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He probably should have been frightened. After all, the massive skeletal form of the enraged Lichbone was running rampant, its shrieks and heavy footsteps crunching the stone paths as easily as breaking a twig. Around him the terrified screams of the girls and boys, as well as a few of the teachers rung in the rapidly darkening sky, loud and eerie.

It was a shame, he thought, that such a beautiful creature should be treated so abominably. The Lichbone was supposed to be a being of caution; a great guardian beast to the Makai Academy dwellers and the people of the surrounding town. Yet here it was, lost in the blindness of blood lust and fury, its desire to overturn everything it had once stood for devouring it from the inside out. People ran from it, were fearful of it, their terror nearly as tangible as their footsteps on the broken cobblestone.

It was chaos; he could almost taste their emotions; he closed his eyes, breathing in the scents around him, trying to procure some sort of inner calm to decide what to do. Against his face flicked a warm, dry tongue; Hyde gave a low hiss, curling his tail around his neck as if to drag his master out of his inner musings.

He was standing near enough to Miusa to hear what she said, and the barest hint of a smile touched his lips before it disappeared as quickly as it had come, replaced only by a vague, unreadable expression. So its heart had been taken; what a curious thing.

Now is not the time to stand still.

He gave a sigh. Something flickered; shadows danced around his fingertips, stretching and elongating like flames along gloved hands, still resting lightly on folded arms. He pushed himself away from the lamppost, his strides long and even, black shoes clicking on the cobblestone pavement until he reached the center of the madness, amidst the stubborn students.

His hands darted out, one grabbing the collar of the red haired boy.* In one quick movement he had dragged him back, away from the roaring beast, stepping neatly in front of the grey haired boy.*

"Do not presume to know what you are doing," Professor X said, without a backwards glance at either of them. More shadows twisted around his hands and arms, flickering and flitting, though he seemed to take no notice of them. "Neither of you are near strong enough to understand exactly what it is you are dealing with."


*Lycander and Salem*

This had turned into pure, utter chaos, Miusa thought. People did not flee as she'd hoped, and now she'd have to do something that would suggest part of her secret to those intelligent enough to grasp the similarities. Of course she knew how to dismantle the great beast. She was, after all, one of the witches who created him. It was a heartbreaking thought, to destroy one of her first large-scale creations. How proud she felt, the first day the Lichbone opened his eyes and gazed at its creators, grateful for life.

"I'm sorry, old friend." she murmured in a barely audible whisper. "I don't have a choice." her voice wavered slightly. To her, this would be like executing her own. "Bones to ash, and ash to bones."

Her right hand raised in front of her; her fingertips sparking with an ancient form of mana as the ground began to shake, and a pale, golden scythe materialized in her grip, similar to the ones the reapers used, but something was....off. When the weapon was swung around, forceful waves emanated from it, knocking back those who tried to near. "For the last time, stay away from it!" her voice was dangerous, staring daggers in the direction of the students. "If I taught Arcane History, I would fail you all! It's basic knowledge that an alchemia cannot be killed, and cannot be undone by anybody except its creator, or a piece of the very thing it was created from!" Kids these days. So rash and ready to lose their heads!

As the man with the brightly-streaked hair stepped in front of him, with another witch ((you know what i mean kuro BI)) in tow, and proceeded to condescend over his shoulder, Salem considered spouting some retort to preserve his image in the eyes of the man, but deigned instead to watch with a bemused grin at what the man intended to do now. Humans were such self-righteous creatures, it seemed, everybody trying to protect everybody else but not one stepping up to do something about the problem. It was an absolutely ticklish notion. What did he stand to gain from earning this man's favor, anyway? If the terrible, terrible alchemia was as unstoppable as they all seemed to think it was, his valiant-savior-turned-meaty-shield would be killed in a moment, anyway.

But then they were all being swept away by Miusa and her massive conjured scythe, and Salem couldn't help but giggle, for he had to eat his own words. Apparently the massive fist had come to fall upon the Lichbone, and all it had taken was waiting until the very brink of disaster, if disaster indeed approached at all. “Good, good, she'll kill it, then.” He mused softly, almost to himself. “To think the woman was hiding all of that deep down. To think such a being would teach at an academy, rather than exercise such power out in the world.”

Gone mad? Well, he could certainly see that. But why had it gone mad? That was why the redhead did not understand. "Why though...?" He murmured, not really expecting Shea to be able to answer him. She was already giving up on the illusions that weren't working and moving to something new. "I'll certainly do what I can." He promised the Ars Lilium. Lycander knew without anyone havign to tell him that he was not nearly strong enough to do any sort of damage. But he could at least help get students clear and to safety!

Except...as Shea moved to do whatever it was she intended, a hand latched on to the collar of his shirt and pulled him back. He stumbled with arms flailing slightly to keep from falling on his rump. "Woah, what...!" The redhead blinked at the sudden appearance of what he presumed to be a teacher. And someone else. The witch he'd seen beginning to weave a spell of some sort before. Lycander didn't know him though. Emerald eyes glanced from the grey haired witch back to the man that had dragged them both out of the way.

"I can't very well sit back and watch without trying to help the younger crowd get to safety." Lycander replied calmly with a small apologetic shrug. Ah, yes. One of those teachers. The redhead sighed a little. He obviously didn't disagree with the man. If anything, he just wished it hadn't been pointed out like so. "Guess we aren't. Still doesn't mean I would try helping those who need it." He barely got the words out before feeling something slam against him like a powerful rush of air. Except this was power. It staggered him and the redhead's eyes sparked, ready to take on whatever had attacked. Only, it hadn't actually been an adversary. It had been the lady Miusa. And was that grey haired witch giggling?! Lycander quirked an eyebrow in his direction. His words made him frown.

"Perhaps, it is because she has such power, that she chose to teach others who may come along how to control and use such power." He offered the other with a nonchalant shrug. Then his gaze was pulled to the sudden shriek and feel of magic from the man that had pulled them both back. He blinked and watched as what looked like shadows shot towards the Lichbone like bullets. Who was this man? Teacher...whatever he was?

He cast a sidelong glance back at the redheaded witch, his expression calm even in the chaos that reigned around them all like hail. "If you're 'trying to help those that need it,' then you'll know that staying back and out of danger is just as important as fighting," he replied. "What good use are you if you are dead?"

He stepped away, sleek black shoes crunched on the debris beneath his feet as he made his way towards the beast again. Hyde gave a low hiss on his shoulder, uncoiling from his neck, and the professor's intentions were far from "heroic;" Professor X made no second movement to dispel the beast's anger. Instead he stood in front of it, as if scrutinizing it, his eyes following its every movement.

At least until he heard girl's voice pleading voice in his ear. He glanced down at the rose haired young woman, her face stricken, her fingers grasping at the sleeve of the redhead as if to reassure herself of something; though what that was, it was unknown to Professor X.

His gaze surreptitiously and quickly slid towards Miusa. The magic was still twisting around her, flickering in and out like a lightbulb on the blink, and for a brief second Professor X did not say anything.

"...no," he replied quietly, his eyes sliding from Miusa, to the Lichbone, then back to the girl. "There is no way of doing such a thing, not after its heart has been so thoroughly disposed of."

The Ars woman let out a breath of relief as a few of the people trying to actually battle the alchemia were pulled back. Herself only trying to slow and or distract it, knowing that she like the rest couldn't 'defeat' it at all. Pushing her painted lips together she let loose of the sling shot in her hand, before it hit the ground it turned back into her marble colored familiar. Vibrant blues turned to the academy teacher known as Misua, the woman had been around when Shea was roaming the academy. A long time. .. Curiously Shea's head tilted as the woman summoned a golden scythe, it was brilliant in itself, though odd unlike any other she had seen on a reaper, that is because of course that's about the only time Shea had ever seen a scythe...This one had just something about it though, and the magic feel coming from the other witch was...strange. Frightening a bit, but a wonderful frightening? ..Regardless..it gave her goosebumps.

Watching blue eyes widened for a moment when the weapon was swung sending back those that were still trying to fight or get near the Lichbone. Her words casuing even Shea to stiffen slightly with their tone. Koray snorted gently taking those words and running with them the familiar would discuss his later questions with Shea, like for one since it cannot be undone by anybody except its creator, or a piece of the very thing it was created from, then apparently this teacher had either, a helped in the creation or b that strange weapon did, and even if it was the later reapers only got one weapon it wasn't like they were passed along or just picked up right? , Each reaper scythe was unique to that reaper correct, so it would still mean that if Miusa could stop the Lichbone, then Miusa created it. Making her one powerful..teacher.

Shea was awe struck by the woman, backing gently up to scoop her familiar though she was plenty out of the way. Her gaze only shifting for a minute to find her friend Lycander and look for Orpheus. Slowly gliding over towards Lycander once spotting him, but still staying a bit back from the group.

Hearing the young pink-tailed witchling, Cyrus also felt a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the beloved guardian could be saved, rather than killed. But how does one simply create a heart. If multiple witches created it in the first place, surely it can happen again? Yet Professor X's response disheartened the school nurse. There was no saving it after all, then.

Cyrus turned his attention to the witch decked in blue. He stared at him for a moment, baffled by what he was saying. "Miusa got here as fast as she could. Just because you ran in before her doesn't make her at fault. She's not an oracle! No one could have seen this coming. Except..." his voice trailed off, remembering the cause of the Lichbone's rage.

"Except the person who stole its heart. If you should be blaming anyone, blame -that- person. Not Miusa." he said. Despite his tone merely sounding stern, this was probably the angriest anyone's ever seen Cyrus. But he couldn't help how the witch beside him ignorantly blame Miusa for this destruction and chaos.