---

Benjamin Franklin University, a prestigious and old university in venerable Philadelphia. Establish just some twenty years after the American Revolution and has been a bastion of learning ever since. Managing to survive unscathed throughout the nation's history from the war of 1812 to the American Civil War. A place that has also managed to unintentionally stay out of the human-demon war that has touched so many places in the world. Up to now, though, as unknowingly to the staff and students of the university. A demon has taken an interest in the old university and stalks its halls while waiting for an opportunity to capture its prize.

Meanwhile, the unsuspecting staff and students of the Benjamin Franklin University are continuing their studies, course work, and other academic duties. While enjoying the end of winter and the arrival of sweet spring. The cold weather going away for the most part, and people can enjoy warmer weather.

Although for an unsuspecting group of students, today will prove to be an interesting one. For today will be an awakening of sorts to these students that probably would have never had known each other before. But, they will come to rely on each one as their birthright will awaken in them, and these students will be thrusted into the human-demon war. And embark on a journey of what was thought impossible and save a race from demonkind.

But, for now, they are just simply students seeking an education while unaware of their shared past and abilities. How these students will handle the power and responsibility of their powers will be seen. That and if they can survive being hunted by demons and save the Sagion from their cruel fate is solely up to them.

---

What a lovely day, Blake thought as he looked out a window while sitting in the university library. Sitting in one of the many desks and one of the few ones that were near one of the windows. Wearing his usual attire, a black jacket with a white-collar shirt with black pants. It was about noon, and Blake was just in the middle of doing some homework. Choosing a strategically placed table near a window, and could not help to admire the weather outside.

The sun shining bright and the clear skies. A nice warming temperature and a nice breeze. It had the markers of a good day outside. Unfortunately, winter is over, so no more snow but, hey. A nice day does not mean it has to be snowing outside or the ground with the stuff. Still, Blake was having a good day regardless. Just relaxing in the library while doing homework, and he was excited.

For an unknown artifact was being brought to the university to be studied, and Blake was selected to help study it. Granted, he would just be an intern/assistant essentially but, it would be the first step towards his dream of being an archeologist. The artifact should be delivered here soon, and Blake could not wait. So in the meantime, he is busying himself with some homework while he waits.

However, Blake would end up finishing it to his dismay. With nothing to do now, Blake thought to himself of what to do now. After looking around and back out the window. He thought of reading a book while he waited. He is at the library, after all, there is bound to be a book here that is interesting to him. So Blake put his homework away and grabbed his messenger bag. Placing it on his back, and he went out to search the bookshelves for something to read.

Ella Blackheart

Ella walked into the library, her class had just ended. She wanted to be a veterinarian, but she didn't know if she could do it. She was lucky she was even a part of Benjamin Franklin University. After her past, her sad broken past, she hadn't even graduated high school, well only after she took night school she graduated. For her this was a pain, she had nothing better to do so she went to the library she had seen Blake around school but they didn't talk, nor did they have the same classes.

Ella noticed the wonderful weather, a day like this would be a gift if she was the old her. However the new her, well couldn't take it as a gift, nobody but the heads of the school and the teachers knew her past. She was wearing her normal outfit a black pair of torn jeans, a black t-shirt, a black pair of knee-high boots that had a slight heel, and a pair of hoop earrings with roses in them. Her hair was falling in waves over her back, her hair was dyed with blue ombre, starting dark blue from the top going down to light blue.

Today was going to be an interesting day for her, the archeologists were getting an interesting fossil for them to study. And the Veterinarian section was getting some dead animals for scientific purposes. She knew they weren't in yet as she had just got out of that class but she wasn't ready, she had to be careful. She decided to sit down close to Blake but didn't say anything to him. She opened her textbooks pouring over them while filling out her homework.

Leo Wedemire

Leo made sure to give himself at least a few minutes outside, taking in the crisp air whenever he had a nice day here on campus. The weather here in Philadelphia was quite different than what he was used to back in Montego Bay. But it was nice, sunny with just a slight chill. So Leo decided to walk around the campus, breathing in the fresh air. He was not alone in doing this as several other students also seemed to be walking or jogging around the university’s many buildings.

After about twenty minutes Leo felt that he had gone far enough. He noticed that he was near the library and decided to head in. Leo was pleased to find that the library wasn’t too full, with plenty of seats still available. While he didn’t have any homework from which he could work on here, Leo decided to head to the film section. In the several years that Leo had attended Benjamin Franklin University, he had gone through most of the books they had. While Leo would always prefer a film to a novel, when it came to books on film he could devour them quickly.

But like most times Leo checked this section, he found no new items. Of course with the film department, most of their reference material were on DVD or even actual filmstrip. And accessing these resources required permission from the department heads, which always had a large waiting list, so Leo rarely bothered.

But Leo did have his backpack on him, and he remembered that he did have a book in it. Leo then headed over to a spot near the window, not too far from Ella, so that he could get some natural light to help him read. Leo then pulled the book out of his bag: a used copy of Make Your Own Damn Movie by Lloyd Kaufman. Leo had only recently gotten into horror movies, and through that discovered the works of Lloyd Kaufman. So he had hunted down a copy of his guide to low budget film making and had just started reading it. Taking out his bookmark, Leo began to read, quickly getting entranced and blocking outside stimuli.

Lucas Hillcrest

Lucas was currently on the second floor of the library off in a random corner that was secluded because it was surrounded by bookcases. It would make for the perfect hiding hole for any student wanting to study or have a quiet conversation. However if one were to round the corner that led to this small section of library, one would find it empty save for Lucas and a mound of books opened in front of him. However the redheaded youth was not doing any studying at the moment. He was sprawled out with his legs up on the table and a book open resting on his face. Ironically the title of said book was 'How to push through fatigue and keep going'. One could probably say whoever wrote the book obviously hadn't met Lucas. The only sign that Lucas was alive was a gentle snoring.

Earlier

Lucas had sat down in the library and was surrounding himself with books about insomnia and was currently filling a notebook up with notes and other useful things. Occasionally he would take a sip from his cup of coffee, though it had long since gone cold. The bags under his eyes a telling sign of his struggle to ever obtain sleep. He rubbed his eyes as even his notes were not making sense to him. Trying to think back he was pretty sure he had only gotten three hours of sleep in the last four days. Lucas knew he would crash soon, but whether or not that would be today or tomorrow was still up in the air. Lucas did know he needed a break though, and leaned back in the chair and kicked his legs up onto an empty portion of the table since he was alone and started reading from a new self-help book he had found a few days ago.

Ella Blackheart


Her outfit


her hair

Ella was well aware of the people around her, she was aware of Blake and Leo, heck she was aware of Lucas and he wasn't even near her. She called it survival instinct but she has wondered if it was something more. She had nothing to show her french descent, she was French, German, and English which is to say a mix of British and American. Her long line of nationality was because of her family, she had a big family so she had too much history in her blood. She smiled towards Leo but said nothing as she poured herself back into her textbooks. She was busy and unable to focus as textbooks started to fall, she had to move to catch them as they hit the floor with a bang. She covered her eyes embarrassed by what had happened. Her face turned red as she picked them up her focus breaking as she looked around and saw eyes on her, she flushed red and looked down embarrassed.

It was a lovely day, wasn't it? And so, while many were in the library, there was one who was actually outside, right now. Well, for given measures of 'out'. Not too far from the library proper, parked up against the curb, was a black-and-red Ford Mustang, license plate 'HAMRHED'. The young lady inside sat in the passenger seat, one leg up with her foot against dashboard and keeping a book in place while she read. Ryoko had already been and gone from the bookshelves and studious campus-goers, having borrowed her lot for her work. She was taking in a book on Carl Jung while simultaneously shutting out the world, and yet inviting it into her senses passively.

Windows were down, and her music list had changed to a song that was just asking for trouble, but she liked it along with the show and game she'd heard it from, so it stayed as she pressed on. Ryoko's study in psychology was not just a simple reading and repetition of facts on paper. When she was not trying to figure out people, she was absorbing atmosphere both inside and out, to gain a feel for where people's reactions would lie in certain conditions. It was right alongside with the whole nature-versus-nurture argument of what marks you more in development. Personally, and perhaps the point of the argument was always to encourage this, Ryoko found that there was no way it couldn't be a matter of equal-footing in the normal development of a personality.

Take her, for instance. Traditional upbringings, respect for her parents, and a certain pressure in the back of her mind to succeed so that the rest of the world looked favorably on her family...AND YET, here she was in Philadelphia in the United States, leaning back in her American car with her jeans and her music playing and so on. Who really ruled in this dichotomy? Her parents had helped her establish this on the promise that they would hear good things, and she was personally very motivated to pursue Psych because of the events in her life.

Of course, I'm gonna have to take a break at some point. When was that event about the fossil suppose to be again?

Major-wise, archaeology had little to do with her field, but history had a place in understanding where people came from mentally as much as physically, so it was kind of a 'Why not?' sort of thing. Besides, it could be interesting.

Duncan breathed out heavily, his breath a visible cloud in the cool, early morning air. Up earlier than most people in town had any business being up, Duncan could see the first half of the sun as it rose into the sky, tinging the sky a mixture of orange and light purple against the cityscape of Philadelphia. Still catching his breath, Duncan bent over, his hands resting on his knees and spat out a blot of coagulated spittle, his face dripping with sweat as he watched several others run by. He had been on the university's sports field since 6 in the morning. It was part of the usual schedule, 3 mornings a week for the soccer team, 5 if you wanted to make a good impression.

"Hey! Duncan! Keep up!"

Whipping his head around, he saw his team captain running up behind him- meaning that he was about to get lapped. Easy for him to say, the team captain, Ricky, was a was called by many; the second coming of Hercules. With a deep inhale, Duncan got back to running. After a 5km warmup run, the team got straight into pushups, work out circuits, and sprinting drlls, which continued for another half hour before the team called it good for the morning.

---

With his bright orange cleats changed out for a pair of comfortable addidas runners of a smooth, clean white, Duncan made an easy walk through the courtyard. His one hand stuck firmly in the pockets of his black joggers, the other casually gripping the strap of a small, green and gray sack. A olive green bomber jacket hung over his shoulders, contrasting a plain white shirt. A backpack hung lazily off of one shoulder, dangerously close to slipping out of his grip. The backpack itself was relatively deflated, currently holding little more than his cleats, a sweaty pair of shorts and t-shirt, a laptop- in a case to protect it from the rest of his belongings- and a water bottle.

Duncan had found himself in his usual conundrum: He had time to kill before his next class- but not enough time to go back to his apartment and relax. At least the day was nice, he concluded as he found himself wandering in front of the university library- one of the larger buildings and general hubs for the students here. Having taken his sister's advice, Duncan found his way to a pair of close-by trees out on the lawn of in front of the library itself. Dropping his backpack to the ground, Duncan took his little gray and green sack and emptied its contents onto the ground in front of him- a hammock.

A few minutes later, and Duncan had himself a little setup, dozing comfortably out in the sun. Conveniently close enough to a red mustang parked on a nearby curb to enjoy the music coming through its open windows. Sure, he could and should probably be spending this time to get some studying done, but frankly, that was a problem for Future-Duncan.

Blake had just found himself a book to read, a history book about the Byzantines, and headed back to his seat. When the college"s PA system came online and people outside could hear it. "Good afternoon students, for those that wish to attend the artifact viewing should precede to the presentation hall before all the seats are occupied, that is all"

An audible "yes", coming from Blake as he heard the news. The artifact is here, that is sooner than I thought. I thought it will be here a bit later but, that is good enough for me. Blake thought with a smile and went to put his newfound book away. Time to see what this artifact is and all that he knows about it is that from Europe and not one is quite sure what it is for.

Either way after the viewing, he gets the chance to help study it and boy is he excited for it. Passing by some students like a woman with blue hair and made his way to the presentation hall in a slight hurry. Blake does not want to be late or worse get there and no seats are left. Well time to see what this artifact looks like and learn more about it. Then Blake can get to the good part and he can not wait for that to happen.

Ella Blackheart

Ella smiled when she heard the news she did have some time to kill. . . but sadly with the announcement came another one. "Ella Blackheart please report to the veterinarian office. . . your presence has been requested by Dr. Rose." Ella rose from her seat and pushed out her chair gathering all her books up as she walked out of the office heading to the office.

Dr. Rose: "Hello Ella. Our subject has arrived unfortunately because of your recent behavior you can not help us."

Ella: "What! Ive been doing the most work out of the whole class!"

Dr. Rose: "Detention Ella. You will have Detention after school tomorrow."

Ella sat down and sat there knowing the others would be arriving soon but she decided not to stay there as she left and headed to her car blasting music loudly. She was given a car as a gift from her used-to-be friend. Her friend had paid for all of it so now Ella owned the car.

Lucas Hillcrest

Lucas tumbled backwards at the sudden noise of the PA speaker that was directly above his secluded space and landed with a small crash and groaned as he mumbled "Motherfucker..." Lucas rolled away from the chair and rubbed his sore back as he fixed the chair and chugged down what was left of his cold coffee. He glanced at his phone and rolled his eyes. He'd be more annoyed if it had not been a special announcement about something he was looking forward to. 48 minutes of sleep how annoying. The power nap was nice though, but man did he just long for a full 8 hours. He'd even be overjoyed for 4 hours.

The fiery ginger readjusted his jeans that had slipped downward slightly when he fell and re-tucked his inner white shirt back into them as his green vest fell back into place on top. Chucking his cup into a nearby bin he left all the books where they had been as he would surely return after the artifact viewing was finished. Lucas was rubbing his eyes as he left the library and headed to where he needed to be and was hoping to score a fresh cup of coffee or a caffeine packed mountain dew. He would complain about neither.

Leo Wedemire

The young aspiring film maker was quickly engrossed in his book. Leo had to stifle a chuckle at an anecdote on the making of the Toxic Avenger, a little worried that if he began laughing he would be kicked out of the library. Leo then coughed, immediately hoping that he wasn’t catching a cold, his book tumbling out of his hands and onto the floor of the library. Leo sighed as he picked up the book, having lost his page.

As Leo attempted to find his page again, he looked up as movement near him caught the attention of his eye. A girl with blue hair was rustling through some textbooks, as she then looked at Leo, giving him a quick smile. Leo immediately felt a rush of chemicals as the pretty girl turned back to her textbooks. While Leo had been in relationships before, he had never been in a serious one. Perhaps that was why he still got giddy whenever a girl showed him any kind of attention.

But Leo’s musings were interrupted when the blue haired girl also dropped her books, but with her it was all her textbooks. They hit the floor with a loud bang as her face turned red. The loud clatter seemed to attract the attention of the other nearby students as they turned to see what the matter was. Leo knew how embarrassing this could be, so he purposively looked away, instead looking out the window.

As Leo looked outside, he saw that a man had set up a hammock and was resting between two trees in front of the library. Leo was wondering where he got a hammock when the PA system turned on. Apparently the showing of the special artifact at the university was about to begin. Leo chided himself for forgetting that was today. He had been planning to record some footage on the artifact for his documentary class.

Luckily Leo had kept his camera in his bag, so he wouldn’t have to drive all the way to his apartment. So Leo put the book in his bag, figuring that he would find his page later. As he got up, Leo saw that the blue haired girl was gone. Leo decided then he should talk to her next time he saw her on campus. He then exited the library and started heading toward the presentation hall.

As the music changed again in the car, but even as it did, there was an announcement audible to all, both inside and out, so naturally she heard it through the open window. Ryoko snapped her book shut and flipped herself over to the driver's side of the car. Hammerhead was a faithful recreation of the Ford Mustang Cobra II used in the movie, Starman, but per her own preference, the colors were reversed. The engine roared to life with the mighty heart of a powerful V-8 engine as Ryoko checked her phone for the location of the Presentation Ha-

"Oh!"

She leaned back in her seat, laughing to herself.

"It's right over there."

She put the car in pack again, locked it up as she got out, and headed on over, shaking her head. She noticed the hammock man, but thought nothing of it except that he must be comfee there, and instead caught up with another student that was going in the same direction.

"So...you're going to see this artifact too, right? Do you happen to know what kind it is? I never got much information about it."

For the record, Ryoko's English was pretty good, though an accent still showed when she was under stress or, in fact, when she was impersonating someone from a TV or radio show.