Estylwen

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Girls'Dorm
@Nanaya @Psyker Landshark @Sifr

---

"Sure, that'd be awesome! Hit me up any time really, I don't have a life!"

She nodded, noticing the sensations of essence moving as each Adapa exchanged information. It felt... nostalgic. Similar to how she felt when she had done her part-time job as an essence eradicator in Vaal Kastrix. However, this essence wouldn't stay like plant essence would when consumed. Instead, this essence felt much like a code encoded into the depths of her Adapa, instead of her stomach.

She finished exchanging information with those who were interested and let Davil be on his way. It was time to head out herself, regardless. She purposefully avoided Valen's lethal gaze until the very end, where she returned his icy stare with one of her own before leaving the auditorium.

Within the comfortable quiet of the carriage, Ciara watched as she, the knight, and the hunter passed by the Leyline Attunement Zone. The place she had seen and yearned for before entering the main building of Wingram. A part of her wanted to leap out and touch the pillar right then and there, but she seemed to be among... friends. So she held back, and turned her face to the knight and hunter riding along with her.

"You can never have friends. Not with how badly I want to Eat both of them." A Voice in her mind spoke coldly.

"I can dream." She thought defiantly.

After they passed through the town, heading towards a striking large tower, Ciara's eyes widened as she saw.... it. On the road. Different than before. Her nemesis and adversary. Yet...

"Please be at ease, deterrent. You are safe here," Their Mannekin carriage driver said, causing Ciara's head to tilt curiously.

Deterrent. Divine culling.

Affirming Gulliver's role, the Mannekin seemed hesitant to approach one so... confused. Why, though? And how was he so clean? The battle against Gulliver had been a messy combined effort. He had collapsed in a dirty heap. She saw it. She swore she saw it...

Ah.

There were two Gullivers, weren't there?

Ciara glanced at the knight. Was this Gulliver the one she pulled out of the metal giant?

To confirm, she opened the passenger door and stepped out. No. Gulliver was staring, but he didn't appear like he could recognize them.

Before she could approach further, Gulliver collapsed right into the waiting arms of Principal Raja. Ciara's eyes narrowed, trying to piece the puzzle together. The principal was going out of her way to ensure her... 'deterrent' wasn't getting hurt. She also seemed to be aware this Gulliver didn't have any recent memories. Did she know how this Gulliver was linked to the other one, the 'original' she had her little spat within the halls and auditorium? Was it necessary to fuse them together somehow?

"At least we got to Eat its pathetic little wooden toys." A deeper Voice.

"Very unsatisfying." She admitted with a grimace.

Ciara stepped back into the carriage, her lips pursed as she watched the principal take the other Gulliver away. After a few minutes, they had arrived at the Girls' Dorm, the Mannekin giving them their envelopes. She looked back at the knight and the hunter a moment before glancing up at their new home, and holding open the door for those who wanted to enter with her.

As she walked through the hallways, she tapped out the key from her envelope. The number 07 was tagged on the key, which Ciara hunted down in a matter of minutes. To her surprise, there were names written on parchment and taped to the door.

Iraleth + Ciara

Ciara blinked, staring hard at the door, not comprehending for the longest moment before turning to the knight, who was staring hard as well, key in hand that matched hers.

No. Was she- was the knight- was Ciara dormed with the knight?!

"Fates be praised." A child-like Voice said gleefully in her mind.

She pressed her lips into a firm line, picturing the struggle that would be her daily life now.

"Iraleth, huh?" She said hesitantly, still not quite believing what she was seeing.

She unlocked the door and entered their dorm. She located her luggage right away on the right side of the room. The luggage on the other side, she had to assume it was the knight's. She took a few steps into the room, then turned back, looking at the hunter if she had followed. She seemed to pause in thought before glancing again at the dorm room's space in the center of the floor, close to the far wall. She raised her hand, and up from the floor sprung a whispy, inky black bed, mirrored similar to what she would be sleeping on.

Yes, there was enough space.

She released the shadow, letting it wisp away before turning to the hunter. "Show me where your room is, I can bring your bed here. There's space for all of us."

Iris Ascendis

Posted! I've also added an extra sentence to 'The Light' section of Ciara's CS, mainly for cosmetics. I've also added a theme song at the end of the CS.

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Auditorium
@Nanaya @ERode @Psyker Landshark @Sifr

---

"Sucks to suck, I guess."

Ciara watched Michael cart out the few students stuck in slumber. The faculty staff didn't seem worse for wear, though she had no idea how he planned on tackling the impossible task of cleaning the auditorium.

Oops.

As Principal Raja spoke, Ciara listened, feeling the coalesce of new essence in her system. The Adapa. A curious object that had made her cry. Though she was loathe to share her headspace with yet another Voice, the principal mentioned this one was subservient. She could use that.

"You mean we can Eat it."

"I doubt it's terribly tasty, with how it brought me back to that time." She thought.

"Doesn't matter if it tastes like chalk. I want essence." The child-like reply was curt and stubborn.

"If you want to Eat me, that's okay." Ciara heard a new Voice in her mind, soft and whispery. The Adapa. "But you may find I'm of more use to you alive."

Ciara allowed herself an intrigued expression. She could feel the Adapa's fear despite its cool tone. It was really worried about getting Eaten.

"Why should I keep you alive?" She thought, a tiny smirk flashing across her lips.

"I can put you in direct, instant contact with other students."

"Eh. I can teleport to almost anyone, anywhere. Try again."

The Adapa seemed to squirm in her mind, at a loss for words.

"I'm Hungry." The child-like Voice chimed in, enjoying the game.

"N-no, don't Eat me! I uh, I can offer advice. I have knowledge of battle strategy. I know lots of things. Please!"

Ciara tilted her head, pausing for a long moment.

Then she shrugged. "Fine, I won't Eat you. Yet."

The relieved sigh was overpowered by the instant complaints of the other Voices in Ciara's head, to which she narrowed her eyes at.

"That's enough." She thought.

"What about the light?" The child-like Voice drew her attention to the knight, struggling to sit upright in her seat, exhausted and devoid of enough prime essence to fight. "We will never find it in such a sorry state again. Now's our chance."

Ciara's face turned cold, watching the knight as the Voices continued to pressure her. There was a part of her that furiously thought of ways to take down the knight, right there and then. Ways to destroy all the witnesses, fantasizing about finally Eating, finally being satisfied from this burning Hunger.

Her eyes reluctantly shut. "We're not going there."

"So you decide to attack it when it can fight back? You want to struggle with your meal?"

"I haven't decided on anything." Ciara snapped, standing abruptly from her seat as the lecture concluded. Her eyes gazed over the principal, taking in the motto and salute. Structure, rules, order... She curled her lip at it, immediately feeling the tight constraints of the orphanage all over again. But, instead of voicing her distaste, she turned away, glancing at her fellow students.

The boy with the glasses moved almost instantly, gone from the room. Fair enough.

Otis stood beside her, glance cast between her and Valen. “I will join the Sword of Wund.”

Her eyes glanced at Valen briefly before returning to Otis as he continued to speak. “If you wish to extend our truce, Ciara, join me.”

Interesting. The Sword of Wund was already an intriguing option for her. What did Otis stand to gain from aligning with her, though? Besides having the ability to destroy the auditorium's wooden assailants and swallow its chairs with help like hers. It was a smart move, but-

"You're overthinking it. Always align with this darkness. You noticed it didn't flinch when the red 'it' threatened annihilation of those disgraceful liars?" A deeper, more calculative Voice.

"Not necessarily a good thing..." She thought.

"It's calming, though. Isn't it."

She had to admit, it was. If the Voices relaxed at the thought of chalk getting annihilated, even if it was wrong, it gave her mind respite. That was something worth noting. It means the Voices and the dark one, Otis, might be closer aligned. Perhaps sticking with Otis would spare her some headache down the road if the Voices were more soothed.

Her head tilted, "Adapa, what do you think?"

A blue-ish, whispery presence came closer in her mind, and the Adapa spoke. "From what I understand, the Strigidae has assisted and saved you from a terrible beating twice. You have no reason to distrust them."

"It." The calculative Voice corrected.

Ciara paused, considering this, before turning to Otis. She had her answer.

"Very well." She said with a nod.

Otis walked off before turning back and confronting Davil. Good. She had an opportunity. Her grimoire appeared in a blue flash, opening to a blank page. She nodded to Davil, Otis, the knight, and the hunter.

"If you want, put in your contacts so we can keep in touch."

That was when the hunter also spoke up. "You must both be tired. Wanna find the dorms together?"

Her eyes glanced at the knight, then back at the hunter, feeling somewhat comfortable. She could never say no to being in the presence of the knight's delectable light, and the grey of the hunter's aura had tasty bite-sized pieces of light that were pleasant to be in the presence of as well.

"Maybe we can Eat both."

Ciara stared flatly as the Voice spoke, then pursed her lips and gave the hunter a nod. "Sure."

Iris Ascendis

This is gonna be a nice round. I will have a response up tomorrow!

Will dorms be singular or double? Will roommate's be assigned, do would we get to choose, @Nanaya?

@Sifr Another Voice, another straw to eventually break the camel's back. ^^;

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Auditorium
@Nanaya @ERode @Psyker Landshark @Sifr @AThousandCurses

---

Touching the Adapa brought immediate and striking darkness.

No more principal. No more auditorium.

Had she hesitated when she touched the blue wisp?

Perhaps.

But that didn't matter now. She knew what awaited her. The dreaded moment that defined her as a horror to behold, as something to be feared and scorned…

When she opened her eyes again, she was faced with a wintery scene, a chill at her back. Two shadowed faces loomed over her. She tried to move, but found herself pinned at each shoulder as rough hands held her back.

In her one hand, she gripped her stuffed animal. The original one. Her other was balled in a tiny and angry fist.

She struggled. "Let go of me!"

"They never loved you."

A stab in her heart from an unknown voice, different than the Voices normally in her head.

"You have plagued me my whole life, what difference does it make now?" Was her response.

A sudden yank, and her stuffed animal was no longer in her hand.

"No!" Her shocked horror as she struggled, eyes looking frantically as the stuffed animal was returned to the shadowed faces.

"They never cared." Another stab.

"Please, don't let them take me!" She cried out, feeling the tears pooled in her eyes, begging the figures staring down at her.

"They knew who you were. A monster." Yet another stab.

"I'm not a monster!" She thought desperately.

The hands around her started to drag her against her will, and she watched in horror as the shadowed faces neither moved nor blinked.

"They wanted to get rid of you from the beginning."

"Shut up!" She cried out desperately, struggling weakly against the hands on her.

"Face it. You'll always be worthless."

She froze in her struggle. Was it… could it be true? Would she be nothing more than a bad omen? Would she never overcome the hateful looks and scorn? Would she be doomed to walk the earth, alone and feared?

The small child stood frozen as snowflakes slowly fell, the door frame of her home getting smaller and smaller.

She would be alone. Abandoned. Rejected.

Was this her fate?

Teeth gritted tightly as she stared at the scene, tears blurring her vision.

Never. She would never bow. She would never succumb to this feeling.

With one final, angry cry ripping through her chest, she threw off the hands holding her. Dark tentrills shot up from the white ground, wrapping around the hands and throwing them violently to the side.

And immediately, she ran. It didn't matter where.

She would be free. Damn the Voices to hell. Damn them all to hell.

---

Ciara found herself back in her seat in the auditorium. She blinked, touching her face to feel streaks of tears drying on her cheek.

Hastily, she dried them, and glanced around their row in front of the stage. The boy with glasses, the hunter, and the knight were already awake, a somber and stoic resolve in their eyes.

Impressive.

Iris Ascendis

Fascinating... I will have a response up tomorrow.

Iris Ascendis

Anyone know where Sifr is? :o

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Auditorium
@Nanaya @ERode @Psyker Landshark @Sifr @AThousandCurses

---

A willful thought came through the static. "That wretch bore a singular good point. What are you?"

A Voice cackled. "It suspects. All the better."

Ciara stared at the knight, glowing in her vision as they stood side by side on the stage.

Another Voice. "Imagine it's look when we finally taste it."

"It's a good person." Ciara thought.

Hard and sharp like a whip. "It'll kill you."

"It wouldn't." Ciara thought, her words a whisper.

"It would. I can prove it. You have seen how virtuously it speaks, yes? Gives all hints of Astrism. Further suggested by the other 'it.'"

"Valen?"

"Yes. With this sword it wields, how it admires the Nerite Heroes, in all likelihood, it knows how to purify. This would lead to your ultimate... demise."

Ciara's eyes widened slightly as the Voice exuded a haughty smugness. Purifying magic? No, no, the Voics had to be wrong. It was a rare skill, no kid her age could have enough mastery over it to be a threat to her, surely.

"It wouldn't. Couldn't." Her weak thought.

"It can and it would." Came the cold response.

Ciara paused, a slight tremble seen within her shadow. The knight seemed nice enough. Surely there was no motive like that, right?

Ah, who was she kidding. People like the knight had plagued Ciara all her life. She had made the mistake of not suspecting before. It had cost her a few ripe scars.

"Then, what do we do?"

"Catch it by surprise, and Eat it before it can kill you."

Ciara seemed to stand, paralyzed, before closing her eyes. She tried to swallow her fear.

Were the Voices right? They normally were.

Enough time had passed since she had feasted on hollow Mannekin. The excitement of consuming essence had since died down, allowing her to take back some control of her eyes. When she reopened them, whether to seem less threatening or for another reason, they had returned back to their normal amber.

"You may explain later in private, once this pageantry is done with. But I am inclined to give you a chance. For now." The thought from the knight continued.

There was a long pause before Ciara spoke through the mental web.

"I find no need to explain myself, especially when we are students alike, without authority over another," Ciara thought, shaking the mental web with her willfulness. "But... if you find me... I will be... happy... to oblige."

That was when a strange beast descended from the ceiling. Ciara blinked, looking up in confusion as it drifted down, and transformed. Her jaw dropped. It was the teacher. The teacher. The one who had spoken unseen since all this began. Finally. Here in the flesh.

Ciara didn't know whether to be elated or wring her dry for letting things go on as they did.

"We stand mere seconds away from the appointed start time. Be seated. For those that are not seated in the next forty five seconds, we will happily accept your participation next year."

Ciara's eyes snapped to the clock. That wasn't much time at all.

Snap.

Just like that, the mental web connecting the fledgling heroes was cut off. Ciara's gaze turned to Otis, watching him finally make his move. Names were called, and the repurposed Mannekin hurriedly moved to and fro with seats, like little fairies granting wishes. As Otis sat in front of the stage, a shadowy throne spiraled up from the ground on one of his free sides, tendrils extending from Ciara's shadow.

She sat down beside him.

Yes, a chair had her name written on it. She was sure of it. But any number of things could go wrong. Hell, a student could try snatching her chair as a Mannekin wheeled forth to deliver it. Otis could say to hell with the 'Umbralist' and skip over her entirely. It had happened before.

She trusted easily. But dependence? That was another thing entirely.

Before she could think about it too much, a Mannekin moved in front of her, delivering a chair she had previously torn up. Allowing herself a small smile, she accepted it, the shadowy throne melting away as she replaced it with a tried and true auditorium chair. She sat again and leaned back, looking up at the stage with slight satisfaction.

Gulliver was presented before who she presumed to be their teacher, and Otis asked a few poignant questions.

She watched curiously before adding one more question. "He mentioned something about a 'divine culling.' Know anything about that?"

Iris Ascendis

Yaaay!

Sorry to hear about a tough day...

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Auditorium
@Nanaya @ERode @Psyker Landshark @Sifr @AThousandCurses

---

"Agreed. I refuse to let you commit a massacre. If you have even a shred of vaunted Nero's integrity, you will stand down, Leuvalt."

The knight gave Ciara a nod, which she returned. It meant she wasn't going into this alone.

"Third Shield: Repel!"

A loud crash. At the foot of the stage, a boy dressed in black prepared to defend the audience from the killing spell being cast. Three against one. Ciara liked those odds. However, she had to remind herself Valen claimed to defeat nearly every student outside. From the expressions on the students' faces, Valen was no easy foe to fight with whimsically.

The knight, and this boy dressed in black, both were exhausted. Ciara considered herself, and her exhaustion levels. She had spent the morning fighting off Mannekin and manipulating shadows on a mass level in the darkness of the auditorium. By all intents and purposes, she should be exhausted as well. However, using her Ethos as a package runner daily gave her a bit more endurance. She could keep going, but not for long.

Her eyes hovered on Valen, watching his every move. As he saw three enemies prepared to stop him, the symbols faded. But what he said... chilled her to the core.

"Shadow magic, is it? I suppose Vaal Shakta is more lenient with practiced Umbralists, but I was not aware that the good Verne lacked the sense to ship your ilk off to Mirris."

"How dare you." Came the sudden and sharp reply.

Mirris. A place she would likely be sent to die, if she were to ever find herself in the unfortunate circumstances of being even remotely close to such a hostile place. There would be no essence eradication, no package running. They would only see her like how her home saw her. A monster. A threat to the peace that heroes struggled and died for. A remnant of an ill-boded age where darkness ravaged and devoured the world.

In less than a few seconds, Valen had reduced Ciara to that small child abandoned on a doorstep.

It was enough to cause Ciara's blade to press a little more hungrily against his throat.

"Say that again, I dare you."

A pause.

"I suppose the world is changing with each passing day, and we now find ourselves united: those that worship the Leuvalts and those that worship dark art madmen like First Shepherd Meer in the same halls, blades trained at the same enemies."

It was that statement that caused Ciara to snap out of her bloodlust, staring at the knight who stood stoically on the front side of Valen. From a distance, it was all rather striking. The virtue of virtues, and the mistaken darkness, who could never truly escape her own shadow, united against a common foe.

It was almost poetic, if she didn't abore the notion of Umbralism to her very core.

She pulled her blade away, but kept it unsheathed, as he sipped from his wine. As he spoke, her expression narrowed.

A jape? All of this was his idea of a sick joke?

"Umbralist or not, fuck around and you will find out." The hunter said, standing beside the knight.

Ciara's gloomy expression showed the slightest hint of gratitude at that, the hunter quelling the storm inside the young shadow weaver. Ciara looked at the hunter a bit more closely, finding herself curious.

Grey. Lots of grey. But within the grey, the hunter's aura showed hints of purified light. Not as strong or refined as the knight. But enough to mark the presence of a person who did their best in any circumstance.

The echo of footsteps.

“That is enough.”

She glanced over. Otis had taken center stage, chiding the young boy dressed in black, who was struggling to stand.

From the corner of her eye, she saw it. A leftover Mennekin, and the first chair to be gifted. With just a handful of minutes left on the clock, they were reaching the next phase of Otis' plan for peace in the auditorium. With a final glare directed towards Valen, Ciara sheathed her dagger.

As she stared, she made a vow.

One day, she'd make him eat those words.

She then returned to the front of the sage and stood near Davil and Otis, watching the students form their rows as ordered. The analyst lurked in the shattered seating areas near the back of the auditorium, tending to a girl she didn't recognize. Cirar's own eyes glanced at the clock, then around the edges and crannies of the auditorium.

Time was short. Had they prepared enough for when the faculty would finally arrive?