Victoria van DyneLocation: The field (School Carnival) Skills: N/A
Victoria would be lying if she said she didn't expect the outcome. Statistically, given the observation of everyone in line in front of her, there was a pathetic little chance of anyone lifting that thing. Although unlike many others, she wouldn't be caught dead screwing around with it for several minutes in the vain attempt. One had to either be worthy or a hulk, and she appeared to be neither. YET. End of story. The blond gently patted the haft of the hammer. "Well, I'll keep at it. Do try to make it here next year, okay? It'd be a shame not to have a measure of progress now."
She turned on her heel and vacated the spot, looking back at the next person who likewise failed to make the hammer budge. As she watched, a strange thought entered her mind. Was that hammer even real or was it a prop mounted on a giant concrete block to ensure noone would move it, worthy of the actual hammer or not? Why would they do that though... Ohohoh, motivation, much? Well, if you did, then hats off to you, Coulson! Victoria smiled, promptly dismissing the idea of running a scan of the ground below - she didn't really want to know.
This however put her in the unenviable situation of having nothing to do yet again, and in retrospect, setting an activity that lasted all of ten seconds as a meeting spot was a boneheaded idea. It looked like she was in luck though - that green mane was impossible to miss even if one wanted to. Victoria found it a bit funny that her roommate was dragging another person behind her almost like a ragdoll. Someone's whipped. Nice jacket though. she commented to herself, before she remembered she didn't know if Zarina could actually hear anything she thought about, and instantly clamed her mind, only putting on her best friendly face and awkwardly waving the duo over.
Whether out of indecisiveness or extreme reluctance to move an inch, Ardere remained in place, anchored to the concrete sidewalk, standing straight as a lampost. What broke her thousand-yard stare when an upperclassman walked past her, giving the redhead a nice view of the blonde girl's thigh-high boots, black as coal, and the pink skirt that seemed too short for normal school dress code.
But this was not a normal high school and she almost wanted to speak up and compliment her but the student was already moving too fast. With that moment missed, Ardere slightly kicked at the sidewalk, wondering if she could handle being alone in a crowd. Between the junk car lifting competition and getting food, she went for the latter. Super strength wasn't her power though she would like to see her older brother put on a show. Though the line was long, it wasn't without entertainment. Already there was drama up ahead. Judging by the smoke, someone got set on fire.
She couldn't help but laugh shyly. At least there's some comfort in knowing she wasn't the only one that lacks control.
Location: Avenger's Academy, Fairgrounds First Day Fit Skills: N/A
Mads was at the front of the line now, peering into a small purple tent. As cliché as it was, the tent was far bigger on the inside than the outside. It was illuminated entirely by floating orbs containing well-loved candles, almost melted down to their bases. On a ruby red throw cushion, embroidered with images of long forgotten deities, Professor Harkness' cat, Ebony, napped peacefully. Professor Harkness herself - well, ex Professor Harkness, as she no longer taught at Avengers Academy after receiving a better offer from Strange Academy - sat at a small table. Tarot cards and runes and crystals covered it, and incense burned, while Agatha's crystal ball floated somewhat aimlessly in the air.
"Madalyne, dear, come on in - let these weary old eyes see you once more," Agatha called out, beckoning with a withered hand for Madalyne to enter. Agatha had been the magic teacher at Avengers Academy since its founding - leaving hadn't been a decision she had made lightly. Coming face to face with her prize pupil didn't make it any easier.
Madalyne watched as the student before had left she stepped into Agatha's tent, she took a moment to look around the room, she always did like Agatha's classes whenever she was there, it was sad that she was leaving and heading over to Strange Academy now. "Hi there Professor Harkness, how are you doing?" Madalyne asked as she went over to gently pet Ebony who was still sleeping rather peacefully.
"Surely that can't be the question that brought you to my tent today, hmm?" Agatha replied somewhat playfully, dodging the question. Ebony continued to sleep on. They were rather used to Madalyne's company, as Agatha's familiar went wherever she did. "Come, sit - let us discuss your future." Agatha snapped her fingers and the entrance to the tent closed, allowing the two of them privacy.
Madalyne giggled slightly and nodded. "Thats true that wasn't my actual question." She said as Madalyne made her way over and sat down across from Agatha. She started to think a little bit about what she wanted to know what was in store for her, meeting Agatha's gaze once more as she came up with her question. "I guess my question is what will the rest of the year look like for me?"
Agatha nodded, waving her hands over the table. The tarot cards began to shuffle themselves, the crystals and runes hurrying to scurry out of the way. Ordinarily, Agatha would've done a more structured draw - but right now, for whatever reason, she felt like going for a more loose structure to the reading. Three cards jumped out of the deck, face down. A smirk graced Agatha's face, as the first card turned itself over - the Seven of Cups. "I would expect no less for a promising young witch like you," Agatha commented, before the next card flipped over. It was the Star, Reversed. Agatha's smirk turned into a frown. But such things were to be expected in the life of a teenager - Madalyne would face challenges, one way or another. The last card turned over and a sense of calm and pride came over Agatha - the Five of Swords, reversed.
"Were I still your professor, I would ask for your interpretation first, child," Agatha chided slightly. "But not today. As you should intuit, there are many choices ahead of you - opportunities, risks, challenges, some good, and some bad. You may struggle with self doubt, overwhelmed and feeling as if you are drowning. I suspect this will cause strife in your relationships, perhaps even fracture them if you allow it... Yet I see a clear path for you - a reconciliation, of your spirit and your soul. This will be a year of turmoil and change for you, Madalyne - weather the storm. Know your course."
Madalyne leaned forward as she watched the cards moved in front of her as Agatha set the three cards down in front of her, she stared at the cards for a moment. She smiled slightly, she thought about giving her own interpretations on what were on the cards but she wanted to hear them from her former teacher. She was certainly going to have a tough year and a lot of changes as well to then which will be interesting, as she started to think about her next question. "How will I know that I have found my soulmate?" Madalyne asked, she had quiet a few friends at school but she hadn't found anyone yet really.
"Do you believe in soulmates, Madalyne?" Agatha asked, somewhat amused. There was something about Madalyne that she did not say, as she believed the girl deserved to discover it in her own time. The cards shuffled and flew through the air, before one popped up in particular, almost hitting Mads' in the face - the Eight of Cups. The Cups suit dealt with one's emotional life, but this card carried a different message, Agatha suspected, than Madalyne would wish to hear.
"This is a card of sadness and separation," Agatha said. "Only once you leave behind what no longer does you good will you find what you are looking for." She paused, before waving her hand. A sealed red envelope, with the seal of the Sorcerer Supreme, appeared in front of Madalyne. It had her name on it, inscribed in runes. "There is a place for you at Strange Academy, among your fellow witches, if you would take it."
Madalyne smiled at Agatha and nodded towards her. "Yes I do believe in soulmates, theres always someone out there." She said as another card was pulled out and landed on the ground she nodded as her teacher spoke. When a red envelope appeared in front of her, seeing her name written in runes on it, she met Agatha's gaze and gave her a slight smile. She had thought about applying to Strange Academy a few times even her mother mentioned it a few times as well to. But then that would mean that she would leave her friend's behind here to go there, which she didn't want to just yet. "Thank you for the invitation and i'll definitely think about it." Madalyne said.
"Think about your future, dear," Agatha recommended, before snapping her fingers and one last thing appeared in front of Madalyne. "It used to be tradition that your first set of tarot cards had to be gifted - although I doubt this would be your first." There was a small black box with strange occult symbols painted onto it. Inside, there was a deck of tarot cards, the edges of the cards made from gold.
"I will, and thank you Professor Harkness." Madalyne said giving her former teacher a smile, as she looked down seeing small black box with occult symbols appearing in front of her. She took a moment to open it seeing a set of tarot cards inside of it and smiled even more, she had a set back home when she turned ten given to her by her mother but she had forgotten them back home. "Thank you so much i'll treasure them forever." Madalyne said as she got up and gave her a quick hug, she was going to keep them very close to her. "I'll see you again someday." She told her as she turned and headed out of the tent, she took a moment to think about where to go next and decided to go and check out the other students who tried their hand at trying to lift up Mjölnir.
Diana Novikova
Location: Avenger's Academy, Fairgrounds First Day Fit Skills: N/A
Diana turned to look at her brother, she could understand him being really mad after being set on fire and having his school outfit completely ruined. "Успокойся, братишка, это был всего лишь несчастный случай." Diana said to Percy in Russian, she learned it growing up through her mother and spoke it from time to time. Diana turned her attention towards Danny who was also understanbly upset as well to. "It's okay I was only teasing, powers tend to be finicky at times." Diana told Danny, she looked over at Leah for a moment, and gave her a slight nod. "Yeah Percy is my lil bro." She didn't like Leah all that much since she always got the feeling that the girl hated her for some reason as well to.
Diana watched Dorian disappear in front of her, and then her brother suddenly freaking out before disappearing from sight with his powers, and then reappearing again. Dorian and Danny were clearly the chaotic duo of the entire school it seems but Diana didn't say anything about it, her attention quickly turned to April. "How was your summer April and wheres Zelda?" Diana asked her friend, as she nabbed one of the candy bars that Dorian took, she hadn't seen her yet really at all and knew that it was her first year at school here as well to.
Location: The Field (School Carnival) Skills: N/A First Day Fit
Time pressed onward as Sabine watched the events unfold. Part of her wanted to go over to ensure Danny was doing all right. In a normal school, setting another student on fire was grounds for expulsion at the best of times and incarceration at the worst. This school was different and it solidified her reasoning for hiding what school she attended from her family. She didn't want to be pestered with questions or made to feel like a freak. Her step-mother was already a monster, she didn't need to give the woman any more of a reason to hate her. The staff at the school, at least, was on board with helping her.
Sabine decided to move forward and see if Danny was all right when she spotted a young-looking red-headed girl she hadn't seen before. Given her stature and general vibe of "oh god oh no people are looking at me!" Sabine figured she was a freshman. "Better watch out freshie, it seems we like our freshman cooked well done at this school." Sabine grinned at her clever commentary before she swiftly ignored the girl.
It was then she noted another girl in her sights and this one was, at least, more pleasing to the eye. Leah. Sabine and Leah's relationship was....odd. They were roommates (and yeah, the joke writes itself with this one), so they couldn't ignore each other. Sabine wanted to hate her, and to some degree, she did, but generally, she also liked Leah's company. She would never tell her that, of course, but she made the days bearable somewhat. Given that they lived together, it was natural that they would butt heads.
Sabine shook this off and proudly strode towards Danny. "Danny, A for effort, but can we wait until we are halfway through the first quarter before we cook the freshman alive?" She grinned to show she was joking before she got serious. "Seriously, are you okay?" Sabine knew there were others around. Diana for one (another person she tolerated at the school). As well as the freshman Danny burned (though she couldn't give any less of a fuck about him presently). Danny was her closest friend here. So his well-being mattered the most.
12:20 PM - Mon. Sep. 13th, 2038 - Margaret Carter Institute
@Martian: When Rory approached the booth, they'd be greeted by the current president of the Academy Knights - or as they were officially called per the club's charter, the king. "Ah, a brave knight for the tourney!" the King greeted jovially, a cheap Party City crown atop their head. The king turned, looking at the knights sitting on the bench. Most of them were out of breath and somewhat bruised, despite the foam swords - all except for a dark haired girl with braids. Her armor looked more authentic than the rest, with the crest of a gold dragon on the front.
"I'll face them," the girl said, grabbing her foam sword from where it was resting against the bench. Her accent was British, but not quite - it was difficult to place and almost sounded fake.
The king looked at Rory with pity for a moment, but soon replaced their worried expression with a smile. "Very well then. What be your name, brave Ser Knight? You'll be facing, er..." they paused, sighing slightly, "Ser Megan."
Megan's dark eyes darted over towards Rory for a second, though her thoughts and intentions were still somewhat obscured.
@Natsu: Zelda had already gone off on her way with her new She-Hulk teddy bear. If Mary Sue wanted to, she could chase after her and perhaps make a friend. But if not, the attendant at the booth is more than happy to give Mary Sue the quiz, asking her questions one after another:
You can write dialogue for the booth attendant, please DM me on Discord to check your answers to these though!
1. Who is the odd one out? Iron Man (Tony Stark), Ant-Man (Hank Pym), and Forge 2. What founding X-Man claimed to be fire and life incarnate, now and forever? 3. What villain did the first Avengers unite to face? 4. Name three heroes who used to be villains! 5. How do inhumans get their powers? 6. What ex-member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants married the daughter of Iron Man (Tony Stark)? 7. What is the name of the all female special forces of Wakanda? 8. What hero has been a member of the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four - pulling off what we like to call a superhero hat trick? 9. Name two heroes with the same powers! 10. What is the name of the Kree home world?
@BlueSky44: Zelda had won her new beloved and prized possession, a She-Hulk teddy bear (feel free to add this to your inventory!). As she wandered around looking for something else to do, she'd notice that the fortune telling booth line was pretty short. There was just a few people in it at the moment. If she wanted to get her fortune told, maybe now would be an ideal time to do so. Or at the very least, she could get out of the sun and into the shade - it was boiling outside.
@BlueSky44@Kirah@Forsythe@Nallore: The four of you - Zari, Andy, Vicky, and Mads - were all within the general vicinity of Thor's hammer. Mads would not recognize Zari or Andy, but she'd likely have seen Vicky around before. Maybe it's time to go make some new friends? Or at the very least, Mads could take a try at the hammer. Most people seem to have gotten tired of being told they were bad people by the hammer, so there wasn't much of a line anymore, so any of the four could go up and try their hand at it (although maybe not Vicky, as the answer is unlikely to change).
@Ever Faithful: Poor Ardere, she had been thinking about saying hello to the girl, only for the girl to leave. When Ardere made it to the line for food, she'd spot a man built like a bear not too far ahead of her in line, talking to a boy with green skin and another one with a mischievous smile. Farther up the line, she'd notice a large group that seemed to have clustered together - though that group was almost at the very front now. If she wanted to get food sooner rather than later, maybe now would be a good time to try and get some friends. Or she could wait.
@Ogobrogo: Billy's eye twitched slightly as Teddy told Hulkling that he was incredible. "I tell him that all the time and he never listens to me, isn't that right, babe?" Billy complained, before putting a kiss on Hulkling's cheek - as if to say back off, other Teddy to Teddy. Hulkling didn't seem to notice his boyfriend's jealousy and/or discomfort though. Instead, Hulkling seemed more shocked to hear that Teddy had only been able to lift three cars.
"Is everything okay, Teddy?" he asked, genuine concern in his eyes. "If you need a work-out buddy, I'm always here. But... there's no reason you shouldn't be able to lift thirty easy," he argued. Hulkling had smiled slightly though, when Teddy had said he was going to go and drop thirty, just to keep Hulkling on his toes. "And besides, how will we be good rivals if we aren't both at the top of our game?"
"Okay, is it bad I kinda like the idea of you going and lifting more cars?" Billy admitted, addressing both of them, but clearly more Hulkling than Teddy. But who could blame him - if Hulkling were your boyfriend, wouldn't you want to watch him lift impossible weights?
@Ogobrogo: The face paint artist blinked, not really too sure what to say. "I... Danny who?" they asked. They were worried for a moment that they had missed something, but they were pretty sure they hadn't, tilting their head at Chi Mai quizzically. "Have you had too much sun or something?" they then asked. "I can get you some water..." But even though they were concerned, they were still a ~professional~ and they painted Chi Mai's face, transforming her into a tiger.
Percy Novikov
Location: the Field (School Carnival) Skills: N/A ~First Day Fit~
Percy was shocked that things could, indeed, get worse. Out of nowhere, the boy with the beautiful eyes vanished from sight - and then suddenly, he felt so very very very wrong. His entire body had the sort of pins and needles feeling you have when trying to wake up a limb that's fallen asleep. His chest felt like there was a gigantic weight pressing down on it, as if trying to crush his lungs. He couldn't move his eyes, he couldn't scream, he was powerless, helpless, trapped -
He flickered in and out of space-time, a perfect execution of his powers, but it was terrifyingly out of his control. His mothers had warned him about the dangers of his powers, in his hands he trusted himself, but in... It clicked into place. The boy with the beautiful eyes was possessing him.
And then, it was over. The spell had lifted. Percy should've felt relieved and free. But instead, Percy couldn't help but feel completely violated. He didn't know whether to scream, swear, cry, or some combination of all three. But as much as he would swear on his life that he didn't care about the opinions of these people, he wasn't going to let them see him sweat. The only person present who had ever seen him cry was Diana and Percy wasn't even too happy about that.
So instead of genuine emotion, Percy laughed. "Are you mad? Why would I give you my jacket for this "Max" to deal with? You set me on fire, spray that nasty shit into my mouth, and then hop into my body and you all assume that I'm just going to sit around and take it? That I'll just shrug, say it was an accident, hand off my jacket, and wait for you to turn it to ash like an idiot?" Percy shook his head defiantly.
He clearly wasn't taking Diana's advice to calm down. His eye twitched ever so slightly as Leah introduced herself to him, make a lighthearted joke, but also advised him to tell Diana to get a personality. Diana was his annoying older sister, but she was his annoying older sister. "Maybe you should consider upgrading your personality as well," he snapped at Leah. His stomach was growling quietly and he was hungry, food was so close, but Percy was beyond 1000% done with all of this.
"надеюсь вы все горите в аду," he said, giving the group the middle finger before marching off in the direction of Stark Hall. Hopefully his roommate wouldn't be back, so he could get some peace and quiet.
April Flynn
Location: the Field (School Carnival) Skills: N/A ~First Day Fit~
April had been fantasizing about the start to her junior year for months - before sophomore year had even ended. In no version of events though, had things gone so disastrously wrong. She hadn't even done anything and April couldn't help but have her eyes blur slightly with tears, and laugh somewhat nervously. "Umm, that was an accident - he can't say it, because he's still ghost, but that definitely was an accident, okay?" April blurted, trying to apologize on Dorian's behalf as her heart felt like it was about to explode from pounding in her chest.
She was tempted to stress eat some of the treats that the ghostly form of Dorian walked on over with - she was used to him going around as a ghost, so not being able to see him didn't freak her out. But there were so many people crowding around them, and Danny was spiraling, which made it all so easy for April to begin to spiral as well. Her ears felt like they were ringing when Leah slung a muscular arm around April's shoulder and teased her playfully. "What? Me? Evil? N-n-never!" April stammered. "I don't even have that many villains in my family tree! Well my dad used to be one, but that doesn't count - and my grandpa's getting a real reappraisal these days, he doesn't even make the Top 10 list anymore of SHIELD's most wanted, so there's that. Then there's my various aunts and uncles... Most of them former villains, but again, they're good! So if anything, if I went evil, it wouldn't stick because I'm just meant to be a good person! And if I wanted to kill a freshie, I'd freeze his blood, I wouldn't burn him, it's bad for the environment, toxic fumes and stuff!"
She swallowed slightly, conscious that she was rambling. Diana at least seemed to be in the mood to deescalate the situation. "Oh, she's, um... She's around, I think. She might be in a costume, I don't know. She's... somewhere?" April said with a slight shrug. She flushed pink when Sabine approached, asking Danny if she was okay. Despite being besties with one of April's besties, she was pretty sure Sabine had zero clue who April was.
Then the Percy-sized bomb dropped. April's jaw dropped. Yes, he had been assaulted - on accident - by her friends but... April really didn't know what to say or think. She didn't know what they were supposed to do here either. None of the teachers seemed to care what was going on, and they were almost at the front of the line for food. "Oh my god that could not have possibly gone worse..." she mumbled, the color rapidly draining from her face.
Danni had continued to panic, his emotions getting the better of him as they escalated. Dorian could feel his heart thrashing within his chest, it felt tight and like he couldn't breathe as the chaos continued to ensue around him. His best friend and brother was now yelling at the freshie he burned which only seemed to agitate the situation more. He hated that he couldn't talk to them right now, Danni started getting tears just before he finally got his treat. But he then went to try to snag the jacket from Percy's hands and Dorian's spectral eyes went wide. How was today going so wrong? This moment felt like an eternity already.
Leah tried mending the situation with humor, which to her credit at least she tried. But now didn't seem like the moment to joke around, maybe afterwards or in a day or two sure, but at this point in time there were three ticking time bombs that were delicately set to explode and Dorian hardly was able to diffuse two of them in his current state. Hopefully Diana could - steal a candy bar? Great big help Diana. Lucky enough she understood the situation and knew they meant no harm. The tightness in Dorian's chest slowly began releasing, as he calmed down a little more. But as he was about to try and manifest himself, all hell broke loose.
Percy, started laughing. His eye twitched, his demeanor changed, and his words became like knives. If Dorian was having a bad day, Percy was having it three times worse. Between his reaction and the tone of April's voice as she tried to apologize for him while stammering over her own words, Dorian felt something snap inside. Like a cord being pulled too tight and then a deep sense of cold. His chest was icy and his breathing shallow as he watched in horror everything that played out before him. Today was the start of his first day at AA as a Junior, but today was also his seventeenth birthday…and everything just went to shit.
His powers quickly began to react to his panic. Shifting him in and out of the Astral Plane while maintaining his spectral form so that only a ghostly visage would flicker in and out of view to all those there. He was holding the treats in his hands, staring blankly at the space between Danni, April, and where Percy and stood. "This is de worst birthday of my life. 'ow could t'is 'ave gone so bad? How…I…" I never meant to…I never wanted to…" Tears began to well down his cheeks. Ghostly streaks falling and vanishing halfway through the air. There was a final whisper "I gotta go" before Dorian vanished again and most of the treats fell towards the ground.
There was a small trail of snacks, falling towards the same direction that Percy had left for. Though Dorian was headed to one of the same places he always ran to when he had troubles. His room. Normally he'd sulk under the Wych Elm, but with the Carnival happening and the new rumors running amok, Dorian didn't feel like crying in front of a new spectral friend. So the trail would lead towards his dorm, bits of sweets raining past Percy as he flew on by.
Location: The Field (School Carnival) Skills: Pyrokinesis First Day Fit
Danni froze, hand outstretched and mouth agape as the nasty freshie went scrambling off like the dick he was. Why couldn’t he understand it was all just an accident?! He didn’t mean to set him on fire, he didn’t mean to get spray in his mouth (what, was he just supposed to let the freshie burn like a monster?!), and he wasn’t gonna turn his jacket to ash!!! Sure, it may have been too much for a tiny thing like that but all’s free in fucking and fashion so Danny was just going to ask Maxie to make a new one! What was so bad about that?!
Thankfully, before the steadily rising frustration, confusion, and hurt could cause another configuration, his knight in shining armor, his memory bending maiden, his dancing soulmate, Sabinnie showed up. He could practically sob, and he did, while throwing himself at her and tossing the popcorn he’d been munching on just moments ago, thrown in his emotional roller coaster somewhere in the fair. “Beaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannie, fix dis!!!!! Make de meany freshie forget about de possession. Ee’s bein so dumb over not'ing!” Danny whined, stomping his foot. “Ee yelled at me because I was trying to 'elp an accidentally set somet'ing on fire, and now dese two,” He waved at Leah and Diana, “Are pickin' on us for a mistake! T'ey’re just being jerks! Both of them are saying I tried killin someone but I want to save people, not kill dem! I’d never kill anyone!” He shouted. He didn't even notice the flames flickering around him in long ribbons, entirely focused on how awfully the day was going, how awful these people were being, and how shifty he felt, and as he threw his hands in the air dramatically, the flames curling together and following, launching into the air a massive violent, roaring fireball. Danni blinked against the bright light for a few moments.
"Omg, omg! Did I do dat? Dat's so cooll!!!" Danni, distracted, practically sparkled, turning to look at his friends. "Wasn't dat cool?! Dee loo- oh" Danny stopped as he remembered why he made the fireball in the first place, vivid excitement twisting into an irritated pout.
“No, today was supposed ta be fun, not ruined by some punk ass freshie who just wants to get into trouble, like 'e didn’t shove Dee first!” Danny seethed, working himself from upset to frustrated. “And now, Dee’s birt'day is ruined and de first day of superhero school is ruined and and and…” Danny ran his hands down his face and groaned. “Ee’s gonna be pissed for like, ever. Merde, merde, merde! What are we gonna do? What am I gonna do? Ugh, should we go after him? But t'en 'e’ll be doubly pissed because we didn’t give 'im 'is zone but then I’m a bad bestie, and not the good kind of bad bestie, but then I’m not because that’s what 'e wants and oh God,que fais-je? Beanie, what do I doooooooooo?”
Location: Avenger's Academy, Fairgrounds First Day Fit Skills: N/A
As Madalyne made her way over towards where Mjölnir was, she looked at the three other girls who were there, she didn't recognize two of them, one of them had a cool looking leather jacket while the other girl had green hair and a floating robotic eyeball floating around her constantly. She however did recognize Victoria from class, though she didn't really know her all that well other than the last name to, she smiled towards the three of them. "Hey there." Madalyne said trying to be friendly to them, she hoped that they were nice as she thought about looking for April after trying to lift up the hammer.
She then made her way over towards Mjölnir once it was her turn and tried to lift the hammer up, only for it to not even budge at all as she tried to move it, but it didn't even budge at all sadly. It was worth a try though as she took a step back looking over at the three girls. "I'm Madalyne by the way it's nice to meet you guys." She said deciding to introduce herself to them, she wasnt sure if they had tried to lift the hammer yet or not but it would be entertaining to watch as well to.
Diana Novikova
Location: Avenger's Academy, Fairgrounds First Day Fit Skills: N/A
Diana turned her attention towards Percy for a moment as her little brother suddenly laughed and started to snap at just about all of them, well mostly towards Dorian, Danny and Leah. She could understand her brother being really pissed off at them, they did accidentally ruin a really nice jacket, as well as possessed him without his permission. Diana sighed slightly as she rubbed the bridge of her nose as Percy started to head off back towards the dorms were. "Percy wait!" Diana yelled out to him, hopping to get his attention and a few seconds later Dorian started to cry and faded off, leaving a trail of snacks behind him towards the dorms as well to.
Danny of course didn't make things any better as he started to create rather large fireball above them, and then he started asking Sabine to erase her brother's memories and saying that she was being mean to him. "Okay, one I was just joking around I knew it was an accident, and two pretty sure having someone else erasing a person's memories of what happened without their consent isn't the best way to make someone forgive you even though it was an accident." Diana said to Danny, she turned her attention over towards April.
"I'm sure Zelda is around here somewhere having fun. I'm going to check in on Percy, i'll check in with you later alright?" Diana said as she turned and stopped by Leah for a moment. "Also I do have a personality thank you very much." She said Diana didn't like Leah much at all and she didn't like the little jab she made towards her she headed towards Stark Hall grabbing some of the food that Dorian had dropped along the way.
Location: The Carnival > Fortune Shack Skills: Punching things and throwing rocks First Day Fit
"Oh boy." Honestly, everything just existing around Leah didn't mean much at this point. Shortstack-Boy walked away, and Diana was being Diana about things. At least she had the courtesy to make herself scare... Was that fucking Sabine? Oh hell no. "What hole did you crawl out of?" She asked when Sabine came around. Leah and Sabine's dynamic was... Complicated. Leah hated Sabine but at the same time just gravitated to the absolute harlot's presence. That was only made more complicated by the fact that they were roommates... Of all things to be, they were roommates. "Listen, Sparky, just relax. You didn't mean it. He'll come around eventually, just, uh... Give him some space. Day one's always hard on people when they aren't getting torched." Leah struggled to keep up with a kid as energetic as Danny, but she didn't outright hate him. She unlatched her arm from April and then looked around all the small group. "Bad start to a good day, sure, but it's still a good day. Take it easy, it'll work out." The wind does not move the mountain, something she believed in.
"Think I'm gonna swing by the old lady's place before she takes off. Guess I'll see you people around somewhere." And Leah went off.
Leah made her way across the academy and stopped at the little rickety looking shack that Old Lady Agatha did things in, and just happened to bump into a certain someone named Zelda Flynn. What happened was something left for fate to decide.
Location: The Field (School Carnival) - Awkward Conversation > Possibly Worse? Skills: None Used! ~First Day Fit~
Billy’s sudden demonstration of affection toward the Hulkling caught Teddy off-guard. He couldn’t help but smile awkwardly, a bit off-put. He was generally unsure about how to conduct himself around such displays, because on one hand, it genuinely warmed his heart to see his people in love - he and other Teddy might have their little pissing contests, but at the end of the day, he wanted nothing more than to see his friend be happy and content and it was clear Billy checked off both of those boxes. But on the other…like, was it rude to stare? Because it felt a little rude to stare. He could look away, but wouldn’t that send the wrong message? Would they think he was disgusted? Sure, he was a little uncomfortable, but not disgusted. But they wouldn’t know that. They would just see this guy looking away and bit icked out. Oh, no, would they think it was because they were two dudes? Did people still have issues with that sort of thing? In California? Obviously he wouldn’t care - he liked dudes. But they didn’t know that. Probably. It wasn’t something he talked about anyway. He wouldn’t deny it either, but it just never happened to come up. Should he just say it? God no - stupid idea, Teddy. Wrong place, wrong time.
Teddy noticed Hulkling’s concerned expression. Fuck. Was he waiting for a response? If so, Teddy hadn’t heard a word he had said. Should he lie? Smile and nod? As Teddy studied Teddy desperately searching for a way to eject himself from this increasingly uncomfortable conversation, it was as if the universe had decided to grant him a golden out in the form of a massive, violent, roaring ball of distraction.
He had first felt the heat tickle the back of his neck before seeing the reflection of the flames in the Power Couple’s eyes. He turned to face the flame before craning his neck to the side to trace the source back to a dramatically gesturing Danny who seemed visibly distressed. Teddy shifted from awkward to concerned, turning his head back to the duo.
“I’m going to see what that was all about. You two have fun, yeah?”
Without waiting for a response, he parted from the pair and started making his way over to the small group. He was breaking the cardinal rule of ‘don’t snoop’, sure, but there was probably a giant fireball clause in there somewhere. Besides…
Teddy shook his head, gathering his courage. He wasn’t great around new people, but at least he had Diana there, bless her heart. She was like an anchor, really giving him strengt- annnnd she was leaving. Great, great, great, great, great. Super. Love that. Well, at least there was uh…well, he still had Leah there. Sure, he wasn’t as close with her as he was Diana, and sure, he felt like she really only wanted him around when she could slug him, but…nope. Nope, she was breaking off too. No, great, perfect. In the small amount of time it was taking him to move that short distance from his place in line to the drama theater up ahead, the only two people he was remotely comfortable around had abandoned ship. And by that point, it was too late to just divert his trajectory and head somewhere else like he hadn’t been purposely approaching - not unless he wanted to be clowned by Billy and Teddy for the next month or two. No, now he just had…there was just…Danny, which…yeah. April, who he didn’t really know. And…uhm…Sabrina? He wanted to say Sabrina. Oh dear. Confidence shot.
It hadn’t been a golden out at all - it was a golden trap. And he walked right into it. Universe - 1, Teddy - 0.
Fuck, fuck, fuckitty, fuck…
What to do? What to do?
It was about that time that something small impacted his back before frantically crawling up his shirt.
Phan Le Chi Mai
Location: Face Painting Station (School Carnival) > The Field (School Carnival) Skills: None Used! ~First Day Fit~
“What? Sun? Ew. Fuck no.” Mai replied indignantly, offering absolutely no additional context as the professional worked their magic. With each stroke of the brush, the girl could feel Chi Mai the teenage superhero (student) fading away as Chi Mai the tiger took her place. Obviously she would need the new perspective as her phone slipped away into the mechanical afterlife, being ferried along the River Styx by…uhm…one of the nerdbros. The geeky dude that made phones. A name was on the tip of her tongue. That name - Aaron Carter - would have absolutely no relevance to phones whatsoever, but it was the first name she could think of at the moment, so he would have to do as her mental image of a spectral ferryman.
Where were we again?
Ah, yes, perspective. A tiger’s perspective. Because she would need to be the apex predator if she were to hunt down Danny in this incredibly crowded festival. Her senses would need to be sharp. It would take all of her mental fortitud-
As the massive fireball ignited overhead, Mai moved swiftly from her seat, sparing not even a ‘thank you’ as she bolted off in the direction of the fireball - leaving her deceased phone on the stand as payment? She didn’t have time to think about it - her bitch needed her, and dammit, she was gonna be there. Dodging and pushing past people - despite the relatively wide open walkway she could travel without needing to do so - Mai quickly made her way to the food trucks. There, off in the distance, she spotted her elusive prey: the pinnacle of man’s evolution - the homo ignitus. The Flaming Gay. She would have to be careful in approaching him, a direct approach in his current state and he may very well bolt.
It was time for Operation Bearback.
Spotting an open path, she launched herself into a sprint before immediately stopping to catch her breath because fuck if she hadn’t been a lazy piece of shit over the summer. Once she could breathe again without yearning for the sweet release of death, she briskly walked towards the lumbering chucklefuck lingering nearby before sprinting yet again and launching herself toward his back. She wasted no time in climbing the giant, muffling his grunts of confusion with one hand as the other pointed towards Danny, Sabine, and April.
“Wha-I-what…?” Teddy muttered as he attempted to push her off - but the tenacious tiger wouldn’t be dethroned that easily. Mai shushed him.
“Onwards, steed!” she exclaimed, causing him to stop abruptly. He shook his head.
“Mai? What are you - would you please get of-” he started to protest before she opened her hand wider, muffling him more.
“Shhh shhh! Less talky, more walky. Yah! Yah!” she commanded, wagging her finger towards Danni and the gang as she softly prodded his side with her heel. A muffled sigh escaped Teddy, but he relented, lumbering forward with her in tow. She was completely unaware of his face turning practically scarlet out of pure embarrassment, but that was okay, he didn’t fucking matter right now anyway. When the two of them finally approached, Mai squealed out, “Dannnniiiiiii~! Point Mama Mai to the booboos, babyboi.” as she climbed over Teddy’s shoulders, kicking off his left shoulder and…his head, as she leapt to the ground and immediately started scanning Sabine - nice -, April - nice-, and Danny for any noticeable injuries.
Meanwhile, behind her, Teddy quietly removed his hat and started brushing away bits of dirt that Mai had left behind while shaking his head, his expression a lovely mixture of embarrassment, frustration, amusement, and even more embarrassment.
The purple entrance to the tent fluttered open, allowing Zelda to have a brief glimpse of the expansive interior. An old woman with gnarled hands sat at a table, candles and runes and cards and even a crystal ball casually floating through the air. A panther was curled up at her feet, contentedly snoozing away. "Come in, Zelda, my dear," Agatha Harkness beckoned. "I have been expecting you."
Zelda had been thinking of potentially going to the tarot reading, especially considering it was a a small tent and not too many people at all were around or something. So hearing Agatha say something to her about it, she decided to go in and see what was going on. "Um... Hello there." she ended up saying to her.
"Take a seat," Agatha requested. Her eyes flickered to something just behind Zelda, something just out of sight. If Zelda were to turn around though, there wouldn't be anything there. "Έχει περάσει καιρός, κυρία με γκρίζα μάτια," Agatha said softly, before smiling brightly at Zelda. "You've come here with a question - now's the time to ask. I can help you to see the path to come..."
Hesitating for a moment, she ended up going to sit down, though she couldn't help but glance to see what Agatha was looking at, but didn't see anything there. Eventually, she did eventually take a seat across from her, and she thought of the question that would be a good question to ask. "...What sort of person will I grow up to be? I mean if that makes sense... Kind of... I don't really know..." her voice trailed off and she was sort of mumbling a bit at that point.
"There are no wrong questions, dear," Agatha said, attempting to give Zelda some encouragement. She had seen many students like her during her time with the Margaret Carter Institute - and elsewhere. One of her best pupils, the Scarlet Witch, had been somewhat timid and uncertain at first. But just like her, Agatha could see that there was greatness in Zelda - a destiny that demanded much of her. The cards danced in a flurry up above, before Agatha snapped her fingers. One card gently set itself down on the table in front of Zelda - the Page of Pentacles. "Tarot tells us a story," Agatha explained. "The major arcana, those are for major spiritual forces working in your life. The minor arcana, these are cards that you see more day to day. The minor arcana is divided into several suits - wands, which deals with creativity and passion and energy; cups, which are about our emotional connections with others; pentacles, which describe material wealth and possessions; and swords, revolving around intellect and power."
"You are the page of pentacles," Agatha continued. "Or one day, you will be, if you continue as you are now. That's not a bad thing. Do you see the flowers sprouting at her heels, the brightness of the imagery? Her open gaze, filled with curiousity? This is a card of beginnings - a card for those starting their passion projects. Whether or not the page can take her energy and drive and make it materialize into something... that's another question."
"I'm not so sure I understand that whole thing really. It seems a bit strange, but I guess it makes some sense in general. Though I never really saw me as being someone like how you are really describing or something... Not sure overall in general, but okay then..." she was still a bit unsure of everything at this point. She had more or less described what tarot reading was, the different ways it went, and honestly she never really saw herself as ever seemingly being someone important or anything or really helpful in anyway.
"Maybe it's time for you to see yourself that way, Zelda," Agatha urged. The sleepy panther had woken up and was nuzzling up to Zelda, clearly demanding pets. "Don't mind Ebony, they won't bite... Did you have another question you wanted to ask?"
She wasn't really paying much attention as she reached down and started to pet the panther next to her, "Not really any that I can think of... But thank you for the reading, it was interesting."
Agatha nodded, before snapping her fingers and a silver necklace with an owl pendant on it and various other beads appeared. "You can never be too safe, my dear. This is a protection charm, made during prayer to Minerva," she explained. "Take it. It might just save your life one day."
"...Thank you." she commented, before she got up and left the tent, putting the necklace around her neck as she looked around, trying to think of the best area to go to now, not really paying much attention to anyone else at this point.
Zarina Raynordattir
Location: the Field (School Carnival) Skills: N/A First Day Outfit
"I don't know, I've never seen it, and if it was around pretty sure my aunt might be a bit protective of its existence or something," she responded, before Zari rather happily trekked along with Andy in tow over to the hammer and Victoria. "Hiya Victoria! How are you doing? Did you try to lift the hammer? How'd that go? Guessing the hammer decided not to move? Probably since you aren't holding it and no one is freaking out. Ooh, by the way, this is Andy," she said happily, motioning her arm in Andy's direction. The floating eye next to her almost seemed to look a bit annoyed or disappointed at her.
"Hey I am not rambling! Why do you have to be so mean sometimes! Rude Mr. Eyeball!" Zari complained, shaking her head, before turning her attention towards the hammer, seeing that it was open for someone else to take a turn. "I'm gonna go try to lift the hammer!" she said, letting go of Andy's arm, and racing over to the hammer to try to lift. Unsurprisingly to her, the hammer didn't budge an inch, and after a moment, she let go and just shrugged. "Oh well, I already have my own Asgardian weapon anyway."
"Fiiiiiiiiiine, so nice to me..." she commented to the robot, before going back over to the others, and seeing someone else having joined them. "Ooooh. Hi there! I'm Zarina, though tend to go by Zari, nice to meet you! Are you excited for school to start? What sort of things can you do or do you do for fun. Wanna be friends, or maybe not? I don't know depends on the person. Anyway hi!" Yup, she was back to her normal rambling again.
Location: Field (School Carnival) Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (Passive) ~First day fit~
Andy supposed that made sense. It was an important relic and could change the power structure in Zari's home world. She put the thought aside for now. Listening to Zari introduce her to Victoria. While Zari went up, she smiled at Victoria. "Nice to meet you. I'm Andy." She said the first part to both Victoria and Madalyne, and the second part was directed to Madalyne alone. Then she watched as Zari tried to pick up the hammer. Nothing happened, obviously.
"My turn." She said when Zari came back. She was half listening as Mr. Eyeball lectured to Zari, who seemed to take it to heart. Then she tried to pick up the hammer. It was heavy. There was no budging it. She laughed and rejoined Zari. "Guess having lightning powers doesn't put me higher on the qualify for the hammer list."
Victoria van DyneLocation: The field (School Carnival) Skills: N/A
It would appear that what little intel Victoria was able to scrounge up on Zarina was correct. Technopathy seemed to be the correct power, seeing by the giant floating eyeball tagging along. Good thing for Victoria was that if Zarina knew about her nature, she did not seem to give it any thought whatsoever, putting her a little bit at ease.
Which was then blasted into smithereens as the motormouth started bombarding her with questions at a machine gun rate. Victoria involuntarily shrunk under the assault of words, wishing right there and then she could just turn invisible and not have to talk. To anyone. Ever again. "I-" She tried to answer some of the questions, however before she got more than one letter away, Zari has already answered her own question, got scolded for it by her own robot, and moved on.
Andy then mercifully offered just a single sentence to her, for which Victoria was grateful. "Nice to meet you too." the blonde answered, looking at Andy quizzically, "Is- Is she always like this?" Before she could get an answer back though, the only sophomore she knew in any capacity made an appearance, and the other two girls took their turn at failing to make the hammer budge. Victoria was still too stunned by the number of interactions to really make a beep. To top it all off, a conflagration took place in the sky, seemingly out of nowhere. I know I am supposed to socialize, but this is ridiculous! Where does one go to talk quietly with one person at most? And what the heck was that fireball?
Purging all of the stray thoughts, she took inventory and noted that all of them have been done with the hammer and gathered around. Ideally she needed to single out her roommate and make sure whether she knew of her not being human, and ensure that she would keep quiet about it - a goal that seemed so far out of reach with the cadence of Zarina's mouth that she might as well wear a silver and red ant-faced helmet. Not to mention that it seemed like she and Andy were sown together at the hip. It reminded her of her earlier idea though - maybe she could get a glimpse of the information she needed in a duel. "So, uh... Noone seems worthy on this particular day. Boring. Anyone did anything fun? I was thinking about trying my luck with the pool noodle swords, anyone else interested?" she suggested to the group.
I don't think she likes me... Ardere thought after being seemingly passed over without a second glance by the upperclassman before disappearing into the crowd of students. Would anyone like me? First impressions of this school have already planted negative thoughts in her mind, thoughts she could at least ignore by eating food here. Of course, some things are never straightforward; the line hasn't moved — an annoyance for sure since Ardere wasn't knowledgeable of the amount of time allocated for the carnival.
Looking ahead, she spotted a cluster of students of mixed grade levels, at least freshmen and either seniors or juniors, talking amongst themselves. Although Ardere couldn't make out the words from this distance, she could at least see tensions were high among them. The redhead immediately wondered if that's where the origins of the trail of smoke she saw earlier were. Seeing that one of the students has erupting fires from his body, Ardere was amazed at how bright and colorful the flames were, even if the sight last for a few moments.
But it doesn't change the fact that they were holding up the line. Seeing that no one else was willing to speak up and feeling impatient herself, Ardere approach these taller students. Are you all in line? She addressed the four students before here, If not, can you move?!
Location: The Field (School Carnival) Skills: N/A First Day Fit
Sabine was not high enough for this. If she had known she would be engulfed in this absolute clusterfuck of human interaction, she would have made her way to the carnival proper and ignored it all. But she wouldn't leave Danny behind, the lucky bastard. First things first, addressing the elephant in the room. Leah. She hadn't intended to interact with the girl, in fact, she hoped that Leah would just fuck off and kick rocks (ha!) but she had to make a comment. "The fiery depths of hell, of course. The same hole your future is in. And your fashion sense. Did you get in a fight with a thrift shop and lose?" With that swiftly said, and Leah finally fucking off, Sabine tended to the other matters.
For a split second, the flame-grilled freshie popped out of existence and then swiftly came back. Impressive, perhaps, but the little twerp was acting like all of this was intentional. And, apparently, Danny has possessed him? Things were getting more and more tragic. Soon, Casper the Bitch Ghost started wailing about his birthday being ruined before poofing off, leaving a trail of snacks behind. "Did he just shit treats as he left?" With wonder in her eyes, Danny immediately clung to her, asking her to fix it or what to do. Diana, another person she tolerated, offered no help. "First, if I altered his memory there would be nothing to forgive so that point is moot. Second, Danny, why do you care if some dumb freshman doesn't like you? Regardless of what happened, they aren't worth the dirt we are currently standing on. And third, that was a badass fire trick, but maybe hold off on the fireworks until later or at least until we can crowd a group of the fresh meat freshman."
Before she could continue, in swooped a giant of a man along with an attachment of sorts, which turned out to be Mai. The last of the people she gave any semblance of a fuck about. "Mai, perfect timing. I believe Danny is fine. physically at least. I was about to suggest we go into this carnival they got and see if we can forget about the whole thing. Anything you want to do Danny. Within reason, of course. I am not getting this ensemble dirty, even for you." Sabine glanced over at the dude Mai rode in on. He looked familiar, she was sure she saw him around (I mean, it was kind of hard to miss him), but that didn't matter.
Then her eyes fell on April, who seemed embarrassed by the whole situation. "Same goes for you too, gorgeous. Don't let the whims of those beneath you get to you. Everyone comes after those at the top. It is only natural." With that said, Sabine turned back to Danny and Mai. "So, shall we go see what all the fuss is about?"
Location: The Carnival: Trivia Booth -> Agatha's Booth Skills: N/A First Day Fit
Mary Sue, watched excitedly and silently mouthed along with Zelda's answers, and as she walked off, Mary Sue followed shortly after her. She was surprised with herself, but wanted to make a friend, and this person seemed to know a lot about heroes? Maybe that wasn't uncommon here, but she still found herself enthralled. In her head, she ran through a few different openers, unsure of eactly how to do this, just knowing that this was her first real chance to make friends with somebody. As Zelda sat down to talk with Agatha, Mary Sue was given the chance to think her words over a bit.
Shortly after Zelda walked out of the booth, Mary Sue approched, smiling at her and looking down at the stuffed bear. "Hey, sorry, I just wanted to say, I saw you at the Trivia booth, and you seem really cool." She said, enthusiatically, before continuing."I mean, I think it was awesome that you could get all those right." She tripped over herself a little bit, feeling a slight panic rising through her as she realized she didn't really know how to proceed, "Um, My name is Mary Sue, what's yours? This is my first day..." She traield off, her eyes darting away for a moment, as she tried to keep her face composed. She was in uncharted water, and hoped she was doing well, but really had no metric to determine if she was.
@BlueSky44@Natsu: As Zelda left Agatha's little tent, Leah went in without saying a word to her. Perhaps Agatha ought to have given a protection charm to Mary Sue as well, as the sweet young freshmen's attempt to make her first real friend went... poorly. Specifically, Zelda's special note from the first update is coming into play. Zelda manifested the first fear listed on poor Mary Sue's CS completely by accident - Failure.
Given that failure is somewhat of an abstract concept, images of Mary Sue's mother and father - Niah Bautista and Oliver Sullivan, ex Agents of SHIELD - appeared. Both images looked at her with disapproval, while her father shook his head. "You've always been a disappointment to us..." he said. Her mother then chimed in. "Honey, it's not her fault - she can't help being a failure. Maybe the next kid will turn out better..."
The images would then disappear. Well, this is awkward, huh?
@BlueSky44@Kirah@Forsythe@Nallore: It's too bad that no one turned out to be worthy of the hammer, but poor Mr. Eyeball didn't even get to make an attempt, which, honestly, rude! People are still giving Andy somewhat weird looks for her retro fashion sense, a few giggles directed her way. If Zari has noticed Victoria's secret, she hasn't said anything yet, which hopefully is putting our robot friend at ease. And if you all do want to go hit each other with foam swords, the Academy Knights' booth isn't too far away! They might also notice the gigantic FIREBALL someone over by the food trucks blasted up into the sky, but that's just a normal day at AA, right? None of the teachers seem to be doing anything about it.
Andy's phone will ring with a text though, from her mom - BORED! xoxo Mummy
@Trainerblue192: Dorian must not have been paying 100% attention as to where he was going, as he collided into an older gentleman with a monocle. It was like the man had suddenly appeared out of thin air. He had a briefcase in his hand, and a small package in the other. He peered at Dorian, as if he could see him - and then Dorian would realize that he definitely could. An ordinary person shouldn't be able to do that. Hell, even some extraordinary people weren't able to see him. And Dorian definitely should not have bounced off of the gentleman, but he had.
"Mr. Gray," the old man said - he had a prim, sort of faux-British accent, the sort characters in Star Wars or fantasy movies had. He set down his briefcase and reached into his pocket, producing a silk handkerchief. "Today is not a day for tears. If my memory is accurate, and it always is, today is your birthday, no? Come with me to my office, I shall make us some tea and you can tell me what happened."
He then chuckled slightly, realizing he hadn't introduced himself - and Dorian would have a sense of déjà vu - as if he had seen this man before, but he wouldn't be able to place where. "How silly of me - I forgot to make introductions. My name is Ser Nemo. I'm a new instructor and coach here at the academy."
Percy Novikov
Location: the Field (School Carnival) -> Stark Hall Skills: N/A ~First Day Fit~
Percy didn't even know what to think when he saw snacks dropping out of nowhere in a trail in front of him. He was half tempted to scream LEAVE ME ALONE in every language he could think of. Sure, he had been bullied before at his old schools, but it was nothing compared to this. He wanted to punch a wall until his knuckles bled, and drink bourbon in his room to feel the burn crawl down his throat and into his stomach. He wanted to be alone, allowed to put together another suitable outfit, and read - maybe use his phone to watch some TV, if he got bored with Homer.
But the universe didn't seem to have that in mind for him.
He had just gone past an older gentleman in a suit when a massive wave of nausea and dizziness hit him - he saw stars as Percy stumbled forward, hitting the ground and landing on his knees. His ears were ringing. As much as he was freaked by the sudden onset of these symptoms, Percy couldn't help but become more infuriated. Everyone at this school was going to think he was some sort of sickly, frail kid who had to hide behind his sister.
Percy gritted his teeth, staggering up to his feet as he continued to walk towards Stark Hall. And then suddenly, the symptoms were gone. He felt perfectly fine. His skin felt like it was crawling with goosebumps and the hair on the back of his neck must've been standing straight up. When he made it to the entrance of Stark Hall - the building overlooked the field where the carnival was being held - Percy turned around. He saw Diana heading after him.
He huffed slightly. "I'm fine, Diana," he insisted. "Go back to your friends and have fun. I just want to be alone."
April Flynn
Location: the Field (School Carnival) Skills: Hydrokinesis ~First Day Fit~
April was really torn - her immediate instinct was to run off after Dorian, maybe even give him his birthday present from her early (she had been saving it until after dinner - tickets for a K-Pop concert in LA happening in December). But as much as she felt compelled to go try and fix everything instantly, she knew that wasn't what Dorian would want - he'd want some time to be alone for a bit, to calm down, and then they could check in on him. She'd been besties with him long enough to know what he needed. "Dory..." April bit her lip, and wrung her hands slightly with nervousness.
Danny had latched onto Sabine, throwing himself - quite literally - into her arms. April's eyes widened in surprise as Danny set off a gigantic fireball (which was totally cool!! but also totally scary af). April nodded slightly as Diana said she was going to go after her brother, waving bye somewhat awkwardly at her. But as Leah took her arm away from her, April's internal sense of stability was majorly shaken. Her anxiety felt like it was a bunch of ants, crawling up her skin - that or knives, piercing her stomach. Without even realizing it, April started to rapidly cool the water vapor in the air around them.
A high pitched screech of Dani heralded the arrival of Chi Mai (complete with an EPIC tiger face paint, April would have to go by and get her face done too) - and gods, April could really go for a little weed break right now. She felt so incredibly frazzled, and not the cute hottie she had wanted to be today. Thankfully, Sabine seemed to be taking control of the situation - her methodical and thorough words, analyzing the entire situation and putting it in rational terms, it couldn't help but make April feel a little steadier.
But then, Sabine - perfect Sabine with the sun-kissed skin and perfect blonde hair and piercing blue eyes - Sabine called April GORGEOUS.
April couldn't breathe. She was pretty sure her heart had stopped beating. Every fiber of her being felt like it was on fire. She wanted to cry - not out of sadness, but out of pure elated joy. Her crush on Sabine was a relatively recent affair - she hadn't even told Danny or Dorian about it yet, partially because she knew that Danny wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from her bestie. She felt light on her feet and off balance, ready to fall backwards and just keep on falling for eternity, hearing those words replaying in her head over and over again until she died.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous...
The water vapor in the air became sufficiently cool. What had been a gas became a liquid. A light watery mist hit everyone in the group - not too heavy, and it wasn't painful by any means, but a mist nonetheless.
April turned bright red.
"Umm... I'm gonna get us the food, sorry kid, we were - we were waiting and...." April didn't know how to finish that sentence, instead stepping up to the food truck - as it was finally their turn - and getting an assortment of items, enough food for the five of them. She didn't know if she'd be able to eat really, though. She didn't know if she'd be able to ever eat again, she was pretty certain there were piranhas and butterflies in mortal combat inside of her stomach.
"Okay, I got food for everyone, just take whatever you like, and um, yeah we can do whatever you want Danny! Or like whatever everyone wants, I'm not picky, I don't want to do anything actually - I mean not that I want to do nothing, just that I have no preference for anything, well there are things that I do think sound fun but like not more fun than anything else that anyone else might want to do!"
Tears streamed down his face as Dorian sniffled, wiping them from his eyes as he floated onwards. The brief action must've caused him not to notice the old man that was before him. A question hung in the back of his mind, wondering if he had been there a second ago, before it was instantly replaced with warning bells. He looked down at his hands, they were still spectral as was he, so how was this man capable of seeing him. Wait. How was it that he bumped off him at all? When the man finally spoke, it sent a brief chill down his spine like a child who'd been caught. But as he heard his words and tone, Dorian's shoulders relaxed as tension melted away.
He didn't know what to say, or even if he could be heard at all. What he did know was that for some reason this man's presence felt comforting. Maybe it was the fake accent, or the kind offer of tea and an ear to listen. So he simply nodded his head silently as he followed the strange man down the school corridors. Not more than a few steps in and Percy came running right past them, stumbling down to the floor and landing on his knees. Dorian wanted to extend a hand to help him, lift him up, but he was certain that he was the last person Percy wanted help from. Diana's voice called out from behind them and Dorian took that as a sign to leave towards Nemo's office. It was a short walk, only down a couple corridors as they made it towards a door that opened up to one of the strangest rooms.
Most of the furniture was dark wood, oak if he had to guess. It looked like something his father would love. Decorations littered the room with knick knacks and various chotchkies that seemed to span from the distant past to the far off future. Some of the items even seemed legit if it wasn't for the fact that time travel didn't exist. As Dorian's eyes danced around the room, across a battered old trunk, down to Nemos desk, there sat an old photograph. It was worn enough that the faces weren't visible anymore. Or so it seemed through his mist covered eyes. He flickered in and out of view for a moment before he gave one last sniffle and came back from the Astral Plane.
"You're not a fish"
Those were the first words that he said to the man. He sat in an empty chair, chewing on his lower lip as he tried to think about what to say. Why did he follow him? Why didn't he just head to his dorm? Finally he let out an exasperated groan before flopping his arms and head onto Nemos desk. "Today sucks." He mumbled into the desk, cheek pressed against the cold dark wood. "It's my birthday, none of my friends even got me gifts, my best friend in the whole wide world ruins an amazing meetcute with this adorable guy, and then I get yelled because my powers go astray, and everyone's watching, and it's so much pressure to be the one who does things right, and I just wanted to have fun at the Carnival while eating food, getting readings, and meeting cute boys!" Another exasperated groan came out as he buried his head into his arms.
"I just wish I could turn back the clock…start today over."
Location: The Carnival > Fortune Shack Skills: Punching things and throwing rocks First Day Fit
Agatha's lips were pursed, as she was not entirely satisfied with how that reading had gone. She was beginning to wonder whether it had been the right decision to go take the job at Strange Academy - some of these students clearly needed her guiding hand. Her familiar, Ebony, was still in their form as a panther. Agatha looked at Ebony for a minute, before sighing slightly. "Come on in... Leah," Agatha called out. It was probably for the best if Leah did not acknowledge Zelda - Agatha saw some immediate trauma down that path.
Leah did not, in fact, acknowledge Zelda. She just walked right in.
"Hey. Heard you were going soon. Strange Academy, right? Look at you, going places." She didn't really get close with Agatha in the couple of years that she attended AA, but then again, Leah never got close with anybody. She took a seat across from the woman. "So... Got room for one more before you take off? Something's been on my mind lately. Not really something I can get an answer for normally..." Surely Agatha wouldn't ask, right? "I guess the best way I can put it is... Will things that happened to me a long time ago come back? Or will they happen again?" There were things Leah had buried a lifetime ago, both literally and figuratively. But still, he was a very clever person, and if anyone could come back from the dead, it was that man. Leah's life had come a long way from his grasp, and she worried that she had possibly come too far to see behind her in a weird way. Like diving lower into the ocean than you ever have, only to get turned around and realize you can no longer see the sky. "I wanna know if I should be looking back on things more, if that makes any sense. I've never been really good at the whole fortune thing like you."
"I'll be here until the sun sets," Agatha promised Leah. She was not too surprised at the somewhat secretive nature of Leah's question. Many students today had already gone through her tent, withholding specific information. But it didn't matter. Agatha didn't need to know concrete facts, not when she had her intuition to guide her. That really was the key to magic, particularly when it came to fortune telling - it was something that Agatha could not teach her students. Either they were naturally intuitive or they were not.
"That makes perfect sense, dear," she then added. She snapped her fingers and the cards whirled around in the air, shuffling themselves, bopping around the crystal ball and narrowly dodging being singed by the floating candles. Ebony let out a low meow, followed by a hiss as the cards came to a stop. Three cards arranged themselves in a circle, before setting down gently on the table. While in previous readings the cards had gone still at this point, the cards in this reading continued to move, rotating in a cycle. The Ten of Swords. Temperance, Reversed. Queen of Wands, Reversed. Over and over again, the cycle never ending.
If the panther-cat hissing hadn't been an indication, this was a bad reading. "You are trapped in a dark cycle, my dear," Agatha said, her voice low. The lighting in the tent turned sinister and dark, the flickering candles casting shadows wherever Leah looked. "A painful one. The Ten of Swords - a painful, horrific, tragic yet inevitable end. Temperance, Reversed - a major spiritual working in your life, your life is ruled by instability and imbalance. And the Queen of Wands, Reversed - you need to know yourself, child, re-forge your identity. And then the cycle will repeat. Over and over again..."
Agatha paused, letting these words sink in. "The only question is - where on the cycle are you right now? And what can you do to break free of it?" She frowned, snapping her finger and another card was drawn - a card for advice, a means for Leah to break free. Five of Wands. "I see," Agatha murmured. "The only way for you to break this cycle of pain and suffering... is through conflict. I think you know, my dear, what sort of conflict this means - who you must face."
She always had a feeling that he was too smart to be taken out by just a landslide.
The cards seemed to know that Leah would have to go back there, or maybe let him come to her, and finish the job she should have finished back in the day. Did Agatha know this too? She was old and powerful in her own right, so the possibility of her knowing all of this and more wasn't something to ignore. But even then, what would she have done? This had been haunting Leah for a very long time. If nothing else, now she knew that there was a potential solution.
"Well. That's terrifying." She said, "Thanks. That gives me answers. Well, it kinda does. I think." Leah stared down at the cards, pondering their meanings. Identity and life in turmoil, with the only way out being through... She could live with that, maybe.
"The future is rarely kind to those with great destinies," Agatha said, attempting to be comforting. She knew that it was a lot to take in. "Is there anything else you'd like to know, child?" she then asked. She already had in mind the perfect thing to give to Leah - something Agatha hoped might set her on her way, but also provide a source of comfort.
"Uh. I guess... How do I know it can stop for good? I mean, if it's a cycle and all." So far, that cycle hadn't even come to turn as far as she knew. What if it just took long enough to do so that she could very easily forget?
Agatha hesitated for a moment - had Leah been one of her students, she would have cautioned her that no one could ever truly know when the cycle would end. One final card settled down on the table in front of Leah. It depicted a woman standing alone, cloaked in a grey robe, peering at a closed laptop - the Hermit. Another card of major spiritual forces. "Only you will be able to answer that, my dear," Agatha said softly.
"Only me." Great.
"Well, thanks. I should probably get going. Whatever you're doing at Strange Academy soon, good luck with that. See you around." Leah stood up to leave.
"Before you leave, I have something to give you... Leah," Agatha interjected. She stood up from her seat, gathering her purple shawl around her a little more, before placing a small velvet bag in Leah's hands. Due to her abilities, Leah would be able to sense that the bag contained stones. "I hope you find these runes useful. If you should care to learn them, I would seek out Madalyne Crane or Billy Maximoff - my best pupils here. If not, well... I understand that young women these days have no qualms about throwing stones."
