[IC] Of Blood and Magic

[Bert Macklin]

He seems awfully ruffled all things considered, Ben thought as he watched Eris saunter ahead. He supposed that his rant was sufficient enough to be considered a victory, or at the very least he hoped so as he had stopped paying too much attention after he decided to infantilize him. How utterly comical, the idea of two grown vampires holding hands without any romance between them while being introduced. Which was funnier to him, that or the flipped narrative of Eris defending his mage? He did chuckle once he was sure he could get away with it, albeit he did notice one or two odd stares here and there. There would be those that would seek to defend the hackneyed actor—now that the thought crossed his mind, he supposed he should probably see a sample of the acting before dismissing it entirely—and Ben chose to keep quiet.

He followed Eris to the lines and broke away to one of the shorter ones; people were understandably still hesitant. He had his own reservations, but Her Highness made it clear that there was no escape. And if Varis Sinnenodel could bare with it then he would follow suit.

Ben gave the mage a smile and nod of approval. "Whenever you are ready," He said.

Initially he made the attempt to pocket the necklace given to him, but putting it in his pocket wasn't recommended. He took the mage's words to heart and slung it around his neck as the mage uttered the needed words. His vision blurred and then darkened considerably as if every single light was flickered off. I really don't like this, He confirmed his initial thought as he was lead away, uncertainty dominating his every step. The disorientation did absolutely nothing to alleviate his worries, either.

Having to rely on Lilie like this is going to age me another half-century, Ben sighed inwardly.

The mage informed him that they had arrived. Once he was released, he instantly tried to reach for something. His hand touched something soft at first, his fingers dragging slightly and feeling something sticky. What in the world had he touched? His other fingers could feel flesh, oddly enough, and it took him far longer than it should have to realize he was groping someone's face. He raised his hand upwards, soft locks meeting his touch, and he rested his head on top of a head. Or so he hoped.

"This is extremely disorienting and uncomfortable," He voiced his disproval with a hint of an apologetic tone. "What is this stickiness I feel?" He asked hesitantly.

[Achronum]

Maddie watched out if the corner of her eye as the others nearby took their places. Lilie was bubbly and energetic though the nervous sort apparently. Adorably skittish. Aaron seemed energetic during their conversation but the pleased note in his voice disappeared after crossing paths with the one next to her. Max. But the real question was why would they record cinnamon? Ari had mentioned that the Sinnenodel mage was bred for royalty so that meant… She covered her mouth to muffle the laugh that escaped. She had to admire the guy's boldness; she was certain if any Sinnenodel found out about such a blatant display of disrespect, much less Varis Sinnenodel, they'd have the poor guy's head on a spike. If his vampire didn't get to him first after their social standing was destroyed. She'd stay clear of him but keep an eye on him at least. It should prove rather entertaining.

She didn't get much about Lilie's companion but he seemed pleasant enough. Not enough information to consider. Aaron seemed to know them all well enough. If they crossed paths again, she'd try and ask him about Lilie and their other neighbor, the Astorio mage. She barely knew anything about them but at least she had something in common with one out of three.

Maddie watched as Lilie’s partner didn’t wait for a guiding hand but rather reached out on his own. He seemed the proper sort, if not a little dreary, but that opinion very quickly disappeared as his hands roamed his mage’s face. That seemed rather forward for a public setting, blind or otherwise. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her face before. She averted her eyes, instead fixing her eyes forward before she could start drawing conclusions about the pair.

Her attention was brought back to the present situation as Amaris made her way down the line, a royal guard guiding her. The Countess had her eyes shut and Maddie shook her head. Ari was probably a little afraid to open her eyes and she couldn't blame her; losing your independence must be an awful experience after having it for so long, especially when pride is as natural to vampires as breathing is to mages. When the guard stopped in front of her, she reached out her hand and the guard guided Amaris' hand into it, gave a brief salute and went back to assist another.

It hadn't really hit Maddie yet but right now, looking at the blind vampire she was supposed to lead, the enormity of the situation hit her all ag once. There was a blind noble that she was supposed to guide and protect when she had a single arcane spell and enough life magic to mitigate a headache and she had to pass an exam. What a fantastic situation. She doubted Ari would be a handful. She was easy going and relaxed most of the time but what if she missed a root and face planted a noble? Accident or not, she could already imagine the outrage from others. Ari probably wouldn't be upset but what an embarrassment it would be. All the ways she could mess this up ran through her head but she took a deep breath and exhaled.

Those were later problems. They had some now problems to handle and handle that she would. She gently pulled Amaris closer so she could keep her out of the next guard's way. "Stay close to me, Countess. We don't need you getting trampled." Maddie said, gently guiding Amaris with gentle touches to her side as if they were dancing so her back was to the forest. "Just so you're aware, Lilie and her partner are next to us and Aaron Starag one over from here. I'm sure their partners will be here shortly." Maddie wanted to keep Amaris as aware of the situation as possible, knowing she couldn't tell who was nearby. "Did you have a way you wanted to handle your condition or would you prefer I figure it out?"

Interacting with: @WeepingLiberty

[Hero]

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Perking up once she spotted Ben approaching with a mage guiding him, Lilie had to contain her excitement. He didn't look too happy, making her giggle a little, but she made sure to keep quiet once he got closer. He was walking kinda weird, which since they were blinded was understandable, but he was acting like he was avoiding glass or trying not to fall down the stairs or something. He couldn't see anything so it wasn't like she needed to hide her face, but she didn't want him to know she was kinda laughing at him.

Once the guard let him go, she thought it was weird that he nearly knocked off her earmuffs, but apparently he wasn't going to stop there. Her eyes widened as he ran his hand over her face, squeezing her eyes shut as he touched her lips and nose before settling his hand on her head. Oh man, he smudged her lip gloss! And they didn't let her bring it in, how was she supposed to fix it?! But Ben wasn't done being weird--he touched his head to hers, mumbling something about being uncomfortable. He was the one making things uncomfortable!

But it was so silly she couldn't help her laugh, shaking her head. "That was my lip gloss," She told him gently, carefully taking his hand in hers as she tried to wipe away any gloss that wasn't on her lips and smooth out her hair again. "What, did you think they would lead you to someone that wasn't me?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the second vampire coming--the Marivaldi countess. She watched as she was lead to the spot next to hers, and Lilie felt her jaw drop as the realization hit her: that was Cassie's replacement! What the heck were the odds?! She felt a tiny lump in her throat as she focused on Ben instead, turning fully away from the pair. No, no, no, she needed to focus. Now was not the time to get all emotional and burst into tears or anything stupid like that.

Lilie stole a glance at the pair, looking away quickly as she grabbed Ben's other hand. "W-We should be starting soon..." She mumbled, keeping her eyes firmly on the ground in front of them.

---

Fixing herself up after getting manhandled by @Bert Macklin.

[Hero]

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Standing in line was probably Eris' least favorite thing to do. It was bad enough having to wait, but the longer he had to stand there doing nothing, the more dread built up in his chest. No phone to distract him, either, he was left alone with his thoughts like some kind of poor person who couldn't afford the internet.

All he could think about was Alderman and how he was probably revving for this stupid exam. As much as he hated to admit it, Count Benson did hit the nail on the head with the kid's temperament. But he wasn't petty enough to flunk an exam just to get back at him, right? And it wasn't like he had done anything bad to him recently. He barely made a comment during feeding anymore. He didn't acknowledge his existence when he stayed up late talking on the phone for hours two nights ago. No reaction was better than any reaction. They wouldn't be holding hands and skipping through a meadow anytime soon, but it wasn't that far-fetched to think that there was some semblance of a neutral relationship between them.

Right?

"I am so fucked," Eris muttered to himself, absolute horror gripping him as he realized it was his turn. The only thing that kept him from turning tail and running in the complete opposite direction was that he'd probably be mocked until the end of time for it. Raising his chin, he stepped forward, burying every single doubt and every single terrible scenario deep, deep down in the depths of his thoughts. "Alrighty, hit me with your best shot," He told the mage cheerfully, ignoring the screaming going on inside his head.

Honestly, the blindness wasn't so bad. The dizziness he could do without, though. He blinked a few times (as if that would help), squinting once, but nope, no sight. "Be a dear and hand me off gently, would you?" He joked, letting himself be led away as he put on a smile.

Eventually, they came to a halt--he assumed that his mage was in front of him. He hadn't dropped the smile for a second, but it was clear he was dead inside. "Here I am, completely at your mercy. Isn't it great?" His voice betrayed him at the last word, though he covered it with a much-too-loud laugh. "Just give it to me straight, on a scale of one to ten, how screwed am I?" He asked, grinning.

---

Pls be nice @Scribe of Thoth I am fragile flower.

[Scribe of Thoth]

---

Aaron was already resigned to his fate, which meant teasing him wouldn’t be any fun. What a downer. On the other hand, Max would have a good few hours of dicking Eris around to keep him entertained, or however long it would take for the novelty to wear off.

When the vampire actually arrived, Max wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or amused. Eris was already cracking and the game hadn’t even started yet. At least he had enough pride not to grovel.

”Seven,” He picked a number arbitrarily in a bored voice. The leech’s saving grace here was that Max didn’t want to trounce through a dark forest any more than Eris did, so he was at least incentivized to get the test done quickly. Not that he really had a problem with failing, but like hell he was going to sit out in the cold just to prolong Eris’ discomfort slightly.

Max held out the extra water bottle he grabbed, pressing it against Eris’ chest. ”Be a dear and carry this, will you?” Huh, maybe he should get him to grovel; this was fun. ”And try to keep it together, Eric, there’s people watching.” The nobles were right there, including whoever Eris was confronting earlier - oh, pale girl’s vampire; he could’ve sworn that was a woman - so it was probably in the vampire’s best interest to wait until after they were dumped in the middle of the woods to have his dramatic breakdown. Let it never be said Maxwell Alderman was inconsiderate.

---

@Hero

[Hero]

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Hm, was that a high seven or a low seven? Eris looked at where he thought the voice was coming from, but realized that he was probably off with absolutely no way of knowing. Huh, without seeing Alderman's expression, he couldn't tell if the kid was serious or joking. The tone was about as bored-sounding as could be, but it wasn't like he could hear a shit-eating grin. Once upon a time he swore he heard that losing one sense was supposed to heighten your other senses, but aside from his already decent hearing, everything else felt the same. Except for a weird kind of dull throb in his head, but he blamed the spell for that.

Eris was snapped out of his thoughts as the kid pressed something to his chest, and after a small amount of fumbling Eris held what he assumed was a bottle. Oh how nice, he went from multi-award winning acting to pack mule, his mother would be so proud. He made an attempt to hand in back in rejection of the idea, the intent being to press it back into Alderman's chest, but he missed. Ugh, he hated this already and they hadn't even started!

"Considering other vampires' reactions, I'm actually one of the calmer ones," Eris told him with complete sincerity, taking the pendant around his neck and carefully plucking his collar so he could drop it in his shirt--they expressed how important the thing was, so he might as well do what he could to keep it safe. He didn't really feel like holding this bottle for hours, so he slipped it into his pants pocket.

He squinted again as he tried to look around, stopping once he realized how stupid he probably looked. "People are always watching me, that's nothing new," He said, flipping his hair off his face on cue. "Anyone important around?"

---

Less appreciative of this whole blind business with @Scribe of Thoth.

[Bert Macklin]

The soft laughter had done much to assure Ben that he was, in fact, in the right place. It seemed callous to place distrust in the academy's mages, but his wariness and discomfort was nearing his limit. He stood to his full height as she took his hand off her head, although he wasn't sure how he felt about Lilie picking up on his doubt. Without his sight, he wasn't nearly as aware as he should be of his surroundings and naively assumed it would be the same for everyone else. Fortunately she took his mistake in stride and he shared a laugh with her. At the very least one of them was getting some enjoyment out of this!

Afterwards he noticed Lilie's quiet response. Perhaps her nerves were getting the best of her, he thought. No matter, come hell or high water, he would encourage her. He raised their hands up slightly, as he stared at the spot where he hoped her head was. "Worry not. The fruits of your labor will ensure your success," Ben said.

He patted her hand (after a few missed attempts) in comfort as he overheard a female voice next to them. A countess was mentioned along with Lilie and Aaron Starag—it seemed that fate favored him today. Her voice came from his right, and she mentioned that Aaron was one spot over, which meant the young man was on his left. He turned his body slightly and stopped when he realized he had no way to tell where exactly he or anyone else around him was.

No matter, well wishes were best carried by words. "Best of luck to you, Mr. Starag," Ben said before turning back to Lilie and raising his voice. "And to everyone else as well. We are in your capable hands."

[Obscene Symphony]

Try as he might, Aaron just couldn’t force himself to focus, distracted by everything from the halting steps of blind approaching vampires to the nervous shuffling of the mages who met them. Weird, normally he had no problem filtering out distractions when it was time to perform, but he supposed the past few nerve-fraying weeks were finally catching up to him. At the worst possible time. Why did things always seem to go sideways for him when the stakes were highest?

Eventually he conceded, figuring (or at least hoping) he’d have an easier time snapping out of his fog once they were transported into the forest and the pressure was on. It was just as well; magic wasn’t something he could wrestle into submission, and he supposed concentration was no different. Instead, he resigned himself to a few more idle moments, looking down the line of mages as they were each reunited with their vampires, one by one. Count Benjamin didn’t seem happy about his impairment, but took it in stride; he heard a disproportionately loud laugh from where Max stood with Eris, no doubt veiling his nervousness with humour, and Countess Marivaldi found Madalyn as he’d suspected she would. But what caught Aaron’s attention the most were the pairs beyond the end of the line, mages and vampires he didn’t know, or had only seen in passing.

Surprisingly, not a single vampire looked happy to be blinded; perhaps that shouldn’t have come as a shock, but with the way he’d seen some of the lowborn purebloods or the Embraced carry on with mages like peers, Aaron was surprised that none of them thought of the practical as an exciting venture with their mage or something. Maybe there was something poetic in there about how vampires inherently craved control, but far be it from him to find it. What was more captivating, however, were the mages. Their attitudes varied far more than their masters’, ranging everywhere from nervousness to excitement to complete disregard. A few caught Aaron’s eye who looked a little more mortified than the rest, pale and skittish as their vampires approached them. Aaron couldn’t hear anything said, but from his limited view there were one or two who shrunk away from their vampires’ words, looking like their lives flashed before their eyes.

Aaron shifted uncomfortably on his feet, and he pulled his eyes away and down out of habit. His heart went out to them; they probably faced the same ire he did if they steered their masters wrong (or even if they didn’t, and their vampires were simply stirred to rage by the concept itself as Varis was), but more than likely with a different result. Aaron had an irritating habit of occasionally slipping into self-pity no matter how hard he tried to avoid it, but even then he knew very well there were plenty of mages who had it far, far worse than him; after all, Varis was the only Sinnenodel on campus, and rare were traditionalists outside of his House who resorted to words rather than swifter and more painful means of correction. Aaron only hoped for those mages’ sakes that their nerves didn’t overcome them tonight.

Mercifully, a voice pulled him out of his head, Count Benjamin calling over a hearty wish of good luck. Dire thoughts or no, Aaron found it difficult not to grin at the Count as he tried to face the right direction—he was a little off, too far to the left and a bit too high—before wishing luck to the rest of the group as well. His faith was appreciated (not that it really meant much to anyone but his own mage) but the word “capable” stood out almost comically from the rest. Aaron was sure he meant it in good faith, but there was no doubt Varis would be grumbling his objections to that idea if he heard it.

“Thank you, Count Benjamin,” he called back in a cheerful tone that was only a little bit faked, “and good luck to you too—not that you’ll need it, I’m sure.” The last part was directed more to Lilie, and he even threw in a little wink for good measure. The grin he flashed her was mostly cosmetic, sure, but there was no need for him to bring the rest of the line down with his burgeoning dread.

_{@Bert Macklin @Hero}

[Achronum]

As the sheep ahead of him meekly accepted their fate, Varis seethed with every step that brought him closer to the mage. An idiot could tell that, minus a suicidal Astorio, not a single vampire believed this a good idea but Varis alone was apparently the only one willing to voice it. Every single one of these weak willed, pathetic puppets deserved whatever happened to them in the forest; they sealed their own fates. He hoped this little trip would open their eyes but faith wasn’t something Varis put much stock in. The next time she pulled some inane stunt like this, they’d all quietly accept whatever inane trial Ryner put them through next and grumble angrily about it behind closed doors. Deplorable excuses of vampires, the lot of them. Not a single shred of pride or dignity present anywhere.

Varis glowered at the mage as he stepped up, not for the first time wondering if the heaviness and trepidation was what the condemned felt as they walked to the executioner. He resisted the urge to snap at the mage, conjure up some false offense and demand the whole event be suspended until he found satisfaction in the punishment, and forced himself to relax. He could feel his hands trembling as the mage spoke and he noted with some detachment that his limbs started tingling unpleasantly. The world faded away slowly and he tried to memorize the face of the one casting the spell so he could find them later and ruin their life but the details slipped as everything surrendered to the dark. He barely noticed the symptoms of the spell, panic welling in him as he tried to move and found himself stuck. His arms and legs refused to move. There must have been a mistake, there was no reason he couldn’t move. He wasn’t confined, it wasn’t day, nothing was holding him back but he couldn’t even bring himself to speak. It felt like his throat had sealed itself and the words he wanted to scream were stuck firmly in his chest.

“My arm is in front of you, Count Varis. Take it when you are ready.” The words cut through the panic building up in him, shattering whatever hold the mistake had on him. The mage must have realized what they did and corrected it. Varis should have said something but he latched onto the proffered arm. His words still wouldn’t come out but that would probably come back to him in a bit too. Everything was fine. He thought the voice familiar, one of Ryner's lackeys no doubt, but he didn't particularly care. He was far too focused on trying to walk without stumbling, trying to make his steps look stately rather than cautious. Even in this sorry state, he still had to look as dignified as possible even if it meant slowing his pace to a crawl.

It felt like an eternity past before his guide stopped. "Count Varis, Mr. Starag is to your left." the voice spoke again. Varis frowned. Perhaps it was the stoic one of her favorites. Walter, Wade, Westly… Something like that. Varis dismissed the thought as soon as it came and opted to hold his hand out for Aaron to take rather than letting take the initiative.

"Hurry up, boy. The sooner we're done, the better." Varis snapped, an extra edge to his words as he realized he sounded more strained than he wanted to admit. "This is absolute madness and apparently I'm the only voice of reason here! Everyone else is too busy worshipping the ground our princess walks on to realize that had we objected as a cohesive unit, we would have turned over this insane requirement. Blinding vampires to put them at the mercy of mages. For shame."

Interacting with: @Obscene Symphony

[Hero]

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Ben's words brought Lilie out of her thoughts as she looked up at him. Was it that obvious that she was upset? No, he assumed that she was nervous about the practical. Maybe it was better that way, if she admitted what was actually bothering her then she'd get more distracted. As sad and mean as it sounded, she couldn't think about Cassandra or the new Marivaldi mage--this was the time to actually focus up. Ben was probably nervous, too, so if she was nervous, he would get worse, and she didn't want him losing confidence in her. He already had little confidence as it was!

Taking in a deep breath, she shook her head, stopping when she remembered that he couldn't see her. After he called out to Aaron, Aaron returned the good wishes. When she looked at him, he threw her a wink, and Lilie froze up for a second, the stupidest grin on her face before she hurriedly looked back at Ben. Oh boy oh boy oh boy, her heart felt like it was a rock skipping across a lake! Ack, no! She had to focus! And thinking about Aaron wishing her luck wasn't going to help! Even if it did make her feel better. She dared herself to look back at the blonde, giving him a thankful smile before tearing her gaze away, closing her eyes.

"I'm okay," She said, taking in a deep breath to calm herself.

But of course, as soon as she let herself get a little happy, it was ruined. Professor Varis came over and started snapping at poor Aaron. She frowned, moving a little closer to Ben as the redhead went off about how mad he was and how he disliked what the princess was forcing them to do. Uniting against the princess didn't seem like a very good idea, especially when it was just for a test of all things. If the princess did something wrong, maybe, but even then, Lilie couldn't really picture it. Going against vampires in general was just a bad idea all around, even if it was other vampires doing it.

She threw Aaron what she hoped was a sympathetic smile, quietly scratching her cheek. What could anyone even say to that?

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Staying close to @Bert Macklin and wishing @Obscene Symphony luck with @Achronum huffing and puffing all over the place.

[Scribe of Thoth]

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Max let out a snort as Eris thrusted the water bottle out like an idiot. Bringing extra was the right move, then. It clearly messed with him. Max eyed the pendant as the vampire tucked it into his shirt with interest - that could be fun to tug him around by. No, wait, it was their ticket out if they got lost; he couldn't risk breaking it. Not to mention, Eris was regaining his composure alarmingly fast. And he had a point, Cinnamon sounded like he was about to angry cry and the rest of the leeches further away seemed to have varying stages of grief written all over their faces.

"We're like five feet from all the nobles. I have no idea who anyone else here is," Max answered as he surveyed the area a second time. He had no idea what Eris' idea of someone important was, and there was certainly no one around that he recognized aside from Cinnamon and Astronomy.

"Hold out your right arm." With the pendant out of the question, he'd need something else to tug the leech around by, because he'd sooner tell the Queen his honest opinion of her to her face than skip through a dark forest holding hands with Eris. And as amusing as it would be to watch Eris fumble around guided by voice alone, Max did want to get out of the forest sometime in the next few hours.

---

@Hero

[Obscene Symphony]

That perfect smile Lilie gave him made Aaron’s little facade of nonchalance worth every bit of energy he put into it, but there wasn’t much time to savour the warm feeling in his chest as a flash of red caught his attention. It was Varis, at long last, clearly blinded and being led over by—oh, why did it have to be William? Aaron had barely caught sight of the man since that embarrassing display on opening night, and now that he finally got the chance to see him again, it was under equally (or perhaps even more) unfavourable conditions. Aaron had hoped he’d get the chance to see William without Varis around, maybe set some records straight about what he might have heard floating around about him throughout the term, but it seemed that fate was habitually unkind.

But there was no time to dwell on that. Varis was making his way over at a snail’s pace, but every step he inched closer felt like the slow build of an approaching storm. He kept his composure dignified like he had on the bus, but Aaron was no stranger to the waves of absolute hatred that rolled off his master when he was forced to hold himself together; Varis was seething. His expression was carefully neutral, but tension still shone in every feature of his face (not that his pitch black eyes weren’t enough of an indicator already) and for all the stately confidence he forced into his steps, his grip on William was iron.

It took a conscious effort not to back away when the pair finally arrived—not that Varis would know, Aaron supposed, but it was bad form nonetheless. Still, he felt an awful lot like a man in the path of a freight train. His suspicions were confirmed when Varis finally released William; Aaron could see the shadows of bruises just starting to form on William’s forearm where the Count’s fingers had been. For his part, William didn’t react, but a flash of guilt and irritation both rose up in Aaron nonetheless.

He took Varis’ arm when it was offered, guiding the Count’s hand to his forearm similarly to how he’d been holding onto William. He regretted it immediately, having to bite back a hiss as Varis latched onto his arm with inhuman force—good lord, no wonder William had bruises—but there was no time to respond before Varis launched into a speech on the shameful complaisancy of the masses. William shot Aaron a flat look full of some combination of exasperation and disbelief; he almost looked like his mother when Dora and Clara bickered, and here Aaron was, caught in the middle of it. He returned William’s look with a pained apology written all over his face, though he didn't dare voice it; he was sure the embarrassment clear in his eyes was enough.

“Absolutely shameful, Master,” Aaron concurred quietly, nodding his silent thanks to William as the man returned to his duties. He glanced around sheepishly, vainly hoping that no one else noticed Varis’ display, but of course that was too much to hope for. His little speech, while directed at Aaron, had been loud enough for most everyone nearby to hear, and drew looks from a few mages down the line (and presumably their vampires as well, even if they couldn’t quite face the right direction to listen in). Aaron caught Lilie’s sympathetic look and returned what he hoped was a reassuring one, but which was probably more apologetic than anything, before turning his attention back to Varis.

“We’re about to begin, Master,” he informed him, carefully filtering the pain from his voice as his arm was slowly crushed. “Are you feeling alright?”

_{Trying his best to quell Hurricane Varis @Achronum}

[Bert Macklin]

Ben was delighted to hear Aaron's response. He decided to focus just a touch more on the mage in front of him, however, especially as he felt her shuffle closer to him. There was no need to ask why: Count Sinnenodel's complaints could be heard across the entire forest with how he raised his voice. It was amusing, especially as he remembered their only interaction some days ago. The doubt in the Starag was wholly unfounded and he couldn't fathom why Count Sinnenodel would think that openly airing his grievances was the equivalent of a petulant child throwing a tantrum. Perhaps he expected the other nobles to chime in with agreement.

There was the slim chance where Ben was mistaken and it was not, in fact, Varis Sinnenodel yelling to the winds about the supposed incompetency of their princess, but he felt safe with the assumption.

Mr. Starag's token agreement with his count did earn him a chuckle from Ben. He cautiously moved his hand to Lilie's shoulder, still facing her as he decided to entertain the other count. "For shame, indeed. Courage amongst the superior race seems to be lacking at the moment," Ben said as he could hardly contain his smile. "Would you like the rest of us to join you at this time? I'm certain despite the lack of sight we could rally, assuming you would permit some stumbling in our last stand."

[Hero]

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The nobles, huh? They did technically qualify as the top of the chain so to speak. So Countess Lavette was around probably holding her nose up at the rest of the plebeians and convincing people she didn't need anyone's help, Count Treetrunk probably walked through the crowd to get to Flower Boy if he didn't run over him too, and Count Magelover was probably feeling up his own mage--huh, he could not remember that girl's name for the life of him at the moment, he should probably at least try to remember his primary dogwalker's name--while the poor thing was probably trying not to burst into tears. Of course, there was also the redhead of the hour kicking up a fuss as expected, but Eris knew better than to comment on that.

Eris nodded for a second before scratching the back of his head, unconsciously rubbing his eyes. He stopped when Alderman told him to hold out his arm, and he hesitated. Should he ask why? Was it a trick? No, if there were people around, the kid wasn't going to do anything. Not yet, anyway, once they were away Eris was screwed. But until then, he was fine. Probably.

After a few seconds of hesitation, the vampire slowly extended his right arm in front of him. "You're not going to hold my hand, are you?" He asked hesitantly.

---

Less appreciative of this whole blind business with @Scribe of Thoth.

[Achronum]

_{Time: 11:46 - Staging Grounds}

Varis whipped around at Count Benjamin's voice, a sharp retort detailing how ludicrous his idea sounded when Manuel's voice once again rang through the clearing. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, the last of the enchantments have gone out fourteen minutes early! That means you'll get some extra time to complete your exam. In just a moment, a mage will approach you. Please make sure you and your partner remain close and in contact so that no one gets accidently separated mid teleport." He explained as mages in emerald robes started to walk down the line. Further down, a familiar vampire tossing a pineapple clung stubbornly to a female mage who blurred for a moment with a sigh. The vampire tumbled through her, fumbling with the pineapple as he fell, and curled around it protectively. She seemed unfazed and proceeded to the nearest pair.

"Now remember. Your timer starts the second you appear in the forest. Return here by six am and you'll have passed. Completing additional challenges will earn you a higher grade. If you do not return by six am, you will be magically returned and you will receive a failing mark. A mage stood in front of each of the pairs, a finger tracing a symbol in front if the air slowly. "Alhinc ieclei vadete. Magua salituen in usque mundadi salituen, et te teraga." As they completed their spell, the colors around the pairs brightened uncomfortably for a moment vanishing like a candle blown out. For a brief moment, nothing seemed to exist. All sense of time and space and feeling disappeared. No noises came from the darkness, even when they tried to make them. A chill, far colder than what they had experienced, seeped into their bones immediately.

It lasted only an instant before suddenly light and sound and feeling returned in a dizzying array. Everything seemed overwhelming for a moment before they adjusted to the world again. None of the others could be seen from here and only a wooden sign artfully embedded in the trunk of a tree provided any sign of civilization. Trees towered around them, moonlight filtering down through the canopy just barely illuminating the ground. Vines and roots and other things covered the forest floor. Above the sign, a simple design of the four directions gave the pairs a way to find their direction.

Max/Eris Sign

Turn noon to midnight to find your way beneath the moonlit sky.

Lilie/Ben Sign

That way which vampires' bane does slumber is your first step.

Salem/Victor Sign

Sunflowers do say goodbye to their sovereign in the sky each time it rests its head. Follow their whispers to find your stead.

Maddie/Amaris

The compass spins and spins and spins and spins until it finds your heading.

Aaron/Varis

Dancing lights in the sky illuminate the way. Follow them closely and you'll find your way.

[Hero]

---

---

Lilie's jaw dropped as Ben spoke back to Professor Sinnenodel. Was he being sarcastic? To another count? Was that allowed? Ben looked really giddy, too, like he knew exactly what he was saying. Why would he go and make the count angrier like that? She closed her mouth as she gave Ben a disapproving look, but there was no time for apologies or reactions as the professor spoke again. They were starting early, so it was showtime. Whatever anyone had said or done didn't matter anymore, she needed to get her head on straight.

Or she would have, but the spell definitely threw her for a loop.

She shook her head once or twice, blinking rapidly as she looked around. Well, that spell was something else. She thought she would have been more excited by that kind of magic, but she couldn't say she liked anything that made her feel weird. She shuddered slightly, rubbing her arm to make the cold chill go away. She couldn't really see anything, but then again, that was kind of the point, wasn't it? Oh well, time to focus up. She released Ben's hand as she took in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second. Every other thought didn't matter right now, all she needed to know was the goal of getting that extra credit and being done before sunrise. She could do this.

"Okay, stay close to me," Lilie told Ben once she felt ready, taking his hand with her right hand and drawing the symbol in her mind. "Tiltoure."

Her eyes went black, and the forest seemed to light up in response. The sign was seen clearly, and she squinted at the words. "That way which vampires' bane does slumber..." She muttered, taking a glance at the directional symbol before concluding the spell. "Vampires' bane...the sun sets on the west, but rises in the east, so...east it is?" She was talking more to herself than to Ben, though she started walking in what she assumed was the right direction.

---

Staying close to @Bert Macklin.

[Achronum]

Did anything else want to get in his way? The mage with the audacity, regardless of his position, to cut him off then had the gall to give them no time to prepare themselves for such an awful journey. First they take away his sight and then they took away everything? Varis' grip tightened instinctively, shifting closer to the boy once he had the ability to at least feel something again. Honestly, what was the point of his position if he was constantly suffering this degree of disrespect without adequate redress?

"Ryner needs to respect the nobles' position far more than she has. I have never suffered such disrespect until I came here. If any other family ran this facility, you'd be sure things would be run far tighter than her royal highness keeps her affairs." Varis complained as he looked around without much result. He was still on edge over this whole situation. He was a leader, not a follower, and being expected to allow a mage to lead them out of this predicament was a nightmare. Things worked when he ran them and they fell apart when he didn't. It was a simple fact and he didn't care for Ryner's ignorance of it. Awful vampire, really. She was probably chortling about it right now, all snug and safe in her office with her sight.

"I cannot believe no one has ever spoke out against this. How am I the only one who thinks this is a problem? What, are they going to chop off our hands next? Stake us and make a mage find us before the sun rises?" Varis' voice was climbing as the panic started setting in again as the darkness encompassing him pressed in. "And that damned Eve, mocking me. Clearly, we can't do anything now. I was commenting on his lack of backbone. If he is aiming for the Lordship, he'll have to learn to stand up for himself. There's nothing to be gained from staying quiet in this. If he thinks compliance endears him to the Princess, he's the boring simpleton I originally thought. She's used to compliance. Make a damned name for yourself, make it clear you won't be looked over or taken advantage of."

Interacting with: @Obscene Symphony

[ReusableSword]

Victor Astorio

The line for the enchantments formed and one by one vampires were blinded and guided away. In the beginning he was all for it but then hesitated waiting for most of the others to go first before it was his turn. The feeling wasn’t what h expected, being blinded like this was different and not being able to find his internal compass was troubling to say the least. Even the sudden sense of vertigo caught him off guard making him stumble for a moment. Victor then decided that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to let the others see him as clumsy, could give them an edge.

The mage that was leading him was polite but he could still sense that they found it funny. Even as she said that Salem was too his left he tripped and fell as the others were picking on each other. “Well this is an interesting feeling. I’m sure by the time I’m done none of my clothes will survive my clumsiness.” He said with a laugh taking his time to stand up slowly. Grasping what he hoped was Salem’s shoulder, “this will surely be fun.”

The teachers began talking again this time about the rules again. He never really liked teleport spells but he supposed it was because he couldn’t control the entry point. Then again he can’t control anything right now. “Hold your breath Salem, sometimes this can knock the wind out of you.” He whispered to his mage. At the very least he could follow his heart beat.

The mage in front of them finishing the incantation and suddenly feeling of vertigo returned once more. This time it wasn’t that bad, he still couldn’t see though which was uncomfortable but he would just have to deal with it. The smell and sounds of the forest filtered into his senses. The cold ground felt moist, kneeling to pick up a handful of pine needles and dirt. Smelling, tasting, and feeling. All things he did with it then rubbed the dirt into his hands.

“Salem, before we begin take a few minutes to listen and see. Feel your surroundings, listen to the song of the forest. Try to make out what every little creak and snap might be but don’t let you imagination get the best of you. I don’t smell or hear anyone or anything in our current area. Now that we are alone I’m going to think about how we can move through here while you get acclimated.”

A few thoughts of how they could traverse this forest went through his mind. He definitely did not want some sort of leash, holding hands was practical but still a little weird. He didn’t truly understand the spell just yet so trying to follow the boy through sound or following his heart beat wasn’t a definite option to him either. Then Victor had an idea and looked back toward Salem with a smile on his face that said “I thought of something fun.”

“I have an idea of how to get through this quickly. I will carry you.” He paused for a moment to let it sink in. “you can wrap your arms around my neck and use your spell. This will conserve energy and hopefully be quicker. Instead of barking directions you can just, I don’t know… push or grip onto my left or right shoulder to turn me. Yes I do believe that might work, I don’t get tired and we could possibly cover a lot of ground.” Again he smiled towards the boy.

“However, this will also be a sort of test for you. I don’t particularly want others to know that I carried you and let you… drive me. So it will be a secret and this way I can better judge how well you keep secrets. Even from Lillie." again the count paused for a moment. " And one more thing… if you think it would be funny to drive me into a tree just remember I’m more likely to go through it then bounce off of it and you are coming with me.” this was definitely a challenge, a challenge he would enjoy.

@Trainerblue192

[Scribe of Thoth]

---

Max shot Eris an unamused glare at the insinuation that Max would ever stoop to holding a vampire's hand, neglecting to notice at first that Eris would have no way of seeing his face.

"I'm specifically trying to avoid that. Now hold still," Max grumbled as he raised his own right arm to mirror the gesture. His vambrace disassembled itself and the components hovered over to Eris' forearm before putting themselves back together in a decidedly not gentle fashion. "There's your leash, don't fuck with it or I'm leaving you behind."

Of course, his plan to not have to touch Eris hit a snag when the mage told him they'd have to be in contact with each other during the teleportation. Whatever, it'd be a few seconds, tops. He grabbed Eris' arm as the mage approached, rolling his eyes through the stupidly long incantation. It sounded like a babbling toddler, for fuck's sake. Max clenched his hand a little too tightly around Eris when the spell's unpleasantness hit, immediately releasing his grip and staggering away once they were back in... whereever the fuck they were now.

"Fuck... Tiltoure."

Fuck teleportation. Fuck that mage. Fuck whoever thought up this asinine test. Fuck Eris too for good measure.

He peered up at the sign as the forest around him brightened, immediately furrowing his brow. Already with the fucking riddles?

"Turn noon to midnight to find your way beneath the moonlit sky, what the fuck does that even mean? It's already midnight!" He fumed before looking toward Eris and tugging the vampire toward him by the metal on his wrist. Least he could do was make himself useful, "What do you think? North? Like noon and midnight on a clock? Or... like, west, because thats the way the sun goes between noon and midnight?" He threw out his two best guesses, hoping the leech would make better sense of it than he did. Pretty faces and brains were often mutually exclusive, though, so he wasn't holding his breath.

---

@Hero

[Hero]

---

---

At least they had the same idea about hand holding, so that much was a relief. The feeling of something clamping around his forearm caused Eris to withdraw his hand, and it took him a second to realize Alderman had put something there. He cautiously ran his fingers over it, feeling the cooled metal. Once he heard the word 'leash' he snapped his head up, a look of mixed horror and disgust plastered on his face probably aimed at the wrong direction. How cute, he got an upgrade from pack mule to dog, except he didn't have a benevolent owner who would dote on him and shower him with love, affection, and way too many toys. Instead, he was at the mercy of an irritable Alderman who sounded like he was just about ready to stab someone.

Eris turned his head in the direction of a random mage talking, raising his eyebrows when he noticed how tightly the kid held his arm. Should he pat his hand in comfort or something? Knowing his luck he'd accidentally smack the kid and piss him off further. Ugh, he felt like that time he accidentally took a sip of a stupid mage's wine instead of blood and ended up purging terribly, except he didn't have Ismene to gently stroke his back in comfort, he had a cranky Alderman instead. Maybe he could just ask the kid to go easy on him. Ha, what a joke.

A weird feeling hit him, but by the time he could comprehend it and get his head back on, Alderman was already cursing and bitching. This was going to be a very long night. He shook his head, blinking rapidly before remembering that his sight was just going to stay lost. "Hey, hey, hey!" He couldn't help the slight panic in his voice as he was suddenly dragged forward, the sensation throwing him off guard completely. Fucking hell, he wasn't a fan of just getting pulled around, especially when he couldn't see. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate, it was who was doing the pulling right now that made him nervous.

"First of all, don't get all bent out of shape so quickly. You're going to tire yourself out and getting all worked up is going to get you nowhere--turn that boiling rage down to seething," Eris snapped, turning his hand like he was turning down the knob on a stove. "Anger is energy, energy is used for problem solving and exacting revenge on your enemies."

Dropping his arm, Eris took a second to think, crossing his arms. "Turn noon to midnight...I'm going to assume you're reading this off of something," He said, slowly turning in place and facing the completely opposite direction he was facing before, pointing straight. "Don't go overthinking just yet, you were onto it with the clock analogy. Turn around from wherever you read this and go straight from there."

---

Less appreciative of this whole blind business with @Scribe of Thoth.