Bael - Amidst the Unknown

I can see the darkness,
With my icy eyes,
Is this truly madness?
Why can I hear their cries...

I descend further
Have I committed murder
Against a heart...
This is only the start.

Bael's eyes shifted towards the immense shadowy creature walking towards him. Right at that moment, he already knew what would happen, his lips twisting into a snarl as both of his hands closed into fists- the boy quickly attempted to move his arms, but he had already felt under the trap. Two large shadow tendrils had already wrapped themselves around his wrists, while two other did the same to his ankles- forcefully bringing him onto his knees as the creature lingered closer, releasing a stench of pure disgust and horror while it very slowly crept closer, opening it's large maw which revealed a sharp, cruel teeth, white as white could be and contrasting greatly with it's pitch black color. The creature spoke in a demonic- yet sultry tone.

"You're very gullible, are you not?"

Bael opened his mouth to contest, but it was nearly instantly covered by another shadowy tendril.

"To believe you have control over darkness." The creature continued- as it moved closer, it's shape slowly twisted and changed into a humanoid figure, yet the teeth and pitch-black color remained. It moved it's face very close to Bael's, who struggled and squirmed, to no avail.

"Yet..." The creature dramatically paused, allowing itself a loud, booming laughter for a brief moment before staring deeply at Bael's eyes. "You will never truly overcome the darkness in your heart."

Yet again, the creature laughed, but it was a softer laughter this time- a giggle, in fact. It's left hand had turned into a very sharp blade and it had taken a small distance from Bael. It gave the boy a cold look- and moments after, pierced his chest without blinking an eye.

---

Bael woke up in a state of terror- his left arm morphing into a bigger, menacing orange and red arm, with spikes coming from his elbow and shoulder. His body had been entirely covered in sweat and he quickly reached for a towel at the of the bed, picking it up with his right hand. His left hand slowly morphed back into it's human state as he heavily breathed, his chest heaving with every inhale and exhale. With the towel, he wiped his face and forehead, tossing it aside right after. These nightmares... They had turned fairly common and as much as the demon tried, ignoring them was getting harder with each passing day. The worse part was that he wasn't capable of understanding them; why... what was that creature. What was this darkness in Bael's heart that he needed to overcome or understand, eventually?

Standing up, the boy picked a simple black tank-top and used it to cover his body, finding the newly found muscles quite interesting to say the least. He had developed quite the definition with the intense physical training he went through, even his arms in their human form had became less like two white sticks and actually had some muscle in them- but nothing extraordinary, still. Over the tank-top, he dressed into a short-sleeved straight dark coat, leaving it open. He already wore dark jeans and simply placed a pair of combat boots and moved towards the bathroom. Apparently Bael was becoming more human and less demon with each passing day- that was the thought he had on his head as he picked up a toothbrush and toothpaste, combining both before brushing his teeth. Ten minutes later, the boy walked out of the bathroom and towards the door, opening it before stepping outside. Once he slammed the door shut and stepped closer to lock it, his eyes briefly scanned over the number of his apartment. Very human indeed. he was in a hotel, somewhere. Well, on Earth, but where on Earth is a question which was left unanswered.

He stepped in the streets, the climate was enjoyable; somewhat threatening to rain, so humid and nice, at least to Bael's tastes. The young boy nodded his head to a neatly dressed elderly man who passed in front of him; the man nearly instantly nodding back as if he had recognized the dem-... erm, human.

Garden

Her eyes shined as she heard the pool was open, she could ask Lady Mercy and Sir Darwin if they wanted to swim too and maybe Sir Dendus if he would like to. As she was going to ask Sir Darwin shouted very loudly, "THIS IS BLOODY AWESOME" she nearly umped back from being startled but regain her composure as she sipped the smoothie. ‘Oh uh....sorry for shouting, I know I'm not supposed to...." Sir Darwin sighed as he turned to her. "Wait...you're a princess! Greetings your grace, I am but a lowly servant, but I'm a unicorn...." Sir Darwin bowed to her as he said that, she immediately felt guilty. She didn’t want her new friends to treat her like that and have to act like that. She waved her hands around to get the attention of the colorful guy. “Wait, please you don’t have to do that. I would rather like it if you treated me as how you treat your friends, royalty isn’t needed in friendship.” Garden explained to him, its better to be treated normally than differently with others. But she was curious about him being a unicorn, “You are a unicorn? That sounds so cool!” She had heard and read stories of unicorns but never to expect to meet one.

"A princess, you say? Glad to see people like that go in the direction of the regular life. People of royalty I see in the news just order men around like chess pieces and isolate themselves from society. I don't see how they find amusement in that, but if it is because the monarch set up there live instead of themselves then I wouldn't be surprised. And if you princesses are allowed to do what they want outside the castle, then your kingdom must've been a good place." It took her a while to understand what Sir Dendus but she did, she shook her head lightly.

“Well its complicated…yes I can do pretty much outside the castle and yet you can’t. You have to learn the rules, politics, economy and that bunch of stuff that confuses me then you can do probably anything but I barely got there…” She gave out a small undertone giggle as she drank more of the smoothie. “But lets forget about the princess talk and talk about something else.” But looking around she saw a familiar face it was Lady Carmen! She wondered how she was doing but it looked like she was busy drinking something that looked fancy, garden decided to say hi to her later.

– Ara (A)

“This school’s got a lot of money.” While Ara was alone in the room, he was not imagining things or talking to himself. He sat at the edge of the bed, staring at a mirror in the corner of the room. Ara was a young man with dark brown hair and wore solid black swimming trunks and a sleeveless white hoodie left unzipped and open, but the one reflected on the mirror’s polished surface was a young woman with orange-ish brown hair wearing a white and purple dress. His hair was a little messier than usual and stuck out in odd places, but there was nothing he could do about that. He couldn’t see himself in the mirror and B was not kind enough to tell him about it. “Yeah. And I don’t even have a roommate so I get this whole place to myself.” B rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Have you considered how awkward it’d be?” Ara just shrugged in reply and got up from the bed. “Instead of moping around here, I think it’s time to get out and meet some real people.” B waved from the mirror and said, “Remember, it’s my turn around dinner. Make lots of friends for me~!”

Scowling a bit, Ara left the room and closed the door behind him. It had been a long time since they tried to make new friends. He wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to do it anymore. More importantly, how was he supposed to explain that later in the day he was going to ‘re-appear’ as a girl? “Wait a minute…” Smirking, he realized something. “I don’t need to explain a thing. I can just leave the troublesome bits to B.” Nodding at his own genius, he left the house with a grin on his face. He hadn’t bothered to really consult the map so he had no idea where he was headed, but he figured it was probably hard to get lost forever on a small island ((Don’t try this at home kids.)).

After a bit of walking around, he ended up at the resort and noticed a group of people gathered at what appeared to be a bar. It was entirely possible they were having a ‘private’ gathering meant for a group of close friends but… ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.’ Seeing an empty seat next to a lady with a ridiculously large sun hat (Carmen), he walked up to her and asked, “Mind if I sit here?”

Matt - Hot Boy of Blazing Apathy
"Um. I don't know. I think I'm a demon, that's what everyone calls me- but... I'm not really evil, or bad. So I'm not a demon, am I?" Zaelyn asked. Matt scratched the side of his head, thinking.
"That's a good question. There may be creatures that look alike, but aren't. For example, Satyrs, and Fauns." Matt said after a while.

"Do you want to get a drink with me? I'm pretty thirsty after the long trip here." Matt asked, completely unaware of what that sounded like.

Bael - Forbidden Art

Step by step, the demon made his way through the metropolitan city as if he was part of it, as if was essentially.. human. His blue eyes never ceased to stop moving from side to side, analyzing skeptically everything. These doubts... Why he was here again? When he tried to think about it, he knew why, but he couldn't find words to describe exactly the reason behind it. The boy glanced back, his eyes narrowing as he spotted a peculiar dark-haired woman; she had been following him for at least five minutes. It wasn't enough to say 'following', but in the upset eyes of the demon, everything could count as stalking, following and things like that. Taking a sudden turn, the boy entered an alleyway in order to ensure if he was being followed or his disturbed mind had been playing tricks.

It didn't took long for the woman to enter the alleyway as well; she wore a long gray coat, bottoned neatly, with the sleeves hanging freely by her side, her arms likely inside the coat, out of sight. Strange, but not as strange as why she'd follow Bael. It was then when Bael surged behind her, a hand reaching to wrap around her neck, strong enough to strangle, but not to kill outright. "Who are you?" He'd ask coldly- but just as he asked, a giggle erupted from the woman and when he noticed, she had disappeared from his grip- all that was left was her coat over his arm. His eyes instantly moved forward, the cold glare likely intimidating, had not the woman been trained and not the type to get intimidated by a simple menacing look.

---

Zaelyn

Satyrs and Fauns... Hmm, perhaps she was one of those. Even if she had absolutely no idea of what they were. Either way, the boy had asked her a question which she wasn't entirely sure of how to answer- it was an invitation, but... She hesitated in answering, just staring blankly at him, trying to place an appropriate answer together. Finally, she managed to speak something out, her voice slightly shaky.

"U-Uhm, a drink?" And obviously she answered him with another question, but Zaelyn quickly corrected herself. "I mean, are you sure you want to get a drink with me? I guess... we can, then."

Nikola blinked. Did this boy just ignore the whiskey sitting right in front of his face?

He smashed the money back to Dendus with a harsh sweep of his hand, shooting out with an offended, angered tone,

"You inferior little... runt. I gave you your shot, and yet your brain processing proves that you cannot detect whether that drink sitting on the tray right in front of your damn face is whiskey or not?!"

The cybernetic man commanded E.A.R. to transform into a laser weapon just to threaten this pathetic child... but the mechanical arm simply hugged his neck with a blue light coming out of its palm. Nikola looked like he wanted to say something more to the smoking brat, though he quickly resided into giving into the little morality he had left.

"Enjoy your drink," the inventor muttered, genuinely hoping that he would get the chance to brainwash all of these stupid scumbags so that they could realize just what dire situation they were in. "I will see to it that the other teachers straighten up and teach the students how to properly see things right in front of their dense faces..."

He did not like the academy's approach in giving the students a chance to have a break. They were supposed to be building a powerful army out of these students- an army that tossed away their emotions in order to approach Hell's men without fear. From what he could tell, those so-called demons, who were inferior to his technological might, will have intentions to kill the next time they arrive. Everything was supposed to be wrong, with students panicking over their lives at this point...

...and yet, here they were, talking about how delicious the smoothies were. And they were incapable of knowing what was whiskey and what was not. That alone aggravated him. Just how many fools were going to think that the demons could not kill them?

Like he gave a sh-t about the smoothies he made in five seconds. Or the whiskey that was literally made under one second, which took the smoking little fleshbag a damn millennium on comprehending that the glass of whiskey was a glass of whiskey.

He hoped that the other customers had a good drink. Actually, no. He wanted them to wake up and realize that they would die soon. That would satisfy him. But that would obviously come at another time, for the principal had blinded them with the illusion of a good future.

---

Ryuu grinned awkwardly.

After all, it was not your everyday thing to meet a person with snakes as their hair.

A woman with snakes as their hair. He felt as if he were looking at some Greek mythological figure. But she did seem to have manners, for she seemed somewhat nice, much to his surprise. And she did not seem to mind his scary looks.

For now, that is.

"Me?" Ryuu nervously asked, still attempting to keep looking at her face instead of the patch of melons. "Oh, uh... I didn't even do anything yet, and I'm already loving it! I'm getting a feeling this break'll be awesome. I'm gonna go rest around the beach soon. After I unpack my stuff, that is."

Ironically enough, he did not lie at all. He did, after all, love the fields of melons. He just hoped he would not be seeing any watermelons soon. Now that would just leave him in bliss...

...

...because he was a farmer. Yup. He loved farming. He totally loved farming even though he never touched farming equipment before.

((Hey everyone, sorry if I'm interrupting new to forums.))

Carmen sat at the bar, enjoying her cosmo. Casually listening to the various conversations swirling around her, she noticed Little Feather (I think that's what she said her name was? she thought.) recognize her and smiled back at her. At least I know one person here. I'll have to say hi sometime. The bartender was getting vocally angry, but she paid him no mind. He was apparently shouting about whiskey or something, but she saw him as a way to distract her from her good times so she ignored him. Besides, he had given her her drink in a nice enough tone and she was drinking it. Good enough for a bartender, right? None of the groups conversing seemed to be interested in adding Carmen, which was fine with her, but soon enough she had a conversation partner of her own when a male she didn't recognize walked up to her.

“Mind if I sit here?” he asked.

"Of course not! Go right ahead," she responded happily in between sips of her cocktail. "I'm Carmen. What's your name?" She assumed that she hadn't seen him before because he wasn't at Athalia before. She certainly hadn't seen anyone like him at the party. It was interesting (and exciting!) to her how many new faces there were now, even though the school year thus far had lasted all of two days. This guy, wearing black trunks and a white hoodie, seemed interesting enough. I wonder what makes him special, she thought. There doesn't seem to be anything special about him...though, I look like a normal girl without my trumpet. Well, normal except my exceptionally trendy taste in fashion.

Mercy

Mercy looked over at Garden, again her eyebrows pitching up in surprise. A queen in 3 years? I do not envy her that pressure... She gave Garden a grateful smile in answer to her speech, she felt better knowing Garden wouldn’t take offense if she slipped up. She didn’t falter as the bartender took her gaze, although his answer made a smile break across her face, she turned away when he looked down looking at Garden to see her reaction. She watched him taste it grinning at his rather explosive reaction. She leant her head in her hand as she watched Darwin speak to Garden, a unicorn? Could explain why he’s so colourful! Come to candy mountain Charlie... Mercy blinked in surprise as her friends voice entered her head, she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing remembering the details behind the quote. She barely heard Dendus order a whiskey and say something about a dozen dollars...all these young people were making her feel old; she was quite surprised he was old enough to have alcohol.

She phased back into the conversation slowly only catching the last part of Dendus’s speech but it wasn’t directed at her so she wasn’t overly bothered, she went to grab her smoothie, turning back to the bar with a frown as her hand gripped nothing but air... she then turned to the others realizing Dendus had a smoothie in his hand. “Hey...I was going to drink that...” Mercy frowned at Dendus, ‘was’ being the key word she wasn’t sure she wanted it back now. She glanced at Darwin remembering he had told Dendus to have one earlier. “Never mind you keep it now, I can’t risk whiskey being on the straw” She told him offering a small apologetic smile, why she was apologetic was a mystery. Mercy noticed the rather sophisticated looking woman sat just along from them, she couldn’t say she recognized her but she was sure she was from Athalia She was trying to decipher how she managed to fit that hat into a suitcase...she had been in the right mind to ask where she had gotten such an interesting accessory from, but she saw a guy she didn’t recognize either approach her and abandoned the idea altogether.

She heard Garden ask to talk about something else, though she snapped her head around as she heard an angry growl behind her seeing the barman snap angrily at Dendus she looked on tensely as the bartender spoke, her eyes rested on the mechanical hand that was wrapped around his neck glowing blue. “Hey! Take it easy” She warned the pair of them, frowning at the bartender’s words. She felt they had outstayed their welcome here...“Since the pool’s open why not move this gathering out to the pool Especially since Garden and Darwin are already dressed for the occasion? I’ll come and join you in a bit if you like, once I’ve ordered another drink” Mercy suggested to the others, with a small shrug accompanied by a smile, praying Dendus wouldn’t react to the bartender aggressively there was no need for confrontation.

Crash

Crash found Kathy’s contagious happiness spread to himself, her wide smile gave him a momentarily flutter in his stomach which he didn’t feel necessary to deny. He hadn’t seen her this happy before, it was a side of her he felt he wanted to see more often, there was also that part of him that felt rather overwhelmed at the possibility he may have caused that happiness. That idea made his pulse quicken and caused a smile of his own to wipe wash over his expression. He chuckled heartily as she playfully shoved his shoulder after his jest, keeping his balance.
He noticed the change in her expression, but he wasn’t sure whether to query it now or not. He was pondering on the idea when she burst out laughing, he turned to face her rapidly, a goofy grin crossed his face as he watched her clutch at her side. “Yes...” He reinforced laughing lightly as he lifted his hands helplessly and grinned sheepishly. “Breathe Kathy breathe!” He told her after a few moments, still grinning like an eejit. He noted the red flush to her cheeks as she finally quelled her laughter. He raised a coy eyebrow at her next comment, he wasn’t quite sure how to take that...yet again. “Does that mean you think I’m cute or a furry pain in the ass?” He questioned her with a devious smile.

After walking into the palm tree, he watched her toss the coconut up and down for a moment catching on to the fact her smile and shrunk back. His spidey senses told him he didn’t want to answer that...or bring it up again, though remembering the aerial assault from her shoe did make questions spring to the front of his mind. “I don’t know, coconuts aren’t angry...” He murmured, only realizing he’d said it out loud when it reached his own ears, he inwardly cringed as he moved beside her barely avoiding the coconut as she discarded it he was a little unsure as to whether she had aimed at him or not for his comment...he watched it roll away from them, glad she had thought to throw it away.
Crash turned back to her as he felt warm fingers slide around his wrist, a look of surprise crossed his face but he didn’t resist her grip or pull away. In fact his cheeks flushed as he recalled she had done this before.

“I...no, no I didn’t” He frowned for a moment before chuckling at the memory, she’d dragged him through that crowd so fast even his thoughts had struggled to keep up. He looked down at her hand clutching his wrist as he allowed her to tug him along. She remembered that? I’m pretty sure I pushed some guy into a locker...but I don’t want her to let go, so best keep that one quiet...why am I blushing? Stop it! Crash retreated from his thoughts chewing on his lip. He was rather grateful when she answered is earlier question it instantly calmed his mind. He lifted an eyebrow at her sudden nervous look, offering her a reassuring smile. “Ah, that explains it” He murmured flushing with color once again, he had no reason not to believe her his normal intuition abandoning him once again. “Don’t apologize! It doesn't matter, as long as you were OK...I will bear that in mind next time” He grinned at her, lifting his free hand to the back of his neck. “So...where exactly are you taking me?” He asked her, there was a glimmer of mischief in his eyes as he said that and a cheeky smile on his lips.

After a moment he shifted his gaze to the resort just ahead of them, eyes darting all over the place so he could drink in every detail as quickly as possible. “Hmm, this place looks amazing!” He exclaimed, getting that familiar buzz about him as excitement built up inside of him. “Hey so earlier you didn’t look all too keen about swimming or surfing, are you not much of a water person?” He asked, carefully stepping over a stray rock, falling on his face now would be catastrophic...Crash 1 Fate 2...back in the runnings! He looked up ahead, eyes falling on a massive swimming pool just outside of the main resort building, he noticed the sofa’s scattered around just outside and inside the building, he thought he could just make out a gathering of people a little further in. “You’ve got to let me know these things you see...because you still owe me” He grinned at her, he spoke after a while bringing his eyes back to rest on her. “We didn’t get the chance to talk after...” He trailed off, remembering Zivon’s ruined dinner party and the attack on the academy made him feel guilty, though it wasn’t his fault the demons had descended on them. He shook his head instantly regretting going back there, it was a real mood killer.

Matt
"U-Uhm, a drink? I mean, are you sure you want to get a drink with me? I guess... we can, then." Zaelyn answered.
"I don't see why not. Come on then, follow me." Matt said with a smile, then turned and followed the path that lead to the middle of the island.

"Oh, I nearly forgot. I'm... Well... The Phoenix." Matt said awkwardly on the way. He never exactly liked telling people that, as he felt that it made him sound like he was better than other people, which wasn't at all true.

When they arrived, he noticed that there was already a small group forming near the counter of the bar. Of all of them, he only knew Darwin, the crazy rainbow pony unicorn. He waved at Darwin then sat at one of the tables.

Darwin - King of the Beach

He laughed a bit at Gardens reply. To be honest, he treated everyone as equals, since he was technically the Unicorn King which would be funny since he wa the oldest one in existence when he was only 18. "Oh I'm sorry," he said scared he had offended her. "Just out if habit, I've known royalty in my past..."

He grinned at her and gave her a quick bow. He knew what he had to do, he had to do what his father had taught him. Protect the princess if she's not in another castle. He heard Mercy say something about the pool and he grinned. "OOOOOOH I can't wait! Be warned, the pool might turn multicoloured." He giggled and took out a mirror. He was looking awesome as always. He threw the mirror away when he saw Mat. "Mat!" He shouted running over and pulling him into a hug. "We're going to the pool, wanna come? I'll give you some if my rainbow cookies if you come!"

Garden

She didn't"t know what to say after that, she decided to let others talk while she thought of things. She forgot why she was brought to the academy anyway, not for learning or exploring the new world but for her own protection. After a moment of thought she looked around, Lady Carmen was seemed to be talking to someone. 'I will just greet her later, maybe when she is done talking to him." She though as she drank more of the smoothie.“Since the pool’s open why not move this gathering out to the pool Especially since Garden and Darwin are already dressed for the occasion? I’ll come and join you in a bit if you like, once I’ve ordered another drink” Lady Mercy suggested, Garden immediately raised her hand up happily but Sir Darwin answered first.

"OOOOOOH I can't wait! Be warned, the pool might turn multicoloured." Sir Darwin said excitedly then pulled a mirror from who knows. He threw it away and ran up to a guy and hugged him. She gave out a small giggle, Sir Darwin was really a fun and interesting guy. She turned back to Lady Mercy. " Um...okay Lady Mercy." She would like it if everyone would go together so she just sat at place for the moment.

Liam

The water reflected the sunlight onto her skin which started to hurt more "I should get out" She dived under water just for a split second to cool herself off and walked over to the beach again. She looked back at the girl one more time and saw the water move around her. "What the hell" Liam walked over to the water again to give a closer look but the water didn't move anymore she shrugged and walked back to the parasol.

She grabbed a hoodie out of her bag and putted it carefully on. She also grabbed a pair of sunglasses out of her bag as her hood fell down onto her head. She putted on the sunglasses and left her hoodie wide open revealing her swimming top. It looked quite odd but at least it had some comfort. It would be better to walk in the grown bit of the island a bit more it would give some shade. She bluntly walked into the forest and just kept on walking forward. It didn't take long before the forest already ended leaving her on the beach again. But the luck was on Liam her side since she found the bar, she could use a drink or two.

She sat down by the bar next to a girl that spoke about being a princess and had a kingdom on her own and saw some more weird people around her. Something that should be covered by a white light stroke had catched her eye. A guy with purple hair was wearing multi colored swimming trunks. 'That should be banned from earth and probably the whole damn universe'.

It only got weirder from her on out as the guy was saying that he was actually a unicorn. She wanted to punch him now for being so ridiculous but before she could do that, the bar tender started to get angry at someone as he commanded the robot behind him to transformed into a giant laser. Liam became in love with the machine what she didn't notice yet until now. She stood on the foot stand of the chair and plunked her hands down on the bar as she moved her face right in front of the bar tender. "Thats to cool, Can I have it" Her eyes where sparkeling of happiness altough it couldn't be seen through her sunglasses.

– Ara (A)

Raising a slight eyebrow at the shouting from the man (Nikola) behind the bar, Ara wondered just what all the drama about whiskey was about. "I will see to it that the other teachers straighten up and teach the students how to properly see things right in front of their dense faces..." Furrowing his brows he thought, ‘Other teachers? Is he a teacher too then?’ He wasn’t entirely sure if he would’ve wanted to avoid the man’s classes or to attend them just to see how he handled rowdy students.

Having received permission, Ara sat down beside Carmen, being sure to lean his body a little away from the incredibly wide brim of her hat to keep from knocking it over. “Ara. Pleasure to meet you Carmen.” Momentarily turning his attention to the grumpy man (Nikola), he asked, “Could I get a glass of ginger ale?”

He frowned for a moment as he thought of a way to start off the conversation. Talk of the weather was a bit overdone, and he never actually saw that sort of topic opening really go anywhere. Ara decided to start with something safe, but unique. “So, you’re a student at Athalia Academy right? How long have you been attending?”

---

– Kathy

“Does that mean you think I’m cute or a furry pain in the ass?” Kathy felt the redness in her cheeks deepen by at least 2 shades at the question. “You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you? Has anyone ever told you that you’re evil at times?” Though she was trying to pretend to make a sulky expression, the smile on her face refused to go away and it was difficult to pull the look off with all the blood rushing up to her face. Then she quietly muttered under her breath, “… You’re cute when you’re not being evil.” She glanced at his face, wondering if he had heard and what he thought of that.

Then hearing Crash return her comment about her shoe, she bit her lower lip, regretting the fact she even brought that back up. But she had already decided not to regret what she had done back at the auditorium. It was an important matter for her, so just this once she wasn’t going to apologize or back down. ‘… I didn’t think it would bother him this much though.’ But not wanting to turn it into an unnecessary argument, she kept quiet and pretended not to hear him.

Glad that he was willing to let her hold his wrist, she felt a little relieved, realizing that she had been rather scared of getting rejected. ‘I feel like I might be acting too sensitive about all this.’ Kathy thought, mentally shaking her head at herself. But contrary to what she would have thought, she didn’t feel relieved at all when Crash believed her about the texts. In fact, she just felt guilty about it. “I’ll… Remember to check more often next time. Sorry.” She was purposely masking her apology as if she was just apologizing again despite Crash telling her not to. ‘I’m sorry for lying to you. I’m sorry I’m such a coward…’ Kathy was glad she was not the one holding his wrist and not the other way around. He would have surely felt her pulse quicken from the lie.

Grateful that Crash asked a question she could answer she told him, “The bar. Just remember that you’re a minor.” Managing to get a natural-enough smile back onto her face she continued, “And you’re being evil again aren’t you?”

After nodding in agreement of how great the resort looked, she stopped walking for a moment when Crash asked yet another slightly more difficult question. Kathy was about to give a vague, not-quite-a-lie-but-not-the-truth sort of answer, but the shapeshifter was faster and interjected with another set of words that added to the guilt she felt. “After… Yeah.” She looked away to the side as she felt Crash’s gaze return to her. She hesitated, but decided to tell him the truth. ‘I don’t really want to lie again. I’m not sure I could resist just running and avoiding people again if I feel even guiltier.’ Gazing at the pool she said in a melancholy voice, “I can’t swim so… I avoid any activities that require me going out into deep waters.”

After giving him a chance to respond, Kathy resumed their walk deeper into the resort. Arriving at the bar, she noticed there was already quite a crowd there. There were a number of faces that she had at least greeted after the demon-incident, although there was one that she didn’t remember seeing at all. “Ah.” Remembering that she was still holding onto Crash’s wrist, she released it as she felt another blush rise up to her cheeks. Giving a small wave, she greeted the crowd as she drew nearer. “Hey everyone.”

"Ara. Pleasure to meet you Carmen."

Well, Ara seemed nice. He certainly knew how to introduce himself. Carmen expected to have to begin the conversation, but Ara did the honors. “So, you’re a student at Athalia Academy right? How long have you been attending?”

"Yes, I attend the Academy," Carmen responded with a polite smile. "Myself and pretty much the entire student body have been attending for, oh...two days now?" She chuckled. "We sort of...destroyed the entire campus during that time, so they sent us out here. Not much to destroy here, huh?" She smiled again, giddy from the combination of her own happiness and her cocktail. "So, we're all only a little bit less new than you are! All you missed was some Hellspawn attacking us...you know, normal stuff." She chuckled again to herself in a more dignified fashion. He probably thinks I'm a fruit...a very sophisticated fruit though! Obviously, she thought to herself. "I'm assuming you're also a student?" she asked. "What's your story?"

Just then two people Carmen vaguely recognized came strolling into the bar, the female clearly embarrassed that people had seen her holding the male's wrist. Carmen smiled at them as they looked around and greeted the group, then turning back towards Ara.

– Leroy

Still painting, Leroy noticed a young lady (Lily) that had walked into his field of view and therefore, the scenery he was painting. He was actually waiting for the first layer of paint to dry a bit before adding more details on top of it, so if he really wanted to then he could easily add the girl to his work. From what he could tell, she seemed to be talking to herself and doing strange things with the water (he wrongly assumed she was using some sort of ability to consciously make water move like that).

Smiling, he took a few steps away from the canvas and cupped his hands over his mouth into a funnel, yelling to catch the girl’s (Lily) attention from where he was on the shore. “Hey! Since you’re already out there, can I add you to my painting?!!” Waving to make it easier for her to see who was calling out to her, he continued, “I promise not to make you look bad in it!!”

---

– Ara (A)

Ara raised a brow, confused as to whether or not Carmen was telling him a wild joke. She had to be, right? He did think it was a little strange to be sent a letter telling him the entire academy would be on an island instead of the regular campus due to construction, but Carmen’s summary of events was more than a little difficult to swallow. “Okay… So all I really got from that was that the campus was damaged, and I didn’t miss too many classes. What really happened over there?” He asked, knowing he was probably being a little too serious compared to the light-hearted tone Carmen was using.

Nodding to her returned question he answered, “Yeah, I’m also a student. I got attacked by a Doppelganger, almost died, and ended up here as a result of it.” Finishing his life story in just one sentence, he wondered if it was too much information for just a first-time meeting, but he didn’t wonder that for very long. Shrugging he thought, ‘Meh. She’s the one that asked.’ He reflexively turned around when he heard a general greeting from a girl with reddish-brown hair (Kathy), but quickly turned back to Carmen as he remembered he didn’t know anyone here yet. Well, he technically ‘knew’ Carmen now. Ara asked her, “Since I answered properly, does that mean I get to hear your story too?”

Carmen - Ara you serious?

Of course her explanation would be hard to stomach.for someone who hadn't been there. She couldn't really fault Ara for it...but she wouldn't lie about something like that, would she? Although her attire did present an over the top flair to things. Worth it.

"I didn't exaggerate. I may be enjoying this cocktail but those events aren't exactly easy to forget. There was a party that was crashed by a demon fighting a dragon on the first day, and then on the second day all Hell broke loose," said Carmen as she predictably smiled in satisfaction at the most overused pun in Athalia history. "The demons and Apophis destroyed the campus. Luckily the students all made it out fine, but the campus, not so much. But we're here now!" she said, raising her drink to an invisible toast and taking another sip.

It was then that Ara gave the most concise description of an entire life story ever given. She was going to ask him more questions, but Ara promptly asked “Since I answered properly, does that mean I get to hear your story too?”

All's fair in bars and conversation, she thought to herself. "Of course!" she began. "I'm a skylark, which is basically a siren that has a bird form. Not that interesting, at least compared to some of the people surrounding us. That girl over there [pointing to Garden] is a princess of plants and can speak to, command and create flora. Usually I have a trumpet with me. Without it, I look pretty normal, as you can see. That guy that just sat down [pointing to Matt] is a phoenix. We have angels and demons and all sorts of things. ...but I digress. I don't want to talk your ear off," she finished with a chuckle. "We just met, after all. So...what did the doppelganger do to you? And what exactly is a doppelganger? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

Crash

Crash gave her another devious grin as he watched her face color further, he didn’t feel guilty at all for putting her in this situation. He feigned innocence at her first comment, shrugging at her comment. “Doing what on purpose?” He asked, his lip twitching from the effort to keep a straight face...yes he expected a bashing for this. It was evident in the way he flinched away from her just a little bit. He was quite surprised at her response, because although she had muttered it under her breath he had in fact heard every word, it made his pulse quicken and the smile on his face to widen as he tried not to grin like an idiot. Way to happy about that, cool the jets

Crash watched Kathy cautiously as she apologized a second time about the texting incident, he gave her a shake of his head but didn’t comment on it. “The bar. Just remember that you’re a minor.” Crash blinked at her at her comment. “They have a bar here?” He queried raising his eyebrows at her, amusement entering his expression. “How would you know if I was a minor?” He asked, watching her curiously now a sly grin answered her second question. He was being rather forward in his ‘evil ways’ all of a sudden.

Crash had looked away momentarily as she stopped walking, her grip on his wrist caused him to jolt to a halt a few seconds later. He didn’t turn his gaze away from her even as she looked away, the joyous vibe left him as he felt a wave of concern pass over him. Had he said something wrong again? He really needed to start taking notes...He tilted his head to the side, just about to free her from the obligation of answering through sheer guilt when she cast her gaze over to the pool and told him in a rather melancholy voice. “I can’t swim so… I avoid any activities that require me going out into deep waters.” Crash allowed her words to sink in before releasing the breath he had been holding. “Hmm, that explains the look you gave me earlier...” He murmured. Crash was grasping at straws, he wasn’t sure whether she was ashamed of it, or whether it was more deep seated...he didn’t feel it the time or place to ask either. He lifted his hand to her face rather impulsively hooking his index finger and thumb under her chin he gently attempted to coax her into turning her face back towards him, giving her a reassuring smile. “Thanks for telling me” He murmured, if she had looked at him he held her gaze for a moment before he quickly dropped his hand from her face and cleared his throat stepping back and casting his gaze up at the bar. "Besides there are lots of other activities to do around here that don't involve deep water" He blurted out, his words escaping him at a rapid pace.

He was quite glad when they started off again, he had noticed a few eyes had already clocked them...he was hoping they hadn’t all seen that, he hadn’t wanted to embarrass Kathy...Idiot, what was that all about? He gazed around at the people at the bar, recognizing everyone there except for possibly the guy sat next to Carmen...he hadn’t seen him before. He looked down at his wrist as he felt Kathy’s grip loosen before she pulled her hand away from him, leaving a tingling warmth where her fingers had been moments before he instantly lifted his hand to the back of his neck, lifting his other in greeting to the people in the bar.

About the same time a hard blunt object connected with the side of Crash's head causing him to exclaim loudly, clutching his abused head and stepping sideways glaring down at the offensive item that had been hurled at him. "Do I have a 'hit me' sign on me today?" He muttered to himself, his head threatened to throb for a moment but after years of constant abuse it subsided. Crash frowned at the mirror at his feet, of all the things to be thrown...he huffed his hair out of his face, sighing. “About time you got here, abandonment is frowned upon you know?” Crash looked up as the familiar voice pierced his thoughts, he shook his head at Mercy who was grinning mischievously at him. “Like you need a chaperon” He cut back, considering sliding past a few people so he could reach the bar next to Mercy he cast a glance at Kathy seeing whether she was coming with him or if she had been stolen away by another.

Mercy

Mercy laughed at Darwin’s enthusiasm, blinking in surprise as he seemed to magically pull a mirror out of his person, looking in it before he threw it haphazardly away from him flying at another friend, ‘Matt’. Mercy gasped as the mirror flew through the air, wincing as it connected with the side of Crash’s head as he lifted his hand in greeting. She put a hand to her mouth stifling a giggle, of course, of all the people in this bar it would have hit Crash! She kind of felt sorry for him as he rubbed his abused head, frowning at the mirror at his feet. “About time you got here, abandonment is frowned upon you know?” She called to him, watching him lift his eyes and scout her out of the crowd grinning at her he replied with “Like you need a chaperon” She smiled at that comment turning back to Garden.

“Okay...” Mercy repeated a quizzical look crossing her expression; she realized Garden was waiting for her. Curiosity aside, the bartender won’t want me to bother him...besides I can’t leave Garden alone “Come on then!” Mercy grinned at Garden, hopping away from the bar she reached for the young woman’s hand grasping it with her own if Garden allowed her too, providing she had Mercy tugged the her along with her towards Matt and Darwin, noticing the girl with horns beside Matt Mercy offered her a friendly smile. “Hey Matt, how are you doing?” She asked politely, waiting for his response before she turned to his companion. “Hey. I’m Mercy I don’t think we’ve met before” Mercy introduced herself to the girl offering her a hand in greeting. “Are you coming with us to the pool?” Mercy asked, honey eyes switching from Matt and his companion.

Little Feather

Little Feather grinned at Dani as he laughed at Lion’s behavior. “Don’t encourage him!” She scowled playfully at him before setting off up the path watching Seven jump and flip ahead of them. Little Feather noticed there was a large group at the bar, as they approached the resort she wasn’t feeling as confident as she had been recently. Lion watched Seven spring away from them, flipping and leaping through the air with acrobatic grace, it made a small shiver of envy pass through him at the bakeneko.

Lion had always wished he could be human...Food?! Lion purred loudly, charging over to Seven and staring in the direction he pointed, before he took off towards the shack. “Lion! Not on your own...” Little Feather called after the big cat, but he was already gone once he had food on the mind he was an unstoppable force. Though she was querying how he was going to get food without being able to communicate...she cast another glance at the bar where everyone else seemed to be. “Should we get a drink first Seven, Dani?” She asked the bakeneko and purple haired boy, pointing towards the bar.

Dani
"Don't encourage him!" Little Feather scowled at Dani, shutting him up for about 2 seconds before he began laughing again.

They reached the resort area without much of interest besides Seven's acrobatic ability. As soon as they arrived, Lion charged off, probably to nom on his other friends's hands.
“Should we get a drink first Seven, Dani?” asked Little Feather. Dani took one look at the overly crowded bar and shook his head.
"No thanks, it seems like the bar tender has his hands full." Dani said, even though it was obviously an excuse to not go in an overly crowded room.

Garden

She gave out a big smile, lots of people were going here, the more the merrier she like to say. They she watched as a read head guy talk to Lady Mercy, she didn’t wanted to pry on their conversation and just continue to drink her smoothie. After she finished her drink Lady Mercy grinned at her, “Come one then!” She grasped her hand and sort of tugged her along to Sir Darwin and the man Sir Darwin was hugging. There was a girl there with horns, it made her curious to ask but stopped herself from asking. She “Hey. I’m Mercy I don’t think we’ve met before” Lady Mercy introduced herself to the companion of the other guy and asked also if she would to join them to the pool. Feeling quite rude for not introducing herself. “Hi, I am Garden nice to meet you too!” She introduced to herself to them while doing her usual curtsy.

Seven

Seven gave another laugh as Mr. Lion ran of the direction where he had smelled the food. “Lion! Not on your own...” Little feather tried to stop the hungry lion but he took of in full speed. “Never mess with a hungry lion!” He sang in a joking tune. “Or you might get eaten yourself….” He shivered from the memory of Jeven the circus lion at home…it was so dark…. He shook his head and looked back at the two. “Should we get a drink first Seven, Dani?” Little feather pointed at a bar filled with people, it seemed there was a lot of them…"No thanks, it seems like the bar tender has his hands full." Dani said, Seven gave a nod for agreement while he licked his hand paw. “He looks busy and we better catch up with Mr. Lion! Or he might cause some small problems!” His ears twitched as he was excited to see what was Mr. Lion doing after he ran off.