Zora, Acerbus, and Syn Kor
Zora was at her usual place, behind the academy. Not many people came around there and it was the closest thing to peace and quiet that a girl could get around here. There had been quite a bit of commotion after the festival, but the brunette had elected to ignore it. She wasn't big on politics or large events.
Sighing, Zora laid on her back staring up at the sky. At night beautiful stars danced around. But even then she was in a city the night sky here didn't even compare to what it was like in the country. However, it wasn't night, and there were no stars. Instead there was a sky that could barely be considered blue. Blades of grass tickled the back of the lithe girl's neck. She was so bored of this repetitive life. Soon enough, birds began to hop around and on top of her body. Every once in awhile Zora would bring them food, but not today. These birds needed to stay independent of humans. They needed to retain their ability to find food on their own. Yet, there was no harm in speaking to them. She started speaking to the birds who chirped of complaints.
As the knight disappeared into the night, the contour did the same. Acerbus dissipated into the shadows once again after his tome became one with his own shade, and he gathered his essentials. The bespectacled man sighed in relief as he descended to the streets below as he flew down the dull establishment. He made sure to avert moving into any lit areas, lest be barely paralyzed by the illuminated properties and streets. As he weaved downwards, he took a sharp turn to the side and stared at the corporeal realm. There were a couple of people huddled together like sheep, traversing away from the fanned flames with idle terror within each orb when they looked back. Acerbus was fairly certain he saw that group around the academy and was certain that they were the first years with training tomes. The girl harboring blonde hair with twin tails that had darkened tips, a boy with huge, glistening eyes as they curiously focused on his friends, as well as the chaos, a girl that looked to be a little shorter than him all while dwarfing the group, and some bald guy with frail demeanor. Acerbus could of popped up before them, slightly shocking them into some sort of submission while continuing on a stroll back to the academy after being freed.
Of course, he wasn't that sort of person to terrorize them - It was immature, plus this was no time for jokes, especially after the event that transpired a few minutes ago.
Acerbus paused above the glass-like shade that would easily turn into mush in the moment of a simple tap as the quartet proceeded onward, passing the area where Acerbus was set to emerge from. With one simple tap, the ripples began showing in the realm he occupied. As his arm reached upwards, sable goo would appear from the streets. Part of the area began forming a viscid, ebony puddle which an unidentifiable object erected itself, before displaying itself as a hand. Eventually, a dome-like object followed too, with the hand and arms colors returning. Eventually, Acerbus regained his vividness as his flesh glowed with a pale aesthetic, his attire, the same purple shades they were before.
"That was an unfortunate encounter; it was beneficial that I wasn't prosecuted and was freed. However, that girl... when I closed the distance, she had a familiar visage... one of a scholar attending our academy; comparable to the neophytes traversing down this arbitrary, frayed route." Acerbus trudged onward, his mind and body set straight for the one place where he could take pleasure in respite - his dorm with myriads of books, ranging from knowledge over the history of the world to fictional tales with a shattered moon and grim creatures.
Even with the uneventful night, he wasn't tired out surprisingly; he took a bite out of the candied peach, struggling to sink his teeth into the object as he stared upwards into the blank empyrean. There was so much on his mind - the blonde girl stolen away from the earthen below by Midgard, the task at hand which induced suspicion, and most importantly the safety of his friends and sister. They rushed through his mind, pounding his head like horses on a track - galloping in one direction. It stimulated him, kept him awake within the dreariness as he took one step forward and never looking back.
And yet he was powerless to possibly do anything about this.
Too weak to perform a benign task of possibly appealing to the knight after his discovery a few minutes too late.
Too weak to break away from the school to adventure and discover why she needed these artifacts.
Too weak to discover the truth.
"... Novus, Bellus, everyone... please return safely."He munched quietly on the peach, feeling uncomfortable with what was to come. The stoic demeanor of his stayed stalwart; his face was unflinching, and yet his airy, frigid voice never singed the winds. Acerbus' stoic demeanor was unfaltering, and nevertheless intact for now.
As Acerbus took each unwavering step forward, he stared off into the recesses of each vividly descriptive areas, finishing up over the geography and creatures encompassing the vegetation and warren. Flipping to the next page with one fell swoop, Acerbus found himself staring at the authors recounting of traversing to a realm among the celestial sphere - Arcadia. The solid, earthen below seemed to fade away as his mind wandered into the enigmatic terrain that heralded Imperium Sky Bases. As amazing as levitating structures were, it was bizarre how they came to fruition and how nothing from the text explain the science about how they floated...
that, or he was delving into the incorrect books which gave little to no assessment how such a thing was plausible.
Acerbus had a minor theory which swiveled between legend and fact; nevertheless, it might be plausible. Pushing his lensless spectacles up, he mentally recited his theory as the boy kept a certain oomph in his step. From the interested glare, his mind was among the clouds, drifting along with each, white, fluffy particle of condensation.
"The worlds shattering... the tale woven and spun to every urchin and orphan; children and adult alike... The beast which devoured the peace and sought to wreck the world. Since our technology failed to combat the beast, the next best thing was a gift from the heavens - power over the arcane - these tomes. If that blight was only terminated by such whimsical vigor, then it might of been a beast that harbored some magic. Something within the brute must of caused a reaction within the masses of land orbiting the earthen below; shame we cannot study such enigmatic properties now... it would be interesting to learn about this volatile beings power..."With such studious and slightly reckless thoughts, Acerbus took one look up, and to his astonishment, found himself at the steps of the Academy with other students in its wake. As he put a bookmark, and let his arm placidly bump to the side of his torso, he distinguished the students and how they reacted to the whole spiel. Some were disgruntled and heralded wide eyes, while others distinguished themselves with a puffed chest and steady step. It wasn't difficult to observe and clarify which branch these students might end up in -
if they ended up serving the Imperium.
Acerbus honestly wanted to get some rest, but with adrenaline coursing through each vein and artery left him little more than restive. Tapping his side, the boy pondered on what he could do to tire himself so he might drift off into another land of darkness, and eventually the next, foreign day.
"Hmm... what about taking a brief walk around campus? Surely doing something physical that calms the soul and body could be exceptional for me forgetting about the few things that transpired on this uneventful eve..." Finishing off the candied peach, his minor journey around the elephantine campus began.
...
Each step began to add up as he rounded the area, not bothering to count each step he took. Acerbus might be a dossier for recalling the identity of said person, but he wasn't too apt on memorizing things that really didn't matter at all in the long run. The background noise rattled in his ears, gnawing at him. Idle chatter that he didn't answer to was nice, but once in a while, interjecting with a pleasant comment, possibly pun thrown in never hurts too. As he drowned himself in his own ideas, he began to toy with the disused shadows where the light of the citadel never drew near. A mist of a human figure his own size came up, only to dissipate the moment he sliced into it with an outstretched arm. Another was somewhat feminine, with a duality between the two; what he created was the shape of Asgard and Fei. The shades returned to the dirt below with a certain fanning of his hands over Feis shade, while Asgard was left unmolested and was allowed the peace of disappearing on her own terms.
As he continued, he spotted a familiar young lady lying in the grass. Acerbus wondered about what a girl was doing, lying in the solemn blades of green. Stepping forward, the curious young man found that it was the same young woman that Fei decided to harass, frowning and shaking his head at the discord the fiery girl left whilst bullying her. At least that was something they both had in common...
"Er..." As Acerbus approached, the first words to traverse out of his mouth was a faint hum; an inquiry in progress of being conjured up. His voiced rumbled deeply as he stood a few feet away from the body of the young lady.
"You ok? I wouldn't say lying down in the soddened earth is a proper place rest your gray matter and body to say the least... not that I would know." Acerbus uttered the last part with a soft rasp, with the possibility of averting the woman's sense of hearing.
"Well, it's certainly explain your condition, Mr. Invictus." From the darkness (Actually just unnervingly quiet) was Syn Kor, a playful smile on her face, looking over some papers written in an old and strange text. She had wondered by this late night for a peaceful stroll, as well as overlooking some fairly sensative documents for the academy, which of course were important for the Libarian as well.
"Of course, I am also concerned. What are two of my students doing here, out so late?" Of course the same could have been asked for Syn, but she asked first.
Zora's peace and quiet had been interupted by a student at first. With a light movement up of her torso, the birds scattered. He had asked a quiestion, but before she could reply, a teacher emerged from seemingly nowhere. As far as the tattooed girl knew, it wasn't necessarily against the rules to be out late. Then again, she usually tuned out when it came to rules and restrictions. Some rules were enforced while others were not, so what was the use of listening to them all? It was best to just play by ear and see what works and what doesn't.
"I was simply relaxing and enjoying the outdoors," The brown eyed girl replied honestly. There wasn't really anything to hide. She had simply been minding her own business before this bespeckled boy wandered on over to her. Besides, most adults were trying to get students to go outside. Zora turned her head to the male to hear his reason.
The shadow flickered, the purplish tints spiking up for a moment as Acerbus remained still after a familiar voice shot out from the encompassing darkness. The young mans body remained still as each sinking foot step resounded with little more than a mute echo in the lush grass. He watched as each bird scattered as the woman wiggled her figure. As he awaited the tranquility within him, the physical form gave a different look - one comparable to an iceberg. A few seconds passed before he rotated his head to diagnose who the person was - Syn Kor, or Miss Kor; one of his teachers and owner of a workshop.
"Does my visage herald knowledge to her of my unwitting trials? I thought I managed to slough off the possibility... so does this mean I'm more transparent than I originally thought?" Very troubling to say the least since she was an arbiter of knowledge, one who worked for the Academy which had the support of the Imperium. It occurred to him that she only noticed the turmoil, but he was slightly ajar about another possibility - one where someone discloses his mindset. Acerbus was certain she didn't know as he felt the trust of this woman, but a zealot with powers to digress anothers truths.
The harassed girl broke him from his framed mind as she began to answer Syn's question. He thought this young woman would be off celebrating the festivities before returning to her dorms, cross about the whole imminent display of terrorism... yet, she was off in the back of the school, enjoying what little time she could procure before returning to studies. Blinking, he found the duo both looking at the young man for answers as to why he was out here at this hour.
Staying his composure, he looked at the two as unwavering stone, and spoke equably while extruding such dejected events that befell the unlucky scholar.
"Me? I just wished to quell myself after the myriads of unprecedented events and horrible decisions made on the eve... and tranquilize my mind and each wavering question with a stroll; don't think I would be able to sleep in such condition with these thoughts repeating themselves..."With that out of the way, he was curious as to what these two thought of the whole spiel with the artifacts. Acerbus had the feeling of a ruse implanted in him, with glimmer pieces to hide the meaning of this quest. He wondered if these two were blinded by the prospect of money, or fame that came inherent after this. This was a competition - one where everyone else would most likely devour each other in a flurry of destruction, all for a huge, but paltry payment.
Eyeing the parchment Syn held in her arms, Acerbus temporarily delayed the inevitable question - one to satiate his appetite for wisdom and give him a slight chance of hope that he wasn't just alone. Of course, there were the documents that also left him wondering, but he could ask that another time.
"So," his voice still as the night and echoing with silence,
"what do you two think of this mission the Imperator heralded us with? I don't know about you two, but it sounds to captivate more than one person with certain distinguishable promises... I can only wonder why she needs the relics foretold in legend as I find it to be a little bit of an enigma."
