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[b][u]Aliquam: The Academy of the Arts
Afternoon[/u][/b]

The Pride ventured forth from the home of Rose and Angel with mixed spirits. Estelle still shook her head with a disbelieved expression at what Trixie had done in the pool. After shocking both her and Rose, and almost traumatising herself, the two had managed to rescue Trixie and carry her to the shallower part of the pool. After calming down the prankster’s nerves and reassuring her that the pool wasn’t a liquid monster intent on trying to eat her, they began to help teach Trixie how to swim. The results were of course mixed. No one could learn how to swim within a matter of hours, but for the first time in her life, she began to make progress, and after seeing the helpful and encouraging smiles from her friends, Trixie started to grow a little bit more confident. She could just about manage to swim within the shallower side of the pool, and with time and more practice, her friends were confident Trixie could learn to swim on her own, even in the deep part of the pool.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Pride enjoyed their breakfast and made as best a preparation as they could for the mission to come, nursing away their hangovers as best they could. There was still quiet tension radiating out from Moira towards everybody else, much to the poor Syed’s comfort. As unnerving and guilty as Xandra might have felt towards what she had inadvertently done, Marcus had comforted her after the Berserker’s storming off from the library that she would feel better soon enough, and that what Xandra had did was quite alright. All of them had things in their past they didn’t want to talk about, and if Moira’s own was that hard and difficult, then she should have known better to try and pry into others’ own. If anything, Moira’s anger might prove beneficial in capturing the Masked Phantom later within the evening, it did wonders to help improve her determination. But would the Academy withstand her rage? The rest of the Pride had to act quick to save Lucien however, after he started to tell an impromptu and ill timed joke that would have likely resulted in his head punched clean off and sent flying into the stratosphere. 

A couple of hours later, the Pride were ready to venture for the Academy. Packed into three carriages, the Guilders were chauffeured to the Academy by Rose and Angel’s hired help. Coming up to the terrific gates that bordered the exclusive and illustrious Academy, the Pride were taken aback by the marked difference in atmosphere surrounding the Academy between today and yesterday. Gone were the burgeoning cheers, cries and adulations of a happy student body celebrating their school’s art festival – replaced by a quiet temperance where there were few individuals walking about. Aside from Rose, Angel, and a few others, there were no other students walking about. They had all been restricted to their dorms for the rest of the day, and the only people milling about, were the Academy’s faculty staff: The Priests and Priestesses which taught and ran the school dedicated to the goddess Aislin. 

As the gates to the school opened up, and the carriages came to a slow stop at the Academy’s Courtyard to allow the Pride to disembark, they were greeted by Dalia jogging from the Academy’s main entrance to greet them with her traditional cheerful smile. 

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“Hello, everyone! I’m glad to see you’re all here, and looking much better too! Even you, Dylan!” Dalia smiled. Her brother flexed a small smile in return, whilst one hand returned to his forehead. 

“Yes, I’m… getting better. I’ll be one hundred percent again by tonight. Just… remind me never to drink again…” Dylan said. Dalia giggled. 

“Come, everybody, and follow me. We’ll go to the faculty lounge, where we’ll discuss what’s going to happen tonight, and what the plan is to capture this thief. Whatever it is he’s up to, and what it is he plans to steal… we’ll stop him!”

Estelle punched her hand with an determined grin. Speaking for them all, she nodded fiercely. “You bet we will!”