[IC] Keepers of Death (Black University Saga)

[RainDash]

Kacey sat up, watching the Dean more intently now. The Sight? Was that what it was called? She'd suspected as much, but wasn't sure. The letter had come her way by her going into her once 'home' and discovering it on her bed. No one had seen anything, and more importantly, the person that she'd seen watching her had vanished. Suspicious. Not to mention that she'd dropped out of school and worked only temporary jobs. Still, a degree for absolutely free wasn't something to just pass up.

She sat forward, interested to see what exactly the dean had in store for... Ramon? Was it something cool, or terrifying? At this point, she was more pumped to work hard for this Reaper part.She'd tried a lot of different stuff, searching for that one thing that would hold her attention. Nothing worked, it was all too tame. Now she was going to test her mind, body, and soul. She was ready to sit still a little for this, ready to learn what the Dean wanted to teach them.

[RumikoOhara]

Grace giggled as she heard herself referred to as Granola girl by the pushy boy.

She did though shift her focus back towards the stage as Dean Hughe pulled off a trick worthy of a Vegas magic show. One moment he held nothing then the next he was suddenly holding a giant scythe in one hand

"I believe it is time to explain why you are all here." He said now appearing to have even shifted appearance his voice also causing her an excited chill of familiarity.

Grace grinned enjoying the elaborate sense of drama this was all taking an something inside her sang in vindication as he carried on.

"As some of you may be aware, you are not here based on academic merit alone." He explained, bringing the scythe to rest on his shoulder.

"Each and every one of you in this room has a gift, the potential to use something known as 'Sight'. Some of you," he said as he looked at one girl and then Grace.

"May already be somewhat aware of the gift, though have not refined it. The rest of you have lived unaware of the gifts and potential that you were born with. Now then, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Martin Hughe, I am the Dean of Students at Black University, and am the one who can be known as the forty-eighth Grim Reaper." he said with a finality that offered no chance for disbelief

Grace actually sat up at this point her expression one of scarcely controlled victory. All these years an all the sessions designed to make her believe what she saw was all just a trick of her mind banished by a few simple words.

Her inner cynic warned that this could all be just a sham an the Dean was a cult leader that sooner or later was going to turn creepy an say he was married to all the girl an the boys needed castration. Grace very cruelly and brutally shut her inner bitch up. And continued to listen.

"Now then, the reason you are all here is because of your gifts. The purpose for which you are receiving an education here is to train you to become my assistants as Reapers. However, just because your room, board, and tuition here are covered, do NOT expect this to be an easy ride. You will each be put through rigors that will test your minds, bodies, and souls to the limits, and even then, some of you will not make it through the program. You will still be given the free tuition, however, you will still be expected to finish a degree if that is the case. On that note, each of you is to find a secondary degree within the University, just in case of this eventuality." he said as he lifted the scythe, pointing the end of it at boy in the audience

"Ramon Othane," he spoke. "Come down to the stage. I'd like to go over a small demonstration." he commanded

Grace now began to worry as her inner bitch screamed told you so, now it's time to meet the space ship!

She checked to assure herself that the exit she'd sat near so she would,'t be in the earlier crush of exiting students was unguarded. If this thing goes sideways she was ready to evacuate an get the hell out.

Still another part of her calmed her nerves reminding her that she was chosen to survive where others died and she shouldn't worry at all.

Naturally the that side and the bitch began an argument like the little angel an devils used to represent right an wrong in cartoons. Grace banished them to silence as she watched her eyes now fully focused on Ramon Othane and his potential fate.

[Eisenhorn]

Alexander blinked as a flash originated from the stage, and the Dean was now holding a big bloody scythe. Well, that was certainly NOT what he was expecting to see. The Dean now looked a good sight meaner, and not just because of the weapon in his hand now. It was an air about him, the type that he had learned to avoid when possible years ago. It was the type of person that knew they were plain nastier than everyone else, and everyone should know it, and he could easily show you just how bad of a day you could have. That was what he was reading out of this, at any rate, which hardly meant anything when it came to truths or opinions. As the man started, he dropped his feet back to the ground, not out of respect but out of a plan to bolt the moment things turned south, if he had the chance. He half wished he hadn't hoped for something more interesting earlier, because he more than well got it here. He muttered under his breath as the man mentioned not being here on academic talent, or at least some of them. "Yea, I think we realized, we got a guy waving a scythe at us, that ain't much learning material other than how to run incredibly fast would be needed..."

Alex looked around, taking his surroundings into consideration while the Dean continued, having not really considered that this could potentially be a situation, at all. There were several escape routes, but he had a feeling that running would not get him terribly far if the man decided that stopping him would be a wise thing. The problem was that he was curious about what he was rambling on about, whatever gifts or whatever. There wasn't much he could point out, he was a down on his luck guy that happened to catch a break coming here, and faced off here. Some guy, Ramon, got pointed at and told to come up for demonstration. Self preservation would have dictated that a man wielding a scythe, declaring himself the 48th Grim Reaper, asked you up on stage for a demonstration would not have ended well, but the guy went up on stage regardless. "Well, points for bravery, I suppose. Lost all of em on common sense then..."

That last comment wasn't muttered, not really concerned with who heard him or not, skeptical about the whole special powers thing. But he was here, regardless of his outlook on things, so he would have to run with it, regardless. The free ride did sound nice though, even if it was being offered by a man declaring himself as the Grim Reaper, not just the appearance of the idea. Other 'special cases' were making commentary as well, from the sounds of things, but it was irrelevant. It would prove interesting, in a potentially morbid way, he supposed, but kept wary, considering he did not trust this in the slightest yet.

[Nytefall]

Shiro did nothing but stare at the man hearing his speech when she asked for a student to join him on stage she smiled inwardly. She could become a grim reaper, a master of death and lord over all the living. I shouldn't get too carried away with my self. She thought to herself. She listened intently to what the Dean had to say she now loved her parents rather than hate them. Had they known about the secret of the university or were they as much in the dark as she was.

[Krodin329]

Ramon knew what the others were thinking as he stood there. Am I stupid? No, if he kills me, they'll have time to get out. I guess that can be percieved as stupid. I could get out of here right now, but if I do that, someone else might die. I don't need anymore nightmares either. So, looks like I'll be taking the dive either way. Ramon took a step back moving his right leg behind his left and bending them slightly prepared for an assault. He knew he probably couldn't win against someone clearly as skilled, especially since he didn't have a weapon. But, he could delay him for a long enough amount of time that others could escape.

Ramon didn't figure he'd be attacked, after all, why would the student choose around twenty insignificant students to slighter in his own school. He wouldn't have anywhere to hide the bodies without being seen, especially on orientation day where everyone would be wandering around campus. Granted he did just pull a scythe out of thin air so Ramon still wasn't sure. He was, supposedly, the grim reaper after all. Ramon figured that the best way to stay alive in this situation should it go bad would be to be as he was. On guard.

[wonderlandalli]

Alexandra couldn't believe what she was seeing. Was that scythe really not there before? As the dean spoke, singling her out for a moment, her anxiety rose and her blood quickened in her veins.

As this Ramon made his way to the stage, she realized she was gripping the seat arms so hard her knuckles were white. He'll kill him...

Enough of this Halloween shit. While eyes were on Ramon, she slid down in her seat, then out of it crouching down to hide between the rows. She crawled toward the aisle, took a deep breath, then jumped up and ran for the exit.

[Lionheart]

Kazuki's attention was instantly pulled from his examination of his fellow students to the stage with a sudden flash. His eyes widened at the scythe in the dean's hands. Where the hell did THAT come from? His mind raced to try to explain what his eyes saw, only to be further mystified by the rest of the Dean's speech. Grim Reaper? Really? Those actually exist? A secondary degree? That was a very odd thing to put in there. At least that told Kazuki that no matter what happened it was doubtful that the Dean intended to kill them. There was some amount of comfort in that, at least.

Now, the main question of the day, what is the "Sight"? The Dean had looked at two very specific people, the girl who had sunk down into her seat, and the girl who was watching everyone like he was. What kind of "Gift" was it? What did having it entail? The Dean called the student named Ramon to the stage and Kazuki watched patiently, eager to learn the answers to the many, many questions the Dean's display had raised.

[MarumasaLuckySpectre]

Marcus had little to say during the time everyone spent conversing after the Dean had spoken and welcomed all the students, he stood in the corner of the room inspecting every character, trying to figure out who he was best talking to and who he should avoid. One guy in particular caught his eye, he was causing an argument with a girl about calling her 'babe' or something but he seemed like a funny guy. One girl sat silently eating food, and was referred to as the 'granola' girl, she seemed too quiet for Marcus' liking, and the girl that kicked the taller character to wake him up seemed too aggressive and unpredictable. The others that remained in their seats didn't say much nor give of any signs on whether Marcus should attempt to make conversation with them, so instead of saying anything he stood by the door waiting for something to happen, or someone to approach him.

The Dean appeared again with a large scythe resting on his shoulders, "My name is Martin Hughe, I am the Dean of Students at Black University, and am the one who can be known as the forty-eighth Grim Reaper.".... under his breath Marcus began to analyse his words after he said them, "Forty-eighth Grim Reaper?... if such a power exists isn't it a single entity, though the belief of the reaper himself was always superstition, was it truly derived from other humans with a gift? if so why hasn't it been recorded?"

"the purpose for which you are receiving an education here is to train you to become my assistants as Reapers." "So we are to become his assistance using such a power called the sight, i always though i was different but this is off the chain, say i do have this ability why now of all times to pick up on this and if that is the case how come no government hasn't already decided to use whatever power we have against one another?" Marcus hoped that the Dean couldn't hear his constant questions, he didn't want to be a critic but he did not quite understand why such a thing would be happening.

Marcus wanted to raise his hand and question the Dean, but instead he watched anxiously, waiting for a chance to speak another time. He was never incredibly smart, but since he wanted to be a lawyer he developed a habit of questioning a lot of what he hears. "this may just get a little interesting, though i wonder what he means by 'demonstration?"
Seeing the girl make for the exit he gave her a cold hard look and watched has she ran towards the door he was standing by, he had no intention of stopping and stepped further away from the door, but politely asked, "you are making too much noise, please stay and watch the end of the presentation... i am not forcing you, just asking"

[Blaze Gamma]

The Dean looked at Ramon and gave a polite bow, as would any martial artist. "The reason I have called the young master Othane to the stage is because he is an accomplished student of the martial arts. Over the course of your time here, you will be forced to deal with threats that would push any normal human to their limits, indeed, would make even a young man such as him sweat." As he said this, the Dean twirled the scythe so that the weapon was held backwards, with the blade behind him. "Now then, it is only customary to allow the disadvantaged party the first strike." he spoke calmly, holding his right hand before his body and taking a defensive stance, while holding the scythe behind him in his left.

Well, considering the stance I doubt you're going to go all out. Ramon smoothly inched forward and suddenly delivered a faking snap kick to the Dean's shin and immediately moving it upwards towards his face as a test of reaction time with his weapon.

In a fluid motion, the man slid his feet back and used his forward arm to continue the motion of the kick well beyond Ramon's range of motion, leaving the young man on his back. "Even though Ramon is well trained, the things he knows will not be enough for the trials ahead," the man spoke, tapping the handle of the scythe to the center of Ramon's chest. "That is why it is so important that you all focus. It is rare, but students have died during the course of their studies here." There was a flash, and the scythe disappeared. The Dean then opened his hand, offering it to help the younger man up.

Ramon denies the offer of being helped up, not because he wanted to be rude, but because he wasn't done fighting. He threw out his legs and spun upward off of his back and onto his feet, already in motio for another go. This time however, he took a more cautious approach, upswing a left tiger fisted palm strike with an L shaped stace. As he did so he leaned slightly back, this time prepared for the counter strike.

The dean sighed and leapt back. "You are willful. That is an important trait. However, now is not the time." He raised a hand, and a tendril of darkness shot from his hand and wrapped around Ramon, paralyzing him.

Ramon struggled for a few moments, until he realized it was futile, then he bowed his head and stated, "I concede, and accept my defeat."

The dean lowered his hand and the dark tendrils vanished. "I want you all to learn from this. The level I fought this young man at is the level you will all be dealing with over the course of your studies. Expert martial artist that he is, he is not yet ready. You will all be expected to work together, support each other, and be prepared for a trying road."

Ethan blinked. "Uh... Was any of that real?" He asked Shiro, completely oblivious to the fact that she was trying to ignore him.

[Krodin329]

Ramon fell to his knees, embarrassed at such a defeat. It was over too quick, and he couldn't do anything in his power to fight better. Suddenly, he was asking himself the big question Am I really this weak? Or is he just that strong? Damnit! I'm content with were I'm going and now this? I can't accept losing that easy, now I have to be even stronger, I want to defeat him when he's at his best, just like I did with my previous master.

Ramon's mind quickly flashed back to the final scene, much like this one, where he offered his hand to his defeated master. It was a moment of true pride for him, hours of training every day a week, painstakingly going over the details of a single move until it was perfected. And now this. Ramon thought he was strong, but now he realized just how low of a level he stood on. He wondered what other supernatural entities existed. Of course, now was not the time to ask such a question, and no matter how hard he tried not to think about it, his weakness just kept coming back to him.

I am a fourth degree black belt in all of my disciplines, I've won on national and world tournaments, i was going to be scouted for the Olympics! Hell, I still probably will be, but I'll turn it down. I'm going to put all of my effort into beating him. Now matter how long it takes, I will become the Grim Reaper!

Ramon stood up, a glare in his eyes full of fierce determination: the glare of competition and drive. He faced the Dean and gave a steep bow towards the victor of their match, rose and stuck out his hand in a handshake.
"It was an honor fighting you, but let me tell you this, Mr. Hughe. I'm going to become stronger, and I'm going to be the forty ninth Grim Reaper."

[RumikoOhara]

Grace watched the fight between the Dean and Ramon thinking to herself that this could prove problematic. She'd never even been in one fight knowing as she did at an early age that any display of aggression by a foster child meant medicines that dulled the mind.
Sure others had sought to test her physically but she'd used her intimidation ability or simple subterfuge to avoid fighting.. If those methods didn't work then she'd expose their social crimes an see they received the medication that would bring her peace.

It seemed though that she'd now be expected to assume the aggressor role and learn to fight. She hoped that she wasn't expected to use brute force as a fighting form because she couldn't see herself bulking up.

She giggles to herself as she pictures a body builder Grace in her head who's all bulging muscle and pulsing blood veins.
"Gross" she says quietly to herself then leans back in her seat

[MarumasaLuckySpectre]

"interesting, it seems that we will be fighting here....." Marcus shuffled out of sight and into the corner of the room as he retrieved his mobile to attempt at calling his parents, he came here to learn not to fight. As he opened his contacts he saw the picture of his mum and dad, no... i will do this now putting his phone in his pocket.
you will all be expected to work together, support each other "well i am definitely screwed at this point, i have been standing not even trying to speak to anyone.... i really should approach someone but who?"

After a while of contemplation he sat down next to Grace, "hey granola girl, you are the closest person to me and if what the Dean says is correct, it would be good to have a friend, and so far these guys seem to be busy..." he looked around a bit, noticing how separated people were from the others, "names Marcus, you don't have to tell me your name... to be fare you can tell me to go away but quick question.... you got anymore food? i missed breakfast this morning" he looked away as his stomach began to make demonic noises "my stomach sounds like it's going to be the forty-ninth grim reaper..."

[RainDash]

Kacey was at attention, first leaning forward, then standing up, and finally grabbing the seat in front of her. They were gonna fight? This was a challenging course? The idea made her form a smile. She didn't care less about wether or not she became Grim Reaper or not. She wanted in. This place was giving decent answers already. She had the Sight, which kind of made sense. "Awesome! Tell me where to sign up!" She yelled from the back, smiling like a crazed woman.

This was her chance to do something great. She didn't have to sit in a desk everyday, she didn't have to listen to long lectures on boring things -hopefully- , and maybe sh e'd learn to fight like that. Maybe she'd ask Ramon to be her tutor. The guy looked fairly capable. This was going to be a new world, and she was ready to dive in head first.

[Eisenhorn]

Alex had been in more than his fair share of scrapes, but this was leagues above anything he had gotten involved in. Multi level martial arts master, it looked like, the latest in Grim Reaper lineage, black power tentacles, and a great big bloody scythe still resonated clearly that this was beyond his skill, right now. But if he was indeed one of these Reaper types, and he had made it this far without completely flipping his lid, he would make it the rest of the way. Sure, he wasn't as good a fighter as this Ramon guy, nor was he as smart or cunning as some of the others in here, but he figured that he was here for a reason. After so many raw deals, potential lives run from, others ruined and he still was breathing, hell, thriving, this wouldn't be able to stop him.

Violence wasn't going to get him anywhere though, he wasn't outfighting this lot, he could see that. Not through being purely stronger, or faster, or smarter. He would have to work at rounding himself out rather than excelling purely in one thing, best them where they didn't shine. Besides, that would save him from becoming crippled by specializing in something. But he doubted going it solo would work too well, despite his previous life experiences, and others seemed to be thinking that, talking amongst themselves while one crazy chick flat out asked where they signed. Crazy, but this was too, so it fit. The running girl might not be wrong to do so, but he couldn't rightly walk away at this point, commenting out loud, voicing his opinion on the matter at hand. "This is insane, sure, but I suppose sane decisions never got me this far..."

[RumikoOhara]

A boy she didn't know came over an sat next to her saying "Hey granola girl, you are the closest person to me and if what the Dean says is correct, it would be good to have a friend, and so far these guys seem to be busy..."

Grace had to laugh a moment because she'd been called many things but. "Granola Girl" wasn't one of them. She didn't show if it annoyed her or if she approved as she looks at him and her continues to speak "Names Marcus, you don't have to tell me your name... to be fare you can tell me to go away but quick question.... you got anymore food? i missed breakfast this morning"

Grace was so tempted to just hand him her mix and observe his reaction but today wasn't the day for making enemies.
"I'm not sure Granola Girl fits me well because what I'm munching on isn't actually granola but a sweet pepper treat. It contains two of the world's hottest peppers, two sweet hot peppers and dried apple along with banana.
You're welcome to try but I must at least warn you that this mix has been know to reduce people to either screaming, sobbing or both. she giggles as she offers the now half empty bag to Marcus

"Oh and my name's Grace" she adds with a smile

[wonderlandalli]

She glowered at Lucky, but as she turned intending to push the door open with her backside she caught site of the fight and couldn't look away. Alexandra held her breath during the display, then seeing the boy was unharmed, she let it out with a light whoosh. Nerves rattled, she slid into a back row aisle seat to rummage into her purse, removing a water bottle and a little box of pills. She popped two into her mouth and chugged the water while the dean went on. Some of the other people's reactions re-affirmed to her they were a bunch of crazy juvenile delinquents.

This was just so goddamn freaky. She'd never been into horror movies or anything, and certainly was not a fighting type. She'd honestly rather not hurt anyone. No, it wasn't that... she would really just not engage with most people as a general rule. But then she thought about the reference to the Sight, to her dreams. It occurred to her maybe this was the chance to actually help those people in her dreams, and maybe she could reach them before they had to be 'reaped' and save them... She tried to imagine herself pushing people out of the way of oncoming traffic or walking someone to their car so the lurking murderer nearby would change his mind and go away. That's just fantasy, she thought, You can't really do that stuff.

[Lionheart]

Kazuki watched the fight completely enthralled, any coherent thought he might've had was completely thrown out the window. It defied any source of logical reasoning. Not only was this old man the grim reaper, but he could summon a scythe from nowhere and was a martial artist on top of that. Still, it was an amazing show. He listened to the Dean's words very carefully, attempting to find any hidden meanings, though it didn't seem like there was anything to find. Remarkable as it seemed the Dean appeared to be straightforward with them, at least so far.

Did he actually want to be the Grim Reaper? He honestly didn't know. Was it something he was willing to stake his life on? Still, no answer is forthcoming. The Dean seems to think everyone here could. so why not him? Hmmm, nothing to do about it now but see how things shape up. Kazuki examined his fellow students and noticed a few taking the Dean's last sentence to heart. He of course didn't feel the need to establish any form of relationship quite yet. If the time came he'd see to it, after all that's how humans worked. They only ever interact with one another when there is something to be gained. Everyone follows this same basic principle, even himself. And so Kazuki Yasuhiro stood alone in the corner, waiting to see what happens next.

[Nytefall]

Shiro laughed loudly when Ramon was defeated. Martial arts were not her strong point, her family had been taught a special kind of fighting style that was all about redirect your opponents negative energy and using it against them. shiro doubted that she would've been able to defeat her opponent though if she had her staff from her home than it might have been a different fight all together. Shiro listened quietly as the Dean finished his speech. She heard the girl at the back shouting to the Dean, asking where she signed up.

Shrio scoffed and chuckled lightly to herself. Being eager makes her the first kind of person that people will try to get rid of. Eagerness can cause problems in a competition like this.Shiro would be playing the nice innocent girl from this point on, she'll get all these idiots on her side than turn them against each other than stab them in the back one by one. However the competitors in this little grim reaper race looked tough, she would need to train and study a lot if she was going to overtake and anihate any one that got in her way.

[MarumasaLuckySpectre]

"I'm not sure Granola Girl fits me well because what I'm munching on isn't actually granola but a sweet pepper treat. It contains two of the world's hottest peppers, two sweet hot peppers and dried apple along with banana.
You're welcome to try but I must at least warn you that this mix has been know to reduce people to either screaming, sobbing or both."
Marcus put his hand into the bag of treats and retrieved some, "thank you grace i might as well see if i like it" he smiled as he put the treat into his mouth and sat in silence for a while, his face puffing red, "Damn those things are spicy!" he waved his hand over his mouth, "you got a drink there!" his eyes were watering like a waterfall. [i]why did i listen to this girl! how can she eat these kind of things! "owowowowoow i can't handle spicy food, but this is hellfire!"

Marcus was happy that he was making at least one friend, he assumed that he would make few friends here but he found it hard to socialize with new people. His previous friends introduced him to one another meaning he hand't needed to approach people before, but this was nice. "how the hell can you eat this? i mean that is insanely spicy!"

[RumikoOhara]

You know I'm not sure how I handle it but to me it burns in a delicious and wonderful way. The hotter the pepper the more I want to eat it.
I've taken to growing my own an hybridizing them for different traits, sweet, sour, dry and juicy says Grace as she retrieves an old fashioned powdered sugar peppermint candy cane and hands it to Marcus
Here this will relieve the burn as it soaks the capsaicin. The peppers you just ate measure very high on the Scoville Scale, somewhere around 850,000 SU though I have made some mix that measured around 2,500,000 SU before. Grace smiles as she eats some more of her mix and when she's swallowed laughs softly
Oh an please call me Grace or if you need a nickname Pepper because what I eat has little or no relation to Granola