Ilyse

Update sometime this weekend, big sorry.

I guess the majority of "favorites" tend to be RPGs. xD

Honorable mentions to Demon's Souls, Quake, League of Legends, and Hearthstone (I still play the latter two).

Not that I'm that much different, and in no particular order:

1. Planescape: Torment: I'd have to reiterate the popular opinion regarding this game - it was a title that was way ahead of its time. When it came to games based off the ADnD rules, or even related to those rules, I can safely say that I liked all those titles (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights), but Planescape really stood out because of just how memorable playing the game was. I feel as if my favorites might change every now and then, but I doubt this one would ever leave the list.

2. Nier: This game had a lot of issues. The rendering is really subpar, and when you consider the time the game was released, having to play in a relatively boring environment can be a bit of a turn-off for a lot of people. I say about this game what I say about Drakengard 3: there's absolutely no point trying to play this game if you aren't already invested into the Drakengard series, but Nier is basically a poor man's version of Planescape (the irony is that Planescape is probably much cheaper to buy today): the characters are very likable, and you can be drawn into the story, and it helps the music is fairly catchy - it adds into the game a lot, to be honest.

3. Shadow of the Colossus: This game is also fairly unique, in that it plays like an action game, but each encounter is essentially a puzzle. The game itself is very short, but the world and the atmosphere are done so stupidly well. You really get a feeling that you're alone in your journey to fight each colossus, and while the game definitely lacks in the replay value, the 6-8 hours spent trying to get through the story really makes this title stand, and the soundtrack is superb.

4. Diablo II: This and Starcraft are definitely my favorite titles from Blizzard. I'm probably part of the minority that really liked Diablo III, but I still consider Diablo II the superior game - it felt more complete. Even today, I feel like Diablo II tends to influence how I pick out what titles I'm actually interested in playing, and it continues to be a part of my life, in some shape or form.

5. The Last of Us: Naughty Dog always made the coolest games - Uncharted and Jak & Daxter were really neat games, but The Last of Us was definitely the strongest title coming out of that studio. I guess I have a thing for games that draw me in through its atmosphere/setting and rendering, and the Last of Us did just that: it placed me in a fiction that I could feel myself play through. Also, Troy Baker is always nice to have in any game.

6. Persona 4: I've played through pretty much all the Persona titles, and a fair bit of the SMT series - Persona 4 was definitely there in gameplay, and while the game itself felt very silly at times, it's hard for me to say that there was ever a time where I felt like I was bored playing this game, even if half of my gameplay hours was spent trying to get the optimal set of skills for each Persona I was going to fuse.

7. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga Duology: The series where my current set comes from, both games are what I feel best exemplify SMT as a whole: just a super dark and obnoxiously complex setting, and I love it for that. DDS is far from the perfect game, but when I consider all the SMT games I've ever played (Persona is excluded because it honestly does not feel like a typical SMT game), Digital Devil Saga feels like the pinnacle of the franchise.

8. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Definitely my favorite in the LoZ series, this was my favorite title when I was a lot younger, and played a lot of the other titles on this list. I guess I really enjoyed darker content, even as a child, and Majora's Mask was my introduction to the inevitable feeling of failure in a video game; seeing the moon fall on top of Termina was my least favorite thing to see, and when I eventually reached the end, the rewarding feeling of having cleared my first action game isn't really something I can put to words, but it felt fucking awesome.

9. Devil May Cry 3: Really, like, the rest of the series is mindless fun, but this game was just badass. 'nuff said.

10. Final Fantasy IX: I like the series as a whole, but I just considered this one my favorite title: I felt like 7 and 8 had more interesting mechanics to the gameplay, and at times I think the characters in other FF titles are definitely a lot more interesting, but 9 was what I felt like a Final Fantasy game really should be. 

Okay, I know I promised update, but midterm week, and writing isn't coming out.

Sometime this week!

Bitch, I run this show.

And because I run this show, I also have the privilege of picking out the music for the scenes, even if it can be used as a mental weapon.

So deal with it.

: ^ )

^____^b

I posted something~

finally

and it's so short

It's okay, I updated you and itano.

Chapter Six: The Traditions

“In the dawn, armed with a burning patience, we shall enter the splendid Cities.”

-Arthur Rimbaud, A Season in Hell & Other Poems

Ialian Academy of Wisdom
Dallas, Texas
Time: 14:42
 
There weren’t that many people to build up an army with, but within a couple of hours, although his brother still hasn’t replied to the text, an action that worried William greatly. Of course, time was pressing, and he didn’t want to let Hunter return to his usual and comfortable routine – it would be difficult to grab answers then.
 
He had eighteen friends that surrounded him, and the group of nineteen marched into the atelier in which Hunter had walked into. The place was fairly lit, revealing most of the workshop, and the iron pathways that lined the walls, and the numerous forges and benches that filled up the space in the atelier. However, Hunter was nowhere to be seen – he might’ve left, by this point.
 
As William continued closer to the center of the room, something that sounded like the scratching of a gramophone record, and the famous song by the Clash began to fill up the entire room, as the doors slid themselves shut. A couple of William’s friends ran over to try and open the door, but it was to no avail – they were sealed within this room. The thought that he might’ve walked into a trap caused William’s brow to sweat.
 

Darling, you gotta let me know.

Should I stay or should I go?

If you say that you are mine,

I’ll be there ‘till the end of time.

So you gotta let me know,

Should I stay or should I go?

A giggle, perhaps the most feminine and yet the most wild laughter that anyone present in the room has ever heard, rang out from one of the walkways above. All nineteen pair of eyes looked up to see a young girl with white hair and violet eyes, dressed in only black underwear and a black jacket to cover it. The rather skimpy appearance of the pretty girl embarrassed the party present, but the girl simply licked the tip of the fingers making up her right hand, before jumping off from the walkway and landing on one of the benches that was set up underneath.
 

Spoiler

I’ll always tease, tease, tease

You’re happy when I’m on my knees

One day is fine and the next is black

So if you want me off your back,

Well, come on and let me know,

Should I stay or should I go?

It seemed as if the girl had no intention to talk to anyone – she didn’t acknowledge any of them as holding up to the energy spent talking to them. Indeed, she was only going to spend her efforts to do this one action, and the rest of this fun play will sustain itself afterwards. Walking slowly up to the party of nineteen, she grabbed one of the paralyzed boys who stood closer to the front, and stroking his chin, lead him back to one of the benches, bringing him on top of her as she lay down across the bench. Smiling in response to the boy’s face, contorted with both arousal and terror, the girl flipped the boy over the bench and raised her fist, repeatedly pounding against the boy’s face.
 
William watched with terror as he saw his friend beaten to death, and when the girl jumped off the motionless body, the bloody head that stood there was unrecognizable mess of bone and flesh. Licking the hand clean of the boy’s blood, the girl grinned at the other eighteen, and she thought her intention was clear: she wanted them to kill each other, to the very last one. After a moment of silence, the girl finally realized that the shock didn’t allow them to register what she wants, so sighing, she explained.
 
“Okay, you idiots, you’re going to beat yourselves down to death, last one to survive gets to leave this place, the other eighteen are for me to eat. Got it? Good, now go, before I kill you all myself.”

Should I stay or should I go now?

Should I stay or should I go now?

If I go, there will be trouble.

And if I stay it will be double.

So come on and let me know,

Should I stay or should I go?

___________________

Gillard felt Diane’s arms cross over his shoulder, before he was grabbed into a warm embrace, with his professor rubbing her cheek against the top of his head. Giggling at the surprised look on Gillard’s face, Lilah decided to explain the situation.
 
“I never brought you here because of Hunter, I brought you here because my older sister has something of a, um, fixation, on younger men, and you fit her profile perfectly.”
 
Walking over to the grand piano, Lilah bent down and opened up some latch located under the keys, and magazines and manga with boys that had a similar appearance to Gillard fell onto the floor, and the poor boy realized what was going on: he was the object of affection of a surprisingly big pervert, who also happened to be giving his grade for one of the more important subjects in the curriculum.
 
Diana saw the magazines fall to the floor, and in her embarrassment, released Gillard to go and hide the magazines before anyone else saw them. Gillard watched the debacle, and understood why Diane Sheffield seemed so reclusive – it seemed that outside of the classroom, outside of when she’s a teacher, she can’t seem to talk to anyone outside of her own family. The uniqueness of that shy nature was definitely that – unique.
 
“Anyways, I did this as a favor for my sister, but you see, regarding Hunter, I also think my dear older sister is also an expert on a name that Cecilia picked up from overhearing Hunter Gray earlier – Lyssa.”
 
Diane stopped picking up the books, and looked back at both Gillard and Lilah, a frightened look in her eyes. The smile disappeared from Lilah’s face, and walking over to her sister, she spoke in a low voice.
 
“You know something about this, don’t you, sister?”
 
Diane looked at the ground, as if in shame, and holding the books closer to her chest, she walked over to the couch, and directed Lilah to return to her seat. With a deep breath, Diane began the subject of the horror Hunter Gray planned to unleash upon the academy.
 
“A few months ago, Hunter asked to help me in researching a faerie that was rather unique. How he knew about it, I had no idea, but a member of House Mercere would be wonderful to have, since no one else was interested in trying to save the faerie, who was heavily wounded at the time. I needed someone to care for it, and Hunter volunteered his services, so I simply disregarded the fact that he somehow knew about the faerie, especially when the school tries to keep quiet about the professional research being done here; I figured something slipped, I was just grateful for the help.
 
Around last month, Hunter seemingly changed. He kept on making unwarranted moves on me, and he even attacked me around three weeks ago. I was nearly strangled to death in one of the ateliers, but as I was losing my breath, I could see Hunter’s eyes: they didn’t have any intelligence in them, only insanity. The research I had been doing for around six weeks about the property of the faerie I had been keeping in the atelier all suddenly made sense to me – the faerie was no normal faerie, but a personification of insanity that went by Lyssa.
 
Just last week, I saw Lyssa standing outside the apartment complex I was staying in. She made no gesture to look for me, so I thought nothing of it – I had been avoiding Hunter since he tried to choke me, but I figured he might have wanted Lyssa to have some fresh air. But, two days after that, one of my neighbors, a nice old man who kept quite a few pets for his company, was torn apart by his own dogs, who went mad. They were put to sleep, and the vets said they contracted rabies, but I understood then – Lyssa was trying to turn me what she did to Hunter, a servant to the insanity she is.”
 
With a shaky breath, Diane looked down on her lap, as Lilah began to show incredibly concern on her face – she had seen her sister wear a turtleneck recently, and now she understood: it was to hide the strangle marks that had probably left on her neck. Diane did not break down into tears, but she turned her head to look at Gillard.
 
“I don’t know what Hunter has against you or your brother, but be careful. He has a being that is basically a god on his side. If anything, I would want you to leave this school; I’ll do anything to make sure neither Hunter or Lyssa leaves this place, even if I must be a prisoner here for the rest of my life.”

Chapter Six: The Traditions

“Magic was defined under nine names, nine schools that would branch out into smaller concentrations. The knowledge of shaping reality itself would overlap with each other, but each school was unique, for magic is versatile – there is no one way to achieve the desired effect. The Council of Nine Traditions became the overseer of the nine different sects of magic, with the Hermetian Theory developed by Bonisagus being the first of the nine to be named, and still remain the most popular and influential theory of magic to study.

Next was the Marauding, a collection of clans made up witches who see the ancient “magical example” as the god – that is, they do not believe that Bonisagus is the first existing magi, and turn to Simon the Sorcerer, whose feats were listed in Biblical literature. Many of them were wiped out during the infamous witch-hunt in Europe and America, and to find a member of the Marauding is a rare sight – many have fled to the Faerie Realms, where man cannot touch them any longer.

The third was the Western Church of Light,that followed a separate “Western Hermetic” theory that the Order of Hermes, under Bonisagus, developed. From the man that was called “Thrice Great”, the Western Church once came into the public in the late 1800’s under the name “The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light”, under the leadership of Max Theon, who was later branded a heretic for breaking the most important rule of the Council – to never involve those outside of the world of spells.

The fourth was the Nexus, a small group of radicals who believed that magic was universally defined, and sought to find the connection between all the theories, through whatever means – they were notorious for their inhumane experiments on living beings to see what different organs sorcerers and ordinary humans seemingly had. Although the Nexus had been admitted into the Council, the other eight Traditions do not see them as anything else but mad scientists, and while the members of the Nexus were no doubt brilliant, their “claims to magic” has often been the subject of skepticism, since no one actually saw them perform any spells in front of the Council.

The fifth were the Dreamweavers, who believes in the formation of magic of connecting to the spirit and faerie realms during slumber, and that imagination was the ultimate battery for magic. A mysterious and reclusive group, the Dreamweavers kept to themselves so often that a joke in poor taste was made about them – in order to maintain their theories, the members must be like cheetahs: inbred and slowly dying out. The levels of magic performed by the Dreamweavers were also difficult to measure, although the prophetic ability of the few Dreamweavers to have revealed themselves seems to measure a level of magic that could possibly contest as the most powerful magic within the Council.

The sixth tradition was dubbed the Fellowship of Iron, a thought of magic that came around when the Industrial Revolution began to revolutionize the numerous empires and kingdoms around the world. They were the first to push for the study of magic in relation to the advancing technology of the West, and while House Mercere of the Order of Hermes would eventually back up the Fellowship in this ambition, they were commonly mocked as fools – magic was natural, industry was not. As such, many of the magical inventions developed by the Fellowship of Iron were looked down upon when compared to the trinkets and weapons that the Order of Hermes have produced, but the Fellowship continues to survive the years without support – after all, their inventions lead to the creation of the steampunk genre, and Wild Wild West certainly revived the interest in the genre. There are no known members of the sixth tradition who are currently alive.

The seventh tradition was the University of True Alchemy; while Mercere was generally accepted as the father of modern Alchemy, a large group of alchemists rejected Mercere’s approach. Mercere had worked with a Middle Eastern alchemist who went by the name of Geber in the magical world, and the University greatly dislikes the “laboratory approach” – they believe in the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life being created not through the test tubes, but in a hidden dungeon elsewhere, and they reject the lab work of Mercere and Geber’s alchemy in favor of seeking out the clues left behind in history regarding the location of the Philosopher’s stone. Many famous people such as Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein were a part of this organization, and most successful scientists were members of the University.

The eighth tradition was the Monastery of Eastern Mysticism – the tradition had been existing just as long as the Order of Hermes, but those of the Oriental countries had no desire to join in the Council until much later, after World War II, where it’s generally agreed upon that shared knowledge of magic may be able to cut down motivation for battle between countries, and by extension, sorcerers. There had been so many different concentrations within the libraries of the Monastery that even after several decades, the Council has yet to compile a complete list of the focuses.

The final tradition, Horus, joined just five years ago with members of this tradition being spread out between South Korea and Japan. The charisma of their leader, who simply calls himself as “The Eye of Aleph” (named after the supposed source of magic), was enough to convince the Council to allow his beliefs in drawing power from a single being, in gathering the energy from a source that would never run dry, to be included in the traditions. Upon the announcement regarding Aleph’s terrorist activities, Horus was investigated with intense scrutiny to see if the “Eye of Aleph” and his tradition had any relation to the terrorist. No conclusive evidence was found, and Horus was simply left alone after that, although little activity could be found or heard from them.”

-Anonymous, The History of the World You Didn’t Know

Roppongi Hills

Tokyo, Japan

Time: 23:41

The center of all entertainment was right here, in this strip of land found in the Minato area of Tokyo. Comparable to Las Vegas, which in itself is just its own strip of land in the middle of a desert, Roppongi was an island in the urban ocean of Tokyo, but the lights that shined from the streets only confirmed the rumored nightlife activities that Roppongi had to offer.

One of the highlights of Roppongi was an area of property known as Roppongi Hills. Purchased by a wealthy Japanese businessman, his goal was to develop property that could raise the standards of living within Tokyo, and the centerpiece of this urban development was the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, named after the businessman who had started the development of the area.

The fifty-four floors that made up skyscraper were the pride of the Roppongi Hills area, but in the magical world, it was only the very top floor that held any real value – not that most people knew. The elevator would never head up to the fifty-fourth floor without an elevator key, which was unique to a select few – Akira Mori made sure of that. The aging businessman slipped the key into the elevator, and felt the elevator carry him to the very top floor. It was a trip that took around two minutes and six seconds without stops, and soon enough, Akira arrived on the top floor – it was almost completely empty, except for a single desk that had three computer screens on top of it, with a monitor underneath the desk.

Sitting in front of the desk in a gigantic gaming chair was a young man with numerous tattoos and piercings on his face – this person was Gakuto Mori, the son that his older brother, Minoru Mori, had from a fling in the early stages of his marriage, a child he had no knowledge of his entire life. Gakuto turned his head and looked rather lazily at the grim-looking Akira.

Spoiler

“Ah, old man. You didn’t let me know you were coming.”

Akira trembled with rage. His face growing red, the old man tried very hard to hold his temper, and after a few silent moments of anger, the old man took a deep breath and began to speak in his quiet yet powerful voice.

“Gakuto, these ‘security guards’ you hired went out again and brought back the homeless people and animals and bringing them to the lower levels of the tower. We do not have the means to keep them here, and the company is starting to see a decrease in revenue because of these little projects of yours. Explain yourself! I have been patient because of my older brother’s legacy, but I will have you thrown out for the sake of this company he built!”

The young man simply sighed, and flipped the computer screens on once more. It revealed several different security cameras, placed all over the tower – the rooms and angles revealed that these cameras were installed without Akira’s knowledge. The surveillance focused on the sleeping homeless populace, placed in “cells” all around the upper floor.

“Do you know what a formicarium is, old man?”

“An ant farm, Gakuto? You’re building an ant farm?”

“Well, something like it, but this homeless vivarium is for something bigger. All you have to know is that the useless people and animals out there are without a roof for a reason, and that nobody in this world is going to think twice about the fact that they’re missing.”

Shutting off the monitors, Gakuto relaxed on the chair, turning away from Akira, who couldn’t hold his temper for a second longer.

“THEY ARE LIVING BEINGS, GAKUTO! YOU MUST HAVE SOME SORT OF COMPASSION! I do not care for your ‘Horus’ games, you do not bring in people and use them for your own amusement!”

Taking a deep breath, Gakuto sighed once more. This was a moment he knew was going to happen one day, and it looked like it has finally come. This was going to be a terrible night to sleep through.

“Old man, you are a traditional person. You resect heritage, and had this floor reserved for me because you felt as if my father was unable to leave anything for me. In many ways, traditions can shape a good man, and for that, I am grateful. But you can’t recognize progress, or anything outside of what I am trying to do. I am going to make Tokyo, Japan, and the entire world a better place, with the help of my ‘friend’. I’m sorry, old man.”

Standing up from the chair, Gakuto walked towards Akira, who was dwarfed by Gakuto’s impressive height. Drawing out what appeared to be a ceremonial dagger from one of the inner pockets of his jacket, Gakuto raised it before Akira could react, and plunged the blade straight through the top of the old man’s brain.

Akira could not speak, but surprisingly, no spurt of blood was leaving the wound. The only sound to escape the dying man’s lips was a moan, but not of pain, but of surprise. The moan disappeared, and then returned as a scream. The dagger began to glow green as blue light shout from inside Akira’s body. The wrinkles on his face slowly disappeared, returning Akira to his youthful appearance from just after World War II: a handsome, excited young man looking forward to the successes of life despite the hard conditions his country was in. Black blood broke through his back, where the shoulder blades were, and shot out and quickly solidified into wings.

The homunculus breathed heavily, like an animal, and Gakuto removed the dagger from Akira’s head – there was no blood to be wiped, and there was no wound to cover. The homunculus, while appearing human, was also very imp-like and demonic in nature.

Spoiler

“This is my gift of gratitude, uncle – an eternal life, in a new and superior form.”

The homunculus did not respond, but Gakuto didn’t need it to respond. Hiding the dagger within his clothes once more, Gakuto snapped his fingers, and screens went down to cover the windows. Faced all appeared on the screen as Gakuto sat down on the chair once more, smiling at his ‘friends’.

“This is your leader, ‘Eye of Aleph’, speaking to the Horus tradition. No doubt you all just saw what I did – I used a tool given to us by our god, and I say it’s about time we go ahead with the next step in our plan. In order to bring in an age of true order and peace, we must re-introduce something to the human heart: terror. Now then, to begin…”

____________________

It was rather late at night, with Banri shivering. Being a teacher was an interesting job, and he could see the rewards for it – but Takeda was probably the most unreasonable boss out there, because what man would send a high school kid to take his two students to Roppongi Hills, out of all places? The Roppongi area used to be much safer, with the Yakuza losing quite a bit of influence and more or less leaving the bars and clubs alone.

But homeless people around the area had started to disappear. The government didn’t care too much about it, and the general population also didn’t care much for the bums, but not caring isn’t enough for rumors to circulate, whether it be on the street or through the internet: a group is taking these homeless people in for god knows what, but the purpose can’t be anything promising.

And that was the mission: to find something regarding these disappearances. Takeda said it himself when he briefed everyone on this investigation – they were working with the Thoth Covenant in America to try and located Aleph, and that they are the last two operating covenants. The rest of the covenants had been wiped out, and while Takeda agrees with the Thoth Covenant’s leader William Gorman regarding the trails to hunt down Aleph, he disagrees in making the hunt the bigger priority; the people that were suffering because of a rogue magician should always come first. As such, Takeda suspected that the disappearances were probably a magic-related matter, and if it wasn’t, it couldn’t help to confirm it.

Banri bought Iam and Laura a steaming takoyaki from a late-night snack stand, and as all three of them sat on a bench, Banri looked up at the towering Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. It was a place of quite a few scandals – Banri was fairly young at the time, but a boy once had his crushed in the revolving doors around ten years ago. For such a magnificent building, the security was fairly shitty.

“Banri, find anything?”

Banri looked to see the approaching Abramson with his own cell of novice mages, Frederico and Maximilian. Apparently, all three men had been going around the cheaper cabaret clubs to see if any homeless men had been frequenting them, and to see if there was any information that made anyone stand out. The hosts and hostesses all said the same thing – they only allowed gave their services to these “customers” because they had the right price, and sometimes were rather good-looking. Of course, every single one of them smelled bad.

Banri shook his head, and Abramson simply nodded. Results were definitely more difficult to come by, and many of the officers were starting to think that Takeda might be off the mark on this one, which would be a first – Takeda was only elected as a leader because he was pretty much guaranteed to make the correct move.

Brynja’s voice rang out through the aether communication system that was set up by Koshima – thoughts that wanted to be shared were broadcasted, a very useful thing to have in these sort of situations.

“Jamie and I just dropped off Alicia and Omer to their spot – they’re going to be entering the tower and we’re going to follow soon enough. I will be arriving just about…now.”

A black van pulled up, with Brynja in the driver’s seat, and Jamie seated shotgun. The door opened up, and everyone present piled into the shuttle. As Brynja drove down the street to make a turn at an intersection and head back towards the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Yukina’s voice shot out through the aether system.

“Christian and I got through the service entrance to this tower – we’re going to look around and see if there’s a dungeon or something here. If Takeda is right, then we should look for a large space as to where they might be keeping the prisoners.”

In response to Yukina’s message, Rebecca’s voice rang out as well.

“My boys and I have the area around the towers almost completely roped off. These guys learn quick – two barriers already! I’m going to send Jonathan and Rudy inside once I finish the side of the barrier the shuttle is arriving from, and I’ll find a place to hide so I can keep the barrier up during your investigations. No one will be coming in or out.”

Not even a moment later, the shuttle passed by the silver-haired woman, who winked and held a thumbs up with left hand, before raising her right into the air, and bringing it down, as if she was bringing down the blinds over a window. There was no noise, but for a split second, a shining wall was visible as it sealed off the area surrounding the tower.

Jonathan and Rudy were just a few hundred yards down the street, and they entered the shuttle as well – with the passengers having to shift around for the two rather large men – and Brynja continued down the way, with the tower appearing in sight.

____________________

It was safe to say that Omer really did not like the current situation. To backtrack a little, Omer had prepared his coffee for Alicia when she did wake up, and although the white-haired woman did not usually drink coffee, she accepted the drink as a token, and instantly enjoyed it.

But alas, she did not see Omer as anything more but a stuffed animal, and she would hug him as she slept. She barely spoke, and Omer did not get much out of her, but the weird thing was that she kept a cat that she did not name, and the one thing Omer got out of her was that she wanted him to name the cat, which began to vomit a rainbow-colored fluid. So it was up to Omer to name the cat. How Alicia was going to be a mentor to him, he had no idea.

But now he was playing the agent to a porn star – and Alicia was his “porn star”. Her regular, skimpy dress was enough for her to pass off like that, and she never seemed to change out of it. Omer had to wonder why the clothes continued to smell so good, and Alicia looked beyond attractive with her hair brushed over the flower-shaped seal over her right eye.

The security guards had let them in without asking too many questions – escorts were common, especially leading into the weekend. Of course, the men were fairly jealous they couldn’t afford their own overtly sexy porn star to sleep with, but it was beside the point.

The elevator was directing them to the office of one Shigeo Coda, who was the primary consultant in regards to company organization and structure – if anyone was worth questioning, it was either this man or Akira Mori, who no one has been able to track. The door opened up at the seventeenth floor, and Alicia walked out with a long stride, causing her dress to flow. Omer could only try to follow and not look so shameful as he held the cat in his arms.

They opened the door to what was assumed to be the office they were looking for, and a nameplate that read Shigeo Coda was on the desk. The man they were looking for was entering his forties, and was currently making out with a topless woman, who looked slightly older than half his age, on top of the desk. Alicia and Omer could only stare silently at the scene in front of them, before Alicia reached into her dress and pulled out a pistol, firing a shot right on the bottom of the desk.

“You.”

Alicia pointed the gun at the call girl, who was so terrified that she didn’t bother trying to cover herself. Alicia shook the gun to indicate that the girl should leave, and gathering up her wrinkled clothing off the floor, the girl ran off. Alicia pointed the gun back towards Shigeo, who was zipping up his pants at this point.

“Where are you keeping the homeless people?”

Shigeo began to stutter, presumably an insult, but whatever statement he had to make was shushed as pressed the gun against his chin, her eyes menacing.

“Ten words, Shigeo Coda.”

“I…I only know about those in the basement.”

“Two words left. Any guesses as to where the other ones are?”

“Ah, um…”

Shigeo’s brow revealed a line of sweat, and he took his time contemplating an answer – after a few moments of pondering, Shigeo whispered in a terrified voice.

“G-Gakuto knows…”

The fear in Shigeo’s voice was not of Alicia, but of that name: Gakuto. Nodding curtly, Alicia raised the gun over her head and smashed the butt of the gun against Shigeo’s chin, knocking out the poor man as he fell over his desk and to the other side, out of sight. Tossing the gun towards Omer, Alicia walked out of the room with her second order to her pupil, something golden in her hand.

“Pocket the gun, there’s no bullets in it, so don’t worry about having to shoot yourself.”

Omer snugly placed the gun underneath the waistline of his jeans, hidden in sight by his jacket and shirt, and he followed Alicia back to the elevator. In Alicia’s hand was something of a key card, and she placed it in the keyhole underneath all the floor buttons – the fifty-fourth floor, previously unlit, began to light up, and without a moment’s notice, Alicia pressed that button, and the elevator door closed.

Around a minute later, the elevator door opened up, revealing an empty floor. Nothing was in the room: no furniture, no equipment. The only thing that stood there was a shadow, and it turned to face them – the shade of a human, with black wings sprouting out from the back. The homunculus roared a challenge towards the pair, and before Alicia could react, the homunculus swiftly appeared right in front of her and jabbed at her neck, causing Alicia to collapse on the floor of the elevator, unconscious. The man-made monster grabbed Omer by the collar and tossed him out of the elevator, causing the young man to slide across the floor and close to the window.

The homunculus approached Omer rather menacingly, its fingers turning into claws. The gun that had previously been in Omer’s possession was now between him and the monster – there were no bullets, but Omer bet that in whatever pocket Alicia had, there were probably bullets.

It didn’t mean much though – Omer doubt he could take on the homunculus in a straight battle, and while he did make have a thermos of his coffee in his bag, which he was sure would wake Alicia right up, he would still have to go past the enemy in front of him. The cat hissed at the approaching homunculus, and Omer knew he didn’t have much of a choice – either try to wake Alicia up, or try to find the bullets and try and shoot the homunculus.

____________________

Christian could say for sure that he would never ride in the back of a moving truck again, and even more, in the space of the removed bottom of an office couch. The bottom had been removed so that he and Yukina could fit through the bottom, and after the workers left the couch in the holding docks, Yukina lifted the couch up with ease, and Christian rolled out, with Yukina crawling out soon after she held the couch up with one hand.

They snuck around all the late-night workers, who looked as if they wanted nothing more than to return home, and checked around the gigantic room filled with boxes. It felt like an Indiana Jones movie, where they were essentially going through Area 51, with the crates surrounding all of them.

A clatter could be heard behind them, and claws grew from Yukina’s nails as she snarled, looking around for the source of the sound. The sound of steps could be heard, but where from? Christian and Yukina looked towards the direction from whence they came, but when they turned back once more, a dark-haired man with a Japanese sword on his back was standing there, quiet. His face was more or less expressionless, and it said nothing of his thoughts, but when the man, with one of his arms slung into his clothes, used his free arm to draw the nodachi from its sheath, it was fairly obvious that he was looking for a fight.

Spoiler

The sword was incredibly long, and looked fairly heavy, but the swordsman held it with one hand easily. Brandishing the weapon, he issued a silent challenge towards Yukina and Christian. Growling, Yukina’s face began tot run fairly animalistic, and her frame began to grow larger – a moment later, what stood there was a brown-colored werewolf, which howled and then charged the enemy standing in their paths.

The swordsman and Yukina could not seem to hit each other – they were too fast for each other, and the exchange between them was a storm of claws and steel. Christian could change the advantage of the fight, but should he try to make Yukina’s attack more powerful, or should he try to make the swordsmen weaker? He wasn’t sure about what the effects of this “double-edged magic” could perform, but depending on who he directs the spell towards and what intentions he had upon casting the spell, the effects would differ.

Might as well test it now.

____________________

The van pulled up right in front of the entrance, but what was strange was that the security guards were nowhere in sight. Brynja slowly drove the car forward, circling the tower until she neared the entrance, and then a spurt of blood splashed itself onto the windshield, causing her to stop. What was thrown at her disappeared from sight, but Brynja feared the worst, and as she stepped out, she saw the crushed remains of a human head.

“Oh, a redhead! I quite like the redheads, you know.”

A gigantic man stepped out: dark-skinned, with sunglasses and other gaudy ornaments, he appeared to be the stereotypical Asian representation of black people. However, what stood behind him were several bodies, all of them missing a head. When Brynja looked at the rings on the man’s fingers, they were coated with blood.

Spoiler

“You want to enter the building? C’mon, try and enter it. I dare you.”

Brynja was silent for a moment, and she stepped inside the shuttle once more, turning to everyone.

“Abramson and I are going to drive this vehicle straight into that man. All of you are going to step out and make a run into the building. You’re the leader of this group, Banri. On three.”

As Abramson began to count down, Brynja quickly set up a kit for Jamie, and then she placed it in her student’s jacket pocket, much like a fussy mother. She then hurried Jamie out of the vehicle, and Abramson directed everyone to step out. The man stood there silently, grinning all the while – he didn’t care who got past him, just as long as he got to deal with somebody. Abramson hopped into the shotgun seat, and both of them buckled their seatbelts once more. Brynja took a deep breath, and then floored it, smashing straight into the gigantic man while screaming “TAKE THIS, MOTHERFUCKER!” as the shuttle continued down the street, pushing the man down.

Banri wasted no time to speak; he ran into the building, followed by Iam, Laura, Jamie, Max, Jonathan, Rudy, and Frederico. As they all ran into the gigantic lobby, what appeared to be a clown stood in front of the escalators leading up to the balcony, where the elevators to the other floors were located.

Spoiler

“Oh my, the Professor sure knows how to take the fun ones for himself, isn’t that right, darling?”

And the clown seemingly split in two. His body did not deform, but rather, from the shadows, a clone just appeared right next to him, with the same infuriating pose, and the same cocky smile.

“Certainly, darling, but for these um, initiatives, I’m sure we only have to go to, say, eight? You should take the high school boy though, he looks like he knows some magic.”

Both of them cackled, and from their own shadows, more of the clowns appeared, until eight of them barred their paths. The original clown cracked his beck, and stretched his arms, and upon closer inspection of the arms, there were two runes similar to those of the Quaesitor magic. Banri understood those runes – perfect human athlete and mirror images. The original than ran towards Banri, and Banri had little time to transform into his bear form before taking the charging clown, both of them crashing through the revolving door and into the streets once more.

The other clowns split off, and began to skip around in a circle. It was as if they were playing musical chairs, without the chairs, and it continued to annoy those who were watching. Without warning, the clowns quickly returned into a line, and all seven of them cackled once more in unison.

“We like to call ourselves Flea Circus! Now come, enjoy our show, as we show you the moves we ripped off from Chinese wuxia films!”

With a sound mocking Chinese martial artists, the seven clones of the clown leaped into the air, all of them lifting their right leg up to bring it crashing down on the heads of the seven mages in front of them. Block, counterattack, run, all of these were options, but some people weren’t prepared for battle, whether it be skill-wise or mentally. Either way, Flea Circus was the enemy, and their first real foe. Their battles have begun.

______________________

The shuttle continued down the street, as the Professor was pushing against the weight of the speeding vehicle. After holding this position for about half a mile, the Professor shoved the car backwards, causing it to swerve and crash into a toy store from the rear. Both Abramson and Brynja were dizzy from the impact, and the Professor slowly made his way to the dazed mages.

A wind began to blow, and the Professor stopped: what stood between him was a beautiful, dark-haired woman: Sierra Milton, who looked at the Professor rather sternly. Michael and Alaina landed on both sides of their teacher, looking at the Professor right in front of them – the reinforcement squad, which was making sure that nobody from their side dies tonight, found their battle: to protect the wounded mages behind them.

The Professor covered his face with his large hands, before giving out a loud laugh. Without warning, he began to run towards Sierra, who quickly moved out of the way, as well as Alaina, leaving only Michael to stand between the Professor and the comrades in the shuttle. The Professor had every intention to run Michael into the shuttle and probably smash him as he kills the other two mages, but Michael was going to stop him – whether it be a blow with his magic, or even his fists, he was going to make sure the Professor will not make it to his objective.

Courage was def the best.

Never forget pharaoh episode!

Return the slab! Return the slab, or suffer my curse!

Chapter Five: Spider’s String

“Because revenge is a very known feeling in American culture, there’s a certain element of an eye for an eye. There’s the saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.’ When you wish for revenge, and you think you’ve gotten it, what happens then? Revenge is just a really good drive for drama and good action.”

-Niels Arden Oplev

The White House

Maryland, North American Empire

Time: 20:09

Emperor Richard Hayes took a seat behind the desk placed in the Oval Office as a handsome, dark-haired man took a seat right in front of him. Standing to the man’s right was a taller man, more rugged in appearance with an eye-patch that hid the scarred eye underneath. Hayes took a nervous gulp, while adjusting his tie and looking onward to the smiling face in front of him.

Spoiler

Spoiler

“No need to be frightened, Emperor Hayes. William might’ve made a bit of a mess in the hallway behind us, but I assure you that he won’t deal the same sort of…ending that those poor men just had.”

Hayes looked at the door that led into the conference room, which was slightly ajar. From the opening, the emperor could see the limbs and heads that had been removed from the torsos, as well as the spray of flesh blood coating the walls. It took all he had to not to whimper in fear as the tall man with the eye-patch who had committed the slaughter stared coldly at him.

“Now, we’re going to make sure the violence doesn’t leave this room if you do exactly what I say. You’re going to push for a bill that would set up a curfew in this entire empire at midnight until eight the next morning. You will not ask about the eight hours and what is being done, but I think you’re a family man, and if you don’t want us to get to that wife and daughter of yours-”

Bright lights began to shine through the window as three helicopters surrounded the White House. Emperor Hayes had to cover his eyes with his hands, blinded by the light that came from right behind him. The poor man didn’t see the handsome man sigh in exasperation and push his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The young man stood up, the smile gone from his face, and as Emperor Hayes turned to look back the young man questioningly, he found his nose a few inches away from the barrel of a pistol.

“Intruders broke the negotiations. Sorry, but we’re going to bring the violence to the entire country, and that means you have no reason to do what I say.”

With that, Jacob Morris shot Emperor Hayes between the eyes, and the former Emperor of North America fell face-flat onto the desk, a pool of blood starting to grow from underneath his head. With a sigh, Jacob Morris motioned for William Verditius to follow him, and the giant swordsman simply nodded and followed his companion out of the room.

____________________

Prior to the departure of the helicopters (how many vehicles were hidden around the barn where they were meeting was beyond any of the covenant member’s imaginations), William Gorman had briefed them on the details of the mission. It had been a few days since the fairly messy meeting between everyone in the covenant, but the awkwardness of the environment hasn’t appeared due to people keeping to themselves, most of the time.

In the short time they had prior to this operation, the magical equivalent of “cramming” was performed on the members of the Thoth Covenant: Information Compression. The brain can be synchronized with those of a higher learning through an apparatus designed by Gorman – two capsules lined with runes that transfer information between the two people in the capsules. As a result, even those who were just introduced to the magic world could use the very basic forms of their family magic.

However, even by “cheating” the system, the powers that everyone gained was relatively small – using such a machine wouldn’t be able to raise their abilities even to the next level, but it did open up the latent magic that was asleep in everyone’s bodies, and it was a start. However, Gorman had his doubts about whether or not the initiates were ready. After all, a lot of them had just been thrown into this mix, with no understanding of the situation. Everything was moving too quickly, and it was like God was too lazy to fill in the holes for those unfortunate people.

But there was no time for pity. The helicopters were beginning to take off, and Gorman watched as the barn disappeared from sight, and they made their way towards the capital of the North American Empire.

__________________

The targets were Jacob Morris and William Verditius – Gorman was, if anything, an expert in what a man like William Verditius would do, and deduced that the emperor and the cabal were the most likely targets of the magician pair. William Verditius already had an expert in William Gorman, but it was Jacob Morris that proved to be incredibly difficult to investigate.

As the helicopters began to land in the yard, a gunshot rang out from where the Oval Office was, and a window shattered into pieces. Two shadows quickly departed from the room, and Gorman shouted out orders to chase after those shadows.

The first to run across the yard from the helicopter was Minerva Fairchild, quickly followed by Kradence and Gideon. The man who was once her “father” was so close, and it was about damn time that she ran this blade through that man’s neck. The three of them crashed through the first floor windows, and found themselves in a long hallway. To the left, a white tailcoat from a dark-haired man turned the corner, and Minerva chased after it, with her party of two following suit. All three of them turned the corner and saw the backs of two men, one of them Minerva recognizing as belonging to that of William Verditius. Turning his head back slightly, Jacob sighed once more and turned forward once more.

“Oh, the peanut gallery decided to leave their seats and actually do something. William, do stall them, kill them if you like, but I should get Plan B rolling now that Emperor Hayes has a bullet in between his eyes. TAYLOR! REN! GET OVER HERE!”

From the other side of the hall, two young girls dressed in military uniforms appeared, one with light hair and the other with dark hair. Both of them drew their swords, and they dashed forward, stopping on both sides of William Verditius, who reached into his coat and drew a Japanese sword: a sword different from the one he had used in the past – to leave your weapon aside for another one in a duel is nothing less of an insult to those of the Verditius family.

Spoiler

Spoiler

With a smile, Jacob Morris continued down the hall, as Taylor drew the azure-colored Vorpal Sword and Ren drew the crimson-colored Jabberwocky, and both of them stepped away from William, Taylor facing Kradence and Ren facing Gideon. Words were not exchanged between any of them as Minerva, Kradence, and Gideon all drew their own weapons. With a battle cry, Taylor and Ren both disappeared from sight – their speed was beyond either Kradence or Gideon’s sense of perception, and as Taylor appeared right behind Kradence, aiming for the neck of her opponent, and Ren appeared right in front of Gideon, thrusting her sword forward towards his stomach, neither Verditius mages had more than a second to react to the attacks.

William simply stared at his daughter with a look that showed no hints of recognition or acknowledgement. He simply stood there, sword drawn in both hands, standing still – it seemed he wanted Minerva to make the first move, but he would also never allow her to pass him. Minerva could see it – if she even tried to get behind William, the sword would simply cut into her torso and end her life. The only option was from the front, but William Verditius was definitely the more experienced warrior.

____________________

The Quaesitor mages jumped out from the second helicopter, landing right in the center of the yard. Anatoli was the newest addition to their group, and the four of them looked up at the helicopter to see Meera waving at them, yelling out her wishes for their safe returns.

The Verditius mages had already crashed into the middle of the fray, and now it was the Quaesitors’ turn. As all four of them, knowing that they didn’t have that much of an option when it came to going AWOL or not, all ran forward when a shriek rang out from above, stopping all four of them in their tracks. From the roof of the White House, a gigantic shadow stood there, a massive sword in hand. The shadow leapt from its rise and landed right in front of the White House, barring the path of the Quaesitors’. Meera’s voice rang out through the magical communication system set up between the Quaesitors. The behemoth stood at least triple of Marut’s height, making it around twenty feet high.

Spoiler

“That’s an Undead Champion, the revived form of a hero from the past! I can’t tell which hero was revived, but be careful!”

Meera’s voice was cut off once more as the Undead Champion roared its challenge to the mages in front of it, and lifting its weapon over its shoulder, the massive zombie ran charged forward, swinging the weapon down, causing everyone standing there to jump to the side and effectively cutting the yard in half – where the sword had struck was now a gigantic ditch, incredibly deep and dark, to boot. It seemed as if the sword had actually cut deep into the earth, much deeper than the blade’s width would suggest. The chasm was probably around fifteen feet deep – falling in there wouldn’t kill them, but it might cause a sprain or break a bone, limiting movement considerably.

Of course, the zombie towered out of the ditches, and roared as if to mock the mages.

The Undead Champion continued to swing the weapon with surprising speed and not-so-surprising strength, and Anatoli and Ecaterina found themselves isolated on one “island”, with Draga and Marut stuck on the other “island”, and deep ditches in between them, with the Undead Champion raising its sword once more, intent on cutting pieces of the islands until the four mages simply had to fall into the deep pits that surrounded them.

__________________

The third helicopter couldn’t get close enough to the ground as the Undead Champion took to the field. The zombie was preoccupied, but the helicopters would definitely have to land on the roof of the White House now. As the helicopter made its way right above the rooftop, Anabelle, DeShaun, and Eva all had to jump onto the cold roof, with the bright helicopter starting to ascend into the skies once more.

However, the darkness itself seemingly wrapped itself around the helicopter, and the surprised pilot, Jack Allen, had only a second to compose himself and use his wraith abilities to disappear from the inside of the helicopter before the shadows crushed it, causing the helicopter to land on the edge of the roof as a burning wreck. Jack was nowhere to be seen, but what was more frightening was what stood before them.

A “woman” dressed in a military uniform reminiscent of the Nazi party several decades ago stood there, with the shadows taking form around it, the bloody of skulls of its past victims appearing in the miasma that surrounded the creature. This was an enemy that all three of them had been told about at once point or another – a Banshee, a demonic witch who feeds off the misery of the dead.

Spoiler

The Banshee opened its skeleton-like mouth and shrieked. The explosions, roars, and screams coming from the yards of the White House began to draw in a crows, who were frightened upon seeing the Undead Champion – however, what they didn’t see was the shadow that appeared right behind them, and many innocent people were devoured by the darkness. The Banshee cackled, and then burped, as if finishing up a satisfying meal.

Blood poured out of its empty eye sockets as the Banshee raised its hands high into the air, and the miasma turned red, with three skulls popping right out of them. Unfortunately, two of the mages present only had the very basic level of their magic down, and the last mage wasn’t too sure if electricity would be useful against the enemy right in front of them. The Banshee slithered back a few yards, and launched the miasma-covered skulls right at her enemies, much like bullets fired from a gun.

Should they simply dodge the skulls and try to close the distance, or perhaps even see if their magic can possibly deflect the magic or nullify the shadows holding the skulls? Time wasn’t on their side.

Don't cheer for me just yet, update's tomorrow.

Naw, none of you guys have to wait.

Pushing story forward.

Chapter Five: Spider’s String

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

-H.P. Lovecraft

The Lair of the World Egg

Faerie Realm

Time: 11:36

Baggins the Faerie Rabbit had seemingly cheered up quite a bit, and the bipedal bunny started leading the way out of the Faerie Realm. It seemed the idea of enjoying a treat from the human world pleased Baggins greatly, and the once crying rabbit began to hop towards where the supposed exit was. The one-eighty was astounding.

Their destination was rather frightening to look at, though.

In this gigantic forest, the exit seemed to be a tunnel built up by twisted and gnarled branches from the numerous trees. It was very reminiscent of wall of thorns from Sleeping Beauty, and it was very difficult not to ask whether or not there was a sleeping princess being held captive by an evil faerie witch past the tunnel.

“This here is the territory of the Old Witch of the Woods – she was once Baba Yaga, or at least went by that, but you know, she’s a nice person.”

Baggins hopped through the sharp branches, as Lee and Yvette were careful not to get themselves cut up by the numerous, menacing thorns that surrounded them. As all of them stepped out from the long and perilous tunnel, the group found themselves in front of a moor, with incredibly clean water, and a bridge of stepping stones that were somehow dry, sitting on top of the water. In the center of the moor, where the stone steps lead up to, was a house with bird legs lifting it up into the air: the legendary home of Baba Yaga.

Any read person could see the place and know it for what it was – the hut of a witch. Baggins bounced up each step, and as he came closer, the legs bent themselves so that the house became level with the last step, which was bigger than the steps before it. The front door opened and what stepped out to greet the bunny as it jumped onto her chest was a woman with a loaded body.

Spoiler

It was actually ridiculous, and no witch should look that young and yet so adult. Baba Yaga looked at her two guests almost expectantly, as Baggins waved at them on top of the witch’s shoulder.

“C’mon, she can take you home!”

Only updated the Leviathos twins.

Will get to everyone else this weekend.

Chapter Five: Spider’s String

“We need the tonic of wildness…at the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.”

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden:

 Or, Life in the Woods

Ialian Academy of Wisdom

Dallax, Texas

Time: 13:46

Hunter Gray’s daily activities were as follows: class, hang out friends for that short break, class, hang out with friends once more, class, lunch recess, class, a recess to himself that is called “independent lab work”, class, dinner, class, go find a girl to share the bed with, and then be relaxed for the rest of the night, satisfied with himself. All in all, the typical life of a young adult male whose raging hormones were just beginning to settle, but revived due to the fact that he wasn’t living at home anymore.

In this block of schedule that Hunter Gray followed almost religiously, a new factor appeared: William Leviathos, who was staking out from within the darkness – or at least, tried to. Sad as it may be, but William was not trained in the art of espionage from the shadows; his father did not raise him as a thief or a spy, but as a mage, who would stand proud and announce his presence to his enemies.

Unfortunately, that was also the dumbest thing to do at this moment, so sadly, William was left up to his own devices to try and succeed.

However, fate was on his side: Hunter Gray was most definitely planning something, and he was so caught up in this distraction that he failed to see the stumbling William from behind. Hunter was quiet at first, seemingly walking towards one of the old atelier near the edge of the academy. Although students used these places for meet-ups or hook-ups (leaving others to be disgusted from even entering them), it didn’t seem like Hunter was looking to meet with someone.

The entire time William had been following Hunter from behind, Hunter was on his cellphone, talking to the person on the other end in a hushed voice. At first, the subject of the conversation was of little interest to William, but Hunter’s voice began to rise every minute, until he was literally shouting to the other end.

“You don’t realize that this sort of project takes time! I can’t afford to get caught working on something like this, regardless of the motive behind it! They won’t understand! None of them will understand! This place is so up its ass in the ‘traditions’ that none of those old bastards would ever be capable of comprehending this project! All I need is the final piece to finish the web, and then she, in all of her beauty, will return to this world as you wish. But before that happens, Miss Odette, everything has to be perfect – not one fuck-up can happen, or else all this was for fucking nothing.”

With an incredibly loud yell, Hunter tossed the cellphone into the wall of the atelier, shattering it. Taking a deep breath, Hunter fell onto the ground, holding his head and trying to wipe the sweat off his brow. The young man looked so pitiful, very unlike the paragon of confidence that William was so used to seeing; the contrast was almost shocking. Hunter kicked at the dirt with the soles of his feet, before standing up and quickly moving into the closest atelier.

After hearing the conversation, it didn’t seem like this “project” Hunter Gray was involved in had not only to do with the twins, but perhaps the rest of the city. William was unsure what he could do – was he brave and powerful enough to confront Hunter Gray in his own lair, or should he turn back now and try to recruit people to help him?

___________________

Class wasn’t anything special, although the professor noticed the missing William Leviathos, and based on the expression on the old man’s face, Gillard knew that his older brother was probably going to get it. As everyone began packing their bags, Gillard saw a shadow come across his deck, and he looked up to see the smiling Lilah smile at him – it was clear that she wanted him to follow.

Gillard walked behind the tall Sheffield daughter, putting the effort to keep up with her long strides. It seemed as if Lilah wanted to get to somewhere quickly; it was good that Gillard basically had the rest of the day off until after dinner.

They ended up arriving in front of what could only be described as a creepy door: it was double ended, with bolts for locks on what probably appeared to be both sides of the door. The windows on the door were covered by curtains from behind the door, and a song being performed on the piano that Gillard recognized as Bach’s Air on G String was coming from the other side of the door.

Lilah knocked on the door, and the piano variation of the song stopped. Lilah backed away a little bit as the bolts unlocked themselves, and the door flew open. What stood there was a woman that Gillard recognized as the magical engineering teacher: the oldest Sheffield sister, the female twin of one of the most influential mages in magical engineering. Her name was Diane Sheffield, and she looked at Gillard with fairly cold eyes.

Spoiler

“Honorable Sister, this here is the younger twin from the Leviathos family, that you asked to meet.”

Diane measured up Gillard, and turning her back to him, she waved her hand in, inviting Gillard in as Lilah followed suit. The room itself had a grand piano taking up half of the space, with the other half of the room being occupied with two red couches, a bed, and a desk in a corner with a small bookshelf right next to it.

Diana sat down on one of the couches, and her silence was probably an invitation to sit next to her as the science teacher patted the spot to her left. Gillard wasn’t sure if he should sit next to her, and the look she gave him almost made him sweat – what if she meant take a seat in the opposite couch, next to the smiling Lilah? It was a simple choice, but the stare made the situation seem much more complex, and it just might be.

Each time you post that picture, I'm just reminded of the Ken Ashcorp song, and by extension, Sanagami.

Please don't fucking do this to me, itano.