Fandom Soul Eater: The Perfect Order

[Lady Warlock]

Crisis Team 2: The Cave

Leader - Hiro Mitsaki


Students - Ivy Landvik and Demitri Voclain, Hotaru Yukishiro and Ren Ichisayame, Rita Ito and Warren Langston, Nicole Heimholtz and Ryoma Takagi, Honey Mitskuni and Igor, Undine Isles and Aoi Asuka, Aeryn and Kassana Silverstream


Gathering the Group

“Hotaru and Ren!” Hiro called out as soon as the two students appeared by Miyako. “You’re with me!” His voice took on an unusual leader-like tone as he spoke. He really was trying to do his job for once because when Lord Death asked him to do something, laziness suddenly wasn’t an option; at least, it wasn’t supposed to be an option anymore.


As all of the students gathered in front of him, Hiro’s eyes scanned over the group as he tried to figure out several different ways to carry out such a mission with his group. Ivy and Demitri were certainly the strongest students he had been assigned although he had a few others of note that he was confident could hold their own if they took things seriously enough. His eyes dwelled for a moment longer on the NEW students than they did on any of the others because they would be his top priority if things got out of hand. Forcing them into a fight would not be wise and it would only make more paperwork for him in the long run.


Hiro could not ignore the fact that Lord Death had already helped slightly on the point of the NEW students by pairing Kassana and Aeryn. Although the death weapon did not know much about the boy, he knew that Lord Death was confident in the mystery student’s ability to hold his own to a decent degree.


Without vocalizing any of his present thoughts, deciding that it would be better to wait until he had a better understanding of what exactly they were walking into, Hiro called out, “Let’s go!” to the students before he turned and lead them outside the boundaries of Death City.


The Hiding of Deanna Jones

An ominous feeling would wash over a select few members of the group. Hiro felt it wash over him with continuing dread as he stopped walking, hoping that none of the students who would also sense it would decide to charge ahead on their own. Such an idea would not be wise if what he felt was what he imagined it was.


His eyes flickered over all of the students who had been following him as he tried to gauge whether or not any of them felt it too. He wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t seeing as they were still quite a ways out on the cave and many of them wouldn’t have developed quite the senses for it. To them, it would more than likely seem as though Hiro was contemplating something as he stood there frozen; however, his words were hopefully reassuring to a degree. “Be ready,” he warned them. “We’re almost there.” That being said, Hiro lead them forward once more. He was unwilling to terrify them any more. While he knew what was ahead, the strength of it didn’t quite match up to the fear he knew it would cause if he mentioned it.


As they walked, the likelihood only grew that the students would sense it. The cave came into sight and there was a figure standing there oddly. Hiro wouldn’t have been surprised if the being knew they were coming and although his own senses were significantly less without the presence of his meister, the professor knew a witch when he saw one. It’s presence made Hiro curious. Why would a witch seek a cure to madness? And why would a witch wait when a group of DWMA students approached? Wouldn’t hiding be a better idea?


Then of course, there was the cave itself. From the outside, the cave looked rather small. This may not have said much to anyone who didn’t think about it, but if it was given the smallest amount of thought, any of the students would be drawn to the same conclusion. The cave descended underground. There may have been quite more to the location that initially met the eye.


Regardless of his questions, Hiro was certain that it would only be a moment before something happened. All that remained was to see who made the first move - his students or the witch.

As you arrive at the cave, there is a stranger standing outside of it. The soul seers among you can tell it is a witch. If you can’t see souls, you are unaware of this fact until someone mentions it. If you can see souls, you can mention that the figure is a witch although you are under no obligation to say so.

@Stamper @Violet Obsidian @Sophrosyne03 @DeadgurlXD @TheWeirdPhilosopher @T h e F o o l @Pariah Stark

 

[Sunbather]

| Asa Vesper

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A high-pitched squeak sounded in short, irregular intervals, similar to a morse code. The chubby little shadow continously flailing in mid-air, only to swirl to the other side of the lanky figure seemed to be restless, possibly startled. "Yes, yeees, I know." an upsettingly vague, absent-minded voice answered in regards to the twichy, bat-like creature. The answer did not seem to satisfy or calm the little demon at all though, only making it fly faster, squeaking louder. The remotely female-sounding voice let out a groan, then tip-toed closer to the cave's entrance, the already sculiosis-like bended spine bowing even further. Though the witch's height hid it quite well, it was still more than odd looking, as if she could clasp herself like a jackknife. "I'm not sure how..." the voice began, only to trail off again.


"I'm gonna get beaten, aren't I?" The question didn't seem to be directed to anyone in particulary, not even the little creature swirling around in immediate proximity, as the witch straightened herself out again, shoulders hanging in clear lack of motivation. "I'm so screwed if I mess this up... So screwed, so screwed, so screwed, so screwed, so... SHUT UP!" The outburst came sudden, shaking the twig-like body forcefully, as one of the long arms flung into the air with surprising speed. "SHUT UP!" the witch repeated, now having the little demon in a tight grip. The chubby body wiggled inside her palm, every now and then receiving a bit of pressure that made it squeal. The witch started to snivel, as if she was close to crying, then let the demon go and stared towards the cave. "Hhhmmmgg..."


Finally, the sound of someone stepping on a branch startled her, turning her attention toward the approaching group of students. "Oh..." Her head tilted and only partially visible, as most of her face was hidden from sight due to her outfit's high collar. Slowly, her left arm rose into the air, eventually moving in a waving motion. A barely audible "Hello..." came out of her direction, seemingly without a worry in the world.

 

[Pariah Stark]

Collab Post

DaughterofAthena & Pariah Stark


Kassana & Aeryn


Duo (Red Streak)


Near the Cave


No tags
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Kassana stuck close to her meister as the group left the DWMA and even went so far as to leave the bounds of Death City itself. It wasn't that she didn't know anyone in the group; she had actually had brief introductions with most of them. However, the situation didn't feel like the kind of situation where it would be appropriate to force any interaction. Anticipations were high and everyone was curious to see what they would find and whether or not this mission would turn out to be a wild goose chase or not. That meant for the most part, they walked in silence and that was no problem with the silver-haired girl.


It was only when Hiro stopped walking that Kassana's own curiosity grew the slightest bit. 'Why would Professor Mitsaki stop here?' she wondered. And then when the teacher proceeded to warn them, she became even more uncomfortable. This was her first mission for the academy and she didn't feel even the slightest bit ready for it. She wanted to be helpful, and she hoped that she could be, but when Hiro started walking again, something irked her.


Kassana didn't see anything - not exactly. Something just felt very out of place in such a way that she couldn't even describe it. Looking around at the other students, Kassana wondered if any of them felt it too or if she was just weird. She didn't see any of them acting like they felt anything odd. Maybe that meant that they were just used to it. Wanting to look brave like them, Kassana decided not to say anything despite her growing urge to run and hide. This was not where she wanted to be right now and the thought of moving forward scared her. Sighing slightly, the girl tapped her new meister on the shoulder, unsure of what else she could do while they continued walking.


Aeryn had taken a far more serious attitude with the situation once they left Death City. Presently, he was in a focused state. Observing and considerate of everything around him, probably nothing more than his new partner, Kassana. If anything ran a close second, it was Hiro, the leader of their little party. Objectively, until a target or objective showed itself, Aeryn had nothing to really focus on except his partner and leadership, and even with those two things, the fact he was focusing at all before a battle even began was somewhat uncommon for him. Aeryn personally was confident in his abilities and normally required actually getting hit - pretty hard at that - to focus on something. But, he still needed to win over the trust and confidence of Kassana. If he didn't seem reliable now, he was pretty sure she wouldn't be reliable when he needed her.


Once the entire group seemed to stop in tandem with their leader, Aeryn was already reacting. While Kassana was considering establishing contact with Aeryn, he had already stepped back and briefly brushed his shoulder against hers just as her sigh was audible. This slight connection is all it took to create their telepathic bond. Kassana didn't necessarily need to be sure of what she could do: Aeryn already had an idea. 'Kass,' he told her, 'Take your weapon form. Even if you don't like it. Think about it - quickly: a leader only needs to stop when his objective changes or he needs to reassess the situation. In either case, it would be wise to be prepared beforehand; by keeping our minds connected, our communication increases drastically, and so does our safety.'


Kassana nearly jumped when she first heard Aeryn through their link. In her distraction with what she felt - with the ominousness of the situation - she had completely forgotten that such a thing was possible although she was quick to remember and she didn't lose too many of his words in the process. Even as he finished, though, it was apparent that she was hesitant. None of the other students had transformed so far; no one else was preparing for a fight.


She agreed on several points. Communication was nice. The dead silence that they were travelling in only made the fear that grew inside of her so much worse so having a voice, even if it wasn't out loud, was something she knew she would be able to draw comfort from. Kassana also agreed that it would be wise to be prepared. However, this was where her problem came in. Did that mean they were the only two people within the group who were wise?


And then there was that feeling that she couldn't quite place. Kassana knew she couldn't continue to ignore it. Kassana quickly turned to look at Aeryn, meaning to ask him if he knew anything about it - the odd feeling - and when her eyes fell upon him, Kassana remembered something. She remembered that she had decided to trust him. She remembered telling herself that when the time came, she would work with him and try to be the best partner she could be regardless of how useless she felt. 'Alright,' she practically whispered into their link.


Kassana's body began to glow with a subtle white light as the transformation began. She was by no means an expert in controlling the transformation yet, and it was by no means anything that could be considered fast. She actually had only done it on a countable number of occasions altogether, but it had never completely failed her. Rather, it just took time. As her body compacted, taking on the form of a slingshot, Kassana still utilized their link. 'There's something... I - I think,' she was very unsure of herself but she didn't want him to be unwarned. 'I - I don't like it and it's - it's scary.' By the time she had finished her attempt at an explanation, the transformation was complete.


It took a moment. Actually, several moments. Aeryn was patient with her; he could feel how hesitant she was. He knew that on some level, this was an important step for her. Considering she wouldn't do it before, doing it now had to mean something. To Aeryn, it was a necessity to accomplish anything. To Kassana, it was a victory in and of itself. Awarding her patience is the best he could do. Notably, the transformation itself was slow, but successful. He held her as a slingshot in his hand. While many others might not have been impressed, Aeryn was simply happy that she was balanced and even. The worst case scenario, in his mind, would have been if her entire form looked as if she was carved from warped wood with a dull pocket knife. What he saw was a pleasant alternative.


Now that she was in his hand and in her weapon form, Aeryn could also feel their telepathic bond significantly better. She came in clearer. He felt closer to her. It made sense, but it also shared more of his deeper emotions. So, most of what he just felt: the odd sense of relief, the patience, even the odd sense of understanding for the sake of making their team work - it was all available to her. Maybe not immediately, but it would be. Some things took time to process.


'You're probably right,' he replied, 'we wouldn't stop for nothing. My Soul Perception has a fairly short range, but it's pretty clear. Once we're in range, I'll get a better idea. But, by process of elimination, we're dealing either a horribly corrupted human, a witch or pre-Kishin. I highly doubt assorted students like us would deal with an actual Kishin.' By this time, the group had continued walking. Now that Aeryn was in control, the burden of their placement was on him. Luckily, this was a fairly easy burden for him to carry. In fact, he preferred it. Kassana no longer had to worry about herself, really; she was in the relatively safe hands of Aeryn, and with that knowledge, he felt so much more reassured than her being separate.


'Keep in mind one more thing, Kass,' he added as soon as his footsteps began, 'even if we're the only duo transformed, there is no loss in it. You don't get fatigued just by transforming, you're incredibly lightweight so you won't wear me down and you can't really fight on your own. You being transformed is a complete benefit to us and it keeps you safer. I would rather you be safe in my hand then try to fit into this flock of students. We don't have to be the same as them.'


Kassana was very uncomfortable and she was fairly certain that emotion was now readily available to her meister which only made the situation worse. She wanted their team to work out and she didn't think that such an open connection benefited them - at least, not at the moment. She didn't want do drag him down.


That being said, Kassana's demeanor perked up slighly when he mentioned his soul perception. However, that small positive didn't remain for long as he listed off all the possibilites that came to mind. 'Be careful!' she warned him, suddenly concerned. She didn't want him to get hurt on her behalf.


Listening as he tried to once more explain things to her, Kassana nodded along, wondering whether or not such an acknowledgment was readily communicated. She really wasn't used to being in the hands of a meister and so she really wasn't quite sure how everything worked. Once again, everything Aeryn said made perfect sense, but that didn't mean Kassana was happy about it. She didn't want people to have to protect her because that meant she was weak, a liability, useless. 'Let me know what I can do to help,' she said softly. Kassana at least wanted to feel like she was actually a part of a team rather than just a weapon to be used. That would be better than nothing.


'You are not weak,' he immediately replied to her. He could feel her feelings, at least to some degree. There was an insecurity deep within her, and he was doing everything he could to support that. He ignored what she said and cut directly to the chase. 'My general style of fighting, Kass, is to get in close, take a couple dozen hits, figure out how my target works, then take it down. You're a ranged weapon. You change my fighting style entirely. If anything, just by having you here, you keep me safe because I have to fight even smarter. Not only that, I can't just launch a flurry of attacks either; I have to plan everything out because we could potentially hit our own teammate. I've never worked with anyone here before; a fight will be chaos. We have to fight smart or we lose - period.'


'Kass, you may not be a lot of things most people want, but you're one thing I absolutely respect: smart.'


As soon as Aeryn mentioned fighting smart, Kassana's mind took off as she recalled everyone who was on their team, everyone who was in their group. She only had to list off a few names before the observation hit her hard. 'We don't have a fight smart kind of group,' she stated. 'That's not going to be good, is it?'


'I told you, Kass, my style of fighting is normally to get in close, take a couple dozen hits, figure out how my target works, then take it down. With you, we can let them take the hits and if they can't take down our target, our goal is to make sure we can. Our goal is to observe everything we can, provide support and make sure no one gets too badly injured. Let's say one of them goes down. If we're backlines, our goal is to get them out. We're not useless. Even if we only help once, even if we only provide covering fire, we are not useless. Any idiot can go in guns blazing, but he won't always win. Our goal is to make sure the idiots win every time.'


Kassana, if she could have, would have nodded at that. She was fairly sure she knew the plan now to an extent although it wasn't exactly the heroic thing she had expected on her first mission. Seeing as she had that part down well enough, Kassana remained quiet for the pesent moment - not seeing a point in speaking when there really wasn't much more for her to say. Rather, Kassana took the small window of time to explore things that she hadn't quite experienced before. There was the link with Aeryn which was definitely different from anything she had ever had with Vanille - if you could've even called it a link at all. There was also a feeling of peaceful silence that Kassana hadn't really been able to find before. If she closed her eyes and really listened, she could hear the thrum of her meister's soul. It was the kind of steady sound that one could quickly become entranced by - like rain, in a way. A subtle sound that was easy to fall asleep to.


Settling in for the long hall, Kassana allowed herself to become entranced by it for such a thing was so new to her that it almost sounded musical, beautiful and so well in tune that it was hard for her not to take notice of. Suddenly, being in weapon form wasn't quite uncomfortable anymore. Although she wouldn't notice it herself, Kassana's own wavelength fluctuated with his. It made moves to match it, occasionally getting close before straying away again. Of course, nothing started off perfect.


'It's just ahead,' Kassana whispered into the link. She had found it again - the ominous feeling that was slightly too terrifying to ignore. 'Can you see it?'


Aeryn could tell that Kassana had never had an extended link like this. Inside whatever odd bond they shared, he could sense her exploration. He didn't make a comment. In fact, he tried to mask his emotions as to not bother her. He wanted her to explore it on her own, to develop her own understanding. It was an interesting and admittedly endearing sensation to sense a weapon really beginning to understand their link and what it was meant to be paired with a Meister, not just used as a tool. Aeryn had partners in the past, although he could barely remember them. He knew he had more than one, too. He didn't know how, he just did.


As he thought about it more, this sensation he felt from Kassana, this specific wonder from exploring their bond, he could slowly pull memories of his former weapons from the haze. As he the feelings she felt were a strong hand pulling hard objects from a thick fog - so heavy that no force Aeryn had ever used himself lifted them. He couldn't remember their forms. But, he remembered their faces. His face, actually. A brown haired kid, his age, his voice when they first linked. Over and over, he found himself lost in this loop of this weapon - his friend - repeating "this is amazing" inside their mind the first time they paired.


That loop was cut short soon enough, though. Around the time Kassana could feel the soul, so could Aeryn. He wasn't for sure if her Soul Perception was limited as a weapon or if she just wasn't used to it, but Aeryn was inside his own range. He knew it immediately. They were dealing with a Witch. 'I can,' he answered her, 'remember that feeling, Kassana. That is a Witch. What's odd is that she's not using Soul Protect. She's out in the open. Waiting. I would wager on this being an ambush. a trap, at the very least. We wait. Even if our allies fight, we wait. I want you to keep your focus on our leader at all times. Our highest chance of success is to fight with him, and if I have to go into the fray to save some idiot, I want your eyes to stay on him. Hopefully, our leader isn't the idiot that needs saving.'


'I think I can do that,' Kassana replied swiftly as she searched through the souls of the students to find Professor Hiro's. Although she wasn't quite sure if it was his or not, it was the strongest wavelength in their group so she didn't know who else's it could have been. Surely their professor would be the strongest among them.


Only after she had accomplished the small task that had been given to her did Kassana contemplate the other things Aeryn had mentioned. 'Will the others know... that its a trap?' she wondered. She didn't want to take her concentration off of Hiro, but at the same time, she was concerned for the others in their group. Kassana was concerned for everyone. 'Can we handle a witch... can our team?'


'To answer your question,' Aeryn replied, 'we could handle that Witch ourselves. Do not underestimate us. I am Aeryn, and you make me even stronger. It's not us that I'm concerned about. It's the idiots that I fear. Lord Death will ring my neck if I let one of them die, especially on my first trip out of his room.' Aeryn then stepped forward, nearing Hiro, but stopped entirely. 'As for your second question,' he added. "This screams trap," Aeryn said lowly, attempting to make sure only Hiro and the closest others heard.


'I hope everyone knows to be careful,' Kassana's worry began to show through although there was nothing she herself could do about it. She had to trust her meister to handle the situation and she also had to do what she could to help. Right now, helping involved concentrating on Hiro. Settling down, Kassana settled in to the sound of their teacher's soul. Static at best was what she heard; she knew she had much to learn. The background of her meister's soul though - so sure of it's own steadiness - helped lock her in to the trance in which she would concentrate. She hoped that even her small help would be enough.

 

[izayoiix]

Crisis Team 1: Specter Lab

Leader - Miyako Hoshimura


Students - Malakai and Isaac, Aiko and Erica, Jessyka and Skyler, Daemon and Zyra, Kamryn and Thalia, Deryn and Arthur, Jayce and Alessa, Rema and Ikeda




Glancing around at the gathered crowd, Miyako sighed, running a hand through her hair. Standing up straighter, she searched for the faces of the students that she’d be taking with her. ”The rest of you lot are with me, so let’s get going!” she shouted, a stern look on her face. They had no time to waste.


As the sixteen students she would be in charge of gathered before her, the redhead sighed again. She doubted this would be easy, but at least she had a few decent brats who could somewhat take care of themselves.


Giving a firm nod to herself and those around her, she glanced at Hiro’s retreating back, before taking a deep breath. ”Take care of yourself…” she muttered before spinning on her heel and starting down the DWMA steps.


Tossing a glare over her shoulder, she yelled out to the kids standing there. ”Well what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”




The building looked like it was falling apart and not in the way that an old building normally looked. Anyone giving it even a small amount of thought would’ve come to the conclusion that someone had literally tried to destroy the building by hand and it only appeared to have happened quite recently. Around the falling siding there was another reason to be suspicious - yellow caution tape. Someone had been there to investigate although at the moment there was no sign of life.


All that moved was a single door, swinging open and shut in a subtle breeze that blew through the outskirts of the city. Depending on how quiet the group was, they might’ve even heard it squeak.


Frowning at the desolate area, Miyako moved slowly, stepping over any fallen tape with caution. Stepping into the room, she scanned what she could of the dark area, before gently resting her hand on the wall beside her. The room was dark, difficult to make out much of anything, they’d need to find a light switch to get anything done. Glancing back at the brats gathered behind her, she told them to stay. ”Stay out here and don’t come in until I tell you to, got it?” she asked, though she didn’t bother to wait for a response.


Heading deeper into the room, she moved carefully, dragging her hand along the wall she paused when her fingers bumped into a small panel. Lifting her hand up, she grinned when she felt a small switch. Flipping it up, she blinked to adjust her eyes to the light that was starting to flood the once dark room.


Turning back to face the rest of the room, she froze, her grin fading in seconds as she held back the urge to heave as the smell properly reached her nose as her eyes took in the scene before her.


Startled, she reached up to cover her mouth and nose as she took a half step back, her foot accidentally hitting an abandoned chair as her back hit the wall.


”Oh god…”


The clang of the professor’s body ramming the chair onto the ground should have been enough. The loud echo would likely alert the students to either a situation in which some of them might have felt they had the ability to help; others might have been enticed to come inside out of mere concern for their teacher although the sight that she was now seeing would be something they would also have to endure and that may not have benefited most of them.


Lying on the ground next to what appeared to be a main computer there was a security guard. Lying in a pool of thickened blood, the stench of his insides spilled into the air toxifying all the scents that would have been normal while the stains on his uniform appeared to have hardened the fabric itself. His body was rigid - clearly he had been lying there since well before the incidents of that morning.


More odd than the existence of the dead body was the posture it was in. The man almost looked as though he had been placed the way he was, his body forming an ‘x’ with all of his extremities extended. On the center of his chest was a sticky note written on in heavy black sharpie.

Spread the Word!

​

The note was also stained in blood.


Almost perfectly centered beneath the note, almost as though someone was staging this entire thing, there was a jump drive and almost perfectly placed on the desk in front of the body, was a computer. It seemed too odd of a coincidence to be just a coincidence.


And there was something else as well. A nagging feeling filled the air, thick and unpleasant, it seemed to increase anxieties with every inhaled breath, every subtle twitch. Some of the students would say they actually felt something touch their skin while others might have described it as a sound… a whisper… an inviting voice almost asking for action. Learn the word… spread the word… More than unpleasant, it was haunting, demeaning, entrancing.


@Stormborn Targaryen @Hanarei @CelticHero37 @Violet Obsidian @AnnoDomini @Refaulted @SummerWolf @Kyra @The Succubi Queen @Ariettie @ShadowHuntress @Pariah Stark

 

[Hanarei]

Nadia, Lord Death, and Aiko

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Location: DWMA Infirmary

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“Up you go,” Nadia said softly as she helped Aiko to her feet, the school nurse careful to make sure none of the fresh bandages she had applied got jostled too much by the movement while her hand held on to Aiko’s arm, offering support should the student need it. Her eyes flickered to the pole axe in the girl’s hands as she tried to figure out what to do with it. The weapon certainly wasn’t something she wanted to bring into the dispensary; however, she didn’t honestly think the girl would willingly let go. From what Nadia remembered, Aiko’s weapon was an axe so that meant there was something more going on.


Apparently, Nadia’s confusion didn’t go unnoticed because Lord Death walked over to them at that moment and his own eyes fell on the axe as well. “Hmm…” he muttered. “Seems best to leave them that way for now although your hands likely can’t take much more of that,” his words were now directed at Aiko. The grim reaper held out his hand to Aiko as he continued, “Give it here, Aiko. You’re partner will be safe and when the teams get back we should be able to retrieve her and Grace in one piece.”


Aiko who had stood on her own, biting back her own discomfort in an effort to appear unaffected by her injury. Her head turned up to look at Lord Death. Her eyes fixated on the reaper. She clutched at the weapon seeming rather uneasy about it. She hesitated briefly, finally lifting the pulsing weapon up and offering it to Lord Death.


“Just… please… make sure she is alright…” She spoke in short, the normally rambunctious teen giving into his request. As much as she wanted to protect Grace, she knew there was very little that she could actually do by holding onto her in such a form. Please Grace… make it out alright…


Aiko looked towards Lord Death questioningly, her wound aching as her stubborn mind ignored the pain putting on a light smile to disguise it away. “Wh… who should I go with… on this mission?” She inquired, unintentionally letting slip a slight pause in her speech. She was doing a rather poor job of hiding the bit of pain she still felt.


“Heavens, no, child!” Nadia proclaimed, her grip on Aiko’s shoulder becoming ever so slightly more firm. “You look like you’ve been beat up enough already. You’re coming with me.” Nadia’s voice was polite yet firm and when Lord Death nodded at the nurse’s comment before grabbing the pole axe out of Aiko’s hands, it added even more authority to the nurse’s words.


“You’ve been a good partner, Aiko. The fight is in Erica’s corner now, but I imagine she’d want you to take care of yourself as well,” Lord Death added in. “Let the others handle this one. Give your body time to heal.”


Nadia nodded in agreement before she started to lead Aiko into the DWMA, the groups having just departed on the long walk down the entrance steps. Their path to the dispensary wasn’t a long one; in fact, it was a fairly easy location to get to from anywhere in the DWMA. It almost had to be given how much trouble the students tended to get into.


The room itself was empty when the two of them walked in. There were three hospital beds close to the window, all of them neatly made, and there was an examination table on the other side of a curtain; the curtain also concealed a desk. Gesturing to any one of the four available places to take a seat, Nadia finally released her grip on Aiko as she went to grab some more bandages from her medical cart.


Aiko felt the grip of the Nurse finally release her as she took a seat. She looked at her with a pouty expression. She wasn’t fond of the idea of being stuck behind as everyone else went on a mission. She looked around in thought before speaking. “Well… I feel a lot better, I think I’m ready to go back to my place to rest!” She spoke jumping up as if to leave.


“No, no, I know that trick,” Nadia reemerged from behind the curtain, using the palm of her hand to gently seat Aiko back down. “Not to mention if you keep jumping like that, you’ll tear all the wounds open again! Now, you still have some open wounds and if you don’t stop moving, you’re going to lose more blood. I don’t like sticking needles in my students, but if you lose too much more I won’t have a choice.”


Aiko looked towards Nadia, hearing her response with some displeasure. She looked at her as if gauging her response, giving her stink eyes briefly. “Hmmph… I’m perfectly fine as far as I see it.” She crossed her arms, doing her best to hide away the spike of pain she felt crossing her arms making her wound ache a bit in response.


“Well then, I take it you don’t want any Tylenol for the pain…?” Nadia’s eyes looked inquisitively at her unwilling patient.


Aiko grumbled in response. “Fine fine… I’l stay around…” She spoke, resting her hands behind her to her sides. She had her fingers crossed in response As if… I’ll just play along till you aren’t looking… She smirked a bit, planning on finding a way to slip away from the nurse’s watchful gaze.


Nadia raised her eyebrows once at the girl before proceeding to bandage the remaining few wounds that she hadn’t had the supplies to treat out in the foyer. Absentmindedly, Nadia realized that Aiko really wasn’t going to be a good patient regardless of the situation. Maybe a Percocet instead… she contemplated. That would at least keep her from getting into trouble.


She didn’t know for sure which pill she intended to grab even as Nadia turned and walked back to the medicine storage room.

 

[LavenderRain]

Jessyka Volontari and Skylar Emerson

Location: Specter Lab


As soon as Miyako called for their attention, Jessyka’s attention snapped off of her argument with Rema and her attention was torn out of her conversation with Daemon. Even she knew there was a time to goof off and there was a time to be serious. And once Miyako got serious, Jessyka usually presumed that she ought to get serious herself as well.


When Miyako said let’s get going, turned and started walking, Jessyka didn’t question it. In fact, if any of her classmates did question it, they would’ve gotten a giant glare from the gun meister specifically and as she made her way towards the front of the group, trying to stay as close to their teacher as possible without running into her, some might have created the idea that Jessyka believed she ought to be in the lead. Anyone who thought that certainly wasn’t wrong. As soon as she had maneuvered her way to the front, Jessyka turned to look behind her, hoping to see Smoky close behind although that was not the case. She decided he would get there eventually.


In the meantime, Smoky was a little behind the group, getting distracted by the images surrounding them. ‘Something was wrong’, he said to himself, trying to get his head straight. He shook it a couple of times, but a small throbbing could be sensed in his head. ‘Great work.’ Not paying attention to the road, he clashed with his meister. “I-I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking senpai.”


It was only the slightest contact - a hand brushing against her back - but it was enough to send a quiver through her entire body as her head swung back to see who it was that had dared to touch her. Her hair whipped around, long pink strands practically slapping Smoky in the face as her eyes glared at him with a deadly expression. It only lasted a moment, her eyes softening fast as soon as Jessyka realized who it was standing right behind her and who it was who had run into her.


As soon as Skylar saw the glare, he had gotten a little scared, and looked down. He felt sorry, but even something more than that. “Uhm… S-sorry… I-I’m, just..” Smoky stopped talking, preferring to keep quiet and look in front of him.


“No, no, no!!” Jessyka quickly interjected as her hand reached for him, briefly tapping his shoulder to try and comfort him although even that small gesture made her very uncomfortable. “I didn’t know it was you. I - I shouldn’t have done that,” she seemed very lost for a moment. Jessyka knew that she messed up sometimes and she knew that when she did, Smoky always decided to blame himself. She wished she knew how to fix it, but she just didn’t. Turning her head briefly, she realized that the rest of the group was still moving and they were falling behind.


“Let’s keep moving, ok?”


“Mhm.” Was Skylar’s short response. Even his voice sounded shy-ish, if it was possible.


Jessyka and her weapon partner hastened to catch up to the rest of the group and the two of them remained in the middle for the rest of their walk through the city, until the point where they stopped in front of the lab. And the lab itself was certainly a sight to stop for. Jessyka already didn’t like it - she didn’t like that something so simple as a building had the ability to send shivers down her spine. “Smoky…” she whispered, very unsure of herself all of a sudden.


Skylar looked at Jessyka and slowly grabbed her hand, looking at her. ”I will not let a thing touch or hurt you, Jessyka.” It was the first time Skylar ever said her name. His face was tense, and his body was ready for anything that might be thrown at them. The entire atmosphere gave him the chills too, but he prefered not to show it. ’Feelings are a weakness’ was a small sentence that rang in his head.


Jessyka flinched when her weapon partner grabbed her hand - it was not a contact she was used to, especially not from him. He usually was more terrified of touching her than she was actually terrified of being touched. Realizing that Miyako had already walked inside, Jessyka realized that it was more important now than ever that she manage to keep her cool. Even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, Jessyka wrapped her fingers around her weapons hand and tried to draw comfort from his soul. She could feel it - the contact only made them stronger. With his hand in hers, it was the same as if he were the weapon she always held in her grip.


However, Jessyka picked up on something else too. It wasn’t another soul… Jessyka’s own ability to perceive them was minimal at best so it really couldn’t have been that. It was more just a feeling. Granted, it was a very eerie feeling. “Do you feel that?” she asked her weapon, her voice coming off a lot calmer than her weapon probably would have expected it to be.


“Y-Yes. I feel something too.” Skylar’s courage went up a little when he heard his meister’s calm voice. But, at the same time, the eerie feeling didn’t go away, and the headache he had only made it much worse. ‘I should’ve eaten something. Now it’s-’ His voice just went silent. It was like his thoughts were, gone.


“You ok, Smoky?” Jessyka inquired, her hand gently squeezing her weapon’s hand.


“I’m fine s-senpai. J-Just caught in my thoughts.” He wasn’t proud of telling that lie to Jessyka, but didn’t want her to worry about her.


Suddenly, it no longer mattered. A loud gasp along with the sound of something being thrown around drew Jessyka’s attention back to the creepy looking building and she didn’t have a choice but to pretend she truly believed that Smoky was ok. “We gotta go!” she urged him. “Can you transform?!” It was a hurried question, but Jessyka knew she was more comfortable going in with a weapon in her hand.


Skylar nodded and turned into his weapon form, easily fitting into Jessyka’s hand. The small bag he was wearing fell down. “S-Sorry meister. F-Forgot. I hope I didn’t ruin something. B-But I’m ready to fight.” Skylar always felt something in him while awaiting combat. A sort-of bloodlust, something that shifted his personality.


Jessyka quickly swept up the bag and slung it over her shoulder before she charged into the building, calling back to anyone else who was still waiting outside. “Come on you idiots! You think that sound means our teacher’s having fun? Noo!! It means something’s up and we gotta help!” She hoped her words would inspire more to follow her inside although she had no way of knowing and she wasn’t about to wait for them.


Upon walking in, the first thing that hit Jessyka was the smell. The entire room reeked - it reeked of death. Her eyes quickly followed Miyako’s gaze when she found her teacher backed up against the wall and a hand flew over Jessyka’s own mouth in shock. “Oh… oh my god…” Jessyka whispered, slightly shocked although she dared to take a few steps closer, examining the body out of curiosity. It wasn’t as though she had never seen blood before. “Spread the word,” she read. “Isn’t that what the people in the city were saying?” It wasn’t quite clear who she was asking as she squatted next to the body, unsure of what she was supposed to do.

 

[LavenderRain]

”Evening Star” Warren Langston

Mood: Bored and Oblivious


Classification: Weapon - Morningstar


Partner: Rita


Location: The Cave


Actions: Talking Loudly

Warren walked along with Professor Mitsaki’s group quietly enough, mostly because there wasn’t really much for him to say to begin with. Seeing as he had missed the first month of class due to illness, he didn’t know a lot of the new students too well and even Warren knew that there would be better times for him to introduce them to his awesome self. That being said though, the boy was a bit depressed. Even his own meister’s reaction to seeing him hadn’t been the greatest thing in the world. He had almost forgotten how different from himself his meister really was.


That being said, Warren’s posture hung slightly as he anticipated things would only get more and more boring the further they walked. They were going to a cave. What could ever be exciting about a cave? He couldn’t think of much.


The boy’s eyes flickered to those in the group that he did know as he studied each of them briefly. There was Ivy, the local bully who Warren would no doubt challenge at least once a day the same as he had last year. Demetri was her weapon and honestly, Warren couldn’t care one way or the other about that one. Igor… he was just scary. Honey. Her name pretty much summed her up well enough. Hotaru was the magician who Warren found to be very unamusing although he couldn’t help but feel bad for her when her weapon partner Ren was as lazy as he was. If Warren had been born a meister, he would’ve made sure his weapon was willing to fight. Of course, that wasn’t Warren’s place to say. Nicole and Ryoma were the final pair of students who Warren knew the names of. They were also the pair he had interacted with the least.


As for the new students, Warren couldn’t have said anything. He wasn’t one to judge based on appearances alone. One of them certainly seemed to know a thing or two as he already held his transformed partner in his hand. Now there’s an idea! Warren smiled slightly as he searched for Rita. He didn’t know where his meister was dwelling within the pack, though and it was too bad for him because before he could call out, the cave was right in front of them.


Warren jumped up to see whatever there was to see even though the sight became clear as they continued walking. There was a figure standing in front of the cave - slender and dressed entirely in black. Witch? Warren wondered as his mind started racing, concluding illogical things that he had no way of confirming. If that is a witch and I beat her now, that means me and Rita will have no problem at all collecting a witch’s soul after we’ve got 99 kishin souls! Then I could be a death scythe and everyone would worship me like the awesome man I am!!! Anyone paying even a small amount of attention would have no doubt picking up on the fact that Warren was up to no good.


Then he heard the figure - although he had already labeled it witch in his mind (even though he had no soul perception and no confirmation of the fact) - say “Hello”.


“Hello? Hello…?” Warren questioned. That simple statement in and of itself had been a real downer right there because he had been hoping for a fight. Fights didn’t typically start with “hello”. “Well,” Warren sighed. “That’s depressing…”


His attention turned to the new boy whose name he didn’t know - the red haired one. “Looks like you won’t be needing that,” he gestured to the weapon in his hand. “And here I thought maybe she was a witch or something interesting… I doubt that a witch would simply stare and say ‘hello’.” If anyone had said anything prior to Warren, the boy simply hadn’t heard it.


As always, Warren was oblivious - oblivious and loud.


@Stamper @Sophrosyne03 @sonicfreak101 @DeadgurlXD @Arkytior @Cephalo @TheWeirdPhilosopher @T h e F o o l

 

[sonicfreak101]

Ivy and Demetri

Classification: Three Star Meister and Weapon


Nickname: Phobos and The Piano Man


Location: The Cave

Ivy was in a bad mood. Not that this was uncommon for Ivy, but the events of the day had only soured her mood.


“I can’t believe I didn’t get any good fights.” Ivy huffed. “I just got stuck babysitting Igor again. Dammit! I just want to hit something so bad right now!”


Ivy’s eyes scanned the group she was in. There were a couple people her she wouldn’t mind smacking in the head. Warren especially, who was a complete moron that Ivy wanted desperately to shove his face into a toilet. Ivy disliked most of the members in their group, but that was to be expected when you didn’t like most of the people in the academy. The only exceptions to this were her friends Honey, Igor, Kassana, and three students she hadn’t met before.


Demetri could feel the restless energy coming off of his meister in waves. As they followed Professor Hiro, Demetri opted to stay in weapon form since he didn’t want to bother walking but also for Ivy’s benefit. Since she was wielding him their soul wavelengths needed to sync. It was almost instinctual for them now to sync up and Demetri used his naturally calm nature to keep a lid on Ivy’s anger. He was sure that if it weren’t for him Ivy would have hit something, or someone by now.


As they neared their destination however, Demetri’s calm wavelengths faltered as he sensed something up ahead. A witch? Demetri thought, suddenly on high alert. What is a witch doing here?


Ivy could sense Demetri’s shock and scanned the area, ready to attack. Before them was a cave and just in the entrance was a women. She had pitch black hair and a bat-like ghostly creature hovering around her. Without even needing to ask Demetri, Ivy knew it was a witch. Finally, Ivy thought, her mouth pulling into a smirk. A challenge.


Ivy could barely make out the witch saying a very timid. "Hello..." Ivy huffed, eyeing her up. Timid this one. I hope she knows how to fight otherwise this mission will be a complete waste of my time.


Without having much time to react, two things happened almost simultaneously. One of the new students muttered, “This screams trap.” It was the boy who seemed to be partnering with Kassana for the time being, and unfortunately, Ivy couldn’t care one way or the other whether it was a trap or not.


And then Warren entered the picture. “Hello? Hello…? Well, that’s depressing. And here I thought maybe she was a witch or something interesting… I doubt that a witch would simply stare and say ‘hello’.”


“Idiot!” Ivy scoffed, hitting Warren in the back of the head with the hilt of her axe. “She’s obviously a witch!”


“Now ignoring that idiot…” Ivy faced the witch and pointed her axe at her. “I hope you’re ready for a fight because I’ve been itching to beat someone senseless all day.”


“Ivy,” Demetri sighed. “We don’t even know why this witch is here. You can’t just go around picking fights with people; it’s just as idiotic as Warren.”


“Shut up Demetri! I’m nothing like that shit for brains moron!” Ivy yelled at her weapon.


“Whatever you say Ivy.” Demetri mentally shrugged. He knew that no matter what he said, Ivy was going on the offensive. It’s just who she was and he couldn’t change it.


“Yeah, whatever I say is right. You know why?” Ivy asked as a sinister grin stretched across her face. “Because I do what I want.”


With that declaration, Ivy surged forward with her best berserker bellow as she swung her axe at the witch.


Legend:


Ivy talking/thinking


Demetri talking/thinking


Asa talking


Aeryn talking


Warren talking


@Sunbather @Violet Obsidian @DaughterofAthena @Pariah Stark

 

[Sunbather]

| Asa Vesper

​

The lanky, almost twig-like figure of Asa - one arm still lifted into the air like some sort of lethargic scarecrow - slowly rocking from one foot to the other, swaying from left to right on her heels. "Yes. Hello." It appeared that the loud boy's thinking offended her in the way she emphasized her greeting, though her entirely apathic, devoid of peaks way of talking made it hard to read much into her voice other than sheer boredom. One was lead to believe that such an interpretation may be the one and only truth, as Asa slowly twisted her body from the waist up, looking over her shoulder and back to the cave the witch was ordered to arrive at. For a moment, the absurdity of the situation had a few seconds to coat every person currently present, the silence only interrupted by the faint squeaking of the little demon swatting around Asa's head, until finally, she straightened her posture back into a more natural situation, now staring back at the students and their leader.


"I guess not then." The statement seemed disconnected, almost, as if it had no relevance, though it was the first hint Asa perceived, telling her that the group was not too fond of her. "Why would you not greet me?" she wondered out loud, though clearly not to anyone in particular rather than mumbling into the open space. Apparently a lack of social etiquette was currently the witch's biggest concern, however trivial that may appear to the students. Though subtle enough to escape the average person's eye, the attentive observer could see a slight shiver, maybe a flinch, as Ivy's loud voice scolded Warren. "Why would you all be so loud?" she asked, her eyes slighty squinting and the form of her veiled face pressing through the high collar - She was grimacing in discomfort. As Ivy dashed towards the witch without any further warning or hassle to examine the situation, Asa appeared not to so much as waste a though to the endeavour of dodging or moving. Instead, the little demon immediately flew by, deflecting the hit, but finding itself catapulted further into the woods and out of sight. "Why would you do that?" Again, the questioning. Same words, same voice. As Asa's glare followed her tiny follower disappear, her own body seemed to dissolve into thick wads of faintly violet smoke. A wave of it billowed around the attacker, seemingly clinging to Ivy in an attempt to blind her, while Asa rematerialized exactly where she stood before. "Why would you do all this?" Even now, targeted without warning, the witch's voice sounded the same it did from the very beginning.

@sonicfreak101

 

[Lady Warlock]

Professor Hiro Mitsaki

"This screams trap."


The red haired boy's words were the first to reach Hiro and although Hiro did not directly acknowledge them immediately, his own mind started analyzing things. He didn't sense any other souls nearby - he double checked, twice. He wondered what would have triggered such a thought in the boy's mind seeing as the witch was the only thing out of the ordinary was the witch. Although, the witch's presence itself could be enough with such a young student. He gave the boy a small nod, acknowledging that he heard although there wasn't much he had to communicate as far as any trap was concerned.


The more Hiro thought about the student, the more his eyes turned to him. Lord Death had just sort of thrown the boy into the fray and given him to Kassana at that. Hiro had to admit he was impressed that the boy had been able to make such a partnership work right away - he noted the weapon the boy now held in his hand. If nothing else, it kept her safe which meant Hiro only had two new students to worry about now. It certainly saved him some trouble.


For now, the boy seemed to be handling things well enough so Hiro's reply was simple when he finally gave it. "Be ready for anything." It wasn't much, but given that Hiro knew so little about the boy, there wasn't much more he could think of that would be appropriate to say before he turned his attention back to the situation itself.


A small crease appeared on the teacher’s forehead as he raised his eyebrows at the witch. Although he didn’t outright say it, he was quite surprised with her greeting and he found it rather out of place. That, of course, didn’t mean that he thought Warren’s approach to the situation - shouting it out loud for everyone to hear - was exactly warranted, though. He would have preferred to avoid that unnecessary outburst because the situation felt very precarious already.


His eyes flickered to his students as he realized how bad things really were. Almost none of them seemed prepared, and in fact, he was almost grateful for Ivy’s attack as it would give him a moment to figure out how to address the situation as far as his students went. He hadn’t expected a lot of them to freeze up; either they were terrified or they weren’t paying attention and it didn’t matter which was correct. It still created more work for him because he had to try and keep them safe regardless.


"Why would you not greet me?"


Hiro’s attention was drawn back to the witch as he once more looked at her in confusion. “Um… hello?” he mumbled, realizing that maybe this wasn’t going to be quite as much work as he had initially thought it would be. “I do apologize for the loudness of my students. They can get a bit…” he paused, searching for a word, “...rambunctious.” His voice certainly sounded as puzzled as he felt. In all his years, Hiro had never encountered a witch who hadn't immediately seemed to be troublesome. It went against everything he had ever learned, and he was supposed to be the teacher. It was... weird.


Hiro’s eyes dwelled on the back of Ivy’s head for a moment, hoping that the meister, stubborn as she was, would realize he was trying to resolve this peacefully. He doubted she would back off easily, but maybe if he spoke to her directly… “Ivy’s… always a feisty one,” he tried to make it seem as though he was talking to the witch while also trying to communicate to the three star meister. “She… she should know now that attacking head on won’t - won’t work.” Hiro gulped, hoping that Ivy knew better than to disobey him, at least in the current situation. He knew he wasn't the best teacher in the world and he knew many of his students didn't think too highly of him, but in this instance, he really did have their safety in mind.


As he spoke, Hiro was also moving through the group of students slowly. He came to the two newest ones first, tapping Undine and Aoi on the shoulder as he gestured for them to stay close to him because he was very unsure of what was going to happen next. Part of him wished that Ivy hadn’t attacked because she could have led a group into the cave; unfortunately, Hiro’s plan for that came a bit too late.


The only option left to him was to attempt further communication. Maybe there didn’t have to be a fight. “So, if you aren’t seeking a fight, then what brings you here? I can tell you my students are reacting because you’re a witch and witches don’t tend to be too friendly to them. I can’t expect them to be the kindest in return…”


Legend


Hiro Mitsaki


Asa Vesper


Aeryn


@sonicfreak101 @Sunbather @TheWeirdPhilosopher @T h e F o o l @Pariah Stark

 

[The Succubi Queen]

Deryn Nicole Renoir

Nickname: Hummingbird


Status: Meister


Classification: NEW


Partner: Arthur Williams (temporary)


Mood: Apprehensive


Location: Specter Lab


Team: Miyako


Interacting with: Jessyka and Skylar (@Violet Obsidian)

Deryn had mostly avoided talking to Arthur as their team made its way towards the Lab. The two hadn't gotten off to a good start, and she had no intention of getting into an argument with him. It was only going to end up distracting them. So she was as silent as ever as they traveled, almost eerily so.


She nodded obediently as the professor headed inside. After all, they were still just students. They were here to back to Professor up if she needed them, not take a leading role in this mission. Or, at least, she and the other new students where. She ignored any attempts her temporary partner made to interact, and waited.


At the loud clanging sounds that erupted from the room, Deryn jumped, biting back a small squeak. The young girl hated loud noises- was terrified of them in fact. But she wasn't going to let anyone else know that. "I- uh, I saw a bug. A big. Scary bug." being scared of bugs was reasonable for a teenage girl. Being a weapons meister with sonophobia? Less reasonable.


With some trepidation following Jessyka's outburst, she slipped into the room. She wasn't going to ask Arthur to transform- not when the noises form earlier had already set her on edge.


"That was a rhetorical question, right?" The tiny girl asked Jessyka, staying as close to the door as possible. "Or have you actually already forgotten?" She finally got a good glimpse at the corpse and shuddered. Dead bodies where.... not fun. At all. She had expected to see a few in this line of work, but not so early- not on a simple trip to a lab. She didn't need to look at the note- Jessyka's inquiry had revealed its contents to them all.


"Y-yes. 'Spread the word' is the mantra of the hypnosis victims. But why would that be written here? This cadaver won't be spreading much of anything. What caused all of this is a more relevant question..." Something didn't feel right. Why did it feel like something was screaming in her head- trying to get some message across to her deafened ears? She wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she had someone she could actually rely on here.

 

[Pariah Stark]

Collab Post

DaughterofAthena & Pariah Stark


Kassana & Aeryn


Duo (Red Streak)


Cave Entrance


No tags
​

For a moment, Kassana had found a sense of peace and quiet. Her own mind was locked on to the wavelength of their teacher and she heard his response to her meister. 'We are ready for anything, right?' She tried to clarify with Aeryn. She still wasn't certain of this thing herself; what would happen if the witch was too strong? What would happen if Aeryn got dragged into a fight and she wasn't any use? She still didn't trust herself. She still had very little faith. Sure, she believed her meister when he had told her about his plan and it sounded like a very nice plan. For them to just sit on the outside and watch meant that she wouldn't need to be too useful. She just needed to keep track of their professor. However, Kassana could still see too many things that could go wrong, too many things that could destroy the plan.


And then the fighting started. It began with a boy. Kassana didn't know his name nor did she recall ever hearing his voice before which she briefly considered odd. Surely a loudmouth like he seemed to be would have never been able to remain quiet during class. Quickly, though, another voice added in to the group and this was one Kassana knew well. Ivy. Scary, strong and intimidating, Ivy was nearly a perfect match to Kassana's idea of a hero - if only she was a little bit nicer. She was certainly strong enough, stronger than Kassana ever believed she herself would be.


Ivy attacked. Kassana heard that much, and she quickly became flustered. 'Are we prepared?' she asked again, suddenly panicking. 'Ivy... she - she shouldn't... that's not smart!'


Aeryn attempted to cycle between keeping his attention on the present situation, which was admittedly simple at first. Hiro gave simple gestures to understand and Warren at the very least seemed to indirectly communicate that he couldn't use Soul Perception, and if he could, he chose not to. What was odd to Aeryn is that no one else seemed to piece together the oddity of the Witch not using Soul Protect. Between all these thoughts, he also had to find a way to handle the incessant questions of Kassana and try to remain calm as she only grew slightly more frantic. Then Ivy ran forward. She yelled, pretty much effectively explained that there was a Witch in front of them and alerted Aeryn to the fact that at least one member of this group lacked all tactical capabilities. Brilliant. But, likely worst of all, she spooked Kass, and Kassana happened to be a literal voice inside Aeryn's head.


'We're prepared,' Aeryn replied to her, 'Apparently, so is she. Just watch.'

“So, if you aren’t seeking a fight, then what brings you here? I can tell you my students are reacting because you’re a witch and witches don’t tend to be too friendly to them. I can’t expect them to be the kindest in return…”

​

Hiro finally spoke more than a short sentence. After the blatantly failed attack from Ivy, it also seemed that someone was finally thinking the situation through. Aeryn was quick to consider the worst possible scenario, but Hiro had a point. There could be another ulterior motif. Immediate distrust could be just as problematic as Ivy running forward like a madwoman. Aeryn pondered on this thought, but more over, he was hoping that words from Hiro would have some type of calming effect on Kassana. While he tried to calm her himself, a little more help would never be a bad thing.


'You're sure?' Kassana was still very hesitant, her panic throwing off her thoughts just enough that information wasn't quite clicking into the right places. There were a few things she picked out of Ivy's attack. First, it hadn't worked. Panic rose inside her. If Ivy couldn't hit it, that meant trouble. Second, the witch had... become smoke...? Kassana didn't quite know if that was right but it seemed to be what she had sensed. It was hazy; her panic made sure of that.


Hiro's words interrupted whatever thought process might have been going on inside Kassana's mind. 'Wait...' Kassana finally stopped to think for a moment. 'Aren't... aren't witches bad?' She tried to clarify her knowledge. 'Didn't... didn't the witch attack Ivy...?' Suddenly she wasn't sure if she had seen everything right. 'Why isn't anyone doing anything? Wh...why...what?' She tried to calm herself, realizing that her initial panic was uncalled for although now nothing made any sense. Nothing was fitting into the puzzle her mind wanted to put it into and it only served to make things worse as far as she was concerned. Kassana had no idea how to react to something she didn't understand.


Her brain flipped through the countless pages of things that she had read as she repeated over and over again what she knew for certain. 'Witches use magic. Witches are souls hunted by the DWMA. The Witch order is against the DWMA in every historical situation.' Over and over again, she repeated it into her own mind, not realizing that at the same time, she was repeating it into Aeryn's mind as well.


'But, do you know why, Kassana?' Aeryn interjected. Not that he couldn't stand the repetition, but that he needed to solve it. 'Witches are humans that can use magic, basically. Just like a weapon, they are just a different strand. There is a reason they are hunted, that the DWMA has a track record with them. Witches suffer from the Pull of Magic. The use of the arcane arts fills one with the urge to use it destructively and for that reason Witches don't tend to fit into the order that Lord Death would like to enforce. Do not just recite facts, Kassana; understand them. Not all Witches are bad. In fact, if you read your history, you will see that every generation has one or two meisters that are Witches. The dynamic has never been as simple as good and evil.'


'But then what do we do here?' Kassana was instantly flustered as her attempts to ground herself ultimately failed. 'Ivy attacked because she's a witch. Meisters are trained to hunt witches... right?' Kassana felt she was correct in that statement and even Hiro's words seemed to confirm that fact. 'Do we - no, we can't just leave her and ignore her... what if this witch is bad? How... wha - how do we know?'


While she very clearly understood the point that Aeryn was trying to get across to her, Kassana didn't like that it left her with literally nothing to go off of in the given situation. She wanted to help and for a while, she thought she had understood what helping in a situation like this would mean. Now all of a sudden she didn't. Now, all of a sudden, she knew nothing. She couldn't even use her brain anymore because this was different than anything she had ever read. Once more she was useless and as much as she already knew that fact, she didn't want to leave it at that.


'I don't know what to do....' she sighed, defeated.


'Do you think that Ivy does? Do you seriously think Warren does? They're acting off instinct. Your instinct is to fight her, too. That's what we've been taught. But, look at the situation. Watch Hiro, easily the most experienced of this group. Is he jumping forward like them? Meisters are trained to hunt Witches because nine times out of ten a Witch has become corrupt by the Pull of Magic, and the safe side is simply to deal with them. Most that aren't influenced by the Pull of Magic actually reach out to the DWMA and Lord Death to try and find their place in the world. Some use their magic to heal, some to learn - some not at all. The point is, in our natural environment, Witches are our enemies, but if we act blindly on that notion, we may make a tactical error.' Aeryn tried to explained to her.


Ultimately, he let out a similar sigh. 'Do you want the best answer I can give you, Kass? Watch Hiro close. You aren't responsible for this group: he is. His judgement will decide the fate of that witch if Ivy's axeblade doesn't first.'


'If Demetri doesn't...' Kassana corrected, suddenly aware that Aeryn simply hadn't known his name.


Kassana tried to slow down. She tried to slow down her thoughts and her panic and her mental habit of jumping to the worst possible scenario. Part of her, no matter how small, knew that Aeryn hadn't said a single thing yet that didn't make sense and that same part of her was constantly telling her she had to learn to trust him. She had to learn to trust someone or she would never get anywhere.


Calm slowly began to return to her. It was slow, but she found the peace that she had lost out of fear and confusion. There were things that she didn't understand. In fact, they continued to poke at her no matter how much she tried to ignore them because they reminded her that she didn't know what to do. Aeryn had said that no one knew what to do though. 'How do they do that?' It wasn't a question meant for Aeryn to answer; more a mere contemplation of her own. 'They... they seem so confident, so like they know what they are doing and I don't know if I could ever do that. And then, on top of that, they're wrong. How... how can they deal with that?'


All she needed to do was cast a simple glance at their soul wavelengths to see it, though. Their bond was strong and within it, there was such a simple thing. Trust.

 

[Sophrosyne03]

Nicole Heimholtz

and

Ryoma Takagi



Outside the cave


Well this could have gone better… Ryoma thought as Warren continued being his loud obnoxious self, and there was Ivy taking her, attack first ask questions later, approach to confronting people.


Ryoma looked over at Nicole, who was very quiet and had a contemplative look on her face during the trek to the cave. Nicole now hadher hand cupped over her face as she shook her head in exasperation. Mitsaki-sensei was trying to defuse the situation with Ivy while staying close to the new students Undine and Aoi.


Kassanna and Aeryn looked prepared for a possible fight, but Ryoma could sense that either Aeryn or Kassanna were nervous about the revelation that the woman by the cave was a witch.


“Well this is just dandy,” Nicole hissed in his ear, “We are stuck with the ‘idiot brigade.’”


Ryoma didn’t dignify her scathing remark with a comment. Instead he positioned himself so that if the situation continued to escalate towards a violent confrontation with the witch, he could change into his weapon form for Nicole in a manner that would allow for a quick attack. Nicole moved in concert so the two students were ready for a quick strike against the witch if it came to that.


“This is a strange case / A timid witch in a cave / Is it what it seems?”

 

[Solarknight]

Thalia “Aerodynamic” Travis

Location Specter Lab


Thalia wasn’t one to get nervous about going on missions. In fact, she was actually rather excited to be leaving the confines of the school. Sitting in class learning was fine and all, but every once in awhile it was just a terrible way to spend the energy she had. And Thalia’s boundless energy certainly showed with every step she took - it was more of a skip than an actual walk.


“So…” she tried to start up a conversation with her meister. “What do you think we’ll find? I wonder if there will be more people. Oh, oh, oh!! Maybe one of us will go mad… Oooooooooooo!” her eyes widened and she waved her hands around trying to seem spooky. She hesitated for a moment. “No wait… that’s a ghost sound. Well, maybe we’ll see a ghost - that would be cool too!” One thing was certain. Thalia was bound and determined to keep up her positive attitude.


When they arrived at the creepy looking laboratory, Thalia was not scared. In fact, when their teacher proceeded to leave them behind, the girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and sulked slightly. She didn’t want to stare at the building; she wanted to explore it. Nonetheless, Thalia did as she was told, her eyes examining the building from all possible angles. I wonder… if we got the right angle, could I circle the entire building or is it too big for that? It was a very errant thought in her mind, but Thalia was bored.


Everything about her demeanor changed as soon as they heard sounds from inside the laboratory. Thalia’s eyes widened as she started to charge into the building, although she stopped herself before she got close to the doorway. Smacking herself in the head, she mumbled, “You know better, silly me!”


“Kamryn! You coming?!” she called back to her meister as Thalia’s own body began to glow with her weapon transformation. She knew the two of them would be better off if she was in weapon form. Spiralling into the air, a boomerang came down - hopefully landing safely in the hands of its meister.


@SummerWolf

 

[Lady Warlock]

An Eerie Aura…

“I’m fine s-senpai. J-Just caught in my thoughts.”


They had been Skyler’s words. Innocent as they seemed, they were a lie and as his head continued to throb, it was almost as though he heard something - a voice inside his head. Not quite even that, though. The words weren’t that clear, but the taunting torment of it was enough to get the message across. Liar!


It was the truth. He had lied to his meister, right? He had lied to the meister who relied upon him for so much. She relied on him for friendship, for defense, for her own sanity. Tssk, tssk…


Once more, his head throbbed over and over again. Even in weapon form, it was too repetitive to ignore and the more he began to ponder it, the more Skyler would realize that this wasn’t just something coming from the fact that he hadn’t eaten. Everything - the space within his soul where he mentally dwelled - darkened slowly. It wasn’t quite black, but it was different… haunting… consuming.


@AnnoDomini




Ringing. If she ever stopped to take a moment to think about it, a ringing sound was the closest, most apt description of what it was that was echoing through her mind. There was a ringing in her ears.


It wasn’t even just a ringing, though. With the ringing came her own fears as the sound that had drawn her into the building repeated itself over and over again in her mind.


Fear… imagine what it would be to live without it…


The words were almost too clear. They didn’t belong there and it didn’t seem that anyone else heard them. No one was reacting to them. Nope, Deryn would quickly come to the conclusion that the whisper came to her alone. Surrender your fear…


@The Succubi Queen

 

[LavenderRain]

“Evening Star” Warren Langston

Location: The Cave


“Oww!” Warren exclaimed as Demetri’s hilt hit him on the back of the head rather hard. His hand flew up to rub at his hair although that didn’t really help much and he would no doubt have a bump for a while afterward.


The boy was left to watch as Ivy charged into the fight as his eyes flooded with jealousy. What I wouldn’t give to join in that fight right now… he withheld his whining. Dammit! Where is Rita!? Even Warren knew that without his meister he didn’t stand a chance against the girl who was, apparently, a witch.


Slowly, Warren’s eyes turned to a glare at the back of Ivy’s head as he watched her become consumed in the witch’s smoke. He chuckled softly at that. Then his eyes flickered to the cave as he tried to think of what he should be doing now; where he should go, what he should say. Why were they even here in the first place? He scratched his head as he searched for an answer, a memory and finally, it came. Heh… I’ll show you all I’m not a shit for brains moron!! Warren wanted to scream it out loud so badly. Surely someone would stop him, though and then everything would be ruined.


No, Warren couldn’t say anything. He had to keep it to himself. He had to prove himself here the same as he did anywhere else. Then they would worship him like they all ought to.


Slowly, the boy began to make his way to the back of the crowd, moving behind everyone in the group while his eyes remained focused on his classmates to make sure that none of them saw him. If they did see him, he wanted to make sure they weren’t the type to cause a fuss about it. And just inside the cave, the roof of it concealed him from the light as he continued to move deeper.


@Stamper @Sophrosyne03 @sonicfreak101 @DeadgurlXD @Arkytior @Cephalo @TheWeirdPhilosopher @T h e F o o l

 

[Lady Warlock]

Jayce "Pharaoh" Hammerkin and Alessandra "Wolf" Volkov

Alessa smiled weakly at Jayce’s change of tone. She understood that he was trying to change the mood. She could easily say she didn’t like their somber atmosphere either. With a sigh, she watched him turn towards their group that was about to leave. ”Even so…” she murmured under her breath. ”I still want to be there for you…”


Jayce’s head turned back to her, hearing her say something although he hadn’t quite caught it entirely. Instead of asking about it further, Jayce held out his hand to her, open and friendly. “Are you coming?” he asked. “It looks like they’re getting ready to leave and we don’t want to get left behind.”


Shaking her head slightly to clear her thoughts, Alessa smiled and took his hand, nodding in agreement. ”Right!” she chirped, shoving all her saddening thoughts away. They were about to go on a mission! She didn’t have time to worry about anything other than whatever her job may be. It was time to focus!


”Well what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”




Walking up to the rather creepy looking building, Jayce was not intimidated by it although he had been on missions before and he knew what to expect to see. The boy watched as their instructor walked inside, signaling for them to wait outside and when she vanished through the creaking door, Jayce looked back to Alessa. “Are you alright?” he asked softly, unsure of whether she would be scared or not. He knew he was scared when he went on his first mission.


Taking in a shaky breath, Alessa knew that, in truth, she was not alright. But, she had to try to overcome her fears.


”I-I should be okay.” she told him in a shaky voice. Knowing she was convincing even to herself, she added as an afterthought, ”Soon...”


As if to deny her claims, there was a loud clanging echo from inside the building, ringing an unknown music that played over and over and over again. It was a sound, that when matched with its current site, could chill bones.


Startled, Alessa jumped, letting out a small shriek. Eyes widening and heart racing, her arm snapped up, her hand grabbing at the material of her shirt above her heart, in a pathetic attempt to calm the beating organ.


”Wh-wha….what was t-that…?”


Jayce’s entire body jumped as well at the sound although his attention quickly turned to his meister at her shriek. He put his hand on her shoulder, trying to be of some comfort, while he hastily replied, “I - I don’t know.”


He looked back towards the building, watching as some of the students rushed inside to investigate the scene. “We don’t have to go in… i-if you don’t want to,” he offered, again trying to be of comfort. “But if we do go inside, I’ll make sure you stay safe. I promise…” It seemed like the promise was for his sake as well as for the sake of his meister.


Nodding hesitantly, Alessa forced herself to breathe deep, trying to calm herself down as she drew whatever strength she could from her partner. “U-uh...m-maybe….we should...go look from the doorway…?” she offered. ”So we uh...c-can get an...idea of the s-situations?”


Jayce nodded as he held his hand out to her again. “Are you ready then… to be a meister?” Seeing who had already gone into the building, Jayce was sure now as as good a time as any for him to transform. She had to start learning and with all the chaos that had consumed the first day of their partnership, now didn’t seem to be too bad of a time.


Jayce didn’t exactly wait for a response either. He didn’t want her to hesitate, to change her mind about deciding to be his meister or to change her mind about at least investigating the situation further. The transformation trickled through his body like water running over stones, his body glowed silver for a single moment before his figure was replaced by the weapon that he was - an egyptian sword in Alessa’s hand.


At the sudden weight in her hand, the redhead gasped lightly, her gaze shooting down towards her partner who had transformed. ”A-amazing…” she murmured in awe, staring at the weapon in her hand.


It took her a few moments but eventually she grasped the hilt tightly, attempting to swallow any fear she currently felt. While she knew she couldn’t get rid of it, she knew she could focus on the task at hand. Nodding to herself she started for the door where a few other students had already started towards.


”I can do this…” she muttered, slowly peering into the room.


Jayce was doing what he could in his meister’s hands. Although it would probably take her more time than they had to learn to truly recognize his presence, he had already begun using his own wavelength to strengthen Alessa’s own, hoping that in some way, it would help to keep her calm and help them both to get through whatever was inside that door. ‘Yes you can,’ he sent the thought to her as a whisper, not intending to scare her, not even quite intending for her to realize the thought came from him; rather, intending to try and boost her own confidence to a degree.


As they drew closer to the lab, another thought occurred to Jayce. He had no idea what they were going to see, but if there was to be a fight, they didn’t belong anywhere near it. “And… Alessa,” he spoke out loud this time, “if a fight does start, find Malakai or Jessyka. Stay behind them… they won’t like it, but you’ll be safe.”


Twitching slightly in surprise, she glanced down at the blade in her hand before calming. ’Right…’ she thought. ’Weapons can still talk despite being in their weapon form.’


”O-okay, got it.” she replied.


Biting her lip, she stepped forward into the room. At a first glance she could instantly tell that it was a mess and that something bad most likely had happened. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she continued her glance around the room, spotting Jessyka and Skylar as well as Deryn nearby.


Alessa’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of her professor stopped by the wall, a hand covering her mouth as she stared at something in the middle of the room. Slowly she followed the redheaded professor’s gaze, until she saw it.


There in a pool of his own thickened blood, lay the dead security guard.


Her grip on Jayce’s hilt slackened, her eyes wide as she stared at the sight, unable to move. Mouth dropping open in horror, she started to shake lightly, emitting a strangled high pitched noise for a moment before she needed to breathe.


Struggling to take in a breath, another attempt at sound escaped Alessa’s throat before she dropped to her knees, barely able to keep a hold on her partner.


Collab With: @Arkytior


Tags: @AnnoDomini @Violet Obsidian @The Succubi Queen

 

[LavenderRain]

Jessyka “Bullseye” Volontari

"That was a rhetorical question, right?" Jessyka heard the voice of another member of the group although she couldn’t place a name to it off the top of her head. "Or have you actually already forgotten?"


Jessyka chuckled slightly before she looked up with a smile on her face and spat, “Yes! That was a rhetorical question. Thank you, though, for actually answering it,” the slight hint of sarcasm on her tongue was constantly evident although it was quite possible that something like that could go unnoticed.


Considering the rest of the girl’s statement, Jessyka glanced down at the body once again, curious to the same thing although she quickly spotted the memory device and she grabbed on to it and held it up for the girl and anyone else who happened to be in the room to see. “Perhaps this will hold the answer,” she suggested. Her eyes flickered to their professor for a moment, wondering what Miyako would recommend she do with such a thing.


The meister’s head jerked towards the door as she heard someone else walk in and she was slightly disappointed to see that it was just another new student. It got even worse when that new student decided to collapse at the mere sight of blood. Oh jeez… she sighed while casting her eyes down to Smoky. Are we the only ones here who are actually prepared for a mission? she didn’t directly ask her weapon the question although she knew he would hear her thought just as well as she did.


“What do you think, Smoky?” she asked her weapon out loud. She didn’t quite know what they were supposed to be doing in here and as more students came crawling in, there was a greater chance that the scene would be destroyed.


@The Succubi Queen @AnnoDomini @Arkytior

 

[The Succubi Queen]

Deryn Nicole Renoir

Name: Deryn Renoir

Status: Meister


Classification: NEW


Partner: Arthur Williams (Temporary)


Mood: Terrified


Location: Specter Lab


Team: Miyako


Interacting with: Alessa (@Arkytior), Jessyka (@Violet Obsidian), Jayce (@DaughterofAthena), Smoky (@AnnoDomini)

Deryn froze as the ringing in her ears began to resemble a voice, as it delivered a message to her. "Without fear..." the idea seemed tempting. To not jump whenever someone yelled or made a loud noise- to not want to curl up and hide whenever she heard a gun shot- to be free of those horrible visions that haunted her dreams as a child. She almost just wanted to..


But then someone was speaking to her, and she was pulled away from the alluring voice in her ears. "Do you really think that will hold answers? What if it was left behind by whoever caused this for some purpose? If I were the villain in this situation, I would certainly-" her attention was pulled away again as one of the NEW students collapsed to her knees, the sight of the body too much for her. Deryn heard the whispers again.. without fear- Alessa could certainly go without fear right now. She felt a surge of protectiveness- if something went wrong, the girl would be in a lot of trouble if a dead body messed her up like this.


She walked over to the collapsed girl, sinking to her knees. "Hey, are you ok? I think you should go back outside. Can you walk? Or do you need someone to help you? Can your weapon help?" She wasn't sure if Jayce could hear her, transformed like that, but he might need to help her out of the room if Alessa wasn't able to walk. Nothing had happened to indicated danger yet, but she didn't feel like the two would be very much help at this point.


Without fear... with each passing moment, the voice's offer seemed more and more tempting.

 

[D3lmoniko]

Skykar "Smoky" Emerson


Skylar closed his eyes and started to grip his head. He tried to find the voice. It didn't sound like his own. "Who's there?" What was happening, it sure wasn't normal. But Skylar still taught he could ignore it.


That was, until it started to make him question his protection of his master. "Shut up!" He screamed, it could be heard by the whole room, as this time it wasn't in his mind, he yelled it out loud. He could feel cold sweats on his face, as his pain became greater.


"S-Stop mocking me!" This time, this he said it in his mind, paying no attention to what was going on around him. "S-Sorry... What did y-you say senpai ?" Pain was clearly visible in his voice. But, he couldn't let his meister down.


@Violet Obsidian

 

[SummerWolf]

Kamryn 'JJ' Vessot


1-Star Meister


DWMA EAT Student
​

​

Partner: Thalia Travis


Mood: Determined, Focused


Start Location: DWMA


End location: Specter Lab


Tags: @Kyra @Violet Obsidian


@The Succubi Queen @AnnoDomini @Arkytior

Kamryn let Thalia drag her over to the group, with a determined smile. When they began to pull out, she followed, keeping pace with her weapon who seemed to be skipping more than walking. “So… What do you think we’ll find? I wonder if there will be more people. Oh, oh, oh!! Maybe one of us will go mad… Oooooooooooo!” Thalia's eyes widened and she waved her hands around, making Kamryn laugh a bit at her attempt to be spooky. "No wait… that’s a ghost sound. Well, maybe we’ll see a ghost - that would be cool too!” Kamryna smiled, and grinned at her partner's last sentence.


"It would be awesome if we met a ghost. I mean, that's something that only happens once in a life time, you know? Right? I just hope we don't go mad. It doesn't seem pleasant. I wouldn't be able to enjoy my pocky anymore!"She replied, as she pulled a new pocky stick out from wherever she was keeping them.


The secenery around them changed slowly, and they came across a creeepy looking laboratory. The professor left them outside, and Kamryn groaned at not being let in right away, and smiled noticing her weapon's reaction. Her mind wandered aimlessly as she observed the outside of the laboratory.


Sounds rang out from the laboratory, snapping Kamryn back from her thoughts, and she eyed the building in wonder. Students started rushing in, but she stayed where she was. It wasn't until Thalia rushed forward as well, that Kamryn grinned and started out running too, not to far behind her partner. “Kamryn! You coming?!” The young weapon called back, and she nodded, before mentally smacking herself. Thalia was in front, and wouldn't see that.


As Thalia changed into her boomerang, Kamryn fully reached the door, catching her weapon easily. She nodded, and smiled. "Alright! Let's go see what's inside!" She shouted, rather perky seeming to find this whole thing fun. Inside though, she was scared, as she should be. Thalia the boomrang in hand, she rushed into the building. However, she soon drew to a stop.


A body, laying in a pool of it's own blood, in the shape of an X, next to the main computer greeted them. There was a note, though she was too far away to tell what it said. One of the new students seemed to be breaking down, with someone else trying to help them. It seemed they were all trying to piece together a puzzle, one that she wanted to help solve as well. She worked through it in her head and started moving. Her face had grown focused, serious, and determined. Moving carefully around other students clustered, and the scene as to not disturb much more, she came up next to their professor. She stopped next to her, and looked towards the body again, eyeing the seemingly lost students, and those that also trickled in. She could now see the note clearly, and her eyes narrowed, factoring the words into the jumbled mess her brain was working to figure out.


Strangely, a nagging feeling was present, and a voice, almost like a whisper seemed to be in the air. Learn the word… spread the word… It was asking for trouble, for action, and Kamryn narrowed her eyes at the body, note, and the entire thing, trying to avoid getting pulled in. "Thalia, do you feel... er hear... that too?" She whispered, loud enough for her weapon to hear, probably Professor Miyako, and anyone else that bothered to listen. Only now she noticed on of the other students had been holding something. It looked like a memory device of some kind, and it seemed to be in question "Oi! Jessyka right? The one holding the device? Where'd you find that?" She asked, as she hadn't been in here long enough to know weather it was found her or not, though she suspected the former. It may hold answers, or it may be some kind of trap too. This whole situation was not sitting right, and the whisper like voice wasn't helping.

Legend

Kamryn thinking


Thalia Speaking


Kamryn speaking

 

[Sergeant Sass]

Alexis “Lexie” Traynor and Alexander “Xander” Traynor

Before, at the DWMA

Weapon: Lexie “Masquerade”

Weapon Form: Bo Staff

Meister: “Dynamite” Xander

Mood: Anxious for Something

Interacted With: Aeryn ( @Stamper​

Xander had watched the scene with curiosity from a balcony that overlooked the city. Although it was a fight he greatly wanted to join, it was a part of his prerogative and his hatred for the DWMA to avoid protecting them whenever it was possible. They made him feel more like a prisoner than a student and so he decided that he would play the role of the prisoner for now and merely watch even when it was probably recommended that he help instead. Or at least, that had been his plan until he saw his sister Lexie run to join the group that Lord Death appeared to be sending out on a mission. What is she thinking? She can’t go off without a meister! She’d get herself killed!


The boy sighed before he pushed himself away from the railing of the balcony, turning to make his way back into the school before he vanished in the maze of hallways that would lead him down to the rest of the group. His sigh was loud and audible as he walked through the crowd of students once he made his way back outside, slowly working his way towards Lexie. “Lex!” he called out to her.


The girl jumped at the sound of her brother’s voice, her arms instantly flying into a protective position in front of her own body as her head jerked. “X-Xander…” she mumbled softly. “You… you aren’t supposed to be here.”


Xander looked over both of his shoulders and then glanced around them curiously. “I’m not supposed to be here?” he questioned. “It looks like there are a lot of students here and I don’t see any reason why Death would prohibit just one. Surely you missed the memo. I’m a student here too, Alex!” The boy spat the name at the end of his statement because it wasn’t precisely Lexie’s name. It was their name. It was the name the siblings took on when their souls were together, when they were weapon and meister.


Lexie hesitated. Her eyes glanced to the rest of the students and every one of them seemed to have a partner. The girl wanted to be helpful, she wanted to go on the mission, and she wanted to make friends with some of the newer students that were there. Maybe one of them would make a good meister, unlike her brother Xander. Then her eyes turned back to him.


It was almost as though he read her mind. Being twins, some would say such a thing was even possible. “You know you want to go,” he played on her desires. “And you know I know how to fight with you. And… you know that I’m going to go anyway because there might be a good fight in it for me. Surely, you don’t want me to go alone…?” His words were a torment to his twin sister because they were true. He knew it and she knew it. They brought forth the simple truth of their relationship. Regardless of how cruel he was to her, she still loved him because he was still her brother.


Fast Forward to the Cave

Xander and Lexie had been hanging out in the back of the group. Lexie’s aquamarine bowstaff practically glowed in Xander’s hands, reflecting her eagerness to get involved in something bigger… something more. What’s that!? Lexie couldn’t contain her excitement from flooding into her brother’s mind.


Xander, for his part, ignored her. His eyes were already taking in the whole situation, analyzing it, putting the puzzle pieces in their rightful places and discarding the extras. From the conversation, he could elicit that their opponent was a witch although based on what he had seen, she didn’t seem to be violent or to have violent intentions. That’s odd, Xander remarked to himself although he didn’t bother explaining himself to Lexie even though he knew she would no doubt ask about it.


What’s odd? True to his expectation, Lexie did indeed ask.


“Shut up,” Xander whispered out loud to her as he whacked the side of her weapon form against his hand. “I’m trying to figure that out!”


The chaos of Lexie’s mind was instantly silenced by the growling undertone of her brother’s voice as the chaos was replaced by something else - fear. Fear, not of the witch that she knew was standing in front of them or of the unknown trials of the cave they would soon enter; rather, it was fear of her brother himself. Remember, Lexie, you wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t here too… coming without any meister at all would’ve been too dangerous.


Now feeling more in control of himself due to the silence within his own mind, something he greatly appreciated, Xander moved his way closer to the front of the group that had clumped together where he proceeded to watch as the outbursts occurred one right after the other. First Warren decided to be an idiot. Then Ivy decided to correct him before proceeding to be an idiot herself. Xander rolled his eyes and sighed loudly while their professor made moves to fix the situation.


Great… he sighed to his sister within the bond that they shared as a weapon and a meister. His eyes scanned through the group, looking for anyone who may have had some semblance of a plan and he didn’t see very many people who looked the least bit prepared. Half the students aren’t even transformed… don’t they know that a witch is someone they should be prepared to fight even if we don’t know all the details?


There’s a pair over there, Lexie interrupted his thoughts shyly. I… I don’t know them, but he’s just been standing there watching and from the look in his eyes, he’s thinking as well. They look… well, they look like us.


At first, when his sister started speaking, Xander’s mind grew hostile as he expected her to tell him something he already knew or something that would be just as useless although his attention was quickly drawn to the weapon and meister pair that his sister had picked out of the crowd. Lexie was right and Xander moved his way towards them, glimpsing Warren sneaking off into the cave out of the corner of his eye although he made no comment on the matter when he first noticed it. For a moment, Xander just stood there, next to the boy whose name he didn not know, while he watched the witch, waiting for her to reply to their professor’s questions.


“Hey!” he proceeded to call out, practically demanding the witch’s attention. “Are you going to answer or shall we attack once more!? You may have dealt with Ivy’s first attack, but all of us can pack a lot more of a punch than one attack may lead to believe!” His words were a threat, plain and simple and he could feel his sister cringe internally as he said it, however, Xander did not acknowledge her further.


Rather, his attention turned to Aeryn although he did not know that that was the redhead’s name. “Did you see that one idiot ran off?” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “And what do you think of this… this witch? You’ve been standing here watching and I must say I missed some of it.”

 

[Orikanyo]

Roland Percival leblance


Location: The bat cave(HAH)


Mission: Obtain cue for maddness.


Sub objective: retrieve the morning star.


Roland was never a rambunctious sort of man, he much preferred sitting back and thinking on a plan of action then going in without a rhyme nor reason. So when he spotted Warren, after his attempts to take on the witch, enter the cave, sneaking in like a particularly stubborn cat trying to sneak its way outside, he was torn on the action he should perform here.


Should he tell the professor? Let the man know so he can reel Warren back in before anything goes wrong? Maybe he should try and go after him, convince the young man to come back outside where it was relatively safe? Maybe that hit on the back of the head made him, for lack of a better word, go weird in the head? Regardless him entering alone is a foolish plan, how could he separate himself from the main group!? Didn't they teach lessons of teamwork? Pounding that fact into their heads until it was ingrained in their very existence?


"...Sir.. mr. Hiro-" he spoke softly to not alert the others, trying to go with his first option on the matter, as he quickly noticed the man was busy parlaying with the witch, or at least trying to... she seemed pretty out of it... From the look of her she probably needs to eat something... A strong breeze could probably blow her over.


"...Then... that leaves going in and bringing him back myself." the young man whispered to himself, clutching a fist and then trying to remember the way Warren went, to follow it would be easy enough, though Roland lacked the stealthiness of the young man he thinks he could possibly get through unnoticed... maybe...Hopefully.


Squeezing his way along the path he couldn't help but remember a movie he saw not to long ago, the one with the insanely catchy theme song that would always come on during the sneaking segments, honestly it kinda made it comical in a way that this song was playing in his mind now... And sort of feel like humming the theme song as well... it almost seemed fitting in a way.


Somehow by what Roland probably believed was a godly intervention he managed to sneak inside after Warren, thankful that the world decided to forget about him for a few minutes, he must return with Warren... lest his compatriot meet his untimely end!


Finally out of sight he walked forward, whispering as he looked around. "Warren, are you here? Where are you?" he asked in a harsh whisper, hoping the witch wouldn't hear him inside... or anything else for that matter.


@Violet Obsidian @TheWeirdPhilosopher (since you are going to be joining in to right?)

 

[Pariah Stark]

Collab Post

DaughterofAthena & Pariah Stark


Kassana & Aeryn


Duo (Red Streak)


Cave Entrance

@Sergeant Sass
​

One breath. Then another. Kassana worked hard to keep her focus locked onto Professor Mitsaki even though she could feel the tension growing as moment after moment passed them by, silent and uneventful as ever. Although she was nervous about what would happen, and she knew that her meister would no doubt sense that nervousness, Kassana was beyond trying to hide it because she was beginning to learn that it didn't work.


Even in her intense focus, though, Kassana could feel others moving around them. Some students seemed to be growing restless. A few pairs moved to the front and although Kassana could not recognize all the souls around her, she could feel their very presence and sometimes it was hard to ignore. There was one pair in particular that grew closer and closer to them before she could quite literally hear them standing beside her and her meister. Even in her curiosity, she tried to continue focusing on Professor Mitsaki. Sighing internally, Kassana decided to ask one more question, not out of panic like she had been before, but rather a mere request. 'Will you let me know what's happening... I-I'm curious and...' she didn't quite know how to explain it, but she knew she would draw some small comfort from knowing what was going on.


Aeryn kept his eyes focused forward. If the witch made another move, it would not go unseen. Observing his enemy - or in this case, his target - was the centerpiece of his combat style. Nine times out of ten, as Aeryn repeatedly told Kassana, the result of a Witch meeting a Meister would be a combat scenario, so it merited this eye. Every swift move or slow sway, every word that spilled from her mouth, every single pulse of her Wavelength. Everything was taken in by Aeryn. He paid most attention to how she reacted to Ivy. How she dodged, evaded, parried or blocked oncoming attacks. Those actions were key to learning about her, and those actions could give insight to her magic. She was a Witch, so understanding her Magic and what logic it followed would likely be the most essential part to defeating her if such became the case. To Kassana, this intense focus would permeate every part of Aeryn's mind and form a solid rock inside their shared mindscape.


'I would normally advise you to sense it yourself, but since I told you to focus on our leader, I suppose I will. Take note that in the future, learning to keep focus of multiple targets will be an absolute must,' Aeryn responded to her answer. At all times, he felt like a mentor to her, and this was no exception to such. She was past the point of needing constant support, which was good, but that only opened up another door. 'Warren ran into the cave, Ivy attacked the Witch, our leader is still assessing the situation and the group seems to be shifting its position. No one is hurt, although some people are making rash decisions. In the midst of this, it appears the Witch is trying to have a conversation. I'm not for sure beyond that.'


'But, I do have a question for you, Kass,' Aeryn said, now changing the subject some. He could easily split his focus. Being highly observant and accustomed to existing inside a mindscape made this type of interaction somewhat second nature to him. He felt that if he could engage her in conversation, slightly take her mind off of things, then she might relax more. She might stop overthinking. She might become more at home on the battlefield. 'This right here. Some kids, thirteen and fourteen, fighting deadly opposition from the DWMA. This is common in the EAT classes... how do you feel about it? Children at such a young age being trained to be lethal warriors in our society.'


Kassana was a bit surprised by the oddity of his question. It didn't seem like her to be something that should have come up in their current situation and it didn't seem like something she had ever expected to be asked her opinion on, if indeed she even had her own opinion on the matter. 'Hmm...' she took a moment to think. 'I think it is a life that most of them - no, most of us - choose to take.' Kassana flipped through her mind, recalling all the books she had read on the school before being sent there as a student herself. 'Yes, not everyone has a choice in coming to the school, but not everyone is forced into this life - this fighting and violence and fear. It's... its a choice for most. I...' she hesitated for a moment, 'I want to be a hero to someone, someday. That's why I'm here.'


'And... I don't want to be a lethal weapon, persay. I just want to be helpful and based on everything I've read this - this fighting and violence - is needed; it's necessary to help people otherwise only more harm will come out of it.' The more Kassana thought about it, the more she realized that she wasn't quite sure what she thought about some things, but she did trust her books. She trusted them more than anything. 'What about you?' Kassana turned the question around, curious to see what he thought about it. 'You don't seem afraid... you seem - familiar - with it.' Although she wasn't quite sure how to describe the feeling she got from her meister, Kassana was fairly certain that he wasn't uncomfortable with the situation.


'I have no idea,' he replied to her. He had listened to every word she said. It made sense. She wanted to be a role model. She said hero, but what she really meant is that she wanted to be something - someone - young girls just like her could look up to. Someone who said "I don't need to be a scythe to be great at what I am"; Aeryn began to understand her on a psyhcological level. While she wasn't a bombshell, she was pretty. But, she had a certain insecurity. A certain lack of confidence in her form. This obviously came from her weapon forme as a slingshot. He began to understand that she was a young girl that likely always had some type of confidence issue, but she wanted to overcome it. She told him she wanted to become someone others would look to, but Aeryn was sure she wanted to be that so that she herself could look in the mirror and be proud.


'Heh,' Aeryn added, What I mean to say, Kass, is that I legitimately don't remember why I'm here. I have no clue why I became a Meister. I just don't. I can't really explain much more, either. In fact, I envy you some. I would love to have an answer like you do. Whether you realize it or not, your resolve is quite a bit stronger than mine. You say it looks like I'm not afraid, but that's because I don't know what failure is. You can't risk failing of you don't know what success is,' he explained to her. For the most part, it was true. Admittedly, he made it a play on words to try and make his point somewhat more clear. To emphasize what he wanted to communicate. But, it was nonetheless true. Aeryn has long forgotten why he originally became a Meister.


Kassana struggled with what he said for a moment. 'You don't... remember?' she repeated, feeling rather silly that that was the only thing she could say. In truth, it was a terrifying thought to her, to not remember one's purpose, one's goal. The thought of being helpful was the only goal she could ever remember having and it was what drove her everyday, ever since she had arrived at the DWMA.


Very confused by where this was leading, Kassana decided to approach it a different way with a different concept. 'Failure is... failure is when you dont meet your goal... your purpose. And success is when you do meet it.' Kassana stopped herself there when she realied something. If he didn't remember why he was a meister, then did he have a goal? 'But I guess... if you don't remember, then do you have a goal? Is there anything you want... a purpose or... anything?'

“And what do you think of this… this witch? You’ve been standing here watching and I must say I missed some of it.”

​

One of the Meisters that was shifting around from earlier spoke up, seemingly asking Aeryn a question. While little else was going on the brief time Aeryn and Kassana had their internal discussion, this is the moment that broke the conversation. Not only would it be rude not to reply, but the entire point of his previous conversation was essentially to try and relieve some stress from Kassana through conversation. Bringing up a new topic. If they could have a conversation with someone else, it might just do the same thing. Not to mention, Aeryn wasn't sure what Lord Death would and wouldn't allow him to say. He didn't exactly give Aeryn a set of rules when he was allowed out of the room. He was more or less just drug along and told he would get to go on field testing.


Nevertheless, Aeryn was quick to respond. 'I do, but it'll be another time,' he replied first to Kassana. After that, Aeryn made a quick leap beside Xander who himself had inched up closer to Aeryn. This made a conversation significantly easier and made them appear at least somewhat unified as a team. "First off, name's Aeryn. Kass here," he said before nodding his head to his slingshot, "is my partner. Good to know names. Our brilliant friend that ran into the cave is Warren. He apparently didn't believe the Witch is a Witch at first; means he probably can't even use Soul Perception. He actually thought things through before that; he realized that she wasn't attacking us and that it was odd. Not for sure if he's a special kind of smart or a special kind of stupid, but either way, he's special. Ivy just went in for an all out assault and failed spectacularly. At the very least, it was useful in discerning the reactions from the Witch. Kass and I have decided to wait here as back-up in case anyone gets hurt or if we need to provide cover from a range, but with Warren running off, that plan has a slight stitch. Ivy is significantly stronger than Warren, but I don't know if she can take the Witch. My judgement call is to support Ivy instead of following Warren; higher chance of success. Overall, I'm waiting for direction from our team leader unless I absolutely have to act. I would suggest doing the same, but I won't stop you from doing whatever you want."


Kassana listened to Aeryn's explanation while her attention strayed to the student beside him. 'Xander,' she informed her meister, recalling that he didn't seem to know a lot of names, which made sense considering Aeryn had never been in any of their classes. The rest of what Aeryn had explained was familiar to her, either from a conversation that she and her partner had or from things that she had observed herself.


Deciding that not much more was going to come of that conversation, at least for the time being, Kassana once again returned her attention to Professor Mitsaki and as she had thought, he wasn't very hard to find. She was slowly learning that it was possible for her to familiarize herself with the wavelengths of others and it made them much easier to sense. Aeryn's too, was something she didn't think she would likely forget any time soon.


Then, briefly remembering the last thing he had said to her, Kassana repeated, 'Another time.'

 

[Lady Warlock]

Let the Chaos… BEGIN!

“Shut up!” Skyler’s scream rang through the entire room, echoing continuously for far longer than it should have and what followed was simply silence. Pure, uninterrupted silence filled the air, its presence haunting and inviting to those that remained outside.


Unfortunately, the silence would not last because at the same time it appeared that there had been a breath of life, a spark of existence, a signal of chaos. It sounded like typing on a keyboard and if anyone looked, indeed there were keys being pressed… although no one was actually there to press them. A swivel of the computer mouse next to the keyboard and the computer screen came to life.


At first it was merely a bright white light, blinding to stare into although the actual light of it didn’t expand much further into the room itself. However, even that didn’t last more than a moment before it slowly began to grow immensely in color, in vividity, in intensity. Even further behind the light, there was something else, something that possibly would make the situation much worse than it already seemed to be. It was a deep and low growl and as the light dimmed down, the growl only grew louder.

Spoiler

The low growl did not come from nowhere. Unlike the light, unlike the typing, unlike the hauntingly inviting silence, the sound had a source and the source now stood in front of the students in the lab. It was a dog… maybe. A demon dog from hell would’ve been a more apt description of it. The smile on it’s face was insane… no, not insane. It was mad.


And sure enough, madness came with it. The room was flooded with a thick feel in the air, a thick feel that weighted the students and their professor down, biting at their minds, their psyches, their sanity. Spread the word… that’s all you have to do and the fear will go away… spread the word… The words whispered in the air, whisking away all thoughts and feeling of calm as the growl of the dog only grew louder before all of the tension he seemed to be building came out in the loudest of barks, furious, angry and mad. Mostly mad.


Madness… it is all it takes to wipe out all of your fear… the voice continued to taunt Deryn’s mind. Spread the word. Spread the madness. Free yourself from fear. @The Succubi Queen


Do you feel that? The voice was almost a perfect echo of Kamryn’s own words, repeating back into her own mind over the growl of the ever smiling dog. Do you hear that? It’s the power of madness. The power to save the city. The power to end all and free all… @SummerWolf


Although no voice would repeat in his mind, the throbbing of his mind continued on as it echoed the pace of his heartbeat. And the pace of his heartbeat would only grow worse as his fear increased despite the stability of his meister - his meister who now stood at the forefront of the action that was about to take place. And surely the memory of the echoes in his mind would not be so quick to leave him behind. @AnnoDomini


The growl of the dog would be even louder and fiercer to the girl who happened to be standing right next to its seemingly physical form. Dripping from it’s mouth, lines of slobber would come to coat her hand, dripping on to the weapon that she was holding even before the dog so much as moved. The moment to stare at each other hardly lasted long enough to be noticeable though, because almost as soon as the dog could see her, it lunged straight for Jessyka, the growl still emanating from the back of its throat. @Violet Obsidian


Other Tags: @Kyra @Stormborn Targaryen @Arkytior @Refaulted @Ariettie