Metamore

Highschoolers, Fight on!

@Cherrywitch
_same

Highschoolers, Fight on!

@OliveYou
Well that's sort of where you come in actually.

Seren's Illusion Manipulation, as described in their CS:

Currently, this ability is constrained to guises of themselves and small mirages. Seren can make themselves appear more like people from the target's dreams. While their skin, hair, and eye color change, and while Seren has even learned to partially glmaour clothes they're familiar with like their signature hoodie, Seren can never seem to hide their horns. On top of the fact that Seren's illusions only effect their deliberate target, it doesn't make for make much of clever disguise as of yet. Outside of looks, Seren has been known to pull small objects from their targets dream into reality as ghostly after-images of what they were once were imagined to be. This takes considerable effort however, and is still only visable to the target and Seren.

@Metamore

So if you'd like, you can write Lalisa's dream sequence like CherryWitch did for Raphael, and I'll see what Seren can pull from that to disguise themself, and partially Lalisa too if at the cost of their already currently limited stamina. Just as well, you can have Lalisa wake up too,and continue writing as you normally would, seeing as Seren's presence in people's minds can still be jarring even if undetected. Its up to you :)

Highschoolers, Fight on!

Hehe, they may be soft, but they have some fighting spirit buried deep within

Highschoolers, Fight on!

Seren

Their knees immediately felt weak. Their pupils dilated with fear, and a familiar tingle simmered it's way across their skin, yet just as soon as it came, it was interrupted by Raphael coming to his rescue.

”What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Their being shoved to the side jerked away the sensation, and to the close observer, the hue of their skin regained it's natural pale. Having no time to dwell on it, Seren scrambled to regain their composure, and called back "I-I'm s-" the scream of shattered light and the thud of Raph's body against the floor stole the words from their mouth and left it dry. They started towards him, but forgot about the encroaching spirit. It lunged forwards, and the impulses of fight or flight were sapped cold from their body. Seren froze. Stopped them dead in their tracks. Body clenched so tight it threatened to collapse in on itself. Seren awaited the snap of jaws around their neck that never came.

A moment of silence hushed over the room, and Seren allowed themself to breath again; a right they hadn't realized was taken from them. Not even thinking to see who saved them, Raph had their full attention again. They wanted to rush to his side, however fate had other plans, and a gutteral roar split through the hall; re-planting Serens's feet where they stood. A wave of off racked their senses, but worse than that? Their eyes screwed shut. They could feel their bones shaking. They felt defeated. In the space of a hour they'd felt more useles, terrified, and wrong then they had since hecame into their life. This dropping of their gut was not unfamiliar to them, and it burnt white-hot shame into them realizing just how in over their head they were. Their teeth grinded as they formed fists. 'Do something. Do something. Do something.' In their peripheral, movement pulled in their vision.

Raphael sprung back up, brushing past Seren with fiery determination in his eyes. Whipping around to see where the fae was headed, Seren caught a glimpse of a girl he'd seen earlier. The girl within the indoor meadow. Trailing from her grass were vines and branches that ensnared the very same spirit that had threatened them. 'She saved me.' As a tree spurred to life near her, its caster wilted. Falling limp like a sack of leaves. Just enough weight to pang that unmistakable thud, and just light enough to remind you of the owner's fragility. Another beastly wail, possibly one of pain, but Seren didn't have the nerve to face it. Instead it just shook them to their core. 'No.' they commanded themself. This time had to be different. 'Do something.' Snapping into a sprint, Seren dashed to Lalisa. Seren couldn't face monsters, but they could tend to the fainted.

Running around the edges of students, they avoided the conflict all together, but what they saw through the crowd was more than unsettling. Even amongst the havoc and palpable aura of the bearish fiend, some parasites still corralled the weak. Spirits in the form of twisted, black slugs writhed and slithered their way towards Lalisa's greenery intent on spiritually feeding on the unconscious girl. Crossing the circle of grass, Seren crouched over over her on their knees. Seren lifted her head into their lap, and cupped her face with their hands. "Hey," their voice as gentle as they could manage, "This isn't a place you want to be sleeping." As if coaxing a child out of bed, they shrugged her shoulders. Their eyes flickered up, and caught slugs worming their way between the grass blades. "Please!" Growing desperate Seren tried to lift Lalisa by her head, but miscalculated her weight, and she slipped from his hands. A small yelp escaped them as they flung themself to her side again. "Sorry! I'm sorry, uh- ah!" Seren slapped away a parsitic spirit that had begun to crawl up Lalisa's calf. Suckling in a breath, Seren regained their footing, and began pulling Lalisa away by her wrists. They didn't have time to carry her effectively, and this was definitely much slower than they needed to go, but they were out of ideas.

Pulling on their limited strength, Seren hefted and twisted her body around, so that she was now collapsed on their back; legs dragging behind them. Something slimy slid up their own leg -off cracked down their spine- and Seren barely managed to shake it off. 'This isn't gonna work, This isn't gonna work! I'm too slow!' Their thoughts screamed at them, and their grimaced face panicked. Seren scanned the crowd looking for help, but everyone was either on the sidelines tending to their selves and others, or facing off against the greater evil in the center of the hall. To be honest, the pair wasn't all that far from the fight, so their safety was non-existent. Another slug latched itself to Seren, and only Lalisa's body slipping from their grasp kept their mind off of the sudden surge of off. Yanking her forward flush aginst their back, Seren pleaded, almost screaming, with exasperation. "Please wake up now!" Hopefully someone would take pity on them, because Seren didn't know how much longer they could hold her up with more slugs clinging to them. Only instinct kept them sloshing through the sea of off that poured down on them thick and heavy with each clinging spirit. Only instinct reached into Lalisa's mind, searching for something, anything to use from her dreams to hide the cambion from further spirits. It would be flimsy at best, and only effect Lalisa herself, but this was base survival instinct; there was no reasoning with it, just the need to keep moving. Seren had spent up their fight and freeze. Only flight remained.

@OliveYou

Highschoolers, Fight on!

So @OliveYou, will you be wrapping this scene up now that everyone's in one place, like how CherryWitch was saying: so everyone gets on the same track, or would you like to wait for some other people to keep going first?

Highschoolers, Fight on!

@OliveYou
Awww~! That's so adorable! I love it! House of Cards is also one of my FAVORITE songs! XD You'r soe right though, it totally fits Seren's character! Lol, maybe I subconsciously based them after it cuz I love it some much! xD

Also.. I hope Lalisa isn't as heartbroken as the song Autumn Leaves ;-; she's so sweet, and deserves to be happy

Highschoolers, Fight on!

Hehe, I have a feeling this won't be anywhere close to the last time Seren infuriates Raph xD

Highschoolers, Fight on!

@Cherrywitch Yes, I am. Sorry about the wait, I was originally planning on waiting for a more obvious plot thing to happen with the other characters for mine to step into, but then shcoolwork came back to haunt me. I'm so glad this is my final year. Thank the Gods. But again, sorry. It was entirely my fault. I have a post up now though, and a clear schedule all the rest of this week :D

Highschoolers, Fight on!

Lol
Thank you! Smh, I actually posted the wrong final copy of that post though, but it's up now, just some minor dialogue changes and what not.

And yes! I think so, which means . . . THE PLOT LIVES ON!

Highschoolers, Fight on!

Seren

The best way to describe it would be like sweat-slicked, elongated fingers slipping cotton ball after cotton ball into Seren's ears, through the corners of their eyes, and filling to the brim the pouches of their cheeks. It was wrong and off, and Seren couldn't help but just stand there. They could still hear the ringing of the alarm going off in the ears, and they had heard Raphael's reaction as well, but here they stood. Some slimy creature crawling under the doorway were they supposed to be going through, and here they stood feeling off.

”I said don’t get in the way! Stay behind me until I get rid of it, then get inside!” With the words leaving his mouth, Raphael nearly threw Seren behind him. 'Am I moving?' Seren thought absentmindedly. They were in no state to catch themself, and so they fell right side first atop the grass. They had enough sense about them to know they needed to get up, but taking it slow seemed so much easier. Lazily they rolled onto their back, their knees bent to the sky as they stared. 'What is this feeling?' They asked themself. Whatever feeling was, it began to hollow Seren out. Emptying. 'Is this a dream?' Their head lolled on the grass, horns forcing their neck to arch as they looked up to the blue expanse of the sky. The sky was clear, but not empty. Winged spirits flocked overhead. The flock wasn't attacking, but dancing? Almost. Their formation was fluid and weaved in and out of their original pattern, and their bodies only helped in aiding a comparison to. sewing needles; they were thin and sharp.

Seren wasn't the kind to space out, and when they did it was introspective, but this? This was surreal. It was like waking up inside a dream; they could feel the vulnerability of reality, and it was soft. Something inside of them started slipping, but they couldn't really pay it any mind. With that slip though, came a the strings of clarity like a cool, light breeze. Light gleamed to life in their peripheral vision, and swiped at something Seren couldn't quite see at their angle. 'Raph.' They dully thought. Blinking away their lethargy, Seren slowly rose to a siting position. They had enough sense to know where they needed to be. They put their hand to the earth to stabilize themself, and pushed off from it to stand. Languidly, they tossed their head back to see the sky, and it was not soft. Like falling arrows the spirits overhead descended with a murderous intent that cracked over Seren's body. Reality snapped back into place. They had been sleeping awake, because this was not a dream. This was survival. They needed to move. Panic whipped at their heels, and just in the nick of time as Raph hurriedly snatched their hand, pulling them to the door. A deflated, gelatinous form dissolved beneath them as they stepped pass the threshold. So far Seniors ensured that the spirits hadn't breached the halls, but the two still ran for better safety in numbers with their grade.

”Come on, move. We gotta get back to the orientation room.” exhaustion coated his voice. It finally struck Seren that Raphael had just saved them.

"Right. Right. Thank you so much. Thank you." Seren huffed, exasperating their already breathy voice into a mere whisper. Once again, Seren felt a pang of guilt towards the boy. Here he was fighting and trying, and all Seren could do was feel off. They couldn't help but think of their sisters. Their sacrifices, their effort. "Right," Seren said to themself as they were dragged back to The Orientation Hall. 'Focus, Seren. Be strong. Remember why you came here.' They commanded themself, unintentionally tightening their grip on Raphael's hand. In a stark contrast, there was even more chaos inside the hall than out. The welcoming screaming of unprepared freshmen was enough to make their shoulders hike. 'Remeber why you're here.' Something had to be done. Scanning the room made them clench their jaw. Twisted figures attempting to look human, and gnarly beasts prowled and swarmed. Some crowded around a girl standing in an indoor meadow; others lashed out at a bicking duo; and dozens faced off against the upperclassmen filling through the hall like they've trained for this.

"Work together and don't get isolated! Help each other and don't abandon your fellow students!" A brave voice called out among the masses before stepping out towards one of the leading spirts amongst the horde. His chivalry would soon be cut short however by the shadow spirit stalking him, which had begun rising from the floor behind the unsuspecting Atlan. A head took form out of the inky creature, or more specifically: three rows of teeth from an expanding jaw.

"Stop!" Startled into action, Seren reached out in the Shadow's direction; their fingers hooking like claws without even thinking to. They didn't have time to think about it, impulse just took over as demonic magic surged through their veins; coating their eyes sickly yellow. Still, Seren had never used their abilities so willingly, or aggressively. The strain of it took the breath out of their lungs. However the demonic origin of their power proved enough to momentarily effect the spirit. Momentarily. It did paused briefly, head bobbing dazedly, before Seren's eyes faded back to normal. At this, the creature quickly sunk back into the flow and zipped straight at the cambion.

@CherryWitch
@Insert Alias