over the room again. "Alright so before we split onto our separate classrooms does anyone have any questions?"

As introductions went underway, another student barged in, a male this time. Well, at least they weren't going to be over-saturated with girls, Asami thought. Their instructor, apparently named Bryce Zephyr made his introduction and pulled out Kyouko's naginata and handed it over.

"Reasonable arrangement, I guess..." Asami remarked though Kyouko's attention was more on inspecting her weapon for any abnormalities than actually listening to her. "Hey, are you paying attention?" She asked and Kyouko only nodded. The newly arrived student also introduced himself...well, at least his demon did.

"Another oddity I have no familiarity with. I really agree with what he was saying about having a good mix now."

"Cute..." Kyouko muttered as she looked at the little green demon.

"Now as long as you are in this club you will follow its rules. If you are caught breaking them there will be punishment. For those of you who do not know the rules are:

1. No magic outside of the classroom unless supervised.

2.You can not tell the other students what we truly do in this class.

3.We are your instructors and you will do what we say. That being said we won't be unfair we wish only to see you grow as mages yourselves. I will be teaching your demons in a separate classroom while Bryce is teaching the Keepers practical magic and monster information.

We meet Monday Wednesday and Fridays though Bryce and I will be available every day of the week for those that would like more specialized training."

The other demon Ikari spoke up this time, revealing that demons and Keepers will hold their classes separately. "Well this might be a little of a problem..." Asami thought since she's always acted as Kyouko's mouthpiece when interacting with others. But then again, now that she's glancing over the others in the room...will they even talk to her? The first person who walked in after Kyouko did ignore them after all. Besides, whatever was on Kyouko's head is still a bit of a mystery, even to her so she's not exactly sure how well of a mouthpiece she makes. "But now that I'm thinking about it, it's not really that big of a problem after all..." She suddenly redacted, turning to Kyouko.

"I'll--be fine..." Kyouko replied, somewhat. "But--my magic...my task..."

"Hmm? Ah, yes. Excuse me?" Asami called out to Bryce and Ikari when they asked if anyone had other questions. "The first rule...does that mean she's also banned from tending to her regular obligations outside of this club?" Asami asked, pointing at Kyouko.

"She's an Onmyōji and per her tradition, she has to do all these rituals most of the time. Is she allowed to continue? Or must she abstain from it? Personally, I think she's fine since normal people are already exposed to it and they do not make much of it, seeing it more as a cultural norm. A magical invocation in the guise of a traditional ritual. She even conducts exorcisms." Asami presents their case.

"If I have to stop--then I will..." Kyouko voiced out though she looked a little dejected as she said it.

One minute there were just the six of them in the room but when Mizu turned back around there seemed to be others arriving.
The first girl to introduce herself was called Keira. Mizu quickly took a likening to her, she seems cheerful and her demon looked like a snowman, though it did seem a little... Flat...
Then the girl who had already been here, her demon introduced herself as Asami then her Keeper as Hanabusa Kyouko.
"Yuki-onna... On-myō-ji..." Mizu said slowly and awkwardly, trying to get the pronunciation right. The words did seem familiar to them, a Yuki-onna was a type of demon but they weren't entirely sure what an Onmyōji was. They would have to remember to ask about that later, yet the Onmyōji didn't seem very talkative, perhaps she was shy. Mizu just had to be extra friendly then!
Soon after two boys walked in, one of them obviously a demon though this was kind of easy to realise as the demon was quite small. Yet again the demon introduced himself and his Keeper.
Everyone seems to be shy, Mizu thought, I'll be sure to help them be more friendly.
"Hello! I'm Mizu," they cheered happily,"This is Pavati, he's my demon."
"Way to state the obvious," he muttered and began looking around the class, doing his best to ignore everyone else in the room.

"Now as long as you are in this club you will follow its rules. If you are caught breaking them there will be punishment. For those of you who do not know the rules are:
1. No magic outside of the classroom unless supervised.
2.You can not tell the other students what we truly do in this class.
3.We are your instructors and you will do what we say. That being said we won't be unfair we wish only to see you grow as mages yourselves. I will be teaching your demons in a separate classroom while Bryce is teaching the Keepers practical magic and monster information.
We meet Monday Wednesday and Fridays though Bryce and I will be available every day of the week for those that would like more specialized training." The first males demon spoke.
"Oooohhhh!" Mizu exclaimed,"he's our instructor!"
"No shit Sherlock," Pavati hissed in their ear, returning to sort of hovering by their Keeper's shoulder.
"Language," they muttered,"You're the one being rude now." Mizu pouted slightly.
Bryce... Hmm... Mizu was sure they had heard of this person before. He did seem quite familiar, perhaps from a book or something. Maybe he was a famous writer. No, Mizu should have remembered that.
She finally chose a seat, almost in the exact middle of the class room, though instead of sitting on the chair they jumped out onto the desk, sort of crouching. They were leaning on their toes, quite unbalanced and Pavati was tempted to give them a slight push off.
"Alright so before we split onto our separate classrooms does anyone have any questions?"
"OH! ME!" Mizu's hand shot into the air and they waved it around a bit but Asami, Hanabusa Kyouko's demon, got there first.
"The first rule...does that mean she's also banned from tending to her regular obligations outside of this club?" Asami asked, "She's an Onmyōji and per her tradition, she has to do all these rituals most of the time. Is she allowed to continue? Or must she abstain from it? Personally, I think she's fine since normal people are already exposed to it and they do not make much of it, seeing it more as a cultural norm. A magical invocation in the guise of a traditional ritual. She even conducts exorcisms." She continued.
Mizu continued waving their hand in their air a bit before jumping to their feet, pushing the table back slightly,"Who are you?"
"What they mean is it possible they know you from anywhere?" Pavati said for them, sort of like a translator, knowing that they might not get the answer they wanted with the previous question.

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Cathal Elmslie

Cathal leaned against a rock as his smaller demon leaped around the open field. He hadn't attended his morning classes so he could train for what was bound to come. Even if this man refused to fight, Cathal wouldn't hold back. Bella ceased for a moment to approach her Keeper with worried look on her face. What she heard from the Demon's she would come across is that this Bryce guy was a tough guy. He was a B rank after all. "Cathal! I'm hungry! Let's just go home and forget this guy exists!" Bella hovered above Cathal, playing with his already messy hair.

"You know I can't to the Bells. If this guy is so all powerful, he could have saved Robert and we wouldn't be here." Cathal reached up and grabbed Bella's waist as she turned into a small, light pink cat. It was getting time to go to the club room. "It's probably already started." Cathal strapped his bag onto his back and put Bella on his head. It was time to make this teacher pay.

"Can I have a snack? Watching you train made me hungry." Cathal sighed and pulled out a bag of snacks and handed them to Bella. At this point, she turned back into her human for to grab them, forgetting that she was sitting safely on Cathal's head. It wasn't a problem for Cathal to carry her, but Bella was having a hard time staying on with her sudden size adjustment.

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The pair stood in front of the door that lead to the classroom. There was chatter going on inside, making Cathal's stomach twist. Maybe he should have gotten their early to challenge Bryce before there was anyone. It was to late for that now. A little voice inside his head spoke up. It was saying over and over that this is what Cathal had been waiting for. Revenge was just a few feet in front of him and he was too scared to reach out and take it. But his mother's words echoed through out too. He was sent there to learn. Not fight.

"No ... No turning back."

Cathal grabbed the doorknob, freezing it. Something that often happened when his emotions weren't in check. The door pushed open and the air became colder. He stepped into the classroom, a deep glare set on his face and Bella trailing behind him with a nervous grin. The man standing before him looked arrogant to Cathal, full of pride and all-knowing in his abilities. Exactly what a murderer would look like. Cathal's frown twisted into a wicked grin as he approached the man before him, grabbing his collar and twisting it around his fists.

"Bryce Zypher," Cathal paused, the air becoming colder and the floor beneath him beginning to freeze over. "I am Cathal ... son of Robert. And today, you die." Bella stayed in the back of the classroom, no more of a nervous grin but a scared look. She had never seen Cathal like this before. "I challenge you to a dual! To the death!" Cathal dropped his hands and turned back towards the door. "Meet me in the field where you've battled before. I'll be waiting." Cathal walked back out the door without hesitation. Though it was as if he went though a force field, the cold ceased and his grim attitude vanished.

"That was scary, Cathal!" Bella said, no longer scared and happily munching away. The Ice Mage could feel his heart about to beat out of his chest.

"Tell me about it." He made his way back through the school and into the forest.

Bryce was quite pleased with how his first class was going so far he couldn't help but chuckle as Ikari began telling the students the rules she sounded so much like Kira during their first class all that time ago. He'd finished up by asking his students if they had any questions. Before he could look around Asami spoke up on Kyouko's behalf. "Hmm? Ah, yes. Excuse me? The first rule...does that mean she's also banned from tending to her regular obligations outside of this club? She's an Onmyōji and per her tradition, she has to do all these rituals most of the time. Is she allowed to continue? Or must she abstain from it? Personally, I think she's fine since normal people are already exposed to it and they do not make much of it, seeing it more as a cultural norm. A magical invocation in the guise of a traditional ritual. She even conducts exorcisms."

Bryce thought for a moment before replying. "I think the rituals will be fine, but I'd prefer if at all possible no exorcisms. I don't want her being tired for her classes and as I understand they can be quite draining." Looking around again he noticed another student with a question. This time it was Mizu.

She must have been really excited about the question as she jumped off of the top of the desk she'd been sitting atop. "Who are you?" Before Bryce could dodge the question saying "I'm your teacher I just told you." her demon spoke up clarifying the question so he couldn't get out of it. "What they mean is it possible they know you from anywhere?"

Bryce thought carefully before beginning to reply. Just as he was about to someone burst into the room bringing quite literally a chill over the room. The boy didn't stop in the doorway he walked right up to Bryce taking his shirt in a chilled fist. "Bryce Zypher, I am Cathal... son of Robert. And today you die. I challenge you to a dual! To the death!" He dropped his hold on Bryce returning to the door saying, Meet me in the field where you've battled before. I'll be waiting." With that he left the room taking the unnatural chill with him.

Bryce looked to Ikari who nodded stiffly. "Well students it seems I have something to which I need to attend if you'd all follow me then." He began leading the students out to the forest. "This isn't going to be a sparring match so once we get there you all need to stand to the back edge of the clearing I don't want any of you getting hurt." He ignored the questions as he continued leading the students and their demons to the clearing. "Ikari you stay back too he challenged me I'm not going to hold back on him."

After a few minutes the group arrived at the clearing. "Alright students stay here and observe. This is why you should always think before issuing a challenge." Bryce stepped forward to the center of the clearing where Cathal was waiting. "Hello Cathal. I'm guessing there is nothing I could say to make you rescind this challenge is there?" Cathal offered him no response instead moving into a fighting stance. Bryce nodded his acceptance reaching into the air next to him pulling out his Scythe then taking a stance himself.

"You issued the challenge so I'll give you the first move. Better make it count though, it's the only one you're going to get." Bryce's voice stayed level almost sounding sad at the prospect of having to fight this kid. The sky began to grow dark clouding over as silence grew in the clearing. Cathal took his chance creating his ice blades charging at Bryce slashing with one arm at his stomach the other at his throat. Bryce simply lifted his scythe both blades strongly impacting the handle of the scythe. Bryce lifted his free hand to the sky. The air grew still Bryce's and Cathal's hair began standing as if statically charged. An instant later a lightning bold crashed down from the sky impacting Bryce's Scythe rushing through Cathal's blades throwing him back dissolving them instantly. Cathal rolled to a stop 30 feet back. Before he had a chance to recover and counter he was impacted from the side by a wall of air throwing him to the ground. Bryce walked up to him raising his Scythe as he went. Cathal wasn't quite finished yet freezing the ground in front of him he pushed off sliding out of range of the strike quickly jumping to his feet. "You asked for this Cathal." Bryce swung his scythe opening a wind tunnel to Cathal the sonic charge of the wind stunned Cathal. Jumping into it Bryce flew at him faster than most eyes could follow. Bryce raised his scythe preparing to finish Cathal as soon as he reached him.

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Lily Bedford

Three Days Earlier

Lilly had woken up with a jolt, like always, dressed in odd clothes covered in blood. By now, she didn't even question it. Her demon Oz appeared next to her bed, holding spare clothes and a towel. The only question Lily ever had was why couldn't she ever remember where she had been and why she woke up covered in blood every time. Even Oz said that he wouldn't be able to find her. That is until the moment she would regain consciousness. Lily had rid herself of Liam long ago, so thee was no way it was him. The Shadow Mage always thought she was running from the Council, but what if she was really doing their bidding? The only people strong enough to pull off what was happening to her was a Council Member.

"Three months, Master." Oz stated lightly. "It's time to go back."

"Where's Bryce now?"

"I've been tracking him and it appears that he has taken up Robert's old position. I'm sure he'll be very happy to see you again." Lily nodded, letting out a sigh. It had been three months since the last time she saw Bryce. He had to have been getting tired of her constant disappearing.

Lily quickly showered and dressed, ready to leave the hotel.

Present Day

Lily and Oz weren't much further away from the school when a sudden burst of magical energy made Lily falter mid-air. She would know such an aura from miles away, but why was he going all out? It was then that the Shadow Mage felt a much smaller energy. She looked to Oz with a worried look in her eyes, there was no way he was using this much energy on a student. Lily flew top speed towards the opening in the forest, to see what was going on. It was exactly what she had thought. She was lucky to have made it when she did, Bryce was about to murder the poor kid.

Lily tucked in her wings, dropping in between the two, bracing to take all the impact. With a swift round house, Lily sent Bryce in the opposite direction.

"You idiot! What kind of teacher are you!" Lily rushed to the boy behind her, checking to see if he was okay. "Kid, are you alright? Here, I'll take you to the nurse." Lily helped the boy stand, putting his arm around her shoulders for support. "The rest of you head back to the classroom! That's an order!" Oz slowly moved to Bryce, his usual blank expression on his face.

"We're home sir. Nice to see you again."

"What were you thinking? You must have picked a fight with him. He's -B Rank, you don't mess with him," Lily said, making her way to the infirmary.

Without warning the door was flung open and the temperature dropped. By the time Mizu looked up the male who had just entered had grabbed the instructor by the collar. If they tried hard enough they could see their breath come out looking like clouds of smoke.
"Bryce Zypher. I am Cathal ... son of Robert. And today, you die," he said, "I challenge you to a dual! To the death! Meet me in the field where you've battled before. I'll be waiting."
No sooner had he entered he left, leaving a blanket of ice covering the ground near him.
"It sounds very fun!" Mizu chirped walking up to where Cathal the son of Robert stood, looking down at the icy ground.
They did wonder who this Robert was but as of now Mizu was more intrigued by the ice. They stepped onto it, sliding a bit before falling down into a sitting position.
"Well students it seems I have something to which I need to attend if you'd all follow me then."
Mizu looked up happily, they had never seen two Mages fight before and the mere thought made them giggle slightly as they got up, using Pavati as a sort of rope much to his distaste.
"This isn't going to be a sparring match so once we get there you all need to stand to the back edge of the clearing I don't want any of you getting hurt."
They half skated from the class room, close on Bryce's trail. Soon enough they neared a forest heading in, then coming to a clearing.
"Alright students stay here and observe. This is why you should always think before issuing a challenge."
"Okie dokie!" Mizu smiled, glancing over to Cathal.
They watched the two spar, intrigued by the whole thing. Pavati wasn't too interested, not until Cathal was seconds away from his end.
To his disappointment and Mizu's a female appeared practically from thin air, dropping down and kicking the new instructor away.
"Oh well... That was... Disappointing," Pavati muttered, annoyance slipping into his tone.
Mizu sighed,"Isn't that cheating?"
The woman seemed pretty angry with Bryce for some reason as she began yelling at him before helping Cathal up and turning to the others watching.
"The rest of you head back to the classroom! That's an order!"
"Aww but you can't te-"
"Mizu. Let's. Go," Pavati snapped, knowing this woman wasn't to be messed with,"There's nothing else to do anyway."
Mizu pouted slightly, turning away from the clearing, not happy with the way things turned out.

"I think the rituals will be fine, but I'd prefer if at all possible no exorcisms. I don't want her being tired for her classes and as I understand they can be quite draining."

Their instructor finally told them his verdict on Asami's question. Ritual rites were still allowed for them but they were forbidden from exorcisms. "Okay..." Kyouko managed as their session went underway. As their first lecture was about to begin, Asami felt a sudden change in their atmosphere. Sniffing the air around, she glanced just in time to see another boy enter the room; harbinger of the cold aura.

"Bryce Zypher. I am Cathal ... son of Robert. And today, you die. I challenge you to a dual! To the death! Meet me in the field where you've battled before. I'll be waiting."

He seemed to have a beef with their instructor though what he said was a rather intriguing one. "Ara? A duel to the death? This should be interesting. First time I'll see how measly humans handle my territory." Asami remarked, referring to her own element. They were instructed to follow, to witness their battle. "No problem. Kyouko, this should be an eye-opener for you." When Asami looked at her though, she seemed a little uneasy. "Can't forget the past eh?"

A clearing outside the premises. It's nothing if not exposed and Asami thought if their instructors are allowed to violate their own rules. They soon started, with their instructor wielding a scythe of all things. His young opponent opted for blades instead.

"Wind and Ice...The thing about wind is that he won't find any area where he's at a disadvantage, I guess." Asami glanced down at Kyouko who was intently watching the battle. Noticing the dark sky, a lightning bolt struck down the Ice mage. "Ah! That could have been fatal--" Asami was about to yell out when Kyouko stopped her.

"They did say a duel to the death..."

"But this isn't a duel Kyouko. More of a one-sided killing if nothing else."

As their instructor was about to deliver the finishing blow, a woman interfered, bringing her demon in tow. She got in the way of Bryce and his challenger, immediately ending their battle. She yelled at them to return to their classrooms, with the serpentine demon Pavati complaining about the outcome.

"So what have you picked up from all this?" Asami asked as they made their way back. Kyouko shrugged.

"Western magic is...rather straightforward." She replied, Asami knowing full well what she meant.

Ceil was quite in shock the standard introduction to the class as interrupted not by questions the teacher had asked for those but by a tall boy who walked up taking the teachers shirt by the collar. Then challenged him to a duel not only a duel but to the death. Ceil was expecting the teacher to refuse as the boy was storming out, but he accepted telling all the students to follow. Ceil followed behind the rest of the students Briar sitting atop his head as they walked out at a brisk pace. Upon reaching the clearing Bryce told the students to stay at the edge and watch so Ceil jumped up into a tree to get a better view.

The fight if you could call it that didn't last long. Cathal charged with ice blades hitting Bryce's scythe. Suddenly a lightning bolt crashed down knocking Cathal back Bryce charged but Cathal slid away with a quick burst of magic the Bryce ripped open a whirlwind disappearing for what would be the killing blow. Before he could land it something crashed down throwing Bryce into a tree across the clearing yelling at him before telling the students go go back to their classroom. Not wanting to anger the woman who just face kicked their teacher into a tree he jumped down with Briar quickly walking his way back to the classroom waiting for the teacher or anyone else who would tell them it's ok to leave.



Closing in to end this duel Bryce was readying his scythe for the final blow when something appeared in front of him for all he could tell kicking him out of the whirlwind through a tree. Bryce we stunned there was no way Cathal could have gotten a kick like that off from the position he was in. As he unburried himself from the tree a voice spoke to him. "We're home sir. Nice to see you again." Pushing the trunk of the tree off of his chest he managed to cough a reply. "Oh OZ nice to hear you too I take it Lilly was the one who sent me through the tree then." Taking a deep breath Bryce flooded his lungs so he could breath regularly again. "Nice to have you home any chance you know anything about where she was this time?" Looking around Bryce saw the students were already gone headed back to the classroom if he'd heard Lilly right through the sound of a tree falling on him.

Bryce started to walk doubling over in pain at the first step. "Ribs, I think my right arm, and definitely my nose. Well Lilly's certainly not lost out on any of her abilities. He groaned deciding to head to the nurse to let her patch him up. Her healing magic was finally stronger than his. "Ikari will you go to the classroom and tell the kids we're done for the day if they have any questions tell them to find me tomorrow I'll be in our office." "I'd rather stay with you Bryce it's been a long time since you've been beat up like this." Bryce nodded. "I know but I've lived through worse. Please go take care of the students." She nodded gruffly running off to the classroom.

Bryce began limping to the school casting an illusion spell so he appeared to be walking normally without the growing amount of blood. 'I'm going to have to talk to Lilly about this no doubt she plans on killing me next time she sees me.' It took 30 minutes or so for him to gimp his way up to the nurse. She saw through his illusion instantly. "What the hell happened to you!? I haven't seen you like this since your 3rd mission. I told Robert you weren't ready for Chimara." Her voice dropped as she realized what she's said. "I-I'm sorry I know what you went through that night Bryce." "No, no it's fine not talking about him isn't going to change what happened. The least we can do is remember who he was and what he did for all of us." The nurse nodded guiding him to an empty bed that happened to be right across from Cathal's where Lilly was also sitting. Choosing to let it lay Bryce ignored them for the moment. "So do you think you can patch me up? I could have tried but you're a lot better at this healing stuff than I am.

The Classroom

Ikari walked into the classroom seeing that all the students had made it back up. "I'm glad you're all here." She stepped in front of the head desk. "Class is finished for the day if any of you have questions." Seeing a few hands shoot up. "I will NOT be answering them today. Bryce and I will be here tomorrow for anyone who has questions. So that will be it for today you are all dismissed." With Ikari walked out of the room heading as quickly as she could to the infirmary.

Once she got there she saw Lilly sitting with Cathal and Bryce being frantically looked over by the nurse. "Broken ribs, your right arm is almost shattered, your nose, and your left leg has a fracture. What exactly happened to you Bryce?!" Ikari looked over at Lilly before walking to Bryce's side. "Well he was challenged to a duel by that young man over there. As Bryce was about to... end it Lilly jumped in and sent Bryce through a tree." Ikari shrunk down quickly jumping onto the bed curling up in the crook of Bryce's neck licking his cheek softly. "He's going to be alright though isn't he?"