Welcome to Gaia! ::

Memory relentlessly continued the spellcard, each wave of spears getting thicker and thicker. But the spears seem to be too slow to hit Hazumi. When Memory's spell timed out, she decided to change up her tactics a little. Memory starts to release a simple pattern of flaming arrows that arched upwards, then gained speed going down out of a crossbow in her hands. Memory didn't want to use too many spellcards, the rules stated that the first one to run out of named spells also lost. Then she noticed the blade that Hazumi has pulled out. Memory smiled, then said in a fake friendly tone. "If it is a battle of blades thou seek, then a battle of blades it shalt be. Bladesman Sign - 'Cutting Light' " The crossbow disappeared from Memory's hands and was replaced by a glowing sword. She sprint forward and almost instantly appeared on the left of Hazumi, leaving a trail of white behind that stayed and cut whatever it touches. However, Memory does not attack Hazumi directly with the sword. Instead, Memory jumps to more locations, making more and more streaks of white. After making a good amount of streaks that covered about two thirds of the arena, Memory plunged her sword into the ground and all the white streaks turned into lasers and started to reflect off the walls while flying at high speeds.

Nahumar looked up at the orb. He realized he already used one of ten minor barriers and with only three major barriers left, he had to conserve. Nahumar tried dodging out of the way, grazing the bullet but not before taking damage to his health. It's damage was a lot more than his normal bullets, but a full force attack could of been fatal.
"Fine then." Nahumar pulled one card out and cried it's name.
"Fear Sign [Arachnophobian Web]!" From where Nahumar stood, streams of Danmaku shot out from eight angles. They were then patched between them with three more rows like a spider's web. Nahumar himself hovered in the center...only now the illusion seemed to make him look like a giant spider to his opponent. His pattern seemed simple enough. Three bursts of five danmaku bullets followed by a fourth that fired a spread of orbs that traveled much slower repeated four times. The pattern was just like a spider shooting web and trying to encase the target.

---
Sorina flinched, the wrong move to do, and tried to ignore the bullets that missed her on purpose. However, the second swipe was a direct hit. The impact left her at only half health and kneeling down from the weight.
"I-i thought this was a test?" Poor Sorina did not know how to react. It was overwhelming to see it in action, let alone be in it.
"If it is a test, I could try to use one of my cards then." She was obviously helpless in one aspect, but willing to adapt if given the time. A perfect opponent to torture.

---

"This is not good at all." Hanalli commented as she ran down one of the halls, still looking outside the window at Nahumar's battle. Just seeing him create a web of these things was something that seemed frightening. Her path would eventually reach Byakuren as she accidentally bumps into her and fell on her behind.
"Ow...I'm sorry. I ran a bit too fast." Hanalli rubbed her head to soothe the pain from the fall. Her smile was still present but hiding the fact that Nahumar had such power.

Noraneko grinned widely as she saw the life gauge decrease. She knew a left field attack alway did it! The baseball player chuckled,"Show me what you got Pretty boy--"

"E-e-e-eaaaaaahaah!!"

And just like that, her cocky attitude dissolved like sugar in water. Clinging to her bat with both hands, Nora held the wooden to her chest stepping back to clatter in her clothes. Of all the things and spellcard 'Arachnophobia' was the perfect one for her. Nora had an extreme hatred and spite for the arthropods, she simply couldn't stand them.

The webs where her first hint and one Nahumar's illusion was implace the poor girl was reduced to a heap of trembles and pity. She gave a girly shriek of panic and turned around to run away from the giant spider, tripped and got plummeled by the danmaku, knocking her health gauge down to the red zone.

When the dust and debris of the attack cleared, she ignited with the orangy-red energy one more time, "Indigo Sign~ Mechanical Diachromity!" Raising from the ashes of Nahumar's spell, eyes closed in fear, she held up her card. A circle of danmaku spun around her turning into a gear. That gear begun to branch off into different smaller gears like a machine. This was one of the desperate cards Nora had identified. Her bar mysteriously gone, the frigthened girl held her clasped hands over her chest as she continued to blaze with the temperance energy. Her eyelids tigthened, before she let out a scream and held the sides of her head.

The gears spun maniacly releasing the danmaku out in small orbs but with deadly speed. The orbs where fast and small, but in large quantity meant to startle and hurt the foe.

----

Hazumi stood ready as Memory seemingly overrode her stone walls. As the other girl dashed to her she braced herself but once she saw Memory wasn't moving in for the hit, she waited following memory with her eyes. When at last the girl stopped to vanish and appear, and the lasers begun to shot. She threw out the first card.
"Blindness Sign~ Internal Fiend!" All light was absorbed turning the arena pitch black and absorbing all the lasers that had been released due to the fact they produced light. Silently, Hazumi slipped her glasses off and prowled, knife poised to strike if she saw anyone move in the darkness her eyes where used to.

-----

"Oh definitely, we should make sure she is fine," Maria nodded at Lucy and let the blonde girl move her away towards the path of the fleeing Rose. Carefully lost in thought as she walked by her friend's side."I wonder if it was something I said?" She mused,"Its a bit of a habit to ask so many questions about anything. Maybe we should see if she wants to come along with us. She seems really shy, and maybe she could use the company, you know?"

A bit of a self-proclaimed protector of the needy, Maria had never hesitated to get in Norakneko's or Hazumi's path before, but time and time again had been defeated. Still, the least she could do was help someone in need of something so simply as company and social skills. Maria was sure Lucy wouldn't mind, that'd give her someone else to run her mouth at in the very least.

"Hey, asking questions is part of your job, miss editor!" Lucy said reassuringly, still tugging Maria along the trail Rose had taken. However, she turned to look at Maria at the suggestion of a third tagging along, a slightly shocked expression on her face. "What? But... I thought it was just gonna be the two of us... I guess that's okay..."

Now well inside the school, the hallway was surprisingly empty, meaning Rose had probably taken one of the side hallways. The question was, which one? Has the trail really gone cold already? Lucy looked back and forth, standing at a crossroads of hallways. "Where did she go so fast?" Brushing some stray hair from her ear, Lucy listened carefully, and could pick up the faint sound of footsteps echoing, but it was difficult to know from which direction. "Maybe... this way!" Still pulling Maria along, Lucy rounded a corner and ran down that hallway, trying to follow the sound of Rose's footsteps.


====


"No, we're not 'together'." Reimu repeated, her voice very flat to stifle some anger. However, that effort quickly evaporated; "And what do you mean, 'love like that'?! Like what?! There's no love between us!" Though still fuming, Reimu had given up trying to pry her arm free from Yumi's grasp; that girl had an impressive grip, that's for sure.

Reimu let out a sigh, being both a little relieved and annoyed that the blonde girl from before had returned and interrupted Byakuren. Maybe the two overly-energetic girls would keep each other occupied! Hoping that would be the case, Reimu tugged Yumi to the side to finish their conversation privately.

"Play the game? You mean... try using the cards?" Reimu leaned in closer and spoke in a hushed voice for that last part, so neither Byakuren nor Hanalli could hear her, and sincerely hoped that neither of them would think she was trying to steal a kiss from Yumi or something stupid like that. "...I don't like that idea, either. We've only just learned about it, so trying it ourselves might be...risky. We'd need to find someplace private, too."

"By the way," Reimu straightened out, seemingly not minding the fact Yumi was still clutching to her arm. "I never got your name..?"


====


"Why of course, this is a test!" Yuuka said, her smile persisting throughout the ordeal. She hovered lightly and touched down next to where Sorina knelt, planting the tip of her parasol into the floor beneath her feet like a king might plant his sword, right down to weaving her fingers across the U-shaped handle. "So this must be 'magic'... And the numbers seem to denote some kind of life force? And it appears that, while you took the brunt of my attack, there wasn't any physical damage rendered."

Chuckling, Yuuka bent over to bring her face closer to Sorina's. "Though, it appears to me that you still feel pain, isn't that right..? Hehe, how interesting~!" Straightening herself, Yuuka held a hand to her side, palm upright. One of the five spell cards hovering behind her broke ranks and floated into her hand, while the remaining four remained in place to await their master's command. "So, let's see what happens when I do... this~" If Sorina were to act, now would be the time...

Byakuren gave a small giggle at how cute Reimu and Yumi seemed when flustered. Hana had heard of her and told her that people always talked about her being a great tennis player. "Aww, thank you! You just have to try your very best!" She told Hana. But what Hana said made her stop and look at her. "I'm sorry? Did you just say 'kill people on sight'?" Byakuren was shocked and a tad annoyed. "Why are you just letting your brother do that?" Byakuren asked Hana. She then sighed and shook her head, replacing her annoyed look with a small smile. "Nevermind. As long as people know to stay away from him then things will be fine." Byakuren said. She then patted Hana on the shoulder and smiled. "Alright then, lets go." She told her. She really wished to keep an eye on Yumi and Reimu and see what they were doing, but this little girl really seemed to want to eat and chat.

While eavesdropping on what the two were talking about, Byakuren heard some rather... curious things mentioned by Reimu. Byakuren smiled at the two and said to them, "You liars!" She called, jokingly. "Well, if that's how you two feel about each other then go ahead. Just use the proper equpiment." Byakuren called to them with a wink. She then turned to Hana and said, "Alright, lead the way."



Rose heard footsteps behind her. They were following her! Oh dear, what to do! All she could think of was keep running. Maybe they'd forget about finding her and go. The hallway at the top of the stairs didn't go far. It actually lead Rose to a dead-end. "GAH! NO!" She called. She quickly look from left to right for anything to hide behind and saw a garbage can nearby in the corner. She quickly pushed in next to it and curled up, holding her knees. She had taken her backpack off and had it placed over her head as some sort of childish shield.

From the top of the stairs looking into the hallway, one would easily be able to notice some shoes sticking out from behind a certain garbage bin and a trace amount of backpack visible over it...



Yumi shook her head each time Reimu said that 'they were not' something. She followed Reimu when she tugged her to speak privately and answered Reimu's question about her idea. "Yes, I mean the cards." She whispered to Reimu. "I know... I know..." Yumi said to Reimu. The idea of this game still seemed foul in her mind. But they had these cards for a reason, so they might as well find out what's with them. "Where would a good, private area be?" Yumi asked, quietly.

Reimu then asked for her name. Now was a good time, since Byakuren wasn;t listening and the topic has almost changed completely. "O-oh, right. My name is Yumi Seresute." She told Reimu. "And I already know your name, Reimu, from when you introduced yourself to that boy." Yumi added. When she mentioned Nahumar she gave a mad look to the ground but shook that off and looked back at Reimu, now releasing her from her grip. "Oh, sorry about that." Yumi said. "Now, where should we go?"

But what Byakuren said made her face lose all of its color and replace it with red. "WH-WHAT?! WE'RE NOT LIKE THAT!!" Yumi screamed at the tennis player. Yumi had never even thought about doing that sort of thing with anyone. Not even her. Not Reimu, but her...

((As requested by Trio himself, taking my turn now...))


"But I'm the new girl...I need friends, too..." Lucy mumbled under her breath. The way Maria worded it, Lucy took what she said as, "we can't go because you got lost and wasted my time."

Luckily (or maybe not), Lucy and Maria had chosen the right path, the one that lead them both straight to a cowering Rose. Lucy stayed behind Maria as the latter approached the trash bin Rose hid behind, the blonde girl shifting uncomfortably where she stood. "Um...y-yeah! You can come with us!" Lucy said cheerfully, or at least as cheerfully as she could force herself to sound. "It's not like we had anything special planned or anything! ..."

In Lucy's bag, resting besides the strange deck of cards was a small box, wrapped with bright paper and a colorful ribbon. It was a gift for the young kendo student, one that Lucy had planned on giving Maria as a way of saying thanks for her company and friendship. Lucy had wanted to give it to her privately, and on their first trip together. Maybe it could still happen, even if Rose does tag along! It wasn't the end of the world if another girl comes with, and there's nothing saying she'll be with them the whole time...
This small self-reassurance lessened the weight of Lucy's own jealousy. She smiled genuinely and ran over besides the trash bin, reaching down and grasping the "hidden" Rose's arm. She tugged playfully and laughed, "So come on, silly! I bet it'll be a lot more fun than sitting behind the trash can all night!"


====


Reimu was relieved when Byakuren lead Hana away. She tried her hardest to ignore the two completely, so it never dawned on her that Hana would be talking about Nahumar at all. Although, Byakuren's final comment to the two earned another blush from the soccer player, as well as a spike in her anger. Unable to fathom any action short of sending a blunt object rocketing in Byakuren's direction, Reimu swallowed her pride and her rage and simply walked away, taking Yumi by her arm (again) and leading her away and down the hallway.

Certain they were out of earshot of Byakuren and Hana, Reimu finally spoke to Yumi. "I don't know...maybe the gymnasium? It should be empty at this time of night. And if the cards have such extraordinary effects like we've seen, then the gym will give us plenty of room to move about. It'll also be behind closed doors, so it should go unnoticed unless someone comes barging in..."


====


Before Yuuka could call her own spell, Sorina rose and declared her own. The sudden retaliation of the gypsy-looking girl took the student by surprise, but one would never tell by looking at her face, for the oddly unnerving smile never left her features.

"So you've still some fight in you? Excellent!" Yuuka said, almost laughing, as she casually waded through the first and second waves of the tear-shaped danmaku. As the third approached, Yuuka took flight once more, effectively avoiding them altogether.

The lasers were trickier to judge, however. Attempting to dodge the six blasts earned Yuuka a few tears in her clothes, and two direct hits. Her numbers that displayed her "health" dropped by half, edging into the orange-ish zone. Yuuka clenched her teeth through the associated pain, her smile turning to a darker grin.

"As I was saying, let's see what happens when I do this! Native Machination: Magnum Spark!" Yuuka crushed the glowing orange spell card in the palm of her hand, scattering shards of glass-like dust into the air, and drew her closed fist back. She then raised and leveled her parasol with Sorina's heart, while the magical aura surrounding her swelled and snaked around her body, wrapping up her arm and gathering at the parasol's tip. The "weapon" glowed brightly, before - BLAM! - the first round of highly-compressed magic was shot, followed by another, and another, the barrage of fire sounding not unlike a cannon being shot. The muzzle flash also created a number of small, slow-moving danmaku that wafted towards Sorina along the breeze, but the main rounds were much quicker. Unknown to even Yuuka herself, this card was designed to break through defenses at the cost of diversity and elegance.

[Revised Post. If it seems short well too bad.]

Nora pushed up to her feet. Her head was silent and she herself was back in her regular outfit, which was more that enough to confuse her. Undusting her pants she couldn't help but think how odd it was to lose a fight. Noraneko never lost a fight, in fact, she was one of the few who could claim to having beaten the Kendo Team's Captain!

When she saw Nahumar get close, she gave a small flinch, but once she saw it was just the delinquent, she fisted her hands, putting them to her hips. By the time Nahumar inquired about her reaction, though, the baseball player turned a flistered shade of red and crossed her arms," I am Okashii Noraneko, for what ever you reason you are curious."

As Nahumar asked her about why she had reacted the way she did, Nora blinked with big blue eyes. Suddenly looking emberrased shot to the sides before She tugged him closer for a split second. She put a hand to the side of her cheek as if to cover her lips before whispering,"I Will only tell you because you won; I am a bit terrified by spiders--- "

"HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Nora stepped back as Nahumar ran for it. The delinquent wasn't about to let him go just like that, she scopped her bat and bag she ran after him and up the stairs where both delinquents would encounter the beauty school beauty Miss Sorina battleing the usually quiet and reservedMiss Yuuka.

Nora blinked standing by Nahumar. She knew Yuuka from her chemisty class, which was the only class she ever did attend. It was a bit confusing to see whatever was happening develop.

Indeed It seemed There had been a duel much like the one the delinquents had experienced, but Noraneko could have never seen Sorina nor Yuuka purposely engage in such a thing. The tall girl was somewhat curious as she stoo at Nahumar's side with her bag slung on a single shoulder as if it where a backpack and her bat in the other hand. Had this been what had gotten their attention after their own duel?

====

"FOR SURE," Maria smiled encouragingly. She was more than happy to see Lucy be friendly to someone other than herself as the blonde girl pulled out Rose out of her hiding spot. Perhaps this way Lucy would meet new people and interact with more than the kendo captain.

"And do not worry Lucy, if you still want to go somewhere after today, I Will gladly show you around," Maria turned to nod at Lucy, hands put inside her pockets as she smirked at the two girls,before teasingly adding,I am well aware you too are new to the campus and all!"

Maria was known as the kind to defend the weak. Perhaps she was popular in her own sense of the word; not for the fancy name of the rich family of the 'East Eggian' society, but for the fact she defiled the name. A self-proclaimed black sheep, Maria never hesitated to help someone in need, going as far as over stepping her boundaries in intervening in fight with her kendo sword.