As the sirens went off, Kludd instinctively tensed up, scanning the room and trying to find the source of the sudden danger. He was glad his arm was already around Fillan, it was reassuring to him. Some test this is.. making us fight day one. Couldn't we die? He thought bitterly as the light dimmed. His heart started to pound in his chest, the dark had always scared him. His magical energy flickered to life after that, his eyes starting to glow red, symbolizing his magic power was in use. First things first, night vision. A simple spell, which he'd studied so hard it didn't take really any effort to cast. The room lit up again, at least in his eyes, just as a roar ripped through the area and some odd slimy substance starts creeping its way into the room. Not wasting any time pondering what it was, he cast a shielding spell around himself and Fillan, creating sort of a bubble of red energy around the two, protecting them from the creatures which were now taking shape. They looked like animals or humans, but oddly twisted and dark. He wished he had a weapon, or had studied attack spells more thoroughly. As the creatures closed in, it seemed like just fighting with his fists may not be an option.

'Maybe this was the right call after all.' Seren suppressed the small smile that quivered on their lips when Raphael didn't immediately proceed to shove them out of his way. They followed behind the boy with the tingling stirrings of pride worming into their chest. While it definitely shouldn't be --and spoke a lot about Seren's social background-- this was a small win for them. Seren sort of, kind of, in a way asserted themself, and it didn't backfire. That's not to imply Seren's never raise their voice before, or that they'd ever been made to feel their opinion wasn't valued at home, but quite the opposite. Long before he entered their life and soul, their family always doted on their every word. As if Seren was made of glass, and so they all watched out so their voices didn't shatter the fragile child. To be fair, Seren was and still is, emotionally raw from all of the confusion and hurt from their night-terrors, but their family's coddling-but-not-coddling response taught Seren early on that their words meant something. That all it took was the wrong kind of phrasing in response to a simple question like "How are you?" to spoil someone's mood, and they'd never say anything about it either; just be silently upset. It'd be silently all their fault. Needless to say, this contributed to Seren's social anxieties, so they'd still half-expected a shove despite what they learned from the dream. They'd definitely received worse with less warni-

”... Your name."
Alertness drew into Seren's yellow orbs which had previously been occupied with watching The Academy grow bigger as the two approached the monolith of polished stone. 'He's actually talking to me first? And it's not to tell me to buzz off?' It wasn't a question, but Raphael continued, "if you’re going to follow me around like a flea, then I at least should know your name..." The "flea" comment wasn't unnoticed, but Seren brushed that off before it even touched them. Armani was always snide and sassy in the morning anyway, so Seren had a resistance. What stuck out for Seren was when Raphael continued his previous sentence.

”... Er. Just call me Raph, I guess.” With the volunteering of Raphael's nickname Seren allowed themself their small smile from earlier. For someone whose only friends were their siblings, this was especially a big turn around from when the fae was staring daggers at them just moments ago. It didn't take much to please Seren, and it showed. It was sort of, kind of, in a way like he was opening up already? 'Maybe his edges weren't so rough after all.' Like he was trying? A self-conscious voice in the forefront of their mind told Seren that it didn't mean anything, and that they shouldn't be smiling over something so simple. That they should just be normal. Smooth about it. Naturally Seren gave into that voice by wiping the expression off their face, but Seren still took it as a good sign. Everything didn't always have to be so bad. Sometimes you just enter a guy's tormented childhood through his dreams, and everything turned out alright. Right? This was a new school, a new year, and new things abounded around every corner brimming with possibility. New things like getting to hike for the first time; like introducing yourself to someone for the first time.

"I-" Suddenly Seren felt . . . off. They wanted to attribute it to their nerves, but it felt like somet-



Seren's mouth hung open. Feet stuck to where they stood. The off feeling deepened. Without a second more to think about it a geyser of smile catapulted towards the entrance the two were approaching like a predator pouncing on its prey. Path blocked. Caught outside. Eyes wide. Mouth dry. ' . . . o-okay, u-uh . . .' Even their thoughts stut-

Roar: unearthly. Feeling: off. Fists: balled. Spirits: incoming. Thoughts: dark.

'Maybe this wasn't the right call after all.'

Listening to what The headmaster was saying Mikale kind of hoped for a partner, he thought about who his partner would be and how there powers could complement his. He daydreamed about being partners with someone with super strength who could launch him like a cannon ball "that would be so cool" he thought to himself. His daydreaming was interrupted by a loud noise, the room suddenly in motion reacting to the sound. He decided to head towards the far back corner of the room, he saw a few chairs stacked next to a window and climbed to the top one. He sat and watched the other students to see their abilities, he sees a kid put up a red bubble of sorts around him and another person. Next to him a pile of the strange substance began to clomp together, seeping in through an opening in the window, it took the form of an old man. "This is scary stuff, you look like him but can you take a punch like he can" Mikale said jumping down from the stack of chairs.

@OliveYou

Before Feine knew it - the blonde lady he now knew as Lalisa took his hand and shook it, as if teaching him how to shake hands.

'Hmm? T-this isn't what I meant... I know about handshakes and things like that...' Feine found it rather interesting that Lalisa simply grabbed his hand and shook it, though. It took guts to simply shake the hand of someone of such high caliber - like Feine thought of himself. 'I'll allow this handshake - just this once. It must be an honour for them, anyways... and in the end, I'm winning out. This provides me with possible new material for my works.'

Feine bit his tongue as Lalisa squeezed his hand. Now that wasn't something Feine remembered of handshakes, though he didn't particularly care about the techniques of hand shaking and all that. It was likely normal, though.

In time, Lalisa said 'Let's be friends'... to which Feine merely nodded, but didn't say a word. Famous creators often had followers who supported them, so this was no doubt an important step to becoming the next great writer of today's generation.

But then, something particularly interesting happened.

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

"W-what is that infernal sound?!" Feine spoke to himself, but he quickly got an idea of what it possibly meant. "... I see. If this is what I think it is."

Feine's suspicions were very quickly confirmed. All sorts of ominous creatures started to appear through the area, as students rushed to combat them, as if they were warriors from a story. Now that Feine realized what was going on... a grin broke out onto his face, perhaps uncharacteristically. Other students may have yelled, shivered, or even screamed about the spirits. Not Feine, however. Feine was glad - and excited.

"Now this... this is what I've been waiting for... spirits." Feine muttered quietly. "Now-"

Feine was taken off guard by a sudden attack from behind. What he could only assume was a claw dug into the side of his chest, causing noticeable pain. Swiftly, Feine clutched his light wound with a chuckle.

"As a writer, it's best to experience all sorts of things... including pain." Feine explained to his assailant. "This does hurt to a degree, surprisingly enough, though I'm happy you did hurt me. Of course, you lucked out. As soon as you even touched me..."

Feine turned around to his attacker, almost casually - as if he were in no danger. What was there to fear for Feine Rhiter? He'd written all sorts of works. Dying here would just be anticlimactic.

Laying eyes on the spirit that had attacked him, Feine investigated the creature's appearance. It seemed to be a grim mockery of a human being, like Feine's fellow students. Just like them, it too was clearly inferior to Feine Rhiter, at least in his eyes. But what set this beast apart was a large, curved claw on its right arm.

"'As soon as you even touched me, you'd already lost. That's a quote from one of my stories, if subpar trash like you can even fathom the meaning in those words.'" Feine spoke calmly and clearly, eyes on the spirit that had attacked him. "Allow me to end your story. Of course, I expect you to try your best to keep this interesting. After all, I am looking for things to write on. Make this as dramatic as you can muster, though chances are this will be... lackluster." Chances were that the spirit couldn't hear Feine, but on the off chance it could... Feine still thought he'd tell it what was what.

Feine was excited... his first fight awaited him. Though he didn't have his spear on him at the moment, it would still be a cinch to beat his enemy. Feine was the most powerful wind user to grace the Academy, or even the most powerful person in the Academy in general. Or, so he thought...

Nonetheless, his enemy waited ahead of him. Feine stepped closer and closer to his opponent, ready to unleash wind magic on his foe...

The fae seemed vaguely uninterested even though he was the one to request the white haired person’s name, just blankly watching them as they opened their mouth to speak. It quite possibly could be the case that this was his resting face, just generally unamused with the world around him. Could be a reason why people avoided him for the most part... well, that and his rough personality.

But, nothing came out. Seren has cut themselves off, making the blonde boy cock a brow with impatience. Raphael was close to going off on the ridiculous little demon, until a horrible ear piercing sound struck his eardrums.

”Ow! Ah, what the—?!” Raph stopped in his tracks with a wince, slamming one of his hands against his ear in a futile attempt to protect his hearing from the invasive sound. Before he could do much else once he got his sense back, there was what appeared to be some sort of blob of slime walling off the door to the inside. Spirits were slowly coming in. If they didn’t move fast, they would be surrounded out here.

The wild golden eyes flashed back at Seren, only to see them paralyzed in fear. A sinking feeling pulled at his heart. Somewhere in their subconscious a little voice said you can’t just leave them defenseless like this.

Raphael’s upper lip curled into a frustrated snarl, he suddenly reaching out and grasping Seren by the opposite shoulder, throwing them quite carelessly behind him. ”I said don’t get in the way! Stay behind me until I get rid of it, then get inside!” Raph barked the orders, facing the slime spirit and holding out his right hand. A ball of light began to swirl and form in his palm, before suddenly bursting out on either end. It formed the shape of a sword, the light condensing with a snap to solidify the weapon. Raphael lowered his stance, glaring harshly at the spirit. ”Today isn’t your day, pal...” He growled.

Suddenly the fae shot forward, bringing the blade down into the blob with a schloop. The thing jiggled from the shock and pain of the blow, but refused to release the golden edge. Raph’s eyes widened as he was tossed off to the side, the blade shattering back into the light it came from. Still, he had injured the spirit.

”You wanna play that way, huh...?” This time, Raph held his palm outstretched towards the sky, where the same balls of light formed at about eight different angles from him. Raphael threw his hand forward at the slime spirit, the balls sharpening into daggers and stabbing multiple holes into the blob. It let out a silent cry of pain, beginning to retaliate the attack when an evil smirk curled the corners of Raphael’s lips. His hand clenched into a fist, the daggers reforming into balls in the slime’s gelatinous body, but they became smaller and shook in an unstable manner until they exploded into golden spikes shooting out at all sides of the spirit. The spirit was now so ripped up, it could barely bring itself back together of it even tried.

Raph snatched up Seren’s hand, dragging them along beside him as they quickly got themselves safely inside the school. The blonde boy was panting already, having to double over to catch his breath. It seemed he had overdone it with those light formations, and the artificial lights of the school definitely wouldn’t be enough to replenish his powers, but he’d just have to do. ”Come on, move. We gotta get back to the orientation room.”

@Metamore

REEEEEEEE

Atlan was so surprised by that noise he nearly choked on his granola bar. What was making that ghastly noise. Atlan looked around for what was making that noise, and what he saw did not make him happy. Evil spirits were streaming into the building from multiple directions. The other first years were having many different reactions; some were panicking, while others were getting ready for a fight. Atlan quickly scarfed down the rest of the granola bar and started heading towards where most of the spirits were coming from. He "jumped" to the other side of the hall and then rolled his sleeves up. He hadn't really thought of how he was going to fight the spirits, so he was going to have to work with the other students.

"Work together and don't get isolated! Help each other and don't abandon your fellow students!"

Hoping the other students would listen he started to walk towards one of the leading spirits ready for a fight.

As the senior students begin to marshal the weaker to safety and create a barrier around the school walls, the Spirits begin to attack. Students fight back, fall, are carried away to the middle, and more take their places. The Spirits are vicious, but the students are intelligent and possess a wide variety of weapons and abilities, making it easier to fight off the hordes. Miss Headmaster watches, satisfied and proud of her return students, then directs her attention to the first years. One, despite his slight appearance, has managed to bring the lights back to full strength, and another creates a red shield. They seem to be holding up well under pressure--but it seems a few are missing.

She frowns. That fairy child... and the youngest Woloust sibling... Where did they run off to? She hopes they can fend for themselves, but if not... She should go search for them.

A Spirit shrieks from the middle of the crowd, and another bear-like one roars. The staff tend to the wounded; she will search for the missing.

--

Lalisa takes a breath, trying to concentrate with so much noise around her. That was the one thing she could never get used to, the noise. But she must if she wants to become strong. And she will become strong. She must.

Standing to face the Spirit in front of her and Feine, Lalisa starts to chant. Slowly, softly at first, then gaining volume as her spell takes effect. Oh Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? The first words to pop into her head are those of Shakespeare, which certainly makes sense, and Lalisa channels her power into those words, chanting Juliet's part steadily. Her magic, while powerful, requires both energy and a spoken chant, though the words are different for each user. In this case, she's chosen to chant Romeo and Juliet, but it works either way.

Vines snake up her legs, quite literally planting her in a circle of green, and there is a great crack as the branches of a tree shoot from the ground to snare her opponent. In a matter of minutes, Lalisa transforms part of the great hall into a field of flowers, letting her vines wrap around random Spirits. She can't do many, of course. Already, the exhaustion is beginning to settle into her bones, a tiredness that has Lalisa struggling to stay upright. The first is always the worst. She sighs, stretching out her green-stained hands to summon a few more plants.

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes."

Even with her plants in place, the Spirit attacks faster than she thought it would, wrenching itself free from her trap to strike at her neck. Lalisa, losing her balance, tumbles backwards, letting out a squeak as she falls. The Spirit advances.

"Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo--"

Mikale stared into the spirits eyes, "You look just like him but you'll never have his eyes" he said in disgust. Mikale rushed towards the look-alike, and they started exchanging a barrage of fists.

"Hey old guy, what are we gonna do today?" Mikale asked the old man, "How many times do I have to tell you my name is... never mind, today we're going to start your training"

The spirit through a punch that connected Harshly to Mikales jaw, Mikale stumbled back a bit. "Not bad, but no where near as good as he was" they began trading blows again.

"Mikale you need to focus, a fight isn't just throwing the hardest punch. You have to read your opponent, predict their next move"

Mikale observed the look-alike, he fought in repetition, he throws a right then a left and feints. Mikale waited for the opening "Now!" he thought, Mikale dodged his right then closed the gap between them. He hit the look-alike with an strong hook and the spirit sprawled on the floor, the spirit began to melt into a goop. "How disappointing, the old man wouldve seen such a crappy punch coming a mile away. To think I let you touch me" Mikale sighed.

"I will be back in a bit Mikale, I'm just going to the forest to get some wood, winter is coming" The old man began to head off, "Wait,
old guy i'm coming with you" Mikale said confidently. "No, you must stay here and set up for my return" The old man ordered, Mikale kissed his teeth, he went back inside. Every year the old man would go into the woods at this time and come back with a heap of wood, but he never brought an ax with him. Curious, Mikale began to follow the old mans tracks into the woods, He saw him looking up at a large oak tree, Mikale hid behind bushes being sure not to make a sound. The old man took a step back and kicked forward, Mikale felt a gust of wind and the tree began to tilt to the side, slowly it fell to the ground, Mikale softly gasped in awe to the old mans power. The old man grabbed the tree by the branch and called out "I thought I told you to set up the cabin! If you're not home before me, you will be spending the next week outside you disobedient wretch" Mikale began to dart towards the cabin well aware the old man wasn't bluffing, the cabin was now in sight, "I might win thi.." The old man bolted past him lugging the tree on his shoulders, "Not fair!" Mikale cried out.

Sitting back down, Ashley focused her attention back to the Headmaster as she finished her speech. She was disappointed that she didn't get to speak with Lalisa any further, maybe even ask her to join Sister's United. She sighed through her nose and shrugged her shoulders. She turned and glanced at the guy named "Fillan", regretting her decision to not punch him in the face, but then looked to the person next to him, an intimidatingly tall guy she didn't like the look of. Maybe she could punch him too, later, to make up for her mistake.

Just then, a loud ringing sound rung out throughout the cavernous area. She jumped up to attention, looking around in alarm. Becoming irritated from standing and sitting repetitively she witnessed as the lights dimmed and slime-like substances started to pour in, quickly trying to surround them. She noticed as the slime substances took forms of various animals and humans. The other children around the darkened room took up fighting stances, pulling out weapons, preparing to fight the nasty creatures. Ashley quickly snuffed out her surprise and alarm and looked around the area for any sort of weapon to defend herself with. Not finding anything of use, she slammed her foot down onto the seat, splitting the wood in half. She then proceeded to pull off a large piece of wood, using it for some kind of makeshift dagger.

Feeling a sense of pride for women, she ran swiftly into the heat of battle, where most of the slime creatures were at. There were many senior warriors in this area, protecting the weaker students. Deciding that she didn't need to be saved, she darted at one of the creatures, holding her "dagger" at mid height. It sensed her coming, turning around, but it was too late for it. Ashley slammed the stick into the creature's neck, and then kicked it off as it tried to grasp onto her. She was yet again alarmed by how similar these slime-substances looked to actual humans and other animals. She frowned, not liking about how little she knew about these monsters.

Not wanting to be one-uped by any of the guys, even the senior warriors, she did this various times, soon becoming exhausted and fatigued. She huffed, her heart racing and her muscles becoming tired and sore. Ashley furrowed her eyebrows, refusing to stop, she pushed herself back into the middle of the battle. She tried continuing to fight but her body said otherwise. Ashley soon found herself surrounded in battle by multiple enemies, exhausted and tired, she gripped her makeshift dagger prepared to defend herself.

@OliveYou

Feine didn't feel in any danger from his opponent. An enemy could hurt you, yes, but that didn't necessarily mean they were a threat. So, Feine thought it'd be rather entertaining to show his dominance over the humanoid spirit by doing something else entirely, while also slightly keeping an eye on his foe's attacks - then dodging utilizing wind propulsion. But, unfortunately... Feine found that this wasn't such an easy task. In the end, he ended up paying more attention to dodging the attacks from his opponent.

"You - you know what? You're rather persistent. That doesn't mean anything, of course," Feine looked the spirit in the eyes as he began to communicate with it... even if it was unable to understand him. "In the grand scheme of things, I'm a major character in the world - you're a mere spirit, hardly even a minor character. Your name will fade away, but mine will never. In fiction, you exist as fodder for a hero to mow down, to show off what they can do. You're nowhere near on my level. And, finally - let me tell you that I let you hit me earlier."

Feine slowly, and confidently stepped towards the spirit, his scarf moving slightly as he moved. His hands were curled into fists, ready to strike at his opponent. Having his spear on him would be a major boon - he and the spear were two sides of one coin. Feine's wind magic was far more powerful if he had his spear nearby. For a second, he wondered - could he teleport it? Or was that merely a dream? Perhaps he could teleport it to his hands, but someone like Feine couldn't remember their thousands of talents. Even the best have limits, he thought.

"What is interesting about a story without conflict, drama? If everyone is excreting rainbows and all that rubbish, that's not very interesting, is it?" Feine explained... as he took a sudden step towards his enemy, a spirit. "I will finish you in one strike. It'll be as easy as taking pen to paper - no, easier."Feine stomped onto the ground, in order to bring himself closer to his opponent... and then, in an upwards sweeping motion, Feine grabbed hold of the spirit's claw. Feine chuckled - this made it easy, as Feine wasn't simply grabbing his opponent. No - the upwards motion he made with his hand had a purpose... a purpose that worked with Feine's wind manipulation.

A very temporary, but decently powerful gust of wind blew from beneath his opponent, which would propel them upwards... but Feine was grabbing onto his opponent, for an all too typical reason of the young writer - to boast.

"Oh, please. I'm the tiniest bit surprised that worked." Feine whispered to his opponent, the spirit. "As soon as I let go, you'll be knocked a slight distance into the air. Gravity will do the work, so enjoy that."Feine casually let go of his opponent and turned away with a snicker... though perhaps he was overestimating his abilities? The spirit landed on the ground, with wounded legs... however, Feine assumed that it was dead. How could a spirit resist Feine's grand power?

Feine analyzed the other students in the room. He thought he was done with his spirit... so it was time to move on to a new one.

The young writer noticed his new friend, the blonde haired Lalisa fighting spirits. Interestingly enough, she was using plant magic... and as it turned out, she'd turned a part of the floor into a field of flowers that Feine somehow didn't notice, in his battle frenzy. Lalisa was saying something, though. Something interesting.

She seemed to be chanting lines from Romeo and Juliet.

'... Those lines - in a fight? Is this an attempt to impress me?' Feine wondered to himself. 'Of course, that's natural. In the sea, the fish Remora latch onto certain larger fish of higher status. In the great big sea of life, I am one such larger fish. In this case, people try to impress me to make me do things for them, like their homework. And then I say no.'

While his new friend was fighting off spirits, Feine thought it'd be best not to interrupt. One didn't achieve excellence through being assisted through challenges - no, they achieved it by overcoming those challenges themselves.

However, eventually... one of the spirits rooted in place from Lalisa's magic broke free, and sent her tumbling to the ground. She still seemed to be quoting Romeo and Juliet, too, though Feine didn't quite hear enough of it to know what it was.

'Really? I can make exceptions regarding people who provide me inspiration. It's my way of giving back to them - if they give me inspiration, I may just help them out.' Thought Feine, as he looked upon the situation.

Feine dashed over to the spirit, which had charged towards Lalisa - and forcefully kicked it, without as much finesse as he hoped to use. But the attack seemed to get the job done, for the spirit was knocked to the ground.

Placing a foot onto the spirit's body, Feine spoke.

"Not many have the pleasure of being rescued by someone of such a level as I, Feine Rhiter," Feine said, calmly. "However, it is important to take fights seriously. If you were to die here, that would prove rather anti-climactic in the story of this Academy. These foes are fodder-"

As if to prove Feine wrong, he heard something moving towards him - it was the clawed, humanoid Spirit from earlier, the same one he'd fought previously. Feine went to finish it off, but he found that he was still standing atop the spirit that went to attack Lalisa.

With a sigh, Feine stood in place and waited for his previous, wounded opponent to come closer, so Feine could hit it with wind magic. In the meantime - Feine noticed some other students from before moving about. In particular, he noticed the wild man from earlier having a fierce punch-off with a spirit, seemingly holding his own. Immediately, Feine's mind moved back to... what else, but writing?

'That man... intriguing. He seems to be a talented fighter. I'll jot that down after this. Such a character trait could make for interesting scenarios, though many of these students seem interesting, now that I think about it.'

Done with his fight Mikale thought about helping the others, he dismissed the thought. Now was a perfect time to see the abilities of the other students. He spotted the aggressive girl from earlier, she was rushing in with daggers, is she an assassin perhaps? She has a lot of power if her launches, she appears to be pretty strong. "Why is she slowing down" Mikale thought, at this rate she will be overrun.

Mikale dashed over to the aggressive girl who was now surrounded by spirits, he ran to the center of them. "You really shouldnt bite off more than you can chew" He said as he joined the fight. As icky as they were he couldn't help but be fascinated by the spirits, He began to wonder how their shifting works, these also didn't appear to be as strong as the Old man's look a like. He almost got lost in thought as a wolf leaped at him, he kicked the wolf back into the crowd.

Mikale noticed the aggressive girl was short of breathe, he new the right thing would be to pick her up and retreat to safety but he disregarded that for two reasons, she wouldn't let him if he tried and she was still fighting. He saw a bit of himself in her will to not give up, to keep fighting against all odds, so he stayed and fought.

Ashley huffed and side-eyed Mikale as he drew near her. He said something along the lines of "You really shouldn't bite off more than you can chew," as he joined her in the midst of the fighting. As if. She gripped her wooden dagger as she placed her hands on her thighs, trying to catch her breath, but the spirits didn't allow that for long. She ducked as one of them attacked, only a hair's length away from striking her.

"Go away, I don't need your help," she called out to Mikale, who was also fighting off the creatures near her. She wasn't a damsel in distress, she didn't need saving. "You'll just be getting in my way," Ashley said while blocking an attack that almost knocked her off of her feet. She grunted and pushed forward, barely overcoming the slime-creature as she placed her makeshift dagger in it's chest. Breathing heavily, she posed in a fighting stance, waiting for her next attacker.

The best way to describe it would be like sweat-slicked, elongated fingers slipping cotton ball after cotton ball into Seren's ears, through the corners of their eyes, and filling to the brim the pouches of their cheeks. It was wrong and off, and Seren couldn't help but just stand there. They could still hear the ringing of the alarm going off in the ears, and they had heard Raphael's reaction as well, but here they stood. Some slimy creature crawling under the doorway were they supposed to be going through, and here they stood feeling off.

”I said don’t get in the way! Stay behind me until I get rid of it, then get inside!” With the words leaving his mouth, Raphael nearly threw Seren behind him. 'Am I moving?' Seren thought absentmindedly. They were in no state to catch themself, and so they fell right side first atop the grass. They had enough sense about them to know they needed to get up, but taking it slow seemed so much easier. Lazily they rolled onto their back, their knees bent to the sky as they stared. 'What is this feeling?' They asked themself. Whatever feeling was, it began to hollow Seren out. Emptying. 'Is this a dream?' Their head lolled on the grass, horns forcing their neck to arch as they looked up to the blue expanse of the sky. The sky was clear, but not empty. Winged spirits flocked overhead. The flock wasn't attacking, but dancing? Almost. Their formation was fluid and weaved in and out of their original pattern, and their bodies only helped in aiding a comparison to. sewing needles; they were thin and sharp.

Seren wasn't the kind to space out, and when they did it was introspective, but this? This was surreal. It was like waking up inside a dream; they could feel the vulnerability of reality, and it was soft. Something inside of them started slipping, but they couldn't really pay it any mind. With that slip though, came a the strings of clarity like a cool, light breeze. Light gleamed to life in their peripheral vision, and swiped at something Seren couldn't quite see at their angle. 'Raph.' They dully thought. Blinking away their lethargy, Seren slowly rose to a siting position. They had enough sense to know where they needed to be. They put their hand to the earth to stabilize themself, and pushed off from it to stand. Languidly, they tossed their head back to see the sky, and it was not soft. Like falling arrows the spirits overhead descended with a murderous intent that cracked over Seren's body. Reality snapped back into place. They had been sleeping awake, because this was not a dream. This was survival. They needed to move. Panic whipped at their heels, and just in the nick of time as Raph hurriedly snatched their hand, pulling them to the door. A deflated, gelatinous form dissolved beneath them as they stepped pass the threshold. So far Seniors ensured that the spirits hadn't breached the halls, but the two still ran for better safety in numbers with their grade.

”Come on, move. We gotta get back to the orientation room.” exhaustion coated his voice. It finally struck Seren that Raphael had just saved them.

"Right. Right. Thank you so much. Thank you." Seren huffed, exasperating their already breathy voice into a mere whisper. Once again, Seren felt a pang of guilt towards the boy. Here he was fighting and trying, and all Seren could do was feel off. They couldn't help but think of their sisters. Their sacrifices, their effort. "Right," Seren said to themself as they were dragged back to The Orientation Hall. 'Focus, Seren. Be strong. Remember why you came here.' They commanded themself, unintentionally tightening their grip on Raphael's hand. In a stark contrast, there was even more chaos inside the hall than out. The welcoming screaming of unprepared freshmen was enough to make their shoulders hike. 'Remeber why you're here.' Something had to be done. Scanning the room made them clench their jaw. Twisted figures attempting to look human, and gnarly beasts prowled and swarmed. Some crowded around a girl standing in an indoor meadow; others lashed out at a bicking duo; and dozens faced off against the upperclassmen filling through the hall like they've trained for this.

"Work together and don't get isolated! Help each other and don't abandon your fellow students!" A brave voice called out among the masses before stepping out towards one of the leading spirts amongst the horde. His chivalry would soon be cut short however by the shadow spirit stalking him, which had begun rising from the floor behind the unsuspecting Atlan. A head took form out of the inky creature, or more specifically: three rows of teeth from an expanding jaw.

"Stop!" Startled into action, Seren reached out in the Shadow's direction; their fingers hooking like claws without even thinking to. They didn't have time to think about it, impulse just took over as demonic magic surged through their veins; coating their eyes sickly yellow. Still, Seren had never used their abilities so willingly, or aggressively. The strain of it took the breath out of their lungs. However the demonic origin of their power proved enough to momentarily effect the spirit. Momentarily. It did paused briefly, head bobbing dazedly, before Seren's eyes faded back to normal. At this, the creature quickly sunk back into the flow and zipped straight at the cambion.

@CherryWitch
@Insert Alias

All of a sudden, the Spirit advancing towards Lalisa is kicked away, thrown to the side by Feine, who then proceeds to speak at length about his amazing abilities, and Lalisa feels a strange emotion. She tries to pinpoint it, ignoring Feine’s speech in the process. What is it?

Ah, yes. Annoyance.

You see, Lalisa doesn’t get annoyed often. She’s usually the peaceful one, being brought up as quiet-mannered and calm, whatever the situation. Thus, this chain of events is new to her, this rapid exchange of blows is quite unlike anything she’s experienced back home. Back home it was just her and Grandmama, in their little gingerbread cottage. She’s never met anyone this conceited, and it bothers her. Why does he think he’s so great, anyway? Has he never heard of the word “friendship” or “teamwork”?

Mind still stuck on the lines of Romeo and Juliet, Lalisa struggles to stand, legs wobbling slightly under the strain of moving so soon after spending so much energy so quickly. Mustering up her courage, and any magic still left in her reserves, she opens her mouth to speak. Staring straight at Feine as she does, she quotes yet more Shakespeare--

“Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them, which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.”

Green vines and branches spring up around the area, trapping, in particular, a Spirit trying to attack a helpless Seren. Lalisa takes a deep breath, and calls forth one more tree.

“What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
Have at thee, coward!”

And then, magic spent, she promptly faints.

--

As the fighting begins to wind down, the Spirits repelled by the mass of students inside the great hall, the frontal defense begins to fall back, clustering into a tight formation around the wounded. The oldest students stand tall, undefeated, but battered from the tough fight as a temporary hush falls over the crowd. The remaining Spirits, bruised but “alive”, if such beings can be called alive, flee from the wall of students, once again shapeless and incorporeal. A mixture of black dust and slime from the defeated recedes, returning to whatever cracks it came from.

Silence falls. Students catch their breath, tend to their wounds. And then, somebody speaks:

“It’s not over yet.”

The crowd waits. People hold their breath, unable to break the silence that descends like fog. The lights flicker, as if they were unsettled by the absence of dark energy. A chill sweeps throughout the crowd, through the ranks of students--oldest first, first years in the back, wounded in the middle. In the midst of the crowd, somebody grows impatient, and quiet murmurs ripple throughout the settling dust.

And, suddenly--roar rips through the Great Hall, sending the dust whirling. Standing in front of the majestic stone doors, a large bear, rising from the purple and black slime on the floor, solidifies to face the students. Silence shattered, orders are barked above the din.
Swords are raised. Spells are prepared. Injured make one last stand.

Miss Headmaster Elysion lands, golden wings alight, to lead the final fight.

@Metamore@Canidae@ReveTheDreamer@QueenNugget@AGenericUser@Insert Alias@Cherrywitch@pandapolio@Joker892

For the most part, Raphael was ignoring the demon child he was protecting. It ticked him off, really. Who did this kid think they were, making Raph save their butt? And why did he suddenly have a damn conscience all of a sudden? It wasn’t like he enjoyed being around the brat, all he wanted to do was shake them off. Still, the fae was acting as a personal bodyguard. Raphael grumbled under his breath, which there was still little of after the recent encounter.

Finally into what Raph had expected to be a safe haven, the two discovered even more calamity in the main hall. Blood, weapons and some ink-like substance strewn on the ground alongside injured students, most of the first year such as Raphael and Seren were. For a split second, Raph felt his faerie side poke at him to try and heal his comrades, but he shook it off like a wet dog. Who would help these morons? All he had to do was keep the kid—

Where did they go?

Raphael flicked his gaze about frantically, whirling around on his heel just in time to see Seren piss off one of the gelatinous creatures. The blonde ground his teeth in frustration. God, this kid was more of a bad listener than he was!

”What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

The fae boy shoved the white haired Seren out of the way, creating a translucent golden shield just in time to block the attack. But, his magic was weak without direct sunlight, and he had used a lot earlier. The shield shattered fairly quickly, only taking some of the damage for him as he was knocked back painfully onto the floor. ”Ah...” Raphael winced, inspecting his bleeding forearm, cut deep with claw marks.

Luckily, the monsters had begun to flee, even if they had not all been badly injured. Raph pushed himself up onto his feet, eyeing the more injured in the center of the wall of students. Ch. I don’t need to sit out.

Before the calm could allow the students to rest for long, another beast’s piercing roar slammed into their eardrums, Raphael squinting and covering his nearest ear from the sound. ”These things don’t stop coming...” He hissed under his breath, glancing again at his bleeding arm. Raphael extended the hand and forged a long sword from the sunlight, it noticeably flickering in creation. He was running low on energy... he had to make this fast.

The sharp auburn eyes shot up like daggers at the bear, Raph scowling with blatant annoyance. Like a bolt, the blonde raced forward, turning on his side and sliding to the side of the bear creature, a determined look hardening his expression. On his good hand, Raphael flipped himself over onto one foot, swinging the blade down against the spirit’s spine. He slid to the side, avoiding the immediate next attack, and gaining the attention of the beast. Now, it left itself open.

@OliveYou@Metamore

Feine thought he'd rescued Lalisa, but she didn't even utter a single word of thanks. No - instead, she continues to quote some of Shakespeare's works, while looking him straight in the eye. It felt to Feine as it it were a move out of spite... yet, why? Feine had rescued her, and she did something like that?

'I saved her life, and this is how she repays me? This is blatant disrespect.' Feine thought to himself. 'Her words, the very words that Shakespeare weaved - she speaks them to spite me, no doubt. This is an insult to both I, as a writer, and Shakespeare himself, though...'

'This is an interesting turn of events. I didn't expect this type of defiance from this lady, Lalisa. What an interesting trait, in that she doesn't even thank me - but instead chooses to do as she did! This is disrespect to me, yes, but I can tolerate this. I will tolerate it all for the sake of my writing. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to allow these people to push me around. Everybody has a place, and a majority are beneath me. In society, one shouldn't mock those above them. While I will tolerate it, I will make sure they know their place - and if they dare try to overtake me, then I will show them their place.'

But it was then... it was then that the interesting lady, Lalisa fainted due to an overuse of magic. Feine noticed this, and rolled his eyes. "Hmm. I would chalk this up to a time old error, that of overconfidence. Everyone has their flaws, even me. So, I will make sure this Lalisa survives. Dying here would simply be anti-climactic in this story we call life." Feine muttered to nobody in particular, as he noticed several wounded shadows begin to hightail their way out of the area.

Soon, silence followed. But, the battle was far from over. No... perhaps it had only just begun? Eventually, an enormous roar ripped through the area, as if it belonged to some great beast. Feine wondered what it could be... he was rather excited to see what awaited him. There was nothing quite like a good fight, though he knew he'd be more at home if he had his spear on him.

Eventually, the source of the roar appeared... it was an enormous Shadow, with a shape that resembled that of a bear. It wasn't what Feine expected, though he had a history regarding bears - in fiction, of course. Whether they lived in blue houses, made students kill each other, or helped students fight off otherworldly beings... bears seemed to have a place in fiction.

But Feine couldn't simply attack the beast without a word. This was clearly an important creature, a threat, a 'boss' as one would call a powerful being in the world of gaming. So, with his gaze fixed on the giant bear, Feine thought it fit to belittle it.

"Have you ever heard of the phrase 'All bark, no bite?' I have my suspicions that it applies to you! Allow me to direct you to your rightful place in the afterlife!" Feine exclaimed, proud of his words. He truly felt as if he were a hero from one of his works. "Nothing personal... kid, or bear."

However, something interesting appeared... it was another person who caught Feine's eye. A speedy blonde boy, who seemed to have the power to create weapons out of what seemed to be the light itself. The Academy seemed to be home to all sorts of interesting people, though even still... Feine had an issue with the blonde boy's actions. He was fighting off the enormous bear. He seemed like a fairly talented fighter.

'No... this is not your kill, blonde boy. It will be I who ends this beast. That's simply how this should be...' Feine thought.

And with that, Feine rushed towards the enormous beast, no weapon in hand - though he felt as if he didn't need one. He had experience with his fists, though he would much rather prefer a spear.

He still had his wind magic, though it was weaker without his spear...

Their knees immediately felt weak. Their pupils dilated with fear, and a familiar tingle simmered it's way across their skin, yet just as soon as it came, it was interrupted by Raphael coming to his rescue.

”What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Their being shoved to the side jerked away the sensation, and to the close observer, the hue of their skin regained it's natural pale. Having no time to dwell on it, Seren scrambled to regain their composure, and called back "I-I'm s-" the scream of shattered light and the thud of Raph's body against the floor stole the words from their mouth and left it dry. They started towards him, but forgot about the encroaching spirit. It lunged forwards, and the impulses of fight or flight were sapped cold from their body. Seren froze. Stopped them dead in their tracks. Body clenched so tight it threatened to collapse in on itself. Seren awaited the snap of jaws around their neck that never came.

A moment of silence hushed over the room, and Seren allowed themself to breath again; a right they hadn't realized was taken from them. Not even thinking to see who saved them, Raph had their full attention again. They wanted to rush to his side, however fate had other plans, and a gutteral roar split through the hall; re-planting Serens's feet where they stood. A wave of off racked their senses, but worse than that? Their eyes screwed shut. They could feel their bones shaking. They felt defeated. In the space of a hour they'd felt more useles, terrified, and wrong then they had since hecame into their life. This dropping of their gut was not unfamiliar to them, and it burnt white-hot shame into them realizing just how in over their head they were. Their teeth grinded as they formed fists. 'Do something. Do something. Do something.' In their peripheral, movement pulled in their vision.

Raphael sprung back up, brushing past Seren with fiery determination in his eyes. Whipping around to see where the fae was headed, Seren caught a glimpse of a girl he'd seen earlier. The girl within the indoor meadow. Trailing from her grass were vines and branches that ensnared the very same spirit that had threatened them. 'She saved me.' As a tree spurred to life near her, its caster wilted. Falling limp like a sack of leaves. Just enough weight to pang that unmistakable thud, and just light enough to remind you of the owner's fragility. Another beastly wail, possibly one of pain, but Seren didn't have the nerve to face it. Instead it just shook them to their core. 'No.' they commanded themself. This time had to be different. 'Do something.' Snapping into a sprint, Seren dashed to Lalisa. Seren couldn't face monsters, but they could tend to the fainted.

Running around the edges of students, they avoided the conflict all together, but what they saw through the crowd was more than unsettling. Even amongst the havoc and palpable aura of the bearish fiend, some parasites still corralled the weak. Spirits in the form of twisted, black slugs writhed and slithered their way towards Lalisa's greenery intent on spiritually feeding on the unconscious girl. Crossing the circle of grass, Seren crouched over over her on their knees. Seren lifted her head into their lap, and cupped her face with their hands. "Hey," their voice as gentle as they could manage, "This isn't a place you want to be sleeping." As if coaxing a child out of bed, they shrugged her shoulders. Their eyes flickered up, and caught slugs worming their way between the grass blades. "Please!" Growing desperate Seren tried to lift Lalisa by her head, but miscalculated her weight, and she slipped from his hands. A small yelp escaped them as they flung themself to her side again. "Sorry! I'm sorry, uh- ah!" Seren slapped away a parsitic spirit that had begun to crawl up Lalisa's calf. Suckling in a breath, Seren regained their footing, and began pulling Lalisa away by her wrists. They didn't have time to carry her effectively, and this was definitely much slower than they needed to go, but they were out of ideas.

Pulling on their limited strength, Seren hefted and twisted her body around, so that she was now collapsed on their back; legs dragging behind them. Something slimy slid up their own leg -off cracked down their spine- and Seren barely managed to shake it off. 'This isn't gonna work, This isn't gonna work! I'm too slow!' Their thoughts screamed at them, and their grimaced face panicked. Seren scanned the crowd looking for help, but everyone was either on the sidelines tending to their selves and others, or facing off against the greater evil in the center of the hall. To be honest, the pair wasn't all that far from the fight, so their safety was non-existent. Another slug latched itself to Seren, and only Lalisa's body slipping from their grasp kept their mind off of the sudden surge of off. Yanking her forward flush aginst their back, Seren pleaded, almost screaming, with exasperation. "Please wake up now!" Hopefully someone would take pity on them, because Seren didn't know how much longer they could hold her up with more slugs clinging to them. Only instinct kept them sloshing through the sea of off that poured down on them thick and heavy with each clinging spirit. Only instinct reached into Lalisa's mind, searching for something, anything to use from her dreams to hide the cambion from further spirits. It would be flimsy at best, and only effect Lalisa herself, but this was base survival instinct; there was no reasoning with it, just the need to keep moving. Seren had spent up their fight and freeze. Only flight remained.

@OliveYou

Fillan pressed himself up against the back wall of the Great Hall, trying his best to avoid getting caught in the fray. As weapons clashed and spells were cast, things were starting to look more hopeful to him. He fiddled slightly with his tie as he stood back, unsure of what to do. Most of these students looked like they were professional fighters, using their weapons and striking without any second thoughts. He was in disbelief, How can they do that? Just...fight? Is is in their nature? In everyone's nature? Fight or flight? Fillan tried assessing his situation, Is there any strategy to this? What sense of law is prevalent in the midst of all this chaos? The law of club and fang? Kill or be killed... Tossing a glance to his side, Kludd was a lighthouse, his hands held out. He looked deceptively confident about what he was doing. A blue bubble surrounded them like a cell membrane as the battle raged onward.

The fight seemed to be reaching near it's resolution. Fillan could feel the bitterness growing inside him. I've done nothing, absolutely nothing! What am I, a leaden idol? He crumpled internally, burying his face within his hands. his heart pounded and he could feel sweat gather at his brows. Why am I even here?

His thoughts were interrupted by a tremor racing through the floor. Fillan snapped his hand to the back wall to prevent himself from falling. Out of the ground rose a gigantic shadow bear, the edges of the bear-shaped apparition were whispy and blurred against the background it appeared in. Despite being a spirit itself, the stifling vortex which is a parody to true eyes was only soulless, devoid of any regular animation that may hint towards any of the normal indicators of life. Those eyes look like they can suck your soul right out of you... He held his breath as it rose it's snout to the sky and let loose a deafening roar. Broken from his spell, Fillan slowly retreated away from it, slinking along the back wall, but never letting his eyes leave the phantom.

The bear seemed to have it's attention drawn somewhere else and lumbered away from his direction. Fillan shuddered as he realized it had taken notice of another student, whose arm was maimed. That's the kid from earlier! The one who tried to take Kludd's wallet! Despite being injured, the blonde haired boy had a defiant expression which he wore like war paint on his face. While the kid looked courageous, Fillan stood in silent disbelief; he had a gut feeling things weren't going to turn out well. The kid was lightning fast however and the deep gash on his forearm didn't seem to bother him any as he nimbly sidled up next to the beast and dug his blade into it's back before darting once more away. Feine, the boy with the white hair, charged headlong into battle, racing towards the bear. Fillan tore his eyes away from the scene, he could hear something- someone. In din of the battle, he could pick out one sound perfectly;
"Please wake up now!"

Time slowed down, Fillan scrambled along the edge of the room, avoiding the rust colored blades and ebony claws of nameless creatures. His feet clumsily fell into place as he dashed towards the direction of the cry for help.

Parting his way through the clamor, Fillan witnessed a dire sight. He couldn't tell who the strange student was, a clock draped their body and light hair obscured their features. Who Fillan could recognize was the unconscious girl the stranger was attempting to carry on their back. Lalisa. All of her color was drained from her and the kid who carried her trembled beneath her weight. Leech-like creatures swarmed around them, encircling the pair. He felt his heart freeze with indecision, What am I doing here?

@Metamore@ReveTheDreamer

Atlan had been faring pretty well against the spirits considering he had no weapon with him. He had been trying to keep the use of his magic to a minimum. Atlan would only use his time manipulation if he was about to get hit by one of the spirits. He fell back from the front lines of the fight to get his breath back and maybe get a quick snack. As he sat there chewing on a new granola bar, he witnessed the massive spirit in the form of a bear rise up and the students rush back into combat. Atlan wanted to rejoin the combat, but he knew he would be nearly useless seeing how it seemed like half the people in the auditorium charge it. He decided to wait and finish up the granola bar before deciding what to do.

Atlan had been watching the other students fight the large spirit in the middle of the room, and had gained some respect for some of them. The two students who were leading the fight were competent fighters, who had incredible speed. Even though one's arm was injured and the other had no weapon they were fighting admirably. Atlan decided he could probably relax, and that the situation would be dealt with without him having to become involved. He had almost fallen asleep when he heard a voice scream,"Please wake up now!!"

Atlan shot up off the ground and searched for where the voice had come from. He spotted a cloaked figure try to carry the girl he had seen earlier. He then noticed the swarm of slug-ish creatures attempting to climb onto the students. He could see the panic in the cloaked figure's face and knew he had to help them. He started to sprint towards them from across the auditorium. He was making a straight line towards them and it was only after pushing through multiple students that he realized he would have to go right through the bear spirit to reach the struggling pair. As he ran up to the bear he leaped right at it, then right before he hit it he warped to the other side of the bear and kicked off of it to get his momentum back. He hit the ground running and once again warped to just a few steps away from the slugs. As he warped again he felt a massive emptiness inside him and stumbled when he hit the ground. He managed to save himself by rolling then popping right back up.

He sprinted the last few steps then went to take the girl from the cloaked figure. "Here Ill carry her, you just make sure none of the slugs got on you." After Atlan said that he carried/dragged her about 20 feet away from the slugs, then set her down. He then began to try and pull the slugs off of her, but there were too many and he was afraid he wasn't going fast enough. He looked around and saw another student frozen against the wall. "Hey come over here and help me get these things off of her!!" He then looked back down and continued at his work not waiting for the student to come and help.