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Somthing, anything! It was her job as a spirit-seer to help all spirits. It didn't matter what they looked like or the terror they inspired. This spirit was evil, and Verdi knew that. Still, she ignored the headmaster's cry and Gerald's voice. It was as if all noise and commotion around her was muffled. Her frightened, determined green eyes only saw what was directly in front of her...and then she tripped on the hem of her dress. Everything from that point on felt like slow motion to her, but it all happened in a matter of a few seconds.

The floor rushed up at her, but so did the spirit. Diving at her, it prevented her from falling, but only to press it's face against hers. Die. The single word sounded in her mind from a voice not her own. The spirit's hands pierced her skin where they gripped her arms, it was as if it was trying to enter her body; but it was through sheer force and pain, not the way it should have been with any other spirit. Verdi's scream reached above all the noise, trying to release the unbearable pain.

Arondis never stopped the chant she had started and soon there was a faint, white glow around her. It was strengthened by the efforts of Sebastian. Letting Pyralis and Evangeline have at the spirit, Arondis grasped as the light seeped over the girl.

Pyralis sliced right through the tangible spirit's arms and whirlled to face it. If they kept it busy long enough and weakened it, Kaien could seal it away. He charged again, herding the spirit to give Evangeline a good advantage.

Verdi fell limp into Arondis' arms. Her scream had died, but her eyes remained open, unseeing. The woman feared the worst, but was filled with hope, feeling the faint flutter of a still-beating heart. Blood covered the girl's arms as some trickled from her silent lips. Arondis concentrated on the faint flutter of the girl's heart, chanting again, this time to keep the heart beating. She carried her over to where Anna was waiting to do what she could. Still keeping the girl's heart beating, Arondis conveyed through her eyes and a nod for Anna to work her own magic on Verdi and heal the girl's wounds. Anna was now Verdi's best hope.

Sebastian let out a feral growl against the surge of power. It was greater than anything he'd ever felt before and he knew that with it he could do anything. His mind began to swirl with dark thoughts - or rather, thoughts which seemed to him to be perfectly acceptable. He could end the war, bring peace between both sides, by razing both Heaven and Hell to the ground and beginning anew. He could renew the power of the Gateways, bring back the old glory of the Realms.

He could bring her back. He could be the man he wasn't before.

But the part of his mind that was still Sebastian, still the same forlorn Grigori who was posing as an Academy student in order to serve as a bladeless defender of the Gateway, reeled in response to the growing darkness. Nothing else existed, he told himself, nothing else existed apart from the rift, the power, and the flow of it through his body to where the others could reach it. The strain of conducting the energy was beginning to break him down, eat away at his memories and his personality. He guarded it as best as he could, but his gaze shifted to the Headmaster. Kaien needed to do whatever it was he was going to do before he could count one less Grigori amongst his student body.

((Gonna give Lyssa a chance to post again before I close this up.))

Sebastian recognized the presence that joined his own. Not yet Gabriel! he sent. The Gatekeeper was doing his duty - naturally - but Sebastian still needed to hold open the rift, there was still a battle going on.

Kaien hadn't even started yet.

Just a web, Gabe, keep things from crossing, but leave the power! He could only hope that the temporary link they shared was strong enough to convey a message. However, the short amount of interaction served another purpose - it shook his mind of the dark influence that was beginning to creep its tentacles into him. He couldn't be sure of how much influence it had actually gained, but that was a discovery for another time. For now, he concentrated on divining the energy Kaien needed to purify the spirit.

Kaien had stripped off his jacket long before, and he began shucking off his doublet as well. The buttons down the front of his shirt came undone hastily to reveal a Fleur De Lys tattooed in black just over his heart. The headmaster's glasses had fallen abandoned on the floor, but it wasn't as if he needed to see to purify the spirit.

The symbol glowed for a moment, reacting to the Headmaster's call. It was the gift given to him as Guardian, and it would allow him to seal away any threat to the Academy. He used the power flowing from Sebastian to fuel his own attempts. He could feel the creature weakening. Kaien attempted several times to wind his own power around the spirit, but failed each time. He needed something else, some other binding power.

It was a technique he'd only ever read about - a failsafe put into place in the case of an incident like this. He hesitated momentarily, debating about the best way to go about accomplishing his aims, and then set to work. The Fleur de Lys began to faintly again as Kaien extended his call.

Each and every student of Grove academy could feel the pull on their badges. The green crest of Grove glowed faintly and warmed, sending the student's own human life-force merging with the headmasters, creating a wave of power strong enough to subdue the creature. It fell to its knees, howling in anger, but the power of Grove Academy wouldn't be broken by fear. Kaien wove around the spirit a net of the school's collective auras.

For a moment, everyone on campus was connected in a single consciousness. It was a bliss so fleeting, after it was over no one was certain exactly what happened.

In a flash of light, the spirit disintegrated and lost its grip on the Mortal world. The crisis was over, and Kaien stood panting and sweating looking far to disheveled to be allowed.

Sebastian felt the small 'pop' like the squishing of a grape as the spirit faded, and relinquished his hold on the rift. Better let Gabe patch it up as best he could, Sebastian thought. But the last thing he saw as he fell to the ground exhausted was the sight of the Headmaster bending over a student on the ground.

((Verdi's fate revealed! Sorry Gleesh, just wanted to get these last posts up.))

Intense pain gripped her...a white, warm light...darkness...the pain went away...someone's voice...trying to follow it...trying to come...

Arondis watched Verdi closely along with Kaien and Anna. From the elf's healing touch, the wounds on Verdi's arms had healed; she looked like she was perfectly fine, except for her emerald eyes that looked out unseeing. Verdi.

Pyralis started over to the small group, but stopped and veered his course slightly. One student remained behind. He had yet to work with him personally, Pyralis worked with Keystone students, but he knew this boy from his files. His name was Gerald and if he recalled correctly, this boy had been a friend to the girl. Walking over to Gerald, he leaned down and offered him a strong hand to stand. His voice and eyes were kind and sympathetic. "Come with me." Every part of him demanded he be with Anna, but he wouldn't just leave the student. Verdi's fate was still unclear; he kept his mind open to any indication from Arondis.

...

The girl's heart had become steady, even as faint as it was, but suddenly it stopped. Every part of her had been healed, but there was something else they had not caught. What had the spirit done? Arondis closed the spirit-seers eyes and bowed her head. The oddball, green haired girl, was no more. Verdi was dead. Apart from the group, a man led away a bewildered boy.

During the entire ordeal, Damien's head had been swimming, unable to comprehend what was going on. He just stood there, unable to move a muscle. He had started getting flashbacks from his past. From before he had met Anna. From before he had been found by his adopted father all those years ago. Before he had been diagnosed with amnesia. He knew this creature. He had encountered it before though he was still unsure of when and even with his great deduction skills he just couldn't figure out just where he had seen it before. Damien stared blankly at where the creature had been, his mind a huge jumbled mess.

Then it started. He vision started to get blurry around the edges, everything slowly going black. Damien slowly looked towards his elven friend in her bloodied dress and the girl at her side -Verdi was her name if he was correct- and felt a wave of nausea hit him. The world seemingly started swirling around him and before he knew it, he collapsed on the spot, his hair and wings returning to their original ebony color.

Nathan had left the event hall along with all the other students, but that didn't mean that he left entirely. He leaned against the wall next to the door he had exited from. He had so far heard everything that had gone on, but now, he was just plain worried. He couldn't hear a thing. Nathan decided that he'd leave if alone for now and went back to the Oak Dorm to change out of the uncomfortable outfit he had donned to wear for the evening.

((God dammit. I missed a lot. So sorry. ^^;;; ))

Kaien sighed. Victory rarely ever felt like such an utter defeat. For a moment, his thoughts rested with his allies, the teachers, and the lifeless body of the student in front of him. Verdi...How odd that one with a name reminiscent of the Academy's own identifying colors should have perished. Her unusual affinity for the spirit world must have made her far more vulnerable to the creature's possessive will than he could have imagined.

As the moment of blinding exhaustion and grief washed over him, he remembered that Verdi was not the only student at the Academy that he and his staff were responsible for. Two keystone students lay on the ground - Sebastian presumably exhausted from his efforts to channel the energy coming from the Realms, and the other unusual new addition he had to his winged forces. Kaien didn't know what had effected him, but with a dead body, and a room full of exhausted Other Realmers, he couldn't simply let the students mill around as they pleased.

He stood, regaining the composure he'd lost during the battle. He glanced around the room, noting the stragglers. To everyone he said quite plainly, "If you have no further business here, please return to your dorm and wait for further announcements. The only people who should remain are teachers and those who have been incapacitated. I will of course meet with anyone who needs emotional counseling or would like more information."

There was no room for argument in his voice. Walking over to Sebastian, he checked the Grigori's heartbeat and satisfied at the steady pulse, he moved then over to Damien, giving an apologetic smile to MaryAnne who was kneeling beside him. "You'll forgive me for asking you to take him to his room won't you? If he's as much an Angel as you are, his muscle memory will allow him to walk there even though he isn't conscious. I have much to organize or I would do it myself. Look after him there, and I'll send someone around to check on him as soon as I can."

He noticed Pyralis had taken charge of Gerald who had seemed to be spending time with Verdi that evening. It didn't take the headmaster long to add the figures together and reach the appropriate conclusion. "Pyralis," Kaien said, ushering the teacher into a hushed conversation a small ways apart from Gerald. "I understand your feelings at the moment, but...I have need of you elsewhere." His eyes were apologetic as he asked the other man to care for Gerald. "Take him to the dorms and ensure that the others are safe and uninjured."

To Gerald himself, Kaien extended a hand of sympathy, the first of many he would have to give. "Gerald, I....I'm not certain how much she meant to you, but know that we have done everything we possibly could...Please, go with Pyralis. He'll see you to the dorms. I'll speak with you later about what has transpired and what your role will be."

All of this was an excuse to turn his attention away from Arondis and the heavily grieving Anna. That would be perhaps the hardest grief to tame.

((Ok everyone! thanks for participating! The event is closed, and the only people who should be posting are Crew members in order to clean things up. You may continue on with your Grove lives, but don't forget the trauma your characters will have experienced here. I'm hoping to see lots and lots of new relationships forming!

Also! I know some of you have been asking about additional information about Grove: things like maps and more species, and a better definition of the Realms. There will be a major update to wiki Grove and to plot stuff on Feb. 1st! Stay tuned!))

Evangeline sheathed her sword, watching the Headmaster tend to everyone with a rather detached feeling. Lizzy had died in much the same way...
She sighed and shook her head. It was better to contemplate and reflect when there was no work to be done. Feeling rather useless at the moment, as she had no magic, she sat down next to Bastian's head and watched everyone else, resisting the impulse to fret over him as those sorts of instincts were not her forte.

Kaien sighed, walking over to where his discarded jacked lay on the ground. He picked it up, shook some of the rubble dust out of it and slung it over his arm. The day would be long - not even a day but a series of hours strung together until he would finally drop asleep wherever he was.

Arondis was right, though, and there was no time to reflect on the tragedy. Action must be taken immediately to prevent the leakage of restricted information. He walked over to Verdi's body, so still and fragile seeming. The best thing he could do as a death shroud was his own tuxedo jacket.

Kaien wasn't an old man, he could easily lift a young girl but there was something disturbing about the distinct lack of mass in his arms. Her weight was surprisingly light. It was said that the body lost three-fourths of an ounce after death. The discrepancy was due to no physical change that any physician could ascertain. Spiritualists decided that the loss must be - for lack of a better explanation - the weight of a human soul. Kaien wondered vaguely if Verdi was any lighter.

"I'll carry her to the Academy and put her in the second parlor. Once that is finished I will contact the necessary family members, inform the rest of the students' families, and submit an official statement to the media." He didn't need to tell them, his elite team, that nothing that had happened here was to be spoken about candidly.

Kaien began walking out before realizing he hadn't decided what to do with the others. "Arondis...would you please help Evy take Sebastian to the Other Realms? Do everything you can for him. He'll recuperate better there." Without turning to face Anna, he couldn't bear to see the haunted look on her fair face, he said "Ms. Souris, Anna, see to yourself and when you are able I will need your help counseling some of the students."

As he left the door, his silhouette could be seen against the glowing snow. The limp body of Verdi was draped over his arms and his footprints were distinct in the crisp snow blanketing the walkways to the Chateau.