Welcome to Gaia! ::

Bix glanced back up the dangerous path towards Tika. "Oh hey!" The drop on either side of them was worrying him so he tried not to move towards her for any of his normal exuberant greetings.

"Just trying not to fall and splat. Dr. H is taking us to his secret underground lair. Maybe there will be sharks with frickin lazer beams on their frickin heads.." He should have laughed but he simply smirked at his 'cleverness'. He was sort of worried that Dr. H would single him out and belittle him... cause that seemed to be the good doctor's MO.

It seems Before's attempt at melding in with the background and his seat was a complete and total success!!! Which was all well and good throughout most of the "class" time. Except now, he was going to get left behind and as much as he hated being in Dr. H's class, the teal-eyed Hunter knew if he wanted to stick around and not be the ******** dead-weight he was during their first training session (which was a total ********, btw) he had to learn s**t.



And so he quickly followed after the others, definitely lagging behind but not on purpose. When he arrived, he pretty much jaw-dropped at where they were brought. 8OOOOOO!?!?!?!?! "P-pretty~" he cooed @w@!!!!! <333333 Though the crystal were out of reach, he wished he could get one. What? They were sparkly~!! And would make for a great decoration! And then a thought occurred to him, "U-uh, these things don't... y'know, shoot out electric lasers, do they?" he asked anyone within earshot as he carefully walked down the path.

Davey returned grateful nods to Jude and Marcus as they filed out of the rooms. They were right - it wasn't worth making even more of a scene over. Besides, chances were that this 'doctor' had been the one to amputate Davey's arm to begin with. He wasn't going to piss off the guy who might one day be making the call on whether to save or remove another limb.

... Even though the doctor was a giant p***k.

He moved after the others, happy enough at the rear. Maybe he could glare any stragglers into moving along or something. As long as Davey got there, he didn't much care if it was last. (Though perhaps not 'late' again - once was enough, at least for one day.)

Marcus moving to escort Cass wasn't a surprise. They'd been rather 'friendly' at Bix's party, too. The pair moved on ahead and Davey caught up to Madison.

"You can grab my arm if you need to," he offered, making sure to approach from her left, so she actually had an arm there to reach for. For most people, a fear of heights was all in their head. Once they thought they had a safety net, they were fine. Davey trusted his sense of balance. And on the off chance that Madison did manage to pull him off his feet, well, he wouldn't feel too bad about using some of the other Hunters to slow his fall. Like the idiot who thought a fear of falling would somehow cause Madison to freeze up during battle. Pfft.

Midway in their descent, Dr. H began speaking once again, "You have seen those of the world of Halloween, creatures out of our myths and legends, and many were created from those stories. And yet...there are creatures that spawned those stories themselves, through deed and action. These days, such are nearly non-existent, but there was a time before Halloween, when these creatures walked this world. Some hid in shadows, others...worshiped as gods." He cleared his throat softly and continued, "There was eventually a war, and through sheer force of numbers and the power of belief, humanity won. But certain creatures were slow to withdraw, they lingered among us to both their woe and ours. Listen well, goslings, for this is the story of our origins. Also...this is a lecture, not a discussion. Any questions or comments while I am speaking will be ignored.

Now, we were talking wars, weren't we? While the defining war of human and monster was long over, the creatures still fought amongst themselves, occasionally using humanity as a tool or weapon in such conflicts. One such was a long, bitter feud between a coven of powerful reapers and one of the Unseelie courts. The reapers numbers had decreased until only a handful of the most powerful remained, and in a moment of desperation, their leader came up with a dangerous ploy to bolster their numbers once again. To arm humanity in a such a way that even a small number could be effective against these former gods. To capture and turn his enemies into weapons using the most of dire of magics. Yes...you see where this is going, I should hope?" The soft blue glow was nearly surround them at this point, the bottom was close.

"The reaper found a young man, with a bit of something extra. An ability to look into shadow and see what was reaching hungrily towards him. The young man was brave, charismatic, of noble lineage, and for the reaper's needs, absolutely perfect. And so, he captured the Unseelie court's greatest knight through means most foul, and transformed him into a Weapon of Power. Approaching the man as a mentor of great wisdom and prophecy, the reaper gave the weapon to the young man with tales of his own greatness and the terrible evils of the Unseelie creatures. The boy rose to power, and drew to him others of similar abilities who the reaper armed as well, with his special Weapons. There were battles, both small and great, some are still spoken of even in this day." They had reached the bottom of the cavern. A bright line marked a large circle on the floor, within it, a cylinder of light shone, only slightly translucent. Something stood within it, but staring at it for too long caused a queasiness of sorts. But that didn't matter so much right now, as in front of them, on the outer circle, sat a rock surrounded by softly pulsing crystals. And protruding from that rock, was a sword. It was a thing of sharp, shining beauty, glowing runes, and...awareness. it was a weapon like their own, only more so.

"Yes, trainees, meet the sword Excalibur. He was not the first such weapon to be given unto human hands in this way, simply one of the more powerful. You may have heard stories of great and fabled weapons passed down from the gods into mortal hands for one reason or another. Though we've only found a handful ourselves, we have reason to believe they still exist. In the future you may even find yourself on a mission to find and retrieve such a weapon, but that is for another day. Though many Unseelie were indeed slain, the reaper underestimated Excalibur and yes, the man we know in these times as Arthur. In a moment of betrayal from other quarters, as Arthur lay dying, on that cusp between life and death, the Weapon was able to communicate and bond with the human. The reaper's lies and use of the man were laid bare, the seeds of vengeance were firmly planted, and Excalibur did something that would forever make it outcast in it's own lands: it shared the knowledge of how to make others like it. And so, with patience and cunning...they turned the reaper's own strategy against him." As if on cue, the inner glow briefly grew more transparent, allowing a glimpse at what would have been a simple wooden staff, were it not for the intense purple aura that flared before the bright blue once again covered it up.

"The staff, Merlin, ladies and gentlemen. Many have tried to wield it over time, but alas, never survived the attempt. He's nursed something of a grudge against our kind, you see? And we have yet to find a reliable way to ah...place him in a more amenable mental state." He turned to gauge the trainees reactions, and then scoffed lightly, "I can see it in some of your eyes, but cast it from your sweet little minds, we are not knights. You are not a shining hero on a white steed, out to slay dragons and rescue fair damsels. The knights died out long ago, and those that didn't became something that could survive the ongoing threat without further empowering said threat. They became those who could stalk the shadows within the shadows. Who could silently and quietly do what needed to be done without drawing further attention to themselves or their prey. They became Hunters."

Turning back to the sword, Dr. H gave a soft sigh, "After Arthur, no one has since been able to bond with Excalibur, and over time, the knowledge of how to transform the creatures of FEAR into weapons and partners for ourselves was lost. Until now...but again, that's for another time. But despite the lack of partner, Excalibur still aids and protects us. While containing the staff, he also maintains our barriers and helps empower our portals. He's really ver-" The doctor's voice cut off as something gave a little electronic chirp, and draw a cellphone like their own yet somehow nicer, "Bother what is...oh. Hmm...ok. s**t." A glanced back up at the trainees and gave them a grand, "And they all lived happily ever after. The End." Then he was gone, disappearing quickly through another hidden door.

The trainees were left to talk amongst themselves and eventually find their way back. Those who moved close to Excalibur and the outer shield would get an even greater sense of the sword's power and awareness. But the brave, stupid few to approach too closely to that inner shield around the staff would find themselves on their knees retching under an onslaught of malice and FEAR. It's pretty obvious which weapon is on their side.

Cass wanted Dr H to stop talking so she could sit at his feet and stare up at him in adoration like a kindergartener while he told his story. It was a fascinating and beautiful story, truly. She wanted him to talk allll day. But it appeared he wouldn't be, sadly. However, as the man took his leave of the group, Cass's stare at the two weapons left in their presence was... unmistakably smitten with the entire idea.

To Nicodemus, who still lingered in the back of Cass's distractable mind, he felt a certain amount of venom that said something akin to 'this is how it should be'. She grinned, looking up at Marcus with this sort of overjoyed look on her face; "Isn't this amazing?" she inquired, seeming to sigh dreamily as though she'd just been told the most amazing story - or perhaps some sort of 'TRUE LOVE CONQUERS ALL' story.

However, the stupidity of Robert did not fail to capture her attention, wincing and grabbing on to Marcus's arm in a sort of retaliation to his attempts. Just..o-oh god.... she didn't want to end up like that. But none the less.... Oh, that sword was more stunning than she could have imagined it based on all the tales she'd heard.

Nicodemus said nothing as Cass bowed her head to the weapon in a respectful manner. Truly a sword that old had to have had some.... well, it at least deserved some respect, no matter what it had been in the previous life. The presence in the back of her head seemed to approve at the mood the entire tale-weaving had put his ward in.

Now if she'd let go of that boil...

"I wonder if it's like 'Worldslayer'..." she pondered.

Jerry was late! Late for the lecture! It seemed no one had missed him, at least, and everyone was deeply entranced by a story time of sorts, so he quietly and quickly shifted into a seat.

His expression became more and more dazzled as Dr. H's story continued on. Arthurian legends? Was he serious? Obviously so, judging by the object that Robert suddenly lunged for.

"Er-" he began, but it was too late, and he huddled back in his seat sympathetically.

It really was fascinating, though, and he immediately began scribbling notes before he forgot everything.

Madison hadn't heard many of the old stories, but the Arthurian legends were some of the few that she was at least roughly familiar with, if only via pop culture. That, combined with the sudden wash of awe from Kouki, was enough to hold her in fascinated silence until Dr. H broke the spell and vanished. She stayed there unmoving, even when Robert walked forward and dropped... but she did jump when Bix suddenly grabbed her arm. Not just grabbed, but practically wrung, so tightly was he holding on to her.

Her face flushed for a moment, only for that to be lost as well when Bix opened his mouth in derision. A sudden flare of oh no you didn't shot through her, but she forced herself to keep from responding in kind. "He's not a douche, he's just kinda... like... dumb," she said, quietly but firmly. Not unkindly, though. That was a pretty damn stupid move on Robert's part.