- Lily -

Lily jumped slightly when she felt a wave of a strange hot/cold sensation brush across her shoulder. She turned to see Carmen pulling away. Had she tried to touched her? For what reason? Lily was a bit confused both by the touch and how it felt. Why wasn't she solid? She was clearly kind of gaseous but still... What was she made of anyway? Lily would have to ask later... Eventually.

She chuckled at the expression Matt was giving her. It was as if he wanted her to explain to Carmen what he was. Why, she didn't know. But she guessed should oblige. "Matt's either... the phoenix or a phoenix. I'm pretty sure he's the phoenix but I don't want to be wrong..." Lily spoke for Matt, turning to give Carmen a smile. She turned back to Matt to respond to his previous statement. "See. I knew you were strong enough to get to that point. After all, it's true that we've both changed quite a bit. Though... I don't think I'm much better with my powers than I was in the beginning. I'm still the same as I was in that regard..." She responded, trailing off a bit.

What am I doing getting all depressed?

"Anyway. Even if you can't talk, It would be fun to fly together. Maybe we can find some place to stop for a bit and talk." She explained, looking at her two friends. "After all, I haven't talk to you like that in a long time, Matt." She added, smiling at Matt. It was true. They'd spoken to each other, but not like they had before. She had to admit that she really missed talking to him like they did before, in the hallways of Kalmaysia.

She grinned, spreading out her wings, oblivious to the other people around her. She knew where most of them were anyway. She could feel them at all times since they were so close. Well... She could feel all expect Xanthus. Where was he? Wait... Why did she care? She let out a long sigh, her grin slightly fading. She didn't know what to think about him. She felt like she just needed to end it but then what would happen to him? She felt bad for him now but she also didn't want to put her in a situation that she clearly felt bad in. But then... that was who she was, right? Putting herself out there for her friends? Her smile softened as she looked at her friends. Tonight, she'd have to go find him. Once she was done here. She needed to at least confront him. Where that led, she didn't know. But she was prepared to see it through whatever it was.

---

- Xanthus -



He left quickly, and quietly, resigned to sit by Lily's cabin and wait for her to return. He was on the roof, staring out at the lights across the way, the lights of the lounge. Around him, he could hear wildlife and the crash of the waves against the island. It was a pretty humid night but great all things considered. There was a nice breeze and the moon lit everything well enough that he could see most everything. The sky was a dark blue hue, clouds dotting the night sky. He could still see the stars through them, however. Though, they held no meaning for him anymore. He didn't belong here. Those weren't his stars anymore, maybe they never were.

He sighed and fell back against the roof, watching them with listless eyes. No... They weren't his stars. None of this was his anymore. He had no rights to it. He had no rights to her... He closed his eyes in frustration and turned his body to face the sea. He began to wonder what the cold sea felt like. He'd never been able to experience it. He probably never would. He'd never experience any of this again. What would await him after all of this? Would anything await him? What awaits a dying demon? Surely not hell. It must be something far worse than hell. The only the worse he could imagine was... nothing. To feel and see nothing. To be... nothing. That was a far worse thing and something he'd always feared, even when he was alive.

Nothing.

What did Nothing feel like? What would it be like to be Nothing? He sighed. He didn't even possess the ability to cry anymore. And if he did, he couldn't feel the possible tears falling from his cheeks now. He couldn't feel anything. He only knew it was humid because of the location. It might not even be that way. It might be terribly cold. He didn't know. He couldn't feel it. He could feel... Nothing.

---

- Alex -

Ignoring the cries of pain from his chest, Alex beamed up brightly at the couple he was with. To be fair, Crash was a nice guy and Alex hadn't known Kathy very long. He shouldn't have feelings like this anyway. After all, he knew Kathy really only had eyes for Crash. In situations like this, he was lucky to even be noticed by the two love birds. Maybe... If he couldn't be happy himself, he should make it his goal to make them happy, to get them together. How he would do that, he didn't know but he had plans to try. After all, what was a pixie besides a mischief maker.

He chuckled to himself, feeling the pain lessen a bit. He jumped off of Kathy's back and flew over her head, smiling to himself. "Well? When are we going to go? I'm tired of just waiting around." He spoke, floating upside down, his wings strong enough to lift him even in that position. "To adventure!" Alex shouted, pointing in a random direction.

- Dani -
His eyes widened when she called him a pervert. Was he a pervert? He didn't think he was one. Maybe he was one, and he'd never know. Now he wanted to look the word "pervert" up in the dictionary, just to make sure what it meant.

"S-sure." Dani stuttered, looking at the ground in front of him. "Um... Well, I can't remember anything about my life. I have amnesia. The most I can remember is about to about a year ago, when I think I... you know... revived. Pretty much, I'm immune to sickness, death, even the need to drink." He held up his energy drink. "On the down side, though, when I do get hurt, I can't just go to someone and have them heal me. Life-altering magic doesn't work on me, but this also means healing magic doesn't. I can go through things, as most people think, but I have to 'switch', meaning go into sort of a half-world, the place halfway between this one and the afterlife. That's why I look see-through.

"I can also posses things, which you saw back at the academy. I wasn't moving those chairs, I was those chairs. Meaning I felt the pain whenever that demon guy set the chairs on fire. This only works on inanimate objects and dumb animals. It doesn't work the same way with... um..." Dani rolled his eyeballs upwards and put his fist on the side of his head. "Ss... Ss... Smart? No... Ss-something. I can't remember the word. Anyway, I can't posses S-something beings like humans. If I try, I just sort of read their thoughts, and talk to them through their brain. I don't do it because it's not exactly polite..."

Drow

She didnt know what was happening all of the sudden she felt happy and embarressed at the same time. She completely ignore her burned hand she didnt even feel the pain anymore growing in her hand. The only thing that she could think about was kissing Darwin just now. Her cheeks kept getting redder as time went on, she used her scarf to hide most of her face as she ran towards the back of Mercy. She didnt dislike the feeling she had just now but it felt weird. She burried her face in Mercys back and tried to ignore anyone around her.

Liam

She released her arms from her body as he began to talk to her about himself. He did have some cool abilitys that he could use but it was almost like...Wait... this seems so familiar Liam moved a little closer to him when he finished his story Liam looked at the ground for a brief moment and began to talk "You died and you can't remember anything about your past at all. You just continue your life without knowing anything about your loved ones." She pulled up a creepy smirk while looking at the ground taking another sip of her drink "It looks like we are in the same boat here." She raised her head to him with a gentle smile "Let's eat something"

- Dani -
After Dani finished, Liam scooted herself next to him, then sat in silence for a while.
"You died and you can't remember anything about your past at all. You just continue your life without knowing anything about your loved ones." Liam said, startling Dani. It seemed she understood a whole lot more than he thought she would.
"It looks like we are in the same boat here." Liam continued, smiling gently. "Let's eat something."

"Sure. I mean, I don't have to, but if you're hungry." Dani said, then became completely serious. "So you can't remember either, huh? What even are you, anyway?"

Dani got to his feet, and held a hand out to Liam to help her up. His scrapes were already scabbing over. They weren't deep, and would heal quickly. He would just be a tad sore for a couple of days.

– Mercy –

Mercy glanced up at Darwin as he laughed out his new nickname for Zivon, she smiled at him. “Perhaps, but you know as well as I do it sounds much better when you say it...a unique Darwin nickname” She chuckled at him, before focusing on Zivon. She was completely taken aback as Zivon touched her and screamed hastily retracting his hand as if she had bitten him rather than offer him a hand up. She could tell he had clearly visited a bad place in his mind, again he was pulling at those damaged strings within her chest...she should have asked Maria for more information on the students, she had thought she could just do her usual meet and learn...she jumped back as Zivon ran past her disappearing behind the bar, wincing as she accidently put her weight on her bad ankle. This is going to be harder than I thought...She sighed to herself about to hobble after the boy when she noticed Darwin had beaten her to it.

As much as she liked the unicorn she wasn’t entirely convinced he was the best one to be with Zivon at this moment, it turned out she was spot on in that prediction. It was around that time things escalated quickly and Mercy went from feeling in control to being a mere witness of chaos...first Darwin was knocked back by Zivon who tried to run away from the overenthusiastic unicorn only to fall over again with a particularly painful thwack as he hit the floor, blood begun to drip onto the floor as the boy cried and wiped at his clearly broken nose. At the same the holographic girl ran towards the phone in the blondes hand and disappeared (?) in a flash of white light, that was rather disorientating...the blonde girl just continued to run towards the bar. And as Mercy was stood very close to the bar she saw Darwin fall back and smack his head off of the side, she had barely gasped let alone moved before the blonde girl was heading straight for the unconscious unicorn.

Only to trip and fall on him, seriously this floor was turning into a death trap that was 3 falls in a short space of time! Oh...she wasn’t sure whether to feel embarrassed or not for the blonde girl seeing how she had landed in a rather awkward position with her lips pressed against Darwin’s. Well that escalated quickly... Was about the only thought she could think of after watching the chaos before her. At least the blondes kiss seemed to bring the unicorn too though now the pair of them looked incredibly embarrassed...but rather cute together. Mercy looked away from Darwin and Drow? Was that what the unicorn had called her. She had barely walked around the bar keeping a healthy distance between herself and Zivon. “Zivon? Honey look at me. We need to get you cleaned up ok? We need to get your nose fixed up” Mercy spoke to Zivon, careful not to impose on his personal space or appear to threatening she did keep her calm low and melodic but loud enough to be heard. “Will you come with me?” She asked, trying to think of something appealing to offer him if he did...fixing a broken nose didn’t exactly sound like a lot of fun. “I’ll take you to the best ice cream place this side of Destiny Island afterwards” She offered unsure whether this would work, she knew she had said she would go with the others but she had a cunning plan.

She turned to watch Drow run towards her clearly flustered from her personal experience with Darwin. She chuckled as the blonde girl shot round to hide behind her even going as far as burying her face in the back of Mercy’s top. “Aww come on Drow it can’t have been that bad?” She lightly teased the girl, looking back at Darwin with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Although he definitely should have bought you dinner first...ooo here’s an idea why don’t you do it now?” She mused, snapping her fingers as the ‘thought’ hit her. “I’m sure it’d be fuuuunnn” She sang with a devious grin on her face looking at Darwin before glancing at the girl hiding behind her.

–Zivon-

Zivon tried his best to recover but since he became a crying mess al he can do is cry and try to wipe the blood of his broken nose. “S-t...s…stu…p-upi..d-d…I-I…a..a-m…s..s-.so…s-s…t-tu…pi…id…” He berated himself badly, he really wanted to dig himself a hole and hide in there forever. As he continue to cry, hoping just anything good will happen he was able to hear something that made him cry a little bit less. Zivon turned around to look at Mercy, still crying and bleeding but just a bit curious in what he had heard. “...I-ic..e…c-cr..ea-ea…m?” He lightly crawled towards Mercy until stopping a couple of inches away from her, looking at her with eyes with a slight bit of happiness. Wiping more blood and tears with his sleeves, trying to clean up his messed up composition.

He couldn’t help but to lightly smile even though the pain on his nose was pretty bad and he was still crying a bit. Zivon started to remember his dad and how whenever he was sad or scared his dad would gladly give him just a small amount of ice cream he would be happy instantly. “D-addy…” He looked down on the floor, remembering the past but look up towards Mercy and nodded while still wiping his bloody nose. He did not care much how his composure was at a pure mess but since ice cream was mentioned he couldn’t help but care for the memories he had hold in them.

Darwin

Darwin's head was still hurting...a bit. But that, kiss if you would, had kinda softened the blow. He grinned a bit shyly at Drow, like some proud little boy...with amazing purple hair that would be unbeatable. But now...he was kinda embarassed and tilted his head, as he looked at Mercy confused. He had no idea why Drow was hiding behind her, was it something he did? Was he a bad kisser? Oh god...he was wasn't he? God damnit Ryuu and his annoying plasma lips. Darwin shook his head and offered a big smile to Mercy and Drow.

"Dinner? Sure I could use something to eat! That weird taste in the skittles is back for some strange reason now....must be the Russian ones. Ah well! What do you say Drow? Wanna go for some dinner? Mercy said it herself, it'll be fun?" He had no idea Mercy was being devious, he just wanted something to eat. This and he wanted to impress Drow, since she was like his first kiss, he'd have to convince her he was amazing, since she seemed scared or disgusted or something like that...he wasn't saure.

Liam

"O right you dont need to eat, sorry." She looked up at Dani who was able to move again. It looked painfull all those little scrapes on his body but he didnt seem to be bothered much by it. She grabbed hold of his hand and slowly got up from sitting om her knees. She trew the energy drink from a distance into the trashcan while still holding his hand and raided up his hand towards her neck. She pressed two of his fingers against her neck and started to talk "No pulse, No warmth and a pale skin, Me and mister sun arent really friends." She joked about to him while they walked over to somewhere else "If you havent figured it out yet, I am a zombie." She happily smiled at him as they continued walking.

Drow

The ignoring didnt seem to help one bit and they just kept teasing her about falling onto him. She peeked from besides Mercy towards Darwin that just woke up again quietly muttering "Meanie" with her scarf still pulled up till over her nose. Her face was still all red when she headed over to Mercys side to show herself. She took out a pen and her little notepad and started to scribble some words down onto the paper. The sound of the pen being lifted from the paper could be heared as she finished writing. She turned her notepad around and showed it to darwin "I only go to eat with you because im hungry." Drow placed the notepad and pen into a pocket that was at the end of the scarf which was very handy and stood silent now waiting for them to go.

She was looking down at her feet now with her hands placed om her lap bith joined together to twitch her tumbs a bit. She peeked up sometimes to see what was happening around her but left it with that. Till now she didnt even notice that Zivon was having a bleeding nose. Drow didnt like the look fo blood all over the ground and Zivon so she handed him one ends of the scarf to keep his nose shut for the moment so it wouldnt get much worse. She didnt know if he would decide to use it or not but the blood would probably get out after some cleaning. She was standing in the same pose just like before trying to ignore any more teasing so it wouldnt get even more worse then it had already been.

– Kathy

Her cheeks became tinted with a red hue again as Crash asked a rhetorical question. “You’re being evil again.” Kathy pointed out with a fake pout on her face. She had been expecting to go pick up the towels together if they agreed, but the shapeshifter ended up just bringing enough for all 3 of them on his own. She let out a laugh. “I’m not the only one eager for all this I see.” Though Crash’s corgi form had only been a temporary one back at the beach, it somehow seemed oddly fitting for his personality. “Good boy.” She told him, grinning at her subtle joke.

Feeling Crash’s fingers gently wrap around her own, she felt a small urge to pull her hand back. Successfully keeping this embarrassment-based reaction of hers suppressed she actually managed to also tighten her grip so she was actually holding his hand back instead of letting it lie limp in his grasp. Still, she could not keep all the blood from rushing to her face again. ‘Aaaah, this is so pathetic.’ She thought, feeling even more embarrassed at how greatly this was affecting her despite the fact she had been the one to suggest it in the first place. In fact, it was exactly what she had wanted. Kathy could feel her heart beating a mile a minute and was fairly certain that Alex (with how close he was to her) could hear it and maybe Crash could even feel her pulse from her fingertips. She didn’t know if that was actually possible, but it sure felt like it was with her hand heating up at the contact.

‘With all the blood rushing to my head and hands, how in the world do I still have some left for the rest of my body?’ She wondered, temporarily lapsing into a moment of confusion and randomness.

Kathy was brought out of her random thoughts when Alex jumped off and declared the start of an adventure as he flew upside down. Laughing again, she pointed off in the right direction for their destination and added, “Let’s make sure we’re going in the right way though.” Smiling she thought, ‘He’s adorable. I wonder if this is how it would feel to have a younger sibling?’ She offered her other hand to Alex. “Do you want to hold my hand as well? It’d be a good way for us to all stay together.” Or he could always just return to sit on her shoulder once more. She didn’t mind either method but decided to offer another to Alex as well.

Nodding to both of them, she began to walk on with Crash and Alex (making sure the small boy was either following properly, holding her hand, or comfortably on her shoulder again) into the forest. Hidden in the darkness, she felt less embarrassed about how red her face was or the fact she was holding Crash’s hand. She still felt extremely self-conscious, but she could calm down a little. “Careful. Let’s go a bit slowly and let our eyes adjust.” She told them, though mostly directing her warning for a certain clumsy individual.

---

– Leroy

“Leroy.” He answered, smiling in a warm and friendly manner as he nodded before taking the offered seat. He was quite happy to receive the invitation seeing as he thought he might’ve been quite bored until he found a place to use as a temporary place to sleep in for the night. “It was my pleasure fair lady, though I apologize for the sudden intrusion.” Now, Leroy had no idea if Garden’s manner of speaking was actually normal for her, but for now he decided to just mimic it. Not really in mockery or the desire to be as polite as she was, but simply because he could.

Looking at the small kitten in Garden’s arms, his smile grew wider. ‘Small and young, but apparently more perceptive than most.’ He thought, feeling like applauding the small animal for being able to recognize something humans just never seemed to be able to detect. “Perhaps the kitty doesn’t like the scent of my roommate? He’s a bakeneko, and someone quite similar to a cat. I’ve heard that cats are sometimes hostile towards the scent of other cats.” Leroy told her, offering a logical-sounding reason that was entirely wrong. He didn’t even notice that he slipped back into his normal manner of speaking. Already having lost interest in being extra-polite after getting distracted by the kitty named ‘Sunflower’.

“I didn’t actually think the academy allowed pets.” Leroy commented, looking curiously at Sunflower. “Or is that small cat in your arms actually not a pet at all and another student?” He was half-joking, but by now he had begun to learn that not everything moved according to common sense within Athalia.

Turning his attention back to Garden he asked, “Any reason why you’re not heading somewhere else like the others?” He gestured around them at the lack of students compared to the large group that had gathered around from Maria’s announcement.

– Mercy –

Mercy was trying really hard not to follow her instincts on this, she literally wanted to scoop Zivon up to comfort him...although his nose really didn’t look good, she needed to look at that as soon as possible if it was broken there was only a few things she could do to make it better, her healing power was probably too weak to stretch as far as healing a broken nose. She watched him carefully worry clinging to her features up until he repeated the word ‘Ice cream’ in his nervous stutter, her eyebrows rose in surprise. She honestly hadn’t expected her pitiful attempt to appease him with ice cream would actually work! There was another tug on the damaged strings within her chest as he crawled toward her before looking up with her with happiness in his eyes. If it hadn’t been for his bloody disheveled appearance she would have called this ‘cute’ without a shadow of a doubt as it was she was really worried about him and wanted to get him all fixed up as soon as possible. She kept a reassuring smile on her face as she nodded at him. “Yup ice cream, they’ve got all sorts of flavors. I promise I’ll get you some after we’ve got you checked out” She told him looking around before grabbing a wad of serviettes from behind the bar along with a tea towel -she’d have to replace it before Nikola noticed- she handed both of them over to Zivon in the hopes he could use them to stem the bleeding. She heard him stutter out the word ‘daddy’ wondering whether he was requesting his father or merely remembering him...she would have to ask him once he was calmer. She turned back to Darwin ignoring the guilt that niggled at the back of her mind for turning her attention away from Zivon..

Mercy watched Darwin questioningly for a moment before she realized something seemed a little off with him...well he had just knocked himself out. She beamed at him as took it and effectively asked the blonde girl to dinner. They are kind of cute together... She thought, as she glanced over her shoulder to check on Drow. She instantly adopted a guilty expression as Drow crept out from behind her muttering meanie, it had probably been from the teasing. “I was only joking with you honey, don’t be embarrassed” She smiled at her, keeping Zivon in her sights having handed him something to stem the bleeding from his nose she felt better but she wanted to get him to the med center to get him checked out properly. She didn’t need a nurse rather supplies, she’d covered broken noses before being a med student...whenever she thought of that part of her life she felt oddly disconnected from it. Earth to Mercy! People need you on this planet~ She blinked before looking at Drow seeing her slide a notebook out of her pocket she heard the pen scribble across the page, nosily leaning forward she was able to steal a quick glance of the paper before Drow retracted the notebook a grin spread across Mercy’s face as she looked at Darwin winking at him and slyly giving him a thumbs up for encouragement.

Thinking on it she wanted to check out Darwin’s injury as well she gave Zivon a reassuring smile and held her index finger up signifying she would only be a moment. Before approaching Darwin “Your head...I should have asked sorry, here let me sort you out” She smiled at him, lifting her hand up towards his head as she moved to stand beside him, anyone else and she wouldn’t have dreamt of doing this but...it was Darwin and she was sure he wouldn’t freak out from the contact. “Need to be at your best hmm?” She murmured for his ears alone, trying not to giggle as she offered him a quick heal to alleviate any discomfort, he of course had the choice of turning it down. If he accepted it that feeling of slight pain would have left and if he didn’t Mercy nodded in acknowledgement offering a reassuring smile before moving back over to Zivon, noticing Drow had kindly offered the poor guy the end of her scarf to help out. Mercy came to stand by Zivon keeping a healthy distance between herself and the young boy just in case it upset him further.

“Right, well I should really get Zivon to the med bay we’ll come find you guys again later...have fun!” Mercy announced giving Drow and Darwin a smile each before she returned her full attention to Zivon, feeling incredibly guilty for not doing so before...he was bleeding and she had seemingly ignored this fact to play matchmaker...she would have to make this up to him big time. “Hey Zivon, shall we go get that sorted and then onto ice cream?” She asked him for th second time, almost reaching out for him again but considering how it went last time she opted against it. “Come on, I’m going to need you to get up. I promise the med office isn’t far...lean on me if you want to” She instructed him softly, deciding to let physical contact be entirely up to him, she didn’t want to move anywhere until Zivon was ready to.

–Zivon-

Zivon was still staring at Mercy; he couldn’t help it… if there was one thing than his dad that very much love was ice cream. It made him happy just to taste it and since Mercy mentioned that the store had lots of flavors he was really excited now. He was lucky to able to taste many as a kid until when he and his dad money troubles, before moving to Athalia he was only able to eat vanilla ice cream so he missed the flavours of rocky road or pistachio. He nodded to her as she offered a towel for his nose; he carefully took it with shaky hands, as he was still afraid of any physical contact and would remember the horrible incidents. As she mentioned a med bay he was scared immediately from the last time he went to a doctor…Kiwi… Zivon couldn’t help to be scared and looked at her with scared eyes. He didn’t want to go now… he shook his head quickly showing his VERY strong feeling about not want to go to a doctor or a med bay.

“N-n…no! S-sca….c-c..ar..y-y…” He stuttered out to her as he stood up, feeling quite wobbly and a bit dizzy for the amount of blood he was losing from his broken nose. Stumbling a bit but able to gain balance he stepped back not ever wanting to go to a clinic or a doctor. He also remembered the time where he went to a doctor when he was a kid even though he and his dad didn't have enough money, as he broke his arm the people who treated him ended up doing the wrong procedure on him so another reason why he was afraid of them. Zivon looked back at Drow as she offered her end of the scarf for him but since he got the towel he polity decline but nod at her for a thank you. “I-it…w..w-i…ll he…h-he…a-al…” He mentioned to Mercy but not giving much information, his injuries were short lived, a cut would be better in a couple of days or say a bloody nose can be fix for at least three days…he had experience that quick healing. His dad never said how he heals quickly but he never bother to ask either.

He gave a small sigh, as the bleeding was being to stop at least and feeling much better. He still was glad about the offer Mercy made about the ice cream but feared of the med bay. “H..he-a-a…l…f-fa…s-st…” he pointed at his nose trying to make Mercy believe that he did not need to go to a doctor or a med bay, he though of himself as selfish as he preferred to get ice cream instead but he couldn’t blame himself…it was one of the few things that made him smile.

–Garden-

Garden nodded at Sir Leroy whop seemed to notice that Sunflower seemed a bit off. “Oh, that’s interesting about cats and scents and a Bakeneko! I never heard of those creatures before…I wonder what are they like.” It did seemed interesting that a bakeneko was mentioned, they were many magical being in Athalia and she wanted to meet them all. She was surprised that pets weren’t allowed in Athalia… she wondered why though, pets or what she say animal companions seemed like a good idea for students to have a cute fluff time with adorable creatures. Garden couldn’t help but to giggle as he mentioned that Sunflower could be a student in Athalia but then she did wonder if Sunflower was something else…he did just pop randomly during the beach Olympics.

“Oh, I didn’t know pets weren’t allowed…I found this cute little guy during an event at beach so I decided to care for him. Hope Lady Maria would accept this little guy though...” Garden patted the little kitten as it mewed happily to her yet still was slightly afraid of the new guy. “Well I didn’t have much to do, I though to dance a bit with the flora but since I got Sunflower to care I decided to drink some tea instead and wait a little until maybe its late time to sleep.” She answered Sir Leroy as she stared at him for a while. “How about you Sir Leroy? What’s is you reason as well for not going if you don’t mind me asking?”

- Dani -
"A zombie?" Dani asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. With everything Dani knew about Liam, he could never have suspected a zombie. She didn't really look, walk, or talk like one. Or at least, not like the zombies Dani's mental picture had said.

They had only been walking a few moments when the trees cleared and they saw the sandy beach next to the sparkling water. The sea looked really soft and calming at night. The stars and the full moon reflected off the sea like a flowing mirror. Dani and Liam were the only people within sight range of this particular part of the beach. It gave a feeling that Dani had never felt, nor had the words to describe.

Darwin

Darwin's huge smile had returned, as he beamed at his soon to be date and the most wonderful mercy. Who had now been upgraded to Ultra-Besty. Of course that wasn't as high as Super-ultra-mega-Besty like Ryuu, but it was up there! His eyes began to follow the words on the pad carefully, since e wasn't the best reader. Well...at least she was gonna have dinner! That also meant Darwin might get free dinner, he was always up for free dinner! It was the best.

"Oh good! This is gonna be a super awesome amazing dinner Drow! You know that right? I mean, we'll find a cool restaurant, cos I don't go cheap when I'm out on dates" he stopped to taje a breath and smiled innocently at the girl. In reality, he'd never been on a date. "Well cya mercy! Have fun with Zivon, oh and Zivo!" Suddenly he pulled an orange packet of skittles from his suit pocket. He tossed them to him and hopped over to Drow. "THOS IS GONNA BE AN AMAZING DATE!"

Drow

She was still staring at the ground this whole time and her face didnt get less red. She had moved her knees closer to each other out of reaction of the teasing that kept happening. She looked up at Mercy when she announced that the bleeding Zivon and herself would go to the med bay to check up if Zivons nose wasnt broken. She pulled the back of Mercys clothes lightly before she left while looking at the ground but she didnt seem to react. Darwin had already jumped onto her before she could do anything else. Her face jumped up in suprise she leaned back a bit for the way to enthusiastic Darwin on her neck. She quickly looked around to see if there was anything to do to cancel this date. It was Mercy who helped the guy in the first place she would have to electrocute her after she sees her again.

The guy suddenly trew a bag of skittles at Zivon why would he give him something after just being slapped. He only became more enthusiastic when the other two had gone wait.... where is the other girl. The broken phone was lying on the ground with a large crack in the screen. No one seemed to be concerned one bit about where she went all of the sudden. Did she need the phone to live like this or did she have something else. She left it be for the moment since she couldnt do anything about it all right now and continued being flustered by everything Darwin was saying. She looked up once more to the unicorn and all of the sudden took off looking down at the ground without looking where she was walking.

Liam

Dani seemed to be suprised by it or didnt even know what it was but that would be unlikely. All the people know what zombies are... well most of them ''Is it that weird for me to be a zombie. Well I dont groan or anything like that but you could say im half zombie. My brain still works but my heart doesnt tough.'' She holded her hand onto her chest and closed her eyes to think back at the time when her heart still beated. Black, nothing, it was still hard to think back before the accident. She immediatly moved her hand from her chest to her head when she felt a sharp pain in her head from thinking. She stopped walking for a moment untill the pain was gone.

When she opened up her eyes again she could see a beautiful beach stretched out before her eyes. Her eyes widened as she slightly opened up her mouth in suprise. The moon had only raised slightly into the sky almost touching the sea water. The stars all around it finished the picture but there was a little trick to it. She pulled Dani with her when she saw a spot to make it look even more amazing. The two where surounded by complete darkness with only the moon and stars reflecting their lights onto the beach. "Give it a moment" she said while grinning in how his reaction would be. After a few minutes Liams eyes adjusted to the darkness making the stars and the moon even more beatifull then they were before. Liam stood there next to Dani still holding his hand from pulling him along just now.

- Alex -

He followed them, a bit unsure of what to do with himself now. He really didn't want to take Kathy's hand for fear of what it might do to him. He pretty much knew by know that she didn't see him as anything other than an adorable child or brother. Which was probably all she would ever see him for. He knew with almost certainty that if he ever confessed, she would most certainly turn him down in favor of Crash. Which... Alex smiled slightly. He didn't feel so bad about. Crash seemed to be a nice guy from what Alex had seen. He wanted them together.

He just didn't know how to help them along on that quite yet. What could he do? He didn't know. They were already holding hands which, even if they didn't admit it, was a sure sign of their affection for each other. That was one reason Alex didn't want to hold her hand. Hand holding, while was a mother child thing meant more than that to Alex and hopefully it meant more to Crash as well. Though, he had to admit. He didn't even know if these two even realized how much they seemed to care for each other. They probably had just not in the way that they could.

Flying behind Kathy, Alex crossed his arms, deep in thought of ways to get the two to get closer. When suddenly, an idea hit him. What if he used his feelings for her to make Crash jealous and make him make the right moves. It was a thought after all! Grinning, Alex changed into his teenage size and ran up to grab Kathy's other hand and grinned at her. He was her height now and looked more her age but still seemed very childlike. He smiled warmly at her, squeezing her hand. He was silent, smiling to himself as they walked.

- Dani -
''Is it that weird for me to be a zombie? Well I don't groan or anything like that but you could say I'm half zombie. My brain still works but my heart doesn't, though.'' Liam said.
"I... I just wouldn't have guessed it, that's all." Dani said awkwardly.

Liam stopped just as they arrived at the beach and put her hand on her head as if in pain. Dani turned to face her, surprised.
"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, then Liam opened her eyes. Liam's mouth dropped open slightly at the sight of it all.

Suddenly, Liam started pulling Dani towards the middle of the beach.
"Give it a moment." She told him, grinning almost sneakily. A few seconds later, Dani's eyes adjusted to the darkness. When they did, the whole world seemed to just light up in glory. They were almost completely surrounded in darkness. Above them, the stars shone brightly, and warmly. The light reflected off the beach, making the sand look like it was glowing.

"Wow!" Dani said, looking around. He opened his mouth again, trying to think of something else to say, but couldn't.

– Crash–

Crash’s eyes widened in surprise at her ‘accusation’ “Me evil? Never” He feigned surprise though he really couldn’t control his expression as a smile turned up the corners of his mouth despite his best efforts to stop it. Having failed he gave in and let amusement swim across his features chuckling at her fake pout. He felt his cheeks tint with color as he turned back to Kathy hearing her laugh he shrugged his shoulders, a grin plastered across his face at her subtle joke, accompanied by the glimmer of excitement in his crimson eyes it was almost easy to imagine him wagging a tail at the ‘praise’.

The red head hadn’t been aware of the fact he had actually held his breath as he had reached for her hand, his own pulse hammering in his ears it was a reaction he often had when she was in close proximity with him. He allowed himself to breathe again when she didn’t pull away, a warm smile slid onto his face, though he somehow managed to keep his blush from deepening he could see Kathy’s face was practically glowing from how flustered she appeared to be.

He glanced at Alex amusement dancing across his face as the young boy pointed in the wrong direction; he chuckled at Kathy’s suggestion of going in the right direction. He withheld a joke about it feeling he didn’t know the pixie boy well enough to know he wouldn’t be offended by it even if it was harmless, besides he didn’t want to ruin the new hospitable feeling between the two of them. He watched Kathy offer her hand to Alex without reading to deeply into it, Alex was only young right? It was a normal invitation between a...’mother and child’ even if he hadn’t quite got his head around the odd relationship the pair had going on he could understand why Alex would want Kathy for a mother figure and to be fair it didn’t have anything to do with him.

He was glad for the cover of the darkness himself he felt acutely aware of Kathy’s hand tucked within his own, though he wasn’t nearly as nervous now as he had been earlier his heartbeat still hadn’t returned to normal, his only saving grace was it had lessened enough that he was no longer deafened by his own pulse. He grinned sheepishly at Kathy’s warning forgetting she probably couldn’t see it, he was beginning to wish he could mimic powers as well as shapes...being able to see in the dark right now would be incredibly useful. “I’ll take that...my feet are incredibly talented at finding every stray root or-“ As if to prove his point he grunted and jerked ever so slightly as he stubbed his toe on a rock protruding from the grounds. “-rock” He groaned, resisting the urge to hop on one leg he ignored the pain and carried on walking with a slight limp.

“So stargazing, are you a star enthusiast or is it just too good a chance to pass up?” He asked Kathy, his mouth relaxing into a smile; he could just make her out in the dim light offered up by the illuminated night sky. He was beginning to wonder why they hadn’t thought to grab torches or something. I could shift into something that can create light... He dropped his gaze down to Kathy’s and his hands still clasped together it may have been selfish but he didn’t want to break the contact between them. Besides stumbling through the dark wasn’t too bad, he lifted his eyes to rest back on her face as he awaited an answer missing the fact Alex had fallen behind.

He was momentarily distracted as the blue haired pixie reappeared next to Kathy his first feeling was guilt, he may have been a little tunnel visioned before...he switched his gaze to Alex trying to think of something to say, although it was dark between the trees his eyes had adjusted enough that he was able to take in the boys new appearance. His guilt was momentarily swept aside by unease; Alex had changed his shape to look the same age as Kathy which Crash in truth wasn’t sure about. He noticed the warm smile the pixie boy gave Kathy before he dropped his eyes to their hands catching the slight squeeze. He averted his eyes as he felt an unpleasant stab of discomfort pass through his chest bringing a tight sensation with it, he was being silly of course despite his change in shape it was still Alex...besides this was another instance that the shapeshifter believed he had no right to react to. Waiting for Kathy’s reaction to Alex’s newest shape Crash was able to maintain his smile though it wasn’t exactly visible in the dark; he had his eyes focused on the ground so as not to cause any trouble by his normal clumsy ways.

He was actually finding it a little harder than usual to think of something to say, a way to spark up conversation with the other two Where’s Carmen when you need her? I’d even take her teasing right about now It wasn’t like him to be tongue tied or quite so closed off maybe it was because he didn’t know Alex, he’d have to figure out a way to remedy that “So what are your plans for tomorrow?” He asked in a light tone directing the question at both Kathy and Alex he glanced at both of them in turn before returning his eyes to the ground preferring to remain safe. Ok that sucked, ask the boy a question about himself rather than a generalization...not his age...anything but that He didn’t want to view the pixie boy in any other light than young and innocent for now, he wasn’t even going to run the risk of that being shattered. “Alex, what do you like to do...say hobby wise?” Crash asked, searching for some common ground between them.

– Mercy –

Mercy was glad that Zivon accepted the towel she had been careful to keep her hands out of his reach not wanting a repeat of last time. She raised an eyebrow as he shook his head clearly strongly against something...she could only guess the med bay. Of course his next stuttering comment kind of confirmed that he stood up and wobbled slightly it took every ounce of her self- restraint not to reach for him to help him stay steady. Her lips curled up into a smile as she realized what he had said, unsurprisingly a lot of students had that initial reaction when the med bay was mentioned...Kiwi’s reputation was formidable and common knowledge amongst the Athalians.

She wasn’t overly convinced as he assured her he would heal but then gain she hadn’t done her research so what did she know? She ran her hand into her hair fluffing it with her fingers as she thought over what Zivon had said he clearly didn’t want to go to the med bay, she chuckled. “Hmm...Kiwi’s reputation precedes her I see. You should know I’m not nearly as scary as she is...for future reference” Mercy told him with a quick wink. “OK, I believe you. If you heal fast lets skip the med bay and head straight for the ice cream” She told him with a smile on her face.
Mercy was relieved to see Darwin’s smile return in force, it caused her own to grow as she watched him waiting for his reaction to Drow. She of course chuckled softly as he responded the way she had expected, she turned to glance at the other girl as the unicorn took a breath and smiled innocently at the blonde girl. She lifted a questioning eyebrow at Drow as she tugged on the back of her clothes seeing how nervous she looked brought a reassuring smile to her face, before the blonde girl left she quickly lifted her hand covering her mouth she whispered.

“Don’t be too nervous honey, go have a bit of fun let your hair down...and I definitely expect details tomorrow! Girl talk” Mercy was clearly trying to be encouraging hopefully it worked, she lowered her hand and waved the happy couple off a devious smile returning to her face. She noticed Drow look down at a broken phone abandoned on the floor, Mercy was sure she had seen the blonde girl carrying that phone earlier. She shrugged her shoulders before walking over to pick it up, twirling it between her fingers she walked back over to Zivon smiling at him. “I have no idea why Darwin threw skittles at you; skittles are kind of his thing. Just read the packet first...he really likes his cyanide” Mercy warned him as she looked down at the skittles packet either in Zivon’s possession or laying on the floor. “Come on then let’s go get some ice cream” She encouraged him lifting her hand in a ‘follow me’ gesture as she headed towards the lounge door. “What’s your favourite flavour?” She asked him if he followed her.

Liam

The sea looked beautifull, It almost looked like thousand lights wandering over the sea. It reminded her of something the Japanese light festival where everything is covered in beautiful little lights and where they would trow lanterns into the sky. The beach didnt seem to be that dark the night sky had no clouds so the whole beach was lit up in this white moonlight. Liam looked over at Dani who seemed to enjoy the sight he was having she gave a small smile only seeing him so amused. But what was this tight feeling in her chest it felt weird and it felt hard to concentrate on something when she was around Dani.

She couldnt take her eyes off of him, she wanted to but she just couldnt do it. She turned around and tightly shut her eyes when she at the same time slaped herself with both hands onto her cheeks to stop herself from staring at him the whole time This isnt like me, what am I doing. She turned around to Dani again who she might have gotten the attention from now. Her cheeks where a bit red from slapping herself just now but it didnt really hurt she spoke up to him "We should enjoy the view a bit more while walking"

She ran over towards the sea while kicking out her sneakers behind her. She almost fell down into the sand when she kicked her first shoe off her foot. Liam jumped into the sea water swinging her hands from behind her to above her head like they would do after they did a trick. She turned around to see Dani get up towards her as they started to slowly walk along the beach. Liam didnt really care about her shoes at all and left them at the place where she kicked them off she would get them back some time later just like her swimming trunks that she trew in the bushes somewhere at the bar "What happened after you died, Do you still remember." She said while looking at the endless ocean. She placed her hands behind her body holding them together as they kept on walking.

– Kathy

Kathy felt her arm pulled back with a slight jerk as Crash stumbled over his sentence, and something a lot more material jutting out of the ground. “Er, you alright there?” She asked, feeling more concerned from the fact she couldn’t see as well anymore. “We can slow down even more if you want. Or even stop for a moment. The stars aren’t going to run away anytime soon.” Worries aside, she couldn’t help but think, ‘How very Crash-like. He follows Murphy’s law so rigorously it seems like a part of him.’ Hearing his question she admitted, “The latter. I’m ashamed to say that I probably couldn’t identify anything aside from the big dipper.” And in fact, she wasn’t entirely confident about identifying that one either. ‘It should be easy to tell the big and little dipper apart… Right?’ She was about 75% sure that the one constellation she could actually point at was the big dipper. The rest of the 25%, she was worried she had been calling the little dipper the big dipper this entire time.

Feeling more warm fingers close around her previously-free hand, Kathy turned to face Alex and give him a smile for holding hands with her. However, the first expression to cross her face was one of surprise. She had expected to be looking down at a pixie-sized boy, or perhaps someone who was only as tall as her hip-level. Instead, Alex was in his teenage form again and tall enough to look her directly into her eyes. She momentarily turned away from him, feeling a lot shyer than before at his change in appearance. ‘He’s still Alex.’ She reminded herself, ‘He’s still the small boy that asked if you could be his mommy.’ Turning back to face the blue-haired boy, she managed a convincing-enough smile through the bit of nervousness she now felt. She clasped her fingers around Alex’s hand to hold his hand back, but with her other hand she gave Crash’s hand a small squeeze. Almost as if to reaffirm that the shapeshifter was still there.

She was beginning to think neither of these boys were very good for her heart. She had pretty much landed herself in the middle of a heart-attack sandwich.

Kathy found herself falling into a sort of natural silence as they walked on. With her pulse finally beginning to even out a bit, the only sounds really reaching her ears were their soft footsteps against the grass and the occasional twig that snapped under their feet. ‘Should I say something?’ She wondered. She actually didn’t mind the silence all too much, but she didn’t know how Crash or Alex felt about it. The last thing she wanted was for them to feel awkward just continuing on like this in silence. Luckily for her, someone else decided to take the initiative before she ended up in a round and round spiral of thoughts, wondering whether or not she should try to mediate some sort of conversation between them.

“Plans? Let’s see…” Despite the usual light and friendly tone she used, Kathy was busy racking her brain for something to reply back with. The real answer to Crash’s question was: ‘Nothing. I didn’t plan anything out.’ Not only was this an incredibly boring answer, it also seemed like a rather awkward way to accidentally end the conversation off at a stand-still. “Oh!” Unable to hide her small delight upon thinking of a better answer she continued, “I’m going to go through some of my picture albums and get them organized. I’ll um… Let you know when you can come by and pick one for our trade.” She told Crash, smiling in the darkness. ‘After I hide all the embarrassing and bad photos.’ She thought silently. Speaking of photos, she wondered if she could go to Maria and ask if they could all have a group photo on one of the beaches. Even for Athalia it didn’t seem like a common thing to have all the students gathered in a tropical paradise, and she thought it would be a good keepsake for the memories in the future.

She gave Alex a chance to reply to Crash as well (both questions), then turned to the boy for a question of her own. “By the Alex… Just how old are you exactly?” Obviously unaware of the fact Crash had been avoiding this question, Kathy asked Alex this straight out of her own curiosity. She had seen him as a very young pixie, a fully grown adult even bigger than herself, and as this teenager close to her own age. In her mind she retained the image that he just an innocent and adorable little boy, but she began to worry that perhaps she was wrong. Alex’s hand, which she could tell was slightly bigger than her own, truly strengthened the small doubt she felt in her mind.

---

– Leroy

Leroy laughed. “To tell you the truth, I’d never heard of Bakeneko myself until I met my roommate.” He leaned against the table with one arm and the hand supporting his chin as he continued, “Apparently he’s not just a shapeshifter or cat, being a completely different species altogether but I haven’t heard enough detail about what a Bakeneko is yet to try to educate someone else about them.”

“The beach?” He repeated, raising a brow in question with a highly intrigued look on his face. “How was that event anyway? I skipped out on it since it seemed like it required a lot of moving around but I was fairly curious to know what everyone was doing then.” And he wondered just what sort of activity they could have possibly done to involve a random kitten strolling around on the sandy surfaces of the beach. Or rather… What exactly was a small kitten doing on the island in the first place? Surely it couldn’t have been a feral kitten from the wild right? But in that case, it seemed even weirder that the domestic animal would just be wandering around the island without a proper owner. “No owner to claim Sunflower? He or…” Leroy would have guessed female from the name, but he’d known plenty of male AND female ‘Snowball’s, ‘Fluffy’s, and ‘Smokey’s.

Shrugging he replied, “That’s what I would guess. Never met heard of a dorm that allows pets but… Who knows. With all the crazy things that go on in Athalia, a pet is probably the last thing the principal would be worried about. Maybe you can just keep him.” Funny enough, Garden ended up answering his question even without him having to really ask. ‘Little guy’ was a fairly obvious cue after all.

He decided to answer Garden’s question before continuing on with a couple of his own. “I’m actually just planning to camp the night here, so I’ll still be around even after everyone else leaves.” He explained, purposely keeping out the exact reason why he intended to stay at the lounge overnight in the first place. Leroy was just stalling for time. If Garden didn’t inquire about it any further then that was that, but in case she decided to ask about it then he needed to prepare an answer to give her soon. “By the way, what did you mean by ‘dance a bit with the flora’?”

Carmen

Carmen tilted her head at Matt. "'A' or 'the' doesn't matter to me. Phoenix, hm? Why would you be embarrassed about that?" she asked, seeing right through him (the blush helped too) with her piercing bird eyes. "It would seem that the feathered friends have flocked together," she remarked to both Lily and Matt, looking between the two. "The ground just gets so boring sometimes, you know?"

After a pause and listening to Lily and Matt's conversation, Carmen interjected. "Well, we're not going to just stand around on the ground forever, are we? Let's fly!" And with that, she swooped her huge wings and vaulted off the ground, arcing upwards gracefully before lazily circling the two still on the ground a fair bit below her, awaiting their arrival in the air.