Daisy Athalus, Alaira, and Mar. A relatively short collab for once.

Althalus had awoken soon after Xyden had been lead away by Sam. The first thing he noticed was the fact that it felt like the left half of his skull had been bashed in repeatedly. Groaning and muttering a curse, the assassin picked himself up off the ground, holding his head. Nothing felt broken, even if he had a headache from the Inferno itself. "Why in the name of the Gods do I-" Althalus began, before it all came back in a flash. Xyden. Mar and Lyn. Trying to protect them. Failure. Unconsciousness. Panic surged through him, and Althalus whirled around, at first only registering the fact that Mar was covered in blood and Lyn was next to her. "No!" Althalus was on his knees next the two of them in an instant, ignoring the cool blood that began to soak his knees. It didn't take long, however, for him to notice that she was breathing. Lyn awoke at his shout, and began to wail. Letting out a sigh of relief, he picked her up and shushed her. "It's okay..I didn't mean to." He murmured gently. This continued for a few moments until his daughter gave a drowsy coo, and fell back asleep.

Carefully, he set her back next to her mother, and then stood. He couldn't just leave them unconscious and covered in blood and other fluids. "I suppose it's too late for me to ask for those helpful Golems with the bathtub of warm water?" He asked aloud. Seeing as he was the only concious one in the medical wing, there was no response. "I thought so." With that, he walked out of the makeshift room and searched around. Soon enough he found a large bowl with runes that kept the water warm. "It'll have to do." With that, he hauled the bowl into the room and began the ardorous process of washing an unconscious Naga and a wiggling, giggling, baby.

When he was finally done, Mar was set back on her bed, with a sleeping Lyn next to her. Both were cleaned and Althalus' hands and some of his arms were soaked. The bowl was a dark red. His head still hurt abominably. Setting himself up in front of the makeshift door so that anyone who walked in without first checking would assuredly trip over him and he would likely be alerted if someone tried to step over him. Then, he fell asleep.

And immediately awoke to Alaira screaming at him. He winced, cursed, and held his still aching head. "Stop yelling." He mumbled. Rubbing his temples, he began to pick himself up and respond to Alaira when two more injured students were dragged in and Lucilia told them to shut up and leave or help. Me? Be helpful with this headache? Not likely. Gesturing at Alaira to both be quiet and follow him, he went into the room with Mar and Lyn. When she had joined him, he began. "Short version is, you were knocked unconscious, Xyden got in here, Sam tried and failed to stop him, he declared his intention to kill Mar and Lyn, I stabbed him in the armpit, we fought for a while, he cornered me, I tried to stab him again, he hit me in the head with his trident and I blacked out then. When I awoke, Mar and Lyn were both fine, healthy even, if covered in blood and other fluids. I cleaned them up, made them comfortable, then set myself up to intercept anymore would be assassins and fell asleep. Until you started screaming." He sat down on the floor, watching his family. "I have a horrible headache, so keep shouting to a minimum. Or, better yet, don't shout at all."

---

Alaira was quiet for a moment, before speaking again. "So, I guess that means it wasn't a hallucination huh?" She said. "But... how come we aren't hurt? You should've seen how Xyden left me..." Alaira asked. There was no 'recovering' from the mess she was. In fact, she was pretty sure nothing short of divine intervention would ever let her walk again, but that was just silly. When did gods ever care? And Sam... why would he try to stop the fish? If she and Daisy couldn't do it he sure as hell couldn't. "Don't you think it's a bit weird how we ain't dead? I mean, I thought you killed the bastard..." She said. Now, this was a big damn deal. Who the hell actually saved them?

---

Althalus shrugged. "We're in the middle of a Medical wing of the only magical College in the land. Unless your wounds would have killed you immediately or at least soon after you lost consciousness, I doubt the healers couldn't have saved you." To be perfectly honest, Althalus didn't care. Both Mar and Lyn were alive and safe, and he wouldn't begin questioning who, or what, did it and why. He was just incredibly relieved that Lyn and Mar were safe and alive. At her final comment, he briefly turned his gaze from Lyn and Mar to Alaira. "Of course I find it strange. Xyden hit me hard enough to send bone shards into my brain. From what you say, he did worse to you. And yes, he would have died soon after. A lot of blood was being lost. But, I just care about two things; Mar and Lyn. They're both safe, and I don't care who saved them. I'm just grateful that they did." He paused, considering, and then corrected himself. "Well, no. Xyden wouldn't have really died from the wound I gave him. Not in our sense of the word."

---

Mar had pulled closed to Lyn, her mind stirred slowly from the dead slumber she had fallen into. Eyes slightly blurred had took some moment to focus once again. The Naga's head had started to rise, her left arm slid under her and propped herself upright. Her skin, first to note, felt strange as she saw the lacking flith which had covered it before was gone. It surprised Mar enough for her eyes to widen then darted over her child. Lyn was sucking upon her little toes and curled into a small ball, not paying a mind to the world around her. Only when she seemed to had felt her mother's eyes upon her, did the baby shift to rise little chubby arms in a cry to be held. Her little voice wailed with a high pitch squeal until it finally fell into a giggle.

Again, Mar blinked. Her expression was one lost and confused, her head turned to spot the pair who's voices she knew well enough: Athalus and Alaira. Upon hearing dying, Mar's own words groggily added in a bit from her own personal knowledge. "If you wounded him enough, no he won't just die. Malice would've setted in and we all would've been dead."

Still blurry in her vision, her mouth felt eerily empty. She opened it and gently prodded her fangs and realized her vemon had been ejected from them when she pulled her finger away with a murky liquid dripping from it. Slowly the images had resorted up to the point she was stabbed. Instinctively her head jerked down to where she could feel the ghost weapon jab her middle, where the flesh was injured and bled. She expected to see the marks, bloodied and torn, only to find nothing. Her hand traveled to her navel to ensure her mind wasn't playing tricks as she gently touched the surface. Nothing. Nothing at all.

"Strange...there should've been puncture marks..." She spoke her observation outloud.

---

Alaira smirked at his 'I only care about two things' comment. "Aw, big bad contract killer going soft?" She said. Well, at least she was back to normal. "I'd like to remind you I didn't have to do anything, I could've just run." She said. She almost couldn't really bring herself to say the next words. "I didn't really fight to fight I..." Alaira's tone had gone more somber before she brightened up, her proud smile returning. "I fought so you three'd be safe." She said as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Athalus, I hate to say it but you just might be a good friend. And I couldn't let any of you three be without eachother." She said, the fact she used his actal name as opposed to his derogitory nickname highly relevant. She withdrew her hand. She remembered the day her father died, a bear had taken a small chunk out of him and the wound was infected. He didn't even live to see the first Lyn... "You put up with me for six months, and you even let me name your child. that's gotta count for something." She shook herself after that last line. She could be sentimental later.

She was confused at what Athalus had said. Were these bastards immortal? that would explain why she just could not kill him. It wasn't long before Mar had answered. She also seemed confused at the apparent health of the three of them. It was then that she remembered that Lucilia needed help. Now, she implied it was optional, but she was sure that meant she would just drag one of them in later. "I know. Xyden or whatever his name was sliced my arm up and crushed my lower body to powder. Yet, here I am..." she said. She didn't wait for a reply as she left the tent, though she decided to say something in passing before she left. "Think about it, crazy stuff we don't understand is going down, and I think it does matter. Now, I'm going to go keep Lucilia off your damn backs." Now, that's when things started to go downhill.

Alaira Taenn

Alaira... didn't really know what had happened. At first, she walked out of the tent, and then... There was this guy, laying in a cot. He had said quite possibly the worst pickup line she had ever heard. Now, she hated it when people hit on her, and (most likely owing to the very stressful series of events she had endured) she felt extremely angry. Without really thinking, she tried to strike the man. However, the blow was knocked off target somehow, and she ended up on top of him, no damage to his head. At that point, their eyes locked. For whatever reason, she was more or less frozen. As she looked into his eyes she saw... sadness. But for what? It was at that point that he commented on her eyes. She blushed for a moment, in confusion. Wha? B-but I just tried to break his damn nose! She thought, flustered. She slapped him, quite hard. But his expression remained unchanged. Oh come on! How many things would be unfazed when she hit them!? She decided it would be wise to get the hell off of him.

"Wh-who the hell do you think you are, anyway?!" She said, still blushing. "I hit you! that means cut it the hell out!" She said. Well, this was embarrassing. She knew that Lucilia would find some way to blackmail her with this nonsense...

Locas Jule

Well, this certainly didn't go very well. He knew he should apologize, but apologizing wasn't really Locas's strong suit. Manipulation, reading body language, getting out of tough situations; those were his strong suits. Anything he could say would come out awkward, but something had to be said.

Locas stood up. More accurately, Locas began to stand up, then had his right leg collapse. Leaning on the cot for support, he opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again and tried to speak.

"Listen," he began, tone unwavering. "I'm sorry. I...I mispegged you, I suppose. I needed to know who you were quickly, and the best way I had to do so was to...well, to hit on you. I didn't mean...well...I did mean some offense, else I would have used a better line." He smiled slightly, but quickly returned to his neutral demeanor. "I just...I'm sorry. It was dumb and rude, but I...I couldn't help it. Long story."

He pushed off of the cot and took a step forward, faltering again, having forgotten the pain in his leg. Prepared now, he slowly walked towards the elf and outstretched a hand. She looked doubtful, as if Locas had a blade hidden in his hand, but the fact that she wasn't focused on his wounds meant he hadn't gotten her entirely wrong.

"I'm Locas Jule. Please accept my very informal apology. If you would like, I could send a written one to your room." The last line was delivered with such a neutral tone that even Locas himself couldn't tell if it was sarcastic or genuine. Of course, it didn't matter. It was really just a clever attempt at getting her room number. "May I know your name, Miss...?"

Annabeth Gulch

After her operation Annabeth decided to stay by Cynn. She could use a friendly face after all that's happened, and it's not like Annabeth was doing anything in particular. Eventually Cynn came to, and Annabeth was quick to make sure that she was still okay. After her own impromptu check up, Annabeth explained what had happened to Cynn the best she could figure out. She smiled politely as she let Cynn soak in the information, and her face grew a bit warmer when the elf reached out and touched her hand. Annabeth squeezed it softly. "It's nothing, really. I mean, I couldn't just leave you, right? Of course not!" Cynn's words made Annabeth feel nice, which was a pleasant change from all the chaos that happened just moments before. Of course, things didn't get any easier when another student came in, but this one seemed to only be affected by blood sickness rather than injury. "Today is pretty dangerous, huh... We should stay together for now, yes? For our own safety."

Lucilia Riovas

"Oi."

Lucilia was standing at Locas's cot when Alaria showed up, knowing fully well that she'd likely get herself into trouble. Lucilia was, unfortunately, correct. Lucilia hasn't even gotten to clean the blood off her hands before Alaria showed up, and than Locas tried to stand up even though she gave him specific orders to stay in bed for the next few hours. "I don't mind visitors, but if you keep causing so much noise, you'll be joining his cot, Alaria. And Locas, get your rest." She spoke in a soft tone, but it was hidden behind a false smile and she still radiated an aura implying that she was about to put more bodies into intensive care.

Before long Rathel showed up. He was perhaps one of the few demons that Lucilia didn't have a hidden distaste for, probably because he was one of Khan's demons and that he helped clean up everyone else mess. She only wished that he could prevent those messes in the first place, but he tries at least. He brought Aramir in, who had gotten a case of blood sickness. Lucilia could imagine how, and regretted not having Grey out of her office sooner. Zaad was indeed much more troublesome than Grey thinks. Heaving a sign, Lucilia pointed towards an empty cot. "Lay her down there and I'll find her a potion. If you have some time, could you go to my office and take these needles with you? I believe Grey, one of our guardsmen, is still in there. Also take one of these potions to him and this letter." Though it was stained in some blood, the letter detailed to Grey about her absence, and apology for that absence, and a request to see her later today after he was feeling better. She wanted to alleviate him of his burden with Zaad tonight and assign him a guard position during today's feast. Just a little something to help him ease the stress of everyday life. But also she wanted to talk to him about how he could deal with Zaad.

Being a servant of Aarem came with it's benefits, despite what others may think.

Lucilia went into one of the rooms to wash her hands and get some potions for Aramir and Rathel. She handed the demon the potion and the sealed envelope with her insignia. Than she went to with with Aramir, taking note of any of her external injuries while giving her small doses of an ether to ease her blood sickness. Aside from being pale the snow elf was unharmed, so she delegated the task to another healer while Lucilia went about trying to make sure the Infirmary wouldn't need her constant attention. She still needed to return to her office, finish Grey's operation, and finish the work she was suppose to be doing before this entire mess spiraled out of control. But that was just another day at the college.

Leith chuckled when Meirin agreed to help him and rushed off down a hallway. With a sigh, he ran down another hallway in search of some staff members. He found some of the medical staff soon after he restarted his search. They looked like they were in a hurry, so Leith asked what happened. He felt his stomach drop when they told him that Xyden had attacked a student, and he seemed to be going after Mar and her baby.

While the medical staff continued their search for help, Leith leaned against the wall and slid down it until he was sitting. He began to understand why Xyden had asked him to alert the staff about spies in the college. It was to distract the remaining staff and allow him ease in dispatching Mar and the baby. With a shaky breath, Leith wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his head on his knees.

He wasn't sure how long he had stayed like that before he heard the sound of footsteps. Leith raised his head and searched for the source with bloodshot eyes. The person coming his way was Uicle. His armour looked like it was a hair's breadth away from from not being armour anymore. Leith gave a small smile.

"Your armour looks like it's been to the Pit and back," Leith said in a raspy voice. He cleared his throat before he spoke again. "How has your day been? Because mine has gone sour."

Cynn Ellime

Cynn smiled at Annabeth's suggestion, and nodded. "Yeah, let's do that," She said, softly. "You know...just to be...safe." The elf patted an empty space on the cot beside her, signaling for the human girl to sit next to her. As she did that, Cynn felt suddenly curious. She knew next to nothing about this girl, despite the fact that they'd been roommates for quite some time now. She decided it would be best to ask her a bit about herself.

"So..." Cynn began, suddenly feeling like talking was a bad idea. "Um...How...What do you...d-do at the college? I mean...what is your...M-Mageblood?" Realizing how presumptuous it was to say this, she hastily clarified. "I mean...if you don't have one, that's not bad...I just...thought that...y'know, you're...at the C-College..." She trailed off, noticing how worn out all that stammering and stuttering had made her. She coughed thrice, finally settling back against the cot and feeling her face get red from embarrassment.

The Three Travelers

Lian, Luna and Lerr wore their proud smirks wherever they walked. The three of them were Sannids, members of a species that resembled humanoid red foxes. Therefore, Lian, the tallest of them, held the brightest orange fur coat of the group along with a lean and naturally athletic body shape which gathered attention everywhere he went. He wasn't the strongest or the smartest, as he had so many times proved to his two friends, but boy, did he know how to charm a woman. Luna was, on the other hand, the shortest and youngest of the three. His fur coat wasn't nearly as bright as Lian's, but the orange colour could be seen and that had always been enough for him. With a muscular and stocky build, he could lift loads that would crush Lian. Lerr was a Sannid of average build, if only somewhat overweight. With a grey fur coat and perky ears that listened to even the tiniest sounds, he would usually keep an eye out for the group when they were on the road.

Lian's tail was of rather fluffy and of medium length, reaching down to the back of his knees when limp and with a bright orange that softly transitioned into black on the tip. Luna's tail was long and furry, with a soft degradation from orange to gray as the tail extended, it reached down to his ankles when limp. Lerr's tail was unimpressive in all qualities but one--It was never still, never relaxed. If you judged his mood by his tail alone, you'd believe he was stressed and desperate all the time, but that wasn't the case. It was slightly shorter than Lian's, and it was coloured a bland grey.

The three of them were close friends who walked the long, crisp cold snowy roads between Sh-Kiit and Aerta. After Lian's father, Lon, found out of their mageblood, he had forced them together and set them on their journey to the Twilight College, a place where they'd learn how to control their unusual abilities.

First they had stopped at Claine, marveling their eyes with the advanced stone architecture found in the city. Next they visited Liem, a settlement which the group of travelers would forever remember as the town with the best alcoholic beverages they'd ever tasted.

After stocking up with a barrel of 'Tiien's Spit', the famous beer of Liem, they passed by the lively woods of Oem. Having spent a whole week to hunt the local wildlife and celebrate their lives in an intimate Night of Warmth celebration in which they drank all of their Tiien's Spit supply. While Lian had suggested visiting Kem, the coastal city southeast of Oem, both Luna and Lerr agreed that it was too far out of the way to visit. Lian was disappointed by the turn of events, as he had heard back in Oem that Kem's women were one of the most beautiful persons one would ever meet, but he understood his friends' reasoning, and went along with it. One day in the future, he'd visit the city with them. After all, it wasn't going to vanish, was it?

The road between Oem and the Twilight College was long and bare of life. With no trustworthy or even notable settlements along the way, the three travelers had to speed up their pace. Every day that went by was another day that they had to sharpen their bodies and wits in order to survive and reach their destination. The winter got colder rather than warmer and their thick hide coats, given to them by their parents when they first set out, were starting to wear out and were no longer as protective.

For a day, they believed to be lost and when they were about to thrown in the towel and return all the way back home, a small detachment of Sh-Kiit soldiers passed them by. "What are they doing so far away from Sh-Kiit?" Lerr had asked when he saw them. Six lightly armoured soldiers equipped with steel scimitars and iron square shields, led by a man who was wearing thick steel armour with numerous coats on top.

"isn't that Captain Johann?" Lian said when his deep brown eyes set upon the leading man. Quickly the three had run up to the detachment and were recognized instantly by the leader, who preemptively ordered his soldiers to stand down as the three Sannids approached, tails wiggling in excitement and lips turned upwards and stretched thin to show sharp sets of teeth and rather excited smiles.

"What are you doing here, kits?" The Captain asked, patting Lian's shoulder and looking at Luna and Lerr. The first one to speak was Lian, starting with a chuckle and returning the friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Well, we couldn't just let our favorite Captain go all this way north without any hel-" Lian had said cheerfully, before noticing the Captain's stern and tired look and interrupting himself, "All joking aside, we uh... We were kind of cast out of home until we learned to control our mageblood. We were heading up to the Twilight College, but we got lost."

"The College? You kits have mageblood? Why did you never mention that before?"

"Didn't know back then Caps," Lerr said in his usual quick and to the point manner, tail wildly moving from side to side as soon as he received a sigh then a nod from the Captain. The Captain was quick to give them the directions they so desperately needed and pushed them towards their destination.

Days later -Or nights, as it was harder to notice the day and night circle the closer they got to the College- they had reached the College. An impressive building it was, and Lian along with Lerr and Luna were starry eyed only by laying their eyes upon it. It was the place where they'd live for years until they were able to return back home. After minutes of admiration passed by, Luna was the first to regain his sense of reality and push them towards their set chores.

Lerr and Luna would have to hunt and delay their arrival at the College, and Lian would have to set up their accommodations. And so they separated. Luna headed southeast and Lerr went northwest, while Lian merely walked a mile to reach the College up north.

The moment he reached the College's gates was the instant that a huge mix of emotions overcame him. Fear, loneliness, sadness as well as happiness, fulfillment and pride all rushed into him. But even when his knees felt weak, he didn't cry or fall down. Keeping his head high, he only let a sad smile and a single tear out.

Then he walked into the courtyard.

Rathel

Rathel felt slightly guilty at not being able to deal with this himself. Even if he had calmed the student and eased her fright, he had gotten there too late and a small part of him had felt like he had made it worse. He pushed the guilt away when Ms. Riovas's voice caught his attention. His head twisted from where he entered and set her where the teacher pointed, his large arms held surprising gentleness despite his appearance. At the mention of her office, Rathel nodded in answer.

His hand reached out for the small vial within the vampire's hand, and careful not to break it, tucked it away alongside the needles and letter. He watched a bit longer as Aramir was being tender to just to ease his concerns, his voice spoke his mind's thoughts out loud.

"Thank you Lucilia. I shudder to think if she and Khan was unable to have their late night chats. Namely since he's been having more difficulty in sleeping lately because it's drawing closer to that terrible day." Rathel knew most the teachers knew about the date he talked about. The date Khan's twin had died and in that time, things often got far worse. In that time, Khan would need the support of Twilight's staff more then ever.

Without wasting anymore breath, Rathel bounded off into the hall and towards Lucilia's office. He knew the way by heart and in a few short twists and turns, the demon had arrived. Cautiously he entered it a half an hour later. His large bulk easily squeezed into the room and noted the man placed upon the operating table, his small black eyes narrowed upon the sight before he set the needles onto the table. The hard, steel needles clicked softly when he placed them aside and withdrew the letter and vial.

"Ms. Riovas told me to deliver this to you. Likely she'll be here shortly to finish stitching you up..." Rathel's eyes narrowed upon the exposed bone and a shiver danced down his spine. Runes? That was unusual and even dangerous, his instinct screamed to get Val as he noted someone had been examining them with great interest. He hadn't noted his quills had risen in alarm while his hand still held out the letter and vial to the man.

Annabeth Gulch

Annabeth felt a bit nervous when Cynn offered her a seat on the cot. Surely it was just a friendly gesture, so... Annabeth took a seat, maintaining a respectable distance. With all that has happened, she actually wanted to go back to her dorm and get some of her equipment, or at least don her leather underarmor and grab her dagger. But for now she'd keep Cynn company, and provide a guardian in the infirmary in the event someone else wants to try to assassinate someone (Information she gleamed off one of the healers who had returned from Xyden's act). As Annabeth was seated, Cynn asked her more about herself. A fair proposal, as neither one of them really knew each other aside from the obvious. Cynn was awfully nervous about it, but Annabeth took it in stride. "Well, for now I work in Underhaven, a tavern in the college. It's located on the lower levels of the college, out of the way and requires a special token to enter. For the most part I just wait tables, clean up, occasionally serve drinks, but it's mostly just to put coin in my pocket. But I do have mageblood; Lues Mageblood. I have a affinity for Psychomancy however. Not the greatest at it, but I do have a few tricks." Showing a little bit of what she could do, Annabeth used her magic to look into Cynn's thoughts and tried to say something telepathically to her. "Like this!". However, there was some issues. For starters, since Annabeth still hasn't gotten a grasp of the different focuses, she used a the default Wide-Focus, which sent her telepathic message to everyone near her. Since it was a short message it wasn't very strong and didn't use too much of Annabeth's energy, but some people may wonder what the strange thought came from. "And you?"

A moment...annd then it's gone

Althalus' gaze focused back on Mar and Lyn, ignoring his headache, as Mar finally awoke. She wasn't the only one, Althalus noted, hearing Lyn's high pitched squeal and then giggle. A gentle smile crossed his face, and he relaxed a little bit more. Some small part of him had still worried that Mar wasn't going to wake up from whatever had happened to her. That part relaxed now and he found himself agreeing with Mar by nodding. Responding to Alaira's teasing he said, "Oh yes. Soft as a pillow, but not as soft as you when it comes to her." He nodded his head towards Lyn, a light smile playing on his face. When Alaira began to with his name, he raised an eyebrow. That was out of character. When she began complimenting him, he raised his other eyebrow. She must have been hit harder on the head than he thought. "I would hope that I'm a good friend. You sacrificed yourself to save Lyn and Mar. I can never repay you for that, but I can try." He said quietly. However, he soon realized that Alaira probably had no idea what they were talking about, and he turned to explain more to the half-elf, when Mar spoke again, about how she should have had puncture wounds. Althalus froze, barely noticing Alaira's final words before leaving.

Turning slowly and deliberately to Mar, "Puncture wounds? From a trident I take it?" Of course. Who else could have hurt her, or wanted to hurt her? His entire body tensed with repressed fury, and then slowly untensed. Rage would gain him little in this room. "I'll kill him. No prison is unbreachable.." Shaking his head, he returned to the matter at hand. "But you're okay? Nothing wrong aside from confusion at what exactly happened?"

---

"Althalus, I'm fine. Right now the most confusing thing is your behavior." Mar spoke, her confusion worsened at the man's reaction. She had lifted her head and watched the slight show between the pair. When it had ended, she merely sighed. Her hand was still rested upon her stomach now voided of holes, the fact seemed more like a distrubing one which refused to leave her alone. She knew had been hurt. The blood all over the floor and signs of struggle was a very clear reminder.

Her mind had drifted over what Althalus had mentioned about a trident. The image of Xyden brandishing his weapon and it sinking into her belly became vivid that she flinched. A sour taste reached onto her tongue and settled there, filled her mouth with its foulness. Her hand back came up to help her swallow it down. Mar didn't like that as she turned to Athalus and spoke. "What happened?"

---

Althalus opened his mouth to continue, then remembered who he was talking to and shut his mouth. Explaining why 'bipeds', humans in particular, used their emotions so much was a battle he would not win. So he kept his mouth shut, and simply watched her. It was much easier for him to just watch, rather than for him to talk. Thus, that's how he noticed her flinching. Concern flicked across his features, but he said nothing, waiting for her to speak. He could guess what she was flinching at, and gritted his teeth. He would kill the bastard. It wouldn't make up for his failure, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction. As she asked him what happened, he paused a few moments, gathering his thoughts. "Xyden beat Alaira, and knocked her unconscious, and started heading here. Sam tried to stop him and failed. He made a lengthy proclamation which pretty much summed up that he wanted to kill you and Lyn, he started to come inside and I stabbed him, there was a short fight where I tried to protect you and Lyn, he cornered me and nearly caved my head in with his trident, so I failed, and then I blacked out." There was a self-hate in his tone, quickly gone as he continued. "I awoke to finding you and Lyn covered in blood and filth on the ground. After a minor panic, I realized you were both alive. I cleaned you both up," He gestured to the bloody red cloth and the bowl of bloody water. "and then made you comfortable. I fell asleep in front of the door way, and then awoke to Alaira yelling at me. We talked, then you woke up."

He shrugged. "That's all I know."

---

Mar's eyebrow rose. Her expression seemed not to believe him at first, the spun tale a little hard to swallow for her. At least at first, then the memories seemed to edge back to her. First her own encounter with Xyden then Althalus's. Her skin paled into a brighter white, her heart seemed to race and her tail instinctively curled about her infant daughter. Lyn's small body shifted over the covers and pressed against her mother's side giving a little giggle before her hands reached to explore the surface of Mar's tail. The mother Naga however had stayed eerily silent.

She seemed to absorbed the thoughts which rattled in her head but in truth, Mar was trying to keep herself from throwing up. Her fingers gripped the sheets tighter and took hold of fistfuls while the picture of Althalus fighting replayed in her mind. An emotion. Strangely sickening and wrathful seemed embedded in her chest, a sort of heat filled her and seemed to be the core cause of it. Without a word, Her head snapped back to Althalus. Her hand strike out to seize what remained of his shirt collar. Then gently pulled him forward, her eyes searched over to seek the wounds and examine him completely.

Once she found no serious wounds, Mar's finger released her grip and allowed Althalus some room. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was mostly intact. That uneased feeling seemed to have faded with evidence he was alright. Of course her next words seemed to have indicated otherwise. "You don't ever do that to me again."

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Althalus sighed, seeing her look of disbelief. "Believe me, if I hadn't seen the bl..." He trailed off, concern growing as he watched Mar pale, tighten her tail around Lyn, and then grab the sheets. Pulling himself up to his feet, muttering a curse as he still had a headache, he walked over to her. "Mar? What's the-" He was cut off as her hand grasped his shirt collar and then drew him close as she examined him. After his initial surprise drained away, Althalus waited quietly, a small smirk going across his face as he watched Lyn giggle and try to crawl over the tail that was suddenly drawn around her. As he felt Mar's fingers releasing his collar, his eyes returned to the Naga. Even though he could have straightened up, he didn't. At her last words, he shook his head, a hand carefully reaching out to touch her shoulder. She seemed...odd, to react like this after arguing with him for six months.

Softly, he replied, "What was I supposed to do? Just let him kill you and Lyn?"

---

"That's the problem Althalus, you're only thinking about yourself!" She felt herself snap and continue, a slight depression within her tone. "If you have been killed what would Lyn and I had done? It's selfish to think you're the only one that would feel a loss because of a death. It was stupid of you to take him on and even more idiotic to think you had a chance to win."

At this moment she didn't jerk her shoulder away as his hand rested upon it. Her eyes just turned to him, slight wetness edged to her eyes before she had noticed. Her hand back came up and wiped it away, head turned to hide it. She didn't want him to see how badly it shook her, surprised by herself, to think about him dying had on her. Her voice held some anger towards him as if he planned on dying and she resented him for it.

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Althalus blinked in surprise. This was twice now that Mar had revealed that she held more than contempt for his emotions and dislike of his stubborness to be apart of Lyn's life. He opened his mouth to respond, when he noticed a wet glimmer in Mar's eyes before she wiped them and turned her head away. His gaze softened, and his hand moved from her shoulder to her chin, gently forcing her to look at him. "I wasn't only thinking of myself, even if it appeared that way. While yes, failing to protect you and Lyn gives me great pain, and your deaths would have brought unimaginable sorrow and a desire for revenge that has only happened once before, I didn't do it to spare myself pain." A gentle smirk crossed his face briefly, before he continued. "I did it to try and save your lives.

"You're my family, and the both of you are the most important things in this world to me. I would give anything, my life included, to ensure your safety. On a more practical point, Lyn will need you more than she'll need me. I will undoubtedly only be a small, small part of her life. A faded memory, at best. She'll live far longer than any human, and you're the only one of us who will be alive for most of her life. I didn't think I had a chance of surviving, and I knew very well how stupid it was for me to take him on in a relatively fair fight. But there was a chance I could delay him for help to arrive, or even kill or cripple him enough not to carry out with his plan, and I took it. I don't want to cause you pain, any more than I want to die, but I won't stand idly by while someone not only threatens your life, but the life of my child. It's not an option."

---

Mar felt her head tilted back to him, part of her wanted to fight but in the end, gave in. His fingers were coarse and firm, her heart pounded in reply to feel them softly clasp her chin. Not all the wetness had been wiped away in her haste, collected at the edges, while she knew he would've noticed. His face had became relaxed to prove her already known fact. Naturally at the sight, he turned into a long winded explaination. It was both far too long in her experience yet a bit of her felt a slight warmth at it. Her eyes fixed upon his rather handsome golden eyes that seemed to come to life with each word, reflected back both sincerity and sorrow. They had almost lost too much. Both for Mar's and Althalus's liking. At his words about a faded memory and the fact Lyn would her, Mar stopped herself from rolling her eyes at his excuse.

Lyn had legs, not a tail. Mar could never teach her to walk, run or even fight since she had no experience with such things. Her child, if he died, would likely never learn to walk and that was a fatal reality.

"Bipeds can be so...stupid." Mar said, unable to think of another word. She continued with a tone that her next words had explained everything, her head tilted to the side with a serious look. "I can't teach her to walk, Althalus. And why is it, you must say so much before you get to the point?"

It was at this moment, the once delighted giggles had turned into slight fussy sounds. A strange sound had come from Lyn's middle, low and rather demanding, which announced the infant was hungry. Unable to crawl, Lyn's turn to her side hadn't gone as planned and instead, she rolled back over. Her little legs started to move and arms started to reach for Mar, who promptly pulled from Althalus's grasp to pick her child up. Cradling the now screaming Lyn, Mar looked to Althalus. "Someone's hungry and I need to make a trip down to the kitchens for some food..."

Mar started to rise but suddenly stopped. Her head felt rather dizzy in her fast change in elevation, her body then sat back down before it had gotten very far. A hand rested upon her head until the earth had ceased its tilted. She muttered. "That was odd..."

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Althalus chuckled gently at her first words. After all, they were true, in a way. As she continued he raised an eyebrow, and opened his mouth to reply only to close it with an amused glance towards Lyn. He let go of Mar as soon as she turned from his grasp to pick up the squalling child, feeling the moment slip away like water between his fingers. A small smile crossed his face. Such is the power of children. He observed wryly, before his thoughts were interrupted by Mar rising and suddenly stopping, before going down, holding her head. He didn't know what had just happened, but assumed that she couldn't go anywhere at the moment. Not surprising, given that she had apparently been stabbed by Xyden while he was unconscious.

"I'll go and get some food from the kitchens. What will she need, and what will you need?"

---

In a easy and steady sway motion, Mar gently rocked the infant. Her arms firmly settled underneath to cradle Lyn close to her as her mind thought. "Well cooked meat. Small chunks, enough for her to bite into them and swallow. Some water or liquid and an animal skin, so she can teeth on it."

That was all she could think of at the moment, unsure if Lyn took after more the Naga in her or the human. To be honest with herself, if Lyn did take after her father much more then anything Mar tried would've bot been suited. In a last moment thought, she then added. "Bring anything you think a newborn would need as well. Incase. "

---

Althalus nodded, deciding to go get some help on the last bit. He knew exactly nothing of what a newborn would need. Still, he didn't leave yet. "And what do you want?" He repeated. He couldn't very well just get food and water for Lyn and just leave Mar as she is, clearly in need of something. He waited for her, clearly not moving until she gave him something to return with for her.

---

Mar sighed at his hestiation, even if it was meant to be heartfelt, her arms rocked Lyn a bit more. "Some raw meat and water would be fine."

Her answer was quick and straight to the point, her hand reached to sooth the cried that soon became needy wails. She was trying to remain calm yet a pang og guilt for not noting and preparing for the situation at hand had dug into her. Like a nasty bard which seemed to bleed worse with the more she ignored it, the guilt poked at her heart. Why didn't she remember that Lyn would've needed food soon after her birth? Her teeth, unfanged, bit her lips slight. "Please hurry Althalus..."

In a moment, the man was gone...like a shadow that was never there.

Alaira Taenn

Alaira was... disgusted by his display. Did he think she was stupid? Obviously this was some extremely awkward attempt to get in her pants, and she would have none of it. "No. You are not weaseling your way out of this!" she said. "You planned all that didn't you! Well it won't work, I'm not sleeping with you!" However, she had noticed his wounds, and it was probably for the best that she stop yelling at him. He had asked for her name, and it was a bit before she responded. "...Alaira. Alaira Taenn." She wasn't sure why she answered, or even why she was still here. Probably because she didn't much feel like wandering around in the cold at the moment. However, Lucilia had come by and in her usual eloquent manner she had basically told her to shut the hell up. Alaira had seemed a bit embarrassed for a moment, before giving an affirmative nod.

Grey Onyx i

Grey... wasn't doing all that great. Apparently, Lucilia needed to cut him open to fix his arm. Now, he wasn't sure why this was necessary. How would doing damage heal him? Still, he trusted her. She had sent Mei to fetch something, but she never came back. He assumed Lucilia was sick of waiting for her, and soon left him as well. As he lied there, he noticed that after Lucilia had tampered with it, his arm felt... worse. Like the pain was somehow amplified, enough to cause him discomfort. That was weird, he could normally just ignore it and it would go away after an hour. But this? this pain was constant. As if his own body was desperately trying to tell him something was wrong.

However, some abomination had entered the room! Grey gave a startled yelp and tried to scramble up to his feet, but the second he tried moving his arm he groaned in pain and stopped. That was when he noticed it was just Rathel. While it's appearance was unnerving, he actually rather liked it. It was awfully polite for a hellish monstrosity. however, when Rathel found him, he was a wreck. He was sweating profusely, and his arm seemed to actively torment him. And if you knew how ridiculously high his pain tolerance was, this might be alarming. "H-hi Rathel... S-sorry." Grey heard it talk about Lucilia. He took the things and more or less threw them next to him, he was in no condition to read right now. "T-thank you, R-rathel... c-c-can you t-tell her to... to... H-hurry up? She d-did something to m-my... my arm, a-and she m-must've m-messed-d up..." He barely managed to stutter out. He wasn't sure what was going on, it was as if his entire body had been put into disarray.

Little did he know, it was. When Lucilia altered the rune, she threw the delicate balance of his odd anatomy into complete chaos. Now, while he had had broken limbs before and the runes had an extremely advanced 'auto-repair,' Lucilia had altered it. By changing the rune, that one rune was now put into opposition with the others and the delicate balance of his runes was destabilized. If the problem was not rectified within a day, his entire body would tear apart on a molecular level, and his crystal heart would explode into a miniature maelstrom, large enough to clear out a room probably. However, he was unable to warn anyone of this, and it was likely that some extremely seasoned mages were needed to fix him now. Of course, he didn't even know of his impending death. However, mercifully, he had passed out with someone in the room with him. It was likely that Rathel might send for someone that could actually help him.

Uicle

Uicle was walking the halls, ignoring anything bad that happened to him because of Aarem's curse, his mind turned inwards. He only barely noted that Gregor was dutifully following him around. Forty years. Forty years since he had rejected the service of Aarem, and not until this day had he had a 'relapse' so to speak. Oh, he had been sorely tempted, many times. But he had never truly fallen back into old habits, old skills, and old...tastes. Not until he had to deal with that Naga, that is. The only thing that had been different in that scenario was the fact that Xyden had tried to kill a child. A newborn. If Sam hadn't been there to stop him...Uicle shuddered to think of what state Xyden would have been in. And he had a large pool of memories to select from to give him a vivid imagination. And if Gregor hadn't been there to stop him from retaliating against Sam...it would have been a mess all around. Especially given that anniversary of Khan's twin brother was coming up, and the Esyire would have more stress and memories weighing on him than usual. It's interesting how easily we can become those things that we claim to despise. Uicle idly observed. He should know. He was like that for 160 years of his rather lengthy lifespan.

His forward motion was halted when he heard someone addressing him. Turning to gaze at Leith, he snapped in reply, "An acute observation. Tell me, what is one who notices such obscure and hidden things doing in a mage college and not by a king's side?" He paused, seeming to realize the irritated tone he had taken. A deep, and completely unnecessary, breath went through him. "I'm sorry. My day has...been bad."

The Soothed Soldier

"Of course they are. It's one of the finest textiles you can get in Djarkel, Choco." Garde said, grinning a grin so wide and warm that even Coco, with no eyes to see it, could feel it. The man was strange, that was a given. Not even in six months that she had been studying in the College had she met a fleshling like him. Much less one who, she thought, had purposefully nicknamed her from the moment they met.

"Why does a soldier like you have such textiles, though? I thought only alpha males had access to such things?" Coco asked, tilting her head lightly and scooting closer to Garde in order to touch the gloves' material and feel it more thoroughly.

"Alpha what?" Garde replied with a chuckle and a raised eyebrow, "If you mean rich people then yeah, but these gloves are a gift I got from my parents when I was promoted past the rank of a simple Squire."

"Oh," Coco whispered, leaves quivering for a moment in humour, "What's a Squire?"

"No idea."

"Then how do you know you were one, Garde?"

"I served a Knight for a few years and in turn he sometimes taught me a few things. He called me his Squire." Garde shrugged, perking up when he looked away from Coco's featureless face and towards the small group that were his comrades. A different bunch they were, quite the opposite to Eania's uniform behaviour and speech. One of his comrades, a tall, dark skinned man was waving him to come over. With a grunt of effort he stood up and took Coco's hand in his, pulling her up as well.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Choco," He said in a polite and clear manner as he, out of custom, kissed her wrist and instantly twisted his face in confusion at the strange, bittersweet taste. What a strange taste, he had thought. "My comrades call for my presence now, Choco. I'll water you around." And with that, Garde left. His long coat flowing behind him as he walked towards his comrades.

Yet Coco wasn't sure how she felt. She had learned so many things about fleshlings and even more about how to act around them, but this meeting had shown her that she still had a long way to go. She felt somewhat frustrated at the man who had, in such an unexpected manner, turned out of the blue. She also felt curious and satisfied, though. Who was he, what was he?

Cynn Ellime
The telepathy trick took Cynn much by surprise. It shoudln't have;it would logically follow that it would have happened either at that point in that conversation or at the prompting of the forest elf. Still, the message gave her a start, and she jumped slightly when it came through.

It hadn't been particularly loud, neither had it been done in a distressing...would it still be called a tone? it wasn't really a voice, after all. Then again, Cynn had often thought things to herself, and she could simulate tonal differences and emphasis when she did. Yet, still, it was just a projection of her own voice in her head, put there to better organize her thoughts, and a fairly inaccurate one at that. It was like a painter mixing colors to replicate something they'd seen in nature, whereby he or she would come close, but it always looked a little...ethereal.

Perhaps the surprise had come from the fact that it had worked. Cynn had noticed that, with Mageblood, there was a largre gap in effectiveness. There were Bloods like Psychomancy and Pyromancy, manipulations of energies, that would work even in their weakest forms. A beginning Psychomancer might be incapable of targetting someone for a transmission, but the transmission would still go through; similarly, a beginning Pyromancer might only be able to produce flames from the tips of their fingers that were more like long-lasting sparks than anything else, but they'd burn all the same. Yet, for Bloods such as Demonomancy or Geomancy, which manipulated matter itself, there was a cut of point. At an emotional peak, Cynn could amass an army of gravel or move a massive stone with ease, but while relaxed, it would take her a little under thirty minutes to lift a rock of sixty pounds, and it would be more likely that she'd either pick it up herself or devise some contraption...

Annabeth was nodding. Why was Annabeth nodding? More importantly, why had she suddenly stopped nodding when it crossed Cynn's mind that she had been nodding? Are you listening in on my thoughts?

...

Yes...

Suddenly, Cynn knew what had surprised her about the telepathic message. It was the mere intrusion that it implied. Her brain had reacted to the discovery of some unknown trespass that had been meant to be understood then and there the same way it would have reacted had the trespass been discovered after the fact; with shock.

Deciding that it was time to get out of her head for a bit, the wood elf attempted to answer Annabeth's question.

"I was born...in a...into a wealthy family in a very...technologically advanced village. I got a good education, in...lots of things. I liked the gadgets well enough...but I felt...that...the whole business part...selling a part, rather than a product, with which the client could do anything th-they wanted...that was wrong. It stifled progress, placing the responsibility of discovery in the... in the hands of...maniACS." Cynn broke into a coughing fit, causing Annabeth to look at her with worry. She waved a hand in dismission, and, after the coughs had passed and the forest elf had caught her breath, continued.

"These customers...they looked for applications only in the fields that applied to them. War...resource allocation...nothing good. Sure...new beneficial uses would be found through this...but it took too long. This was my first issue with my parents. Then...of course, you had bureaucracy... I was nothing more than something to promote sales for them. They kept me as tied down as they could so I didn't rebel when they tried to pawn me off to the best business partner. A highborn with a Blood meant power.

"We had a...falling out... Long story short, I took my inheritence and left, with angry shouts from both of them, and wandered. I started making books...you know, transcribing scrolls...keeping a few spare blank tomes in case I ran into an aspiring writer... Made a few friends along the way, but...I wound up making dumb mistakes and splitting up with all of them. Then, one day, I heard about this place...decided I'd go. And here I am!"

She finished her hefty monologue with a smile. She'd given this girl a lot of information to take in, but she was convinced that Annabeth could handle it. Suddenly, the elf remembered something she'd forgotten to mention.

"Oh! I still sell books to earn coin, but I also have started selling some...devices of my own invention," she said with a shy grin. "And I have Natura Blood. I'm much more proficient in Geomancy, but I have some ability in the field of Herbamancy." She smiled as wide as she could, noticing that it hurt less to talk now that she was used to it. She extended her hand to Annabeth to shake.

"Oh, and I hate nuts."

Locas Jule

Locas turned to the woman who was very clearly in charge here. It would seem that this was the one who had healed him. Why she felt the need to make such a thinly veiled and childish threat was beyond him, but he could tell she was like him in terms of thought process; use your position for your benefit as much as you can. Unfortunately, that meant that Locas could exploit that ideology.

"Ma'am," he began, in his usual neutral tone. "I really do appreciate all you've done for me, as you certainly had no obligation to do so, and I understand the importance of rest after injury." Locas looked around the group, the woman looking intrigued and Alaira looking simply confused. "However, I hope you can understand the position I'm in at the moment. I've just awoken, and am not like to return to my slumber soon. Moreover, I'm very prone to boredom, and I've just met this..." he gestured towards the elf girl. "Wonderful lady, who seems interesting and kind enough. Certainly it wouldn't hurt to merely shake her hand?" The human student made a point of reminding Alaira that his hand was still, in fact, extended in her direction before turning back to look into the other woman's eyes.

"If you, and, indeed, Alaira Taenn would permit, I would very much like it if she stayed and kept me company for a while." The woman looked doubtful at this proposition, so Locas quickly revised. "I swear, kindest doctor, that I shan't overexert myself. No walking for me today; at least, no further than where I stand now. Surely, our mutual friend will agree?" Locas looked to the still-confused Alaira, then back to the woman before him. His eyes conveyed the seriousness of his request, despite the overly pompous delivery of his words. He was simultaneously playing to her authority and making a subtle threat of discourse should she not accept his request.

He was making her an offer she couldn't refuse.

"So, what say you, Lady...I don't believe I caught your name, actually. Would you, in all your generosity - the same that you showed when you helped me back to health - allow me this kindness?" He raised his eyebrows, giving the illusion of a questioning look, while his eyes remained as neutral as always.

Annabeth Gulch

The human girl listened as Cynn talked more about herself. She told Annabeth about her family, where she came from, what she's done. Also that she disliked nuts. Personally Annabeth liked certain nuts, but that was beside the point. Annabeth did gleam some of Cynn own internal thoughts, but out of respect she stopped shortly after Annabeth sent her telepathic message. When Cynn extended her hadn out Annabeth grasped it and shook it lightly. "That's quite a life you lead. And an inventor too? My my, aren't you just a creative elf." It as a lot to take in, so much that Annabeth was mostly speechless. But despite Cynn telling her so much, Annabeth wasn't quite as comfortable talking about her own family. She loved them dearly, if only they were still around. Something like that needed time to get to.

Getting back on track, Annabeth decided to open up on another topic about Cynn. "So you write books, and inventions? I did notice a few things back at our dorm, but I never touched your things. They did look odd to me, and I've always wondered what they were for. they don't appear to be weapons, but I do not know what to make of them."

Lucilia Riovas

Lucilia rolled her eyes as Locas went on his tangent. Occasionally she would pay some attention to what he was saying, but she was more concerned about getting back to Grey and finishing his operation. She was measuring out some sort of liquid into a syringe when she went over to Locas. "Enough of your sophistry. Take your medicine and rest." In a quick but fluid motion, she injected Locas with a sedative. It was set to the right dosage that he would be out in a few minutes, and would awaken in a few hours. By than his body would have recovered well enough that he would be able to stand on his own two feet. More importantly, he won't try to do anything stupid such as talk a walk around school or annoy other patients. using her vampiric strength, Lucilia picked up and put Locas into bed, even tucked him in to make sure that he didn't inadvertently get out of the cot. turning towards Alaria, Lucilia tried not to look too tired from today's events. "Make sure he does not cause too much trouble now? We have had enough for one day, thank you very much." Now than, Lucilia wasted no more time in the infirmary. She gave each of the healers in the infirmary a summary of the injuries everyone had and what sort of medication and treatment each one needed. After that she gathered her things and headed back to her office.

To make the trip faster, she went to the office in the form of a swarm of bats. The winter air bite into her smaller bat forms, but they managed to reach her office in a timely matter. She reformed just outside her door before opening it and entering. To her surprise Rathel was still there, and Grey had awaken. But he seemed.... Worse. Was it the runes she modified, or was it something worse? Lucilia was worried that she had somehow harmed Grey and turned to Rathel. "Find Val for me. I will be needing her expertise on these runes... Come on Grey, don't give up on me now!" Launched back into her emergency operator mode, Lucilia quickly went to work on Grey, trying her best to keep him stable and lessen his pain.

Cynn Ellime

Cynn knew that starting down the path of her gadgets was something that would probably chase off Annabeth. She could ramble on and on for hours, and got very, very technical.at times. Still, the girl seemed interested, so she tried to keep her digressions to a minimum.

"Most of that stuff you've seen..." the wood elf had to figure out how to phrase it. "Most of it is scrap parts, to be honest. Some of it is a collection of random gadgets that don't do much at all...but the rest are long term projects that...probably...won't be finished...any time soon. Of course, you've already seen some finished projects..." The girl looked intrigued. "The tubing in the restroom that leads up to a disk with holes punched? You use it to wash your hair more efficiently. I call it a shower...you know...because it's like rain..." Her voice trailed off. It was hard to believe that Annabeth had never turned on the shower out of curiosity before, much less seen it. It was also hard to believe that she'd never looked hard enough at the window to notice that you could now open and close it.

Of course, both of those had been relatively simple projects, and Cynn had finished them in a day each. Still, she thought they'd been complicated enough, given the rest of the College's technology. Not that the rest of the College's technology didn't work; it did, certainly. In fact, it was quite ingenious, using magic to power basic machinery. But the machinery was just that; basic. Every time Cynn walked past a furnace or the gardens, she saw things that could be improved upon, especially given the largely untapped potential of the golems.

Cynn, you're letting your mind wander again, she thought, looking over Annabeth. Address her! Ask her something about herself!

"S-So," she started, seemingly causing the human's interest to rise again. "Um...what.... What do you do...you know...when you aren't at the tavern? I've noticed that your schedule...it's very...different from mine. When do you have...free time?" You know...in case I wanted to surprise you one day, she thought to herself.

The Runemaster, the Vitamancer and the Operation…

The demon had been unsettled by the man’s reaction. At first, Rathel thought he was going to be attacked in a misunderstanding resulting in a friendly fire incident and braced himself. The man was rather horrible sight. His skin looked pale, clammy compared to the last time he saw him and his body seemed to be shaking as if fighting off something within. Deep down, Rathel was faintly glad it was difficult to tell his current expression because he was sure it would only create more stress for Grey then needed. His tension faded when Grey’s voice greeted him.

Using some effort, the man reached for the letter and vial with his trembling hand then finally tossed them aside. The vial made a loud dinged while both landed not far. For a dreadful moment, Rathel had considered it broken and seemed for wait for the paper to dampen from the vial’s contents. When the latter didn’t darken, the demon gave a little breath of relief. Ether was a valuable thing made exclusively at the College then in small, controlled quantities were shipped out to the other mage schools. However it took time, effort and rare Ravine materials to manufacture even the small amounts used over time. Most the College stock was a reserve each Head healer and Lucilia had been squirreling away for countless many years, even to this day. For Rathel, every vial was important. His mind shifted back to more important matters when Grey’s words broke his thoughts.

Rathel couldn’t bring himself to leave the man. Not in his condition, his tenderness unable to leave for fear Grey might die and he couldn’t save him if he was gone. Gently Rathel’s farther examined the Runes design, the shiver renewed once more to realize where he had seen it before. Val had been working, in her little spare time, deep within her workshop on a small project which would both aid and enhance the golems Uicle used daily. It was chilling to see Val’s infant plans within a living creature instead of one made from steel and turning runes.

He had been about to do something, anything, to stall the effects when the sound of thousands of bat flooded his hearing. They swept through the hallways and reformed once more into the solid mass, Lucilia, before she entered. She seemed frightened from her scent, regardless if she hid it or not, and that caused the demon’s heart to weight down. The vampire was usually one of the most stiffly controlled staff within Twilight but not now. He didn’t answer when she told him to seek Val, merely rushed out without wasting time. He knew where to find her as his mind reached for Zaad, unable to seek the other one he felt would be ideal to gather as well.

ZAAD!!!! Rathel screamed into the shadow demon’s mind.

What?!?! I ain’t done any fucking thing! Not yet! Zaad protested, his voice continued until Rathel abruptly stopped him. I’m just-

Shut up and listen close, don’t fuck around. Get Lidda and bring her to Lucilia office quickly. Rathel replied, his mind shut off any comments or whines while he finally spotted the burly dwarf heading to the kitchens.

He nearly collided with her when his large frame halted just inches between her and the Dining Hall entrance. His spines a mess and breathing hard, he ignored Val’s upraised eyebrow. Instead of allowing her any sort of comment or questions, Rathel just commanded. “You and I need to get to Lucilia’s office, now. One of the students need your attention and its an emergency.”

“Well, quite jabberin’. Git yore arse movin’!” came the woman’s deep voiced reply as her boots shuffled towards the direction Rathel had arrived from, her short legs moved faster than most would’ve thought possible.

In minutes, Val and Rathel had arrived while the earlier had trotted into the office hastily. She didn’t bother to knock or anything, her concern too great about what Rathel had explained along the way and caused her not to care. Thankfully when Lucilia had shown interest in the art of Runes, Val had made the vampire a basic kit as a gift and only hoped the vampire had the wisdom to keep it in her office now. Or else she would’ve had to send Rathel to retrieve some items and that wasted precious time.

“Alrite. Ah need the rune kit, where tis it?” She spoke in her gruff accent, her body instantly set up on the exposed bone and rune gifs. Once Lucilia mentioned it or indicated the location, Val was on it like a wolf with a fresh deer. She unrolled the roll revealing the many different tools from craving to painting, even a well of vivid, bright blue ink Val had thought Lucilia would’ve liked. Shortly after Val had begun to set the rune right again, in one hand a craving tool and the other a small quill to fill in the chiseled away bone, when Lidda and Zaad had arrived. The vitamancer teacher seemed confused and rather unsettled by the demon’s method of traveling, yet pushed her shadow sickness away.

Lidda’s voice was determined when she reached the small group. “Show me what to do and let me at it.”

Annabeth Gulch

The way Cynn stuttered when speaking was a bit cute. It made her look very shy. Admittedly, Annabeth was somewhat fearful of some of Cynn's inventions. She tends to be when faced with the unknown, and given that just about everyone at the college dabbles in things with combat application, how was she suppose to know the "Shower" poured water instead of say, fire? Still, perhaps now Cynn could show Annabeth what they were so she wouldn't have to be so scared. When asked if Annabeth did anything else aside from working at Underhaven, she thought about her usual hobbies. "Well... Obviously aside from my classes, I suppose I do tend to be in the company of some of my other friends. One of my fellow Psychomancy students, Ssarak, he's teaching me how to use a battle axe. Sometimes I also accompany the hunting class out on their trips just to keep my archery sharp. Aside from that, I don't really do much else. I write letters to my family back at Eania sometimes, or just browse the library. I guess you could say I do have a lot of free time." She works at Underhaven for five days strait and takes two days off, meets up with Ssarak early in the morning every few days, and she only goes hunting once every few weeks. Aside from projects in Psychomancy that might take up time, she had a lot of time to do just about whatever. Perhaps Cynn had some idea what to do with her free time...

Lucilia Riovas

When Val arrived, Lucilia was quick to give her a run down of what might have happened, though she also put a few lies and half-truths peppered about. "Grey came to my office after he broke his arm. I put him onto the table to operate on him and see how bad the damage was. When I opened him up, he had shattered the bones in his arm. I worked on it as I usually would, but I noticed that he had runes engraved into his bones. I tried to work with them so that they would have settled in correctly, but... I'm afraid that I had faced an obstacle I wasn't trained for." Technically true, but she worded it in a way that made her look like she was just trying to help and not just to slate her curiosity. She'd have to make it up to Grey somehow. Once Val was finished, Lidda came in shortly after. She asked what she needed to do and Lucilia filled her in. "Once Val is finished setting Grey's runes, I'd need you to help make sure Grey is stabilize and restore his arm back to it's usual function. Right now he's... He's suffering from something much more different than what most would, likely due to the runes in his body... Where did he get those I wonder..." Lucilia's curiosity was getting the better of her again as Val was near in completion. Hopefully there wouldn't be anymore complication as Lucilia prepared various medicines and salves to treat Grey's wounds and symptoms.

A Stranger Appears!?

It was already noonish when there was a loud banging on the door of a large wagon. "Oi! Are you still asleep Norsch!?" Inside the wagon rested a fairly small woman. She had long white hair, like snow. She drowsily got up from her bed, mumbling only loud enough to let the noisy person know that she was awake. "How are we suppose to represent if you aren't there! Come on!" Norsch, or Norschtalen being her full name, got dressed and opened the door. "Yes yes, sorry about that. I had spent most of the night trying to make contact with him..." When the door opened the girl was dressed with a large, flowing black cloak, with a white blouse underneath. Her eyes were a sharp red and her teeth were pointed; she was a vampire.

Norschtalen came with a caravan of fifteen to represent a group in Djkarel known as the Helion Coven, a organization of Vampires. They wished to have the college's support in their endevours, however their first meeting with the College's representative for vampires, Lucilia Riovas, went badly. So now they wanted to try to appeal to the Headmaster himself, hoping that he would superceed her decision. Now they just needed to find Khan.

Norschtalen was the representive of her organization. Or at least, this current group; she wasn't the leader of the Helion Coven, more like an ambassador. She needed to find Khan and try to talk to him about their Coven, see if he would support them. She had an entire speech written out and everything, but Norsch did not even know where to begin to find Khan, who no doubt is busy dealing with everyone else. Norsch seperated from her group to find the headmaster, but was making little to no progress. Perhaps she could ask one of the students... The first one that cause Norsch's eyes was some sort of fox creature. She was told that the college has a large variety of students, no doubt this one was one of them. "Excuse me, Excuse me! I want you to take me to Khan, the headmaster, if you would please."

"Huh?" The fox man had muttered after the girl's call, an eyebrow raised and a smirk present on his face, "Khan, the Headmaster?" He asked, then nodded. Quickly he had found a student in the vicinity whom he had spoken to, and who had, after a short introduction, given him some directions before having to leave to attend to his business.

The fox man then returned to the girl and relayed the information to her, "Apparently Khan was last seen talking to the Eania and Djarkel representatives inside the Castle-" He began, then slowly stroked his own jaw and continued, "I can help you, but first, I gotta know your name. Mine's Lian." He said with a subtle smile, stretching his hand towards her.

The fox man left Norschtalen to go speak to another student, who came back with news. The headmaster Khan was last seen speaking to the two dignitaries from the new waring nations, no surprise there. She would need to bide her time to speak to him than, knowing that if she spoke about her organization with those two present, it would end badly for her. Still, knowing where Khan was would be a good thing. The fox man refused to tell her specifics, however, unless she gave him her name. The fox man was called Lian who than extended his hand towards Norschtalen

The vampire smirked, leaned in, and grasped Lian's hand. She kissed it lightly on the knuckle of his middle finger, as she would often do to others back in the coven. She also knew that this gesture might have been seen as odd to those outside of her coven, hence why she did it. "You may call me Norschtalen. Madam Norschtalen, of the Helion Coven. Now than, my dear Lian, perhaps you would be so kind as to guide me to Khan?"

"Oh... Wow," Lian said when Norschtalen kissed his finger, both eyebrows raised in an amount of surprise that he rapidly forced down, "thanks, Madame Norschtalen of the Helion Coven." He appreciated the kiss, and the fact that it came from a red-eyed, white-haired woman made it better. You didn't see these colours in people down south!

Having received such a gesture only meant one thing to him, though--And that was that he had to return it. When Norschtalen had finished speaking her request, he gently took a hold of her hand and kissed her wrist, his eyes not ceasing the contact with hers as he did so. "Trust me, I would guide you to Khan if I could, especially after that kiss, but... I barely arrived fifteen minutes ago," He explained, "so I don't quite know how Khan looks like, or where he is, exactly."

"The other student I asked only told me what I've already told you, and he also mentioned the three of them being somewhere in the main College building-" He pointed right down the path in the middle of the courtyard, up to a large castle, "which seems to be that one."

Norschtalen smirked as the fox returned her gesture with one of his own. Lian than explained that he was, in fact, quite new to the college, and had no idea what Khan even looked like. He only knew the general area where Khan would be, which was at one of the larger buildings in the college. Norschtalen's facial expression darkened a bit, knowing that it would be very bothersome to have to hunt him down. But she did have the sly fox with him. In a deft movement while Lian still had Norsch's hand, she laced her fingers across his own and pulled his body into hers. She wrapped her free arm around his waist, pressing their bodies together.

"Well than, that would mean that I would still need your help, no? What say you, my dear Lian? Care to accompany me in finding the headmaster?" Their bodies was close to each other, their chest pressing against one another. Norschtalen's face hovered just a few inches above Lian's own, enough that his whiskers would tickle her lips. Her breath smelled faintly of a desert rose, but also of dried blood.

"I will gladly accompany you..."

Lian's tail slowly swished behind him, whiskers lightly dancing on Norschtalen's visage as he looked into her eyes, his own expression twisted into a mix of mild excitement and lust that grew with each moment that he felt her form so close to his. Until he fully processed the scent and he felt forced to caress the side of her neck with a hand, the thumb lightly pressing against her chin as he took another subtle whiff of her breath...

"Dried blood?" He whispered with his tail stiffening somewhat but keeping its motion, eyes curiously studying her face while he found it harder and harder to keep his lips to himself with each passing second.

"Yes... I'm quite the Man eater you see... Maybe one day I'll be seeing you later at night..." Norschtalen leaned in close to whisper this into Lian's ear, before disengaging. She stepped back and had her hands crosse behind her back with a look of innocence. "But that is something for another time... Would you please guide me to where Khan may be?" Norschtalen smiled innocently, but her entire self almost screamed honey trap. But would Lian fall for her charms? Would she have to ensure that he did not stand in her way?

A shiver visibly traveled down Lian's spine upon the whisper's ticklish breath reached his ear, fur bristling for a split second. The moment Norschtalen disengaged the embrace, Lian could swear that he felt something break inside of him. And then when she looked at him with such innocence... He could also feel how another thing broke, right inside of his trousers. Probably the pen he used to make marks on maps.

Taming his shivering spine, Lian regained his composure and after wiggling his whiskers one single time, he started walking towards the College's main building.

"Just follow me and we'll find what you're looking for, Norschtalen."

Cynn Ellime

"So," Cynn said softly, having taken all that Annabeth had just told her. "You are quite the busy one yourself, I see." She smiled kindly, moving slightly in the cot. This human girl was proving to be quite the interesting one, and kind to boot. She felt like they'd become good friends. But, for now, the forest elf had one more question.

"Annabeth," Cynn said, quite suddenly. The girl turned toward her quickly, like something was wrong, causing Cynn to smile a little. "Nothing's happened, don't worry. I was just wondering...I mean, I told you about my family...and I was th-thinking that you could...maybe...let me know some about yours?"

After dropping of Locas at the Infirmary, Meirin stayed hidden around the shadows. She was shocked when she saw Lucilia at the Infirmary already, no doubt angry that she was taking so long to get those needles. Meirin didn't dare to show her face, an left as soon as she could. She hear the herbamancy teacher tell the demon to take the needles back to her office, so Meirin guessed she wasn't needed there. Perhaps it would have been best if she simply stayed out of sight again. So she just wondered around the college, on patrol an making sure no one was acting up again. But mostly she just wanted to be alone and reflect on her actions. She wanted to think that she was just trying to help for bringing Leith back to the Infirmary, but given how chaotic everything was, Meirin didn't feel that she helped at all. Setting those thoughts aside however, she stopped an turned around to the stranger behind her. "You've walked in this direction for far too long for this to simply be a coincidence. What is it that you want from me, Haklo of house Desol?"