【siege: a new age】adv. lit school fantasy ❇ recruiting

[x - bluberi A N T 4 C I D]

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Quinn Connelly: age Twenty.

She was seldom bored.

To Quinn, boredom was something that occured when one had too much free time, and not enough things to occupy it with. Now she wasn't someone with a hobbie for each year of her life, after all she didn't exactly have free time at the ready. You see, despite her age, and the fact that she was a mere two years older than the graduating class, Quinn Connelly was a physics teacher at Mythica, and because of this if she wasn't in the classroom she was grading tests, coming up with lesson plans, or being buried under a stack of lab reports. Students were just... time eaters. Really, they were, but Quinn didn't mind. She enjoyed teaching, probably way to much for a woman of her age, as women her age were most likely still being taught, not actually teaching. Besides, every now and again she had her free time, usually over holiday breaks since school was not in session and she made a point not to assign homework over breaks. That way if students were waiting to get a test back she could justify her laziness with "I didn't assign you any work for this class over break so don't expect me to do any work either."

She could have been worse off though. You see, Quinn Connelly only taught one physics class, and that meant she only had to come up with lesson plans for one class. Her dearest friend Piper, taught 3 classes, two of which were academic. That meant that for every paper Quinn had to grade, Piper had to grade two. Quinn almost shuddered at the thought, but kept her composure as not to disturb the wonderful sound of her cello, which carried through the room smoothly and almost magically. This was why Quinn was never bored. In addition to having a roommate like Piper, who always had something exciting going on or so it seemed, when Quinn did have free time (as she did now) she had two amazing instruments to practice and compose music for. At this moment, she was working on a piece of her own which she had created in her spare time over break. To Quinn, the song still had that "new song feeling", similar to the "new car smell." Every time she played it, she couldn't help but smile softly and be absolutely taken in by the sound as she slowly rocked back and forth in her wooden chair, performing for a non-existent audience in her the dorm-room she and Piper shared. She had created this! This work of art had managed to come from her own mind! Her own fingers! Her own emotion!

The thought increased Quinn's blind bliss as the piece crescendoed and she drew her bowing hand back in forth with long, swift, graceful movements, pressing the bow against the strings in a series of rapid double-stops as her fingers danced on the cello's neck as if they were soon to ignite with flames! and then... peace. Abruptly as the piece's crescendo had begun, it came to a sharp halt. Two measures's rest, allowing the woody echo from the previous part to sound through the room and fade into nothingness as the second part of the piece begun. The lament, the minor part, which caused any fervor created from the previous phrase to sift and calm, it were as if for a brief moment, the cello were lulling any curious listener into a sad, dreamy slumber. Composing this. Composing this ten minute work of art had been Quinn's autumn break. She had needed something to do out in California, since she was finding herself single again... damn boyfriend cheating in her. It didn't matter, Quinn was certain that one day he would wake up and realize exactly what he had ruined... well she wasn't so certain. To be honest, she found the whole experience of being cheated on a tad unnerving. She had been away at Mythica teaching all of her first year... so how long had his little affair gone on? Had it been an affair at all? Or just a one-night-stand? Jeremy was in college... didn't college boys crave one-night stands? But how many one night stands had he had? The frustrated if not a bit panicked train of thought caused Quinn's left index finger to slip as it was supposed to land and create an #A, resulting in a an overly flat B. Frustrated, she cried out, fighting the urge to stop practicing all together. She had suffered enough, she had moaned and complained and binged enough out of grief... she had even come back to Mythica a day early and re-died her hair pink (her roots had started to show) and yet she still had trouble getting over this boy. This stupid little college boy (who was actually older than she was)! How did this happen?

Pouting slightly and feeling the need for companionship with something aside from her cello, Quinn ultimately did cease the practice session. Putting her cello away in it's hard case, and resting the case next to her bass case, Quinn set off to find Piper: The best roommate ever, the best colleague ever, and very possibly at this moment the best person ever. Bracing herself for the cold Quinn slipped on her puffy white jacket, and her large noise-canceling headphones before leaving the dorm. She could only hope she would run into Piper sooner rather than later. There was simply no way Quinn was going to hang out outside in this weather for more than a couple of minutes. Hopefully the teacher's lounge renovations were finished which meant they could get some warm coffee... or even hot chocolate.

Hot chocolate sounded very appetizing at the moment.

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[-- c a e l ii s N O X]

【ＣＡＤＥＮＣＥ ★ ＷＲＩＧＨＴ】

↘↘ ＴＨＥxx ｇｒａｖｉｔｏｋｉｎｅｔｉｃxx ＬＵＮＡ x❤

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A small devious smile crept up Cadence’s face. It would seem as if the meeting was already going to be starting soon. That was good in itself as she was really itching to have some free time although, Dawn was always more important than that. Hearing Ivy’s remark, she raised an eyebrow at her. That had been the brilliant hint? The fact that there was a magnificent tree nearby? As it went, she had to admit that it was not all that subtle, although it did sort of work. At least, she could understand it. She nodded her head, seemingly to say a fond goodbye, but was in fact, nodding to show that she understood. However, she couldn’t resist responding to Ivy’s first remark about her cloak. Her blank stare directly landed on Ivy. With her entire eyes still a silvery colour, it would be at least discomforting to many to look straight at them.

“The dark cloak was the first thing that I could grab, especially since I came later than usual to school.”

Knowing that there could be eyes and ears around, she didn’t mention the second part of what she had been meaning to say. Wouldn’t it be better for her to wear something like this to prove to any fishy people that were present that this was the meeting place? It sort of confirmed the false idea. She had been meaning to take it off, until she had noticed that Channer was not present. Not having the leader around was extremely fishy. She knew that Channer was always early to meeting no matter what went on. Ah well, at least, she would have to be more discreet now. Shuffling under her cloak, she tied her hair up with a bun and slipped the cap to cover her hair. This was a cap she especially liked as since it was made of some very light and thinner material, she could fold it up and put it in her pocket and nobody could see through it. As she turned back to the others, she dropped her cloak. After all, her white hair was what people usually used to identify her. As a supposed aquakinetic, she did not have silvery eyes which should be enough to scare away any person. Folding the cloak and placing it in her skirt pocket, she made sure to keep her face hidden as possible, pulling her cap down quite far to cast a shadow on half her face.

Another thought struck her, something which she had been puzzling over ever since she had arrived but she had pushed aside until she had found out exactly what was going on. Sarcasm had been flittering in Ivy’s voice and Cadence herself could easily feel that she was under scrutiny for something or someone. What was it? Even someone like her could not understand why Ivy seemed to be rather harsh right now, to both Altair and Cadence. A little anger rose slightly in her, as she contemplated the situation. It wasn’t really that she was mean to Ivy or anything like that and yet, she was being subject to such…severity. Shouldn’t allies be a little more friendly towards each other? A sigh spilled out of her lips and all the anger in her disappeared. Maybe that was just Ivy’s personality. It would be sort of nice to know what the problem was. Anyway, she should be heading off just now, although she wasn’t exactly sure whether or not Altair and her were meant to go there together. Suddenly, she jolted out of her thoughts and back into reality, only long enough to hear Altair’s words.

“Oh, yeah, sure. I’ll go with you. Catch ya sometimes in the week, Ivy.”

Was it alright for them to travel in packs of two? If Ivy didn’t want them to travel together, she would find some way of mentioning it. Then again, two was the number that was most likely quite discreet. It wouldn’t matter much, whether there were one or two people. Swinging her head around so that her silvery eyes could peer in the direction of the tree in which Ivy had been pointing too, she could barely make out a human figure and guessed it was most likely Channer, since she was not present at the moment. It would make a little more sense to have a decoy meeting in which the Dawn members were given the location of the real meeting. It was not like the normal Dawn leader to call everyone out and tell them that it was an important meeting, and then just say it was a headcount.

There was also the fact that somehow Altair knew her name. That was interesting in itself. After all, it wasn’t like they had formally met before, although she had seen him around. Then again, it could be something to do with her Other? She had grasped the basic concept of an Other, about the fact that they were a being that was linked to the Original, which was ultimately the people that she could see walking around. The Other…was the other self, right? She felt slightly muddled. Lost deep in her thoughts, she realised that Altair had already been heading away. Damn. Hurrying up, she kept up so that she was near him but not entirely next to him. Seeing Channer, she did not wave or smile or even acknowledge Channer’s presence until they were nearly standing face-to-face. She duly noted the phone that Channer was clutching, most likely to communicate with Ivy. There would have had to be some way of them arranging this meeting without being caught out.

A smile formed on her face as she stared at her leader. Many might take it offensively, since her smile did not quite reach the edges of her lips. It was just the fact that if she forced her smile to become bigger, she would look like a complete idiot. She did nod in Channer’s direction like Altair did, although she added her own greeting. “Hey, Channer.” she said in a lilting voice. Finally snapping out of her thoughts, she realised that Channer and Altair were most likely slightly cold. This snow could be annoying to those who weren’t used to it. Her mind concentrated for a brief second as she loosened gravity’s hold on them. They would float, exactly like her, an extremely short distance away from the ground. If they didn’t like it…ah well. She could try to please everyone, but that would most likely always fail.

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❤ ｙｏｕxxｔｈｉｎｋxx ｙｏｕxxｋｎｏｗxxｍｅx↙↙

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[x - bluberi A N T 4 C I D]

- - - PLASTIC B L U E CONVERSATIONS
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xxxxxx《I've been waiting ★ here for you》✿❀✿❀

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↓♘↓“... So like I said, I don’t really know much about you mutants. Figured it’s just best to stay uninvolved in the whole ordeal and treat the rest of you like normal people.”

“mmhmm….”

Indigo sighed, rested her blindfolded face against the taxi’s cold glass window and closed her eyes, not fully listening to what the driver was saying to her but instead drmming her fingers impatiently on her left thigh. Another year was starting at Mythica. Her final year to be exact, and as she had in all her previous years she was arriving alone. Some students were lucky enough to have their parents drive them, and others like Indigo were not. She wasn’t angry though. Hurt? A bit, but certainly not angry. Her parents did love her, and to Indigo that was more than enough. The fact that her parents could love her despite what she was: a hindrance and a monster. With them loving her despite all of that she knew that she could handle one more year of arriving at Mythica all by herself. Besides, she usually just spent the first, class-free day in her room working on projects, most of which she had sent to Mythica in the mail simply because she couldn’t carry it all by herself. Hopefully they would already be in her room when she arrived at her dorm. She didn’t want to have to spend time walking back and forth from wherever to her dorm with her numerous sketch pads, cameras, dresses and of course her sowing machines. Well some of those things were with her, the sowing machine of course, and the cameras, many of those were too expensive for Indigo to trust in the mail. It was her sketchpads and her dresses that she was most concerned with, of which she simply had too many.

“Here we go now.”

As the taxi began to slow down, Indigo opened her eyes and beneath her blindfold the once purple eyes flashed to a hesitant orange and she began to rummage through her black purse for some money to pay the driver with. Luckily, she still had something left over from her autumn job, so she didn’t have to worry about cutting into the money her parents had sent her for the month yet as she paid for the ride and tipped the cab driver. Before the man in the front seat could reply, she pulled the door handle and slid out of the vehicle with her purse as well as the rolling suitcase that had been lying on the floor of the car. She shivered. The car ride had been long and Indigo had forgotten how cold it was outside despite the fact that she was wearing a long, Victorian trench coat which she had bought during break in anticipating the Mythica weather. She didn't like buying clothes, but this one looked exceptionally pretty hanging in the store window. Hesitantly, she turned to the back of the vehicle, where the rest of her bags lay in the trunk. Opening it with ease, she manage to pull one of her two shoulder duffels out of the trunk, stumbling back and grunting with annoyance as the man who had been driving the cab emerged from his car and helped her with the last suitcase before getting back in his car and driving off, leaving Indigo alone outside of the forest she knew all too well.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath Indigo walked forward, down the path through the forest to Hog’s Town where she had been so many numerous times with her two shoulder duffels thrown over opposite shoulders, the straps forming an X across her chest and the handle for her rolling suitcase in her left hand, her purse she had shoved inside one of the two shoulder duffels. Regardless the loneliness she felt almost automatically from walking this path alone, there was a pressure in her chest. It was the good kind of pressure. Finally, she was a senior. That meant she’d have a new room on the senior floor, and she’d get to do whatever normal high school seniors did (with any luck). On top of all of that, this year, she could feel it... This year Mythica would fall to its knees, and when the great school fell, and its numerous students were forced to leave and looked to who was responsible, they would see her, and her friends looming above them. They would see Dusk. Even now, after being in Dusk for numerous years it was a weird thought, that a bunch of teenagers believed they could take down a school, and not only that they could think about it, but that they actually had a chance of doing it. As she thought of Dusk, she couldn’t help but wonder... If this year was the year everything was going to happen, then was anything planned for today? She’d have to ask Luke, during the meeting. She couldn’t just text him, for in the case that she lost her phone, she wouldn’t want someone to find it, and then find all of her messages. She’d just have to be discreet, or ask Luke to meet her. Happily she had to restrain herself from dropping everything as she walked to get to her phone to text him at that moment. If she texted Luke, she’d have to text Nathan too, and then she’d meet them and they’d get stuck doing something after the Dusk meeting. She would never get anything accomplished, especially unpacking, which was already hard as it was boring and Indigo did not like it.

She would have to get to her new dorm room before she met up with the rest of Dusk, and that was precisely what she did. The walk to Hog's Town wasn’t very long and soon Indigo had arrived at her dorm and then shortly after, her dorm room, where she was thrilled to find the things she had sent in advance in her room after having her fingerprint scanned by the high-tech lock pad. She couldn’t help but wonder if it would be possible to program the lock to admit other people’s fingerprints besides her own and her roommate’s, who seemed to be yet to arrive if she existed at all. She didn’t know her roomate’s name yet, so she could only hope that it was someone from Dusk, specifically Raiden, her best female friend who had been her roommate since sophomore year. She wouldn’t have to be as secretive about things that way. But anyway, she would have to ask Luke about the lockpad. Even if it wasn’t supposed to be hackable, she was sure he could figure something out.

But aside from that, she still had to get to her Dusk meeting. At this point, if she didn't hustle she was going to be late. For that reason she left all of her bags simply strewn all over her bedroom floor, carrying nothing with her aside from her handbag which held the key to storage room 7A in a hidden pocket she had sown in over the summer. As she neared the hidden storage room, Indigo couldn't help but wonder how many people would already be there, and what they had done over autumn break. Most if not all of her closest friends were in dusk by this point, so she was not only anticipating what Luke had planned, but she was happy to see everyone. She sighed contentedly. A Dusk meeting, as far as she could see, was definitly a good way to start off the school year.

She could only hope, the rest of the school would come to realize that with time.

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- - - INDIGO C E A N ASH
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✿❀✿❀《Is ★ on her way to the dusk meeting》

[Mister Faux]

Ugh.

"How are we going to do the flowers? Have we even decided on what kind?"

"Talk to Dara, she's got all the information on the flowers."

"So which theme have we decided on? Winter Wonderland or Snowy Celebration?"

"What? Scratch both. We're coming up with less cliche ideas this year."

"What about the Freshman? They're already complaining abou-"

"How can they have been complaining when school just started? Besides, they're Freshman. They'll live with it."

A mess of navy blue hair turned a corner, a slew of other heads bobbing along right behind him. Did they really have to do all of this now? His stride was long and focused as his fellow students bustled around him. The first day of school was always so hectic around here, especially for Prefects. He was currently supposed to be out in the courtyard making sure no one was getting lost on their way to the main office. Instead, he had been forced out of bed to deal with all this nonsense. For the past four hours he had been stuck in this damn auditorium trying not to completely explode at everyone around him. These people were on the Winter Formal committee and seemed to be the most annoying people on the planet. Then again, everyone seemed to be highly annoying now a days. But what more could he do then just send all the pain below? His face showed no emotion other than slight annoyance as he traveled down the hall, passing by various different students in all kinds of scenarios. He didn't have time for this anymore. There was a little something burning a hole in his pocket and it needed his attention. Yet the attention of Nathanial Paramount was a hard thing to get indeed; even for a tiny little object such as this.

"I'd love to stick around and keep this whole thing going," Nathan began as he saw the double doors before him, slowing down his pace a little, "But I've got other things to attend to. I mean, you guys have got it all down, right? I'm just the figure head. No one important."

He chuckled a bit as he said this, buttoning up the front of his coat in preparation. He turned to see the confusion in their faces hidden by smiles and a few laughs. Ugh. They could do it on their own, damnit. There was no way he was staying any longer.

"But what about the decorations?"

"Ask Anthony."

"What do we do if the blower doesn't get here?"

"We're mutants. Find someone who can manipulate wind."

"Nathan! Where are my pants?!"

"Hell if I know, Sam."

And he was out the door! All the commotion was left behind him as he went down the cold steps, tossing his scarf over his shoulder. His large feet moved swiftly down as he stepped onto the well worn path, avoiding puddles of slush and mentally thanking whoever plowed the snow. Quite a few students passed by him as he traveled, each one saying their own greeting. They started to get braver and braver as they tried to strike up conversations with him, happy to see their friend back in action. Growing tired of forcing out pleasant words, the bluenette shuffled off to the side and through the snow a bit until he reached a quiet little place at the edge of the woods. His lean frame leaned against a thick tree as he took a deep breath. In the near distance he spotted the large building of Mythica and all the students moving around it.

So he was back, huh?

Nathanial closed his eyes as he contemplated what this meant. He had technically been back for the past few months. Due to his hospital stay, he had missed out on the last half of his Junior year, meaning he had to catch up somehow. So as soon as he could, he got out of the hospital and came right here for summer courses. It was hard, but nothing Mr. Perfect couldn't handle. Yeah... Mr. Perfect. That was him. Perfect little Nathanial with his perfect little personality and his perfect little life. He nearly threw up. If hell was perfect, than that statement was so very true. Things were far from ideal despite his attempts at trying to make everything right. It seemed that the harder he tried, the worse it could. Should he just stop? No, that would make things worse as well. Stuck in a lose-lose situation, he was doing the best he could. For now, that meant playing the good Dusk member and following orders. His conscious had to be choked down for the time being. So did a whole bunch of other feelings and emotions, but this was nothing new. His whole life centered around this. Most kids guys lives centered around fun, sports, and girls. Why couldn't he just be normal? Ah, circling back around again. He had to stop thinking so much. That was his problem. If only he didn't have any brains. Then life would be so much easier to deal with. The idea of walking around like a robot caused a chuckle to emerge from his lips. Luke would probably like that better. Oh, right. Luke. Nathan opened his eyes and looked down into his coat pocket. The little golden key was starting to get on his nerves. But as gloved hands reached into it, he came in contact with a much more pleasant object. Out came a simple black phone with a flashing envelope on it, the number five next to it. Quickly he shuffled through mindless messages before finding the one he was hoping for. It read:

Morning to you too, love. D'ya think it possible we could meet up later? I'm busy right now but we ought to chill while we've got the free time...

Channer

A smile fell across his handsome face for the first time today. Ah, Channer. He hand sent her a simple little text this morning when he first woke up and hadn't checked his phone since. The message had been a little text heart, for he was too sleepy to do anything more. But now that he was fully awake he could properly give her a good response. She was busy right now? Not a problem. He couldn't spare much time even if he wanted. This little break he was taking next to this tree was costing him precious time as is. There was so much to do and not enough hours in the day. A small yawn escape past his lips as he flipped his phone open and began to type away on the full keyboard. Channer had actually picked out this one for him after his old, ancient one fell into the lake by 'accident'. He didn't mention that a certain Dusk member with a hot temper tossed it when said person read all of his girlfriend's texts. Channs had gotten him a much more modern type, one that would actually work. He could still recall the day they went out to get it. He'd never forget how he tripped over his own two feet and got her soaked with his big gulp of soda. They spent over an hour cleaning her up, which was anything but a chore. Grinning at the memory, one of the few he still kept, Nate sent the message before moving into gear again.

No prob. Meet me for lunch at the little cafe' next to your favorite book shop? I'll endure the nasty smell of coffee just for you, babe. ;D

Nathan

Now he had something to look forward too... For the most part. He shoved the phone back into his pocket and stepped back into the snow. Casually he glanced down at himself as the cold wind bit his face, glad he had dressed appropriately. Today he had chosen a large, grey wool jacket that ended quite a few inches past his waist, yet not long enough to pass for a mini dress. It had large buttons that fastened over the left side of his chest, hiding a zipper underneath for extra protection. It kept him nice and warm, as did the dark green scarf that wrapped around his neck, it's frayed ends blowing in the wind. He grabbed a pair of dark pressed jeans that were shoved into two black boots that matched his leather gloves. He was warm head to toe and ready to brave the winter wonderland that faced him. If only he were as ready to face all the students of Mythica.

As he made his way to the courtyard, Nathanial passed by several students, each one stopping to say hi. When you get lifted off of a mountain's edge by a helicopter mid-year and spend a grueling four months in a hospital, people tend to notice. So it's no surprise that they all had questions to be answered. An expert at avoidance, Nathan smiled them all off as he went about his way, finally reaching his destination. The courtyard was half full of students greeting one another, catching up, and trying to be along their way. After all, it was cold outside, so no one really wanted to be out there for long. Unfortunately for him, he had to stand out here and monitor everyone for a little while longer. He was supposed to be out here earlier, much earlier, but other plans got in the way. So in order to keep with his Prefect duties, he'd shuffle around the courtyard, direct Freshman, and make it seem like he hadn't skipped out for so long.

"Hey there," Nathan's soothing voice called out as he stepped up to a scared looking girl, noticing her confused and fearful gaze, "A little lost?"

"Uh... Uh... I-I-I... Yeah, um..."

"No worries," He flashed that million dollar smile, pearly whites bearing, "I'm here to help. The name's Nathanial, but since you're cute, you can call me Nathan. What's yours?"

"Oh, th-thank you. I'm Clarissa." She blushed fiercely and looked away, clutching onto her piece of paper for dear life.

"Well, Clarissa, lemme see this here," He gently took her hand and wiggled the paper out of it, giving it a quick squeeze for comfort, "You need to go to the Main Office, which is right through those doors. You can't miss it, it's the place where all the new kids are at right now. Speak with someone there and you'll get all the help you need. And don't be scared, we may all be freaks, but we're all very friendly."

He was lying. But she didn't need to know most of these students were vicious monsters underneath it all. Clarissa nodded and stuttered out a thank you before dashing off, red cheeked and with a new purpose. Nathan sighed heavily as he watched her leave. Another innocent soul that's going to get caught in the cross fire. He shoved his hands into his pocket, a gloved finger coming in contact with the little key. Oh, he hadn't forget. He was just buying time. Besides, thinking about Dusk was not what he wanted to do right now. Thankfully there was a meeting going on right now, one he was exempt from due to his current mission, and he would only be facing students who had no idea. That or Dawn members. Either one was better than his own kind.

Nathanial walked around the courtyard slowly, making small talk with those he knew. Who would he run into day? There were several friends he hadn't seen in so long, like Cassius, Jane... And even a special little fairy girl named Yun-Hee. He kept that handsome smile on his face as he worked in the cold, wondering exactly where she was right now. He was also wondering about a certain little redhead that should've shown her face by now. She was supposed to be at the meeting, but knowing her, she'd be around to cause him trouble.

The one thing he did not need right now.

[xo -- k a i r i]

♢♢♢♢

Ugh. She still had dried blood under her nails. How gross.

Wrinkling her nose, Elke began picking at the dried red flecks under her nails, frowning. She hadn't even been supposed to get that messy, all she was supposed to do was knock him out. But Lottie was so messy, and her top had been completely ruined. She'd have to go snag another one at some point. Even Elke had to admit, what they'd done...it'd been a little bit gross. Had it really been necessary, to write it in blood? As far as the teenager was concerned, the guy had been a drunk - he deserved everything he'd got. But had Luke really needed to call in Lottie? Elke could've handled it herself, and done it a hell of a lot cleaner, too. Although she had the feeling Luke had meant for it to be messy.

She still wasn't happy, though. She had had to get rid of one of her favourite tops.

Checking her bag to make sure she had everything she needed, Elke zipped her shoulder bag back up again, flattening the short skirt she was wearing against the thick black tights keeping her slender legs warm, pulling down her designer hoodie snatched from a shopping mall during the holiday before finally stepping out in her brand new boots - fluffy and warm to cope with the snow - shimmering back into existance as she turned the corner and entered the courtyard. The advantage to invisibility? The world didn't have to see you until you were ready. And they didn't have to see you when you were stuffing bloody clothes into your bag, which had been remarkably useful earlier. She'd really loved that top, though. And those pajama bottoms had been comfy (hey, it had been early!).

Considering she'd been up since 5am (Luke had said to meet at 6, but she'd had to make herself presentable first), Elke didn't look half bad. Today was one of those rare days when her hair was up, the majority of it fastened in a high ponytail whilst the rest hung down and framed her face, perfectly straight as always. Her fringe was brushed to one side thanks to her side parting, and she reached a hand up to brush it from her eyes as she trod through the snow, on roughly what she thought was the path through the courtyard. This was the problem with winter - a layer of snow meant footprints were remarkably obvious, which meant invisibility wouldn't particularly help her if she was trying to remain inconspicuous. She didn't want to draw attention to herself, so random footprints making themselves wouldn't be helpful. But getting to 7A could be more difficult, since she didn't want anyone following her.

A flash of green caught her attention - ahh, it was Ivy! Elke smiled to herself, watching as the girl disappeared off towards the forest and lake, finding herself wondering where her friend was going. Her thoughts were interrupted for a moment when some tiny little freshman brushed past her before pausing, looking lost. She snorted, not interested in the slightest in helping some pathetic little child, but she soon was interested when she spotted that familiar blue hair approaching through the courtyard archway. Asking Ivy how her holiday had been could wait - Nathan was far, far more interesting to the redhead. Elke shimmered out of existance once more, remaining where she was so it merely looked like two already-made footprints, rather than random snow shaping and crunching itself. Luckily for her the stupid freshman had stopped nearby, and of course Nathan was going to offer her help.

She was glad, that he was back. Even Elke had thought what Luke had done was just a step too far, although she wasn't stupid enough to tell him so. But crippling the poor guy? Seriously, what use was that? Nathan's power enhancement ability was priceless to the Dusk, plus of course his charming personality. And he was a good kisser. A very good kisser. She almost gave herself away with a laugh as Nathan spoke. 'Since you're cute you can call me Nathan'? Oh man, c'mon Nate. Surely he could do better than that? Just to make his job easier, Elke began making quiet, yet easily distinguished retching sounds. The freshman might hear, but she wouldn't have a clue what was going on.

Nathan, she was sure would.

As soon as the freshman was gone, scampering off to the main office, Elke showed herself again, a charming smile on her face as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. For those that were used to her abilities, the sudden appearance of the redhead was no longer a shock. Luke was far too used to it, and rare flinched like he used to. Ahhh, those had been the days - turning up at his house, making him almost jump out of his skin. He'd soon gotten used to it, though. Learnt to listen for her feet against the wooden floor. Elke had since become more stealthy, but some surfaces were just impossible to remain silent on. And creaky floorboards - those were the worst. "Hey Nateeeeee~" Elke spoke, linking her arm through his and pulling herself perhaps a little closer than friends should. Shrugging her shoulder to shift her bag a little higher, where it was more comfortable, she slipped her hand into his, smiling sweetly.

"Missed me?"

Que flirtatious blinking.

She knew she had a meeting to be getting too - but Nathan should be going too, and she had ten minutes to kill either way.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo` _______________________________________________________

------------------------------------" And I don't want the world to see me . . . "
-----------------------------------------------" 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand . . . "
---------------------------------------" When everything's made to be broken . . . "
----------------------------------------------------" I just want you to know who I am . . . "

[StellaCosmos]

{L}ιƒє gαvє, mє ℓєmσnα∂є αn∂ I cαn'τ ιmαgιnє wнy
Bσrn σn α sunny ∂αy, bєanєατн α ταngєrιnє sкy xxxx/ / ☆

☆·________________________________________________

It was very early when Yun-Hee woke up; in fact it was barely the next day when she was gently stroked awake by Kaemon’s hand. She planned it this way ever since she was given the news about Dawn. What she didn't account for was the delay with the planes. Frowning, she starred at the Korean symbols on the flight schedules. She would have to wait an extra thirty minutes to board the plane, and she was restless. Her cloak was itchy, and her shawl, well it was annoying. Sitting down, she waited for Kaemon to come with the coffee. Today she was going back for her final year at Mythica. Nothing special; just an ordinary school year as always. Excluding the fact about Dawn. She knew there was going to be a meeting today, but that was going to be many many hours later. The thing was that if she was late they would leave without her, and Channer would scold her or worse. Yun-Hee wasn’t afraid, since there are rare things or people that do scare her, but she was worrisome. She felt something in her gut, and either it was the dried seaweed she ate last night, or it was that today was not a good day to be late. Right now, it was still dark, actually if felt like night just begun. Yun-Hee remembered how she and Kaemon had planned to go to sleep really early as to not be so tried in the morning. All worked out well. They had eaten dinner at five, cleaned at six, and slept by seven. The only problem now was an unpredictable thing such as a delay in the planes because of the snow. Yun-Hee sighed silently and slid her head into her silky hands. Kaemon came sooner than expected holding the two cups of coffee in his hands and grinning from ear to ear. He sat down next to Yun-Hee, making her feel warm inside, and not from the coffee either. She gave him a brief smile as she took the coffee from him. When he sat down and started blowing on his own cup, Yun-Hee pointed over to the plane schedule board, and made lazy waves with her arms to indicate the plane was coming late. He looked up and his eye brows raised.

"Oh. Well that wasn't planned for."

Yun-Hee nodded and gave a silent sigh again, and this one was more of an apologetic sigh for keeping Kaemon out so late.

"Well I'll just stay with you until it comes."

Yun-Hee looked at Kaemon shocked. He was tired, and still had to drive back, and yet he was willing to stay with her. She felt her face grow red as she gave him a heartwarming smile. And so they waited for the plane to come. Hours later, Yun-Hee awoke on the plane as she felt she shawl slipping. Quickly she adjusted it and tied it back tighter. She looked around making sure no one saw, but everyone was asleep. Yun-Hee grew into this paranoia every time she was away from home or Mythica. Other mutants had the joy of hiding what they were. It was really troublesome though to those who had physical mutations. Yun-Hee was one of these in regards to her ears and wings. Placing a hand on her chest she relaxed and looked out her window. She could see the sun was just barely coming up. She hoped she wouldn't be late, that would be last thing she wanted to happen. She still had some time till the plane landed, so she decided to go back to sleep. In her dreams she would always see flashes of black against orange which was against red. Then all she could see were white lab coats and slanted eyes, but everything was too blurry and wet. These dreams always bothered her, but somehow they always managed to turn good at the end. She’d see Kaemon and someone else’s. The second face was a familiar face at one point, but then once at Mythica it would grow into a blue shade. Now however, it was red; a dim red though and it was never as bright as the blue once was.

Two hours later she was rushing out the airport waiting in the crisp cold trying to flag down a taxi. She had landed about half an hour ago, but it took ages trying to find her bag. When she had it she rushed outside looking for a cab. There was only two hours left. Her cell phone basically laughed at her because it was 8:16 am now and the meeting was in two hours, less than two actually by just a minute. As her arm frantically called for a yellow vehicle her mind was trying to calculate how much time it took to the school, finding her room, unloading her things, and guiding nervous freshmen around since it was her job as a prefect, all before the Dawn meeting at 10:15. The wind licked her wispy hair and her cheeks, but no matter how hard the wind blew Yun-Hee felt no cold. Her powers always kept her temperature at higher than average temperature. The reason being was her energy, or rather the energy she fed off the plants and sun. To be correct though it was the stars for her the previous night while she traveled to the airport. Finally, one had stopped and she quickly dumped her luggage in the back and entered in the back seat. The taxi driver gave a low whistle as he looked Yun-Hee over in the rear-view mirror.

"What's a girl like you doing out here this early, and all by yourself?"

With a crossed look, Yun-Hee shoved the piece of paper with the directions to the driver and then shoved the money at him. He took a look at the paper and then at her, and then at the money. Yun-Hee was running out of time and patience as she began to glare at the driver. Finally he shrugged and tucked the money into his pocket and began to drive. She rolled her eyes in the back. What kind of a line was that? For one thing it wasn’t early early. Only 8:21 as red by her phone, and lots of women travel by themselves. Yun-Hee starred out the window thinking it was probably just her dress that was the problem. She had a fashion of just wearing dresses, and it wasn’t her fault really; she had no idea that that was how she was programmed. Yun-Hee could see the sun coming up into the gray sky, and then disappear into the clouds. It was good that she absorbed all that energy from yesterday because it looked like it was about to snow. Biting her lip, she took her cell phone out and began to text Kaemon letting him know she was alright. Now she would have to wait some more. Yun-Hee starred at her phone's time and noticed it was already 8:30. She still had a good 45 minutes left. Slumping back, she just had to endure it. The only person that she felt she could text was him. Ares, or sometimes Cannon as others knew him by. It didn’t matter what she called him though because it’s not like he would ever know. Being a mute had its advantages. She flipped open her phone and scrolled through her pictures to a later picture she took when they first started dating. It was him and her smiling as she took a picture of it. That was nice, but the little spark they held seemed to be fading away bit by bit. He started acting more rash towards her, and she felt like she was acting less and less responsible and loyal to him. She could not bring herself to admit that she loved him, especially since she had issues with that feeling, but she did care about him. Things were rocky, but Yun-Hee was hopeful for things to turn out better; with that little mind set she allowed herself to smile at the phone and sent him a message:

Good morning. I have to run some errands this morning, but maybe we can meet for lunch. We can eat on he roof, or if you really want to I suppose I could tread into the pub. Hey, maybe then afterwards we can go to the music store and search for some sheet music for both of us. c:

Around forty-five minutes later the road to Hog’s Town was viewed through the window as the taxi stopped.

"So, could I at least get your num-"

Yun-Hee had already slammed the door and was briskly walking to the trunk and popped it open grabbing her luggage. She then walked away in an apathetic mood towards the cab driver. It’s not as if she would ever see him again, and she was sure he felt the same as the cab drove away. When she could no longer hear the car, she took off her shawl and cloak. Finally, for almost a year, she was free again. No more itchy cloak, or annoying shawl. She was free and she was getting late. Her phone now told her it was 9:19 am. Less than an hour by now she had to be by the lake. The snow began to fall on her face and instantly melt. She allowed herself to look at the sky just for a minute to see the white pieces of innocence dance to the ground. Perhaps one day Yun-Hee will purposely run low on energy and feel the snow flakes, but not until she was no longer needed from Dawn. Going low on energy wouldn’t kill her, not unless she gave up the natural energy that humans produce, but it was still a stupid idea at the time because something was not safe. Yun-Hee managed to take some shortcuts to the girls dorms arriving there at 9:31. By the time she made it to her room it was several minutes later. Shifting her luggage to her other side she freed her hand to press her thumb against the cold scanner. Her door was unlocked and Yun-Hee proceeded in wondering if her roommate was in yet. Apparently not, so Yun-Hee was allowed to choose her own bed and which side of the wardrobe closet she wanted. Yun-Hee almost forgot about the meeting till she passed by the clock on the wall. Somehow she managed to kill 24 minutes, because now it glared out 9:55 at her. Yun-Hee grabbed her phone and left with her hair and dress flowing behind her. The problem was that she had to be discreet, which meant she couldn’t simply fly to her destination. All went well on the stairs and outside till she meet a freshman boy who sat completely confused on his luggage looking from map to the buildings. Making a quick decision she walked over to the boy who seemed to stare dumbfounded at her wings. This was a perfectly normal reaction to a first year at Mythica.

He began to mumble something about the boys’ dormitories and Yun-Hee borrowed his map and a sharpie. She drew lines on it that formed a trail to the other side of town where he was meant to be. He seemed to understand it, but he didn’t seem eager enough to leave. He stayed and asked for Yun-Hee’s name as he introduced himself as Mike. Quickly Yun-Hee wrote out, using her powers, Yun-Hee. Then she gave him a brief smile and began to walk away. Nervously she looked at her phone to see that she managed to lose more minutes. Yun-Hee took back short cuts in order not to lead directly to the meeting, and every so often she looked behind her. Finally she was on the path to the lake. However he phone was reading past ten. Worried and frustrated at her phone she put it away for good folding her arms around her not for warmth, but to keep her comfort. Being a mute didn’t mean she was stupid and any normal human can feel like something is wrong just like she did. Yun-Hee could then make out several people that seemed to be waiting for most likely her. First there was Ivy, noticeable as ever, Altair, another person she knew very little about, Cadence, a friendly acquaintance even if she did scold her from time to time, and Channer, who’s other was talking to Altair. At least she wasn’t dead last. Yun-Hee wasn’t fairly close with anyone her, but she stood a little closer to Cadence, since she was the friendliest to her. Yun-Hee made no motion to say hello or start a conversation. None of them probably
had the patience to see her say hello, nor did any of them seem to care whether she greeted them or not.
Most people seemed to care if Yun-Hee was around or not, but she didn’t blame them. People need to
rely on their basic senses, so how can they trust someone or let them in if they cannot even hear them?

________________________________________________·☆

[ I ] cαn нαr∂ℓy brєατнє wнιℓє wαιτιng
☆ / / xxxxTσ ƒιn∂ σuτ wнατ yσur нєαrτ ιs sαyιng

[A Dream Reflected]

Rath shivered pleasantly as Yun-Hee's golden letters dissipated, feeling the promise of energy in that show of power, although it was very different from hers. She manipulated spiritual energy, the power of life-force and maybe even the soul. But the fairy-like girl's abilities were all about light and warmth. As if Yun-Hee was a celestial creature instead of a human, a bridge to the stars. Rath watched as a patch of snow at their feet melted as it was touched by that fall of bright motes, the limp and pale grass beneath it suddenly blushing with green vitality and curling slightly as if in prelude to spring. Working with a similar element for so long, she understood the phenomenon; it was the endless cycle of energy, of rebirth, what some philosophers referred to as the circle of life/death/life. She felt it even through her boots, a subtle jolt traveling up her legs. The redhead was highly susceptible to such things.

It seemed that all three of them were interrupted in unison: the wonders of modern technology saw to that. Before she even reached for her phone, Rath concluded that they all must be getting the same forwarded text; too much of a coincidence that they would be receiving separate messages at exactly the same time. Puzzled at what it could be, she didn't wait for an explanation but took out her own phone and flipped it open.

The sender was a girl named Austin, a junior that she only knew because she was a fellow Dawn member. And the message was enough to make Rath's blood run cold.

Bodyy fouund in thhe snow in Hog's TOwen, by cloock tower. BLood on ground says We'ree back. Can't take picture yet. Do you want me to stay wtih the body or go to the meeting?

This was like something out of a Stephen King novel, a scene from a suspense flick. Rath stared down at the hastily typed words, feeling the cold coalescing and lying heavily in her chest, as if she had swallowed ice. Once the numbness of shock had faded, she felt sick as well, sick at the thought of death ... no, murder. It was all she could do to put her phone back in her pocket without her hands trembling. A terrible thought struck her: what if it was someone she knew?

Oh gods, please no.

Like Yun-Hee, she merely nodded in reply to Ivy's words, as if she, too, were mute. Maybe she was, temporarily. Besides, there was little need for talk at this juncture. She agreed with getting there immediately, and the decisive nod she gave was indication enough.

Ivy was dashing off, and Yun-Hee was, incredible as it seemed, flying off. Rath was but a moment behind them, following in Ivy's wake. The redhead's long legs and lean torso were perfectly suited for the great strides she was taking, and she had always been a fast sprinter. Snow crunched beneath her boots, and the cold wind of her passage pulled the pale hood from her hair. It streamed out behind her like a banner, vividly red in the white forest.

Rath was breathing shallowly by the time she reached the town, covering that distance so quickly, but it didn't stop her from jogging to the plaza or pushing her way through the crowd there. Despite what she knew was waiting, she had to see.

It was surreal as it was macabre, and Rath found that she couldn't be affected the way others obviously were; weeping, clutching one another, looking as though they were about to be physically ill. She felt hot tears sting her eyes, but that was a standard reaction for her, and they did not fall from her gray eyes as they roved over what could be seen beyond the teacher's outstretched arms.


We're back.


As Rath looked upon the bloody corpse, she felt a sweeping sensation of relief that she was immediately ashamed of. But the dead body was not someone she recognized, and she couldn't help but feel grateful, although it angered her. An innocent man was still dead. And for what? There had been no motive, nothing beyond sending a public message, something that should have cost a bucket of paint or a spray can but instead had cost a person their life.

Rath felt hate for Dusk boil up in her, felt power surge through her before she could stop herself, and in the next moment her eyes went black. The dark energy glowed with an eerie light, subtle colors shifting restlessly across like a sheen of oil over obsidian. Those who saw this change backed away nervously, as much from a mutant with unknown-to-them powers as from the inhuman sight, even before tendrils of energy shimmered around her like licks of shadowy flame. She was barely conscious of what she was doing, or she would had stopped immediately; her energy had the habit of simply destroying whatever it sought out first when she had such tenuous control, and although it instinctively shied from any living thing there were plenty of inanimate objects around. Like the clocktower for example.

It was Channer's voice that pulled Rath out of her half-trance, although not intentionally. But hearing the other girl speak behind her reminded the redhead of why she was here; reminded her of Dawn. That was important enough to tamp down on her fury, though the fire was not extinguished, merely banked to burning coals that waited to flame anew.

Slowly the tendrils of energy faded, her tangible aura lessening. Her eyes cleared again, once more just a glassy gray. Rath backed out of the crowd, moving to join the other Dawn members. For the benefit of the crowd, she put her arm about Channer's shoulders, standing close, and looking like nothing more than one friend gently comforting another after seeing that dreadful sight.

"If I can be alone with the body, I think I can figure out when this happened," she said quietly. "I don't know if I'll be able to tell who, but if it's someone whose aura I've memorized, I will. If not, I can try and salvage what traces I can for the future."




"we know what we are, but not what we may be."

[via deathstick]

xxριρєя ❝ x єяαтσ x ❞ ραяℓαƒιттx xx x x x x x x x x x x

babe, listen good, I'm the real deal.x x xx x x

「 ♫ courtyard」______ 「♬ amused 」______ 「♫ showing off」______

when it comes down to it, music is everything; it is the heart, THE CITY IS A SYMPHONY
the life in me▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Piper was happy knowing she had vivified the courtyard, enthralling all sorts of passerbyes. It was about time someone did, too. Winter was such an oppressing force; monochromatic death. Given enough time, Piper would graduate from her rudimentary forms that looked like earth bound constellations up to more holographic forms; she could mimic people, create dopplegangers out of hard light, passable enough to look like their source of inspiration. Before she could bring those faux-people to life, a voice caused her to crane her face back over her shoulder. At first she had assumed it was one of the staff she worked with; they were the only ones who really used her first name. Or, theoretically the only ones who should have used her first name. Hierarchy of the the school system dedicated her last name be used as a sign of respect, likewise, the voice had corrected itself accordingly.

But, ew. Miss Parlafitt sounded like something someone would have called her mother. Not that Piper had ever been around her mother to hear her called that, but the relation still stood. It made her feel old. For the sake of professionalism, she allowed it, but in any other setting she would have eschewed the name, actually, the moment someone her own age called Piper by the "form of respect" she was forcing them to take her out and buy he the most immature and girly drink possible just to emphasize her youthfulness.

Piper rose a thin eyebrow as her light show was mentioned; immediately her ability was distrait, a common reflex when pointed out. The halo of light clung around her body giving Piper and ethereal glow. "Trust me, I wish I could melt all this snow!" She laughed, amused by the fact she wasn't the only person who seemed to have an aversion to the weather. All in all it was a disgusting weather anomaly, nothing pretty would ever make up for the fact that it constricted things that Piper wanted to do, as well it seemed, things the student had approached her wanted to do. "It's a hundred percent conversion rate, there's no heat given off from my light." Sad, but true. If she could have controlled heat via her light, winter would have met its match long before. Or, at least Piper would have been able to walk around in the clothing she preferred, using her ability to create a cocoon of summer temperature around her. Not to mention, she could have totally been a walking tanning bed! How perfect would that have been to bronze her complexion?

It seemed, either Piper's words or her presence, had elicited temerity out of the student. Normally Piper favored and rewarded boldness in people, but, at the same tie, she couldn't reward a student for any sort of...innuendo he may have intended. Besides, Piper had a rule: You don't date/kiss/get attached to younger men. It didn't matter if they were a month or even a day younger. She didn't do it. That sacred rule in the world of Piper had only been broken once. The end result of it still hurt.

Shoving any long-suffered ache and ennui aside, the ex-popstar returned to her exuberant nature. "Oh, don't worry about it, I used to get it all the time." The brunette teased, trying to ease any sort of awkwardness in the situation. Vanity had its upsides in some remote situations. Winking at the boy, she tried to muster every bit of body language she could to insist she wasn't bothered by the least, but found the slip of the tongue more complimentary than anything. "And hell, it's still nice to hear it." Her hands ran through brunette hair, brushing it all over one shoulder subconsciously turning it through her fingers in habit.

Oh yes critics and tabloids, b***h and slander all you want, I'm still hot.

"So, what did you need the snow melted for anyways? Mind, if I could get rid of it I would without reason." Piper was jumping back to the previous conversation, it was easier than letting an awkward silence settle over both student and teacher, and if anything, Piper was the queen of how to diffuse awkwardness. She was a comfortable person, it was one of her gifts to have people feel that way around her too. It was one of the factors that made her such a potent performer before the crash in her career, she could belt it and bring it, but when she was behind the scenes, she gave people all the personality reasons for people to love her. She was fun, exciting and she let people unwind however they wanted. Sometimes, things never did change no matter what happened in between then and now.

As she spoke with the student, Piper thought she spied shock pink in among the crowds of returning students. Quinn? Immediately her light began to filter away from her body, only the unnatural shine in her hair remaining. The other light used whatever sound it could feed off to take the form of an otter, mock constellation style. The otter seemed to swim in a current all its own, slipping playfully in and around students before reaching the destination, the beacon of pink where it circled happily. If it was Quinn, she'd find Piper in a heartbeat. If it wasn't, well, free light show for them!

the life in me▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
the life in me.AND I AM ITS SPEAKER!!

「 ♫ courtyard」______ 「♬ wondering 」______ 「♫ talking with cassius」______

[S h o n a -- Waters]

And I've lost who I amxxxxxxRejecting your lovexxxxxxxxBut I knowxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxTake me home to my heart
And I can't understandxxxxxxWithout, love gone wrongxxAll I know's that the ends beginningxxxxLet me go, and I'll run
Why my heart is so brokenxxxLifeless words carry onxxxxWho I am from the startxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI will not be silenced

xxxxxxxx『 "All this time, spent in vain
xxxxxxxxxxWasted years, wasted gain
xxxxxxxxxxAll is lost, hope remains
xxxxxxxxxxAnd this war is not over
xxxxxxxxxxThere's a light, there's a sun
xxxxxxxxxxTaking all these shattered ones
xxxxxxxxxxTo the place we belong
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAnd his love with conquer....." 』

◦ ● _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ● ◦

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAARON KNIGHT



So the meeting was at 10:10 A.M? Hmmpth. That means he arrived early. Maybe before the others, even.

Aaron, currently in the midst of getting to the storage room and wait for everyone else, was a bit overwhelmed. It was bad enough that once he made a break towards Hog's Town, all the other girls were swarming all over him. And boy, were they difficult to ward off. Somehow, he wished that everyone would just leave him alone. Did they even know the meaning of getting into someones' personal space? It wasn't the girls that he was irritated with, it was other people who tried to befriend him. No, let me rephrase. Attempted to cross boundaries with him.

The very fact that they actually wanted to be friends with him made him all the more disgusted. Aaron wanted nothing to do with them.... those... those ignorant people! So why did he end up caught up with other people, besides himself? And furthermore, how did he of all people come to have such feelings for some mere girl? Still, it can't be helped. Ivy had been really helpless and it was all he could do to protect her from any harm. Now that made him like some sort of knight with shining armor! Aaron had never recalled of putting it like that before. It was more like if he had once left her alone by herself, who knows what would've happened to her? She would obviously be up to something reckless again and he wouldn't be around to do something to help.

But he doubted that there would be any problem whatsoever with Ivy at the moment, since there were other people around with her. Or he hoped. God. Why was he even letting the girl get to his case? And whats more, why was he even exaggerating over her? Aaron knew very well that others were looking out for her, but how come he stopped every few steps just to worry about Ivy. He refused to believe that he was actually fond of her, and he didn't want to do that. It would have spoiled his reputation.

By now, Aaron had already arrived at the storage room, that indicated to be room 7A. He quickly glanced down at his upper right sleeve, where his key had been solely seen carefully, cupped inside and gently dangling back and forth. The dark haired boy took time to consider everything before going inside the door. Yes. He had possibly arrived here early and before everybody else, but was there any need to be at the meeting now? When everyone else was not quite here yet?

Whatever. It was a lot better than having to be late, wasn't it? And he might just lose track of time anyway, standing right over here. With that said, Aaron took out the key, without making any other tinkling sound, aware that there might be people who would suspect something. He definitely didn't want anyone who was a part of Dawn to see what he was doing. It would lead to suspicion, and it would soon lead to having the Dusk's plan to be soiled.

After inserting the key into the key hole, the door clinked open -- barely making any sound. He took one stride forward, and stepped in the lively room. Realizing that the door was still open, he cautiously and slowly closed the door behind. Having done all this, Aaron had forgotten to breathe, holding his breath through the entire process. Exhaling the air helped calm his nerves, and had cleansed all the stress he had of getting caught. The one thing he didn't understand was of why he had acted like such a spy a moment ago. It was so unlike him to be afraid of getting caught. Aaron was usally quite confident that nothing will go amiss so why had he been so uneasy?

Now.... where were the fellow members of the Dusk supposed to be meeting in? Oh yes. Their meeting place was supposed to be at the back of the storage room, where there hadn't been filled with useless junk, what Luke had clarified in the message. Apparently, he described that it was in some little opening. Aaron strode gracefully onto the linoleum floor, all the more searching for the meeting place.

It was then that he had found the place. He snorted in disbelief. They were supposed to have their meeting in a clustered spot like this? Aaron personally thought that Luke should've had his eyes checked. But whatever.

The enclosed space didn't have any chairs. Guess Luke expected everyone to sit on the ground, with nothing accompanying their bottoms'. All the more, he went over and took a spot at the nearest corner. To Aaron's surprise, it had been a quite comfortable spot. For him, even. Since he was the first one to get in here, he made sure to be watchful of the others.

[Kuname Mitarashi]

Disappointment, as always. Sad yet not sad though as at least I was use to it already. Besides, melting the snow would be a bit much. After all, wasn’t this school suppose to be secret from outsiders or something? But whatever. “Mmm....right. Light only creates darkness, not heat,” I added to her statement. It was true, because of light, shadows existed. It truly was interesting how opposite the two were, light and dark, yet how dependent on each other they were to exist. After all, if there was no darkness, what would the light illuminate? The thought was kind of comforting; it made me feel like no matter how ******** up things got, there was always balance...somehow.

Woops! I was lost in thought before I knew it. Luckily she had not taken the comment poorly at all; innuendo and all. In fact, she seemed quite happy. It was nice to see. Probably the reason I flirted so much was because it usually brought joy to girls. Everyone wants to feel wanted, whether they admit it or not. Even I...well whatever. It put a smile on her face and plus flirting was always fun. “Of course. How silly of me. A woman such as yourself would obviously attract the interest....ehhh...ummm...attention of any guy,” I said, rubbing the back of my head, once more biting my tongue. All of it was a ruse though. That was how I worked. Delivering the innocent flirtatious line, then converting to the shy, overly flattering, tongue tied guy that girls always liked but were never turned on by. It was my way. It was a good way to put certain people in a good mood, gaining their friendship and favor while keeping a safe emotion distance. I mean, obviously I found her attractive, I mean, who wouldn’t. Hell, many of the girls here were nice to look at but...“I’m okay with being like this...for now” I’m guess I am just a tool.

But hh yes, back to the weather which was indeed a bother. “No reason is as fine as any,” I replied. “I’m just not well adjusted with this kind of weather. Makes my skin dry...well, yeah. Hehehe.” Man, I hated how dry my skin got during these winters. My first year here, the skin on my hands almost bleed I was so dry. Before I knew it though, Piper began sending another light puppet towards one of the other staff. Apparently the pleasure of my company had no expired. No matter though, I had other things to attend to. “Well, I hope to talk to you again soon,” I said with a small bow. “Sayonora sensie!! I look forward to seeing you in class.” With nothing else but a warm smile, I turned and made my way towards down a random passage.

For some reason, however, while I walked, I had the annoying feeling that I was forgetting something. “Chikuso...what the heck was it?” It was like having something on the tip of your tongue. I knew we didn’t have any soccer meetings this soon, and club sign ups would probably come later, if even today. So what was it? If Renan was around, he could just simply remember whatever it was I was suppose to remember since he could read memories....or something with memories. I knew the guy pretty well yet the nature of his powers always eluded me. “Wait!! Renan!! The meeting!!” Amazing how despite his presence, Ren was still helpful.

Dashing back the way I came, I headed towards out towards the courtyard. I knew I was probably running late since the last time I checked the time it was about ten. The meeting was at ten-ten and it was a good dash to town. Opening the door, I felt the cold breeze instantly hit my body, almost causing me to reflexively close it. I had forgotten that I didn’t have a jacket on me, and the shirt I was wearing was thin as hell. Soft though. “Ohhh so soft.”

Stepping out, I crossed my arms to keep my chest warm. We had winters in Japan sure, but not like this. I mean, I grew up in southern Japan/ summer time Italy, so this was kinda a different level. Making my way through, I spotted Nathan and Elk beneath the archway. “At least I’m not the only one who hasn’t arrived yet.” I would have stopped to say hi since we were all heading in the same place anyways but...well it was Elk and Nathan. Nat wouldn’t have minded but Elk...she was full out on getting Nathan back. Somehow, even I had gotten involved in her scheme. But hell, she wasn’t a bad person and someone who I have to work with anyways, so it was kinda my role to be used anyways. Pathetic way to look at it I suppose. Besides, if I could pacify her desires, then at least I’m helping someone out.

But still, as for the moment, she was alone with Nathan “Alone enough anyways,” so I figured she didn’t want to be interrupted. Nathan and I would chat later. Walking by them, still hugging myself, I lifted my hand from my chest barely enough to give a quick wave before going off. They would catch up. Besides, leaving all together could seem odd. Picking up into a run, I could feel the snow slipping into my shoes, wetting my socks and freezing my feet. “And everyone else thinks that there’s only fire in hell!” I really began to regret not going back for my jacket, but my need for being punctual was a bit overwhelming. Didn’t want to chance pissing off anyone by being late. In Dusk, so many people got pissed off so easily.

Suddenly I remembered that there was no cold in the Shadow Realm. Such a place was devoid of things such as temperature...and air for that matter. Luckily though since the world seemed to be an extension of my powers, so the no air thing didn’t really effect my body so much. But back on subject, I tried to perform Shadow Drop. Interestingly though, I remained where I was. Looking down, I then realized. Snow reflected the days light, making shadows non-existent or incredibly faint on snowy days like this. If there was a shadow to drop into, I’d have to stay still for a bit and concentrate to find and open up said shadow. “Standing in the freezing cold? No thanks.”

Picking up pace again, I sprinted down towards town. Good thing I stayed in shape with soccer, but the air was so thin and cold I lost my breath more easily. Even my lower extremities were beginning to ice up, but keeping my heart warm was more important, as painful as that is to admit.

Finally arriving in town, I made my way to the storage facility. I would stop by the store later to pick up some food for an excuse in case anyone asked when I got back. “Which was it? 4A? Wait...that’s my room number. Seven!! 7A.” Coming to the door, I reached for the knob which was as cold a death. It was locked.

Crap!!” I had forgotten the key. The key that Lucifer had stressed with the utmost importance. I wasn’t the more useful of members as it was and now this. The only thing I could do was wait for someone else with the key to show up, and pray the next person wasn’t Luke. Standing there, freezing my tail off, I began to shiver. Sad part was I was probably only was standing there a minute tops. Peering down at the bottom of the door, I noticed there was a small crack which only darkness escaped. This was the doors shadow. Touching my foot to the bottom of the door, I began to concentrate a bit. Only took a few seconds, though infinitely longer than usually, but finally I found a doorway to the darkness. Without hesitation, I dropped.

Opening my eyes, everything was in shadow scape black and white. It was always disorienting since it felt like someone was pushing down on my head hard enough to turn me inside out. Unpleasant, but was use to it. The ground was covered in blinding white, the representation of the light the snow reflected. Turning towards the door, I began push through it, passing through it as if it were a vapor. I was lucky this door had a large enough crack at the bottom to produce a shadow. Inside, was dark; incredibly dark, but everything was solid. There was much clutter in the room indeed, all in shades of black or grey. This realm was incredibly depressing. Also...was she here? I didn’t want to find out. Without second though, I flipped back to the world of color.

Opening my eyes once more, the room was still dark, but not like it was. Everything was backwards, or probably rightwards, and the air no longer had the grainy consistency as the rooms shadow. Looking around through the junk and clutter, I spotted a familiar face.“Hello Aaron,” I said, my voice my lacking it’s usual cheery disposition.

--- --- ---

If I cried, wouldn't you be annoyed?
If I was sad, wouldn't you be angry?
Covering up with that smile you learned to love.
Love that false shadow that cannot love back.

[lass kelsy]

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Exhausted.

Mentally, physically, emotionally... didn't matter, she was exhausted. Aubrey dragged her feet through the snow, red doc martens hardly providing protection from the cold. Despite her big fluffy socks, Aubrey was slowing beginning to loose feeling in her feet. She felt naked, white-blonde hair catching in the breeze, and feeling unbelievably uncomfortable not being shifted into one of her wild forms. She did not have the focus today. Aubrey had already tried shifting; hardly lasting ten minutes before she lost concentration altogether and shifted back. Bringing her mittened hands to her face, Aubrey held her cheeks in her hands to try to warm up. She didn't exactly hate winter, but at the moment she wasn't loving it either. The hood of her black sweater, worn underneath her short red coat, was beginning to gather falling snow on the top of her head. Smoldering gold eyes scanned the long path back from the dorms, seeking out any familiar faces. She recognized a few friends on the wrestling team, all giving one of their best fighters waves and smiles. So what? Aubrey enjoyed kicking a**. She especially enjoyed people taking in her small frame and delicate features and mistaking her for a porcelain doll - and then proving them very, very wrong.

Aubrey tried to ignore the empty feeling in her stomach. She hadn't eaten in two days, the dread already there too much to bear. Aubrey always got the same way before parting from her brother, Aaron, in his fathers old cottage. He noticed, but long since given up on convincing her to eat. Truth was, both of them had empty plates at dinner, both had stopped eating. Her heart ached thinking about him, about how awful he looked when she finally got to the old cottage. He looked thinner, like he hadn't slept or ate in ages. Any attempt she made confronting the matter was immediately brushed off as 'just growing' or some other pathetic excuse. She didn't believe him. He was stressed out. But for the life of her Aubrey couldn't figure out why.

Strolling out into the courtyard, Aubrey gave a quick and nervous wave to her soccer captain, Nate. Anywhere off the court and she found it difficult to be around him. Not like she was shy or anything, she simply got uncomfortable since he always had some posse of drooling student government folks following at his heels. That made her slightly uncomfortable. Feeling a low growl in her stomach, her appetite slowly returning, Aubry made a turn towards the snowy path to Hogs Town. Her mouth watered thinking about a mug of hot chocolate, closing her eyes and imaging her sipping it before a fire. She trudged through the snow, her feet starting to loose their feeling as the poor choice in footwear and thick socks proved still to be little protection from the cold. Despite her chilly feet, Aubrey gliding through the snow with ease, nearly floating over the surface as the tall clock tower came into view. It was still early, most student still setting themselves up in their dorms. Aubrey had arrived a day early, having to be dropped off by Aaron and he still needed to return to New York to make it back for Christmas with his father. Aubrey saw few tracks in the snow upon the path to the quaint little town. Maybe six or seven prints of some early students, teachers and perhaps the groundskeeper or something.

She thought of her brother as her gaze rose to the beautiful blue sky. She liked the mornings at Mythica, as she normally spent them alone. Despite being social and full of personality, Aubrey enjoyed time alone. Except with her older brother, who was more like a father to her. Aubrey's heart ached, and she quickly shook thoughts of him out of her head. Although, despite her efforts, worry still laid in the back of her head as she pondered over what had him stressed out so much. Oh, well, she'd see him on the next holiday.

She knew what it was before getting closer. Breaking through the last line of trees to the main square of Hogs Town, Aubreys eyes fell upon the beautiful clock tower in the center of the open court. Then, they sailed down, and landed. A body. Blood. Heart thumping, Aubrey advanced closer, wondering if it was just a dead... really big animal or something. Then she saw a human hand. More blood. Words.

'We're back.'

Aubrey had never screamed so loud in her entire life.

______________________________________________________________________

TO LIVE, TO LEARN, TO LOVE IN THE MAJOR KEY

[S h o n a -- Waters]

And I've lost who I amxxxxxxRejecting your lovexxxxxxxxBut I knowxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxTake me home to my heart
And I can't understandxxxxxxWithout, love gone wrongxxAll I know's that the ends beginningxxxxLet me go, and I'll run
Why my heart is so brokenxxxLifeless words carry onxxxxWho I am from the startxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI will not be silenced

xxxxxxxx『 "All this time, spent in vain
xxxxxxxxxxWasted years, wasted gain
xxxxxxxxxxAll is lost, hope remains
xxxxxxxxxxAnd this war is not over
xxxxxxxxxxThere's a light, there's a sun
xxxxxxxxxxTaking all these shattered ones
xxxxxxxxxxTo the place we belong
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAnd his love with conquer....." 』

◦ ● _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ● ◦

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAARON KNIGHT



Aaron had already regretted lying to Ivy that he wasn't feeling well, just so he would miss the Dawn meeting. He couldn't recall why he used that excuse in the first place, and how he managed to make it sound convincing was a mystery. It had been all he could think of at the time, and all the more, he had avoided speaking the truth to Ivy of why he wouldn't be able to attend the Dawn meeting. Aaron wasn't used to lying to people. He would always speak the truth, but this had been a different circumstance. He had to remind himself that he didn't want anybody prying through his business, after all.

But at times, it had been really difficult just to have him shut his mouth. The things he wanted to keep to himself.... the secrets he continued to hold within.... they often all come out of his mouth at the most unexpected timing. And once their all out, he couldn't take back all the words he had spoken nor could he erase their memory. What he had said would be countlessly remembered no matter what he did. Thanks to that, numerous people had knew quite a lot about him. But these days, Aaron had kept his secrecy as best he could. He was very aware that he had been lying to the whole world. But in this case, he had made up nothing but lies to Ivy. He knew that it wouldn't do to lie to a girl.... he knew that, so why did he keep doing it?

Didn't he trust Ivy...? Did he hate her? Nope. That wasn't entirely true. So did he love her? Aaron didn't want to know, but he knew the answer perfectly well although he didn't want to admit it. The only problem was of what Ivy had thought about him. Oh, shucks. Why was he letting that get to him? Why should he even be concerned for Ivy, when his mutant friends were more important than some stupid girl? Aaron just didn't understand. He thought that his only intentions were to save the mutants and to bringing down Mythica. That was why he had joined the Dusk in all their plans and plot-ting's.

Aaron brought his legs closer to his arms, and gave them a relevant squeeze as he took time to consider this. Who was more important to him? Ivy or the mutants?

Saving the mutants or Ivy? Ivy or the mutants? That question went back and forth in his mind. Just who would he choose? After a moment of thinking, Aaron had finally pronounce it impossible to choose between the two of them. It would take some time to find out, and once he made his decision he would continue to protect whichever was important to him. That had simply made him to be some sort of thick headed hero, and Aaron already put the worthless jumble of thoughts away from his mind. He shouldn't think about stuff like that. He should focus on the Dusk meeting and to help think out plans to exterminate the Dawn!

Just when he was about to get on with it, Aaron had witnessed a slinking shadow move towards the cluttered items.
And before long, the startled boy had been face to face with Cassius.

"Hello, Aaron."

The way he had addressed him like that. Using the awfully familiar tone with him, like they were friends or something. Aaron had always pitied Cassius, and of his carefree ways. It had been such a sight to see the simpleton making his way towards him. And what nerve he had to even speak to him!

He gave one glance towards the young boy, before darting his eyes away to the nearest window make eye contact with a small black gloating shape climbing up the sills. It had been a mosquito, and he had no intention to get up and swat the little critter away. He knew that sooner or later, it would fly off to another suitable place. After all, it was always like that with all mosquito's. They were such pathetic creatures, and their existence had been far off penetrating. But Aaron knew better than to underestimate on what they can and can not do.

"...Hey. Shadow boy."

[Korealicious]

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The entire day felt incredibly boring.

The day started with him waking up in someone else's bed. No, there wasn't anyone else sharing the bed with him, nor was there someone in the bed while he was. No, he didn't kill some family and then just stay in their home for the break. The owner of this house lived alone and suddenly remembered that he had booked a room in a hotel for a week in Arizona. The poor man lived in Michigan. He left two days ago and when he finally did arrive, he learned that he had never actually booked the room. His poor memory must have deceived him. Or perhaps it was a certain mutant that altered his memory so he would leave the house vacant for a couple of days. However, there wasn't really much of a thrill stealing a few nights in some random stranger's home. The most exciting thing Renan probably did was watch television, find about fifty dollars, and ordered as much pizza as possible. Never mind that the pizza was probably so fattening that Renan might have gained a few pounds, it was all brain cell-killing fun.

There really wasn't any point to stealing the man's electricity, running water, warm bed, and money. It was just that Renan had nothing better to do and he absolutely refused to go back home to his father. [******** him... he growled to himself as he turned off the television. It wasn't like they were going to miss each other. In fact, by the end of today, Richard Derouet probably forgot that he had a son. Renan only wished that he could forget that he had parents. And as he walked to the cab he had called for, he also wished that they were there so he could flick them off as he drove off into the sunrise.

Or something to that effect.

But the thing is, neither of them were there, and there was no sunrise. It was just cold, snowy, and nasty. But then again, it was Michigan. It was always like that in the winter. And it was the middle of ******** December. It was early as hell but he didn't care, although the cab driver seemed a little pissed that he had to drive some brat this early in the morning. Of course, that had no effect on Renan, who could care less. The man was going to be "paid" and that was all he needed to worry about.


* * *


The ride was considerably dull. Well, it was expected, but Renan had the smallest attention span at the moment. Maybe it was because his mind was racing, maybe it was because he felt... excited for the rest of this year. Maybe because he had been waiting for an entire year for Dusk to finally take action. He sank back into his seat, staring out the window while he thought back to Luke--Lucifer. Renan had to admit, he admired the way the man convinced him to join Dusk. He read Renan well, which could be difficult considering he usually hid his true self from everyone else. He usually kept his biting comments to himself, holding back the rude and insulting things that he usually had to say about everyone around him. Psychologists asked themselves why he was like that. Hell if anyone knew. It was probably because of his ******** up father, although truthfully, his mother started it all. Oh, sure his father might have sexually assaulted two people and was dishonorably discharged, but really, it was because his mother left the two of them that things turned out this way.

Maybe if the b***h had taken me with her... he thought to himself grumpily...

Stop.

Renan frowned to himself. What was he doing? Was he pitying himself again? If the driver wasn't there, he would slap himself. He promised to himself a long time ago that he wasn't going to pity himself anymore; he was sick and tired of crying himself to sleep like when he was a child. He wasn't that person anymore. He was Renan Ian Derouet: a sadistic b*****d that really didn't care about anyone but himself. And he was content with the way he turned out.

"We're here," the driver grumbled.

Renan clapped a hand onto his shoulder. "Thank you, my good man." He smiled as he got out of the car. "I'll see you around."

"No, thank you for the generous payment," the driver grinned. The poor man actually believed that Renan paid him at the beginning of the trip. The boy laughed to himself. But really, there wasn't much time to dawdle. He was already settled into his dorm room; he didn't bring much with him during break. Instead, he began to head to Hog's Town where he was ordered to show up by 10:10 AM. Shoving a hand into his pocket, he fingered the key that was sent to him by Luke. He managed to walk briskly, passing by familiar faces and saying hello to them in a cheerful manner. To be honest, he really was in a kind of upbeat sort of mood. However, as he was closing in on his destination, a scream that pierced the skies made him jump. Really now, this early in the morning? Did someone drop their cellphone in the water while texting some "rly IMPORTNT mssge 2 there bff!?" or something stupid like that? Probably.

Instead, Renan carried on, unlocking the door and generally slipping in unnoticed by anyone out there. Once he closed the door, his eyes darted to the two that made it to the meeting before him. "Hello, ********] he greeted with that sarcastically polite smile of his.

[Strip Polka Time]

_________________________________ IF I x COULD SEPARATE x ME FROM x MYSELFx I'Dx STAY x AWAY x FROM x ME
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XXXX If you decide I'm wrong ▫ ▪ ▫ ⇢ 〔and you can wait that long〕
FILLER TEXTMaybe it's not too late

XXX▫ ▪ ▫ XXXXXXX﹝ I will not lose you to the melting▪ sky ﹞
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XxxXXOr x to xthe x mad xparade
xxxxxxxxx To xx the bloody xx jaws or xx the firefall xx ...

_DON'T BE AFRAID
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Augustine hated to be late. It wasn't responsible and it wasn't prone to leaving positive reactions or opinions upon one's character and reputation. Even if there were no classes today, the elder of the Sisters Dubois found that she enjoyed having the extra time to put her things in order in the dorm room and create a cozy little atmosphere in her new home away from...well, it was hard to call anywhere home these days.If anything, the small little dorm rooms were more of a home than where they were currently living, or the dumpy little apartment in Virgina, or the old Family Victorian in New Orleans.

The snow slowly seeping into the fabric of Austin's paint-splattered Converse was oddly reminiscent of the cold, frigid texture of the freezerburn that lined the icebox coffin. Every little passing snowflake only served to act as a painful, vibrant, belltone reminder of flesh lightly-tinged blue, dark dribbles of coppery blood against blonde hair and listless blue eyes. It had been a scene she had tried to transfer to canvas many a time in order to alleviate the nightmares, to get some sense of closure, only to break down and toss away the brushes and paints and collapse in a multicolored heap of collective emotions on the floor.

It was funny that something so small as a snowflake could stir up such an image. Thankfully, Austin didn't have to shiver in the snow whilst remaining trapped in her reveries. Her attention was broken by a petite little blonde who had gracefully exited the cab after her, straightening her dress and her top layer of a thick winter coat before motioning to the cabbie to get all her bags and suitcases out of the trunk. Of course, Austin wasn't surprised by the fact that her younger and less conventional sister decided to arrive to the first day of school wearing an infamous pair of heels, but she wasn't prepared at all for the sheer number of bags and cases that the poor man had to force out of the trunk. How they had fit there in the first place was a mystery in itself.

Anyone who saw the two sisters at this point would have thought them to be complete strangers, aside from their similar facial features. Austin's pitiful collection of two small black duffel bags and a neatly-packed suitcase was completely eclipsed by the younger sister's mountain of pastel pink cargo - fluffy suitcases, lace-lined purses and glossy boxes that were probably designated for makeup. It truly would have been enough for any unknowing passerby to label the younger sister a princess while simultaneously casting the stone of pauper upon the elder.The only thing that seemed to make the situation worse was that Remi decided to sit on the largest of the suitcases, and when the cabbie told her (in a firm, but gentle voice) that he wasn't allowed to help her, the young girl put on her prettiest pout and glanced in Austin's direction with puppy dog eyes.

"Auuuuuuustin..." The high-pitched whine was enough to make poor Austin's sensitive ears cringe, "Help me, pleeeeeeease, darlin? Hayes isn't with me right now and and I don't want to break a sweat and get all ugly and-"

Sighing, the brunette leaned down to collect most of her sister's baggage, thinking that the younger girl could at least get the suitcase. She had only proceeded to take a couple of steps when a "Tsking" noise from her blonde counterpart caused her to sigh in frustration, and pull a plastic container of soppy still-wet watercolors.from the sharpie-marked pockets of her baggy jeans. It was easy to see Rem's expressive blue eyes widen from behind the lenses of her glasses (white frames today to go along with her outfit) while she merely remarked in a dangerously low tone:

"You wouldn't."

A catty smirk suddenly appeared upon Austin's lips. It was a shame that Rem didn't know that her sister was pressed for time and had to be at a Dawn meeting in less than half an hour. There was no way she was going to be tardy because her spoiled little sister couldn't be bothered to pull a single suitcase through the snow.

"Oh," The girl chuckled up at the frightened face, "I would"

There would have been a scream of horror and disgust reverberating throughout Mythica's expansive property had Austin not used her powers to silence the Siren. Clearly Remi didn't understand what was so funny about having a green strip running through the front of her bangs. Instead of joining her older sister in the laughter, she merely grabbed the handle of the suitcase and trudged through the snow on her own, leaving poor Austin to follow the pointy footprints with the rest of the bags. Part of her felt a little bit bad for what she had done, especially when the first thing that Rem did was go straight to the bathroom to wash, dry, and restyle her hair as opposed to immediately taking over the majority of the wadrobe with her colorful menagerie of dresses or her legion of shoes, which tended ot be the typical action. Luckily, the younger girl's roommate hadn't arrived yet, and Austin was itching to check into her own room. Calling out a quick "See you later" to the bathroom door down the hall that obscured the form of her sister, Austin quickly moved up to the next level where her own room was supposed to be.

She had heard through the grapevine that her new roommate for the year was supposed to be some girl named Aubrey was supposed to be her roommate. Sometimes it really did pay to have a gossip queen for a little sister, although there were times when the information was highly unreliable. Regardless, Austin found herself pleasantly pleased with the announcement - Aubrey was one of the people in the fourth year that Austin really found that she liked. Plus, they both seemed to have similar interests, such as art and soccer so it would only be reasonable that they would get along. Unfortunately, Austin only had time to slap her thumb onto the fingerprint scanner that unlocked the room, throw her bags on the unclaimed bed and curse darkly at her phone.

She was late for the Dawn meeting because of Remi. A small little part of Austin wanted to go find the Southern Belle and ring her little neck out of irritation. A small little shake in the room was the only result of the brunette's feelings; she had learned better than to let the ground quake in submission under her very feet, to shatter the sheets of glass that made up the windows or to cause the inner workings of a person's ear to burst. She had learned control, if anything, during these past years, and Austin wasn't about to repay Mythica for its kind lessons by letting some group of silly kids tear it to pieces.

Speaking of the Dawn meeting...Austin slammed the door to the dorm behind her and stumbled (literally, almost fell) down the stairs coming back outside and into the snow on her way towards the meeting place. She was about to run towards where she had remembered where the meeting was, but there was something that distracted her. Well...distraction would have been a light understatement. An alarm clock down the hall was as loud as a jackhammer piercing the concrete to poor Austin's ears, so when someone decided to breathe deep and scream?

All Austin could do was hunch over with a pained expression on her face, plait flinging itself over her shoulder whilst she covered her ears in a futile attempt to escape the shrill cry. Part of her wished to go back up into her room and grab her ear plugs (usually reserved for Rem's fits) but she moved towards where the noise hand come from instead. That wasn't the gleeful roar of some kids who hadn't seen each other for an entire school break - that had been a scream of fear, disgust, repulsion. And Augustine Dubois was, above all things, a sucker for someone who needed help.

She must have looked wild, and frantic, her legs tearing through the snow and her dark hair half-falling from its ties when she arrived at the scene. Her sharp gaze was initially drawn to Aubrey, who only seemed to be staring down at something on the ground. There was nobody here to assault her, granted Aubrey was known for being a tough little cookie. No threat of a monster or someone who threw a snowball too hard at her head; instead, there was only a hint of something in the snow. The red was what caught the artist's eye first - it was always such a stark contrast to the monochrome shade of the snow and black slush.

Her stomach should have sank when she came across the body. She should have screamed like Aubrey, she should have doubled over and wretched up the morning's breakfast onto the frozen ground. Instead, the brunette could only stare and recall the familiar stillness that had haunted her since her youth. This man had been someone's child, someone's friend at some point...surely his life had been cherished and yet here he was dead and (for a time) forgotten in the snow, his body a cruel example - a severe case of the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn't even get the convenience of being folded into a freezer like her Mother, but was simply left out to the cruelty of the wild. The only thing that was different was the sound of Aubrey's breathing, and it was then that Austin decided that she needed to do something.

"Aubrey, hey!" Part of her wanted to calm down the other girl, but she couldn't help the sense of urgency that overtook her voice as she spoke, "Look...we...we need to do something. He can't stay out here in the cold like this. The staff need to know what have happened too, quick...go find a teacher or the headmaster - w-whoever's closer! I'll stay with him..."

In truth, Augustine wanted nothing more than to run away from the bloodied mess in the snow and sob into the solitary confines of her pillow at such a disturbing sight, but she had duties to attend to. Surely the rest of Dawn would want to know about this, right? This couldn't have been a mean prank - nobody died during a prank, and this corpse didn't look fake. Instead of waiting for Aubrey to run off, however, the brunette blew on her raw red fingers in an attempt to warm them and stuffed them into the pockets of her baggy boy-sized blue jeans. Her right hand quickly shot off into a text onto the keyboard of the cell phone as she tried to remember the exact order of names in her contacts list. Not being able to see, it was no surprise that a few of the Dawn members got a text message riddled with typos:

"Bodyy fouund in thhe snow in Hog's TOwen, by cloock tower. BLood on ground says We'ree back. Can't take picture yet. Do you want me to stay wtih the body or go to the meeting?"

（ xxxx You need never know xxxx⊱xxxx A xxxx⊱xxxx cold hard xxxx⊱xxxx heart xxxx⊱xxxx of xxxx⊱xxxx stone xxxx ）

[x - bluberi A N T 4 C I D]

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As if Hot Chocolate were some horrible cursed artifact, destined to force misfortune on anyone who thought of it, everything seemed to happen at once for Quinn. She had merely turned in the direction of the teacher's lounge to get some of the steaming hot beverage, when she was blinded by a flashing light, causing her to stumble back and see little pink spots dabbled all over her view of Mythica, matching her hair in an uncanny fashion. She didn't mid that part to much though, after all that wasn’t just any light that has flashed through her eyes. It was Piper’s light, which could only mean her friend had spotted her from somewhere relatively nearby. Smiling slightly, Quinn took a slight step back allowing her to ogle exactly what mass of light had been sent her way. An otter! How nice. At that, Quinn's small smile widened ever so slightly as she glanced around, feeling someone move through the surrounding air that could only be Piper.

It didn’t take Quinn very long to spot Piper, and in that immature fashion that only a twenty-year-old could, she took of in a mad dash towards the other teacher, sprinting towards her with a wide grin on her face, her speed seeming to increase as she got closer and closer to Piper, a gust of wind blowing rapidly along side the pink-headed menace picking up her speed a tiny bit more.

“Piiiiiiipperrrrrrrrr!!!!” The happy yell boomed Quickly before Quinn finally got to her friend and wrapped her arms around her, steadying both of them as not to send the two women hurling into the cold snow. After about five seconds of hugging and greeting, she let go rather hastily, bouncing backward, grinning cockily.

“How was your summer? No wait. Fall. It’s Fall.” Nervously she let out a chuckle, her pink hair looking almost as if it were floating on a light draft, although there was none. It was just something Quinn did, letting tiny little winds stream through her hair, giving her and even more light and carefree look, although she was in reality far from such a mentality. “… Well, regardless-“

Quinn never got to finish what she was saying to Piper, as she was cut off by a rather large scream, coming from the direction of the clock tower. Naturally, the sound made Quinn flinch violently, caught off guard and being forced to adjust the loud sound. She didn’t hesitate though. She could only react on impulse, feeling as if a surge of energy pulse to her feet as she practically jump started in the direction of the clock tower, grabbing Piper’s arm but letting it slip through her grasp as the distance between them widened, as if to beckon Piper to follow her, but not to physically drag her there. She could only describe one emotion racing through her mind, and that was blind worry. There weren’t many things that could emit a scream such as that which she had heard. Although one of them, as she knew, was a person, most likely a Mythica student, either terrified out of their mind or in some serious trouble. She had to admit that she hadn’t been teaching at Mythica for very long though, and this was her first time handling a situation such as this. She was a tad afraid, wondering what would she would be faced with, and if she would have to endanger herself to resolve the situation. Granted that was a rare occurrence, but Quinn was one who’s imagination often ran wild, especially in situations such as these when she was running towards something unknown to her and shrouded in mystery.

Her leg muscles began to ache. She clearly she was doing to much this morning, and would soon be relying on nothing more than any adrenaline she was getting from the situation to carry it. It was no secret that Quinn Connelly was not an athlete. Otherwise, she would probably have taken on the role of a sports coach as well as a science teacher with her spunky personality. But… that was only in Quinn’s dreams as exemplified by her breathing, which was beginning to become labored. Luckily though, she had made it to the clock tower, forcing herself immediately to come to a screeching halt and focus all of her attention on not puking up everything she had eaten in the past couple of days. Her skin, already fairly light, seemed to lose any form of color that was inside it as her feet rocked slightly.

Oh God.

A corpse.

There was an actual corpse within touching distance.

She had never seen a corpse before, but she could already tell that she didn’t like them. She was a chemist and a physicist. Not a biologist. She did not do dissections! Even at school, dissecting a fetal pig had left her light-headed. What was even worse, was the candy-red blood splattered all over the white snow, scrawled to messily form the words “We’re Back.” It was disgusting… but one firm question boomed through her mind, erasing the blood, and even the corpse from Quinn’s perspective.

… Who was back?

She didn’t know, but clearly they were dangerous, and this was an emergency situation where she was more than needed. Moving fast, hiding her trembling nerves. Her complexion still a bit pale, she moved between the group of students she could slowly see beginning to form and the corpse. Quickly she brought her arms forward towards the crowd, sending a fast, hard gust of wind to blow them all back.

“Everyone… Get Back. Nothing to see.”

She recognized one of the surrounding students as Augustine, someone Quinn knew to be a Dawn member through her position as a teacher. In the back of her mind, part of her knew that Augustine should let past, but Quinn couldn’t let that happen. Dawn was a secret organization used to protect the school. She couldn’t let Augustine, or any Dawn member at that, through. For if she did, she knew other students would take note and begin to wonder what made these students so special to be allowed to step past her and observe a murder scene. She didn’t know if who was responsible for crime was around, but she couldn’t let Dawn blow their cover as a secret organization if the murderer was. She wasn’t going to let her students become targets before they could do anything towards the protection of the school.

For that reason she sent a somewhat apologetic look towards Augustine, but made no motion as to inform the girl that she would be let past.

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