[IC] Saving Grace

[BeautifulNightmare]

A beautiful summer day, the twelfth of August to be exact, and the grounds of the beautiful castle were full of people and animals. However, this remote castle's celebration wasn't exactly what you'd expect because nothing here was as it seemed. Purgatory Prep, a renowned academy in the supernatural world was home to many supernatural races, and with the school year ready to start up again, the welcoming festivities were underway. Booths full of games, students showing off their skills, and plenty of food and drinks to go around. And later that night, the courtyard would become a dancefloor and the night would become an alcohol fueled bender of mistakes and one night stands. Did the staff know, of course, but they only intervened if it got too much to handle.

Still, the day was underway, and sitting at a kissing booth under a large oak tree, was the devilishly handsome Beau Rivers, an incubus who was starting his third year at the school, and man did he love these welcoming festivals. Always full of new souls and hot girls, but today he couldn't help but to glare because just across from his booth was a booth of demons and clairvoyants running a fortune telling booth. "Beau, quit glaring." A hiss escaped the brunette to his left. His sister, Beatrice, who had always had his back. She may not have harbored the same hatred of demons as he did, but she understood it. And she never asked why.

"Can't help it, Bea. You know they get me." He said, but as more people came through, he noted the girls lining up, and Beau's mood instantly inflated. "Ready for a kiss?" He asked not bothering to look up.

"Don't know. Do I need to call Blaze and Storm?" The half chuckled came, and he looked up to see the one exception to his hatred. Shayne Sinclaire. A demon who had been at the school for five years, whose cold hazel eyes had always intrigued him, not to mention she was quite a looker too. He didn't understand why, but when he and Beatrice first started here, the demons gave them hell, but Shayne stuck up for them.

"Nice to see you out and about, come on, we have a seat for you. Blaze and Storm are welcome too." Beau smirked, and as Shayne sat, her two, large, black hounds with glowing red eyes laid on either side of her, ears perked. "How was your summer?" He asked, placing a kiss on a faerie girl who giggled and walked away.

"Interesting. Storm and Blaze had their first litter of pups, and right now my dad is training them." She answered leaning back, "Not to mention I have had one hell of a time trying to get hold of that book."

Beau looked to Shayne. She had been talking about that book as long as he had known her, but ahe never hinted as to what it was or why she wanted it. "And you?" She asked.

"Actuallt stayed in the real realm with Bea. Trying to get used to society and all, but we had to go back for a month, for the elder council elections. A right pain, let me tell you." He said, but soon his eye was captured. A girl, he was sure he had seen before, with brunette hair and bright eyes walked right past. Shayne chuckled.

"Allegra." She said, and he looked to her before she motioned her head in the direction the girl was walking. "Her name is Allegra. The clairvoyant crowd bitches about her a lot."

He nodded, but watched as Shayne stood, her hounds doing the same. "Well, I best be off, Blaze and Storm are needed in the elemental demon show. You know, with their ability to catch fireballs and all." She said. "Later."

"Yeah." Beau said, watching as Shayne walked away. She was always dressed nicely, a pretty red sundress hugging her form and black heels clicking as she walked away. Beau couldn't help but to watch before he smoothed out his shirt and went back to his booth. This year would be interesting that was for sure.

[carsgovroom]

There had never been much of a choice for Allie when it came to attending Purgatory Prep. It was a Monday tradition for each witch (and the occasional wizard, though it was rarer than one would think due to the matriarchal nature of the family) born to the family line with enough innate magical ability to attend the school. It had been that way for years and the legacy the family had at the school sometimes seemed as important to them as the power the family possessed. For her whole childhood Allie had been surrounded by so many stories of the school from her aunts and grandmother and great grandmothers that it almost felt like she had known the place before she had even set foot into it. She had seen her older cousins go off to school and come back home each summer more knowledgeable and skilled than before. The school had been a part of her life for so many years, but for almost as many she didn't believe that she would get to go.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that her father, Joseph Harris, had been a normal human man, or the fact that her own Monday mother, Gwen, hadn't been born with "enough spark" as her grandmother tended to put it. But Allie had been raised for so many years believing that she also did not have the spark. That she had too much of her father in her and was more Harris than Monday. That she'd never get to attend Purgatory Prep like her cousins would. So no one was more surprised than she was the day her magic fully emerged when she was twelve. Just like every Monday witch's did. Things changed for a while then. Her family started looking at her differently, stopped treating her as an afterthought. There was no longer any doubt in their minds that Allie was truly a Monday, a part of their legacy. She still remembered how it had felt that day to feel the power for the first time. How happy she had been.

That wasn't to say she wasn't unhappy now, five years later. It just had been...different then she thought it would be. She enjoyed being at the school, she enjoyed learning and expanding her magical talents, she enjoyed being surrounded by people like her. Still...the races of the students at Purgatory Prep ranged from demonic to angelic, along with every thing you could imagine in between. It was hard for the witches and wizards attending the school to not feel slightly out of place. They may have all possessed the ability to use magic, which made them slightly not human. But beyond their magic they were all essentially still human, and their mortality had the tendency to stick out like a sore thumb.

She felt slightly more self conscious about it than usual as she moved through the crowds of students, booths, and tables. There was a general buzz of excitement in the air due to the reuniting of old friends after summers spent apart, the anticipation of a new school year, and, of course, welcome back to school fair. She didn't need to hear the chatter of the students, nor the content expressions on their faces. All she needed to see was the gentle luminescence that seemed to swirl every living thing around her, currently almost exclusively in bright colors. She could also feel the excitement of the people around her as it washed over her, making her skin tingle and threatening to overwhelm her. Once upon a time auras used to nearly blind her and her empathy made her susceptible to being influenced by particularly strong emotions around her. But she had come a long way since then.

Allie moved around a rather handsome fairy boy, making a beeline for the tables and game the witches and wizards had set up. She wore a purple sundress under a denim jacket that had the sleeves rolled up, as well as brown ankle boots. She was carrying boxes of darts in her arms that Elizabeth had accidentally left behind, and when she reached the booth she set them on the table in front of three of her classmates. "There we go, I've saved the fair," she announced, smiling humorously.

Elizabeth's cheeks threatened to turn as red as her hair and she smiled sheepishly as she took the boxes. "Thanks, Allie. I can't believe I forgot them. I mean, how would anyone to pop these balloons." The wall of inflated, colorful balloons behind the table stood ready to be popped by carefully aimed darts, which Elizabeth and a couple of wizard classmates started taking out of their boxes and arranging on the table.

"It wasn't a big deal, seriously. Happy to help." Allie smiled, brushing a strand of brown hair that had escaped from her loos braid away from her face and tucking it behind her ear. She knew in the back of her mind that it would only take a few minutes for the lock to fall back into her face. While her classmate's attentions were focused on their work, Allie's focus returned to the rest of the celebration for a few moments. The she turned and went behind the table, helping to put the finishing touches on their game booth, straightening the sign on the front of the table that declared two tickets would be won for each balloon popped.

~~~

One of few people, or perhaps the only person, not enjoying the festivities was leaning against a spare table, wearing a simple gray shirt and a pair of jeans with black sneakers. His arms were folded over his chest, more lazy than defensive, and he was watching a group of demon students setting up some sort of show a little ways away. His expression was passive, almost bored, though his eyes watched the with the hint of wariness, as well as a bit of contempt. He couldn't exactly help it, though. As an angel, or former angle rather, he was used to avoiding anything demonic, whether it be an object of a living thing.

No one could ever really change their nature, not even when they were forced to live in this limiting mortal body. Jehoel, or rather Joel as he was going to have to get used to being called and responding to, tapped his fingers against his elbow as his eyes briefly strayed from the demons to the rest of this school's festivities. He wasn't going to pretend like he understood why this fair was even happening. It was pointless if he was being quite honest. Complete nonsense. He could play a game for a chance to win a stuffed animal he didn't need, or he could eat terrible food that everyone seemed to pretend to enjoy. He was used to humans enjoying such trivial things, but not nonhumans. But perhaps it was just Earth.

Earth. Everything was so...slow. Loud. Confining, especially this body of his. His fingers ruffled through his curly hair as a scowl briefly touched his lips. He hated behing here on Earth. And at this school, which he still had no idea why he was put here of all places. How could he be expected to get back to heaven in this place? If he got straight A's on his report card would he be able to go home? It was frustrating and ridiculous and he hated it.

Though what he hated the most was how utterly alone he felt. No one knew what he really was, or had been, and no one could know. He was just masquerading around as Joel Kline, another half angel at a school filled with them. It all made him want to scream in despair and yank his stupid hair out. Maybe that was a very human thing to do.

He was granted a reprieve from his negative, brooding thoughts by the arrival of a girl with long brown hair and a red dress. She was a demon, obviously, due to the hellhounds that flanked her, but Joel found himself looking at her a bit closer. There was...something. He wasn't sure what exactly, but he knew it was something about her. Seemed a bit off. He knew it wasn't just because she was attractive as he rarely thought about such things, though he had become increasingly aware of such details about people around him since finding himself in this body. Damn mortality.

Perhaps he was bored, or he just wanted to feed his curiosity, but Joel continued to watch the demons preparing for their show, and particularly the brunette girl with the red dress and black shoes. Surely this curiosity was stemming from the fact that there were very few mysteries in the world for him.

[BeautifulNightmare]

Another show, Shayne thought, her eyes travelling to Blaze and then to Storm. They were the stars of the demon show, much to the dismay of the.other demons, but Blaze and Storm were he babies, and she protected them as much as they protected her. It was why he eyes had shifted. Blaze, who was the calmer and more observant of her hounds, had been growling quietly for the last few minutes. It never alarmed her before, but this time it did. She looked to Blaze more and followed her line of sight to a boy who was watching them. With a smile, she raised her hand and waved a bit before one of her ex boyfriends approached. David.

"Who is that, Shayne?" He asked, his eyes looking over towards him. Shayne looked to David and gave a look.

"Joel Kline." She answered. "He is an under the radar sort of student."

Blaze growled again, this time at David who backed away. He looked to Shayne and rose a brow. "How do you know all of this?"

"I have my ways, D, besides, don't you have a show to prep for? Blaze and Storm are ready," she said, looking to her hounds who stood at the ready. The show was getting ready to start and her hounds were the second act, but Shayne acted as the announcer for them, as she always did. "Got to run, but know you follow Storm, Blaze, and Pierre."

With that, her hounds headed over to the fire demon and sat as Shayne took center stage, snapping her fingers and a microphone levitated into her fingers. She heard the music beging and a few passersby stopped and took a seat in the small set up they had at the end of the line of booths. Now, Shayne got to shine.

"Good afternoon, fellow students, and welcome, or welcome back, to Purgatory Prep. For those of you who have never seen me, I am Shayne Sinclaire, your ringmaster, and welcome to the Demon Circus!" She announced, and with a snap of her fingers the curtains came down and the show began with who were known as the twins. They were elemental demons of air and ash, and their show had always been spectacular.

About five minutes later, Blaze and Storm came out and stood center stage as Pierre came behind them, butsomething was off, and Shayne could sense it.

--

It was a nice break, when Shayne's voice came over the crowds, of course, not all of the older students sat to watch, but the new students did, all of them stared in awe as the show began. Beatrice leaned over the booth to watch, and Beau sighed. "WWhat's the matter?" She asked, and Beau looked to her.

"Nothing, just glad to be back here. Seeing friends and new souls." He said, "And I have been thinking about what the council said. About the races."

"The ones masquerading around here? I think it's a load of bull. No creature can hide their true nature from us, Beau. We're the only real pures here of our kind, the rest are half human."

"I know." He said, his eyes travelling to the balloon popping game. "I'm going to go play a few games, ease my mind."

Beatrice nodded, and Beau smiled as he approached where Allegra was. It was good thqt Shayne was so familiar with the faces and people of the school, otherwise he might not have approached this table. He looked to Allegra and gave a charming smile. "Mind if I give it a go?" He asked, but then it happened.

"WATCH OUT!" Someone screamed, qnd Beau turned his head and saw Blaze and Stoem disappear, only to reappear in front of him as a huge fireball came his way. Shayne was out of her seat, her eyes both black completely and her hand out as Blaze and Storm flanked his sides, the fireball splitting in half as the houndscaught them and launched them back. Beau was seething now, but the large crack alarmed him and the growls got the crowd moving. Shayne was the ringmaster of the Demon Circus for a reason, and now he saw why. Pierre was running off, bursting out of his skin it appeared, but the crowd saw it as part of the show. Even he knew it wasn't.

One of the witches spoke, "Shayne really knows her stuff, most demons can't make others take true form like that."

Beau sighed. "Anyway, mind if I play?" He asked, showing his charming side again, and tossing some tokens in his hand.

[carsgovroom]

The only motions Joel made when the girl smiled and waved at him was a raised eyebrow and the smallest smirk, despite himself. Something, some feeling, seemed to swirl around inside of him. Relief maybe. Relief that he had been acknowledged by someone else. He had spent the everyday on Earth since his fall ignoring everyone, and being ignored in return. The angelic side of him, his true self, couldn't have possibly cared less, but it was the mortal body that had felt the relief and craved connections with other mortals. You aren't mortal, it's just the body. Block it out.

Still...he supposed he did need to blend into the crowd of the school, since it seemed he was stuck here for the foreseeable future. So as the students began to gather around to watch the circus Joel joined them, sitting near the front. Watching would pass the time, if nothing else. Joel had become painfully aware of time since landing on Earth. He slouched a little, a very casual and aloof gesture, but still applauded politely as the show began. The attractive brunette took center stage, introducing herself as the ring master and giving a name to match to the face. Shayne Sinclaire.

Joel watched the opening act with the rest of the students, his expression politely interested as the elemental demons displayed their talents, but he always found his gaze flickering back to Shayne. What was it about her that seemed to interest him? It couldn't have just been her looks, since he had spent so many years not thinking or caring about details like that. He just seemed to sense more to her than the typical demonic student, but his senses weren't nearly as acute as they used to be in this body.

The elementals were pretty to watch, but nothing of real interest happened until the second act. It seemed find one moment, but then there were screams as the demon launched a fireball out of the show area and towards the rest of the carnival. Joel leaned forward slightly, initially watched the flames traveling towards an unlucky booth before Shayne's movements caught his eye. He watched as she directed the hounds that had flanked her before, and the flames split into two before the hounds redirected back to the makeshift arena. By now the crowd was over the initial shock and was clapping for the wonderful trick, and Joel clapped as well, a genuine gesture. His eyes never left Shayne, and the smile on his lips the slightest bit impressed by her display. Perhaps he had finally found something interesting on Earth after all.

~~~

Allie was grateful for the nearly destructive ball of flames that had nearly incinerated her, as horrible as that sounded. She had been busying herself with last minute touches on the witch and wizard booth when she had heard a voice address her. A really nice sounding male voice. She had turned her head and found herself face to face with a boy she knew only by sight and reputation.

As well as his smile. Beau Rivers was talking to her. And smiling at her. She'd heard rumors of that smile, but never would have expected to be on the receiving end of it. And she had felt quite distressed to find that his smile went above and beyond its reputation.

He had asked if he could play the game that they had set up, and her brain registered it. It just took a moment for the rest of her to catch up. "Um...," Allie had begun, when thankfully a flaming ball of death had saved her from making a complete fool of herself. A few of her witch classmates screamed, Allie herself seemed to jump out of her skin in shock, and Beau whirled away for a moment to face the swirling flames. But then Shayne Sinclaire and her hellhounds saved them all from being roasted alive, and after some uneasy laughs from the students at the booths around them the carnival resumed.

Allie had a moment to recover from the shocks of nearly being destroyed by flames just after a handsome incubus acknowledged her existence for the first time in four years. And when Beau turned around again, his nearly infuriatingly charming smile back on his face, and asked to play the game again Allie was ready for him. As ready as could be, at least. "Yeah...I mean no, I don't mind. It would be great. If you played." She wanted to slap herself, but she managed a genuinely sunny smile instead. "So it's one token per dart, and you get two tickets for each balloon you pop." Her hand hesitated over the selection of darts and she looked back up at Beau and prayed that she wouldn't blush when she met his gaze. "So, uh, how many darts would you like?"