[IC] Montagne Academy for Aspiring Mages!

[Savo]

-Lukas Kunze : Faith-

Today was the big day, and it was going to be grand. Sure, yesterday was a bit of a beat-down, but hell, his friend blessed him with new information. Some of the things were ridiculous, like getting a moderate shove out of bed... to polishing both Glaive and Armor. It was embarrassing still to glare at her naked body, but he was working on getting used to it. Regardless, she let him have a break today since this was when the grand finale would begin.

Sorcha vs that student... who she claimed had the strength to possibly be her match. Even so, Lukas had faith in the dragon. He would silently cheer her on... with most of his items relocated outside the tower afterwords. Honestly, he didn't understand why they were to duel at the top due to collateral damage, plus the acres wold be in trouble too. Lukas wasn't just going to be there for support, he was going to be there to mitigate any excess damage if they destroyed the tower.

Classes went smoothly; from the pyromaniac to the archer, nothing was truly dull... though, eventually, the day closed, and the ball transpired. Of course, he had other plans. Most of his clothes and other necessities were being relocated to a nearby tree, gathering a few strange looks, even fewer insults from passing students. Lukas was fairly certain the majority of them were nobles with inflated egos, but alas... he was certain neither brains or skill matched up to such a thing. Regardless, taking a seat, Lukas await the battle to start, to end, in victory or defeat, he would support his allies.

---

After a few minutes, the challenger made his debut, entering the tower and... wait. How the heck did he get to the top? Lukas was certain that the only way in was through the window. Great. The battle hadn't even start and chaos was already wrought. Regardless, Lukas exited out of his laptop and tossed it to the ground with the rest of his essentials, it landing with no damage, despite the height. Lukas could only stand up straight, giving a simple wave of the hand to display his presence to the dragon.

Then it began.

Lukas saw the clashing of two bodies, of two souls - so this person was a challenge, eh? From the looks of it, Lukas could already tell if they went all out, he would be heavily outmatched, luck wouldn't even safeguard him from either of them as they furiously toppled and tumbled, a flurry of techniques were used... ones that caused the destruction of the tower. Before he knew it, they plummeted down into the recesses, the belly, taking stone and tar with them to the edges of the earthen below. While he should of gotten a distance away, he was a tidbit closer than he should of been. Debris and dust flew in the general vicinity of the boy, catching slabs of stone to small shrapnel. However, that look of awe would never change.

That look of analysis as he did his best to study the duo properly... but with this much carnage, even he knew this was dangerous, even as it was the start of the fight. Lukas would need a better place to see the fight... hmm...

---

Lukas stood on top of the assigned dorms, overlooking the destruction. While it was just as hazardous to be there, it was something else, other than a simple fight. These two thirsted for destruction, lightning bolts enveloped the area, striking even near where he was. This wasn't good at all. Using his swords, he attempted to make them his lightning rod as they floated around the vicinity, guarding the area, as well as him. All he knew was that most people from the ball would possibly note of this.

"Come on Sorcha, you got this!" Even his loudest screeches of prideful support were drowned by the constant lightning. It wouldn't be enough, oh not. That Oni was preparing something too, he could see it from this marginal distance. This wasn't going exactly as he thought it would - he was an dwarf in the way of giants... giants that would probably kill students in their dorms. Hopping to his feet, most of his items followed behind him as he leaped off the building, landing on the pavement.

"Damnit, I have no time!... Is this it?"

---

... no... no, it wasn't. The fight came to a complete close with the interruption of none other than the Headmistress. Out of thin air, a wisp to end the war. Lukas could only hear the echos of anger and discouragement towards Sorcha and the Oni. her words reverberated loud enough for even him to note as he ascended upon the ruins. He felt some energy exerted by Livia, though it was more like an old scratch that wouldn't leave, an itch.

... she probably knew he was there, but Lukas witnessed it all. He was... actually horrified, almost to the point of tears to see Sorcha in a sorry state, the crimson blood. Lukas hated this, powerless to do anything, powerless to help a companion in need. Sure, they were friends for a few days, but there was a minor connection, an invisible tie in his own soul.

Whether she felt that same friendship or not... who knew.

Eavesdropping on the conversation, he procured more info as they spoke. "Arata, an Oni, eh? No wonder he had immense strength. Probably lived around the time of feudal Japan or something if he harbors the power to rival a dragon." Lukas was a mess of thoughts, scattered memories, a single tear. He wanted to reach out, he wanted to say something... yet he lacked that mental capacity. That singular weakness.

Eventually, the time came for him to be blessed with new information, what truly held the dragon back. His ears were perked as the Headmaster spun a short tale of a curse conceived by a phoenix, one that would whittle away her health, one that would outright dissolve the remaining life within Sorcha. Lukas felt the need to learn more about this. He legitimately wanted to help Sorcha sever the curse, because this was all... so...

Discouraging.

Eventually, the woman dissipated into thin air with an unconscious Sorcha, leaving the Oni and hidden Magi. Once Arata left the ravaged building, Lukas took to the place, the myriads of clothes, blades, and other items floating behind him. Lukas now too had something else to strive towards - surpassing them all, the Oni too, finding the power to unleash a way to protect those he cared. If he could earn such a thing... no, he will, one way or another. What he had meant so much to him, and he didn't want to lose more. The flashbacks played like a broken record, showing that one scene in that singular mission gone awry.

Staring at the puddle left, Lukas looked up at the twilight, breathing in the destruction of this place. "She took you to the infirmary," Lukas uttered, stretching momentarily as he glanced at the building before him, standing strong, standing proudly. One moment he was there, the next, he was sprinting as fast as he could, every little thing floating at the same pace as he. Lukas said he would make the promise of supporting her, whether in victory or defeat...

So he would. Friendships were precious to him after all, no matter how short or long they were.

Plus, maybe if he could learn more about this curse, he could diverge into these books, maybe assisting in sloughing off such a thing. "The Phoenix; a bird that has endless life, and is truly unable to traverse to the afterlife... that bird will keep losing everything as time withers... but not them." It was a bit pitiful to think of it that way, but Lukas kept a determined visage, a smile to dissuade any interlopers in his travels toward the specified destination.

The infirmary.

---

It only took him a few minutes as he panted vehemently, looking upon the sign which visibly shared the location. The place wasn't all to bad as many made it to be, save for a couple of peculiar experiments and curious trinkets Meredith had... eh, he would brave those too. Approaching the door with an army of clothes, an outstretched hand made its way towards the door. Hopefully Meredith wouldn't mind the intrusion, nor Headmistress Livia.

[Iatos]

Melody and the first dance.

A couple of... Towers.

And so the time for the first dance had seemingly arrived, two beings met atop of a tower to dance until the structure tumbled down upon them. All while Melody tried to concentrate on the party arrangements, she then sighed and figured she might as well watch the two dance.

It was a beautiful dance indees, with blood, lightning and gore in the wind, As well as tower pieces. And nearby one would have Melody eating popcorn as she watched occasionally cheering as the two creatures danced it out.

As the dance continued it got increasingly filled with thrill. Almost making Melody want to join it herself, yet she knew that one should not step between two so madly in love with each other. When it came towards the grand climax the headmistress stepped in before they could fulfil their lusts.

The female seemed to fall to the ground with the male still standing. And everything seemed to come to an halt. At this point Melody got up and applauded in excitement even thought her dress were stained with their blood and dna. The headmistress spirited the dragon away to tend to her, while the boy thing went off on his own.

A winged snake he had mentioned, and while it was a curious term Melody decided to follow him, asuming the form of said winged creature, a Mighty and proud looking Quetzalcoatl using this form to curl around a tree nearby and peer at Arata as he asked if the moon was beautiful. " It might be the same moon as every other night. Yet I do not grow tired of looking at it. So I would say Yes. It is beautiful" she would respond calmly.

@Ashifili

[Flood]

Chen Avarice

^{Day 2}

Chen felt his ire grow as the other "Prince" composed himself and threw his own words against him in one breath. He then introduced himself as a Zauberbuch and Chen had to try and remember all the different families of human royalty. Should've payed more attention on that lesson instead of staring out the window.

"My conduct is perfect you son of a-"

Chen put his hand on his sword and began to draw, ready to maim whoever questioned his manners and conduct. Luckily for everyone in the library, Meruin interrupted at the best moment possible before Chen could explode and try to hurt someone. Chen immediately forgot about the past ten seconds and mentally let out a breath of relief as Meruin saved him from his own grave he had dug. By blowing both of them off, he could keep his pride intact at the very least. Chen then glanced down at his sword and realized how important it was in regards to his heritage.

"Actually, this sword is proof that I'm a prince. I doubt you'd recognize it though. It's a famous Demon Sword after all."

He wanted to draw Coinspinner badly to prove it, but that would be contradicting his earlier words. Libraries were meant for reading, not drawing legendary Demonic Swords.

"It's cool though, we can hang out some other time. I'll be seeing you around Zauberbuch." Chen spit out Swen's last name with venom as he walked out of the library. Now what would he do instead of go to the ball?

As he thought this, two males around the age of 16 passed by him, chattering amongst themselves.

“Have you heard about the fight that’s going to be going down in a couple of days?”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be between some kid named Arata and the dragon right? It’s going to be so sweet.”

’That was convenient Now I need to figure out the location of this showdown.’.

---

Chen Avarice

^{Day 3}

Chen wanted to punch something, badly. This was the most infuriating experience of his life. He stared at the open book in front of him and growled. He pointed at it with one hand and concentrated, letting his Mana build inside of him and concentrating it, forming it into an unstoppable force. And then he released it in one burst.

”Blow Almighty Wind!”

A few seconds passed and the pages of the book page fluttered slightly, but didn’t even turn. A scream echoed through The Tower, overpowering even the loud and annoying construction being done.

---

Chen Avarice

^{Day 4}

Chen watched as the fight went down, he had moved anything he considered important outside, he had a good feeling that there would be a fair amount of collateral damage from this fight and he liked some of his stuff very much. There were a few people nearby who were also watching the battle, most notably another student and a girl who looked familiar. The battle had kicked off with a bang and was filled with carnage, blood, destruction, and lots of explosions really. Chen was awed by these two impressive fighters, they were at the level that he aspired to be. He had no doubt that they would even give his pops a run for his money.

As The Tower collapsed he vaguely wondered where he would be sleeping tonight, but that thought was quickly pushed to the back of his mind. He noticed the familiar girl watching the battle intently while eating popcorn and disregarded her almost immediately. Unimportant. The battle reached its climax and rainbows began to fly out of the Oni as reality began to warp. A boy jumped off of the building to try and stop the battle, Chen tilted his head in confusion as the world began to slow down.

"Stop it before you get yourself killed you idiot!" Chen shouted at the boy as he ran towards his impending death. why must some humans be so intent on sacrificing themselves for idiotic reasons? It mattered little as the headmistress of the school intervened and stopped the battle.

"Boo! I wanted to see the end! Boo!" Chen yelled as Arata wandered off to find something to cover himself with. Chen looked at his suitcase of clothes nearby and sighed. He grabbed his suitcase and jumped off of the building to go after the Oni, just in time to hear an intriguing statement.

"The moon is beautiful tonight, huh?"

"Yo, Oni dude!" Chen opened up his suitcase quickly and grabbed some expensive black satin bed sheets out, large enough to cover his form until he could find some clothes. "You know public indecency is a criminal offense right?" With those words he tossed the sheets over to Arata and smirked. "It's also a crime against humanity considering your ugly mug." Chen chuckled at his own joke and waited for Arata to cover himself up.

@Ashifili@Iatos

[Savo]

-Sorcha & Lukas : Moral Horizon-

“Sorcha, I swear to whatever gods you believe in-” Livia’s voice was interrupted by Sorcha’s.

“Livia I’m fine.” The dragon huffed from where she laid on the bed. Her wounds from the fight had mostly been healed, though from the fact she was running a pretty high fever and her voice sounded like it was forced, she was obviously still not in the best of shape.

“That’s not the point, you stubborn old lizard.” Livia reprimanded harshly. “Or did you just want death by combat?”

“Livia. I am fine.” Sorcha replied again, a bit more sternly this time. Livia sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead as she looked at her friend from where she sat at the end of the bed.

“You don’t realize how close you were to dying, were you?” Livia replied. “If I had been just a few seconds later, there would have been no bringing you back. Poof! Gone! Body and soul burned into oblivion.” Sorcha just sighed, offering Livia a small smile.

“But I didn’t, Liv.” She replied. “So please, I’m fine. Go host this year’s ball or whatever. You have better things to do than worry about a foolish old lizard.” This earned another sigh from Livia, who rose from her seat and shook her head.

“Sorcha, just be more careful next time. I know this was probably fun for you, but please try to use that head of yours next time. I know you are better than that.” Sorcha simply offered the woman a somewhat tired smile, just as someone waltzed in. Livia turned her head to the intruder. She recognized him immediately. Lukas, the boy who Sorcha wished to train. No doubt he had seen the fight then. He was likely here for some reason or another, but she wouldn’t pry at the moment.

“You must be Lukas.” Livia greeted him with a friendly smile. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, though I must say, you have my condolences.” She laughed quietly. “Being Sorcha’s plaything cannot be easy.” Her more serious expression donned on her face as she finished.

“I won’t bother you for long – I must go to the ball and make a few announcements. And don’t worry about the dragon. Sorcha is doing well, though I would insist you let her rest.”

As Lukas entered the infirmary, the teen was greeted by the headmistress herself... which wasn't all surprising, considering that a few minutes ago, she warped herself and the dragon to this building. The rest of his items followed suit, entering one by one, like soldiers marching in formation. Nodding to the headmistress, he gave the woman a solemn smile, continuing towards the two bodies. "It's a pleasure to meet you Headmistress Livia," speaking softly as he eyed the ailing Sorcha.

Plaything? Well, that was one way to address him as her voice took a turn, becoming a bit stern in the process. Of course, the process of being learned was no easy steps, especially with some of Sorchas more... playful qualities. Of course, she requested him to not worry before stating she had business elsewhere. "Sorry, but I wouldn't come all this way if I wasn't worried; besides, I told Lady Sorcha I would support... mainly through silent cheering, I might add," he chuckled lightly, trying to avoid musing over the prior events.

"I won't do much to rouse her, promise, she needs her time to recover, especially after that hellish fight." Hellish was one way to describe it, since he too would of been dragged to his own plausible doom if this all continued. Using his mind, he set the rest of his items on the few chairs that were accessible by students, still keeping his focus on the duo.

"If you don't mind, Headmistress Livia, could I have permission to stay here for the time being? I understand I can't do much at the time being, but can I just be there for her, please," he looked, almost pleadingly in his eyes. His smile wasn't lingering, but it was replaced by a bittersweet visage. He meant what he said. "I mean, I did say I would support her."

Livia seemed rather surprised by Lukas’ statement as a small smile crossed her features.

“My, Lukas,” she chuckled, hiding her mouth behind a hand as she spoke. “You certainly are worried about her, then.” She continued before giving a small sigh and shaking her head, her voice becoming much quieter – almost as though as if she didn’t wish Sorcha to hear.

“Please, make sure she doesn’t kill herself one of these days.” Livia continued. “In my twenty years of knowing her, she’s still as stubborn as ever. She can often…get in over her head, such as…well, you saw what happened.” With that said, she offered Lukas a small smile.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.” She walked past Lukas, leaving the dragon and Lukas to do whatever it was they wanted.

Sorcha, was resting on the bed, her eyes closed as Livia left.

“Lukas?” She called out. “Hmm…I would ask what you are doing here, but I believe I already know. I do not need your concern, I am fine.”

Lukas ears perked as he intently listened to Livia, he gave a light nod, acknowledging that facet. He didn't just see as much - he heard as much, the information that Livia gave him. "I... I understand. I don't know what I can do to keep her from delving to much into a battle like that, but I'll uphold that promise, somehow." Regardless, he gave a weak smile to the Headmistress who spoke about attending business. Turning his head to address the woman for a brief moment, he gave her one last comment.

"Have a good night, Headmistress."

With that said, she disappeared through the door, leaving two bodies to the infirmary. Turning his gaze over to the still woman, Lukas walked forward towards the bed. Glancing over the dragon, he listened to her, telling him not to concern himself. "Wow, wanting to get rid of me that badly? I'm hurt." A small chuckle was elicited from the boy to mask some of the pain he was feeling, giving the recovering dragon a grin.

Looking her down from claws to horns, his whole demeanor changed a bit, almost as if he was a depressed individual. "You can choose to say that, m'lady, but regardless, I will still worry for your safekeeping, especially after that battle." Scratching the side of his face, he glared at the wall, looking away from the dragon as he continued on. "... still, if I didn't care about you I probably wouldn't be displaying some concern for your state, nor departed for this place."

"... so please, let me stay by your side, show you support through my presence; I honestly don't know what I could do, but I at least want to show I'll be there for you." Forcing a smile, Lukas looked at her face, musing over myriads of things. This whole day was truly a rush of cacophonous excitement, weaving through thorns and brooks alike.

Sorcha sighed, shaking her head, a frown forming on her lip as he spoke. She didn’t want to get rid of him. She didn’t want to hear him say exactly what he was saying. She didn’t need support. She wasn’t as weak as to crumble so easily from such a duel. She was alive, and she’d get better given a few days of rest. That was that, nothing more.

“Lukas, I said don’t.” She replied sharply. “I do not need anyone’s pity, worry, or concern. Or do you think me so weak as to crumble from such a fight?” She narrowed her eyes at him as she continued to speak. “It is fine to be worried for your comrades and friends, but to treat me as a delicate flower, is an insult.” She gave a mildly annoyed huff before continuing.

“If you wish to keep me company while I recover, that is fine. But I will not be having you fawning over me like some injured puppy.”

He could only ponder on if that came out wrong seeing as he irked the recovering Sorcha. That familiar smile transformed into a more remorseful frown over his choice of words.

"Trust me, I understand that you are far from being a delicate flower..." Tapping his lip for a moment, Lukas was searching for the right words as he was fairly certain that they both screwed up somewhere since she misread his comments and what he said annoyed her. "I know you're very combat savvy, harboring skill and strength alone, so apologies for having that come out incorrectly, should of just requested if I could keep you company instead of going into a convoluted explanation that just... complicated my message."

Staring at the floor for a moment, Lukas knew he shouldn't linger over the waver question, as it would probably reach the point where Sorcha would question if something on his mind, or make claims that he was fawning over her like an injured animal. Keeping a stoic visage, his fire transcended into coals, much like the spar from a few days ago. "While I am worried about your well being, it's more centered around a thorn in your side that's been plaguing you years before I was ever conceived - a curse meant to sap your life if you pushed yourself past certain limits."

"If it's ok, could you tell me more about this curse?"

Sorcha sighed. His love for talking aside, she knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid the topic forever. It was being told quite a bit sooner than she would have liked, but plans rarely ever went as they should. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to tell Lukas about it, since they were likely going to be seeing a lot of each other in the next coming months, and it would be a thing they would have to get around to eventually.

“Take a seat, then, My Little fool.” She said, motioning towards the edge of the bed. “As I said the other night…tis a long tale, going back to the time before even the first of the crusades. I was just a teenager, back then. A foolish dragon who pillaged and plundered for her own amusement, until a certain someone came along and taught her better.” She sighed as some of the old memories surfaced. Her meeting the phoenix, healing her after her fight with Beowulf.

Those were…good times, indeed, looking back on it. The dragon shook her head, however. Those memories were…a bit too painful sometimes, so she waited for the human to take a seat before she continued her story.

Looks like he was going to get tidbits of information about this curse; maybe if he procured enough, he would get to see Sorcha in her true radiance when no longer inhibited. As the woman beckoned him to the side of the bed, he nodded slowly, taking his seat at the side of the infirmary's bed. His attention was in full, his eyes all set on the dragon as he awaited to spin him a tale of how this all came to be - no comments from him, just knowledge passed on and pure, undulated silence from him with a mere solemn expression.

“You may have already guessed,” Sorcha continued as he took a seat on the bed. “But said person was the Phoenix. Her name was Irasacha, back then. The same who cursed me all those years later.” She sighed, a tinge of anger appearing in her voice as she spoke. She tried to keep herself relatively calm, however. Getting worked up would be rather bad in her current state.

“She took an arrogant, haughty dragon who knew nothing of the world outside of her own home and limited mindset and turned her into a Grand Dragon that one day was a protector of a small city…as insignificant such an event was in the grand scheme of history. Even the history books won’t tell the tale, or have remorse for those who were murdered that day.” She bitterly laughed at the statement, looking at the bed with a glare.

“But I’m getting ahead of myself, a little.” She continued with a sigh, her gaze softening as she looked back at Lukas.

"Irasacha, eh? I'll be sure to commit that to memory," Lukas thought, storing that in the vault of memories. Irasacha, Irasacha, Irasacha... alright, so at most, the phoenix is a creature that goes through a cosmic reincarnation, birthing, living, dying, rebirth. Lukas kept his stoic expression, comprehending word after word, emotion after emotion... but something tugged at his heart. Lukas' attention was snagged at her harsh chuckle. It elicited an uncomfortable frown from the boy, thinking back on that other day as he stared at the dragons chest.

Try as they might, he could decipher that neither of them had moved on from a painful event that caused them mere grief... Lukas honestly never expected something like that, but he continued, listening as the ephemeral time trickled away..

“We traveled together for quite a while, in that incarnation of hers. We were quite close friends. If it wasn’t for her, I would never have received this Glaive from Merlin. It was a gift from both him and Arthur, before he was killed by Mordred.” She smiled as she recalled both of those people. Certainly Arthur had always been rather cold to her – but she never hated him. He was the pinnacle of skill she hoped to aspire to when she was a child. In the end though, it seemed he always regretted treating her more like a tool than actual companion. “Ah…but another story for another time.”

She hadn’t sat and actually told a story quite like this in some time. Not since…well, the events of that day. She used to quite often spin tales of heroic exploits to children in the village.

“Sometime, though…we parted ways.” She continued, shaking her head. “I will not go into detail, but for a few years I traveled alone. A dragon, wandering without a home. I had picked up a certain wanderlust in my time with the Irasacha. I traveled the world for a few years after that. I even dined with Odin in the halls of Valhalla. Thor showed me his hammer quite often in those days~” She giggled a little bit at that, indicating that may or may not have had a bit more there than just a friendship. “Hm…I should really visit him. I haven’t seen him in quite some time…” she commented off handedly, before continuing.

As the recesses of history continued, Lukas ears perked up over the tale of where she procured that illustrious glaive of hers. Honestly, ever since Lukas set eyes on that, he wished for something so refined as that... but yet, it seemed the chance of garnering such a thing was beyond his years... meh, a thought for another day. "So she was friends with the one who betrayed her, eh? This can honestly mean one of two things - either Sorcha went up against a reincarnation of Irasacha, or the previous iteration was retained but for some reason she took up blade and magic against an old friend. Hum..."

Eventually Lukas turned his head back to the dragons face as she spoke over how she took up the reigns of being a trailblazer, journeying from one estate to the next, befriending gods and legends. Of course, this humorously made Lukas a bit envious of a friggin' god. "Great, so I have to compare with a living legend like him?" Lukas tilted his head the other way, his lips moving in a wave like fashion, whilst staying mainly in a frown.

What did he even amount to in her eyes?

"... no, I won't be so easily dissuaded by stuff such as this."

Well, determination was always a thing... plus, he considered the more literal fashion of it, though it leaned more towards the former.

“After some time though, I came across a rather…poor village a little ways south of the baltic sea.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “They were beset by a rather…nasty mage. I don’t know his name, but he had brought a plague to them. He kept them alive, but only for his twisted experiments. They begged me to kill him, offering their eternal loyalty should I.”

“I said yes, though I would have probably done it without the offer of their loyalty. I wasn’t one to babysit humans back then. I ended up killing the mage, and they instated me as their god-queen, as…crazy as it sounds, but I certainly couldn’t refuse. I may have been a lot less prideful and arrogant, but the title of ‘god-queen’ was just a little too alluring to pass up.” She chuckled.

“For the next few hundred years I watched over the city. It grew prosperous under my watch. Indeed, if it was around today it could have been one of the greatest cities around. I’m sure of it.” Her light demeanor took a more serious, solemn turn as she ended the sentence and continued. “I was…betrayed by the phoenix, unfortunately.” A bit of anger returned to her voice as she spoke.

As the tale was weaved, Lukas was still ensnared by the words, no matter how short they were. Eventually, she spoke of a village and a wicked mage who performed less than moral experiments. Slaying the beast, she was crowned god-queen. God-queen, eh? Well, she was up there with the gods since she dined in Valhalla... Either way, she mentioned a city over in the Mediterranean that would of ascended to expand and possibly form something greater. She was the graceful goddess that safeguarded the lands... but that expression... Lukas' slightly jealous expression melted with her happiness.

The impending betrayal of the Phoenix. Lukas could seldom glimpse over the horizon, imagining the city, knowing what was going to possibly happen next. It was like a horror movie, except this was much more gruesome and deliberately frightening; no mere facade of a movie could replicate true horrors. Staying silent, his visage was still, brought down into a frown, as was the mood of the situation.

“I had attempted to reconnect with my old friend, but she wanted nothing to do with me anymore. That was fine. It…hurt…but we had been out of contact for a while, and I could understand it. She sided with those Christian Crusaders anyways. Couldn’t very well associate with a pagan such as I, could she?” She growled.

“I thought her honorable. I thought she would leave me alone. Leave my people alone. They were innocent of any crimes. They were…just innocent…men…women…Children I even played with sometimes.” She gripped the edge of the bed as anger filled her even more.

“But the crusaders came, and everyone died. I was helpless to save a single one. I thought she was innocent. I wanted to believe it, but it couldn’t have been anyone else. For the next three hundred or so years I searched for her. I wanted her to face me, but the coward refused, but I finally cornered her in what is today North America. We clashed, but the harlot refused to fight me fairly, and instead…cursed me.” She finished, falling silent for moments as she finished her little personal history lesson.

“I slept for…almost six hundred years after that, the curse slowly eating away at my very being. If the headmistress hadn’t found me and eased the curse, I would likely still be suffering in my home.” Her tale finished, she gave Lukas a mournful expression as her anger left her. She was exhausted, and simply wished to sleep at this point. “Does that satisfy your curiosity, Lukas? Because I am…I could use some sleep.”

Lukas was enthralled by this all, in a more or less irritated way. Slaughtering innocents because of what they believed it. He never enjoyed certain people in history who persecuted another for their beliefs... and such as it was, there was wonder in why an immortal being would side with the crusaders. Sorcha did mention said person fancied herself a god a couple of eves ago... which meant that's what she saw herself as when siding with the Crusaders from what he scrutinized... which begged to wonder why? Why would she perform such a feat as taking the side of those who would slaughter innocents who refused Christianity?

Even though the Phoenix betrayed her, Lukas couldn't help but ponder on another truth that Sorcha failed to see - only what was in front of her and said... maybe it was hopeless to figure out, especially since there was a one in a billion chance a Phoenix would suddenly drop on Montagne's doorsteps... like, really. The odds were not in his favor.

Anyways...

As he listened, he noticed the woman flaring up as she spoke of the innocents, ones who had no reason to be murdered. Lukas closed his eyes, seeing the whole thing transpire - the children being hacked into gory bits, men and women beheaded, the tops razed, and a mournful dragon standing amidst the rubble. Of course, he inferred this, and of course, his assessment wasn't incorrect as the tale was at its climax.

A person who caused pain to another by taking away life that another truly loved... while the ones he cared for were dwarfed by the many, Lukas couldn't help but sympathize for her. He went back to that singular day, his own rage, that one mission. How does one mend a broken heart? Who would know? Regardless, he slid his face down, trying to stay stalwart.

Two sides of him tugged, one agreeing with her in that task to end the life of an undying soul, one speaking to him, saying there had to be more... there had to be. Not everything was explained, detailing why or how; he had one side of a ducat, but the other, non amie. Regardless Lukas sided with the protagonist, in hot pursuit of her rival, but alas, snared by a curse. Must of been genre savvy enough to pull off a feat like that... but not genre savvy enough to consider the consequences of an encounter between the two in a future meeting. Dragons lived for quite some time, and to be quite fair, Sorcha looked to be in her twenties to him. She had more than enough time to hunt her down.

As the tale concluded, Sorcha expressed her fatigue, making more of a statement over her wishing to delve into the land of sleep. A few final words from him as a smile arose from the depths of his being. "I guess I'll have to thank Headmaster Livia for that then, because otherwise we wouldn't of met... welp, time to up the passion times two or three! Working hard, me and... er, me for now, I guess... eheh." Lukas spoke a bit too enthusiastically with a widened smile on his face, with a small giggle. Sure, he was hurting, but he wasn't going to be consumed by that sadness.

Sliding off the bed, he stopped his chant, softening himself up to more tender measures. "I can take a hint, my Radiant Sun; my thirst has been satiated for now, the course set. Have sweet dreams, Lady Sorcha, I'll be sure to bring something to the table on our next session!~" With that said, he walked away, his back turned to the dragon... before abruptly stopping, and turning around pouting. "And no, it isn't just food."

With that said, the smile came once more, taking one of the few free seats as he removed the equipment from his torso, setting them on the pile of clothes and hangers. Muttering one last thing to himself, he was a bit more contrite, bent over. Whether or not she heard it, he didn't know, though he prayed it was the latter.

"Was hoping you would be my date for the ball once the match was over... _{then again, you might have just said..."}

Lukas said a couple of other things, but it would possibly go unchecked as he began polishing each of the four conductors.

[Rune_Alchemist]

-Livia Fiore, Katherine Lindall-

~Beginning the ball, and Opening Announcements~

Ugh. Stopping two powerful beings like Sorcha and Arata had taken a bit more out of her than she honestly thought it would. Plus, making sure the dragon didn't die afterwards. Ugh, really. Maybe she should look into records about a fire curse or something. There should be something there on how to heal it. A sanctus mage of her level should be able to heal any soul related curse with ease, but this? This was beyond even her. Perhaps it was because it was the curse of a so called goddess. If that was the case though, then it would only be a matter of time before she was able to lif it.

After all, what is a god to a nonbeliever?

Her thoughts didn't linger on the subject for long. Tonight was supposed to be fun for her precious little students. They already got a rather splendid treat, if she did say so herself. A fight of the ages, some would say. Not that it was her cup of tea, so to speak - she wasn't really one for such barbaric spectacles. Soiree's such as the one she was currently hosting was more her style. Dancing. Music. A feast. A place for people to enjoy their youth, make friends! Get to know one another. Possibly have a little love bloom.

Which was what this ball was for.

After talking to a few of the event planners, the headmistress made her way to the table where she, the other teachers, and her newest little...student, Katherine would be sitting. At least, for the start of the ball anyways. She had to be introduced, after all, since she was going to be keeping the students more or less in line. It was only fair to introduce her to the studens and give them fair warning. Perhaps a few of them would also wish to help in this endeavor. It certainly would help her with keeping order on her campus. A thought for later perhaps. For now, Livia observed the event hall from her seat at the center of one of the tables.

It was a finely decorated room. Big chandeliers hung overhead, illuminating the carpeted floor. One one side, countless tables filled the large space, ensuring there was enough room for all of the students to seat. In the center, an elegant fountain was located. On the other, several tables filled with a feast that the gods themselves would be envious of. In one spot on the floor, the carpet gave way to a tiled dance floor where the students would be able to dance later, should they desire. Against a far wall, a stage was located where musicians would play music. Generally the mood was kept slow for the first part of the evening, but by the time it was over with, everyone was generally well and good drunk. A good thing the event was usually held on a friday or a weekend.

She took a seat, and waited for Katherine. She had asked the other girl to arrive more or less early. A few students were trickling in, but for the most part things had yet to get started.

And Katherine just so happened to be one of those students who happened to trickle in. Between the time she got to school and the ball, she happened to come across a nice, blue, yet somewhat plain dress. If nothing else it complimented the similar dresses her three dolls were wearing. After a quick look around she rapidly found her benefactor in the uncrowded room. "Greetings, Headmistress. Ravishing as always I see." The Puppeteer said taking a seat near the woman. She figured it never hurt to butter up a prideful woman, and it's not as if she were lying either.

“Ah, Katherine.” Livia greeted her student with a smile. “My, thank you dear. That dress looks quite…enchanting on you as well.” She chuckled. The girls dress was indeed somewhat plain, but sometimes there was a certain elegance to such simplicity. In her opinion, Katherine had done quite well. “You’ll probably have the eye of quite a few students in it.” She called over one of the servers, and had him pour them both a glass of wine.

“So, has there been any problems with the students I should know about? Aside from the obvious…engagement on the tower earlier?”

"Thank you, Headmistress. Though I'm sure I'll have little interest in the eyes I catch." Katherine replied before Livia brought up the tower incident. Truthfully, Katherine was quite glad that the Headmistress had taken care of that. She was sure there was a snowball's chance in hell of actually stopping them otherwise. Her power was nowhere near enough to stop both.

"None that have stayed a problem. I've found a few students and had dolls give them notes telling them something along the lines of 'Make sure you attend class or face the wrath of the Headmistress.'" She'd rather take care of problems herself, but she needed to attend classes herself. Grabbing her glass of wine, she tasted it but recoiled at its harsh bite. She'd never drank before and her first experience was. . . Disappointing.

Livia laughed at her displeasure for the wine.

“Not to your liking?” She said. “Well, feel free to ask for anything. The servers here will bring whatever you want.” She took a sip of her own wine, immediately feeling much more relaxed upon the liquid passing her lips. Hopefully the Oni and Sorcha would behave themselves for now. She would not be giving either of them a second chance.

“But thank you for doing that, Katherine.” She continued in response to her statement. “The students here need a certain…motivation to keep them in line, after all. After tonight is over, hopefully most will recognize you as the person who…makes sure they stay in line.”

"That's hoping most are not like that Oni and Dragon, which, likely they are not." She pushed her glass of wine towards the Headmistress. No point in letting it go to waste, well, if the woman was to drink after her anyways. "Server." The Doll-Master called to a nearby server. "A cup of coffee if you would. Sugar and cream and a tiny bit of vanilla if you have it." The man nodded at the request and walked away.

"Though now I'm wondering if it'll bring respect or disdain. I imagine a lot of the students here enjoy disorder, as do I every now and then. This party for example." She mentioned with a slight chuckle. "Not that it really matters. It'll be my job to bust these students into shape, isn't it?" She asked as the server returned with her requested drink which she took a very satisfying sip of.

“Disorder is indeed something humans tend to love.” Livia continued, accepting the wine from the girl. “Which is why this little…soiree, exists.” She watched as other students managed to find their way to the event hall. She had to wonder if her little Roux would be attending. It could go either way, if she had to be honest. She might just not come to spite her.

Or on the off chance Iravis spotted Sorcha fighting.

Well, she’d have other problems to deal with later.

“Not to mention the tournament that will be at the end of next week.” She continued, taking a sip of her wine again, a few teachers finding their seats at the table. “And as soon as we get all the paperwork sorted for this year, we’ll have certain…jobs, the students will be able to undertake, should they wish. I believe that will be enough for any disorder they desire.”

"Oh, I didn't know about a Tournament." Katherine mentioned before taking another sip of her drink and then setting it down while a doll hopped up on the table and started to stir the coffee with a nearby spoon. Considering how this academy was, it wouldn't be too much a surprise for something like a tournament. "Might as well participate in it. See where I really am ranked against the other students. It wouldn't look all too well for the person who keeps order to be weak." The Puppeteer smiled at Livia and continued, "I don't want to disappoint anyone either."

“Indeed, we hold the tournament yearly, though the dates change sometimes. It was a week later, last year.” Occasionally they held off the tournament for a few weeks for whatever reason. It depended, really. Mostly on what the board decided. She had final say in most thing, but when a majority of the schools expenses were on the line she couldn’t make her own decisions recklessly without upsetting quite a few people in the process.

“So please, do join.” Livia continued, offering a small smile to Katherine. “It would be rather…shameful indeed for you to be considered a weak mage.” She took a sip of her wine before adding. “But do not worry, my precious little student. I am quite difficult to disappoint and I am quite sure my judgement is…correct. The tournament isn’t just all about who is the strongest, after all. It would be unfair, otherwise. Sometimes a clever or manipulative mind is much more...effective.”

"True, true." Katherine replied with a slight chuckle. "Sometimes you just learn about your opponent and use their weaknesses against them." The girl thought someone was trying to feed her ego, and well, it was working. "I guess my dolls and I shall teach those against us to think inside a fight."

The Doll-Master reached for her coffee again and pulled it up to her mouth with the doll stirring it taking the spoon out. There really wasn't much left so she ended up finishing the drink off and setting it back down. "Still, that's in the future still, and discussing it now feels like it'll ruin the spirit of this disorderly event we currently attend."

“Haha, indeed.” Livia chuckled, taking a sip of her own wine, having now finished around half of the glass. “That is not what tonight is for, is it?” The headmistress continued, looking at the floor in front of them. By now, quite a few other students had come in. Most of the students of the school were probably here, not to mention the students. “Tonight is for getting to know your fellow students, drinking, and revelry as some might say.”

Livia sat her glass on the table, giving Katherine a small smile.

“Perhaps some little students are getting to know their teachers a bit more though, hmm?~” She chuckled quietly, though before Katherine could reply, she continued. “Before I get started officially with tonights festivities and introduce you, I would like to ask if you would like to say a few words to your fellow students? If not, I understand. I will simply introduce you and you may continue doing what you wish.”

The Headmistress was obviously implying something with that comment, but Katherine couldn't really reply to that before the subject got changed. "Of course I will say something. Who would respect a person that stands to the side as they are introduced? At least into the role I have been granted. I'll just say somethings and just how I expect them to behave at the least with adequate behavior." She shrugged lightly before continuing. "Can't say I didn't warn them, right?" At least, the students attending couldn't say that and mean it at a later date.

“Aha, true, true.” Livia said with a smile. “Well, let us get this underway then, shall we?” With that, the headmistress stood, bringing a hand to her mouth, clearing her throat before speaking.

“Welcome, Welcome!” She said with a smile, cheerily greeting all those who were currently attending. Her voice was loud, amplified by some unknown means. Likely some minor corm of Bratus magic involving sound. “It is a pleasure to see all of you here this evening, my precious little students and my hardworking staff.” She greeted with a pleasant voice. “Welcome to the annual Montagne academy ball. I do hope you will all enjoy yourselves tonight.” Now that she was certain to have everyone’s attention, she continued with the more important announcements.

“Now, I’m sure you are all eager to get started eating if you haven’t already.” She laughed. “But please, before we officially begin I have a few announcements to make. Some of you older students will know one of the announcements, but the newer ones perhaps have yet to hear of it.” She allowed a small moment of silence to let the students briefly murmur to themselves.

“The official tournament here, will be held at the end of next week!” She continued. “Now now, don’t get too excited yet. It’s still a week away, but do look forward to it! There is a very special grand prize to go to the winner this year. A rare and equally powerful catalyst. What is it you ask?” She said, a small smile crossing her lips. “Well, enter the tournament and find out! It’s not mandatory, of course, but it would definitely be a place to make a name for yourself and show off your skills.”

She allowed the students a moment to talk among themselves before continuing.

“And in the coming weeks after that, we should have the usual jobs for you all of you wonderful little students. A certain reaper misplaced some paper work and it got sent in late this year, so we were unable to have them ready by the beginning of the year.” She shook her head with a slight chuckle. A few murmurs of disappointment were heard among some of the other members, but that quickly passed.

“With those two more important announcements out of the way,” Livia continued making sure the students had quieted down. “Just one more thing to add – Last year there was quite a few troublemakers in the campus.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Theft of school property, breaking and entering into the kitchens,” She listed a few more offenses that were probably at least somewhat normal for a school like hers.

“My little students. A little responsible fun is fine every now and then, but there is a time in place for everything.” She continued with a sigh. “To rectify this, I have decided to assign someone…let’s call them a disciplinary officer. She will be making sure you behave and that you follow the rules.” She motioned towards Katherine. “Please do introduce yourself.”

Katherine smiled as she stood to introduce herself, "With Pleasure." The girl cleared her throat before continuing loud enough for all to hear. "Hello everyone. My name is Katherine Lindall. Some may have met me in class or on school grounds elsewhere, but as mentioned before I'll take up a role as a Discipline Officer. At the very least, I expect you all to act with adaquately good behavior. Show up to class, respect the school, don't destroy towers. I think it should be easy enough, though apparently there are some of those that would disagree. . ." She mumbled that last part to herself more than anyone else but continued. "Regardless, I hope we can have a good year together." She surrendered the floor back to Livia with a smile, hoping that won at least some of the student's attention.

“Indeed. Do be on your best behavior students.” She replied. “That said, however.” She picked up her wine glass, taking a small sip of it before continuing. “This evening, eat! Drink! Be merry! Get to know your fellow students, and well, who knows! Maybe you’ll find something a bit more.” She chuckled. “So, without further ado,” She motioned for the musicians standing at the stage. “Let us feast and be merry!”

And with that, the ball officially began. The students that had arrived during the announcements quickly grabbed their food and drink. The ones that were here before, resumed what they were doing. Livia smiled, now that her announcements were over with. The headmistress returned to her seat with a sigh, finishing off her wine.

“That was quite the decent little speech, Katherine.” She reached for the glass of wine that had been poured for her. “At any rate, feel free to mingle with the students, if you wish now.” She took a sip of the wine, offering the girl a smile. “Or stay here if you wish. I certainly don’t mind.”

Sitting at the teacher's table made Katherine feel a little more superior, really. She could lord over all the small people intermingling, though it was mostly in her head. "That's all fine then. I like sitting over here as well. I'm sure there are plenty of things we could talk of." She said with a smile, before she called over another server and ordered another cup of coffee. It felt like it was going to be a long party, and coffee was great during long parties.

[Absolis]

Silver

---

...We're going to bring you someplace new...

Mr. Agents words were still fresh in Silvers mind. After everything that had happened, maybe a new place was for the best. After all, it was better then some communal home. Even if the place did look rather boring, and somewhat intimidating.

Silver walked through the front enterance. It was pretty late. For some reason, Mr. Agent didn't want to stick around. But that was fine, Silver could find her own way around if she needed to. Oddly enough, off in the distance she could hear a large crowd. Perhaps that's where she needed to go?

[Ashifili]

Well, even though the battle was done, it wasn’t like his wounds had healed at all. It still felt like Buddha had given him the Monkey King treatment, and his arm was still busted. Half his vision was still gone, and he was still drenched in blood, but regardless, the Oni could still tense and narrow his remaining useable eye at the presence of two new individuals. A colorful being that almost looked like a proper dragon, if not for its feathers and lack of gravitas, as well as a somewhat familiar one.

“I was speaking to myself, serpent,” Arata replied, relocating his dangling arm with an audible pop and a groan, “Though the sentiment is appreciated.”
Another crick and crack, as he pushed his hands against his back, pushing it straight, before he turned to the demon thing next. Catching the satin sheets and wrapping them around his body in a vaguely robe-like fashion, Arata nodded with a bit of gratitude, before pulling a dragon scale out of his cheek. He examined it in the moonlight, before storing it in the folds of his robes. A good souvenir from a good battle.

“Well, I’ll admit that, currently, I’m not in the best of shapes,” he shrugged, “And I thank you for your gift, but…”

The oni’s body tensed, his eyes hardening. Then, he let it go.

“…nevermind, actually! Thanks a lot, kid! For now though, I think I'll be eating everything now. Never did get my drink either.”

He walked off, heading towards the Ball. There was no date, and he wasn’t exactly planning on bleeding on the dance floor, but after a good fight and a beautiful moon, it was going to be nice, drinking and eating his fill.
@floodtalon@Iatos

[Roleplayer001]

Day 4, The Closet

The little hellions had been troublesome again. The goddess couldn't understand why the headmistress saw it fit to put a divine guest at her school through such hideous task.

The walks to and from school had given the girl some time to think.

The Seventeen year old contemplated quiting Montagne and returning to her old manor with ... The Phoenix shook her head. Those were ridiculous thoughts, no matter how irritating this situation was.

Deep inside, Roux knew that her mo ... keeper wouldn't do something without honestly believing it was the best for her supposed daughter. The goddess disagreed with Livia of course, but the red haired girl knew she was only here because of Livia and Arthur's grace.

The goddess finished walked into the room, seeing Lyssa on her ... sorcerous tablet ... and monitoring it. Iravis walked straight to the bed, falling onto it and relaxing. Big hellion and her had a date that night.

Too many hellions.

Lyssa had just killed the last of the alien scum on her tablet as Iravis walked in, laying on the bed. She looked kind of tired, honestly. Lyssa acknowledged her with a friendly grin, as she saved her progress and shut the laptop, placing it on the bed.

The demon stood, turning around and giving Iravis a smile.

“Hey, the party should probably be starting soon.” Lyssa said. “So uhm, we should both probably get dressed.”

The goddess had just finished beginning to relax. "Go first Lyssa. I will go after you are finished." At this point, the Phoenix really just wanted to nap, and she curled up on the bed ...

Lyssa frowned, just a bit as Iravis spoke.

“You know, if you’re not feeling well, we don’t have to go.” She replied. “I can entertain myself on my mystical tablet of wonders.” She continued in a slightly teasing tone, offering Iravis a slight grin.

She was honestly looking forward to this little party, though. She hadn’t been to one in a while, and while formal things weren’t really her thing…free alcohol and food, yo.

And well, Iravis was cute in a dress.

If Iravis could offer a glare while her eyes were closed, she would. "A promise was offered by me, and I will uphold it." With that, the goddess walked to the wardrobe, picked out the dress again along with it's ornementation, and changed in the bathroom. Upon leaving, the Phoenix gave plenty of room for Lyssa to do the same.

“Hehe, wow, okay okay. No need to get all touchy.” She giggled. “You just looked tired.” Lyssa then grabbed her dress from the box as Iravis went to get dressed. Once Iravis was done, she did the same. Not that the demon particularly needed the restroom to get dressed in, but Lyssa did so anyways.

It took Lyssa a bit longer to don the dress, not being used to such attire, but given a few minutes longer she finally managed to get the damn thing on.

“And done!” Lyssa said, stepping out of the restroom. “So, you ready then?”

The goddess offered a small curtsy in assent. Although the hellion needed more practice, she was becoming more refined as a retainer. With plenty of pointers and information to be put into Lyssa's head, the Phoenix was sure that the demon and Ayame could be the start of her newest faith.

"If my servant is prepared, then I am ready as well." At this point, the Phoenix wasn't exactly sure what to do, and with a slight blush from embaressment she just stood there.

They were both girls, and this wasn't her moon. Was it the job of the mistress to lead, or for the servant to clear the path? Should she put a collar on Lyssa, should she ...

Without waiting for another word after she said she was ready, Lyssa grabbed Iravis’ hand.

“Great! Then come on!” Ignoring any word of protest Iravis might have, Lyssa practically dragged the other girl out of the room.

Apparently the servant wanted to clear the path. Forcefully.

All composure from the goddesses end was lost as her hand was grabbed, and she was literally dragged out of the room. "What ... what ... what are you attempting!?!" She stammered out a few other words of protest, but they seemed to fall on deaf ears.

“Fun, Iravis! That is what I am attempting!~” The demon giggled as she practically kidnapped her date, dragging her to the party.

---

The two were one of the first ones to arrive to the event hall. Lyssa had continued to practically drag Iravis all the way there, much to the red heads embarrassment. Lyssa would of course, let her go if she asked. Whether she heard those possible complaints though, was the question.

When they finally arrived, though, Lyssa did let the phoenix go. She held her hands together in front of her, observing the event hall with a grin. It was definitely a more…casually formal party than what Lyssa was used too, but it still looked fun. Alcohol was present, and alcohol definitely made everything fun.

Before she could get started with the festivities, though, the headmistress made a few announcements. Something about a tournament, some jobs, and something about someone who would be making sure they all behaved. AKA, the fun police. Lyssa had to huff at this. She was 16 damn it. The fun police shouldn’t be anywhere! Meh. Oh well, she didn’t care. Drinking sounded fun.

Iravis paid more attention to the announcements, and it was obvious there had been something occuring recently. Her eyes seemed to be averted from the headmistress though.

For now though, she turned to Iravis.

“Wow, this looks…like something my mom would go to while I put laxatives in the punch.” She giggled. “Still looks fun though,” she said noticing the table full of desserts. Chances were, she’d have devoured half of them by the end of the night. “The food looks delicious at least. So what’d you wanna do first?”

If she was to be honest, she had never actually been on a date like this before. At least one to a party like this.

The goddess ignored the hellion's ridiculous comments about sabotaging her parents. It reminded her ...

A shake of the head removed memories of a life long ago. For now, a goddess needed presenting. The Phoenix turned her head towards the dance floor, looking towards it as the muscians were starting to play. It was quite obvious from her stance what she wanted.

"Is gluttony more interesting than presenting a partner to the crowd."

Refreshments could come later. For now, the Phoenix wanted to be the first onto that floor.

“Ahaha, food? More interesting then you? Not at all!~” She replied with a grin. “Well, unless said food is a chocolate cake as big as this room.” She giggled, briefly grabbing a drink off a tray from a waiter, taking a quick drink of it before placing it right back down on another one before anyone even noticed.

“So, you wanna lead, then? You uh, never really got around to those dancing lessons.” Lyssa continued, giving a sheepish smile to Iravis. “I’ll try not to step on your feet though. I’m not that bad, promise.”

The goddess nodded in reply to Lyssa's question, taking her hand with a gentle yet sturdy grip and pulling her date to the dance floor. The muscicians started playing a slow tune heavy on the newer instruments of the violin and the piano. While the four thousand year old was more comfortable with music from an earlier age, she considered herself adequate at dancing this style.

Divine and demonic blood were the first to enter the floor. Lyssa and Iravis were gliding slowly across the tiles, arms outstretched with a comfortable distance between them. The goddess was a little embarrassed that her partner wasn't good enough to be able to dance with at a more proper distance, but was a servant worthy of getting so close?

Lyssa smiled as she danced. The demon was quite enjoying the little dance, even if it wasn’t her usual thing. She was content to keep things just like this. But well, there was a bit of distance between them, and she decided to get a little closer and close some distance between them. She wasn’t that bad, after all. She could dance reasonably well.

“I said I wasn’t that bad.” She quietly giggled as she did so, adjusting her steps to match Iravis’.

---

Done Reading, And Attending the ball? Mass collab here!

[shagranoz]

nevermind

[Absolis]

Adria Solium

---

Adria was absolutely fuming! A ball, a ball! And they didn't want the one person in this whole school who specialized in magic perfectly suited for it to perform! Well, she would show them. She wouldn't show up. Let them have their ball, and their dancing, and their stage. She didn't need any of it. None whatsoever. Nope, instead Adria would sit out in some abandoned plaza. In the cold. And the dark. All alone. But this was better then their dance. Perhaps she could even get some practice in.

Having tired herself out in her fuming, Adria sat herself down on a bench. The cold stone made her question why she was here, rather then in the ball, or her room, or just somewhere else. Oh well, she was here. And there was nothing to do about it now. Adria took her lute from off her back, and leaned it up against one of the benches supports, before laying herself down facing towards the sky.

The plaza being open, and without a light source, Adria could see the entirety of the night sky. All of its stars there for her to see, the darkness of it all open in front of her. It was quite a pretty sight. And in fact, if one cared to pay attention, not all the stars were in fact the same color. Rather, they sparkled and twinkled and went along with their star business in a stunning variety of yellows and purples and blues. It was quite peaceful out here, now that she really thought about it. So peaceful in fact, that Adria allowed herself to close her eyes, and start humming a tune to herself. Nothing fancy, and in fact the tune itself was quite sad in full, but alone, it seemed to fit the mood. And so Adria hummed and relaxed, waiting. Though not knowing for what it was, she waited in ignorance for whatever it was.

[DELETED7282737]

Shino Koizumi

Like always Shino was in the same attire she wore last week. Not even a diffrent pair, it was still the same like always because that was indeed her only pair of clothes. She did get some money so she could buy some clothes but she hadn't realised money was a thing in this world yet so she stuck up with the standard pair of garb. Shino hadn't heard about the ball beforehand but was pulled towards it by the loud music. She was curious to know what it was and found out. Everyone in the hall had nice clothes on and were all pretty. Shino did not care however.

Her ears hurted from the music but something smelly had caught her off guard. Shino had found tables full of food that everyone was able to eat. She didn't drop the offer and had started eating a tremendous amount of food already. Yet she was still on the roll and couldn't have enough at the moment. Her belly had been empty for nearly a week so it was time she earned something in return. Shino took place under the table and would occasionally grab something from the table above her when her food supply run out. Beneat the table it was nice and cool and the sound wasn't as painfull.

[Roleplayer001]

The First Dance

Goddesses Need No Luck

The music continued to play, for now the two close females the only ones on the floor.

The Phoenix's cheeks reddened as the succubus reasserted her skill at dancing by pulling her prey closer, laughing as she did so. Conflicted between not wanting to be outdone by some mortal and seeking to maintain a more comfortable distance, the goddess chose the latter. She took a slight step back, placing Lyssa somewhere in between their original distance and their most recent one. "Awareness of that fills me, but it is doubtful that you seek to inform others that you are falsely taken."

Lyssa gave a hurt, fake pout as Iravis took a step away, though it lasted only moments before it was replaced by her usual smile as they danced. She didn’t want to push Iravis a further, if this was what she was comfortable with, then she didn’t mind.

“Well,” She replied to Iravis as they continued. “Since I’m dancing with you…I think I am quite taken~” The demon giggled, a small mischievous seeming smirk appearing on her lips as she spoke.

The goddess' face was beginning to match her hair. Of ... of course a demon is taken in by divine grace! The Phoenix had enough practice for her feet to countinue to move properly, but it was obvious that the red haired girl was flustered. Those tiles were becoming VERY interesting. She hoped Livia wasn't watching this ... but she was one of the first couples out there.

Eventually, Iravis raised an eye to check on the headmistress ...

---

Livia, of course saw her little Roux out on the dance floor. Coincidentally, she noticed it right when she was taking a drink of her wine.

The sight almost caused the older woman to spit up her drink, barely having enough time to down the alcohol as she placed a hand in front of her mouth, trying desperately not to laugh loud enough that the whole ball would hear her.

The older woman, was honestly taken by surprise. The surprise though was only momentary as she regained her composure. It was easy to tell the redhead was flustered, and she couldn’t hear what was being said between the two girls but the demon was obviously embarrassing Little Roux.

How delightful~

So. Livia did what any proper person should do In this situation. As soon as she was certain Roux had seen her, she gave Roux an approving smile, and gave her the simplest act any human could give for approval. A thumbs up, followed by mouthing the words ‘good luck’.

---

... it took a few seconds for divine eyes to register what that blasted woman was implying. Lyssa giggling and flirting with a diety was bad enough, but that unholy keeper of hers ...

Luck ... A goddess requires no thing other than her own divine will!

Iravis refused to lose to a godless principal's concepts or a demon's flirtation! Iravis regained her composure. A second later she drew the demon close with her arms, an inch a long distance compared to the sliver of air between their faces. To allow no excuses, the seventeen year old ensured that Lyssa's feet would not land on her own. A glance shot over to where Livia was sitting, but the goddess knew she shouldn't care.

Livia, of course found the entire situation even more amusing. She clapped her hands quietly, giving Iravis a teasing smirk, taking another sip of her wine using her free hand to indicate she should continue. She would continue to watch the dance for now. It was a very interesting development to her, after all.

The sudden closeness was rather surprising, but Lyssa wasn’t going to complain about the sudden closeness. She would have to concentrate a bit more on her footwork, but the demon was certain she could do it. She was rather agile with her feet, considering her practice with martial arts. Didn’t mean she could dance well, but she at least could control her feet fairly well.

“Do I take this to mean I have actually been taken?~” Lyssa continued with a giggle, though she had decided she had probably bothered Iravis enough, and left it at that. “Ehe, sorry, I’ll stop now.” Instead, she went to make sure she could keep herself from stepping on Iravis’ feet.

Roux decided she'd get back at her infuriating keeper later.

For now, Lyssa seemed to be backing off at this point, which was a source of relief for the sober goddess. For now, the Phoenix was content to keep dancing at this distance. A few more serious words were spoken. "Taking my servant is a goddesses job, is it not?" Somehow, the seventeen year old didn't realize that this implied something else as well, so she managed to keep a straight face after she finished speaking.

Lyssa giggled at Iravis’ latest sentence.

“I know I’m adorable and it’s difficult to not too,” The demon mischievously giggled. “But If you keep flirting with me, I am going to have a difficult time not flirting back.”

At that point the goddess blinked once or twice, placing a single finger momentairly on Lyssa's lips. A touch of color hit Iravis' cheeks, but she wasn't failing because of it. "Then I will advance no further." It was obvious that she was trying to figure out what exactly Lyssa meant when the goddess removed the finger and returned her arm behind Lyssa's back, maintaining that close distance.

Lyssa’s voice muffled out as Iravis placed a finger on it. Iravis said she wouldn’t flirt with her further, but the demon got the suspicion the other girl had no idea what she had said that would be considered flirting.

“Hehe, alrighty then.” She said in her usual upbeat fashion once the finger was removed. “I won’t make any more double entendres either~”

As Lyssa spoke of double entendres, the goddess went back over her previous words ...

"I ... I ..." The Phoenix's warm face planted inself in Lyssa's shoulder, hiding her apple-red face. "... A servant should not misinterpret a goddesses words! Trib-Tribute will be required to avoid my wrath!"

If she'd been embarrassed at the begining of the dance by Livia, now she was being embarrassed by this damn hellion. Her heart was pounding, unsure if she should press the situation by refusing to be outdone or run and hide away from this succubus who was clearly messing with her head.

Wine. I need wine to clear my head. Divine beings always had a high tolerance for any form of liqour. And that would clearly remove this damn creature's spell on her ...

Lyssa seemed rather surprised by Iravis’ embarrassment. She was definitely not expecting the older girl to plant her face I her shoulder. Maybe she had over done the teasing just a bit.

“Okay, okay, sorry.” She replied, a soft smile forming on her lips, as Lyssa stopped the both of them from dancing. “Now’s a good time for food anyways~”

The goddess nodded, breaking their contact and heading over to one of the long serving tables, pushing the chair in and standing in it's previous location. At least her servant had the competence to get her clearly uncomfortable patron off the floor.

The redness fled as the seventeen year old regained her divine presence, avoiding looking towards Livia's location. She soon requested wine from a server, looking at the floor as the song ended. The chair next to where she was standing was soon occupied by Lyssa, and the goddess found her lips pressed to a glass of wine.

Lyssa had also gotten herself a glass of wine from one of the servers. Also some cakes. And a few other little snacks. She was currently happily devouring a cake next to Iravis.

“So, how’d I do for my first dance?” Lyssa asked through a mouthful of cake, not mentioning the embarrassing bits. She was honestly curious as to how good she seemed out there.

The goddess spoke after finishing a sip of the wine, consuming some of the smaller refreshments. "Your skills are adequete. Some of the later songs will probably stall you, however." Since the hellion avoided bringing up the embarassing moments, the seventeen year old did as well. Perhaps now was the time to indicate she had not been defeated, however. "My servant's prescence will be required for several more songs, but there are two others who will be granted my grace."

She looked over to where Livia was, long enough that Lyssa would be able to tell. After a quick search for Arthur, the Phoenix decided that perhaps he simply hadn't arrived yet.

Well, that was good. She wasn’t doing terribly bad, then! Lyssa grinned a bit at the minor praise as she took a drink of the wine and started devouring more of the cakes she had gotten.

“Heh, guess I’ll have to find another dance partner too then.” Lyssa replied to Iravis’ statement about other people requiring her grace.“Suppose I can keep eating cake, too, though."

---

Looks like today was the big day!... And she was asleep in the tree house, leaving her consciousness to attend the dance. Even though Mr. E gave her the day off, she just had to work herself into the ground and go into a deep slumber... great, perfect. With a huff, the obsidian Arachne poised herself like a haughty lady, before laughing off the whole thing. Adorned with a white dress, this was the closest thing her face could conceive after exhausting the fountain of creativity. A simple white elegent dress, eh? Well, she found fashion to be undesirable booooooring, so it worked for her in the end...

"Heh, Yume, you really need to let loose some time... I think I'll embarrass you at the ball instead! Maybe then you can stop hiding behind that "ladylike" bullshit of a facade!~" She strode with bona fide confidence into the formal, despite a few peoples horrified stares. The girl had no qualms or damns to give, raucously winking at a few males, while sticking her tongue out slightly, much to the displeasure of the female guests. Oooooh, tonight was going to be fuu-uuu-uuun!

As she entered the vicinity, it seemed barely crowded for the most part with a few magi settling in. Of course, the first person she noticed in the vicinity was none other than Lyssa in that beautiful dress "she" conceived... along with another ravishing beaut. A mischievous grin crossed her face as she scuttled over to the duo, intending to entertain the two... but mainly herself for the matter.

"Oh, heya Lyssa, looks like you made it!" The girl exclaimed, giving the girl a wink as she checked out how both ladies looked in their dresses. "Wow, you two look absolutely stunning! Dang, you really wear that dress well!... but..." A catlike grin slid across her face as she neared the demon; a bit too close for comfort to add. "I didn't know you rolled that way, but hell you know how to pick em' well! Maybe you could share her a bit if you could be so kind?"

Giving her a wink, she went to gazing lovingly over Lyssa, before putting a finger to her lip, before whispering something into her ear. "Or maybe, she could share you?" Dream Yume could only pray that their reactions would be laugh out loud astounding to see!... But, if either of them were legitimately interested, then she wouldn't mind that at all too.

At the sound of the Arachne’s voice, Lyssa looked up from her cake, giving Yume a bright smile.

“Yume!” Lyssa giggled as the other girl approached. Something seemed off about the Arachne, however. She wasn’t sure what though. She seemed a little more…aggressive? The other day Yume certainly didn’t seem all that flirty. Not that Lyssa particularly minded. She probably had just been hitting the alcohol too much.

“Ehe, It’s not that kind of date.” Lyssa replied, hopefully saving Iravis some embarrassment as the Arachne grew close. She was definitely not expecting the words that came after that. A mischievous little grin formed on her own lips as Yume offered to ‘dance’ with her. The demon chuckled lowly, reaching out with a hand, looking as if she might be reaching around and giving Yume an affectionate pat on her cheek.

Before grabbing her ear and pulling gently. Not enough to hurt, but enough to hopefully cool the Arachne down a bit.

“Hehe, as much fun as that would be Yume,” She returned the whisper. “Drunk little spiders should behave and go home~” Despite her berating of the spider, her tone was quite…suggestive.

Not the outcome she was exactly expecting, but she would roll with it as her head was pulled closer to Lyssas. Oh Yume, how could you be so indecisive sometimes? Eheh, playing along with the whole intoxicity suggested, Dream Yume began to look at the demon in a suggestive manner, one of her eyes drooping as she slurred her speech. "Whaaddyyuuh meeeeyyyan boyhuuuuve? I'mmma guuud lil' spiddddaaar whoooo juuus' waaaants ta' bind yaaaa up!~" To speak the truth, bondage wasn't entirely out there, but it was blatantly obvious she wasn't drunk since her breath lacked the reeking smell of alcohol. Moreover, after that little spiel, she returned to her normal dream self.

"In all seriousness though, I haven't had so much as a sip tonight Lyssa, but I will say one thing," she giggled under her breath as she stayed face to face with the demon, glaring at her with twinkles of risque thoughts in her eyes. That playful grin as she continued this charade, not caring whether or not it would be taken either way.

"I think I'll be naughty instead... but if you continue to insist I go home, I might as well heed your advice," she paused for a moment, letting this all sink in as she put on a pout with puppy eyes. It was fleeting, but then she returned, whispering the final words that gave leeway to something even more interesting. "... but not before bringing a sweet treat with me, perhaps.~"

Winking, she giggled for a moment before returning to her usual height, brushing her blonde hair to the side. All of her red eyes were focused on her as she extended her hand to the demon. "Still, I do wish to have some fun, however. After all, naught a sweet gentleman nor lady asked me to this ball... so if it's ok with you, might I borrow you for one dance, Lyssa?" Dream Yume looked at the girl pleadingly, giving her a simple smile - no devilry or anything was painted on her face.

This was her chance to escape the insanity. The next song was starting, and Iravis had people she needed to talk to. "Lyssa, please attend to her for this is convinent. Your hand will be requested again later, but for now there is some buisness." With that, the Phoenix headed off towards Livia.

“Awww, it sounds almost like you want to get rid of me, Iravis!” Lyssa giggled. “But fiiine, I wouldn’t mind dancing with a naughty little spider.” She stood from her seat, finishing her own glass of wine, giving Yume a small wink. “If there will be anyone tying anyone up, it’ll be me tying you to your bed so you don’t get in trouble~”

The way she said that indicated she may not be joking either. “Ehe, but do lead me to the dance floor.”

Excellent! Things looked to be brightening up with the demon putting down a glass of wine, speaking of bondage. A coy smirk crossed her face. This was her field of expertise, her specialty... though, she might be a bit inept and rusty, it was curious to see how she might bind her targets, especially ones with sharp legs; eight to be precise. "Give me a good time right now, and I might just let you take me first.~" Dream Yume gave a devilish, catlike grin to Lyssa as she took the hand gingerly. She was being completely serious as they both made their way to the floor with a few other couples in tow.

"If you may, mind leading? I've never danced a lick in my life... Hopefully eight legs do not complicate things with you," Dream Yume spoke with a ravenous wink as they took the floor. That innocent maiden of a girl, fast asleep, reality seeping, shedding light on the truth behind the Arachne.

“Oho~” The demon chuckled. “I’d say legs are the best feature on a girl.” Lyssa took Yume’s hand, returning her grin as they arrived on the dance floor. She wrapped a hand as well as she could around the Arachne’s back, taking a hand of hers in another. “So no worries at all there~”

The two began dancing, a slow steady dance. Lyssa wasn’t the best of dancers, but she was doing a fairly good job of also keeping Yume straight.

As she locked hands with the demon, the two went onto slow dance for a bit of time. Though the music wasn't at all hectic, she found the sway and rhythmic pull of their feet to be quite fun, considering a few facets... Regardless, she was smiling widely, refraining from laughing in joy so she might not ruin the moment. It would be futile to disperse any display of enjoyment, but she didn't care - this was a moment in time, a new memory, a dream. Though she messed up quite a few times, for the most part Lyssa kept her straight.

Leaning in closer, Dream Yume let her voice down to a soft hush, wanting her to only know. "Heh, I'm enjoying this a lot, Lyssa... keep this up, and I may let you get a better look of your favorite assets on a lady.~" Giggling softly, everything seemed too perfect for the moment... before suddenly, a sharp pain struck the spider.

"Ugh," she grunted in pain as she leaned a bit too far back, dragging Lyssa with her. As she did, Dream Yume began to look almost spectral, fading from existence for now. Wincing in pain, she went back and forth between the spectrum's of the dance floor, almost bumping into people before realizing something was amiss. Knowing her time was possibly up, Dream Yume uttered one last thing as a few tears streamed down her spectral face. "Damnit, I'm sorry for this... maybe ne-next time?"

Mournful, she was struggling to hold on, saying her final words before this beautiful night ended; harsh reality began to rear its ugly head. "Th... tr... ouse..." That figure Lyssa was dancing with, the girl she was flirting with was gone in an instant, as if she never even existed... of course, there was also the problem of the current momentum Lyssa was caught in since she was now tossed in the general direction of Iravis...

...

Yume was awake now.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~?????~

The night was indeed beautiful. It looked as though there wouldn't be any problems, aside from the duel between the Oni and Dragon. The stars twinkled overhead, distant little lights in a sea of dark. A quite relaxing spectacle for most that would be out, though most students were attending the ball. Some though, like Adria were enjoying their time alone for whatever reason. Normally, Montagne was one of the safest campus' in all of the region.

Unfortunately, even for well defended fort, sometimes something sneaked through. And sometimes, humming a tune to yourself attracted the attention of said somethings doing the sneaking.

In the darkness, something moved.

Adria would first hear the sound of growling. Next, the sound of something heavy walking along the ground, walking closer. As soon as it was close enough, Adria would be able to see what exactly it was.

A Chimera.

But not what one would expect a normal chimera to look like. It was a lion or at least it had the and two front legs of one. But it was more like a centaur, with two human like arms and shoulders with a torso connecting to a lower half. It had several long, sharp horns growing out of its mane, it's back two legs looked like hooves of a goat, or some other animal. It's tail, was that of a living serpent. Whatever this thing was, it was not something that was naturally made.

Either way, it seemed the beast hadn't noticed Adria yet. Perhaps it couldn't see well in dark, from the way it was sniffing the air and listening. It was difficult to tell if this beast was friend, or foe either.

@Absolis

[Iatos]

Melody and the Quetz...

@floodtalon
@Ashifili

Like a serpent she hissed softly from her coil, glancing to the Oni and then the Demon boy who soon decided to join them for interaction. She turned her attention to him as he spoké to Arata and gave him clothing, then she turned her head to Arata and nodded to him in response to what he said to her. "I wanted to take the chance to apologize for earlier as well... I gt a bit ahead of myself with my thoughts" she said even thought she expected Arata to not understand what she meant, after all this as a different shape and time. Turning her attention again to Chen she peered at him for a long time before smirking.

He was the one who had stopped her wasn't he?... he had called her back to her senses so she didn't do anything too wrong which was good, she could need someone like him. She uncoiled and flew closer to Chen and peered at him from a slightly closer proximity. "You... Your the loud one from before... Yes you will be perfect~" she said happily and looked at him up and down for a moment. "Would you take care of me?... I have a hard time understanding this world, and having a sire of whom to listen too would help me a great deal. You also seem to have the gift of voice... the voice who can command me, the voice I've been longing for" she said, it might be a rather hasty decision and all for anyone to make, but Melody was quite spontainious if one could belive otherwise. "Perhaps you could even grow to be a Master to me" she said as she recalled the words in her head somewhere.

But such would not be the case, she would be recalled by her true master the next day. Probably be forgotten in the span of time, such was the fate of those without a true form.

---

Draél Fahlmer

Family Issues

It was the dawn of the Ball, he had expected it to come and now the hour had arrived. Having left his previous arrangements for some private down time he were sitting on the roof of the academy and starring at the ball location. The Fight between Arata and Sorcha was over, and he cared little for the results of their contest of biggest third legs. He would have ignored the whole thing if it hadn't been so loud and granting him an excellent oppertunity to sample the power of the Headmistress, having spent a good amount of time draining the spirits she used as spies around the academy of power he instantly realized however she weren't the one casting the spell that bound the two. For a second he wanted to destroy that unknown magic... It had been a very simple task, the amount of mana used in the spell was tremendous and so easy to tamper with because of it.

Yet he refrained from doing it, after all defiling such a powerful spell could destroy the entire academy and even if it would be quite hilarious to see the Headmistress/whatever casted the spell die to a sudden combustion and blow up along with the whole academy she had created it wouldn't really serve any good purpose for him. After all Draél still needed this place, it was a excellent source of magic for him to consume. However as he were about to return to his new friends, he heard a familiar noise aside him. It was the all familiar 'poof' of a creature gating nearby using a lesser spell from his home realm. "Master... I have news for you" a pint size imp said as it fluttered to Draéls side.

To this Draél raised a brow as he reached out his hand for the creature to land of. "What do you want Nokkol?..." he asked the imp, pondering what could be so important to demand his attention all of a sudden. The imp landed on Draéls hand and rested its wings for a moment before it spoke up "Well first, to your pleasure I've found out that the Dragon Sorcha you fancied are under a 'Fire curse' draining her soul of its life... " the imp said but silenced as Draél starred intensely at it. His eyes grew increasingly dark as he peered at the imp whi whimpered in his presence. "first I do not Fancy that 'Dragon' more than I fancy any other creature... its but a pet project among many... secondly I do not need you to 'Spy' on her to tell that she's under some kind of curse, I've already sensed that much... and thirdly, even if I could remove that curse from her I have no reason too... now did you come here to bother me for such a silly reason?" he questioned gripping and squeezing the imp in his hand.

Draél was irked, not angry but irritated, and it did require quite a bit for him to feel this way... and this 'cursed' little imp messenger of his had succeeded. "UUughhh... can't breatth...eee.... *cough* Master... Uhm... I've come to warn you... Master's father have dismissed Ethel and Emble to collect you, there's some grand event back home." the imp said making Draél near boil inside, he let go of the imp and looked around "Tsk.. why now of all times?... never mind, I actually don't care about the reason. I'm not going back home so you can tell father that if he can shove that party up the big crack of his..." he said as he hastily leaped down from the roof and ran off towards the ball, after all he needed to get somewhere they couldn't easily get to him.

However it didn't take long before he heard and felt a familiar whistle as a spear struck the ground nearby and a sharp sting followed as he sensed its tremendous power even if it missed. "Going somewhere Master?... hmm why in such rush?... don't you wish to play with me?? hmmm... have your time in the mortal realm made you sloppy?... perhaps I should give you some encouragment~" A Dragonic looking Succubi said as she magically retrieved her spear while lewdly licking her mouth. Draél frowned as he spun around and starred at her "Leave me be Emble!... oyu won't bring me back willingly, and if you intend to kill me here to force me back then so be it..." he called and then continued to run towards the ball, in the distance he noticed a Chimera... but he didn't pay it any mind as he had a something far worse after his head tonight.

He actively dodged hell fire, hell lightning, hell magma and other things raining down or busting out of the ground. Then as he stood in front of the ball room he spun around. "Hmm your almost making this fun... playing hard to get are we?... I already know all of your activities on top you know... why do you even bother with these mortals when you can get everything you wish for back home?... hmm I'm not enough for you?... I could give you plenty of nights you won't forget~" the Dragonic Succubi said as she landed. Yet Draél didn't fall for it, it wouldn't be that easy to bring him back. "I may still see most of this world as a game. But I actually have things I care for now. Besides I like the challange these mortals offer, Its what makes the games worth playing, and its not something some sex demon like oyurself would understand... Now I have a date to attend to... so go away" he said before running inside.

In a haste he put a red cute little bow around his neck letting it be the only thing he carried on his torso, then he simply looked around the ball until he spotted another Succubus... it weren't one of his servants that much he could tell, and right now he didn't really have the time to browse for better options.

@Rune_Alchemist

[Roleplayer001]

Punchbowl Drama

Nobles were supposed to be on time. But after a rather hectic morning of running around the town desperatly in his pajamas, he finally managed to acquire what he needed.

Proof. Although he had initially headed back to his room in frustration when that demon resulted in rejection. The more he thought about it the further he realized that Meriun's thoughts had made sense. Some research into the demon's sword revealed that the other Prince, Avarice, had not been lying either.

He'd shown up a little late, a few of the earlier couples already on the floor. An older red head and pink haired girl were dancing rather ... closely, which raised a point of curiousity. He could ask around and figure out what was going on later.

Waiting for the next dance, the young lord headed over to the table for refreshments, his formal black suit and grey mage's robes appropriate for the occasion. While the young wizard hoped for the opportunity to explain himself, he looked towards the entryway.

Luckily, the dance hall had sound magic to ensure loud and noisy familiars like his golem would avoid disturbing those out on the floor. "Ritter, avoid running over people."

Ritter tilted his head to the right and kept it at that angle for a moment as it thought what Swen’s request meant. When the golem had figured it out, it straightened its head. The stone grinded together while Ritter nodded its acknowledgement to its master. The golem stared at Swen like always. Though occasionally Ritter would stare intensely at a random person.

---

Chen waited outside for a while after figuring out a good place to leave his belongings and was now changed into some expensive suit with uncomfortable shoes and an uncomfortable bowtie. He was wearing a pair of white silk gloves with black skulls on them, this was the only piece of formal wear he could get past his dad's stifling sense of formality.

He was sweating slightly, he kept gripping for his sword which he had also left with his belongings, and he was cursing like a sailor under his breath. God he hated formal events. They were always boring and involved political talk to make his dad look good. Luckily his dad wasn't around, so no need to worry about that at least.

"Alright, no more dicking around. Let's get this bullshit over with." With that being said, Chen entered the ballroom and headed straight for the punch table, the safe haven for the socially awkward. He bumped into something solid and heavy in his rush, nearly tripping over nothing.

"Watch where you're going assho-" Chen turned towards the object in question and stopped as he stared at the massive stone golem. "Who the fuck brings a golem to a formal ball?"

He then noticed Swen and sighed. "I see my earlier lecture went over your head Zauberbuch. You'd think that a fellow noble would have a bit more common sense than this."

Ritter looked down at Chen and stared at him for a moment. The golem then looked at Swen and cocked his head to the left as if asking what to do.

Swen looked over as the first dance came to an end. Firstly, Chen had run into his familiar. Secondly, the dance was specifically designed to prevent ineruptions from large presences like Ritters.

Thirdly, he simply didn't like the guy. But he didn't want to put any diplomatic pressure between their households in the future, especially since the older kid would end up inheriting a larger territory than his own hereditary lands.

"With all respect Lord Avarice, if you hope to dance with a lady I pray next time you'll be able to notice a wall before you run into it. However, he's only been mine since this morning and I consider it important to bond closely with him early on." The nobleman forced himself to stop before he made things worse. "I will be taking my leave. May you reign long, your highness."

The nobleman left Chen's prescence, wanting to avoid the bully. If Ritter was acting up, he'd tell his golem to avoid running people over.

Chen's eyes widened as Swen smoothly insulted him and then left without a second glance. His mouth opened as he attempted to come up with a comeback, but he closed it quietly instead. Actions speak louder than words. Chen shook his head and walked off as well. There were better things to do than to insult a young noble.

---

What a luxurious event.

Arata raised a glass, downed it in one motion, and slammed it down onto the table. A small pyramid was already building up before the raven-cloaked oni. The cloth was a fine material, but like most, it probably wouldn't last a second of actual fighting. Though it pained him to admit it, the oni would probably have to find some magical clothing that didn't disintegrate whenever he started trading blows enemies of his own caliber.

Nevertheless, the longer he stuck around in the grand hall, the more he was sorely tempted to simply get out of this goddamned cesspool of teenage romances and weak-stomached plebians. Like, god damn, why was that baby-faced fuck over there reciting inelegant rhymes? Why were those two freckled little shits blushing furiously while ONLY holding each other's hands?

Made his stomach sick...though it might also have been the fact he ate those fried scarabs a few minutes ago. They were crunchy, of course, and the meat was rather sublime, but it wasn't anything the oni was accustomed to, and his stomach would have been rioting if not for his demonic stomach acids.

Boring little event, though next week's tournament was going to be fun. He had no idea what a catalyst was, of course, but hey, who cares? Would be nice to butt heads with Sorcha again.

He chugged down a flute of bubbly champagne, wondered how the fuck anyone could get drunk off this, before letting out a long, alcohol-filled sigh. This dance really was devoid of excitement, huh?

"Little kids just circling around each other in clothes too fancy for their disposition," he muttered. "Not even that good."

Perhaps he'll show them what a real dance looked like.

Chen walked over to the Oni who was consuming copious amounts of alcohol and smiled. "Glad to see your thrashing from earlier hasn't ruined your mood. Impressive fight by the way. The light show near the end was a plus." Chen snickered with that statement and tugged at his collar.

"Stupid fucking monkey suit." He muttered under his breath. He focused on Arata once again and smiled. "You know, I never got a formal introduction from you Mr. Oni. Don't you think I deserve at least that much considering that really expensive bed sheet you're wearing right now?"

Oh, the same midget that gifted him his current robes. Patting the ground beside him, Arata said, "Yes, you're very welcome, kid. And no...you don't deserve it."

"Guess I'll chalk this up as me being too drunk to know any better, huh?" With that, the oni got up, placed a bottle of wine down, and smiled at the demon boy. "Please, don't assume that talking under your foul breath means that no one can hear."

With that, Arata grabbed the smirking little imp by the face, frowned slightly at how drastically his strength was suddenly decreased by, and tossed him skywards. Whatever's going to happen to him was out of the oni's hands now.

Hopefully this pisses the kid off though, if it doesn't break a bone first. This party has been far too...modest.

He took another drink from a waiter, and added a finishing touch to his hazardously-designed pyramid of assorted cups and glasses. Guess he should find something else to do now, huh?

Maybe something in regards to fried chicken...

Chen's eyes suddenly widened as Arata grabbed his face. 'This will either be very fun or very painful.' With that one thought, Chen went flying into the air, courtesy of Arata and his unstable drunken mood.

Chen flew into the air, hitting what appeared to be a chandelier, and descended straight through the punch table which left a few bruises all over his body. He lay there for a second as he moved his arms and legs around to see if anything was broken. After a quick check, he got up and stared at the Oni.

"Ungrateful son of a bitch." Chen brushed off some snacks that were on him and walked away to go find something that didn't ruin his day. Maybe if he was lucky, it might even be safe.

[Rune_Alchemist]

The Headmistress' Seat

So far, the ball had been going mostly well. It was certainly a delight to see Roux dancing out there on the floor obviously flustered by that demon. She perhaps might inquire as to their relationship later. For now, though, she was merely content to tease her from a distance and watch over the ball. She took a sip of her wine – finishing off the second glass for the evening. If she kept this up, she might very well be good and drunk, as difficult as such a thing was for her.

She got another one from the servers. She really wouldn’t mind getting completely drunk right now. That golem might cause problems. Would be much easier to deal with when slightly drunk.

It was then, she noticed Roux approaching their table. She could imagine what she was upset about, or at least wanted to talk to her about.

She offered Roux a small smile as she approached, though waited for her to speak first.

Iravis walked up to her keeper's table graciously, offering deep curtsy as she approached within talking distance.

The Phoenix had thought about it for the past few days. They were obviously arguing right now. The goddess knew with her divine wisdom that herself was right, but the red haired girl also understood that offering an olive branch was part of the job as well.

Besides, she owed far too much to Livia to hate her.

"Good evening Headmistress Livia." It was a formal address, but Iravis had avoided calling her 'keeper', which was a plus.

“Good evening indeed, Little Roux.” Livia replied with a small smile to Iravis. “A pleasure to see you attend my little soiree. I must say, I’m impressed.” Her smile turned into a small smirk. “You do dance remarkably well. I wonder if you should really be here speaking to me instead of…attending your date? It seems she’s already run off with another.” She chuckled, glancing towards the area where Yume and Lyssa were. She however, decided to show Iravis some mercy after that though. She had probably already teased the girl enough for the night.

The goddess shot an irritated glance toward Livia for her teasing.

“At any rate.” Livia continued, taking a sip of her wine. “Iravis, this is Katherine. She is going to be making sure all of my precious little students behave, if you did not hear the announcement. So do try to be on your best behavior.”

"A pleasure, Iravis." Katherine said setting her coffee down. It was good to meet other students. The Headmistress seemed especially fond of this one as well. "I'm Katherine as you've already heard twice I suppose. I hope you're one of the good students that aren't so inclined as to destroy school property." She ended with a chuckle there, pretty sure the girl wasn't someone like that. She seemed calm and collected if nothing else.

Iravis offered a much shorter curtsy towards Katherine, "I respect the scales of justice, although others do not." A slight glance towards Livia indicated what she was talking about, but after a few seconds the goddess decided to extend the branch.

"Keeper, do you mind if I join you here?" She'd been called Little Roux, so she was going to get back for that.

“Oh? Not at all.” Livia replied, quickly asking the person sitting on the other side of her to move. They complied, offering a brief bow as they gathered their things and left. Livia decided to not comment on the glance or the naming choice Iravis gave her. It would serve no purpose at the moment.

“Do take a seat, Roux.” She motioned to the seat next to her.

The goddess shook her head as Livia cleared the seat. "There has been a misunderstanding. This girl would prefer your hand on the floor, Headmistress." Livia would probably be able to tell that this was both a request for a private conversation and probably the want to dance with her ... friend?

Livia was actually surprised by the offer. On the list of things she had thought Roux was going to ask her, dancing was not one of them. An amused smile appeared on her face regardless, however. Either this was going to attempt to be revenge of some sort for her teasing, or she legitimately wanted a private conversation. If it was just the latter though – they could talk without dancing.

She was accepting either way, however.

“My, Roux.” She replied. “I was certainly not expecting that.” She rose from her chair, taking a final sip of her wine as she walked over to Iravis. “But I can hardly refuse such a request, now can I, hmm?~”

She offered a hand to the girl. The headmistress wondered how entertaining this was going to be.

“Katherine, do be a dear and watch for any trouble.”

"Of course, Headmistress. I have eyes everywhere." Katherine replied with a smile. The whole time she has had dolls stationed all over, ready to report anything overly excessive though for a party, it was sometimes hard to tell what was excessive.

Mistress and Goddess

The goddess offered Livia a hand as the pair approached the floor, unsure who would be leading in this situation. On one hand, the goddess should lead because of her status. On the other, Livia was the headmistress at the university and her own guardian.

Being upset about her earlier embarassment still, Iravis adjusted her hand to suggest a dominant leading position, and that Livia should take the following part.

“Do lead, little Roux.” She replied, accepting Roux as the one who should lead. She was definitely curious as to what Roux was going to be attempting. She did hope Roux didn’t think she was going to be able to out dance her easily. She had to say she was fairly good at it.

An amber glare was elicited from the one called 'little Roux' before she regained her godly composure and responded. "If we are to be comparing heights, the two of us stand equally tall." Although 'little' would have been an appropriate title for a red haired fourteen year old, the crimson haired goddess stood only an inch shorter than Livia today.

Two pairs of feet transitioned to tile, and after a moment of surprise from some surrounding students and the violin-players from seeing the headmistress on the floor, they resumed the slow tune as the pair began to dance. It was a classical and more peaceful tune, as it was only the third song of the young night.

Roux placed the headmistress so their initial starting distance was close while still maintaining enough distance for formality. For many years it had been normal for her keeper to start the conversation than herself, which left Iravis looking into Livia's eyes expectantly.

“Oh? Height has nothing to do with it, Little Roux.” Livia replied as she followed her out onto the dance floor. She’d leave it at that for now and let her wonder as to what exactly she meant by that. They had something else to talk about here, though Livia was unsure of as to what exactly. Could be anything, but she doubted Iravis wanted to reconcile so easily.

“So to what do I owe this pleasure, hmm? I doubt you simply wish to dance with I, and you should know I’m not one to beat around the bush.” Livia continued with a small smile.

Iravis' glance became more irritated as her pet name was used again, but she offered no verbal response as Livia pressured her to get to the point.

The truth was, the Phoenix had several things she wanted to talk about ... but most were very personal questions. The pair stepped left. Then right. Then left. Then right. Then the one called Little Roux looked a little towards the ground ... "My trust has been bestowed upon you for some time..." The words that left her lips were serious, although quiet to maintain a private conversation. "... is it proper to believe you will not betray my words to others?"

“My, such a serious tone.” Livia replied as she danced with Iravis. Perhaps Iravis did just wish to speak about something and had no intentions of doing anything? Unlikely, still, it would be nice. “But indeed, I would never betray words told to me in confidence.” That was the truth – most of the time, unless she deemed it absolutely necessary for something. “Is something troubling you, then?”

Iravis looked around, trying to stiffen her face and hide her emotions. She wasn't confident whether or not Livia would approve of her request, in fact Roux was almost certain the headmistress would not be happy about it. Perhaps a little build up was neccessary ...

"... Only a handful of sorcerers alive today could match your ability to manipulate souls ... in the four thousand years I've walked this Earth only four have surpassed you..." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "This request can only be sent to you, for I know nothing of the others."

Well, this certainly had taken a turn Livia found interesting. Souls? Souls were indeed her forte and she was quite well versed in them. She was a little curious as to who the four who surpassed her could be – she’d have to inquire as to later who those were but for now, she was curious as to this request.

“Oh? Flattering me are you?” She replied. “Well, I can’t say flattery isn’t going to work. Indeed, I am quite well versed in the manipulation of what us humans call ‘souls’ though I am still lacking in some areas. With time, however, I should eventually even surpass whichever four you are thinking of.” But that was a topic for a different day. Her expression took a slightly more serious nature. When dealing with souls, especially those of the living, one had to be very careful or disastrous unintended consequences would be had.

“What do you request, Iravis?” Livia replied using the girls’ ancient name. Whatever this request was, it was something she believed was going to be serious. Playing around and antagonizing the girl wasn’t going to help anything.

Iravis looked down for a moment, mustering her divine will. Based on Livia's last comment, her answer would be no. But the Goddess wouldn't be satisfied at least until she had asked. "Two and a half years ago, a superior version of myself took control. Perhaps some valueable information was revealed ..."

The two continued to move across the floor in silence for some time before the reincarnating woman countinued. "... or maybe you were simply toyed with. Previous to that occurance, you forcefully demanded answers from me. One must wonder if some unintentional magic had been cast by you due to your state at that time." It wasn't an accusation, but rather speculation.

Well.

Little Roux was just full of surprises at the moment, wasn’t she?

“Ah…I remember the event quite well. I asked you if you thought gods had the right to judge what was good and evil.” She replied with a hum. “Or something along those lines, anyways. For the sake of not having a repeat conversation, I will not ask again.” She thought for a moment about Iravis’ words.

Unintentional magic? She doubted it. However, it could be a definite possibility no matter how small. Considering the exact…nature of her abilities that not even Iravis would know about, perhaps she had somehow called forth the old soul. But of course, that was just speculation, and incredibly unlikely.

“Due to my state? I am unsure what you mean by that. Certainly I wished to know your answer to that question…but I would never absolutely force you to tell me. Perhaps I was…a bit forceful with my words, however.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Sometimes, knowledge can blind. I apologize for causing you distress that day, though I feel as though I have repeated that apology quite often.”

“But more on topic – It is doubtful that I cast any unintentional magic. I have not once cast magic unintentionally on someone.” She replied, still thinking. “If I am to be honest, however, I would love to speak with one of your past lives again. The things I could possibly learn from them would be quite…amusing.” She’d honestly like to do it again at some point, though she should possibly look into the repercussions of doing such a thing.

Iravis blinked a few times, suprised that was Livia's response. Their feet countinued to move across the floor for a bit longer before the goddess decided to grace Livia with her response. "Perhaps it was just a defensive mechanism from me that time."

Now time for her request. A deep breath. "The two of us share an objective in that matter. There is missing information ready from me that we share an interest in." How to phrase this best ... "... A summoning and interrogation of an older incarnation could prove profitable for both parties here." If she didn't have to say anymore, she wouldn't. Based on the Headmistresses previous comment, she should accept.

“Oh?” Livia replied. “And what purpose would you want to interrogate an older incarnation for?” Livia asked simply. She of course, wanted to know for a few reasons. It could be incredibly dangerous, for one. Too many unknowns. Unless the reason was sufficiently good, she was going to probably say no. She would like to summon one herself of course, but she wasn’t so selfish as to force such a thing on the other girl.

“I must admit, I am worried that attempting such a thing could lead to some…undesirable side effects.

"Headmistress, my soul and my risks. This has occured before. Previously done out of malice, if something terrible could happen it would have then." Perhaps that would be enough. "I just simply want my most recent incarnation. That is all."

“Who is the expert on souls you asked for advice, hmm?” Livia sternly replied. “Just because something happened once without consequence, doesn’t mean it will happen again without consequence. Dealing with a soul can be a tricky thing. They are fragile things, in some cases.” Livia sighed.

“I am not going to take the risk of something happening because someone wanted to ask a previous incarnation of theirs what their favorite dress to wear was.” She wanted to ask a previous incarnation a question, then? Her most recent one? Hmm…quite interesting, at least. Still, there was a flaw in Roux’s logic here.

“You know if I am to help you, anyways, I am going to need to know what you wish to ask regardless, unless there is a way for you to retain conscious to ask it.” Perhaps she didn’t wish to tell her because she would disapprove of the question.

The goddess looked down while they continued to move across the floor, feet gliding gracefully over the tiles. After a little bit, the goddess decided to provide a bit more information. "Only that incarnation's title is required, although you will not be satisfied with only that explanation."

How to best explain this ... "We move to now is 'classical' music, although these symphonies are new to me. That hellion ..." The goddess' head gestured over to her pink haired servant, and the choas being caused by a golem over there. "... has shown me a recent sorcerous device called by 'laptop'."

A bit more information would be enough to probably get the point across. "Knowledge of those does not exist, but a request to play a song from two millenia ago would be an easy feat. The steps to dances from my childhood are remembered."

So…she had no memories of the recent world, but she could remember things from four thousand years ago. Well, that was certainly odd and a little disconcerting. A few possible explanations were that she simply couldn’t remember. She doubted her memories were complete anyways. Another one, was that she simply hadn’t been alive for however long the gap in her memory was.

“I would hope so, since you’re only seventeen.” Livia chuckled lightheartedly, before sighing. “I have no reason to deny your request, Iravis. We can talk more in length once we’re elsewhere. The dance floor is not exactly the most private of places.” She offered her a smile.

“That said…I will look into ways it could work tomorrow.”

The headmistress gave her consent, which caused the goddess to give off an undivine sigh of relief. The pair was still moving across the floor despite that conversation's end, gliding with grace with each small step as they moved in a circle. "May the gods bless thee, for you have my thanks." The red haired girl didn't let go though, making it obvious she wished to continue.

Roux drew closer and lowered her head into Livia's chest, hiding her face from the crowd. "Despite our diplomacy in the past year, both you and Sir Wick care for me equally. The two of you deserve equal rewards from my company." The hands placed on Livia's instead wrapped the headmistress in a tight hug, the pair's steps becoming closer together.

Well, this was also not something she had been expecting from Iravis. As useless as that blessing was for her since she believed in no gods, it meant well. Livia simply sighed, shaking her head.

“I do not need or want a reward from you, Roux.” She said as her face actually colored a bit. She honestly probably would have said yes to the request no matter what. Her own curiosity aside, Roux deserved to know, after all.

Perhaps she was just being overprotective.

The song was coming to a close, so the four thousand year old decided that this was a good time to wrap things up.

The goddess shook her head. "Rewarding and punishing servants fairly is the duty of a goddess, along with repaying debts to equals."

Two seconds later, Livia would find herself dropped towards the floor, caught by Iravis' arms and looking into intense amber eyes. That could be considered part of the dance as the song came to a close, an elaborate finishing move.

Pressure against her lips from a deep kiss probably wouldn't be considered a normal or noble flourish, but that's how the goddess was repaying all her debts.

….

Livia was honestly a bit stunned.

Did…was Iravis? Was?...

It took a few seconds for Livia to regain her mental faculties. Even she was unable to stop herself from blushing quite a bit – the headmistresses face was completely red by this point. If it had been anyone else she might have returned the kiss. Just to mess with someone.

But Roux?

Well, letting it not happen would cause even more of a scene, so Livia simply waited until the girl was done. When she was, Livia stood, obviously a little flustered, though she was probably not quite as embarrassed as Iravis would have liked.

“Well,” She said, hand covering her mouth as she cleared her throat. “That was…I request you not do that again, Little Roux.” Livia replied with a sigh. She was honestly a little annoyed, but she tried to hide it. “As alluring as you might be to some,” Okay, poorly hidden annoyance. “I have very little interest in such affairs. Especially with you. So go find that date of yours and ‘reward her’ as it were. I’m certain she would enjoy it from the way she’s been flirting with every other person in here.”

With that, Livia turned and headed back to the table. “So if you’ll excuse me I am going to make sure that golem doesn’t destroy anything else.”

Iravis started to walk beside the headmistress. If Livia bothered to look, her date was over there. "Is the lead not supposed to add such a flourish for those she is close to in the heart? Very common thing during Zandy's Conquests." Since that action was carried out by divine will, the Goddess felt no embarassment about it.

"And besides, my loyal servant is by that golem, so it is only proper for me to attend the headmistress on her way there." The room was silent, many students left gaping. The goddess decided at this point to walk the way back in silence though, a large smirk crossing her face.

Livia was not amused in the slightest.

“This is not ‘Zandy’s time’, Iravis.” She sternly replied. “There is a certain sense of…decorum one must have.” She sighed. “Your plan to embarrass me for me doing the same during your dance was poorly executed and lacked any sense of thought to it. You’ll probably receive more embarrassment then I ever will from it in the long run.” She stopped, turning to Iravis briefly.

“For one, I am not actually embarrassed. More annoyed than anything.” She huffed. “Two, the other students will likely pester you about this event now. You may not be embarrassed about it now, but what if they start spreading rumors, hmm?” She said, waving her hand to indicate the gawking students. A few opportunistic ones had taken a few pictures of the performance. “Thirdly,” Livia interrupted herself, before shaking her head with a sighed. Iravis already knew how she felt about her calling herself a ‘goddess’.

Aside from her dislike of gods in general, there were several reasons for that, but none of which the redhead would ever correctly guess.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Livia said returning to the table. “If there is anything else you need wait until tomorrow. Take your ‘servant’ and leave. I have no desire to speak with you further, ‘goddess’.” That last word was said with obvious contempt, though she didn’t entirely mean to say it quite like that.

The one called a goddess had a slightly more dim smile as she was scolded, but she was obediently gave a small curtsy and headed over to Lyssa. While she could probably countinue to talk without dying, at this point it would simply be cruel and childish.

---

One second, Lyssa had been having a rather enjoyable dance with Yume, who was apparently one of the biggest flirts she had ever met.

The next, she had been practically launched into the air towards Iravis.

She had slightly hoped she landed on the other girl for an impromptu glomp, but alas. It was not to be. Iravis looked like she was about to ask the headmistress for a dance. Not all that odd, considering their conversation in the bakery the other day.

She didn’t have much time to concern herself with such thoughts, however. Instead, the demon was making a beeline right into the chair that was previously occupied on the other side of Livia. The same seat one of Katherine’s dolls just so happened to decide to occupy.

She slammed into the chair, knocking it backwards and landing on top of the doll who was pinned under the demon.

“Y-yuuume. Th-that’s not dancing.” She replied, a bit dizzy from the impact.

Speaking of excessive, throwing someone across the room was definitely excessive. Before Katherine could even react a girl with horns growing out of her head, a demon likely, fly into a chair at the table. It just so happened that Doll 12 was using it as a platform to get on top of the table to stir coffee. Katherine didn't waste a blink in rushing over to the person on top of the doll and using the brute strength of a mother saving her baby from a burning car in pulling her swiftly off and picking up the little thing. "Number 12! Are you alright?!"

The small doll strained it's head up, nodded and gave a small thumbs up. Or at the least the doll equivalent of that as it fell back quickly. There were a few small cracks over the body but otherwise seemed fine. It probably suffered from some sort of soul-shock from the impact and merely "fainted" or however that worked. The cracks seem fixable as well, so the demon was getting off easy this time around.

The Puppeteer clentched on of her fists as she turned back to the demon girl. "Hello dear student. Perhaps you would like to know why you should choose not to fly across the room and almost decimate someone's baby?" She started a small lecture on how destroying other's property was a horrible thing to do and that one should seek to right their wrongs. It was one of the most boring, rehearsed thing Katherine could muster. She had hoped that others would seek to not incur her wrath just from the wish not to listen to a long, boring lecture.

Lyssa was still a bit dizzy when Katherine started talking. Honestly the demon was unsure what she was going on about. Something about destroying other peoples property? The chair felt like it was fine though. It felt like she took more damage than the chair, and she should be complaining about how not uncool it was to have a chair so easily landed on.

As soon as she started understanding the lecture though, the demon’s brain started immediately shutting down as she yawned. In fact, by the time Katherine was done, she was completely asleep.

"I see. Asleep and not paying attention?" With her fist that was still at this point clenched, she delivered a firm, but not too heavy blow to the demon's head. After she was finished with the hit, she called out a few of her dolls from her rings. "Fine, you don't want to understand my lecture? Don't destroy other's things and apologize immediately after you damage something." The dolls surrounded the demon but did little other than that for the moment, awaiting an apology.

At receiving the light smack, Lyssa shot straight up, her horns barely missing the face of one of the dolls that had surrounded her.

“Gah! I’m sorry for stealing the computer!” She blurted out, rather loudly upon waking from whatever dream she had been having. Upon seeing herself surrounded by some admittedly rather adorable dolls, however, she had to question how hard she had actually hit her head.

“Uhm…sorry? My head feels like I have a massive hangover and I haven’t even drank enough for that.” She looked around, noticing the damaged doll and immediately put two and two together, however.

“Oh, uh, sorry about…that doll.” Lyssa replied. “My dance partner suddenly…threw me. Ah wait…Yume!” she stood up, glancing around the dance floor and not seeing the arachnid. “Huh…that’s…weird.” She frowned, a little concerned actually, but well, she supposed whatever happened happened.

“but uh, yeah. Sorry about the doll. Can you fix it?”

Katherine looked over Lyssa for a bit. She seemed. . . Somewhat sincere. For now that will have to suffice. The doll wasn't murdered, so that much should be fine. "It'll live. Number 12 is strong and the spirit is still bound. For the most part it is just surface blemishes I can fix myself." With her anger subsided now, she went to look at the damaged doll again. The cracks could be fixed easily at least. It was thanks to the spirits inside them that made them easily fixable. Luckily the whole doll didn't split open or else the spirit would have likely escaped. If anything was wrong on the inside, she'd have to ask the doll later when it has recovered from its shock. "You're free for now. Just don't go breaking people's things." An order, more than a request.

“Oh, good!~” Lyssa cheerily replied. “Ehe, they’re kinda cute so it’d be a shame to have them hurt or something.” Lyssa grabbed the knocked over chair, setting it back up before taking a seat in it herself, either oblivious that this was the teachers table or not caring.

“Annnnyways, I’m Lyssa! Adorable demon at your service!~” She giggled as she introduced herself. “And you’re…the fun police, right?~”

Meanwhile Chen was watching with a large smile on his face, recognizing his old sparring partner almost immediately. God he loved thrashing her in matches. "And I'm Chen Avarice, Son of Greed! How ya doin Lyssa?" He loudly introduced himself and sat down in a chair right next to Lyssa.

He then glanced at Katherine and his smile brightened. "And who do we have here? Is this the fun police? How boring, loosen up a little! You're attending a party!" Chen looked her over and saw nothing too valuable or interesting, nothing he would want anyways. Meanwhile his mischievious smile never left his face as he Claimed a nearby students drink, setting it on the table in case he got thristy later.

Lyssa’s heard turned to the new kid who walked up. She’d recognize that voice anywhere. Her eyes widened a bit upon actually seeing him, though. It had been what…a few years? Not since she had moved away from her…previous home. Normally, she’d greet him with a surprise kick to the back of the head, but…

“Chen?!” Without another word, Lyssa immediately leaned over and wrapped the guy in a hug. They used to spar a lot back when she was…well, living with the other demon nobles. She liked to think she kicked his ass pretty hard most of the time. Truth was, she lost most of the time. Didn’t stop her from trying though.

“Ahahaha, it’s been ages!~” She giggled, not letting go. Well, a few years at most.

Katherine watched over the two students with the demon hugging the male that just recently arrived, calling the him "Chen." Of course, she was thinking about letting them continue, but that wasn't her. "Mind yourselves you two. If you forgot, this is the teacher's table. It's not exactly in best taste." A couple of dolls arrived from somewhere and picked up #12 in a napkin and carried it off with a stretcher-like fashion. "And I'm not the fun police. It's just my job to make sure people don't neglect their job, studying, and stay within the rules of the school."

Ritter tried to stop running. But because of it having a larger mass the golem ended up falling onto its back and sliding into the table next to Lyssa and Chen. Since the golem had never had this happen to it before, it had no idea what to do and stayed laying on its back.

Chen smiled at the sudden hug, but then sighed as the "fun police" decided to intervene once more. "Jeez, don't you have anyone else to bother?" It was at that moment that Ritter decided to "crash" the party and destroyed the table they were sitting at.

"Perfect timing! Thanks giant rock dude! You should go bother Zauberbuch about teaching his golem to not destroy school property." Chen chuckled lightly and reached for the glass of fruit punch he had claimed a minute ago, then frowning once he saw it all over the floor. "Damn, I was thirsty too."

Lyssa released Chen from the hug as Katherine complained. Wow, she really was the fun police. Hugs were fun, and totally not inappropriate. Well, they could lead to some inappropriate stuff, but that was beside the point. Time to have a little ‘fun’ with this Katherine then, heh. She released Chen from her grasp, and instead turned to Katherine, a small mischievous smile forming on her adorable lips.

“Say, you sound jealous~” And then promptly hugged Katherine, her arms throwing themselves right around the other girls shoulders.
“I can…fix that~” The demon giggled into Katherine’s ear, just as Ritter slid into the table next to them.

How does one punish a golem? Really, Katherine was at a loss of words considering what was even going on with the golem but more than that. . . This cheeky demon. Hugging her as it were. She already had a chance to let herself be and back away. What to do now? The Puppeteer's first thought was also a command to those connected to her rings. The dolls escaped their prison inside the rings an pointed an arm towards Lyssa as they stood on the ground. "Be reasonable and release me." The small dolls' arms turned into spear as Katherine spoke. She cared little at the moment and would be glad to be rid of this demon, but she was a student she it was best to hold back now.

Chen laughed at the absurdity of the situation presented before him and wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "Lady, you need to calm down. You're acting like a hug is her trying to snap your neck and defile your corpse. There's no need to threaten her." He got up and moved towards one of the dolls,crouching to closely observe it. "Aren't you a little old to be playing with dolls anyways?" Chen's smile widened, hoping to provoke her and make the ball a little more exciting.

Lyssa released Katherine, though her grin didn’t fade.

“Sorry~” The demon replied coyly. “Am I being a bad little student? Do I need to be…punished?~” It was exceedingly clear where she was going with that line of thought. With a giggle, she took a few steps back. If she was really that against it, she wouldn’t bother her any more.

The golem was still laying on its back, no idea what to do in its current situation. Grinding could be heard coming from Ritter as it cocked its head left and right, thinking. It gazed at the ceiling, only its head moving.

Katherine felt a wave of relief flow through her body as the demon finally let go of her body. Touchy people like her were the second worst of all and she had to look between the two. "Touch me like that again, and you will be. Harshly." The girl sighed as she finished. Really, she was just giving them a warning that hugging like that around the teachers was probably a bad idea, and that's how they react? The people of this school were the most peculiar were they not?

Then she turned to the boy, Chen. "And I don't play with dolls. They are all my children. Close enough to children at least." The doll the boy was observing started lightly jumping up and down excitedly. "I just figured the dead needed a nice little body to inhabit, so I gave them a nice little home." Finally, she turned her gaze to the Golem and the broken table. Really, what were they to do about that? Luckily, a server came over to inform all at what was a table that they were working on getting a replacement over as soon as possible.

Lyssa giggled. She had half a mind to touch her again just to see what would happen, but it would likely lead to something not so fun. So the demon backed off, returning to her seat and grabbing a glass of wine from a server. This was…her second glass or something? Eh, whatever. She wasn’t drunk so it was fine, totally~

It was then Livia and Iravis returned. The headmistress looked at the golem, then to Katherine, then to Lyssa and Chen. She didn’t really have a problem with the students being at the table. Wasn’t all that odd, really, since some students took the time to converse with a teacher every now and then about something.

But the golem had practically destroyed one of the tables.

“Katherine. I see things have gotten…a little out of hand. Do you know whose Golem this is?”

Katherine looked slightly red. Livia probably didn't see the puppeteer's issues with the students, but the golem. . ."I've no idea, Headmistress. While I was dealing with these two," She looked over to Chen and Lyssa with a slightly ire filled visage, "It slid into the table. I sadly, could not stop him from crashing. My apologies."

It was at this point that Chen finally decided to interject. Revenge against the young Zauberbuch would be sweet, oh so sweet. "I would just like to say, the golem belongs to a young Magierprinz Swen Runvall Von Zauberbuch. I think that was his name anyways. I did warn him earlier about controlling his golem." Chen tattled with a smile as he looked at the golem. "But that's none of my business really. Just thought I would inform you." With that being said, he Claimed a glass of sweet tea and sipped it loudly, all the while with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Is that so?” Livia replied with a hum, in response to Chen. “Thank you, my precious little student. Help yourself to whatever you wish here. I shall deal with him myself.” Livia looked towards Katherine. “If you wouldn’t mind Katherine dear, continue to keep watch.” With that, Livia left the table and headed off towards Swen.

After that drama had been dealt with, Iravis walked up to Lyssa with a smile, "Does my servant wish to move across the floor again?" Like Livia had instructed, she was going to collect her date and get out of there as soon as possible. Bothering the headmistress was fine. Making her truely irritated was not, especially since she just promised a favor.

“Hey Iravis!~” Lyssa giggled from her seat, just ever so slightly intoxicated. The demon stood, walking over to her date with a smile. “Ehe, that was some pretty funny stuff you did out there! You actually kissed the headmistress! Planted one right on her. I’m kinda jealous~” Lyssa giggled. She probably shouldn’t be teasing her after what previously occurred, but well, drinking and good decision making did not go together.

Before she could answer the question, however, she was approached by a guy claiming to have two crazy demons after him.

Having busted into the ball room to hide among the crowd, Draél still felt quite nervous as he didn't know if they actually would go so far as to enter this party or try to snipe him from afar with a rifle... these Succubi got craftier and the mortal ways of fighting with rifles were very effective to say the least. However as he brushed through the crowd he noticed several weird dolls around that had magical attachments to them. He found this magic most curious over all the other magic in the room, even if it was a supple feast for him.

However he picked up one of the Dolls that sat nearby and held it in his hand for a few seconds it moved... revealing to indeed be enchanted with a soul trapped inside. It was most curious, however as Draéls eyes started to glow he could hear the doll screatch in his hand before it turned pale and were crushed in his fist. At first he thought it was one of Livia's tricks to spy on them... then he realized that the magic tasted different from the one all around the academy, not that it mattered at the moment.

He stopped by Iravis' side for a moment, she were quite close to the demon he intended to face at the given time and while he stood there he watched her. It was clear that she were no mage but a familiar as well, most curious as he caught her dance with and kiss the headmistress for some reason. Yet he ignored her approaching Lyssa, "Excuse me... may I bother you for a dance?... I have two crazy demons after my head and I need a bit of a cover up... " he said as he gently reached for her hand.

“Ehe, crazy demons? Silly, the only crazy demon here is me!~” She giggled, before offering him a slightly apologetic smile. “But uhm, sorry. I already have a date.”

Chen glanced at Iravis and vaguely noted her calling Lyssa a servant and asking for a dance. He also noticed a nervous boy asking her for a dance as well. He was too absorbed in the satisfaction he had just gotten from his revenge to really care though. "See ya around Lyssa." He mumbled half heartedly as he basked in his self percieved glory. God it felt good to get even. He then sipped at his sweet tea some more. 'I don't even like sweet tea.'

Chen snapped out of it and decided to go watch the fireworks happen over with Zauberbuch and the headmistress. He got out of his chair, set the awful sweet tea down, and watched as the fireworks began.

Draél was glad of the succubus' response, for a moment he was worried she would accept it. It meant she was safe at least for the moment and he had to make sure "Ah Good, I try not to loose my head over there then" he said as he moved out of her way to the feast table.

With the two boys and headmistress leaving the area, the goddess looked towards her servant. The hellion remained loyal. Katherine was the only other person there, but she seemed formal. Well, and the golem on the ground. The Phoenix did wonder what that was about.

"The headmistress is indeed a good dancer, but to be envious of her is excessive. The floor is calling for me again, so will you attend?" A hand was offered, indicating that Lyssa should lead. It would be interesting to see her skills.

“Ehe, of course I will!~” Lyssa replied sounding a bit surprised. “I also, may be just slightly…drunk~” She continued with a grin, taking Iravis’ hand. “So, uh, if I start stepping on toes feel free to toss me.”

With that, the demon led Iravis back onto the dance floor. She was a bit unused to leading, but she would try her best at least. She started the dance well enough, so that was probably good.

Katherine, well, a lot happened. Luckily, not saying much made everyone go away. Well, just about everyone. The golem was still there after all. With a sigh, she made her decision to summon her dolls and strengthened them to help the thing up. It was animated rocks, so it was still heavy. . . But still, somehow, they helped the thing up. "I'd suggest not breaking anything else, else your master suffers more for it." A friendly warning from a not-so-friendly Disciplinarian.

Still, the dance has (mostly) gone smooth. Small hiccups here and there were to be expect. . . Like apparently a student kissing the headmistress. Definitely something to ask the woman later, but. . . "What's that?" Something was moving toward her, "Is that. . . #17?" A doll was dashing as fast as its legs could towards Katherine, waving it's arms. Distressed. It grabbed ahold of the girl's dress and tugged to get her to follow. So she did. It lead to where a bunch of students were congregated around. . . Something.

[Absolis]

Adria Solium

---

Adria only closed her eyes for a second before she noticed the sound of something growling. That was... odd. And perhaps dangerous. Adria quickly picked her lute up from off the ground, and sat herself up on the bench. As the noise gof closer, Adria began to see its source. A hideous monster soon came into view. It looked slightly like a chimera, but not. It was something Adria had never seen before, and there was no telling whether it was friendly or not.

Not taking any chances, and thinking quickly, Adria would use her magic to create a knocking sound behind the creature. In the hopes that it would distant it. If the monster was distracted, and decided to look behind it, Adria would quickly duck back behind the bench. It wouldn't be much, but anything between her and something that might try to kill her would be better then nothing. Unfortunately she would most likely create a noise equivalent to the knocking if she got the chance to do the above.

[Rune_Alchemist]

The creature fell for Adria's trick, immediately turning towards the source of the noise with a loud, gruff noise. Its four legs carried it swiftly over to the source, but it found nothing aside from disappointment. The creature then roared loudly, it's impossibly strong arms slamming into the ground, strong enough to make a small crater. Its impressive strength was not something Adria wanted to get hit by. One hit, and she'd likely be completely out.

Enraged that it didn't find any prey, it turned back around and looked towards the bench, a loud growl coming from its throat as it paced back and forth, still looking for prey. At least, though, Adria would have probably figured out this thing can't see very well, and relies more on sound instead of sight.

@Absolis

[Absolis]

Adria Solium

---

So that worked... somewhat. It was something though. But now it was angry, and it looked as though it could take her head off with a single swing. Adria's mind raced with panicked thoughts as she attempted to figure out how to get out of this. Hmm...

Suddenly being struck by an idea, Adria would send out another noise. This time a scuffle of feet, a bit further off. Followed by the sound of a bush rattling a couple of feet away from that one, as if something were running away from the chimera. Perhaps she could lead it away long enough for her to head in the opposite direction?

---

@Rune_Alchemist

[Rune_Alchemist]

At the sound of feet skittering across the ground, the chimera swiftly turned its head in that direction. It seemed to be listening for anything else. It seemed to be debating whether or not this was another trick of some sort, whether it's prey was there or not. Then, there it was - the sound of a bush rattling. Thinking that was enough, it gave a low growl, leaping towards the direction of the sound, its hands grasping at something that its eyes could barely see. The thing growled, thinking it had found victory, but upon feeling it further...it found it had only picked up a bench.

With a loud roar, it grasped a nearby bench, and tossed it in the opposite direction the noise came from - right towards Adria.

@Absolis