Aliquam: Academy of the Arts

Aria giggled to herself as she watched Lute and Trixie prance around now complete with heroic background music, thoroughly enjoying themselves with the various props lying around the room. She herself had picked up a rather silly looking hat that was now perched precariously on her head.

What about the rest of you? Have you guys seen plays before?

“There’s a festival in my hometown where people put on plays for prizes, so I’ve seen a few.” She answered, fondly recalling the last festival she’d been to, which had been unfortunately cut short by a stray firework setting the stage on fire during what seemed to be a drunken rendition of ‘the Tortoise and the Hare’. “Nothing as grand and professional as yours must be, I’m sure.”

Spotting a piece of sparkly purple fabric, Aria grinned and bent down to hand it to Trixie.

“Your loyal minion seemed to be in need of a cape, miss superhero.” She winked before straightening up, nearly hitting a hanging rack of cut out stars with her hat in the process.

“Do you think we’ll get to see the orchestra perform as well?” She inquired after Lute, looking to their guide. Unlike plays, she had never had the chance to go to an orchestral performance before. “Perhaps we should start heading out too,” she stated rather disappointedly after checking the clock on the wall. “It’s been a while since we’ve came in here.” It was shame they couldn’t stay in here all day playing with the props, but at the same time she was rather excited to see what kind of show the students had prepared for the Exhibition.

Academy of the Arts: Dalia’s Group

“Oh no,” Dalia muttered. Covering her face with her hand, she waited patiently as Simon fluttered about the women, shoving his camera in their faces and snapping as many pictures as he could manage. The woman in red, Estelle, Xan, even the one who came out of the window - it was madness!

Dylan was grinning at her, a forced expression full of awkwardness. “I see he hasn’t changed, then.” 


“I AM SIMON BRACE, PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENT EXTRAORDINAIRE! IT’S A PLEASURE TO TAKE YOUR PICTURE!!”

“Nope, definitely hasn’t changed at all.”

Dalia shook her head, peering through gaps in her fingers as Moira started...posing. Terrible, horrifying poses. “Oh my.”

“Moira!” Dylan gaped at the woman. “What in Aislin’s name are you doing???”

"So, judging by your expression this is a regular thing?"

“Yes,” she admitted, her tone the one of a long suffering woman. “He has great enthusiasm, but he can be quite overbearing. Simon!” She called, stepping forward to place herself between the camera and his targets. “Stop. This is proper day, so do try to act a little more professional.”



Academy of the Arts: Keeva’s Group

That music...where was it coming from? Keeva spun around, trying to locate it’s source. A smile spread across her face. “Ooooh, which one of you is doing that?”

“Does it fit? I’m not so great with themes,” Lute called out.

She dashed up to Lute, standing right in his face. “Tell me how you’re doing that! Not everyone here does magic with their music - though we are fairly common - but I just have to know what your skills are. We’ll talk later, okay?” With a wink she spun off, drawn to more questions about the school.

“Oh, we’ve done a lot of plays - though we tend of favor musicals.” She beamed at them. “It’s always quite a challenge to bring together the writing, the music, the acting, the staging, but it’s such fun! And of course you’ll see the orchestra. The agenda alternates between theater and musical performances.”

“Perhaps we should start heading out too,” Aria stated rather disappointedly after checking the clock on the wall. “It’s been a while since we’ve came in here.”

Keeva nodded. “Yes, we should move on if you want to see the sound room. We should be able to squeeze it in, though just barely.” Putting her fingers to her mouth, she let out a sharp whistle that echoed through the room.

“OKAY EVERYONE! PUT ALL YOUR PROPS BACK WHERE YOU FOUND THEM!”

Academy of the Arts: Dalia’s Group

Moira and Syed were climbing out the window?

Xan narrowed her eyes, hoping that everything was alright. She was just about to point them out to the others when a loud, enthusiastic voice echoed across the courtyard. The voice was followed by several clicks and she spun around to see a guy with a camera circling around Amy.

"What on earth?" The metallurgist's eyebrows creased in irritation. Was this guy some trouble maker? She cleared her throat and took a step forward only to be blinded by a bright flash. Her attempts to yank the enthusiastic photographer failed, he was speedy and before she knew it he hopped on and began bombarding both Dallia and their leader with bright lights. As soon as Moira had arrived, she was given the same treatment.

Xan would have yanked him by the collar of his shirt but Dallia and Dylan intervened.

So...he was a student and this was normal everyday activity? The girl stared at Moira and watched as she began to pose.

"It must be very lively here," she laughed a little at all the poses Moira was making. The woman seemed very enthusiastic. Well, at least the photographer would get a willing model now. Moira yanked both her and Estelle close and before Xan knew it she was pressed up against the berserker in a crushing grip. She let out a wheeze, "I-I'm fine with just watching the paintings." She mumbled but Moira's grip sure was something and soon she was giving both Syed and Amy a pleading expression.

---

Academy of the Arts: Keeva’s Group

Music began to play in the background and Lucien pushed up his helmet's visor. The summoner stared at both Trixie and Lute with a giant grin before letting out what was supposed to be an evil laugh. "Prepare yourself heroes, the dark Knight is waiting in the shadows!" The helmet he had picked out was white, but well, it was a game of pretend. He rubbed his hands together the same way a comical villain would but stopped as soon as Keeva told them they had to return the items soon.

He deflated only to brighten up a little at the mention of plays. "I've seen a few with my parents. Macbeth has to be my favorite though." Aria mentioned an accident involving fire and the stage and Lucien couldn't help himself. "It must have been one hot play, yeah?" He gave her a silly grin then watched as Keeva darted off to question Lute.

She came back and announced that it was time to put the stuff back.

Lucien dragged his feet across the floor as he made his way towards one of the shelves. However, as soon as he passed by the virtuoso and the prankster, he yanked Fuwafuwa out of the girl's hands and gave them both a devilish grin. "The dark knight has taken this rabbit as his hostage. Heroes, let's see if you can stop me!" He held the bunny high above Trixie's head then began moving towards one of the shelves. Lucien let out what was supposed to be a cheesy evil villain laugh, "Let me introduce you to the shelfinator 5000, soon it shall be this rabbit's resting place!" He stuffed the bunny into the shelf filled with other stuffed animals. "None of you heroes can save him now!"

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts - Theatrical Hall (Keeva's Group)

Trixie let out a gleeful shrill when Lute began playing background music. As she pranced around, she nudged him a couple of times. "You're doing that, right, right? Oh my omelets you are the coolest superhero sidekick EVER." Keeva said something about putting away the props soon though, to which Trixie also let out a deflated sigh. She then glanced around and made an obvious wink to Lute, before trying to stuff Fuwafuwa in the back of her shorts. Unfortunately, it stood out like a sore thumb.

"Prepare yourself heroes, the dark Knight is waiting in the shadows!" Trixie whirled around and gasped, staring at the not-really-armored figure before her, laughing maniacally. While she was still in shock, he snatched the bunny sticking out from her butt and waved it over her. Trixie jumped and jumped, trying to yank it back from the evil, taunting knight, but to no avail. Even with her flutter-powered wings, she was much too short. Fuwafuwa was shelved, with its sparkly cape Aria had given it still billowing from movement. Never to be seen again.

"Fuwafuwa, I shall avenge youuu! Take this, my Pixie Memento attack!" In a flash, Trixie ripped off her sparkly purple dress, wings, and mask, and flopped them over Lucien's face. "It decreases your skills to the point of KNOCK OUT! At the cost of the revelation of my true identity... Shhh, Lutie, Pretty Lady, don't tell anyone~!" She giggled before prancing to Keeva's side.

---

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts - Courtyard (Dalia's Group)

With her eyes shut tight, Amy's fists clenched and trembled wildly. At any given second she could have shattered the gem in her hand, but had enough restraint in herself to prevent that. She was close - so, so close - to brandishing her whip and knocking this hog out of his ecstasy... but considering how no bystanders did anything about the colossal noise he was making, it must have been a recurring thing. And since no one else (not even Estelle or Xandra) threatened to attack him, Amy wanted to avoid a scene entirely.

At this point Xandra was silently begging for help, but Amy had stepped away from everyone and refused to risk triggering Simon's trigger-finger again. She shook her head solemnly at the metallurgist, then allowed her eyes to drift elsewhere.

---

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts - Courtyard (Angel's Group)

Angel spent just a moment longer at the window to check out Moira's ass before she went completely out of view. "Simon, Simon, Simon. If you look up the antonym for 'smooth...'" He laughed. "Dollie will get rid of him shortly, don't worry. He does this all the time." He motioned with his hands to the rest of the students in the room; only a couple of them had watched Angel's crew with their noses upturned, but shortly after they too returned to discussing or viewing or doing whatever it was they were occupied with.

"So... shall we continue our exploration, then? There's not much else to look at here."

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts - Courtyard (Dalia's Group)

“Ooh, ooh that’s good!” Simon’s smile grew wider, and the camera’s flashing grew ever more rapid. “This time put one of your hands on your hips, and the other behind your head just like- yes, yes that’s perfect! You’re a natural, miss! Absolutely perfect and divine! A real star! Ooh, give it for the camera!!”

click, click

The hooking of Estelle and Xandra in Moira’s arms inspired even new creative inspiration for Simon, and with the puff of hot air through his nostrils, the boy once more began moving at frenetic, kinetic speeds, to take exciting shot after exciting shot of the trio- Estelle and Xandra both caught in an avalanche of shots that would reveal awkward, agonising shots amongst Moira’s enthusiastic grin. Surprisingly enough, however, there would be one shot later that would show all three of them in a happy shot, and would make a nice memento. But before then-

“Simon!” Dalia called, stepping forward to place herself between the camera and his targets. “Stop. This is proper day, so do try to act a little more professional.”

“Oh!” Simon suddenly stopped, as if finally catching himself. “Oh, you’re right, Miss Dalia! I… I’m sorry! I just got excited, is all! You’re all just so… so… beautiful! That I couldn’t help myself!!”

Another cheeky click sounded a final photograph taken of Dalia, before Simon suddenly stood up rigid and proper, and even bowed with one hand over his chest to welcome the Pride to Aliquam’s Academy of the Arts. “Please, forgive me! You’re all visitors come to see our humble Academy’s exhibitions, yes? I do hope you have a fun filled time! Please do stop by the photography exhibition if you have the chance, I have a lot of my work on display there! And, and, if any of you would like some more photographs taken, please do ask, I’m more then happy to do so! I can make you prints of any size, even a nice photobook, or-”

Simon’s eyes suddenly went wide, upon finally noticing the presence of a certain individual. In a flash, he was upon him, his excited face enveloping the other man’s own completely.

“Dylan! Why… why if it isn’t Miss Sander’s own brother come back to visit us! Dylan, you old dog, where have you been?! What have you been doing?! And where… where did you meet such beautiful women?! Tell me!!”

---

Through the sculpture room’s windows, Marcus and Angel watched the energetic exchange transpiring outside, along with a number of the room’s other patrons. Angel chuckled, shaking his head from side to side. "Simon, Simon, Simon. If you look up the antonym for 'smooth...'" He laughed. "Dollie will get rid of him shortly, don't worry. He does this all the time."

Marcus gave a slow nod. His body eased up into relaxation, once he was able to see the man meant no particular harm to Estelle or his friends. The others seemed to have it well in hand, and upon Angel’s offering to continue exploring the Academy’s grounds and other exhibitions, Marcus couldn’t help but accept, stepping out of the sculpture room to walk amongst the grand halls of the campus, littered with art along all of the magnificent halls’ lengths. From the beautiful captured shots of nature and people created by the photography club (including the Academy’s one and only Simon Brace) to more finely crafted oil paintings, there was so much to see and do.

“Simon Brace, he said his name was.” Marcus struck up a conversation upon inspecting the student’s photographs of the academy and town of Aliquam. His eye for lighting, angles and composition were breathtaking. “He really is a skilled photographer… if a bit…” One of the photographs on display, sneakily mixed in-between the others was actually of Miss Dalia herself, along with a few others of the female student body.

“Oh yeah, he’s a bit of a weird one alright,” Angel sighed. “If you thought those statues those girls commissioned me to make were something, you should have heard and seen the type of statue he wanted me to make.” The sculptor shuddered. “I can’t believe he actually asked me that.”

Marcus rose a curious brow, but decided it best not to ask. They continued to explore throughout the Academy’s many grand halls and bedazzling classrooms, stopping at one point to sample some of the fine food that was on offer for visitors to try. Even the food itself was arranged in a brilliant shape and form. As Angel said, even great cooking is a fine art in itself. Marcus had to agree.

Their wanderings took them down another corridor, leading close towards the Theatrical Rooms that Keeva and her group were currently in. Marcus’ ears twitched slightly, and her curiosity grew, upon hearing a peculiar sound echoing down the way. Upon turning the corner, and into the corridor that led to the Theatre and Concert Halls, Marcus could only stop and recoil in complete surprise.

Clip clopping down the hallway was a beautiful blonde young woman, dressed in a pristine white uniform, sat regally upon the most gorgeously toned horse with flowing mane, drawing closer in their direction. The young woman’s eyes shot from side to side as she inspected all of the exhibitions and students to each side, making sure everything was neat, tidy and perfect. As she passed, all of the other students around her bowed and curtseyed before her. She nodded and smiled back. She and her stallion held their heads high.

Marcus meanwhile… couldn’t believe his eyes. And Angel… Angel groaned loudly.

It was then the young woman finally saw them, and her face lit up with attention. With a sharp kick to her horse’s sides, she galloped down the hall and came to a stop right before them, turning to stop, and be seated high above them, looking down.

“Angél de Cervántes! There you are!!” The woman, who looked cross, furrowed her brow in irritation. Her voice carried throughout the corridor and its neighbouring rooms. For the members of the Pride inside the Prop Room with Keeva, it would be impossible not to hear. The woman’s horse huffed and grumbled, shaking its nose and causing its distinguished moustache to bristle and shake. “I have been looking for you everywhere, you ignorant disgrace to the Cervántes name!! You’re in big trouble again, mister!!”

A baffled Marcus simply blinked, and slowly turned his head to look at Angel.

“Do you… ahem… know her?” Marcus sweatdropped.

“Ah… yeah…” Angel’s eye twitched. “This is my sister… Rose.”

Rose’s stallion shook its head with another grumbling snort.

“And her horse, Sebastian, of course.”

Academy of the Arts: Keeva’s Group

Lute watched as Fuwafuwa was adorned with a spangly new cape courtesy of Aria, but his attention was snatched away when Keeva darted up to him. She asked him about his abilities and the virtuoso opened his mouth to answer, only for the pretty guide to wink and walk away. Well, she did say that music-related magicks are common here so maybe it wasn't that imperative that he explain this very instant...

The young man's cheeks burned pink from the compliment he received. "Glad you like it," He mumbled with a smile on his face as the girl bounced around more. A laugh rang out and Lute glanced over at Lucien who was now acting as a villain of sorts. "You'll never prevail, vile Wight Knight!" Why not get in the mood and make a pun based on his allegiance and headgear color? However...

“OKAY EVERYONE! PUT ALL YOUR PROPS BACK WHERE YOU FOUND THEM!”

"Aww," Lute sighed and the cheery music piped down into nothingness. Everybody seemed to deflate too, but when he remembered where they were going next he perked up again. Sound Room! The virtuoso paused when he saw Trixie stash away Fuwafuwa- "I think he's going to fit better in my jacket," Lute joked- only for the Wight Knight to kidnap the poor fluffy sidekick. Valiant Fuwafuwa was defeated using Shelfinator 5000 and Lute vaguely thought that Lucien could be a valuable asset if he wanted to traumatize a kid.

The entire purple ensemble was chucked at the Wight Knight's face and Trixie retreated once again to obscurity where non-heroes must exist. Lute grinned and nodded at the girl, unable to resist sounding a victory chant. "And the evil knight is down!" He also couldn't resist crowing before checking to see if any other props lay on the ground to clean them up. He picked up a fallen angel drawing and returned it to the same shelf where Aria was going to return an accessory. "Er... Pffft. Nice hat. Isn't it heavy though? ... Now I'm thirsty," Lute inspected the weird hat, placing a palm against the glass while it was still on the woman's head to check if was real (no cigar) before walking back to Keeva in shame.

"... I thought it was a real drink. What a letdown," Lute muttered to Aria before he stepped in behind their guide obediently.

Academy of the Arts - Courtyard
“Simon! Stop. This is proper day, so do try to act a little more professional.”

“Oh! Oh, you’re right, Miss Dalia! I… I’m sorry! I just got excited, is all! You’re all just so… so… beautiful! That I couldn’t help myself!!”

Moira sighed. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. There was always someone to ruin the moment, huh. She finally released Xan and Estelle and brushed herself off a little. Wait. Wasn't she talking to that sculpture guy a minute ago? She had kind of gotten carried away what with the whole jumping out the window thing.

She turned back to the window, although there was no longer any sign of either him or Marcus. Oh. Well, she supposed she could maybe find him later.

"Yeah, we'll be sure to check the photography section later," Syed replied to something she wasn't really paying attention to. And it looked like Simon wasn't either, since he immediately made a beeline towards Dylan. Either way he looked pretty relieved. Most of the group didn't really seem best pleased by the sudden invasion of privacy. And who could blame them? He shrugged.

"We'll look at the photos he's taken later, okay?" he promised the others. Which was probably a bit empty sounding, considering how as a male he barely got any attention from the camera whatsoever. "Make sure they're fine. I'm sure they are, but it's best to check, yeah?"

At this point, Moira was starting to look a little bored. Damn, this was not the sort of place for her. She liked the people here, but the subject they were studying... if it were a year or so ago, she probably would have outright declared how she didn't give a shit and just went to the pub. But she was doing her best, for Dylan's sake. How Estelle could be so enthusiastic about everything, she didn't know. "So... what we lookin' at next?"

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts: Theatrical Hall

“Pffft.”

Aria bit back a laugh, plucking the various pieces of costume from Lucien’s face before he had the chance to trip over any boxes. “Looks like your nefarious deeds fell through this time, Dark Wight Knight,” She combined Lucien and Lute’s names, pausing when she realized it made a nice oxymoron. “Looks like you’ll just have to try harder next time.”
She felt a small push to her hat as she untied it from her head, turning back to see Lute looking at the hat in disappointment. She studied the very realistic looking glass of juice, running a finger over the lemon slice and marveling at the details before putting it back on the shelf. It even had bubbles inside the drink! Whoever made this must have been really meticulous.

“I'm rather curious as to what play this hat was used in, but I'm sure whoever wore this hat must have been in the limelight,” she grinned, “even if it doesn’t serve as a refreshing drink.” She nudged the pouty looking Lute with a wink as they grouped up behind Keeva, waiting to go to the sound booth. Perhaps it would be like the sound booth they saw in Los Paraisos- or would it be completely different?

The room was back to its original pristine condition, with costumes and items put where they should be, with only poor Fuwafuwa having been relocated onto the evil shelfinator 5000 showing any signs of the group having been there.

"Shall we go then?" She bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly, not wanting to miss the performances.

Academy of the Arts: Dalia’s Group

A hundred blinding flashes later, Moira finally let go.

Xan rubbed at her eyes then straightened up as Dallia and Simon began to converse. He asked them to drop by the photography exhibit later then rushed towards Dylan. Was he always this chipper? It seemed as if he were on a sugar-high. The girl chuckled at the bouncy photographer then nodded, "we'll try to look at as many of the exhibits as we can. Everything looks great and it must have taken a lot of time and effort." She nodded her head then turned to look at both Moira and Syed.

"How were the sculptures?" She was guessing they were just as amazing as the paintings. Xan glanced at the window Moira and Syed had climbed out off, but neither Angel nor Marcus were there. Her eyes flitted to another painting as she listened to Dallia and Simon talk, things were definitely getting more lively now.

Moira asked what they'd be looking at next and Xan gave the berserker a smile. "Who knows, maybe they have an exhibit dedicated to weapons." A few times in her life, she had seen people hang fancy weapons above their fireplace. Some had been pretty to look at, so perhaps that was a form of art too. The metallurgist who had saved her back in the day was a tinkerer and was quite fond of metalwork, so whenever Xan went over she'd see all kinds of made-up or modified weapons hanging on the walls or propped up against the doors.

In a sense, it had always been a kind of art too.

---

Trixie tossed her costume onto his face and the next thing he knew, he was flailing around in darkness.

"I am not defeated yet," he let out a wail. "Noooo, how can this be!" Lucien began to strike ridiculous dying poses only to have the dress and cape yanked away from his face. "This isn't the last you've seen of me heroes!" He narrowed his eyes at both Lute and Trixie only to have Aria yank his helmet off. Before he knew it, he was costume free. He shot her what was supposed to be a dark glare, but failed rather horribly. "I'll have my revenge heroes and when I do it shall be sweet." He gave them all a little bow then made his way towards the illusionist and Keeva.

The sound room was up next, yeah? He wondered what kind of neat things they'd see there. Heh, maybe they'd get to try out the instruments too. Now that'd be pretty cool.

Aria muttered something about the hat and a play and it took awhile for the pun to sink in, but when it did, Lucien nearly choked. The man doubled over laughing then gave his friends a silly grin and two thumbs up. "That was a good one," he scrunched up his nose and suppressed another laugh. "Kind of a sour joke though."

Academy of the Arts: Dalia’s Group

“Dylan! Why… why if it isn’t Miss Sander’s own brother come back to visit us! Dylan, you old dog, where have you been?! What have you been doing?! And where… where did you meet such beautiful women?! Tell me!!”

Dylan nearly yelped as Simon dashed up to him. “Hehe, Simon, good to see you too. You’re just as...enthusiastic as always.” He laughed awkward, glancing over at Dalia, begging for help. His sister just shook her head, a wicked smile on her face. She turned away, motioning for Dylan to distract the photographer. “Come on, Simon,” he said, turning to walk the man away from the group. “Let me tell you what I’ve been up to. Listen, if you want to know where are the beautiful women are, perhaps you should think of becoming a Guilder...”



Dalia turned back to the Pride, her cheeks blushing a ruddy red. “Sorry about that, he’s very talented but rather...overbearing.” A couple of them mentioned that they should check out the photos later. “That’s not a terrible idea, to be honest. Oh, not that he takes inappropriate pictures! Well, he does but not like...oh Aislin!” Her blush had spread to her whole face.

"So... what we lookin' at next?"

Dalia floundered for a moment, trying to regain her composure, when someone else stepped in and answered for her.

“Oh, only the most interesting man in Aliqaum.”

“Tobias!” Dalia exclaimed, suddenly awkward. “Of course you’d be here.”



“Where else would I be?” he asked with a smile, surveying the Pride with a gleam in his eye. His gaze drifted through the group, lingering on each and every member of the group. Where Simon’s interest had been flashy and in-your-face, Tobias’s was slow and deliberate. “And where did you find such a collection of fascinating people?’ Reaching forward, he took Estelle by the hand, placing a soft kiss on the back of it. “Such...enchanting...people?”

“Um,” Dalia spun around, glancing around for her brother, praying that he and Simon had gotten far enough away to miss this scene. Oh, where did he get to? “Tobias, these are some friends of...my brother’s.”

Tobias straightened suddenly. “Dylan’s back?”

“Yes,” she said, turning to find that Dylan had circled back to approach from the other side, tapping Tobias on the shoulder. “Oh no...”

Tobias turned around, only to have Dylan smack him hard across the face.



Academy of the Arts: Keeva’s Group

Though she was amused by their antics - they where all so imaginative - Keeva watched them with a keen eye, making sure that they were putting the props back in place where they belonged. Nodding at their progress, she glanced up at the clock. Yes, there would be enough time to see the sound room as long as they didn’t run into any distractions.

“Angél de Cervántes! There you are!!”

“Oh no.” Keeva hurried to the doorway, opening ever so slightly, and found herself staring straight into a horse’s rear end. “Not this again!” She pulled the door open, staring at the large obstacle in front of them and girl on top of it.

“Excuse me,” she said loudly, “but would you mind moving aside. I’m trying to give a tour here.”

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts - Courtyard (Dalia's Group)

Amy let out a low, low whistle at the scene. While she's seen Dylan vulnerable and having breakdowns before, she's never once seen him step out of his shell and do... that, something rather volatile. Admittedly she was disturbed with Tobias' entrance and the way he approached Estelle, despite the patron being much calmer than Simon; both of them very well deserved a slap in the face. Amy just didn't expect one to come from Dylan. The connections between the young men must be something, she figured, but as usual she was not going to step in, much less say anything about it.

However Amy was very close to applauding the matter artist. If it were under any other circumstances, the cleric would have offered to teach him how to slap better, but this, this would do for now.

---

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts - Corridor

After introductions with his lovely sister were made, Angel merely placed his hands back behind his head again. "Lookin' as grand as ever, sis. Only you could get away with riding a horse inside the halls." He wasn't even going to contemplate asking why on Ddaear he was in trouble again. In fact, he couldn't even recall having done anything remotely questionable. Had he? It took so much effort thinking about anything recently he might have - ah. Wait, no, he was already bickered at for that. Well, there was... oh. That must have been it.

Whatever. The aristocrat yawned, waiting for his sister to chew him out again. Thankfully for him, company arrived in time.

"Excuse me," Keeva called from the backside of Sebastian, "but would you mind moving aside. I'm trying to give a tour here."

"Right?" Angel called back sarcastically. He leaned to the side to see Keeva behind Sebastian. "My, that dirty Cervántes family is just so damn rude. I was trying to give a tour too, Keeva darling!" He looked to Marcus for a moment, before shrugging at looking back to the musician. "A pretty sloppy one, though. I seem to have lost over half of my guys already."



Trixie stared at the horse's behind in awe. She walked to the stallion, reached out with her gloved hand - "Can I touch him?" - and touched the butt anyway.

Academy of the Arts - Courtyard
Moira rolled her eyes as Tobias introduced himself. The only way that introduction could be less modest was if he broke out into an extravagant song and dance routine about how great of a guy he was. But hey, this was a rich place. She was suprised they hadn't encountered more people like this yet. "Yeah, hi," she said in her usual fairly stoic tone when the group was introduced. Hmm, she wondered what this guy's deal was. Painting? Sculpture? Um... something else creative which isn't painting or sculpture?

Or, judging by how he was talking to Estelle... seduction?! Was that a creative art?

Syed stiffened as he took Estelle's hand, the smile he wore when listening to Dalia's somewhat bumbling explanation faltering a little. Well, the hand kissing wasn't creepy at all. Sure. Still, it was no less creepy than what Simon was doing before. What was it with the people here? He locked his eyes on Estelle, ready to intervene if she showed any sign of wanting any help. "Nice to meet you." Well, he supposed some people are just like that. No concept of personal space. He himself did sometimes get a bit too close sometimes, he had to remind himself. Well, just as long-

Did Dylan just slap him?!. He wasn't the kind of guy to react like that. This Tobius guy must have done something to really upset him one way or the other, right? "Dylan?!" he exclaimed, jumping forward and putting a firm hand on his shoulder. He knew he probably couldn't hold him back if he did decide to lunge for him again, but he hoped the gesture would help.

Moira however practically had stars in her eyes. Woooooah today suddenly got a lot more interesting. "Cor!" Damn, that was no Amy-grade slap, but she didn't realise Dylan had it in him. "What the fuck did he do to deserve that?!"

Academy of the Arts: Keeva’s Group

Ah, so was this lady the source of that voice from earlier? Lute could vaguely recall someone calling a certain Angél de Cervántes earlier… But most importantly, horses are allowed within the halls? Either the Academy prefects believed that horses, for the most part, are sweet creatures that will never bite you and drag you around by the hair- the virtuoso shuddered at the memory- or this young woman was influential enough to be exempted from the rules. She did look fancy…

Lute spied Marcus and the Angel dude in front beyond the equestrian lady and he redirected his gaze to the large rump which was blocking their way out the room. What if it farted? The thought propelled Lute to step away from his position directly behind the stallion to seek refuge by the sidelines. Trixie though, was braver and perhaps less exposed to the horrors a spirited horse can inflict upon the human body; she placed her hand on the creature’s butt.

“Oh no!” Lute squeaked out. “It might bite-,” He backtracked since that was nigh impossible in their current position and said instead, “I mean, kick you! Or something more horrible!” With that said, he chose to plead with the rider since he had a good reason to. “Excuse me, miss? If you would please move? Thank you,” Lute followed Keeva’s example and hesitantly called out to Rose.

Academy of the Arts: Dalia’s Group

“Tobias!” Dalia exclaimed, suddenly awkward. “Of course you’d be here.”

“Where else would I be? And where did you find such a collection of fascinating people?’”

Estelle could only blink in disbelief and confusion as a handsome indigo haired man appeared from out of nowhere, and took her hand to his lips in order to plant a soft, delicate kiss. His eyes glanced up from her hand, to look into hers, as he placed delicate emphasis upon his next words.

“Such...enchanting...people?”

Estelle continued to blink, as she took back her hand, not entirely sure how to process this new arrival whom Dalia had named as Tobias. She certainly didn’t know how to process what happened next, as Dylan appeared from out of nowhere again with Simon and, with a powerful lunge, belted Tobias square in the jaw, sending the man reeling to and collapsing towards the floor. She didn’t know how to process it, but her body reacted immediately on its own. Darting forwards, gripping Dylan’s body, and pulling him back, to prevent him in the possibility of continuing his attack.

“Dylan!” Estelle yelled out, her face angry and flush with concern. Not so much for the stranger, although she couldn’t understand why a man as gracious and polite as he would deserve such an attack, but moreso for her friend Dylan, whose actions to her were grossly out of character. “What’s wrong with you?!”

---

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts – Corridor

“Excuse me?” Rose sharply turned her head, to glare at Keeva as she and her tour group appeared standing in the doorway to the prop room. She then turned again, to her brother’s sarcastic, nonchalant addition to Keeva’s rude demand, and the way in which in which he folded his arms behind his head and lazily rolled his eyes. “Excuse me?” Her brow furrowed, and she leapt off of her horse, Sebastian.

“Who do you think you are, and who do you think I am?” Rose’s voice was raised as her feet clacked atop the floor. Everyone else whom were within the corridor lowered their heads, to look to the ground, and carried on their conversations at a duller, quietened tone, if not outright silent. “This is not how you address the President of the Academy’s Student Council, Keeva! Remember your place, and mind your tone! I am on Student Council business here, you could wait but a minute!” She suddenly turned, to stare at her brother, her eyes narrowing. “You!” She briskly crossed the pace between her and Angel and Marcus, stopping in front of him, before her hand then deftly swung out and swatted her brother across the cheek.

With a low gurgling moan and hand raised to his reddening cheek, Rose continued her assault, to grab, pinch, and twist him back up by the ear.

“Again, Angél! Gambling on school premises yet again! How many times must you have to be told?! How many times before you learn! Do you take delight in dishonouring our family’s name, or is it simply pure stupidity?!” Rose bared her teeth as she dragged the man up to look her in her dazzling blue eyes. To accentuate Rose’s anger, her noble steed Sebastian grumbled and snorted with a huff again, shaking his head from side to side.

He then felt a slap on his butt.

Sebastian fell still for but a fraction of a second, before suddenly turning on the spot. Still blocking the entranceway to the prop room, Sebastian now faced Keeva and the Pride, his head looming over them, with his teeth bared between his fine, exquisite moustache. His eyes almost seemed to shine as he looked down, Lute already beginning to visibly panic and fall short of almost messing himself.

Trixie still looked up in wonder, oblivious of any possible danger.

And then Sebastian bent his head down low and slobbered his tongue all over the prankster’s face. He didn’t know why, but he liked her.

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts: Theatrical Hall

“Not this again!”

Again? Were horse derrieres a common obstacle to leaving a room in this school?
Aria stared, half in amusement and half in confusion at the rather strange and sudden appearance of the horse, or the rear end of one anyways, in the doorway. Their guide was used to this however, and shouted for the rather fancy looking girl on top of the beast to move so that their little group might leave the room.

Another voice outside answered in turn, and Aria peeked out on tiptoes to catch a glimpse of the other guide who had taken part of the group to see the statues and Marcus standing there. Where had the rest of the group gone? Hopefully they hadn’t ended up destroying any pieces of art already- then again it was the Pride, so anything was possible.

Lute looked rather disturbed by this sudden turn of events and backed away while Trixie had bravely ventured forward to give the horse’s rump a nice pat, which luckily the horse didn’t seem to mind too much. A kick from it would certainly have hurt.

She started when the posh looking girl turned in her saddle, shooting a glare to their guide before looking back and hopping off the horse to address the other man.

“Ouch,” The illusionist winced as the Student Council President proceeded to slap around her brother, sounds of slaps various other painful noises floating back into the prop room.

The horse had turned back as well to investigate the slap on its rear, staring down the tiny prankster before proceeding to give her a thorough slobbering. Aria giggled, edging closer to the mustachioed horse and giving Trixie a pat on the head before offering a palm to the horse.

“I think he likes you,” She winked down at the smaller girl.

Academy of the Arts: Dalia’s Group

Xan arched an eyebrow at the man who had introduced himself as Tobias. His entire routine screamed confidence and she wondered if he was another student, looking for more people to drag to his exhibit. If that was the case, she wondered what kind of art he would show them. However, after a few more moments, it became clear that he wasn't looking for an audience.

He kissed Estelle on the hand then rose to his feet to talk to Dallia. Oh, was he another one of Dylan's friends?

She was proved wrong when the matter artist arrived and without warning, slapped the man across the face. Tobias lurched back as Syed and Estelle tried to pull Dylan back. What on earth was happening? She hadn't known him for long, but Dylan always seemed to be the level-headed type, so it was odd, seeing him lash out with no warning. Whatever happened between those two must have been something big.

The girl stared at the man who had been knocked down, then at Dylan before her eyes finally landed on Dallia. Whatever this was, it looked personal and she found herself at a loss on how to react to it all.

---

There were loud voices from the hall and suddenly their guide rushed towards the door.

Lucien turned to look at both Aria and Lute then shrugged, but before long there was yelling and curiosity made him follow after Keeva. The summoner poked his head out the door only to see a horse in the school hallway? Man, the people at this school knew how to have fun! Back at his school anyone who tried a stunt like this would have been kicked out. Memories of a grumpy librarian resurfaced and he snickered when he remembered the prank he had pulled on her.

He had hidden a dead rat in her handbag and oh how she had shrieked. It had been very amusing.

The others had already rushed past him. Trixie, making her way towards the horse with Lute protesting.

He noticed Marcus and gave the wind mage a wave. "That's a speedy looking steed." The summoner waved at the thing then laughed when it began slobbering all over Trixie's face. It turned out that Angel guy knew the fancy lady on the horse and Lucien couldn't help but wince as she proceeded to beat him up.

"Uh, I'm not from here but leaving bloody stains in the hallway is probably against school rules, right?" He popped up beside Angel, arms raised in case her violence turned towards him. "Besides," he gave her a dopey looking grin, "a lovely lady like you would look a lot better with a smile on her face." He gave Angel a sympathetic glance before grinning brightly at the woman, and he was even stupid enough to follow it up with a thumbs up.

Academy of the Arts: Dalia’s Group

Dylan didn’t know what came over him - one moment he had been speaking to Simon, the next he was charging across the Courtyard. The sight of it, of Tobias bent over Estelle’s hand, knowing the man’s silver tongue and the power of his words, infuriated him like nothing he ever felt. So he reacted, knocking his ex-lover to the ground with a force he didn’t even know he had.

It felt good, but it wasn’t enough. “Don’t you dare,” he snarled as he stepped forward, only to be stopped by Syed and Estelle. The two of them working together were able to hold him back, though he didn’t really struggle that hard, especially when Dalia dashed forward and placed herself between him and Tobias.

“Dylan!” Estelle yelled out.“What’s wrong with you?!”

“No, let him go,” Tobias said, hand still on his cheek, blossoming bright red from the impact. “I might have deserved that.”

Dylan stopped resisting, eyeing the man with a suspicious eye. “You deserve that and more.” With one last wrench he pulled himself out of Estelle’s hold, though he made no aggressive moves.

Tobias got to his feet with a hand from Dalia, dusting off his fine suit. “Well, that’s all in the past, isn’t it, darling?” Dylan visibly flinched at the pet name. “Now, why don’t you introduce me to your new friends?” Tobias turned back to the Pride, looking completely unaffected by what just happened. “Let me get started.” He gave a deep bow. “My name is Tobias Smith, my family has been great Patrons of the Academy for generations.”

Dylan glanced at Dalia, a question in his eyes. His sister just shrugged, looking as helpless as he felt. “Tobias,” he ground out through clenched teeth, “this are my friends. They are Guilders, and I’m sure they really don’t care.”

“Oh, they don’t?” He smiled at them, a dazzling smile. “Why don’t we let them decide? Besides, I wanted to invite them to the Ball tonight. It’s going to be a great time - you know how my parties are - and I must admit that I am curious. How did they get one of the most talented painters of this generation in their group?”



Dylan flushed. “Tobias, I’m not...”


“Oh don’t be silly!” he laughed good-naturedly. “You are fantastic, my dear. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. So, who would be interested in my little party? There will be food, wine, music, art and dancing! Please, I would love to see you all there tonight. I'll even make you all have proper attire! There's a lovely little store that will be able to whip up some fabulous dresses in no time! What do you say?”



Academy of the Arts: Keeva’s Group

“This is not how you address the President of the Academy’s Student Council, Keeva! Remember your place, and mind your tone! I am on Student Council business here, you could wait but a minute!”

“Oh just shut it!” Keeva snapped, rolling her eyes at Rose as she charged towards her brother. “Every damn day,” she muttered under her breath. Suddenly, Sebastian spun around, leaning down to lick Trixie in the face. “But at least the horse is nice.” She ruffled the horses mane as she tried to figure out what to do next.

This was annoying - with the girl here there was a chance they wouldn’t have time to continue the tour before the Exhibitions began. Following Lucien, she edged her way past Sebastian towards Rose and Angel. The man approached Rose - ooh, not a great move - and then made it even worse."Besides," he gave her a dopey looking grin, "a lovely lady like you would look a lot better with a smile on her face."

There was no way this was going to end well. Turning to Angel, she quirked an eyebrow at him. “If I end up losing one of my to your sister’s wrath, I’m not taking the blame. You can explain that one to Miss Dalia.”

Academy of the Arts: Keeva’s Group

The prime thing that was on Lute’s mind as he watched that giant pink tongue sandpaper Trixie’s face was that he wasn’t going to stand here and let the horse target him next, no siree. “Excuse me,” He edged past Aria and Trixie, but the narrow window of space that both Lucien and Keeva had used to leave had been blocked by the stallion’s figure, which left the virtuoso no choice but to crawl out from under Sebastian. Yes, that was how desperate he was.

Once he saw that the his efforts to brave going out from under the horse was to be rewarded by a scene of the young lady slapping Angel and Lucien flirting with said lady without realizing that she may or may not tear the grin from his face next, Lute suddenly wished that he stayed inside the prop room with the plushies. “Everyone please calm down! Hey Marcus! Lucien, that’s a great line but we really don’t have time to be making jokes, right!? Miss Keeva, it’s a fine day to go touring, isn’t it? Let’s go to our next destination!” The rooms had placards above each doorway which told of which area it was, and the sound room was just a hop and a skip away. The virtuoso hurriedly raised his hands up in what he hoped seemed like a placating manner as he approached the group, but the sound of hooves clacking against the smooth floor made him stop in place.

Either Sebastian didn’t forgive the virtuoso for creeping under him or he wanted to check up on the one-sided argument between Angel and Rose, because the stallion turned away from Trixie and trotted towards the group, the distance between him and the frozen virtuoso rapidly diminishing. At first the stallion only spared Lute a passing glance, but then did a double take when he caught a glimpse of the white-haired man’s panic; the creature’s magnificent moustache seemed to quiver in a way reminiscent of storybook villain facial hair as he brought his head closer to Lute’s paling visage. Sebastian’s eyes shone with mischief as their faces were but a few inches apart and he kept eye contact with the poor man for about ten seconds, after which the steed opened his jaw and then gnashed his teeth together in an audible CHOMP.

Lute let out a wordless shriek and hightailed it out of there. As Sebastian snorted and neighed in what must be a horse’s version of a laugh, the virtuoso escaped over to the sound room he had so ardently pinpointed earlier. The doors seemed to be partially open since the man did not even pause to run inside the room, where his arrival was marked by the following:
An “Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!” closely followed by a “Watch out-!!!” and then a familiar screech before a horrible pandemonium caused by all sorts of objects crashing down erupted throughout the entire hallway. Even the students far from the sound room winced and a concerned few, including Sebastian who trotted over at his own regal pace, rushed over to check for broken objects. Apparently Lute collided into a pair of scholars who were transporting a large box of musical instruments.

Academy of the Arts - Courtyard
To the average bystander, Dylan's actions probably looked unreasonable. Hell, to Syed they looked harsh and in the case of the smack, a bit extreme. The difference was that he knew Dylan. He knew what he was like, roughly how he ticked. He was their friend. As such, he trusted that Dylan must have a good reason for being so hostile and aggressive against this man. Even if he wished he wouldn't be.

It also left him feeling like they were being used as manipulation material by Tobias. His stubbornly friendly manner even in the face of Dylan's hostility and discomfort just wasn't sitting right, somehow. He glanced over to Dylan, trying to judge how to act next. "Syed," he said briefly to introduce himself, nodding his head towards Tobias. "And thanks for inviting us, but-"

"BOOZE?!" Moira shreiked. She span around to the others. Sure, she didn't care about his family or how rich they were or whatever. But food! Wine! Other stuff! Wine! Fancy outfits! Wine! "What like, the good stuff?! My outfit won't be too fancy, right? I don't like too fancy. Ey I'm in! We're overdue some nice booze, don't you think, Aims? We gotta go, right? Estelle? Sandra?"

Syed cringed. He still wasn't best keen on formal events anyway, not to mention the last one involved waking up in a locked cell in a basement. "Moira-"

"Dylan, you have such cool friends," she grinned, patting Dylan hard on his back. "You and your sis will be going too, right? If there's a party, I'll be there! Can the others come too? There's a fuck-tonne of us." She then grabbed Xan by her arm and dragged her along as she approached Tobias instead, coming to a stop beside him. "So, we gonna find the others or sort out the outfits or what?"

Academy of the Arts: Keeva’s Group

Rose's glare froze him solid and the intensity of her gaze knocked the smile right off Lucien's face.

He found himself at a loss for words. The summoner's mind began working in overdrive, perhaps approaching her hadn't been one of his smarter ideas. He thought about diving behind Marcus, the wind mage always seemed to have the right words to say. Plus, like Kapi, he was pretty popular with the ladies.

Sebastian began trotting towards the virtuoso, and Lute in an attempt to escape tripped.

There was the sound of shocked gasps and falling items and Lucien winced in sympathy. It was kind of funny, but he didn't laugh and instead decided to use the predicament as some sort of escape route. "Uh...excuse me lovely lady, but I think Lute needs some help!" He popped up behind Marcus and began pushing the wind mage in Rose's direction. "He'll keep you company for now, um, it was a pleasure meeting you!" Lucien ran past Sebastian and into the sound room only to see instruments scattered all around.

"He broke my flute!" One of the students shrieked. She picked up her cracked instrument and practically began to wave it in Lute's face. "This was hand made! Do you know how much a handmade instrument can cost?" The girl stooped down to grab Lute by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. "Listen here Mr. Klutz! We have a performance soon and some of our instruments are broken--" The girl paused when one of her fellow students placed a hand on her shoulder.

He shook his head and while he looked irritated, he didn't want to murder anyone inside the sound room. "Ms. President is outside." He stated firmly before walking off to pick up a tambourine that had rolled away. He turned to look at both Lute and Lucien then cleared his throat. "We could use some help."

Lucien nodded awkwardly before making his way towards a violin. "Lute, sounds like a good idea, yeah?" He stuck close to the virtuoso then let out a sigh when the girl had spun around. "Sheesh, that was a close one. It looked like she was ready to bite your head off." He snickered a little before deciding to look over his shoulder. The girl gave them an absolutely vicious glare, and it wiped the smile off his face. "Hey guys, we'll be, uh, picking up instruments here." He called out before scrambling around the room for fallen flutes and triangles.

---

Academy of the Arts: Dalia’s Group

He was inviting them to a party? Something seemed a bit off.

Tobias had been punched in the face, but now he was inviting them? Who knew, maybe he was just the generous type, but judging by how upset Dylan was, that didn't seem to be the case. Xan arched an eyebrow at the man, giving him a puzzled expression.

Syed introduced himself and seemed as if he would refuse in their stead. She was just about to agree with him but before she knew it Moira was accepting on everyone's behalf. In fact, the berserker looked very excited.

"Well we'd have to ask the others first." Her suggestion was drowned out by Moira's excited yells and while a part of her didn't want to go, she'd end up going if it made the others happy. "If the others want to--whoa." Before the metallurgist could finish her sentence Moira yanked her close and began marching towards Tobias. Moira began suggesting all sorts of things and Xan nodded her head. "Finding the others sounds like a good idea," if they were going anywhere then they needed to tell the others and to be honest, Xan also wanted an excuse to go somewhere else.

Dylan had just hit the man in the face, and now said person was inviting them to a party. To say the least, it was awkward.