[IC] || The School of Death ||

[Hitman]

October 1st, the first day of school for the attendees of the School of Death, had arrived.

From all around the world, ocean liners had set sail, carrying the many students that were to attend the School of Death to the island where the School was located. These ocean liners had a certain peculiarity to them- each of them was an antique, rustic design, as if the shipbuilder had seen too much of the movie "Titanic" while building the custom-made boats for the School. These ships looked cool, perhaps, but their efficiency felt like that of the 1920s classic vessel. But to Lucas, the most annoying part about the carrier boats was not the ancient look, or speed, but rather, the internal design.

The boat Lucas was on (and, as he correctly believed, the other boats in the fleet), were all designed with bodies, bodies, bodies in mind. As such, the interior of the boat had no big spaces to walk around. It had no cafeteria. No balconies. Rather, the boat only had rows and rows of rooms, and a hallway connecting them, one that Lucas tried to explore and was promptly denied access to by the man patrolling said hallway. He told the young man that his only option was to wait in the room until the journey completed, unless he had to use the ship's bathroom, until the journey was complete in about a day or so.

Needless to say, Lucas made many arbitrary trips to the bathroom that day.

Though perhaps Lucas was quite hyper, his boredom was not his fault. All of his luggage had been stored separately in the boat, and the only thing he had in his room was him, his clothes, and anything he could find in the bedroom- basically, nothing. Eventually, after many excursions to the hallway and another (even more) unpleasant encounter with the hallway guard, Luke resigned himself to laying on the bed, tapping his foot eagerly against the mattress, and soon fell asleep.

It was around 1:00 AM that night when there was a sudden but massive hurdle in the boat, like the ship had hit a really bad wave. Nearly thrown from his bed, Luke got up and looked out the window, and was surprised to see what was once the shorelines of Spain was now what appeared to be a large, oriental building on an island on a hill, surrounded by smaller, oriental-looking buildings in a village. The boat slowly pulled in a dock, before rumbling to a stop. A voice came on over the crinkly loudspeakers, inviting passengers to exit the boat and wait on the pier.

Luke rolled out of the bed, slipping on a pair of sneakers and a jacket, before hustling out of the room. The desolate hallways were now quite busy as students rushed out of the boat to freedom. Luke joined with the herd, walking down the walkway onto the dock of Death Island, what would be his new home for the coming years. Some of the students seemed rather cold, but Luke, who perhaps was used to cold air, felt quite comfortable, though he was only wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and a light jacket.

It seemed they were going to be forced to wait for a while as the administration took care of business before giving the introduction, so Luke's eyes scanned the crowd for people to talk to and meet.

When your introduction is at 1:00 AM in the bitter cold morning air, you know you're in for an interesting ride.

@Poppirious @Hammerman @Reshy134 @Double Capybara @Enzayne @Arreyis @Sanity43217 @Krytavius @La Savant @Dark Light

[Hammerman]

---

Hmph, how boring.

This is so boring.

Uurgh, I can't stand it anymore!

Such were the thoughts that kept swimming in her head as she rolled around on the bed inside her assigned room. She was currently wearing her sleeping gown, a cute pink frilly thing that reached down above her knees. She even had a night cap with it.

The trip was slow, too slow for her taste. To make matters worse, there weren't anything on the ship that could distract her from her boredom. She wasn't allowed to explore by the people running the ship, and she was stuck here inside her room. And the bathroom, if she needed to do her business.

She wanted to at least be allowed to walk around the ship's deck, but even that was forbidden by the ship's sailors. Naturally, she voiced her complains, saying what a stupid rule it was.

But in the end, they insisted in that stupid rule, and she got dragged back to her room.

I thought the trip to such a reclusive, hidden place would be more exciting. I guess I thought wrong.

Hmph, let's see if the school itself is better. Mama and Papa certainly gave that impression whenever they talked about it.

At the very least they gave her a pillow to hug.

And that the bed was fluffy.

And that the dinner was delicious.

It didn't take long until she fell asleep.

Only to be waken up by a massive hurdle that threw her off said bed.

"G-gah! W-what was that?"

She quickly stood up and undressed herself, changing back to her normal outdoor clothes. Outside, she could hear the hustle and bustle coming from the other students.

They're clearly getting out to check on things themselves. Maybe we've arrived? Or don't tell me we hit a rock or something and the ship is actually sinking right now?

She hurried up at dressing herself. She didn't want to admit it but she was getting worried.

Once she finished, she immediately exited the room, joining in the line of students heading outside to the ship's deck.

"H-hey, don't push!" she said as the person behind her was leaning forward into her.

This is why I hate crowds...

She kept her hand close to the gun holstered on her thighs. She always carried it anywhere she went, even to casual outings where a fight should never happen. 'Always be prepared!" was one of the motto her father always drilled into her. And with the crowd being so tightly packed like this, she didn't want anyone to end up stealing her weapon. She had a history with it, as she had been training with it for a year before coming here just so she could be accustomed to it. It was a gift from her father, and he said it was the best handgun money could afford.

And then, a stray hand suddenly came under her skirt, giving her butt a quick squeeze.

Immediately and instinctively, she grabbed her gun, turned backwards, pressed the muzzle into the cheeks of the person behind her (she wasn't tall enough to do it to his head), and switched off the safety trigger.

"Do that again and I will blow your brains out."

The culprit, scared shitless by what just happened, immediately nodded. Pleased with his terrified expression, she withdrew her gun before holstering it back to its place.

Perverts. Perverts everywhere.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Once, a delinquent though it would be a good idea to flip up her skirt as she walked down the streets. She shot him on his feet for that. Immediately, he and his friends ran away like the cowards they were (in his case, it was more like limping).

You can never let your guard down from them.

As the daughter of the Vesperantus family, with direct bloodline relations to the legendary Lionheart family, she was always told to carry herself with pride. Punishing perverts was just one part of that. She would never let herself be disrespected by anyone.

Soon after, she finally got outside as well.

Immediately, the cold air took her surprise. She shivered, hugging herself to keep her body warm and while exposed legs were crossed with each other.

And then, she realized that they had indeed arrived at their destination. Death Island.

Unfortunately, it was dark, so she could barely see anything on the island. She could only follow the crowd to what she assumed would be their introductory briefing.

As she stood around waiting, she just happened to stand right in front of Luke, leaning on one of her legs. Her gaze was now upon the dark ocean and she was deep in her thoughts, thinking how this was the critical point where she would begin her schooling as a Reaper.

As so, she didn't notice that the cold night wind was making her skirt flutter, giving glimpses of her black panties to him.

@Hitman

[Double Capybara]

► Déborah Nibelung
► Sailing to The School of Death

Antikythera was a spell of contradictions and ironies. So many times it robbed Deborah of the pleasure to be found in hobbies and daily activities, yet, in a situation such as the one she found herself in, it paradoxically could make her the least bored woman among all the passengers of the ship. With its memory enhancement, all Deborah had to do was to focus and sipping imaginary tea would be as 'real' to her senses as consuming the real thing. She could spend the rest of the trip rewatching moves on the blank walls of her room, or replaying games in a non-existent handheld console. But this was not a trip for pleasure, it was a business trip, and as such, the heiress much preferred to spend her time in the few areas where one was allowed to stand outside of her room, memorizing the face of her future colleagues.

Eventually, she grew tired, and returned to her room to sleep, only to be woken up by a rude crash-like sound. Unfortunately, Antikythera slept along with her, some of her family could keep it always aware of its surroundings, but not her, so the origin and moment of the sound were lost to her. She did some maths in her mind and waited two minutes and twenty-six seconds in her room before leaving, aiming for the perfect balance between avoiding the crowd of curious students and not being too late to the party.

Leaving, she immediately noticed the architecture of the land and the stars in the night sky above, last she remembered they were past her "homeland" of France and near Spain, now, they were definitely near Japan. In her burgundy colored coat with long boots covering most of her legs, she was quite comfortable.

She spent some time noticing her surroundings, before noticing a situation to her left. "Madam, be a bit more careful" With a soft smile, she grabbed the sides of a student's skirt, bringing it down a bit. "Else everyone on the deck might discover what color of lingerie you are wearing." she glanced back facing anyone who was looking at Alexandria with a soft judgemental smirk.

@Hammerman@Hitman

[Hammerman]

---

Right when she was in the middle of her thoughts, a voice suddenly spoke to her directly from her right, telling her to be careful. It caught her by surprise for sure.

Careful for what?

That question was immediately answered by the voice. And the answer didn't please her in the slightest.

M-my lingerie?

She quickly pulled her skirt down with both of her hands. With a blush, she turned to her right, to see whom the voice belonged to.

She couldn't help being taken away by her looks, even if it was just for a moment.

She was beautiful, and she looked so mature and cool as well. She wasn't entirely sure if she was a student. Her being taller than her certainly didn't help matters. With her looks and figure, she could see her being a teacher, albeit a younger one.

"T-thanks..." she blurted out to her, not sure what she should be saying. She started eyeing her up and down in curiosity, only to realize how she was seemingly not wearing any pants or skirt under her deep red coat. There were only her tall boots below the hem.

"U-umm, y-you too should be careful. T-that coat... it certainly is quite short..." she told her before she could stop herself.

She reddened again after she realized what she just said to her. She then tried to break the awkwardness by a cough before offering her right hand. "I-I'm Alexandria Vesperantus. I-I'm from England and the house of Lionheart. H-how about you?"

@Double Capybara

[Reshy134]

Mei Takahashi might just be used to luxury, but the last thing she’d expected was to be tossed onto a crowded ship with what seemed like hundreds of other kids. She also didn’t expect to be confined to a tiny, oppressive room for the entirety of the journey, with only the items she could carry. Her luggage was stored elsewhere, leaving Mei with only the contents of her purse and the clothes on her back. As soon as the door shut behind her, Mei found herself wondering just what she’d gotten herself into. Or, rather, what her parents has gotten her into.

At first, Mei just tried to relax. She sat down, pulled her phone out, and listened to music for a long, long time; but when her phone hit 10% battery, she knew she had to put the thing away. That left her with whatever else was in her purse. She had her collapsible bō, which she always carried, a few pens, a magazine, and a small potted succulent she was nervous about packing with the rest of her luggage. With a sigh, Mei figured she might as well be productive with her time; it’d be a waste otherwise. Placing her succulent on the ground, Mei took a breath, then held her hand out toward it. Slowly, the succulent’s fleshy leaves grew, taking on an even thicker appearance.

She couldn’t go too far without breaking the plant’s little pot, but practice was practice. Exhaling, she focused on making the succulent shrink, carefully restoring it to its normal size. Mei repeated this exercise over and over; it wasn’t like she had anything better to do. She was more confident in her physical abilities rather than her magical abilities, so practice was absolutely critical. Surprisingly, controlling minute details of the plantlife she was manipulating could be quite difficult; and yet, she enjoyed the challenge.

After a certain point, Mei found herself growing tired. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but she figured someone would wake her up if anything happened. Crawling into the small bed and shutting her eyes, Mei wondered just when they’d arrive. She allowed her thoughts and fantasies about the School to wander, eventually falling asleep.

Just a few hours later, a sudden hurdle nearly threw the young girl off her bed, jolting her awake. With a gasp, Mei clutched her chest, looking out the window to find the ship moored at an island. The island. Hurriedly collecting her things, Mei joined a huge group of students walking out onto the pier. The cold air nipped at her skin, but being from the Bay Area, cold was nothing new to her; the t-shirt and shorts she had on were more than sufficient.

Looking around at the other new students, Mei found herself wondering how many others were Legacy kids like herself. She knew that the Families liked to have a lot of children, but most students at the School of Death were Scions, right? Not that she cared all that much; she was simply curious. Glancing to her left, Mei noticed a blonde boy who seemed about as lost as she was. She quietly made her way over to him, giving him a polite smile once she reached him. “Hey, uh...any idea what we’re waiting for here?” she asked nonchalantly. It was more an excuse to start a conversation, but it couldn’t hurt to see what he knew.

@Hitman

[Krytavius]

Levi Hall

---

He could feel it, the rapped pounding of his heart, trembling hands and tightening in his chest, the sweat running down his forehead, it was completely overwhelming.

With another sway of the boat, as a wave sideswiped into it, Levi stumbled backwards slamming his back against the wall, wincing from the unexpected pain. Fearing he would pass out at any moment, he slid down plopping his bottom on the floor. Shoving his knees up toward his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs, he lay his head back onto the cold wall.

He tried focusing on his breathing. Closing his eyes, relaxing as much as he possibly could, then breathing deep slow steady breaths. It however was only slightly working.

What the hell was I thinking.

Because of his fear of the water Levi waited to board until the very last second. At one point even almost talking himself out of getting on the large vessel. However, he kept picturing his encounter with the reapers and knowing that the school was the best place for him, for now, he reluctantly went aboard.

Now he cursed himself for doing such an idiotic thing. Not only was Levi on a large boat, that could descend to the depths of the sea at any moment, he was confined to a room which he could only leave if needing the rest room. The hours kept ticking by as he kept losing his cool.

The room was enclosing in on him, he was sure of it, but before he went to full on hysteria mode the ship lunged to a stop. Making Levi’s head bounced on the wall putting good sized bump on the back of his skull.

“Damn it!”

Softly massaging his head injury, Levi rushed out after the little announcement, wanting nothing more then to set foot on land once again. After safely making it on the island he noticed how late it was, or early depending on what type of person you were, he also noticed some of the students and how wealthy they looked.

He smirked, walking toward short boy with short brownish hair. He lightly bumped into him, waved him a ‘my mistake’, and got hateful ‘watch it’ in return.

Levi got some distance between them, stopping beside a tall blonde, before looking at his loot.

Forty bucks, not to bad.

[Arreyis]

Ryanne and George lay on the bunk in their room, waiting for the boat to stop sloshing around. Ryanne hated being on the water, her worst fear was being trapped on a sinking ship, and her nerves had not allowed her any sleep. She just lay, tensing whenever a strange noise filtered inside her room. George kept her calm, but only barely as the hours passed. It felt like she had been in the room for days, and if she had been able to see herself she would know that the sick feeling in her stomach had translated to her face.

"I don't like this, George." She said for the hundredth time. This time, it seemed the universe had heard of her suffering as the boat jolted into a dock. A knock at her door got her up, and she shakily made her way to it, the tiny room affording her no chance at getting lost.

"The boat is docking. I've been sent to escort you up if you'd like." Said a man's voice, clearly uncertain of what help she might need.

"That's great. Don't need me getting lost on this god-forasaken ship." She replied, grabbing hold of George's halter. For once she didn't care that her lack of vision was affording her special treatment. She had stowed all of her belongings, not really needing anything but what she had for the trip. She knew she needed to eat, though her stomach rebelled at the thought, so she hoped there would be food when they arrived.

The gentleman lead her and George to the ramp to disembark before the rest were allowed out of their rooms, allowing her to get down to the dock before the crowd of teens could surround her. She walked with Geroge toward the start of the dock, away from the sound of the waves and boats. Soon she was engulfed in a crowd of students, all clamoring to get back to dry land and excited to get into the school.

She kept her pace up, not wanting to be jostled around, and made it to ground fairly easily. Once there she commanded George to find her a safe place to sit, and when he lead her out of the crowd she sat down on the ground, not caring what the others might think. She needed to allow her stomach to get used to ground that wasn't rocking back and forth.

[Poppirious]

Alexander Grossem

The School of Death... This opportunity had offered Alex so much, but in return required an equal, if not greater sacrifice for him to take it.
His parents, despite being properly educated and persuaded of it's existence and purpose outright refused for him to go there - and despite the fact that legally they could decide for Alex, the small entourage of formally dressed men informed them that this was not the case.
The decision to go, lied solely on Alexander due to him not being affiliated in any way with the school or order.
Admittedly, it was something that required a lot of thought, to give up everything he had: his family, his friends, his land... his home...
Alex barely batted an eyelid when he stated that he would leave for this new world, despite the fit of rage his father flew into, and for once instead of mild indifference his mother commonly gave, she showed real emotion and care for once, too late however - had she done that when it had mattered maybe his choice would have been different.

The down sides to his choice came in a swift swathe, his parents disowned him as he collected some of his things - thankfully everything was covered by the school so money wasn't something he needed to concern himself with, thankfully - it was apparently something that occurred often enough to the new blood that there was something in place for it.
The next lot of bad look came in the form of transport, it was a boat - albeit a extremely large one, bigger than he'd ever seen in his life.
A crowded space, and on water to boot - one thing he hated, on top of another that he feared - perfect.

The journey had not been pleasant, in the slightest - perhaps unpleasant is too tame a word for what Alex felt on this journey, he was sick more times than he could count, his head was constantly swimming and he had to constantly keep on top of his fluids in-case he dehydrated, his heart went out to his neighbours on this journey to hell, because the stench of sick was strong for at least half of the journey, the nauseating smell did not do wonders for his health either, the smell itself just increased the amount of times he threw up.
Thankfully, just before arriving at the destination, Alex was given special leave to spend a good while cleaning up in the shower and just managed to wash the stench out of his tired body.
To others his skin looked pasty and he had dark rings around his eyes, it was clear to all who looked at him that this journey had taken it's toll, but this hardship would only be the first of many, Alex hoped he could weather it.

The pain didn't end there though, upon their arrival to land; the only time Alex had ever thanked God, it was put into perspective just how many "sardines" had been packed into this can, the amount of people was staggering, at least to him.
The journey off was hardly uneventful, it seemed as if one of his soon to be classmates was a bit too eager to start "the school of death" and pushed a pistol into someones face threatening to pull the trigger.

"Oh Alex... Just what have you agreed to... - it seemed this would probably be the norm here, Alex just hoped there would be some more... mild mannered people he could possibly try and get along with.

Alexander tried to keep himself calm when he made his way onto land with the rest of the students, there was a large amount of them - they all appeared to be cold, it was the middle of the night after all on the coast, and by the looks of things few of them had dressed appropriately for this type of cold - it didn't bother Alex though, cold nights were the norm back home.
Alex found the his eyes land on the girl from earlier, the one who thrust a firearm into someones face and could see now why she did it.
Her skirt; if you could call it that, barely hid her undergarments, well it actually didn't for a while until another girl pulled her skirt down a bit to cover her modesty.
The sight put a bit of colour back in his cheeks but it did little to put life back into his pasty skin.

Alexander looked away in-case he was found staring at her; he didn't fancy being shot within the first hour of his arrival, Alex just looked around in silence, spectating the others around him, trying to spot the ones who may be trouble, and perhaps the ones who would actually be nice to get to know - it was a strange new world for Alex, and by god he would need a helping hand to guide him through it.a

[Hitman]

There were quite a few students present on the dock, from all corners of the world, all gathered on the deck in a shivering mess. As Luke scanned through the crowd of people, looking for somebody to approach, he spotted a girl in front of him with blonde hair, a mean-looking pistol, and a skirt that left little to the imagination. With a sudden flush overcoming his face as another girl went to help with the blonde's predicament, Luke took a few steps back. That was certainly not a high point for him.

As he moved about, his eyes flitting through the assembled people while his brain tried to make sense of the situation, a female voice spoke out, and appeared to be direct at him. “Hey, uh...any idea what we’re waiting for here?”

Luke turned to face her. She was a bit shorter than him, but not abnormally so, with black hair and features that made Luke think she was some sort of Oriental. She seemed sweet and looked to be a nice person. The blonde Scion gave a wide grin along with a shrug, thinking about his response. He had no problem with the conversation itself, but more with the English that he was about to speak. Luke had come a long way with the second language, but he was yet to achieve mastery of the English tongue. After a brief pause, he spoke with great happiness in his tone and a smile on his face. "To be honest, I have no clue what's going on," he started, his voice lilting with a slight Scandinavian accent over what was quite concise English overall- recognizably foreign, perhaps, but well-versed enough to be convincing. "I think they're waiting for everybody to get off the boats, and then they're going to give some sort of introduction?" He laughed. "At this rate, I'm going to be bored to death before the classes even start. First the boat trip, and now this."

Comforted by what seemed to be a friendly face, Luke extended his hand out to the girl. "My name's Luke Svenson. Scion from Denmark. Nice to meetcha," he ended with a flashy grin stretched across his face. "What's your name?"

Speaks to: Mei Takahashi @Reshy134
Mentions: Alexandria Vesparantus @Hammerman

[Dark Light]

DRAKUS VULL

The journey for the most part was uneventful.
As Drakus feared, the boat was filled with mostly lowly riff-raff, for that reason Drakus secluded himself in self isolation for most of the trip.

On his short scouting trip, he wore an expression of disdain, not afraid to display his feelings of those around him. That was until a French girl caught his eye, silently observing the crowds much like himself. Standing out amongst the rest of the rabble she shone like a Dimond in the rough, her stature and style recognisable. For the briefest moment their eyes met, and then the moment passed, she continued to scout the crowd and he returned to his room.

Back inside his small confined cabin, Drakus smothered any semblance of emotional recognition or acceptance with a brutal exercise regime. Eyes open or closed he couldn’t escape the nightmares slowly creeping into his vision. The room grew dark as shadows and memories danced over him. Shutting himself off to the world he separated his mind from his body and carried on.

Eventually he was broken from his physical trance when the boat shuddered. A silent curse escaped his lips as he began readying himself, once again becoming presentable. Although exiting his cabin much later than the others, he quickly and ruthlessly pushed his way through the crowd. Condescending sneers and snide remarks thrown at anyone who showed displeasure or opposed his path.

The island and oriental buildings were unlike anything Drakus had seen before, this aside he still gave very little attention to his surroundings. Here on this strange island, surround by many youths of varied talent and power, (probably in possession of more knowledge of the situation than himself, not that he’d admit it.) he saw an old familiar movement in the shifting shadows of his peers. It crept slowly across the ground and Drakus, as subtly as he could, steadily chased it.

This chase lead him to a small converging group. A blonde haired guy was talking to a girl about what was happening to his left, in front of him, above the shadow he was chasing, two girls engaged in a different conversation. It was as he overheard their words he realised where it appeared his eyes were fixed. They fell upon a short skirt flapping up in the wind. Quickly averting his gaze and looking up he noticed some familiar judgemental eyes upon him.

@Double Capybara

[Reshy134]

Mei was, for a brief moment, nervous as she awaited the boy's response. She didn't have that many friends as a kid, so she was doing a bit of catching up on the whole "being social" thing. But when he looked at her with a smile, she felt her nerves vanish. Not to mention he was kind of cute, in a boyish way. Oh thank God, he's nice, she thought, returning his smile and listening as he spoke. He knew about as much of their situation as she did (in other words, not much), but that was fine. They'd fill everyone in later, right? She let out a soft laugh at his comment about being bored, realizing he'd been stuck on the same boat as her. "Oh God, yeah. They didn't even let anyone leave! I hope the rest of the year isn't like that," she replied. Mei noted the slight accent in his English; she'd have to ask him where he was from at some point.

Of course, he immediately answered that question without her even needing to ask. With an extended hand and a warm grin, Mei learned the boy's name was Luke, and he was from Denmark. With a sweet smile, Mei shook his hand, grateful for at least one possible friend. "I'm Mei Takahashi. Legacy student from San Francisco. It's nice to meet you too, Luke. I was worried everyone would, like, immediately hate me or something." It was the honest truth, after all. But as it turns out, being a nice, friendly person made it pretty hard for people to hate you. At least as far as first impressions went. "You excited to be here, or is this more of a family thing?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Mei spotted another boy making his way toward them through the crowd. That wouldn't be a problem, except that it seemed like he was staring at a girl's skirt in front of them. He looked away, though, so Mei put it off as being an accident. Besides, the girl was pulling the sides of her skirt down as best she could, probably because of the wind. As subtly as she could, Mei shifted her posture to stand behind the girl to protect her from the prying eyes of whoever else might be looking. Girls have to stick together, right?

@Hitman @Hammerman @Dark Light

[Calatrava]

Interacting with: @Poppirious
Mentions/Musings: @Hammerman@Reshy134

The moment the ship lurched with violent force, the reaper of House Arachne bolted from his bed with trained vigilance. The armors surrounding his room sprang to life with the Blacksmith quickly encasing Enzo in its plates. There was silence for a few brief moments until a raggedy voice sounded off from the speakers, inviting them outside the boat. As it seemed, they had finally arrived on Death Island-- home of the training academy for Reapers. His parents and siblings were all proud alumni of this institute and the last thing Enzo wanted was to be given the same expectations. He already accepted that he could never match the prowess of Carlo or Dante; he could never be as intelligent as Rose or Teresa. His siblings were all on another league-- head and shoulders above the rest. And, here he was... at the brink of exhaustion at just summoning his three spirit-armors.

"I'm a failure, aren't I?" Enzo whispered to the darkness as the armor slipped away from his body. The legacy sighed before picking up his satchel which contained nothing but a few clothing and some notebooks for him to scribble on. Most of his belongings have already been transported ahead, anyway.

With a snap of his fingers, the three spirit-armors left him in a small burst of smoke.

This was no time to feel sorry for himself. If anything, he had to live up to the standards left by his family, if only to make his sister proud. He had no idea what was in store for him, but if anything, he wanted the academy to train him to still be able to fight regardless of the accursed plague on his body. He was tired of being the spider who spun no webs whilst his family's threads ran deeper to the bowels of the earth.

It was his time to spin his own legacy.

---

The conglomeration of students flocking at the docks caused a shiver to run down Enzo's spine, and it wasn't to the cold winds that Enzo shivered. No, it was the thought of having to prove himself to this sheer number of students. How many would stain his family name by wiping his ass on the floor? How many would look down on him once they know that he was but a spider with no fangs? It was already becoming a dreadful thought.

Clad in a jet-black sweater pulled over a pair of dark-blue jeans with rubber shoes, Enzo adjusted the Arachne sablay or sash which ran from his left shoulder to his right waist. The sash was onyx in shade, lined with white threads resembling spider webs. The symbol of House Arachne shone in golden hues in the center of the sash and below it was the motto of the House, embroidered in baybayin script. The sablay was a ceremonial attire, only to be worn on formal occasions. However, it had become a tradition in House Arachne for new enrollees to the Academy to wear it on their first day as a declaration that a legacy of their prestigious House was present among the ranks of students.

To be honest, he would have preferred not to wear it, but the laws of the House must be followed. Besides, Teresa had always wanted to see him wearing the sash for the first time, and maybe, just maybe, she could see him now.

"Let's get this over with." Enzo decided with a huff before walking over to the horde of students already splitting in their own little groups. Socializing was going to be a chore, definitely. Especially, with the sight of one of his future classmates flashing her undergarments for the males to see in their full glory. Enzo rolled his eyes with contempt at those who visibly leered at her, and scoffed at the thought of a typical member of House Lionheart to bungle on the first day.

Of course, he would know her: Alexandria of House Lionheart. He had studied the other members of the Great Houses, trying to see how he compared to his peers. Still, he respected House Lionheart-- a clan of brave warriors who shaped their very house out of the bastions that the demons once called their own. He never expected less from Alexandria.

Then, his eyes of a rather Asian-looking lass to the far left, and the Japanese features alerted Enzo to the presence of another legacy. He had seen her looks from the lectures, recognizing Mei of House Lepidos. He had only interacted with House Lepidos a few times, but from that limited contact, he felt genuine warmth and care from those butterflies. They could never seem to hate, merely... dislike, at most. It was a weakness that other Houses saw in them, but Enzo would digress. Something needed to counter the darkness that the world offered, and House Lepidos was a bright beacon in that department.

Did Mei inherit their kind and caring demeanor? Enzo was interested in finding out. Soon.

As he continued walking, the crowd of students bumped into him, causing him to stumble close to a rather nervous-looking boy around his age. A lot of things were said about a person depending on their body movements. Joy, fear, disgust. The simplest of twitches betrayed the truest nature of an individual, and for this scared peer of his, he was similar to a lamb in the middle of wolves. He jolted at every shadow, trembled at every sound. It was almost pitiful. Maybe, he should rescue this lad? Teresa did hammer in him the virtue of helping others.

"Stare at others that much, and they're gonna think you're a weirdo," Enzo called out to the auburn-haired boy. He eyed the boy from head to toe, trying to see if he was a legacy or a famous scion. When he came up with blanks, Enzo decided that he was actually a greenhorn which explained his nervous behavior. "New, huh?" The Arachne legacy grinned at the thought. "The name's Enzo. We're both new, I guess, but something tells me," A fit of coughs interrupted him mid-sentence before he managed to pull himself together. "You've been through a lot." He pointed to the dark rings under his own eyes which mirrored that of the boy's.

It was a weird coincidence how they both looked sickly, dark rings under their eyes with skin pale. However, Enzo believed that while his affliction was permanent, this guy could still recover.

Oddly, for some reason, he felt jealous. But, only a little bit.

If only.

[Double Capybara]

Deborah's eyes turned from the crowd back to the Lionheart, she had heard that name before, as it was typical for students of the great houses. "Ah, La petite princesse. Delighted to meet you. I am Deborah Nibelung, Scion from Burgundy, France." she then placed a hand in her own hips, raising one eyebrow. "Oh, and thank you for the worry, but I have the modesty issue covered well. You see, it's all not unlike a battle, you need situation awareness, to know where your body stands, to know from where enemies could be looking, to account for natural hazards. Oh! And, of course, resource management, you need to reach your objective using the least resources, but you cannot risk a shortage." as she spoke, she turned around and stepped back to face Alex, leaning her back against some railing.

"But fret not, you can always count on your allies to cover your flanks in such battles." she placed a hand on her torso, before doing a little finger gun with said hand, pointing towards Mei as she had just approached. "The rearguard as well."

Her eyes then continued to scan the surroundings, eventually sighting a silver-haired, golden-eyed, student. She remembered seeing him in the halls, and once again she had met his gaze, though she had also noticed him looking at Alex before. "Hello again." they had, of course, never talked to each other before, the words were an acknowledgment of the other passenger scout.

@Hammerman@Dark Light@Reshy134

[Krytavius]

@Arreyis @Calatrava @Poppirious
Mentions: Ryanne and George, Enzo and

---

Levi Hall

---

After Levi placed the stolen money into his back pants pocket, a pair of dark gray jeans, he finally started noticing the cold air rushing past his arms. Giving a light shiver, Levi tugged on the fleeced jean jacket that was wrapped around his waist. Rubbing his hands together, creating friction to give them a bit of warmth, Levi started scanning the area again.

His eyes landed on a very beautiful creature, a black lab, sitting next to a short red-headed girl. He wanted to reach out and touch the creature. He loved dogs, truthful all animals, but he never was allowed to have one himself. He almost asked if he could pet the lovely creature, however now looking closely he could tell it was a service animal. He was certain that petting such animals were frowned upon.

Biting his lip he turned away from the pair and walked toward the larger group of students. Stopping next to a boy that was about his own height with auburn hair and matching eyes. Few seconds later he was being called a weirdo by a guy who introduced himself as Enzo. Levi watched the little introduction from the corner of his eye. He was waiting for an opening, just a few seconds would do, the Enzo kid looked pretty wealthy he should be able to lift something good.

Yet as he was about to make his move Enzo started having a coughing fit. This made Levi give pause, watching him finish his sentence and pointing toward his eyes for the other kid to see.

Damn, I can’t steal from a dying kid.

[Arreyis]

Ryanne patted George's head as he growled at someone passing too close, then stood up slowly and stretched. Her red hair was messy after being cooped up in the ship for so long, but otherwise she was clean cut. She grabbed hold of George's halter once more and he lead her back to the crowd. She matched his pace easily, and found that no one was bumping into her, probably thanks to George's occasional growling.

"George, be nice." She was worried he would upset someone, as it was already iffy enough to have a dog in such a large crowd of people. Of course she doubted anyone here suffered from such a small thing as dog allergies, but there could be any number of people who didn't like dogs. A big dog like George, even one highly trained, could draw all sorts of attention, and not all of it would be welcome.

They made their way to another area to wait, and George lead her to an area relatively clear to wait for the next direction. As she stood she overheard someone coughing, and felt bad. For someone who was sick the trip must have been difficult. Then she heard him say something about having been through a lot, presumably to another student. George brushed his head against her hand and she scratched his ears absentmindedly. For someone who was blind Ryanne felt as though her life had not been hard enough to rank her with the other students. She had been born to a wealthy family, raised in a boring town in Texas. An entirely uneventful life compared to some of the stories she had overheard as other students conversed.

She sighed, reminding herself that she had been invited to the school on her merits, and she wouldn't have been if she didn't warrant at least a chance. Helping the world appealed to her, and the possibility of magic wasn't exactly overlooked by her either.

[Dark Light]

Perhaps it was from being caught in his accidental gaze, or maybe it was just simply because he found her more attractive than he care to admit, either way something caused Drakus to act even more reserved and spiteful than usual.
His eyes found hers, the French girl from before, and his intense gaze tore away at any superficial pleasantries building between them. Bare and ruthless. With his voice low and cold, void of any emotion, he spoke soft and slowly. His tone reverberating with condescending arrogance.

”You are in my way.”

he said simply, giving little acknowledgement to anything or one around him.

With his words said, Drakus allows his eyes to fall back to the floor where he tries to inconspicuously scan the ground for that elusive shadow amongst the darkness... it was gone, he had lost it. Was it even ever there.
He mutters a near silent curse under his breath as he rubs the vision from his eyes.

@Double Capybara

[Hammerman]

---

"Glad to meet you too," Alexandria replied with a smile to the taller girl. She was certainly glad that she was acting so amicably towards her. And she was relieved to see that she didn't seem to take any offense to her uncouth question. Instead, she answered her embarrassing question with such calmness and grace that Alexandria was the one who got embarrassed.

That's right... it is really just like a battle... And I'm still terribly untrained in the matter...

"Thank you for your words of wisdom, Lady Nibelung," she addressed her in a respectful, formal manner. "I would make sure to keep them to heart so I wouldn't embarrass myself and my house like this ever again. And thank you as well, for, ah, 'covering my flank' as well," she added with a light blush.

As her parents had taught her to act, she performed a curtsy of gratitude and respect to her. She lifted the hem of her skirt slightly as she gave a slight bow.

Unfortunately, thanks to just how short her skirt was, she ended up flashing her black panties a little once more. The Burgundian Heiress could see it clearly, as well as anyone standing behind her.

And just like before, she didn't notice it in the slightest.

Alexandria then looked at the heiress' current position. She realized what she was doing. She was eliminating the need of guarding her flank by leaning to the railing like that. No one was going to peep from the direction of the ocean after all.

That's really smart! How could I have not think of that?

She then did the same, pressing her butt to the railing. This way, she just had to watch for her front.

She then turned her attention towards the girl that the heiress pointed at as her "rear guard". Now she looked more like her own age for sure. Judging from her facial features, she probably had some Asian blood in her.

She had to thank her of course. And that's why she decided to approach her. With a warm smile, she offered her hand, saying to her, "Hello. My name is Alexandria Vesperantus. A Legacy student of Lionheart. Pleased to meet you." She then lowered her voice to a whisper and said with a light blush, "Thanks for covering for me as well, though I also have to apologize for displaying such an uncouth sight to you."

She then returned her attention back to the Burgundian Heiress after conversing with the girl, and her eyes immediately wandered off to her exposed thighs. She was just confirming if this method of guarding really worked.

...Wait a sec...

The sight of her smooth upper thighs made her realize something.

That Déborah Nibelung, the Scion from Burgundy, was really not wearing any pants or skirt at this very moment.

Her face immediately reddened at the revelation. H-how could she do that? T-that's... that's completely unladylike!

She gulped. Should she ask? But it would basically make her question her choices for attire, and that might offend her.

In the end, she braved herself. She walked back to the railing, and from her side, she whispered, "A-apologies beforehand for this question but I just have to ask, a-are you really... not wearing any pants or skirt right now?"

@Reshy134@Double Capybara

[Hitman]

"Legacy?! Woaaaah."

Legacies were few and far between at the School (though their families always want to limit that to the best of their ability...with many children), and the idea that the girl standing in front of him was a Legacy student blew his mind (perhaps more than it should have.) His smile persisted as Luke took her hand and shook it, his fingers wrapped around hers like an iron vice grip and squeezing quite hard, though entirely unintentionally. "Come on, don't be like that! You seem pretty cool; I'm sure we'll find some other friends around here. Everybody here seems pretty...chill."

He looked at the few scenes around him, and kept silent. Perhaps not everybody here was in the best mood after the ship ride- however, Luke was positive everybody, or at least, almost everybody, would feel much better after this whole situation was resolved, though it didn't seem like it would any time soon.

As the blonde came over to greet Mei, Luke gave her a slight wave, using his other hand to cover up the tinge of blush on his face. It wasn't really his fault that he had seen what he had seen, right? It was an accident, he convinced himself. But the creeping of red on his face suggested otherwise.

Something curious began to happen around then. The wind started picking up speed, causing Luke's jacket to flap in the wind and his hair to be blown about. This newfound wind did not concern him, but what did was the moaning that it carried. The moaning in the wind sounded ethereal, unattached, but also disturbing and immensely disconcerting. Luke reached for his dagger, but realized his weapons, along with anything that would've helped him fight the Demon, was in his luggage.

The only thing that wasn't was himself, and he would make damn good use of it.

Electricity visibly sparked at his hands, sparks flying as the voltaic energy built up in his balled fists. He turned to Mei. "Watch out. I don't have a good feeling about this." He knew that she was a Legacy student and all the jazz, but he couldn't help but feel a bit protective of her. She was the only person he knew in this godforsaken place, after all.

The moaning only continued to increase. Whatever was making it was getting closer.

"Finally, something interesting." Luke cracked his neck and put his feet into a boxing position. He was itching to go.

Speaks to: Mei Takahashi @Reshy134
Mentions: Alexandria Vesparantus @Hammerman

Also: @Poppirious @Hammerman @Reshy134 @Double Capybara @Enzayne @Arreyis @Sanity43217 @Krytavius @La Savant @Dark Light

[Double Capybara]

@Hammerman@Dark Light

Drakus's answers made her blink rapidly when he mentioned her being on his 'way' "Monsieur, I am leaning against a railing." her hand raised to above her shoulder and pointed towards the horizon behind her. "And that is the sea. A quite frigid one too."

Conversation then shifted back to her side. With a raised eyebrow and a smug half-smile, Deborah looked down at Alexandria, turning a bit while still leaning against the rail. "Ah, that is quite a question, isn't it? One side of me thinks answers to questions such as these are earned, the other half is getting quite embarrassed with the intensity of that stare towards my thighs." she answered in good fun.

She then stared upward, looking puzzled. "This wind is getting faster than the average of this region, I also do not recall any weather forecast predicting any anomaly of this sort." as she spoke, her eyes had a soft glow, she looked to the side and the wind became even stronger, and to top that, it started to wail, or something of the sort. "Ah, this is definitely not the usual."

Her rapier and her gun were away, stored among the luggage, though since her magical power was not offensive, she always had at least one weapon on her, so raising up her coat a bit, 'hot pants' being the answer to Alexandria's question, she picked up a small silver knife hanging on the side, staring into the dark with a soft pout and a squint.

[Hammerman]

---

She noticed Luke giving her a wave. To be polite, she waved back at the boy, though she didn't really know who he was. Thankfully for him, she didn't really notice the blush creeping on his face from his... less-than-gentlemanly viewing.

At Deborah's response to Drakus's... less-than-polite attitude, Alexandria couldn't help but chuckle. She got a point. She couldn't possibly "get in his way" unless he wanted to throw himself into the ocean.

"Yeah, that's right. You want to throw yourself into the ocean or something?" she said to him with a proud grin and with her hands on her waist. She didn't like his moody, antisocial attitude for sure.

Her attention then returned to the heiress, where she only cryptically answered her question. "A-ah, apologies!" she quickly responded with a blush when she made a comment of her staring at her thighs. "I-I didn't mean to stare!"

She couldn't help but feel displeased however, making her pout a little as a result, by her not really answering her question. She only teased her and made a comment on how an answer to such a question "must be earned". So she was saying that they had to be closer acquaintances first before she was willing to give the answer?

Or--her eyes wandered to her thighs once again--was she telling her that she should just peek to see what's really under there?

I-I couldn't possibly do that! That would be terribly rude and uncouth for me to do!

B-but if there's a stray wind around, I could...

Right when she thought about it, the wind suddenly picked up. She immediately turned to look at the heiress' thighs once again, ignoring the fact that her own skirt was getting blown by the wind. Thanks to her still leaning on the railing, her butt wasn't really exposed. But her front certainly was. Everyone near her could see that she was wearing lacy black that day.

S-shorts! She's wearing shorts under that coat!

For some reason, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the revelation.

O-of course. No one would be insane enough to go out without wearing any pants or skirt...

The wind blew again, and this time, she was aware enough to pull down her skirt immediately.

"W-what is up with this wind? It's getting stronger than before!"

She then heard it. The moaning the wind carried with it. It immediately put her brain on full alert mode.

T-this is...

The moaning was getting closer, and it was clear that something was coming for them.

She grabbed the pistol on her thigh and cocked it in one smooth movement. She saw the heiress now having a knife in her hand, and the boy she waved at had his electricity readied in a boxing pose.

She was glad that it wasn't only her who was aware of what the moaning could mean.

"Ready yourself everyone! They're coming!" she announced to the others.

@Double Capybara@Hitman@Dark Light