|♚|Kingdom Hearts: Animus|♔|

[HellOfALife]

OOC

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~Morning of The Mark of Mastery Exam~

Spoiler

The streets of Kaelos are alive and bursting with excitement, unusual for a world with such a clam atmosphere. The evening celebrations seemingly carried well into the morn, or at least it seemed that way as drunkards poured out of shops, inebriated on either spirits or just the temperament of the night. The Mark of Mastery Exam taking place on the world was reason enough to join the celebrations, warriors of all kinds lined up ready and hopeful to take their places among the powerful Masters, and after so many years of sovereignty and isolation, Kaelos opened it's doors to other worlds, allowing for an odd number of beings to walk among the streets, some more conserved to spend their energy when the Exam began, others fully intent on melding with the atmosphere. The Academy on the other hand was in something of a disarray, specifically the students. For something that seemed so out of reach to them before it was only customary that nervous vibes could be felt all around the school. Compared to the previous Exam years ago, there hadn't been as many wielders around, and all of them seemed prepared to face the challenges ahead. How does one fight against so much potential? And what hope could there be for inexperienced warriors? At least that had been the mindset of most students at the Academy.This Exam was peculiar for the way it handled acceptance, for one; instead of individual Keyblade bearers fighting against one another, at least 2-4 were assembled into a team, along with warriors of all kinds of distinctions. Considering the amount of bearers who attended the Academy and could have been coming from other worlds it was going to be a difficult task keeping track of all of them. The objective this time around had to do with the remaining worlds troubled by darkness, far from the reaches of Nuvos. In effect, the Exam was something of a clean up for the cosmos, the superiors truly expected its students to eradicate the evil still lurking among the hearts of men. What they really meant was darkness, which of course struck a nerve with the Crepus household. One had to realize the politics behind the Academy, most of the council members who made these kinds of decisions were people, regardless of their respective houses; that had seen the horrors of darkness among the worlds. They were impervious to the pleadings of those who thought otherwise, and would use examples of wielders and warriors who threatened the livelihood of several worlds. In a way, they were attempting to do away with darkness as if its presence hadn't brought an essential balance to the universe. In the end, there was no choice but to execute a full out attack masquerading as an exam.

Some were fortunate enough to realize the circumstances, or to somehow be informed of the real reason behind the examination. It wouldn't matter, in spite of the truth, wielders and warriors would still be compelled to join, to at least have an attempt at this once in a lifetime opportunity. Some wondered what would happen if the plan actually came to fruition, if some how they were able to eradicate the presence of darkness, at least to someone like Rhea, it posed something of a moral question. To her darkness represented the facet of age, the older one grows, the more events you experience, the more people and you meet, the more you are attuned to the light or darkness. She found it funny that despite what the founders of the academy fought for, people still misinterpreted their message. Perhaps light and darkness are meant to coexist as one, and trying to get rid of either one would most likely have chaotic results. A little bit of both sides couldn't have hurt anyone. She couldn't remember the last time she laid in bed and thought so deeply about the events surrounding her, in fact for the past few months she couldn't remember the last time she had a moment to herself with all the training and proceedings for the exam. Not to mention her family who all but ignored relatives who wielded no keyblades for the last month or so. It was frustrating to even get an ounce of attention, all the Lucis family really cared about was the Master status which they so proudly boasted around like it was all theirs to acquire. She had to admit that warriors were largely ignored at the Academy, actually, anyone could realize that fact when most graduates were wielders, and nothing had been done to halt the cyclical process of another battle type dropping out because of unwarranted ignorance from keyblade wielders. The unspoken rules for battle types was pretty simple, stay quiet, shut up, and don't challenge superiors or wielders. Of course there was a portion of the Academy that actually cared for the non-wielders which luckily became the highlight of the Academy if one was able to get on their good sides.

Rhea sighed for a moment, staying in bed wouldn't solve anything and it would only fudge up what she planned to make an enjoyable day. This was her first time participating in any major event all year, and she trained hard to be drafted into any available team. Her skills may not have been the best, but at least she could be considered. She rose from her mattress, staring at the window opposite of her dresser the sun had already bathed its first rays on the Academy grounds. With that on mind, she walked to her personal restroom, preparing herself for the day ahead, putting on enough armor for protection, and enough for movement, as well as keeping a spellbook ready should she forget any vital incantations. She opened the entrance to her room, whiles strapping her sword Zathura to her back. It took her only a few steps to recognize the miniature wrapped and bowed present on the floor below. She held it in her hands for a moment, an eyebrow piqued in curiosity. Gripping the edges she opened the box with her index and thumb, and inside laid a very simple, wooden carved chess piece, painted in a black tarnish. She let her fingers smooth over the object for a few moments, initially confused at the small gift, if she could call it that. She took another look within the box, finding a card.

"Please direct yourself towards the Council Chamber after the breakfast ceremony has ended, a special assignment awaits you!"

The morning was suddenly taking a more interesting turn, for one, whatever awaited her made her a bit apprehensive, maybe she wasn't proficient enough to be placed on a team, and they were planning to set her along a more menial course, something that would probably seem shameful to members of her clan. She stuffed the card into her pants pocket. It was too much to handle without a proper breakfast. Her and a crowd of students headed towards a full cafeteria, brimming with all kinds of food that was usually restricted to them on any normal school day. The fuel was going to be necessary for the long trip ahead, the Exam wouldn't last just one day after all, in fact, according to plan, it could take a full year for the exam to come into completion meaning that most of the students would be absent for graduation, although the trial had no effect on grades or otherwise, students could simply return with all their records intact. A big problem for most students is what passing entailed. How would they know that succeeded? There were many obvious ways to fail, but succession was not definitive in any case of the exam. With a passing grumble at the thought, Rhea grasped a plate of food from the serving table, which was currently dressed as if this was a dinner party (Well, it kind of was) and sat near the back of the auditorium. A peculiar feature of the auditorium was the fact that students who weren't of age were restricted from the area, it was usually used as some kind of pub for the teachers and older students, Rhea had only been here twice, and regretted both times considering the fact that most came here to get drunk and forget their troubles. Something Rhea wasn't all too keen of doing, or at least not when intoxicated. Now the drab little pub looked like a ball room of some kind, the lighting was brighter considering the roof above which could open to the sky above. It was impressive and a bit intimidating when ships passed over the opening. Otherwise, it was a good atmosphere to meld into, she let herself relax on one of the chairs around while eating at the pickings she grabbed on the table.

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Your characters have received a strange chess piece and a note directing them towards the Council Chambers, be sure to add a mention of this in your post.

[Mogtaki]

It was a pretty good day today, or at least the alarm told him it was daytime now. It was hard to see when day had come when one slept in a room of near total darkness because any source of light kept one awake at night. Hast was the typical teenager who enjoyed sleeping in whenever he could, his head hidden beneath the blanket every morning before the alarm sounded his wakeup call and forced him out of bed. There had only been a few times where he had been late for classes because he slept in, but constantly he would bring up the excuse that it was his condition's fault and had been kept awake by somebody pulling a harsh prank on him using magic that would keep his room alight for most of the night. It wasn't always true, most of the time it was because he was being sneaky and staying up most of the night but otherwise there was always room for excuse when you could act honest yet lie at the same time.

Hast was as pale as a sheet of paper, not even the lightest coloured parchment could compare to the colour of his skin but even with its strange and unique colour there was always going to be a downside to it. He was pretty sensitive to light, an unfortunate condition to have when you were born with the power of darkness deep inside your soul. It shouldn't had been a big deal, he wasn't evil or anything like that, but it still was a bit of a pain to find your zone and fall asleep when the tiniest bit of light was irritating you. Giving his alarm a good old slap with his hand to shut it up, he groaned and stretched as the boy welcomed a new day with reluctance and the thought of breakfast on his mind.

Giving his room a little light should help him wake up. Slapping on a lamp and stretching once more, Hast quietly made his way to his dresser and got on his uniform that was given to him on his first day of initiation. Hast was a relatively new student who had joined based on a fluke encounter he never would had expected. It was that sudden appearance in the Academy as a street urchin that put everyone off him, not to mention he was a thief and a total sneak. People didn't like the poor or sneaky types in a place as posh as the Academy with kids who had put years of training and strife into their childhoods, but when somebody was suddenly invited to the Academy without wanting to in the first place and was a thief on top of all that it was a lot easier to reject someone like Hast. He never really cared for the terrible vibe some people gave him or the words some of the posh kids spoke of when he was around, it didn't stop him from getting up everyday at whatever time to get dressed and start a new day.

Pulling on his clothes and strapping his weapons to his back, he wandered over to his dresser to get his goggles when he noticed a strange box that was absent before now staring back at him. It wasn't his box, he didn't hear somebody come into his room during the night either so it was definitely strange to find such a thing there. Slipping on his goggles before picking the box up, he inspected it carefully before slowly opening it as if cautious that it might had been a booby trap left for him to tempt his curiosity with. To his surprise, inside the box was a little chess piece of some kind all nicely painted up in black while a card addressed to him was inside.

Hast's nerve suddenly dropped when he read what the card was instructing him to do and why the box had been left there in the first place, his mind suddenly going into shock for a moment as he read the reason for the summons. There was no way he was getting called for a special assignment, he wasn't special or a class A student like many others appeared to be. He thought the special assignments were left for keyblade wielders only, they were the so-called 'special' bunch just because they had been chosen by an outdated weapon choice. It made him angry at first, but soon enough he dumped the box down, grabbed the chess piece and made a quick exit out of his room after turning off his little light.

Stuff like this may had confused him, but at least he had breakfast to look forward to as he was pretty hungry already. Entering the food hall was a bit of a surprise, he hadn't expected to see certain food items that not even he had managed to steal when growing up. All this seemed very suspicious, he hadn't been in the Academy long enough to know what this all meant and was a little worried that it had something to do with the assignment. Now he really was going to fail it, but keeping his head high and his expression neutral he made a grab for some of the rare foods of today and made his way to a table. Nobody sat beside him, anybody he had sat beside had promptly moved away from where he was and went elsewhere. This was pretty normal, it wasn't a hatred for him but rather a worry incase he somehow managed to sneak into their pockets and steal their stuff without him noticing. He had a habit of doing that, even though it only occurred ten or twelve times within the first few weeks of arrival. Eating his food quickly yet with some degree of moderation, he tried to swallow his fears over the assignment and only hope that that had made a mistake and got his name mixed up with somebody else.

[Argetlam350]

Zaccar awoke to the abnoxious sounds of his clock, as if telling him angrily to get up. He grumbled a bunch of incoherent words while turning it off in the process before sitting up on his bed and slightly streching. He wasn't much of a morning person but he'd be more awake shortly. Standing up he walked to his own personalized bathroom to begin the process of waking up and getting ready for the day. His mind didn't think on much, as if it was still asleep itself, his body just going through the daily routine it always did every day. He got dressed after a hot shower that jolted him awake more and relaxed a few tense muscles that he had slept wrong on. He grabbed his usual armor and strapped it on before grabbing his weapon, a scythe called the Lifehunt.
Now followed clothed and armored up Zaccar was in his usual look. A man who had been in the academy for years. He was a decent fellow, usually not one to complain about anything at the academy. He was just a normal guy trying to prove his worth as a warrior, to show that warriors were just as good as the wielders of the keys. So far he seemed unsuccessful in impressing any of the people who ran the academy but that never stopped him. He remained in high hopes that one day he could show them. For now though he practiced usually everyday he could and trained. He tried to also be a fellow that younger and newer apprentices that came to the academy could speak with. He enjoyed helping the others in the academy when he could.
Zaccar reached out for the door that would lead him down a hall and then to the cafeteria when his foot bumped into something on the ground. He looked down and was somewhat perplexed how a strange little box had gotten into his room. He picked up the box from the ground and opened it, now more perplexed of the point behind the ebony rook chess piece that hid inside. Looking at the note didn't help with the situation and only added to the mystery behind the chess piece and what it meant. For the time he placed the chess piece and not back into the box and put it inside a pocket to keep them safe before leaving his room.
The smells that greated him as he entered the cafeteria reminded him of how hungry he was and how he would need it later. What he forgot to think on earlier krept up into his mind and he wished it hadn't. He nearly had forgotten about the Exam. He had been excited and dreading it at the same time. He went through and grabbed what food he can from the crampped counter before heading off to find a table at random. He chose one farther in the back to get some space to at least breath from some of the cramped conditions that were closer to where all the food had been. He sat down, in thought on what the exams would entail. Perhaps the chess piece was somehow all apart of it, he strangly thought. Some sort of beginning or a calling to his exam. He honestly had no idea. He ate in moderation now because of the thought. The idea of the exam drawing closer with each bite somewhat made him begin second doubting himself and his skills. Was he really ready for it? Could he prove his worth or fail miserably? He then pushed the thoughts out of his head, thinking that there was no point in worrying about it now.

[ScarletMangekyo]

Solenne stood in the middle of his shadowed room. His eyes were closed and his chest rose almost imperceptibly as he breathed in slowly through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. The darkness and the light inside him coiled behind his eyelids, a mental picture of his internalized battle.

In his mind stood two figures. One was tall and proud, a beacon for the light inside Solenne's heart. The other was hunched over slightly, twin Keyblades in hand. His internalized darkness was charged with the stereotypes of darkness; violence, lust and evil. It twirled the Keyblades with uncanny grace before launching itself at the being of light. The light faded. Darkness had won again in Solenne's heart.

A soft rattle sounded through the young mans room. A box had been placed right beside him. The soft flash of light the always preceded a keyblade summon flashed in the mans hands. He point he key at the box, looking around quickly to see who had placed it there. No one was there and no traces of entry. He gave a low growl and dispersed his key. He kicked the box open and smirked at the chess piece and the note.

The black king, of course that was his designation. He would expect no less.

Solenne was the pride of Crepus, the man who was thought to bring darkness to light and the most likely to earn the Mark. He stepped out of his room and towards the training rooms. The training dummies were set up to react and strike back. Solenne smirked and the dull flash reappeared in his hands. His keys, twin keys of darkness slashed against the training dummy. He dodged quickly under a strike and blocked the other with his other key. He flipped both keys backwards and spun quickly, the keys slashing the training dummy. The dummy was finished, slashed to ribbons. Solenne laughed slowly, a slight sinister laugh before wiping the mop of white hair from his face.

[Noel]

Morning sun shone through tightly closed blinds, the light prompting a discontented groan to drift through the small room. A figure twisted beneath heavy covers before reluctantly rising, said covers hanging from the head of a dark haired young woman before slipping down onto her back then off onto the bed. Wies grimaced at the now brighter beams of light, turning to take a glance at a clock on the other side of the room which sat atop a stack of books. The time it showed only made her sigh once more, no time to catch even a few more moments of precious sleep. Still she sat at the edge of her bed, palming her weary eyes and yawning heavily for a few minuets before finally pushing herself to her feet to begin an ever dreaded morning routine. The still disheveled looking girl stepped over to a desk, slipping a record into a music player sitting atop the desk. Quiet, ambient music began to fill the room. A faint smile spread over the lips of the still sleepy Wies who began sway lightly with hands still set on the table. This very first step of her routine was the only part she had actually liked rather than merely being a necessity.

The routine continued with a long hot shower to help wash the sleepy feeling away while listening to the music intermingling with the sounds of falling water. Next was naturally a quick donning of her normal daily outfit. As she went through the routine her thoughts drifted around about the upcoming major event. She could feel her stomach sinking and a potent anxiety beginning to rise within her. She had only entered the academy fairly recently and certainly have made no miraculous strives in terms of capability. Stepping back out into the main section of her room she found herself staring into a mirror, her expression clearly being one of potent unease. Why did she have to enter the academy right before such a large event? Would people know she was here? Would they expect something of her? Would she end up merely embarrassing her family once again? To make things even worse, she herself was a keyblade wielder. One of the few, proud chosen people left within the world! Or that was how others viewed it, to her it was both a massive thorn in her side and yet at the same time her only hope of making something of herself The girl found herself clutching her forehead and gritting her teeth. It had to be the worst possible situation. It was easy to tell most students within the academy were stressed by these tests, but to her none would be more frustrated and uneasy then herself.

Being so embroiled in her thoughts Wies had almost managed to miss the small package which seemed to suddenly appear since she had exited the shower. Looking curiously she took the package and sat down on her bed, yanking the bow off and simply tossing it aside. Her brow rose when seeing what was within the package. As the package being there was not odd enough, the wooden and white painted chess piece within only made it even more odd. She took the thing out and glanced over it before setting it on her desk, then removing and reading the short letter. “Is this some kind of joke...”She practically growled in irritation. This had to be a prank, no one would really choose her for a 'special assignment'. With a tisk of annoyance she crushed the card in hand and tossed it aside, practically storming out of her room. If it was a prank, she'd be damn sure to deck whoever thought it up.

But for now all she could do was resign herself to breakfast. She started off moving quickly but soon her energy dwindled and she drifted into a slow walk to the cafeteria. The girl arrived late to the cafeteria, there was at least a few people in the room when she arrived, how many were there she did not necessary notice or care to. The girl merely grabbed enough food to make up a light meal and sat herself down somewhere near the middle of the room, a position she hoped would keep herself from being noticed.

---

A bright, flickering light illuminated an otherwise dimly lit room, like sparks from the heat of a welding torch working upon metal. The sound that followed was a series of grueling noises one could only liken to the tearing of muscle and flesh intermingled with twisting and cracking bones. The room the noises emerged from was a large and sparsely decorated space with thick aging wooden floors and walls, a number of stains of questionable origin spread throughout. Though decorated may not have been the best word for the room as the tables within were only lined with a variety of alchemical ingredients and compounds, the walls being lined with various papers charts and diagrams which showed things such as anatomical sketches, theories on the relationship between light and darkness in regards to the individual and both the world itself, or of course a wide variety of notes scribbled onto paper and pinned to the wall.

At the center of the room was a sturdy round table with runes etched into it. Beside that table was a woman dressed in unflattering clothing which hung loose and had a plethora of stains of its own. The look of the clothing contrasted sharply against her meticulously kept hair which was carefully tied into a bun, bangs pushed out of her face. And lastly there was what laid upon the table, a half formed humanoid torso, entirely featureless and gray in color, its form terminating into random tendrils of 'flesh' at the waist. Despite the look of the thing many may have considered revolting the table was almost entirely clean with none of the blood or gore would would normally expect from such a scene. Abel ran the back of her hand over her forehead, wiping a fine glaze of sweat from it before turning away and gathering an alchemical stone along with several flasks of liquid. She set them back on the center table and her hand began to glow white hot as it wrapped around the stone which swiftly melted to her touch. The containers of liquid were swiftly poured into the melted stone matter, resulting in a slight vapor releasing.

Tendrils of light emerged from the five fingers on each of Able's hands. She carefully manipulated them, the five of her left running into the half formed body on the table, the five on her right running through the liquid and connecting to the other set of five. Another flickering flash lit the room followed by the sound of warping flesh. When the light receded once more, the body on the table was fully formed. The thing moved its fingers and the woman smiled lightly. Snapping her fingers a portal of light opened atop the table and the newly created body descended into it without a fuss. She then turned to take a look at an old fashion clock hanging above the rooms door. ”Seems its almost time, thats enough of that then.” She spoke while heading towards the door and exiting, flicking the dim light off before locking her 'study room' up tight and concealing the door behind a conveniently placed cabinet.

The room she entered into was one which was entirely different then the last. A lavishly furnished room, each object within being one that exuded sophistication, just intricate enough to be considered fancy yet not so flashy to become gaudy. And sitting upon her coffee table was a nondescript little box, a painted wooden chess piece beside and a letter set neatly underneath. It had arrived earlier that morning, suddenly and much to her interest. Abel had a quick shower to wash any residue from her earlier work before fixing her hair and carefully donning her favorite suit and tie. With that preparation done she returned to take the chess piece in hand, looking to it with a bit of amusement before tucking it away in a breast pocket.

She then proceeded to the designated room for breakfast as many did each day. While gathering herself a cup of tea and simple morning pastry she greeted others with a smile or a nod before taking a seat near the front of the room to enjoy the mornings meal.

[Valtyr]

It was another sleepless night Antoine, fueling himself with coffee and scotch as he tirelessly scanned over each word of his fathers journals religiously. Antoine was nearing the one-hundredth time reading the set of seven journals and he couldn't break the hidden messages Antoine was sure was there, somewhere. He knew somewhere in these texts was something to lead him to becoming the strongest wizard in the realm, he would finally bring pride to his family name and in the afterlife his father would look down at Antoine with respect and love, for once. The sudden blare of the alarm shocked Antoine out of his trance like state. His constant hang over throbbing with the hellish shriek of the clock. Throwing his arm out towards the clock across the room a small bolt of electricity shot out and fried the circuitry. Realizing what he did he sighed, "Damn it... Not again.." he groaned as he knew he would need to get another clock before returning home later that day.

Pushing himself from the large oak desk he stood and went to the window, gripping the heavy curtains and shoving them apart to let the morning light in. Cringing in agony Antoine winced and blinked quickly as his pupils adjusted. He headed across the room and into the washroom. He quickly shower and dried off, wrapping the damp towel around his waist to cover himself. Going to the sink he brushed his teeth thoroughly and rinsed his mouth out with mouth wash several times to get the stench of liquor off his breath. He walked out of the washroom and went to his wardrobe, opening the polished doors to revealed rows of lavish suits. He carefully changed into a suit, making sure not to wrinkle the fabric; having always worn fanciful suits outside of his dorm. Antoine wore black slacks, black jacket with a lavender colored silk button down shirt with a charcoal black necktie.

Antoine stifled a yawn as he picked up a small spell book he had purchased the day prior and left his room. As he was walking out he kicked some sort of box, looking down it was addressed to him. Raising a brow curiously. He set the small book into the inside pocket of his jacket and crouched over the box. Retrieving a pocket knife he cut the tape and opened it up. Atop a note stood a simple chess piece. Lifting the chess piece in his fingers he examined it inquisitively, shrugging off the mystery he stuffed it in his pocket thinking it might be important later on; Antoine always being one to prepare for the future. He than grabbed the note and flipped it open. With a quick skim the information was locked in his trained mind, which was an easy feat with it only being a small sentence; 'Please direct yourself towards the Council Chamber after the breakfast ceremony has ended, a special assignment awaits you!' Well that was certainly intriguing, his ever boasted ego on high.

He folded back up the note and stuck it in the inside pocket of his jacket while also returning his book to his hand. Flipping open to the last page he read he began to walk out of the dorm building while reading, using his peripheral for any obstacles and relying on his memory of the architecture floor plan to guide himself out. Before pushing through the glass doors that lead to the courtyard he slipped on thin sunglasses to protect his eyes from the assaulting rays of sunlight. He walked down the leveled stone trail through the courtyard as few leaves dropped from the trees that lined the trail. Five minutes and eight pages of his book passed before entering the large cafeteria a roar with chatter from his fellow classmates. He tried tuning out the noise that bashed his ear drums and made his brain throb uncomfortably. He went through the line, nothing looking appeasing to him as his stomach was churned from the alcohol. He picked up an apple before leaving the line, looking across the rows of tables filled with students.

Someone he noticed, a fellow mage of sorts; Rhae from house Lux. He thought of her as more tolerable - her being a mage and all - than most of the other students who were practically monkeys with sticks, running around beating anything with a pulse. He traveled through the cafeteria hall and passed the filled tables til he arrived at the table where Rhae sat. Flashing a charming smile before sitting across from her. He crossed his right ankle to rest on top of his left knee comfortably. "Why hello, Miss Rhae. I actually have a question that I hoped you might be able to answer...." he trailed off as he began to dig in his pocket and pulling out the chess piece, setting it on the table. "Any idea what this is all about?"

[Wayward]

Deep within the innermost confines of her workstations, Estelle's sense of time was one of great lapse and even greater misjudgments, augmented further by her even deeper immersion into the work she did. It was that work station, a dark-lit cross between a laboratory and an automotive garage that she had spent the past several nights (and many others preceding them). And it was in her work, the fiddling and experimentation with a plethora of gadgets, gizmos, gears, devices, mechanisms, machines and just about every other word in technological terminology, to which she had dedicated the greater part of her life. Such it was that even in the latest hours of the night and the earliest hours of the morning, the clanging, zapping, welding and sawing sounds could be heard about the ground of the Nuvos Academy; or at least they would have if there were people daring enough to be out of bed so late.


That, in a nutshell, had been Estelle's previous night. She had been charged with some "small projects" by some of the higher ups at the Academy. Namely, they involved repairing the stocks of Thunder-Gummis and refitting them to their respective Gummi Ships. It was a common misconception of many, as far as Estelle knew, that the Gummi Blocks were simply enchanted with magic. It was only a half-truth. The full truth was that each block required an intricate set of cables that Estelle referred to often as "G-Wires." These cables facilitated the directives between the cockpit and the engines, wings and of course, weapons. Like any manner of wiring, they had to be maintained, repaired and replaced every so often, or otherwise, the Gummi block would never function correctly.


Thus, Estelle had worked through the night to repair the rather large stockpile of cannons she had been ordered to work on. It was a gamble that had paid off in the end though; since the previous night, she had managed to repair, test, and approve all but one of the cannons. The last one in question was the one she was presently working on. Flipping open the casing upon which the barrel of the weapon was attached, she examined it closely, noticing a broken strand of wiring. "Rodents" she spat as she swiftly rolled to one of her storage cabinets. She rummaged through the drawers until she found a spare connector and a cut of insulator to run the repair with. "The most advanced Gummi technology in all of the worlds and it still gets chewed out by rats!" she exclaimed as she rolled back to her work table. She slipped on a pair of neoprene gloves, slid her welding mask on over her face and picked up a trusted pair of pliers.


In seconds the wiring was refitted into the connector and insulated. With a great effort from her nightshift worn self, she carried the cannon out onto the garage floor where she had set up a mount to test the cannons on. She set the weapon atop the mount, and directed it precisely at a Protect-G some fifty feet away, an ample target for the small canon. She then connected a makeshift trigger mechanism to the back end of the weapon and rushed behind a barrier she had set up ten feet behind it. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" She zealously mashed the palm of her hand into the button and waited ten seconds with nothing happening. No streaking sound of fire, no bang of a gunshot. Just silence. She reared her head over her barrier and eyed the cannon.


That was when it did something she hadn't expected: the entirety of the cannon's casing erupted in flames. "Shit!" Estelle vaulted over her barrier and rushed into the emergency closet where she hastily removed a fire extinguisher. Just as quickly, she returned to the casing and soaked it gratuitously in the foamy agent from the extinguisher, until all that remained before her was a smoking, burnt remain of a once great piece of machinery. "I guess there was more wrong with this thing than I thought she said. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and retreated back into her workshop. Her eyes fell at once onto the clock on the wall above her desk. "Is that really the time?" she asked, seeing that breakfast at the Dining Hall would be starting only ten minutes. "I am hungry. And cereal bars won't cut it."


Deciding to actually go to breakfast for once, she pulled out a "clean" jumpsuit from her closet and a towel that had been drying for two days following her last shower. She was on her way to her personal shower house at the back of the garage when...


Biiiiing


A piercing buzzing noise filled the garage; someone was outside ringing the doorbell. The buzzing repeated itself several more times while Estelle worked way from to the garage door, and once more right after she had pressed the "open" button. The door opened up from the concrete floor, steadily revealing the morning sunlight, and a young man standing half silhouetted against it. The man eyed Estelle for a few seconds before finally speaking: "Is Miss Estelle in?"


"Of course!" Estelle said, ripping off her welding mask, revealing a smudge-covered but smiling face. "You're talkin' to her! What's up?"


"Just this," the man said, presenting an envelope from beneath his sleeve.


"Really?" Estelle pried the envelope from the man's hand and torn it open. She unfolded the paper inside and read it aloud. "Please direct yourself towards the Council Chamber after the breakfast ceremony has ended. A special assignment awaits you." She looked up from the letter to the man. "What's this all about?"


"I wouldn't know that, now would I?" the man said. "I'm just a messenger. Sounds to me like you'd best direct yourself towards the Council Chamber after the breakfast ceremony has ended. I'm sure they'll tell you everything. Good day." Not turning back, the man walked away.


Estelle closed the door as her "guest" left. Something else had been in the envelope, though she hadn't shown it to him. A black pawn chess piece. "What an exciting day this is turning out to be," she said. As she finally made her way to the shower. She cleaned herself off quickly, as was her habit, and was ready to leave within a few short minutes. She passed back through her garage to grab a few things. She slipped the garage keys into her pocket and picked up her favorite combination wrench, which was nearly two feet in length and had ends roughly the diameter of a softball ball. Giving herself one last check, she made her way down a side corridor that lead out onto the Academy campus, but stopped at the sound of jingling bells. She turned around and scowled at a gray-furred Great Dane staring at her with puppy eyes and a leash in its mouth. "Not now, Tesla," she said. "We'll go for a walk later. I've gotta get to breakfast, okay? Now go lay down." Without much question, the dog slumped away across teh garage, and Estelle made her departure for the cafeteria.

[HellOfALife]

"Why hello, Miss Rhae. I actually have a question that I hoped you might be able to answer. Any idea what this is all about

In between all the tea and food scattered around her table, Rhea looked up to Antoine, swallowing a bit of biscuit in her mouth. She stared at the chest piece for a moment, her normally lax eyes turned in surprise at her pocket as she snatched the bishop piece that was delivered in front her door early in the morning. She turned the piece in her fingers, comparing it to Antoine's before speaking.

"No, I haven't a clue about what's going on, seeing that you got one males me a little less worried. I'm not exactly a candidate for these types of things."

She drank some more tea, and dusted some crumbs of food off of her knee. "You'd better sit down, it looks like the meet is commencing..."

Ambling on to the stage was an elder man, well beyond his years, but with a stature that said otherwise, he was quite obviously trained to withstand the plague of age, as he took his place standing near he podium, the backstage was lit to reveal a multitude of keyblades right above him, and in the middle the famed X-blade. Whether or not they choose to realize this, very few warriors had the chance of seeing the powerful weapon, it was ancient and chaotic artifact that forged the very universe they existed within and to think that it remained on this lone world, chad Rhea baffled and filled her mind with questions she knew wouldn't be easily answered. The elderly man continued, he was given the title of Headmaster years ago, yet his job demanded so much that he hardly even cared for the title up until this very moment.

"Whatever weaknesses you have learned here; embrace it for the journey ahead. All of your roles, either as a wielder or a warrior pales in comparison to the responsibility that will be set upon you once you return a victor. But most of all, this Exam brings about an important duty, the victor will receive full and lone access to the X-blade regardless of wielding capabilities, thereby becoming the ultimate judge over the hearts of men. But know we will only pass this power along to one strong of heart either in darkness or light.

The Exam itself will be taking its course over a variety of unaccounted worlds across the cosmos, we are not sure of what dangers may lurk, but the goal is to seal the world's keyhole, and to eradicate the threat of heartless across 10 different worlds. This Exam is not a test of haste, but rather efficiency. It does not matter who finishes first, but such a thing could be taken into consideration for your scores. I imagine this journey may take months on your behalf's; meaning that the ciriculum will be suspended and whichever team comes out the victor may consider themselves honorable members of the Warriors of Light and Dark."

It was only so long until Rhea zoned out, not because she's didn't find these types of things important, but because the prizes baffled her. How could anyone just willingly give away a power as dangerous and easily corruptible as the X-blade no matter their life accomplishments? The X-blade had for millennia threatened life among the stars due to those seeking power, how would giving that power to someone else do anyone any good? If anything it should have been destroyed long ago to keep another war from happening, strangely she felt as if that was exactly what they were going for. Anyone who cared to look enough knew that the Exam was usually won by members of the Lux house, they dominated nearly everything to the point where the Crepus house was pushed to the farthest bastion of the castle, not to mention that the Headmaster put explicit emphasis on Heartless when it was pretty obvious that he meant darkness. There was something fouling this competiton and Rhea's intuition just couldn't figure out what.

"Let the light in your hearts beckon to the true door that awaits, my students."

With a bow he left the stage, and applause ripped through the auditorium of sorts. Rhea turned to Antoine, now focused on other matters. " The ceremonies pretty much over, so it'd be a good idea to head over to the council chamber don't you think?"

[Argetlam350]

Zaccar had listened to the speech with interest yet his mind still played the question game somewhat. He had confidence he could complete the exam but could he beat the others and to wield the X-blade? He knew he was a strong warrior but enough to wield the X-blade? He didn't see himself as being that strong neither did he see anyone to wield such a powerful force without corruption soon spreading in them. He looked around at the other people in the cafeteria in a secretive matter. Well whatever the outcome, it wouldn't matter, as long as he could show that a warrior could be as good as a keyblade wielder he could care less on who gained the power of the X-blade.
In the mean time though he had other things to wonder about, such as the mysterious chess piece in his pocket and the summons to the council chambers. He finished the last of the remains of his food that was on his plate and then threw whatever was left away before heading out of the cafeteria and making what seemed to be the long treck to the council chambers. Was he expelled? Would he even have the chance to show his valor and worth? These questions now roamed his head as he walked, the council chamber seemingly far away now and every step feeling like a heavy weight.
As he walked he looked at the chess piece left for him studying it. It was a fine piece that was for certain. An ebony colored rook, finely detailed, more so then any normal chess piece would be. What purpose or meaning it held would shortly be shown as the doors of the council chamber drew nearer and nearer.

[ScarletMangekyo]

Sweat poured off Solenne. His breathing was shallow and uneven as his Keyblades dispersed in the soft black light once more. He grabbed his leather jacket and threw it over his shoulders.

Training was a good thing for him. It cleared his mind of thoughts that were probably better left alone, like talking to Rhea again...telling her everything. As much as he wished he could, he knew he couldn't.

Looking at the time and realizing the announcement was probably just starting, he decided to go over to where it was being made. His hands jammed in the pockets of his pants, hair falling low over his eyes, he started off towards the area.

People generally gave Solenne a wide berth. Knowledge of his darkness and vehement temper always have them a reason to keep distance. Except for warriors. They always seemed to want to talk to him. His acid tongue often kept them at bay too.

Solenne walked into the room just as the words "Heroes of light and darkness" sounded through the hall. He was finished apparently. A small pissed off sound escaped the mans lips before he walked back out and went off towards the council chambers.

Entering quickly, the man pulled out his chess piece and idly twirled it in his fingers "hurry up...."