Courtyard (South)

[Sadei_Stone]

As he landed he spread his wings making her five blades of wing deflect off and explode on nearby ground. Slade slowly turned now and smirked.

"Well Scy...It's about time, I didn't come for an easy bout against a puny elf."

He flapped his wings once making himself rise high into the air. As he rose he flipped open his revoler and let a feather fall into it, as he quickly clicked it shut again. He let go of that revolver and let it fall as he took the other and fired one Shadow element at her again.He then allowed himself to fall down towards the ground backwards aiming his sight up at her.  

[Scytheress]

Scytheress's grin never faltered even as her attack was effortlessly deflected. She'd expected nothing less of the man from the Organization who'd managed to track her down after all this time. She was disappointed however by his second attempt at using mere bullets, Shadow Elemented no less, on her even after he'd witness the effectiveness they had before. This new bullet hit up against her wing like before. Shielding herself caused her to loose altitude breifly but a single beat took her back up. With a comical sigh, Scythe ruffled her red bangs and flicked her tail about behind her absently.

"Now now boy, don't you learn anything? Heh, now what's this about?"

The falling revolver didn't go without notice and it was swiftly caught in a plume of condensed air as it fell. The weapon was turned over repeatedly almost as if the air was inspecting it, but in fact the air was beginning to peel up flecks of earth from below. These bits began to adhere to the gun, wrapping around the handle and seeping into the barrel as it moved. Unless the matter the gun was made of was enchanted as well the grains of firt would start working their way into the fiber and began corroding the metal away and breaking it apart with the same destructive force of plant roots and vines.

The descending man however was still the center of Scytheress's attention and it was made clear by the focus of her golden orbs. In the air she bent over, drawning her legs up slightly so her hands could rest upon her knees and she could get a better look down at him. They both seemed to be odd creatures, Scytheress possibly more than Slade as she was the one wearing barely a strip of cloth across her chest and then spandex shorts under an open-front skirt. Scy ran her tongue over her fangs and smirked at as she admired her opponents attire and figure.

"You're a pretty boy, ne? Care to try again?"  

[Sadei_Stone]

He had a smile almost to a point of insanity. It was almost terrifying. But Slade was having the time of his life. He had kept an eye on the second revolver while still keeping his opponent on his most view. More reasons than one for that. Her figure was extremely admirable. He heard the words she spoke and gave a simple reply.

"Indeed I'am a pretty boy. But what do I need to learn? I think you should learn."

He now seemed give a hard impact into the ground. But he fell into the shadow touching his second revolver making it fall with him and lose the earth property as it turned to Shadow with Slade. He shot up from another shadow, Flying high above her and pointing his 2 revolvers at her and fired a shadow and new glowing silver shot. The silver went straight to her center gravity as the shadow was shot to quickly and shot far below her.  

[Scytheress]

A cute attempt at a pout altered Scytheress's expression when she saw him disappear into the ground with his gun. But as mocking as her sadness was she was still prepared for anything Slade would throw at her next. As the last bits of him vanished a stronger wind began to pick up throughout the courtyard and sway the trees below violently. Scytheress's grin slowly returned as her hair was whipped about her face.

Slade's reentrance above ground was realized the moment the smallest piece of him surfaced, the small vibration in the air hitting Scythe almost like a shock within her mind and Rem yelped at the intensity the rushing winds had magnified it to. Thus, the Fox was facing and ready for the man's next offensive. As he shot into the air Scythe's wings took on a silvery sheen, almost like they were shimmering behind an intense heat, but this illusion faded back to nothing by the time he reached the apex of his climb.

Scytheress wrapped herself within her wings again, hugging them tight to her body as Slade took aim once more, but instead of dissolving herself with the disitegrating strength of her twelfth power she remained intact and looking not unlike a cocoon. Then the bullets themselves came and this new silver round sliced through the winged barrier and out the otherside. Where blood should have begun to seep out there was only a black vapor and then the feathered mass converged in on itself, like it was being sucked into a vortex, and became nothing more than a wisp of black smoke in the air. Scytheress had vanished with no retaliation against the silver bullet or the Shadow one far below.  

[Sadei_Stone]

He smirked as the Shadow bullet hit the ground and made a small flash. Slade now closed his eyes and concentrated hard after seeing her disappear. His wings stretched fully and his body had now a black aura around it as he concentrated. He had to keep his senses sharp to keep her from a sneak on him. His revolvers now in their holsters he meditated.

His wings seemed to lose their gleam now to as the darkness of his aura consumed them. He opened his eyes which gave a dull red glow and his hair lashed in the wind. He was prepared for her. And ready to give her a little trip. A hint of a grin. Simple.  

[Scytheress]

It was almost unnoticable, the tiny red droplets falling through the air, but that didn't change the fact that there was an increasingly steady stream trickling from the thick smoke where Scytheress had been; a smoke that seemed to go undisturbed by the raging wind. From her diembodied state Scythe watched Slade, not bothering to hide her energy signature nor attempting to keep with the patterned wind she'd created. Any novice fighter would be able to pick her out in an instant, almost like she wanted to be found, it wasn't like someone could harm her when she was a mere slur of darkened air.

When the Shadow bullet had impacted the ground a few tiny shards of hardened dirt had been knocked into the air and swept up by the wind, as had other loose bits and the pieces that had attempted to bond to the one gun previously. As the battle had been proceeding the air had been thickening with tiny flecks and dust from the ground to give the atmosphere a dirty fog like appearance and conceal much of the world beyond the courtyard walls.

Scytheress would leave the winds alone for now to continue as they had while she contemplated the bullet in the ground and that new shot she'd been struck by. The crimson drops from the smoke were from a deep graze along her left side and in this form the wound's effects were minimized. The real reason for this change wasn't to try a new way to dodge bullets but more a moments reprieve to take care of the Elf who was not giving Scytheress a moments peace in this battle. Rem had been shaken from her stupor and now wanted to give her controller all the wrong advice. Now she'd finally listened and gotten herself injured.

"You see what good you are Rem? You're nothing! You're not a fighter! You can't help me! Just shut up and go to sleep!!"

Rem whimpered pathetically and huddled down in the dark recesses of their mind to whine and moan some more. It wasn't complete silence but Scytheress would take it. With her concentration restored the smoke began to regain a solid form, still wisp-like at first but the general fox-demon shape had returned and quickly Scythe stood beating her wings again like before just where she had been. Her left side was doused red and blended into the blood-colored fabric of her skirt.

"Ok now pretty, where were we?"  

[Oni_Makibi]

"You should consider finding another sparring partner, Oni. You're doing alright, but it'll be easier for you to find and pass your limits if you know the effects your moves have on another person."

Tetsuo leapt from the bench onto the grass as Oni was finishing up her exercise. She was now doing her final stretches and was ready to move on.

"Im kind of hungry, how about you?" Oni said to Tetsuo.

"Yea, I could use something. How about we hit the cafe?"

"Nah... ever since we've been here, we've been eating bagels and croissants. Besides, Im in the mood for something spicy."

Oni walked next to Tetsuo on their way to the cafeteria on campus. It was then that Oni had a random thought. It felt strange, but she felt it was interesting enough to share.

"Hey Tetsuo, did you know that the House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty of Russia, which ruled Muscovy and the Russian Empire for five generations from 1613 to 1762. From 1762 to 1917 Russia was ruled by a combined branch of the House of Romanov and the House of Oldenburg, known as Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov."

Tetsuo gave her a troubled look. "Yea, I kind of knew that. But how did you know that?"

"It was just something that came to me just now... I can't explain it..."

"I think I'll have to keep a closer eye on you... ever since that thing with the pendant... I just can't tell with you."

They continued toward the cafeteria as Oni continued to recite information about the Romanovs.  

[EvrythingTastesLikeGinger]

Seiya sat peacefully in the late afternoon, reading a book of proverbs which she had to memorize for her private tutor who would inevitably show up on Friday to help her "improve her grades". She snorted, as if; she'd study when she felt like it.

However, she sometimes felt sorry for all the grief she gave the poor man...

The wind blew and the tiny paper booklet flew across the yard and landed on the grass a few yards away.

"Oh!" She jumped up and chased after it, leaving her bag unattended.  

[Sadei_Stone]

He saw her turn back to her normal form and he just smirked and spun his revolver. His eyes still having that dull red glow and that black aura still hanging around him. He simpl took almost no notice to her now. Just to mock her. He even went to a length of cleaning the barrel of his revolvers. When she spoke to him all he said in a simplistic way was.

"Bring it."

In his thoughts though he was now looking upon the curves of her body. He didn't really notice but his subconsious was taking long glances at her. She had a body that he found rather appealing. And for the years that passed between them she seemed to have become quite more of a looker. The fact that her clothes seemed to be almost none, well it just brought that much joy to himself.

He awaited for her attack ready but without showing.  

[Scytheress]

Two pearl white fangs gleamed in the dim light of the moon as Scytheress grinned. Slade was in no place to be taking such liberties as to remain this at ease in a battle situation. Perhaps all these years that had passed without her made him incompetant. The Fox stretched her arms out to the sides and then drew her hands back along her body in fists, twisting too to lower her torso and extend her right arm down a bit. Her wings still beat steady until there was a lapse follwed by a strong down beat to propel the woman toward Slade.

"The hell!?!"

Scytheress hadn't moved after she raised her wings that last time, it was like she'd been tacked to the black sky. No matter how hard she struggled not an inch of her would move in any way save for the rustling of wind through her feathers. The Fox's gaze was fixed of Slade still and she knew right away what had happened just from realizing why he'd been so calm. This didn't bode well for Scytheress but she'd weather it like any other trick that'd been used on her in the past. Her main concern wasn't what he would do to her now, but instead how the wound she already had would progress.

Slade's roaming gaze caught Scythe's attention after a moment and she inwardly smirked. Did he just wan't her head to claim her bounty or did he want more? Using the wind as her voice Scytheress spoke, each vibration sounding not unlike her but more resonating and ethereal.

"So is this the only way you can get girls, Slade?"  

[Sadei_Stone]

He laughed at this. His plan now revealed of what he had done to her. This one one of his favorite tricks. What he had done was simply loaded his gun with a feather and put some of his own essence on it. At first he thought that it wouldent succeed with putting some of his essence in her but things proved different. And what even made him more happy was that the second part had also done it's job. His shadow shot now had her shadow pinned which made her stay in one form. He now had control over her. He wasn't get let his guard down though. She was a tricky one. Her final comment made him laugh. He spun on revolver and pointed it to her head and came close to her face now.

"I have an old game we used to play. Do you remember? I don't think you would. You were never one to really know the enjoyment of guns."

He gave a spin of his gun and put it at her forehead again.

"I will explain then."

He floated back and waved a hand so she would be pinned up and outstretched.

"I simply take my revolvers and puth on bullet in one of them."

He plucked his own feather and placed it in one revolver.

"I now spin the barrel."

He spun both.

"And now I have fun."

He started tossing both revolvers almost as if he was juggling them. He kept a close eye on them and has he did so he grabbed one from the air and point it to her.
Click.
Blank.
He continued.

"Get it?"  

[Scytheress]

Scytheress was glad he found amusement in her words but that wasn't enough to stop the slight wince that crossed her face when her body was forced into an eagle-spread. It was his 'game' of all things that brought the smile back to her lips. Oh this indeed was a memory well remembered once sparked again. She'd heard wonders of the types of mental insanities this practice had invoked on its players; the unknowing, the anguish of waiting for that one shot to finally load into the correct chamber to be shot straight through the most agonizing spot on the body that would still lead to death. Scytheress loved it, but never had she been on the recieving end of it. Still... there was definitely the masochistic pleasure of it. Maybe Scythe was to derranged for her own good.

"Oh I get it, pretty, very much so. Next round, c'mon lets go."

Secretly she wished it would fire the shot and strike her, just to feel he burning pain. She'd missed the searing heat of the bullet that had struck her before because of her quick transformation into darkness, but this time thanks to Slade's little enchantment she'd feel it full on. The winds laughed softly, melodic rolling thunder that tolled within the rampaging whirlwinds.  

[Sadei_Stone]

He smirked at this. Of course Scy wouldent be affected by this torture. He was happy though. Finally a worthy opponent.

"Indeed Scy....Indeed."

He remembered the first time he had administered this torture. When he was able to. It was such a thrill seeing the look on the man's face as the guns would spin in the air. Land in his hand and click. A blank. They would have the best reaction on the temperary relief then the raising adrenaline. The fear would overwhelm them. Infact the first person he did it to had passed out and the other Merc's laughed at this. But Slade simply smirked and waited for the man to be awake. The man thought he was smart. Thinking Slade let him live once when he went unconcious, that he'd do it again. Well...he was wrong. The man tried to fake passing out. The mercs pinned his eyes open and Slade continued. When the shot finally cam it was aimed to make him slowly bleed to death as he watched Slade sit infront of him and smile. His last sight was Slade.

Slade smiled at his memories still doing his Torture to Scy. He knew all to well that the next shot was the bullet in the second revolver. He had made sure to know so he could toy as long as he could. He was now ready to take that shot though.

"Well Scy...Here it comes."

His eye went to her heart. He caught the revolver aimed with the silver bullet and took a shot.
Click.
Bang.  

[Truffles Unwrapped]

The first day of classes had been rather uneventful for Liuz. Most of the other students he had met so far had not been shocked to run across someone in his condition. Infact, quite a few of them had similair eyes as his, though for drastically different reasons. Liuz found a good deal of humour in that.

His first set of specialization classes were broad enough. Illusion magic was something many people had capabilities in. Not in quite the same way as Liuz, but the structural basics were similair. His second set specialization was something a little more precise. Not many people were familiar with shatter magic. It was a line of spells specifically known by mirror magi, which was what Liuz techically was. He hadn't been placed in a class for that yet... b ut he was very eager to return to his learning.

He walked along the southern courtyard with those thoughts running through his head. How could he refine the spell he had been working on with his tutor before his untimely demise, what could---

His foot had caught a flailing pamphlet in the wind. "Hm?" He looked down through his sunglasses to see what it was. "Book of Proverbs...? Interesting...." He used the end of his cane to retrieve it and then noticed the young lady scrounging the ground looking for something.

Seiya Mihara.

Liuz smiled with swooning politeness. "My my, It seems like you've lost something..." He held the pamplette out limply with two gloved fingers. "You know, you really shouldn't littler Miss Mihara, its quite unladylike."

The pristine suit that Seiya had uttery tarnished yesterday was gone, He know wore simple khaki's and a loose brown sports coat. It wasn't necissarily cold, but Liuz didn't seem to ever go outside without some sort of cover. Today, he also happened to be wearing a straw stiched hat. Definately not your average sunhat, but thats the purpose it served anyhow. "I do hope you're having a splendid day." His words were sacrine to hide the venom that lingered there.  

[EvrythingTastesLikeGinger]

"I wasn't littering," Seiya said defensively, quickly taking the book from him and backing away, "I don't see why'd you care how my day went. I think its quite clear where we stand."

She walked back to the bench and retrieved her bag, she paused.
'He looks even weirder today.'


She sat at a bench across from where she had before, it was shadier and...farther from Liuz.

Seiya checked her watch and went back to her reading, soundlessly repeating the lengthy stanzas that sprawled across the page. She sighed, at this rate she would spend all afternoon memorizing this mindless drivel.