"I'm sure you could handle it." At the mention of the time, Jade looks down at her watch and laughs a bit nervously. "You just missed it actually. Few streets down.. Got pushed into an alley... Not pretty."

"Oh." Kent says, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, looks like you're alright now and I would rather not see how the other guy is right now" the snowfall lightens up with a very slow fall.

"Besides, it looks like you have something on your mind, and don't know how to let it out."

"That's because I don't..." Jade crossed her arms and frowned a bit. "The fact that there hadn't been a single lead on the people that took Ivy frustrates the hell out of me. It's been how long? And we still haven't found her. I let her down the day she was taken. I could've done something but I was too fucking scared and completely froze up. I mean, I know I would've gotten killed probably but at least I could've helped but I didn't even react fast enough." Jade's face began to turn red as she began to speak faster. "I've tried looking for any kind of clue or what not to get me on the right path to find her, but I'm lost. It doesn't help that those people talk in fucking riddles and poems." She took a deep breath to calm down. She didn't really know where she was going with her rant but she let whatever was on her mind out.

Kent takes a moment to let Jade's frustration sink in, nodding his head in agreement.

"Being afraid isn't always a bad thing. Hell I get terrified a lot when I'm with my family. However, I understand being afraid to the point you can't move or when you finally react it's too late. However, in this case I doubt that the last thing Ivy wanted you to do was to go and get yourself killed, either of them. If what Aphrodite told me, you were just learning how to become better with dark magic correct and the person you fought was on a completely different level right? How much of a difference would happen if you had jumped in?"

Kent creates an umbrella like barrier over him and Jade, the snowfall beginning to annoy him.

"Also, I believe we can find Ivy soon. Call it a hunch if you want."

"I guess not." She nodded as he made a point. "I still feel bad that I couldn't help. Whether I was just starting or not I should have done something." She watched the snow fall as he spoke, smiling a little. "I hope you're right.... Why are you so scared of your family?"

Scenario 29

"Why does he call himself Ozymandias? Think about it. It has to be significant, it's not arbitrary."

"The rest of them use Egyptian deity names as their monikers, but not this one. Ozymandias was Ramesses II. He was a human."

"Right! According to the witnesses, the downtown bombing was pulled off with dark magic. Who did they kidnap right before that? Ivy, one of the most renowned dark magicians the academy has to offer. The 12 aren't wanderers at all, they're humans. They abducted Cancer, Ashlynn and god knows how many others to extract their powers. It's how they're able to control so many elements."

"And the meaning of the poem... Shelley was showing how even the greatest of man's achievements are victims to time, but Ozymandias told Ivy that the boundless sands and decay were the point. Which means..."

"That the attack in downtown wasn't the last. They [i]want the public to believe that Wanderers are a threat. As bad as anti-wanderer sentiments are now, the people wouldn't be able to stomach genocide."

"But with this false flag attack, they'll have the justification they need."

"I don't know what to think. It all seems so..."

"Ridiculous?" interjected Kyo, stepping out from behind a tree and causing Raphael and Carolyn to jump.

There was a deep chill in the air but the sky above them was clear and the courtyard was illuminated in the pale glow of the sunlight. Carolyn and Raphael had been sitting on a bench together that overlooked the fountain in the courtyard and, further in the distance, the massive iron gates that led into the academy. The two were inundated with wildly strewn notes cramped with neat handwriting and complex drawings.

"How long have you been spying on us?" she shot at him, lips pursed.

"Long enough. Raphael's so excited, even I could hear him."

"Tell us we're not crazy." pleaded Raphael, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Definitely not." assured Kyo. "It sounds ridiculous but you just might be onto something. Has this brought you any closer to finding Ivy?"

"No." said Carolyn flatly, a hint of shame in her voice as Raphael stared down at the floor. "She's probably..."

"Dead." finished Kyo, the colour drawing from his face as he voiced the possibility. Although he and Ivy were not very close, he had still known her on some level. He and Dark had spent a wonderful afternoon being beatdown by her and Aphrodite. It was unthinkable that she was gone, left to die in the worst way imaginable. Unimaginable was probably a more appropriate term.

"We don't know that." said Raphael firmly. "We know that they've let people go in the past. They've just come back a little..."

"Broken." offered Carolyn, feeling a stab of sympathy as her thoughts wandered to Cancer's mental state.

"He's not that bad. He's just a little kooky." said Kyo defensively. "Better eccentric than dead, right?"

"Right."

With their spirits lifted, Kyo added a layer of telekinetic energy onto the side of the bench and took a seat next to Carolyn. Although she was quiet and reluctant to socialise initially, she soon became just as chatty and animated as the other two. Two hours whizzed by as the trio engaged in conversations ranging from media bias to cuban pastries.

"As if the bombing wasn't bad enough, they're talking about a Wanderer serial killer who targets humans now." said Raphael, shaking his head in frustration. "I'm guessing the media's exaggerating the details, as usual. All they're good for is sensationalism."

"Yeah, they're all about viewership." said Kyo dismissively, the grin sliding off his face from the relatively lighthearted conversation that had taken place prior to this one.

"They're not." grumbled Carolyn. "They found the latest victim alive."

"Alive? What?!"

"The killer dismembered him and cut his tongue out. The amount of blood loss from that would have easily killed him so the odds are that it is a Wanderer who did it." grumbled Carolyn, a revolted look on her face as she relayed the details.

"Well, you never know these days, Carolyn. Human technology gets more complex every day... I mean, they've already proved that by stealing powers from Wanderers." said Kyo smoothly, uncomfortable with where the topic was heading. He was a terrific actor, sure, but even he had his limits. "You know, if your theory isn't as full of shit as you are."

"Fuck off." she retorted, betraying a smile as Raphael snorted loudly.

In the distance, the towering gates to the Academy slowly creaked open. Carolyn stood up almost instinctively, gazing over as an oddly familiar figure stumbled past the threshold. By this time, even Kyo had stood up and Raphael looked between them with bewildered confusion.

She was the embodiment of emaciation, bones protruding, eyes bulging and skin looking pale and clammy; dead. Kyo recoiled in horror at the sight of her, but there was no mistaking that iconic black hood.

"No fucking way." he gasped, eyes wide in shock.

Jacob was taking a typical run around the Academy grounds when he heard the gates open. He always turned his head to look when this stuff happened, but when he saw a barely familiar face that hadn't been around, he tripped, losing his prosthetic in the process. Cursing as he forced himself up with only half his leg, he watched the new arrival in shock. He'd barely known the girl, hell, he barely knew anybody in the Warehouse crew.

Still, he kept up to date with most of what had been happening, especially now that the training with Balthazar was a thing. Many of them were worried, and he was too. Though, his worry was more about the long-term implications of what this group of people were doing. Fumbling to grab the lower part of his leg, Jacob carefully reattached it, standing up to make sure everything worked before running over to her, calling out to a few people on a bench. "Quick, let's get her to the infirmary!" Anything else could wait. The questions could wait. The worrying could wait. Right now, they had to do something, and he was pretty sure of the proper course of action.

Ivy brushed past Jacob with a smoldering silence, straightening her back to reduce the slouching as the dark magic hood flickered in and out of existence.

At Jacob's behest, Kyo led the way as the others followed tentatively, completely nonplussed as to the most prudent course of action.

"Ivy?" Kyo said weakly, hoping she would respond.

She didn't. Instead, Ivy continued her wordless demeanour and determined pace, walking past the confused and pale faces of her fellow students.

"Ivy!" repeated Kyo, briskly following her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

As soon as his hand made contact with her body, she gasped audibly and reacted before she could stop herself; a huge blast of dark magic cracked across Kyo's body and threw him into the air like a rag-doll, causing him to land with a hard thud at Carolyn's feet.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she shrieked, whirling around with her eyes wide and full of fear rather than anger.

"Okay, okay, we're sorry, he didn't mean to startle you!" apologised Raphael with earnest, taking a step back with Carolyn.

Carolyn nodded at Ivy before kneeling down and dragging Kyo backwards as he grumbled in pain, still dazed from the unceremonious landing.

Ivy stared at all four of them with unblinking eyes as she stepped backwards, eventually turning around and sprinting out of sight.

"We can't let her wander around the Academy, she's going to end up hurting someone or herself." opined Carolyn, frowning at Jacob as if it was his fault.

"I have an idea." said Kyo groggily.

Reaching into his pocket, Kyo pulled out his phone and immediately dialed the number of the one person he thought would be most helpful right now.

"Jade, we need you. Get back to the academy now." he said firmly, hanging up without waiting for her reply. All of the questions she was most likely burning with would only slow down her arrival.

"Oh I'm not scared of them it's just, hey your phone is ringing."

"Oh yeah. Hold on." Jade answered her phone quickly, "Hey Kyo..." Before she said anything else he had hung up. "Gotta go. I think it's an emergency." With that, she shot out, off in the direction of the academy.

---

Jade ran through the hallways almost breathless until she found Kyo along with Carolyn and Raphael. "Hey.... What happened?"

"Wait, I'll come along with."

Kent bolts afters her using his wind magic for flight, on the way he sees Dark flying towards the cities to where they were going to meet. He gets his attention with a mini-cyclone, Dark thinking it's an attacker prepares to counter for it but realizes it Kent and he's motioning him to follow. Dark changes directions and tails Kent, as they fly towards the Academy.

End of Scenario 28

Kent and Dark land beside Jade, looking over at Kyo and the others, Dark looks at the flickering hood and his eyes widen.

"Is that who I think it is?"

Jacob watched as Kyo got close, glad that somebody else was taking over. He...didn't know her well. He'd have felt too uncomfortable trying to bring her back to the infirmary. And then she flung the other boy back with a shout. He managed to look into her eyes and his heart nearly broke. What replaced it, almost immediately after, was unbridled fury. Something he hadn't felt in quite a while. These people.....they had hurt him and his fellow students. They'd nearly killed a few of them. Hell, they had committed a veritable act of war. But this....

This was what made him truly angry at them. He couldn't conceal it in his voice when others arrived, asking questions. "Yes. And whatever happened to her....they'll pay for it. Even if it kills me, I'll see to it that they all pay for it." He barely knew these people. Even the ones he'd been training with, he had at best a superficial understanding of who they were. But this was too much. He'd never been able to stand seeing the people around him in pain, and now that he watched this girl, who looked to be on the verge of shattering, he knew he had to stop them. "Thousands upon thousands of lives have been lost. Thousands more shattered by the knowledge that their son or husband or wife or daughter or father or mother....will never come home."

"This ends. I refuse to stand by and watch. I don't care if I have to stay up days at a time with Balthazar, training until my stump bleeds and the rest of my body burns in agony. I will do whatever I can to stop these bastards." He wasn't saying it to them, or to himself. He was saying it to say it. He was at his breaking point now.

"What's this guy going on about Dark?" asks Kent

"I don't know, but it seems like we were too late for whatever just happened. Kyo, Carolyn, Raphael can someone let us in on what's going on, or are we running and talking like usual?"

The world is silent as Aphrodite is in deep focus, the training to track people that Balthazar taught her was a unique skill to have. Now just like he taught her, she just needs to clear her mind, think about the last time they met. It was sudden and only lasted for a second but she opens her eyes immediately and whispers.

"Ivy."

She's here in the Academy she's finally come back, but where exactly, Aphrodite tries once more but this time with a telepathic message. "I-I--Ivy.....Ivy!

"She's got it." said Raphael, gesturing at Aphrodite with an impressed nod. "We'd been trying to track her down for weeks. In fact, we'd even talked about her a couple of hours ago and just out of nowhere... there she was."

"As if nothing had happened. But you could tell, just by looking at her, man. She's different." said Kyo darkly. "Forget the infirmary, the first place she needs to go is to the main hall and get something to eat."

"She looked starved and dehydrated." added Carolyn. "She had her usual, cool attitude until these two idiots," she gestured at both Jacob and Kyo. "Decided to be knights in shining armour."

"Alright, alright." sighed Kyo in a defeated tone. "Shaky Jake over there fell in front of Ivy and lost his leg. She ignored him and kept going. I tried calling out to her but she wouldn't listen, so I put my hand on her shoulder. It freaked the hell out of her and she bolted."

"Ivy didn't have many friends, so Kyo decided to call Jade."

"She'd been training Jade to gain a better understanding of her powers, so I thought they might have developed some form of friendship or bond." explained Kyo, smiling warmly at Jade to counteract the significance of his implication. For now, Jade was probably their only shot at finding Ivy safe and sound, but he felt it prudent to not heap any form of pressure on her.

"We've been trying to sense her as soon as Kyo made the call, but we've had no luck. She's hiding somewhere and she's also clouding her mind." said Carolyn grimly. "Jade, you knew her best. Do you have any idea where she could be?"

Well, that was that. Jacob was pissed enough already, and with Ivy stalking off and Carolyn trying to fan the flames, he decided to let them handle it. Because clearly he could do nothing right other than cause trouble. That this was the general opinion about him, Jacob had no doubt. Not even giving Carolyn a look, he walked off with his teeth clenched and returned to his room

/Jacob has left scenario 29

Scenario 30 (Open to passers-by): Phantoms

Jacob sat in his bed, prosthetic on the ground near one of the many ugly holes in the wall. He'd angrily thrown it off as soon as he got in, leaving yet another mark. He was sure he'd be paying for this-literally-down the line, but his temper was one of the many things he'd been losing control of.

Grabbing at his stump angrily, Jacob tried to massage it, but to little avail. After all, there was almost no pain in the stump: rather, the pain was in the lower part of his leg-the part that was no longer there. "It's called phantom pain, and many amputees suffer from it in some respect. There are...several theories as to the cause of it, but the results are the same: you feel pain in a limb you do not have. There are treatments involved, but they aren't panaceas. This....may be with you for a time to come, in addition to your other conditions. My apologies, Corporal Rockwell. I wish there was more we could do."

When he noticed his nails digging into the flesh just below his knee, Jacob forced himself to lay back and took a deep breath, grabbing the length of cloth he used for this and stuffing it in his mouth. Reaching over to the laptop next to him and turning on some music, he screamed through the cloth as the pain slowly started to fade. This wasn't a particularly rough episode, but he'd broken his mirror box after it failed to work a few times. He'd refused opioid and narcotic pain relievers, such as vicodin, when offered. Even now he didn't regret that much, though, because he always considered himself a serious risk factor for addiction.

"Ivy?!" Jade gasped and quickly began to look around. "Where'd...." She turned to Kyo as he spoke , giving him a small smile before beginning to walk off rather quickly. "I think I know." She began to jog, maneuvering her way around people until she went inside a building. "Where's the room, where's the room?" She muttered the question to herself a few times as she pushed doors open, not caring if she hit a couple of students. She only slowed down when she rounded a familiar corner and stopped in front of two doors. One led to a stair case and the other to a room where Jade and Ivy had trained together. "Ivy??" She opened the door slowly, walking in cautiously. "Ivy, you in here?"

With a hint of panic, Ivy silently got up to her feet. She had been huddled in the corner of the room to Jade's left and, fortunately, had remained unseen. She sidled over to Jade until she was right behind her.
"I'm here." she said in a strong voice, the hood of dark magic wavering until it was completely gone. "What is it?" she added in an attempt at casualness, the subtlest crack in her voice weakening the entire facade.

"Everyone listen to me, do not interfere with this. This is a very delicate situation right now, let Jade handle things for now. warns Aphrodite as she sees them follow Jade to the hidden room but not yet entered themselves.The last thing they want to happen is Ivy to lash out and attack all of them.

Dark and Kent nod their head and fall back behind the group waiting in the hallway patiently.

Jade turned around and held in her gasp, seeing Ivy's face. She frowned as she heard Ivy talk but decided to not move any closer, remembering what had happened to Kyo. "I'm not going to bombard you with questions. I just want to know how you're doing and what the hell happened." She wanted to give Ivy a hug. It was in Jade's nature to try and comfort her fiends, but it wasn't in Ivy's, so she kept her arms crossed and made sure she didn't threaten her or make her jump. "The others are just worried about you. I'm pretty sure they're out there trying to see you. Kyo didn't mean any harm.... Although it was pretty funny but the sound of it." She offered Ivy a small smile and shrugged, trying to calm them both down.

"I don't need anyone's help!" she said furiously, her face contorting with rage in spite of Jade's small attempt at humour. "I don't care who's out there waiting for me, I don't want to see anyone. I'm fine. I don't need to tell any of you what happened because nothing happened."
Realising that she had been pacing back and forth during her rant, Ivy was now standing in front of Jade.
"Don't follow me." she said sternly, walking past her protege.