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A long, long time ago, since the beginning of time, humans lived in a time of strife and terror. Strange, horrifying entities known as Shades scourged the land, killing and destroying all that crossed their path. With their limitless numbers, and seeming invulnerability to human inventions, humanity seemed doomed. This was until the discovery of the Book of Templaria, a mythical book containing the legendary scriptures and texts of magic. Found deep within an ancient library long before the dawn of man, the wizened book empowered humanity with the power of magical energy. With their newly found power, the leaders of humanity were able to vanquish the Shades and expel their filth and desecration from the physical world in a final effort.

However, during the final stages of the battle, the book was tainted. Dark energies had tapped into the book, corrupting it. The leaders of humanity took notice of the danger the book now possessed, and locked it away into the library from whence it came. The price was great, as it took their own lives and souls in the process. But in doing so, they protected the rest of the world from the inevitable remission of the dreaded Shades. Then a peace spread across the world, a peace humanity never knew. Magic still remained fresh in the blood of people, and this lineage of power continued to flow all the way until modern times. Which is where our story begins.

Efrin's legs move in perfect synch with each other. One bounding leg after the other. Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat. Normally, Efrin was never in a rush to do anything but do nothing. He admitted it: he was a lazy person. But today, Efrin had to run: and he was late for class. And being late for class on the first day of Spell Academy was never a good thing.

The Spell Schools were a wide variety of schools founded during the Age of Magic (circa. 800 A.D.-900 A.D.). Within these mystical schools of magic, students were supposedly learned in the countless methods of magic, and how they could put it too good use. Well, that's what modern propaganda always stated. But what the introduction pamphlet DIDN'T say was that these schools existed to limit the powers of children, or in the very worst cases, use them as outlets to vent out uncontrolled magic.

You see, almost everyone born today inherits the ability to wield magic. Modern children, however, have little to no control over their powers, and for most of their youth they are walking harbingers of destruction. Trinkets and charms that canceled certain forms of magic were made in an attempt to limit the childrens' power, but the products proved to be disastrous failures. In a last ditch effort, the adults of the magical world founded the Spell Schools, supposed schools of magic that taught children in the history and forms of magic.

One such of these Spell Schools is Templar Academy, one of the most infamous to date. One of the first Spell Schools to be founded, Templar Academy soon found itself the receiver of all the outcasts and "unhandleables" among the magical youth. As such, Templar Academy quickly became a vicious breeding ground for violence and destruction, with authorities barely able to keep the students under control.

Efrin continued running down the stone walkway. A huge stone wall had made itself visible along the sides of the walkway. That meant he was getting close. He picked up the pace and hurled himself down the sidewalk. It wasn't long before Efrin found himself at the Spell School's gates, which looked more like intimidating archways leading to an unpleasant place rather than the entrance to a school An iron wrought sign on the gates proclaimed:


TEMPLAR ACADEMY: SPELL SCHOOL
FOUNDED IN YEAR 800 BY THE PROUD ANTHONY THE GREAT

With little time to waste, Efrin shoved open the iron gates to let him pass and dashed into the main courtyard. Not too strangely, the courtyard was completely devoid of people. They're all in their classes by now, he thought, with a bitter taste in his mouth. He took a moment to examine the natural beauty of the courtyard before running through the school doors into the main hall. The interior of the Spell School was probably even more intimidating than its exterior: the walls seemed to be made of medieval stone, and the only illumination came from fake fire torches lining said walls. Well, they did say it was the oldest of these schools. Efrin took off the backpack and produced a piece of paper from it. His eyes scanned the poorly printed paper... then his eyes caught the important detail.

Room 204

That has to be where my first class is, he thought. Efrin ran down the deserted hallways. 200....201....202.... he counted, not paying any attention to where he was running. Suddenly, something appeared directly in front of him: Efrin tried to stop himself, but he smashed directly into someone.

"ACK!" Efrin tripped and fell straight onto something soft.

"Oof!" came the feminine-sounding reply. Papers scattered everywhere, littering the dirt-covered floor. Efrin pulled himself up and started rubbing his head: he'd hit something hard on his way down. As he opened his eyes to see who exactly he'd bumped into, his eyes widened in surprise.

"S-Serra!?!?" he choked. He couldn't believe it. "YOU'RE here?" He pointed a finger at the fragile-looking, long blonde-haired girl in front of him. At first she looked just surprised as he was, then she smiled.

"You could have just said sorry, Efrin. I never thought of you as a manner-less brute," Serra giggled. Efrin blushed.

"W-well, I-I w-was just, I-I..." Efrin spluttered, completely unable to make his words out. The girl gave him one of her signature grins and gave him a light punch on the shoulder.

"Take it easy, brute." she winked. Efrin's face turned even redder: he felt terribly embarrassed in front of her. He couldn't find the courage to say anything. The two stood there, an awkward silence building up between them.

"You'd better run off to class," Serra interrupted, starting to pick up the strewn papers all over the floor. "I just had to go run an errand for my teacher. You're almost 15 minutes late now!"

Efrin silently cursed. He started running towards the door labelled "Room 204."

"Nice meeting you," Efrin grinned, his hand closing in on the doorknob.

"You too, brute." Serra smiled, as she started off down the hallway with her stack of papers. Efrin took a deep breath, opened the door, and hoped for the best.

NEXT SCENARIO:

Other characters will appear in the classroom. This is where you other guys will come in.

It was the cold puddle of drool that awoke Mako from his deep, mid-class nap, not the newcomer that had arrived even later than he. Mako was indifferent to the new kid as the only thing he wished to do was to finish outfitting his room which was cleverly hidden as the second supply closet. (How the school janitor did not know is amazing.) his room as designed as such so that he did not have to technically pay room and board. However, he still kept the money like a miser and use his affinity with electricity to obtain free packs of noodles and "space-Juice" [Creator's Note: A drink that would normally heal 30 sp] He tapped a D cell on his desk impatiently as he waited for the student to introduce himself.

Mako let out a sigh and said, "Get on with it already!" With an intesne air of impatience. He was already sick of waiting for the new kid and had already become annoyed by the "Ms. Shakespeare in the room."

OOC: Sorry VVO, But we use modern colloquialisms, though there is magic. Which is why batteries and single desks, and dormitories, and janitors exist. (Just getting that taken care of ASAP so you don't have the unfortunate task of sounding like an avid "Ye-Olde English" speaker...)

Efrin's face turned a violent scarlet as he tried to make himself as small as possible. With about a thousand eyes staring at him, he certainly didn't feel very comfortable. He scurried to the only empty desk in the room and quickly took a seat in it.

"It is to my assumption that the fledgling with the uncertain countenance at the door is the...for lack of a better term...new student we were informed of." Efrin nervously edged around in his seat. The metal chair was absolutely painful to sit it: it was as if they TRIED to make it as un-ergonomic as possible. He felt his skin prickle as sweat dripped down his forehead.

"S-s-sorry I'm late," Efrin stuttered. The teacher only gave him a fierce glare and resumed writing on the blackboard. The teacher didn't seem very old, in fact, she looked more like a recent Spell School graduate. Her face showed no signs of youth and her teacher's uniform was prim and completely unwrinkled at all. Her bright orange hair was tied back into a long ponytail that went down to her waist, which actually wasn't that long considering how short she was. Efrin figured he would tower over her...

A sudden whap on the back of Efrin's head spurred him from his thought. He grunted a little, then turned around to greet his assailant.

"Wait, stop eying the teacher, fool," the boy whispered. His eyebrow length hair was jet-black, blacker than the night-sky, as was his eyes. His face was a strange combination of narrow and round, something Efrin couldn't really describe perfectly. His skin was also rather pale: an obvious sign that this person didn't get much outside time.

"I wasn't eying the teacher," Efrin protested.

"It's for your own good. She kills people that're late, and if she catches you ogling her I don't even want to know what's going to be left of you." The black-haired boy gave a little scowl before getting back into his seat.

"By the way, the name's Miro. You?"

"Efrin."

"Well, Efrin, you'd better get used to things here. And fast. Wait, real fast." Miro said.

"And how would I do that?"

"Let me tell you about the people here." Miro pointed to the black haired boy with the blue highlights across the room.

"That's Mako. Watch out for him, he's not nice to newbies."

"Okay."

Miro then pointed to the pink-eyed girl all the way in the back of the room, who was eagerly taking notes on a piece of paper. She paid no attention to the two.

"That's Kaida. She's a friendly, but she might not rub off too well the first time. She's totally cool, just don't let her get to you." Efrin recognized her as the girl with the excessively eloquent speech. He already felt a slight distaste for Kaida...

"And that," Miro struck a finger at the violet-haired girl, "Is Tina. Don't comment her height: she'll eat you inside and out." He gave a little chuckle. All of a sudden, the class bell sounded out the loudest clang Efrin had ever heard in his life. Miro quickly turned away and jumped out of his seat.

"See you around, sometime." With that, he walked out the door before anyone had even gotten out of their seat.

Mako ran as fast as he could, through the dorm lobby, up the stairs, down the hall, and into the first supply closet. He had only 4, maybe 5 minutes to finish the wiring for his "Base"
"Let's see, blue to green, red to magenta, yellow to blue...Alright! Lets get thid baby up and running!" He gripped the metal bar that was connected by wires to the main fuse box he "Borrowed" and proceeded to channel electricity into it. The wires buzzed, the lights in the room slowly lit up and then....
It fizzled and died. "ACK! M-" Everyone wondered her the 30 second long string of profanities arose from for his room was not sound proof. After his rage had subsided, he slipped out of his room and trudged straight to the vending machine for some more Space-Juice.

Efrin gave a low sigh as he watched the everyone take their leave and exit the room in a manner that more resembled a horde of rhinos than a group of kids. He'd just barely gotten inside the room before class had ended. Was he really that late? How much could he possibly have missed? Suddenly, he found the Kaida girl talking to him, her sharp pink eyes staring seeming to pierce him through.

"Your right wrist is developing signs of necrosis," she began, rather lazily. Her condescending manner was rather irksome, but Efrin kept himself in check.

"And," he replied, "Would you be so kind to tell me what this necrosis is?" Whatever it was, it sounded bad. Hopefully it wasn't life threatening? A cold sweat dripped down the side of his head, but he quickly wiped it away.

"Do prevent yourself from applying weight to it for extended periods of time," the girl seemed to ignore him. Efrin started after her, but soon found that she was already out the door.

Then he realized that the entire room was empty. Grudgingly, he climbed out of the painful chair and made his way through the web of desks. The room looked more like a dungeon, with all the metal, sharp corners, and relative lack of illumination. Efrin felt a sense of relief as he pushed the door open and walked outside.

He wasn't prepared for what he would meet. Outside the classroom, was utter chaos. The ambiance was deafening, filled with the shouts and screams of students running to and fro the hallway. Adults were making their way around, trying to keep everyone and everything in check, but they were just as effective as a single beetle to a fire ant's hill. Some sides of the wall were on fire. A pair of students were dueling viciously with swords and blades. Bolts of lightning and ice flew down the hall. What the hell is going on? he thought, his mind racing with panic. Making away across this mayhem in one piece seemed utterly impossible. Efrin's eyes darted around, looking for an area of some semblance of peace.

Suddenly, out of the corner of eye, he sensed movement. Efrin slammed his back to the wall, fearing a surprise attack. Instead, all he found was the short girl, Tina, with a bright smile on her face.

"Hey. I'm tina. Welcome to torture," she giggled. What surprised him the most was her complete ignorance to the chaos around her. Even with all the fireballs exploding around her and sparks flying, in all chaos she managed to remain calm.

"Listen. Kaida can probably hear me right now, but if she bothers you, it might be best to ignore her. No wait, scratch that. Ignore her way of talking. It was like something her parents put her through or something." she said, smoothly.

"Yeah, I noticed." Kaida still got on his nerves, however, and his eyes were still darting around the room to see if someone was going to try and impale him.

"Hey, you need someone to hang out with during break, I'm usually in the library," Tina continued, her eyes drifting off to an unknown corner.

"Oh, and if someone teases you, i'll beat them up for ya too,"

"That sounds like a lot of help."

"Hey, I need to go to my locker. Wanna stalk me?" Efrin really saw no other choice. He could follow her and possibly survive, or be sliced to folds of meat in this insane bloodbath. He responded with a curt nod.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mliro swiftly dodged the inexperienced blows, responding with a smashing blow to the face with his magical spear, the Jihatzu-Komo. He took care not to use the cutting edge: he didn't want to spill any blood. Nevertheless, his assailant was still unable to avoid the crushing blow and crumpled to the floor, blood trickling from his nose. Miro stared a little at the motionless body, then gave a sigh of relief. He hated fighting, but it was necessary in this damned Spell School. The black-haired boy was just about to depart the scene when a group of gruff-looking people stood defiantly before him.

"HEY, you there," the leader spoke. He was bald, and had a rather disgusting-looking mustache that spread all the way across to his ears. There was an overwhelming aura of stupidity floating around the brute.

Miro sighed. "Wait, what do you want?" Suddenly, the man brandished a vicious-looking knife and pointed it straight at Miro's face.

"How about you hand over that shiny spear of yours," the student grinned, revealing a set of horribly rotten, yellow teeth.

"Over my freaking dead body, you twat." Miro swiftly kicked the knife out of the student's hand: a surprised expression spread across the thug's face, before the black-haired warrior followed up with a blast of wind to the stomach. The student grunted as he was thrown across the room, smashing into the wall: which was 10 yards away. His followers looked back at their leader's lifeless body, then looked back at Miro with shocked faces. One of them inched backwards, before turning tail and dashing off completely. The others soon followed.

"Thank goodness," Miro sighed. He placed the Jihatzu-Komo on his back and walked down the now deserted corridor. It wasn't long before he found the center of the chaos, the main hallway. The main hallway was always filled with random battles and the whatnot: why, Miro never knew. Suddenly, his eyes caught the sight of a familiar student: the newcomer. He was walking with Tina, probably off to the library or something.

"Hey! Efrin!" Miro called out, running towards the two. Efrin took notice of the black-haired figure running toward him, jumped a little, then settled back down again after realizing who it was. Miro cocked his head at Efrin's sudden display of facial expressions.

"I see you're getting along well with Tina," Miro grinned. "Maybe you two will get along, if you know what I mean, heh." Efrin's laughed.

"Nah, I don't plan on doing anything like that," he raised his eyebrows to emphasize, "anytime soon."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miro quickly turned out to be a good person to hang out with. In the few minutes they had walked down the Hallway of Doom, as Efrin had put it, Miro proved himself to be a rather talkative chap.

"Yeah, and then-" Efrin started, in response to a statement about cupcakes, before he caught sight of a white-haired girl being harassed by a group of students. Almost instantly, he realized it as Serra.

"Hey, cutie, why don't you give us some sugar," the first thug grinned, hands edging toward Serra's hair.

"Ugh, you disgust me!" Serra shouted, slapping his hand away.

"Oooh, I like them fiesty. Hey, Polo, restrain her!" The other student quickly nodded, before grabbing the girl's arms and holding them behind her back. She tried struggling, but Polo proved to be far too strong.

"Hahaha, look at her squirm," Polo grinned, absorbing an elbow to the stomach. The other thug started to tear off her shirt with reckless abandon, and Serra screamed.

"LET HER GO!" Efrin shouted, unable to watch the abuse of his childhood friend any longer. He unsheathed the Ragnas, his trusted longsword, and brandished it before the thugs.

Both of them stopped and gave a furtive glance at the person who was pointing a giant sword at their faces.

"Hey, looks like this guy wants a fight," Polo grinned, throwing Serra to the ground. She gasped as she unceremoniously hit the floor, but she quickly climbed to her feet and ran towards Efrin. [i]Thank you,[/i she whispered, her voice shaky.

"If it's a fight you want," the first thug said, taking out a small knife.

"It's a fight you'll get!" Polo cackled. He took out a sword with comparable length to Efrin's, and smiled wickedly.

"You'll pay for what you did to her," Efrin roared, dashing into the two.

OOC: Originally, the planning was to have the player meet and recruit Mako at the Vending machine. (Where the player gets their initial sp items.) Whic is exactly why most of my posts until the fight with me will not relate to the story until later in the RP

Efrin gave a sharp glare to Kaida, then cursed silently as he watched the little imp of a student scurry off to whoever knows where. Oh, how he wanted to rip that guy apart limb by limb, cleaving his head in two... he slipped Ragnas back onto his back and approached the "doctor girl."

"Why the hell were you defending them?" Efrin growled, his voice a near-shout. The fire inside him blazed as if it had just been fed gasoline. "Didn't you see what they were doing to her?!?!"

"Never mind, I don't want to listen to your dictionary of a mouth," Efrin's tone was vicious as he stomped off down the hallway. Serra's eyes turned wet with compassion as she reached out for him, but Miro softly put her arm down.
There are some things that need to simmer off, he spoke, turning his eyes toward Kaida and the others. Serra nodded in understanding, her white hair flowing as she moved. The hallway had turned eerily empty and quiet: the noise of screams and battle-cries had subsided, and fireballs were no longer hurtling down the corridor. Only the sight of a student couple giggling down the walkway convinced him that the school wasn't entirely empty. Miro brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"I don't know what you were getting at back there," Miro sighed, turning away from Kaida. "I just hope you think it's the right thing." He started walking in Efrin's direction, knowing he would have to face the explosiveness of a dark temper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Efrin slammed his hand into the wall. His hand erupted in pain, but his rage completely blotted it out.

"GODDAMMIT, I hate that girl," he spat. "Thinking she's so -cool- and all with the way she talks," Efrin's fists clenched into tight balls.

"Out of my way," He ruthlessly shoved a student out of his path. The boy hit the floor from the force of it, but quickly scrambled away, as if to avoid further punishment. Efrin glared at the student. It reminded him all too much of that thug. The one that did that to Serra.

"Efrin." He heard a voice behind him. Efrin quickly shot a glance behind him. It was Miro.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well-"

"Get the hell away from me. I don't want your sympathies." Efrin threw a condescending arm behind him and stormed off. Miro sighed: this would be harder than he thought.

"Hey, look, I know that girl there was your friend, and that what they did was by no means right-"

"And?"

Miro sighed again. "Well, just know this. Attitude like this isn't going to get you anywhere in Templar. You're just going to get yourself hurt, or maybe even killed if you keep acting like this."

Efrin still didn't completely believe him, mostly due to the dark looks he was still shooting at him.

"Just let it go."

"Don't tell me what to do, windbag." Efrin spat.

"Hey, there's no need to get offensive."

Efrin rolled his eyes. Miro sighed yet again. He pulled out the Jihatzu-Komo, and grasped it with both hands.

"Perhaps a little sparring will blow off some steam? I've been dying to figure out how you fight."

Efrin raised his eye a little. In response, he unsheathed the Ragnas and pointed it at Miro.

"Whenever you're ready." Suddenly, he felt a gust of wind and he saw Miro's face in front of him.

"Hah, don't you know," Miro whispered into his ear. Efrin felt the hard wood of a staff smash into his face. "I'm always ready?" Miro grinned as Efrin shuddered from the blow. He rammed the Jihatzu-Komo into the ground and leaped onto it. Efrin scowled, and wiped off his face. There wasn't any damage, but damn, that hurt.

"Show-off."

"So you noticed? Come on, big guy," Miro taunted, standing on top of the spear while making a little hand gesture. Efrin couldn't manage to suppress a smile, and with that, Miro knew that he'd succeeded.

"Don't regret what you wished for!" Efrin roared as he leapt toward Miro and brought the Ragnas back for a blow against the spear. Miro was too fast: as he saw it coming, he drove the spear out of the ground and performed a backflip, the Jihatzu-Komo wedged between his feet as the blade sliced through a couple of Efrin's hairs. Efrin jumped back, shocked. He'd only recovered when Miro landed perfectly on both feet, bending into a deep bow.

"Thank you, thank you." Miro called, imitating a performer in front of a fake audience. Efrin grinned. His anger had completely left him.

"You're too good," Efrin replied, putting his sword back onto his back.

"EH? But we just got started?" Miro called back, a look of mock surprise spread all across his face. Suddenly, the shrill shriek of the school bell filled the air. There was an overwhelming scuffling of footsteps.

"I think we should start heading back," Efrin shouted as he dashed towards Miro's direction. Miro started walking back towards the others.

Miro had broken into a full run: the minutes were ticking by. Efrin followed closely behind. Further down the hallway, a monstrous horde of students were rushing down the hallway, a little bit too eager to get to their classes. Miro and Efrin both slipped in through the mob of stampeding students, narrowly dodging the stomping feet and flailing hands and other extremities that happened to be flying about. Efrin felt rather uncomfortable with so many people around him: he was a little afraid he might poke someone with the Ragnas. He tried lightly pushing people out of the way, but he was responded with shoves and shouts. Efrin frowned, looking at Miro. Miro acted as though he'd been through this ordeal a thousand times. He walked through the throngs as if they were no more than puddles of water.

Eventually, the two managed to squeeze through the door, and into the open space of the classroom. Efrin took a huge sigh and collapsed into the nearest chair, exhausted. The sword made a little clang on the desk as he landed. Miro stood beside Efrin, his gaze set on the door. It wasn't long before the rest of the class poured through the opening like a swarm of ants back to their anthill, crawling over everything and everywhere just to get to where they needed to be. Efrin lazily leaned his head toward the source of all the noise. Through the masses of people, he managed to spot Polo and his thug friend. Immediately, his eyes narrowed, and anger flared inside him. Miro noticed Efrin's sudden change in expression.

"No, it's not good to start fights in here," Miro explained. "Not when the teacher is nearby."

Sure enough, the orange-haired woman strode into the class, and all was silent. Even Miro seemed to perk up in her presence. He quickly took a seat and shot a nervous glance toward him, before turning his attention back to the teacher. The woman continued down the now-eerily quiet classroom until she reached the massive desk at the end of the room. Seemingly out of nowhere, she produced a gigantic book, grabbed it with both hands, and slammed it with a deafening crash into the metallic desk.

"Class," she called, her voice a near roar, "I have heard from a reliable source," there was a snicker somewhere in the classroom. The teacher didn't notice, but Efrin quickly realized it as the snobby voice of Polo. He gritted his teeth. "That there is a sexual offender in this room."

A sudden rush of gasps made their way across the room. Suddenly, the entire class was talking.

"Sexual what?"

"I wonder who it could be?"

"HIm, maybe?"

Whispers ran rampant, and there was a lot of finger-pointing. There was a magnificent slam as the teacher smashed the book into the desk, and all was silent again.

"Miro Folonon," she called, "please come to the front of the classroom." Efrin looked at the black-haired boy in disbelief.

"Y-yes, ma'am." A shocked expression had made its way across his face. Slowly and reluctantly, the black-haired boy edged out of his seat and slowly walked towards the front of the room. As he passed by the other students, the whispers grew in volume and intensity, until the entire classroom was filled with them. Efrin noticed the profuse sweat dripping down Miro's neck.

"Miro," the orange-haired instructor called, just as he reached her desk.

"Yes?"

"Have you harassed," the teacher seemed to put as much discontent and emphasis on the word harassed.

"the following student: Serra Novelia?"

"No, ma'am." Surprisingly, Miro's voice was calm. Well, calm enough. As much as Efrin wanted to leap out of his seat and plead Miro's innocence, something in his gut forced him back into his seat.

"Are you contradicting me, Miro?" Now, the teacher's voice was harsh and unforgiving. She had tied Miro into a tight noose: another snicker escaped Polo's disgusting little mouth.

"You know what the punishment for sexual harassment is." She rapped her fingers on the thick pages of the book. This wasn't looking good...

The teacher chuckled a little, flicking away her vividly orange hair. She always took a liking to Kaida, but always tried to hide it away from the rest of the class. Favoritism was never appreciated in Templar Academy. She never grew tired of the girl's eloquent form of speech, but rather, found it a pleasant perk that completely differed her from pretty much everyone else in the classroom. Including herself, of course. She could never talk like that, so naturally, so smoothly.

"Ah, Kaida, don't take it too hard upon yourself," she smiled, placing a soft hand on the girl's shoulder. "I know that everyone around here wants to see your 'full potential.' But they don't understand. All they see is a young woman who refuses to conform to them. What I see is a girl whose potential lies untapped. Keep that in mind, okay?"

The teacher gave the girl a friendly shake before taking her leave. She never found it easy dealing with children, but with Kaida, that was different. She had always had a warm spot for the girl ever since she saw her. Maybe it was the way she looked, the way she talked? What confused her most, is that she really didn't know why.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Efrin took a deep, long sigh of relief as he walked down the hall. At last, the long, first day was finally over. It really seemed like an eternity for the day to end. The best (and probably only likable) part about the Academy was that he could relax in the dorm for the rest of the day, until the following morning. And the fact of absolutely zero homework was also a nice treat. The end of school was considerably less busy than the break: there were barely any people walking around. Maybe they were all tired after a day's work? He didn't know about them, but Efrin sure didn't feel that tired. He felt the presence of another person walking beside him and turned around. It was Miro.

"Well, how was the first day?" he asked, smiling.

"It could have been better, but I'm not complaining. It could have been a lot worse." Efrin replied.

"...You're probably right there. I'm sorry about your white-haired friend. What they did was inexcusable."

"Ah, it's okay, really. Everybody gets their just deserts in due time. Just about everyone I know has." There was a long pause as the two of them continued walking down the sparsely populated hall.

"Say, what's your dorm number?"

"Uhh..." Efrin pulled a torn, wrinkled slip of paper out of his pocket and squinted to see the tiny writing. "364."

"Really?" Miro responded, quite happily. "That's right next to mine! I'm 363!"

"That's awesome!" The two took the chance to deliver a sound hi-five, one that reverberated down the entire hallway.

"Come on, let me show you to your room." Miro took an abrupt turn into a rather decrepit, metallic stairway that seemed in need of dire repair. Miro walked up it rather carelessly, but Efrin took care to each and every step, as each one he took emitted a harsh creak as he put his weight down on it. It wasn't long before they reached the 4th floor, the floor that contained their dorm rooms. As Efrin followed Miro's lead, he noticed the declining nature of the entire dorm floors in comparison to the actual school itself. The sickly yellow wallpaper was beginning to peel in huge areas. Roaches ran rampant across the filthy, stained carpet floor. These parts resembled a rundown apartment rather than a school dorm. Efrin hoped his room wouldn't be such a wreck.

"Aha! We're here." Miro pointed, his hand directing towards the two doors in front of him labeled "363" and "364." Judging by the looks of the doors, they didn't seem all that great. Being made of wood, both of them were in need of re-tarnishing, and there were long, jagged claw marks and even the occasional burn mark here and there. His hand slowly wrapped around the knob and turned it.

However, Efrin was rather impressed by the quality of the room. Everything seemed considerably cleaner than the outside halls, and although it wasn't as good as his old bedroom, Efrin felt he could certainly feel cozy in a place like this. The walls were painted a creamy white, and the carpet, which was once a dirty vomit-ish color, had now turned into a pleasant green tinge that was comfortable to the touch. There was a counter in the wall, and there was even a computer plugged in as well.

"Enjoy your room while you're at it," Miro chuckled, opening the door to his own room. "See you sometime later."

"Bye!" Efrin called back, just in time before he heard the door close. He kicked off his shoes and laid himself onto the bed, which was a lot more comfortable than he had expected. He could enjoy things here.

The darkness had been watching for some time. Ever since its banishment at the hands of mankind, it had been sealed into the everlasting chaos of Dusk. It resented it, yes, but for millennia, there was nothing it could do but silently scream in hatred at its binds. Until now. Not too long ago, about 1000 years ago, the ancient seal had been broken. Shattered by the very ignorance that had plagued mankind since the beginning. The sacred book, Templaria, had been disturbed by foolish thieves that had made their way into the ancient chambers of the library. True to its primal nature, the darkness instinctively seized its chance. Its presence burst forth from the realm of Dusk and spread its tendrils, claws, and extremities into the world. The Reclamation had begun.

There were endless flames. Bodies were strewn everywhere. She was standing among them, standing in a pool of their own blood. They were piled high, disgusting mounds of corpses dripping with fresh blood. Her eyes were wide with shock. She heard a sickening laugh. Slowly, she turned around. Walking towards her, ever so slowly, was the body of Efrin. His once flawless face was covered with deep gashes and scars, with blood caked upon his entire features. Suddenly, horrifying, disgusting creatures began to rise from the darkness at his feet. Like gross, oversize insects, they were so demented she failed to describe them in words. She tried to scream, but she was mute. Her mouth couldn't utter a word. Slowly, she started to back away...her foot caught on a severed arm. Her balance upset, she began to topple backward... down into a world of darkness... and then Efrin spoke to her.

"...Serra..." Serra tried to shout for him as she fell, deeper and deeper, but the darkness began to envelop her vision. Her call seemed to be absorbed by the darkness itself.

"...T-this is...." Serra screamed with all her might, but nothing came out.

"fate..."

And then everything was black.

Serra burst from her slumber in a cold sweat, her breaths coming deep and ragged. ...W-what have I just seen...? she thought. The vision had faded from her eyes just as quickly as it had entered. Her breaths coming shaky, she wiped the sweat from her brow with a trembling palm. W-what did those words... mean?

The Reclamation had begun.

This is fate.

What was he trying to tell me...? She used to have visions like these when she was much younger, but her parents had always dismissed them as simple "dreams." But there was something eerily disturbing about this one. Never before had these visions had been so morbid before. Normally, they seemed to predict future events... events that happened in the very near future. She was about to get out of the white sheets when the realization hit her with the force of a sledgehammer.

All the way down in dorm room 301, there was a bloodcurdling scream. Serra trembled in her sheets, fear overcoming her. N-no way... she thought. Her very thoughts seemed to tremble with fear. That's... the future...?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Efrin awoke reluctantly to the sound of his door being slammed open by a particular guy named Miro. Sun shined through the windows, but he simply covered his head with the thin sheets.

"Come on, Sir. Sleepy." Miro prodded Efrin's head with the butt of the Jihatzu-Komo. All he got in return was a groan and slight rumbling of sheets.

"If you don't get up now, you're going to be late,"

"..."

"The teacher doesn't like late people."

"..." Miro shook his head in disgust. Raising his spear high, he delivered a loud smash to the sleeping boy's head. As expected, it provoked quite a response.

"OUCH!" Efrin yelled, throwing open the sheets. There was a noticeable hot-spot on this forehead where Miro had smacked him. Miro tried to restrain a laugh, but let a smile escape through a lips.

"What the hell was THAT for?"

"I had to get you awake, one way or another," Miro replied, casually. "Come on, if you don't get up, like right now, you're going to be incredibly late. Don't expect me to drag your butt out like this every morning." Efrin's face narrowed, but he nodded in understanding. In a single leap, he bounded out of the bed, grabbed his sword, and quickly followed in suit with Miro. They weren't walking for that long when an expression of shock crossed Miro's face. Efrin took notice.

"Mm? What's wrong, Miro." Efrin questioned.

"I think I forgot something in my room," Miro replied. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Alright then." Efrin turned his back on Miro and continued walking down the dorm hall. Suddenly, he caught notice of a figure down the hall running right at him. It wasn't long before he realized it was Serra.

"Serra!" He called, but she showed no sign of stopping. She continued to run at him at full-force. As she drew nearer, her face told him something was troubling her dearly. "Serra...? Is something wrong?" He was surprised to feel two hands clamp on his shoulder and the pretty face of Serra staring right into his. Her face seemed stricken with fear.

"E-Efrin..." Her voice was trembling.

"Serra?"

"I-I had a vision..."

"A vision...? Of what?" His voice rose in intensity as his curiosity grew. Serra didn't act like this everyday. Hell, she almost NEVER acted like this. Something was definitely wrong...

"....Bad things are going to happen, Efrin."

Miro was on his way to retrieve one of the school textbooks he had forgotten. He knew he wasn't even that far, but someone managed to stop him on his way back. It was Kaida. Miro stopped. She looked like she had something important to say, but something was dreadfully obvious about her. There were dark circles under her eyes, and judging by the way she was moving, she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Miro didn't like it when she stayed up so late: she always acted so differently when she did. Differently meaning: grouchy, irritable, and prone to random bouts of sleep.

"Kaida, have you-" he started.

"Regarding yesterday," she cut him off before he could even finish his sentence. Miro's face narrowed. She seemed to be searching for what to say, so he gave the girl some time to gather her thoughts.

"Might I request that you deny any...false anecdotes that others may suggest? It would be invaluable to both my time and your own." Miro was almost half-expecting that question. In this school, any little thing of the sort would explode into full-blown rumors and gossip. He wasn't exactly the safest guy around Templar Academy, and wouldn't be for a few days. Then Miro noticed the strange way Kaida was looking at him. He knew all too well what she was doing already: he'd seen her do that way too many times in the past.

"What does it mean to you? And look, I'm not going to lie to you. When have I ever lied to you?" Miro replied. True, Kaida had never shown concern over such things like this. This hardly even mattered to her: why would she tell him to quell these "anecdotes?" "Ah, anyway," he started, "It's not like it'll mean anything. Those rumors will be gone in a few days." Deep inside, Miro sincerely hoped so. He gave Kaida a quick farewell before running back into his room. After throwing open the door, he dove into the nearest mountain of clothing, throwing away random shirts and shorts to find the one book. It's gotta be around somewhere... he thought. Suddenly, while inside mound #5, his fingers brushed across something solid. A grin spread across his face as he snatched the book out of the pile, pieces of clothing flying everywhere. Within moments he was out of his rather messy room and had started dashing back to Efrin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Efrin was absolutely speechless. Serra had told him the entire gruesome tale, almost on the verge of tears. He was at a total loss of words, for a moment.

"Is that... is that.... going to happen to everyone?" he asked, gently placing both hands on her shoulder.

"I-I don't know... Efrin..." Serra whispered. "Just..." She looked straight at him with a look of definite concern.

"P-promise me it won't happen to you, okay?" Efrin's heart skipped a beat at those words. Was she trying to imply something here? Before he could react, she threw her arms around him and squeezed, hard.

"I promise, Serra." He wrapped his arms around her, in comfort. ...I never realized how nice she smelled... he thought.

Efrin and Serra stood silently, locked in embrace. Her arms were around his shoulders, his around her waist. His face was buried in her white, silky hair, and he was rather enjoying its smell. They seemed that they would stay this way for some time until Miro came dashing down the hall. Efrin failed to take notice.

"Hey, Efri-" Miro's cut himself short. The book fell from his hands. Suddenly, his face grew into a wide grin. "So you do like that girl!"

"Wha- what?" Efrin recoiled in surprise, releasing his hold on Serra. The white-haired girl pulled back, just as surprised. Efrin's face quickly turned a bright shade of red. He quickly averted his gaze away from Miro.

"I-I guess, I'll see you around then, Efrin." Serra murmured, as she ran off the other way, her face the same shade of maroon. Efrin turned around and reached after her, but by the time he did so she was already down the stairs and probably down to the first floor. He looked back at Miro, whose face was still stuck in that same smug grin of his.

"Yeah, hi there," he grumbled. "What did you want?"

"Well, I didn't expect that to happen." Miro replied. His smile immediately shrunk to something that resembled a near-frown.

"...." Efrin didn't look exactly happy. He didn't want to lash out at the first friend he just made, he just couldn't. He learned that lesson in the orphanage.

"If you like her, then you shouldn't be ashamed, alright?" Miro put a hand on his hip, as if he was annoyed. "Whatever. She got the right idea, if we don't hurry, we're going to be late to class." Miro slapped him on the shoulder and bent over to pick up the book he dropped.

"Miro...?" Efrin asked, his voice just above a whisper. Miro stood up, book in hand.

"Yeah?"

"...Have you ever liked someone?" There was a long, awkward silence as both Efrin and Miro stared at each other. It felt like minutes before, finally, Miro opened his mouth.

"Yeah. Once." Miro's face narrowed, and he quickly walked past Efrin. "I'd rather not talk about it." Miro? Liking someone? WHAT? Efrin was getting a little giddy at the mere thought of it. Suddenly, he realized Miro had already gone far down the hallway, and almost to the stairway. Efrin decided it was probably best if he didn't say anything about it, so he silently followed in suit, his feet creaking down the stairs with every step. It wasn't too long until they reached the main hall, with either of them not having said a word. The main hall was only somewhat busy, with other students running about just in time to get to class. As usual, the dim lighting made it almost impossible to see anything. Oh, who could it be? It couldn't be Kaida, could it? No, it couldn't be...it could be- Efrin's thoughts were in total disarray as he opened the classroom door and walked inside. Thankfully, the bell hadn't rung yet, so he was just in time. He was so busy in his though that he hadn't noticed Miro hadn't gone in with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miro slowed his pace. Efrin was acting rather distracted, so he took his chance and slipped behind him. He knew someone like him wouldn't listen and just would ask him questions about it anyway. As he passed by Efrin unnoticed, he let loose a small, inward sigh of relief. Yet, he hadn't escaped entirely. It was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, as someone pulled him aside from the shirt and into the wall. He ran into the surface with a small thump. Unfazed, he stared into his assailant. It was a girl about his size, but he had to admit, Miro had never seen her before. Still, he didn't have time for abrasive gossip.

"Look, I don't have time for your silly rumors, okay? I didn't try to do anything to any girl." He pushed her grasping hand aside and started towards the classroom. Fortunately, the girl gave up with a dainty gasp and didn't try to go after her. Miro knew he didn't have much time until an entire mob out for him would coerce, so he made his way into Efrin's classroom with all due haste. He opened the door, and as his last foot passed through the doorway, the piercing shriek of the class bell filled the air. He slumped into the chair nearest Efrin and let out an even bigger sigh than before.

Everybody in the classroom was delightfully bored. There was no doubt about that. The normally chirpy, bright-orange-haired teacher had gone dull in her speech, having gone incredibly off-topic to the point where the classroom discussion was now about proper disposal of filthy laundry. She was so into her speech, that she failed to take notice that nobody in the entire class was paying even the slightest attention to her. People were passing around notes, whispering about the latest gossip, and some were even practicing magic. Efrin happened to be one of these bored people, as with Miro. Efrin was busy thinking about a certain someone, and he was rather permanently stuck in dreamland for the time being. Someone passed a note to his desk, but in his unfocused state he completely disregarded it. Miro, on the other hand, was busy carving random symbols into his desk with tiny, focused blades of wind. The entire classrom was, in lack of better terms, in silent turmoil.

The entire class was too busy to notice the small blotches of blackness that had just started to form in the back of the classroom. At first, they began as small drops upon the stone floor, but quickly, they began to grow in size. A strange, dark mist rose from the black substance, yet nobody noticed this horrifing phenomenon. Faster, and faster it grew in size, until it was the size of a small puddle. Suddenly, something dark rose from the pool of darkness. A small, imp-like creature emerged from the puddle, dripping with pure darkness. It quickly grew accustomed to its surroundings, its insect-like antenna perked up. Another creature identical to itself climbed out behind it, now making two of the entities. They both found what they were looking for: fresh prey. In their tiny, dark-red eyes, they spotted a girl in front of them. She was a prime target: a powerful source of magic, the long, black-haired girl simply seemed to exude power. The creatures like that, and were attracted like moths to a light. Slowly, and silently, they lurked. They crawled across the floor and up behind the desk, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

There was the sudden, unnerving noise of shuffling somewhere in the back of the class. Immediately, the classroom broke from its veil of monotony. The teacher stopped talking to herself. Everybody's head turned to the back of the room. Efrin's eyes too, shifted to the back and found the Kaida girl being assaulted by two strange black creatures. Someone in the room screamed. They must have seen the odd monsters as well.

"W-wh-what the hell are THOSE!?!??" a random girl shrieked, knocking over a desk as she stumbled backward, trying to get as far away from the little monsters.

At first, the critters didn't seem harmful at all, but quickly he saw the vicious claws the beings had on their tiny hands, which seemed quite dangerous. Kaida didn't seem to be in a state to fight at all, as the two creatures easily started to overwhelm her. Another person screamed as she was knocked to the floor. Efrin flung himself out of the chair and drew the slab of metal he called a sword. He was about to strike one of the little beasts, but Kaida countered one of their strikes with a well-timed kick, sending it flying towards the other side of the room. The critter smashed into the wall, oddly making no sound at all, before plopping to the ground. It didn't seem fazed at all, because it immediately resumed its relentless attack on the black-haired girl. Just by looking at the way Kaida moved, Efrin knew that she wasn't totally there. If nobody made a move to do something, she wouldn't last long against these creatures. Suddenly, before he could react, a black blur flew by his vision. Miro, armed with his spear, launched himself towards the little black things, landing beside Kaida.

"Kaida," he began, his voice steady and calm, "I can handle these things. You go get some rest... or something." Promptly, he drove the spearhead directly into the face of one of the creatures, which made a vain attempt to avoid the blow. The spear pierced the monster's black skin, driving through its body completely. Almost immediately after it sustained its fatal wound, the creature dissipated into a fine black mist, and was completely gone. There was absolutely no mark leftl on the silvery surface of the spear point. That left one last critter to go. Sensing the loss of its companion, the beast launched itself towards Miro, claws eager to tear into his flesh. Its lunge was cut short, as Efrin cleaved it in half with a single swing of his sword. The two severed body parts crashed into the ground and flopped around lifelessly before they too disintegrated into the same black smoke.

"O-okay... really... what the hell were those things...?" Efrin asked, placing the sword back onto his back. He had to admit, they were kind of weak, but they could have seriously injured someone else with those claws. They were potentially dangerous.

Suddenly, the last person he would have expected to answer him, did. With her beautiful white hair flowing as she stood up, Serra spoke.

"T-those were the things I saw, Efrin," she began, "These are known as Shades..."

"T-thesis? Kaida, you aren't making any sense at all." Miro said, utterly confused at the string of nonsense the black-haired girl was saying. He cross his arms and looked at the girl. He stood there for a brief moment, speechless, before the girl slapped herself soundly in the forehead. The sound was sharp, but nobody else in the room could hear it. He winced a little as his eyes widened, taken by surprise by the sudden movement. Miro's head was swimming: he honestly did not know what the hell was going on with her. He also didn't know what to do with this girl.

"Forgive me for any offense I may have caused...but it will require only the sufficient nutrients to fuel my actions for the remainder of the day." The girl replied, a hint of weakness in her voice.

"Nutrients?" Miro's raised an eyebrow, amused at Kaida's ever-so-interesting way of speaking. "Even though you're a doctor, I don't think you know what's good for even yourself, sometimes." He stopped speaking as the girl gave him a dainty little bow, before turning to her seat. Yet, there was something about her movements that troubled him. She was acting as if she was running on the last bit of her energy, like a car with the last drop of fuel left in the tank. Nobody could ever know when it would splutter out and give away... she desperately needed sleep. Some food would be nice for her too: come to think of it, he didn't remember the last time he even saw her eating. Suddenly, Miro's noticed Kaida's knees flutter a bit. An expression of shock covered his face. Kaida was already out of fuel. Before he could even react, Kaida crumpled to the floor, smashing her head into one of the nearby desks in the process. Miro winced at the dull thump, as he leaped towards her falling body. He landed perfectly on both feet, and managed to catch her before the rest of Kaida crashed to the floor.

"See? What did I tell you, Kaida..." Miro muttered, smiling as he held her. As his eyes gazed into hers, he suddenly took notice of the awkward position both of them were in. His face quickly flushed a bright shade of red: he hadn't felt this embarrassed in a very long time. He also hadn't been this close to Kaida...

"...You should go to your dorm." He managed, returning her to a standing position. He took a step back, giving Kaida the sternest look he could. Which, unfortunately for him, wasn't very serious at all when his face was a bright red tint. Suddenly, the air was as thick as gelatin. Miro simply stood motionless, his mind racing over very recent events, unable to say a word.

"Actually, you will go to your dorm, and get a good nap. You're not saying no this time."

Then, the air was sliced clean open by the shrill blear of the school bell. There was an enormous shuffling as the entire classroom got to their feet, and started moving in a beeline to the doorway. In a matter of moments, a group of students managed to give the facade of a rhino's stampede. Miro quickly grabbed Kaida's hand, and he started moving his legs towards the door with all due haste. If they were quick enough, they could avoid getting trampled by the feet of hundreds of students, and hopefully Kaida wouldn't faint before she got to her dorm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Efrin jumped as the shriek of the bell shattered the still air. Serra had just finished her epic retelling of the tales of ancient times and her description of the Shades, and looked slightly tired from the ordeal. At once, her audience sprung to her feet and made its way to the door like ants to sugar. Efrin walked over to the white haired girl's side, and patted her on the shoulder. He grinned, his face in a wide smile.

"Not bad, Serra. You did good." He laughed. He only got a tired sigh as a response. Suddenly, he felt something soft rest against his shoulder, and he quickly realized it was her head. As she sat there, Efrin swore, he hadn't seen anything so serene in his entire life. He smiled, taking a seat and placing a gentle hand across hers. Serra, too, smiled, as she slowly grasped his hand with her own. As the two of them sat there, holding hands, both of them failed to remember that they hadn't seen Miro since the beginning of class.

"Of course I do, Ms. Sleepy," Miro shouted, slowing his pace. They had managed to reach the stairs in time with their pace. "It's room 424." In Templar, there was no differentiation between girl or boy dorms: it made it rather easy to locate and travel to a particular person's room, but at the same time it came at the cost of gender-specific privacy. Then again, it's not like it mattered to him at all, and he doubted someone like Kaida would even care about something that trivial. Miro sighed and turned to Kaida. He and Kaida had been here for half a year already, yet it was only a few weeks ago that they started paying any sort of attention to each other. Because the pink-eyed girl was so damn unapproachable, it took him a while to even talk to her. The two had remained as mere acquaintances since then, and Miro really only cared for her as a friend. Whenever he looked at her, he simply saw Kaida. No strings attached, just Kaida. Miro was only a tiny bit glad about that: he had to admit, she wasn't lacking in the looks department. Her complexion was truly flawless, and there was just something, something he couldn't describe, that made her attractive in a mystical way. Really, for one thing, keeping his distance from her only spared him from the debilitating wave of gossip that would follow if the two of them were ever seen more than 5 feet from each other for prolonged periods of time. If that ever happened, Miro would never be in peace... and for right now he didn't think his dignity, or sanity for that matter could handle such a strain.

"Can you still walk, Kaida?" he asked, casting a glance towards her. Suddenly, he realized he was still holding onto her hand, and tightly at that. Stunned, he quickly let go and wiped the lone bead of sweat that had formed on his forehead. A sudden chill trickled down his spine... he quickly shook it off. He couldn't let this distract him.

"If you can't, just tell me, okay? I'll lend a hand," he said, taking his first step up the iron stairway. "You took a bad fall back down there. Don't show up with a brain problem later, alright?" Miro looked at Kaida for a moment, before quickly turning away. Wait a minute, what the hell am I saying?! His mind was frantic. We're just friends... nothing more. I can keep it that way... can I?

~~~~~

Efrin couldn't stop smiling. Sharing such a tender moment with Serra... this is what he dreamed of. He'd fallen for her ever since he saw her in that orphanage. He always tried to hide his affection, and he never truly understood such a thing at that age. But eventually, anything bottled up for too long will eventually shatter the bottle. Now, he knew his own particular bottle had broken. He couldn't hold back any longer. He didn't want to hold back any longer. He gave her his word that he would be safe, and he would follow that promise. Efrin stared into her eyes, admiring their beauty. They were truly a sight to behold... with the two of them alone, and break just starting, he didn't have anything to worry about. He slowly tightened his hold on her tender hand. Serra blushed a little, before returning the favor. Both hands entwined, the two gazed into each others eyes, for a long, long time.

"Serra?" Efrin breathed.

"Efrin?" Serra whispered, placing a soft hand on his shoulder. He responded by caressing it with his other.

"How do you feel right now?"

"I feel... happy. Very happy... I'm always happy when I'm around you Efrin, and I always have been..." With these words, Serra's face turned a bright scarlet.

"You might not have known this... but in the orphanage... whenever we were together... I liked it."

Does this mean... she's shared the same feelings...? Efrin thought, intensely. This came truly as a surprise to him. Before he could react, she had already wrapped her arms around him, her head in his shoulder.

"Y-you're warm... Efrin. It's... nice being by your side..."

"I could say the same thing about you," chuckled Efrin, smiling as he held her closer.

Miro had barely let go of the girl when the unthinkable happened, again. Almost immediately, Kaida managed to trip over her own feet and smash into the ground, face-first, with a tremendous crash. She quickly peeled herself off the floor and started to blabber a string of words that made no coherent sense to him. Miro simply smiled weakly at the girl. This was what was so interesting about Kaida. She was just so... different. She just had that certain vibe that differentiated herself from anybody he knew. Even different from Efrin, the boy he felt in his gut was bound to do something big.

"T-this is quite far enough!" Kaida shouted. Miro noticed that she was in a rather silly position as she seemed to be crawling away from him, but Miro simply walked up to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet with an upward thrust. He looked straight into her vividly pink eyes: they still seemed dazed and lazy, not focused or intense like the usual Kaida.

"Look, Kaida. You obviously can't think clearly right now, and it's all due to you staying up so late at night," Miro started, placing both his hands on her shoulders. He gave her a stern look before going on.

"I know you're a doctor and all, but right now, you don't know what's good for yourself. Why can't you see that? You need sleep." Miro shook her a little, as if to rub in his words further. Then again, seeing that it was Kaida he was talking to, he doubted if anything he was saying was getting to her head. She could be incredibly stubborn sometimes. And now, she was acting incredibly strange, as if renewed with a vigor that resisted the return to her own room. Miro simply sighed.

"Aghh... fine. Since you seem so intent on running away from your own room, then you'll come to mine instead," Miro breathed, turning away. "You can rest in my bed there. But you have to promise to sleep. I'm not letting you go until you do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bottom half of the school was engulfed in the usual chaos and ruckus of break time. Filled with magical fireballs and flying weapons, the main hall was rife with students picking a fight, and generally was just not a safe place to be in Templar. The main hall was also a breeding place for gangs, certain groups of students that preyed on the weaker and less fortunate, or simply those that they didn't like. The most prominent of these gangs was that of Polo's: the same angry student that still boiled in his hatred of the Kaida girl ever since his public embarrassment in the classroom. Harboring a deep hate for the girl, Polo had been searching for Kaida ever since yesterday. But, he had no success. Today and for now, his gang was disbanded for the time being, and it was only him and his loyal henchman at his side. The two were aimlessly wandering the dorm halls at the time, after having returned to their rooms for private reasons. Suddenly, the henchman caught a glimpse of a sight that he thought would definitely intrigue his "master."

"Huh! Polo! Look there!" he whispered, tugging at Polo's non-existent sleeves of his torn shirt. Instead, all he managed to do was poke Polo's muscular side. He was responded with a painful slap to the hand and a guttural snarl.

"Shut up, Gemmlin. I have eyes, you know." he growled. Gemmlin shuddered and cringed in shame, for he never found it pleasant to anger his "master." After Polo stopped glaring at his henchman, he finally turned his gaze to where Gemmlin was so eagerly pointing too. And, he was intrigued. There, stood the center of all his hatred, that girl, Kaida. But she was close to another student, who he recognized immediately as Miro. At the sight of Miro, Polo felt a tiny shiver of fear tingle down his spine, but his feelings of fear were quickly extinguished as he turned his gaze back to Kaida.

"AHA! KAIDA!" Polo roared, stomping his foot into the ground. With his extraordinary body weight, the entire floor shook from the impact.

"You're going to pay for what you did to me....!"

OOC: Kudo enters at last! (I hate this character, besides the reasons it has Die-sue written all over it, at least it's completely set up) also keep in mind he doesn't go to the school like everyone else

IC:

It was past noon now, a mysterious black clothed figure looked at nearby school from above on a hill."Hmph, that's most likely where I'd be now if I stuck with them." The figure was none other than Kudo Shinjiro, a mere teenager who looked 16 at best. He had gained a sword somehow, stolen most likely from a shop. By now he had a year of unofficial experience with it, but having had used it in the realistic conditions of the wilderness made him better than what any school would teach. True experience gave him the necessary knowledge. His growth was incredible, he even gained a mastery of dark arts, pretty much a genius in a way.
But today felt different, today he felt like visiting this school. He had heard of people such as bullies who used crude methods to mug students and such, and others who excelled during their classes and were truly geniuses. Curiosity stayed in his mind, the want to experience something new. So he went onward and inside until he was halted by a student in a rather rude manner."Hey, I've never seen you around here before punk, so give me whatever money you got before I wipe the floor with you."

Kudo gave a small smile, even in the wilderness it was rather rare to be actually challenged to a fight of any sort, it was just sort of an unwritten code. You meet a stranger, you either socialize a bit, trade materials, or ignore each other and move on but almost never fight."Didn't you here me?" the bully took out a knife now, "Give me your damn money!" At this point Kudo took out Nandaiyo, his sword, which was hidden in his jacket and told the bully, "Fool, didn't they teach you any sort of spells in this school? Perhaps one to know some general status of your opponent before you actually initiate combat? What's more, shouldn't you be in class now?" The bully was slightly frightened at the look of how fast the sword was drawn out, it didn't seem like much but when the blade's tip was pointed at his face, he noticed otherwise. "Uhh...they taught us one, but it only shows us a general meter for how strong the opponent is and tends to be very inaccurate." Kudo was displeased, he swung the sword and knocked the knife out of the bully's hand, "You're pathetically off guard, I demand you use that spell, NOW" he inched the sword closer to the bully's face letting him know that he was in no position to try anything sudden.
"Holy crap! Isn't it illegal for students to have weapons in the hallways like this? But...if you insist..." he started casting the spell. Meanwhile Kudo walked, sword still facing the bully, and picked up the knife and put it into one of his pockets.

The bully managed to cast the spell, but rather poorly. He even explained it improperly earlier for the spell does not show the user a meter of their opponent (OOC: if it did, it'd be like a poorly planned RPG, back to IC:) but allows the user to temporarily see the victim's muscle tension in colors on the same scale as light wave-lengths, ultra-violet being the strongest.

"All I see is purple from your body, dunno what that means" At this point, Kudo moved the sword into his other hand and punched the bully smack in the face with his dominant hand. "You call yourself a bully? Go reform and think about your life, try doing something useful instead of going after people way out of your league. Perhaps it will be easier without this knife." Kudo hid his sword again and walked away from the (unconscious, OOC: anger and the energy buildup in Kudo's arm led to that force, it'd be a miracle if the bully DIDN'T suffer some sort of problem, back to IC:) bully in search of a library, such a spell as being able to scan the enemy should have been common knowledge and he had to learn it. After finding a map he went directly towards it, but heard some commotion on the way. It was no wonder he was stopped so quickly, these stupid guys were everywhere in the school.

OOC: there, this basically reassures, yes there is magic in this RP, and should not be spammed for it gets retarded, like this post. Remember Kudo wasn't supposed to come in for a while so for now being unbelievably strong compared to everyone is nothing since he's getting into no real fights and NOR WILL HE until everything has been established and we come to the point ready for his pre-scripted appearance. I take it NPCing the bully is fine since the school seems to have a good portion of em anyway. Also keep in mind this post is only to add him to the scene temporarily and will be removed until further notice (I'll do a purely OOC post) also keep in mind, regardless that violet is high up, and ultraviolet is said to the be the highest, as it turns out, obviously not everything can be properly scanned, the bully wasn't kidding when he said "very inaccurate" as an example, Sige will not show any light wave-length at all. So don't assume this violet means much. (except for that punch) Now then, everyone else continue.

OOC: Kudo will only involve himself with the others ONCE the entire party has been formed. The Shade story will have been developed more thoroughly by then.

Polo grinned sickeningly. She was giving him the first blow? He didn't understand the complexity of her words, but he made out that part well enough to comprehend. Roaring, he brandished the crude iron sword he carefully "concealed" on his back, pointing it threateningly at the pink-eyed girl. She continued to stare at him in that freaky weird way, not making a single movement. So, she really was serious about that. Either, she was incredibly stupid, or trying to act brave. Polo knew only too well, that bravery and heroism only ended up getting you hurt in Templar. It was a dark place: purity and goodness could not hope to survive in such a primal and unsophisticated locale. Here, you had to bully the bullies, just to stay alive.

"You say that now, Kaida! SAY IT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!" He screamed, launching himself into Kaida, his sword preceding him. With this kind of advantage, she wouldn't be able to avoid this blow. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he hurtled towards his victim. The blade of his sword drew closer to her flesh, eager to penetrate the feeble layers of her lab coat and plunging into her body. He was moments away from impact, when suddenly, a flash of metal flew through the air. Something collided into the point of his sword, driving it away from Kaida and into the nearby wall. The dorm halls were filled with a scream. A distraught-looking girl burst out of the door of the room Polo had just blown through: she looked ready to kill someone, but after a mere glimpse of the boy, the fury quickly dissipated from her features and she slowly inched back into her room. An insane expression made its way onto Polo's face as he vainly tried to expunge his blade. His sword seemed glued into the wall. W-what. The. Hell...?!? he spluttered, glaring at Kaida. She hadn't moved an inch, but there was that boy right next to her. Miro. He was holding that spear he always carried around in a readied manner. His face was slightly contorted in a mix of anger and seriousness. The black-haired boy raised his arm, and opened his palm towards him. Immediately, Polo knew what was going to happen. His face turned to that of sheer panic. Slowly, but subtly, Miro's lips made out a single word.

"Maelstrom."

Suddenly, the halls were filled with the roar of wind. A massive gust exploded throughout the dorms, picking up random roaches and debris and carelessly snatching them up in its arms. Miro appeared totally unaffected, standing his ground as the area around him was seemed to be torn to shreds from the fury of his spell. Polo felt his entire body being crushed by the blasts of wind coming from every side, treating him as if he were but a mere toy. It was only moments before the boy had reached his limit. The grip on his sword immediately slackened. His eyes rolled into their sockets. Having fallen unconscious from the sheer magnitude of the attack, Polo fell onto the ground with a sound thump and was silent. Gremmlin, the little pip-eyed mongrel who had witnessed the entire event, quickly took a look at Miro, then hurried away, as if his very life depended on it. This was the outcome of Miro's most powerful spell he knew. He had always been proficient in the wind arts ever since he was little. Maybe he had an inborn affinity for it? Miro never truly knew that answer. He took a quick look around, and noticed that the entire dorm hall was in ruins. Almost all the wallpaper had been torn off from the gusts, random remains of roaches were splattered across the wall, and portions of the carpet were coming off the very floor. There was only a small 'hmph' from Miro, as he turned to Kaida, with a look of annoyance spread across his features.

"What the hell were you doing back there!?" he shouted, looking straight into her eyes. Little did he know, but the same girl from the battle was watching the scene unfolding before her intently. "He seriously could have killed you! Don't you know him?" Miro seemed exasperated. He wanted his words to bore themselves into her head, not bounce off like they normally did. She seemed rather eager to fight Polo, for reasons unknown to him. Couldn't she see that she wasn't in any condition to take on any of this? She could hardly stand up, as she was.

"You were THIS close," Miro made a gesture with his fingers to exemplify, "from getting hit by that sword. Haven't you thought of what would happen if you actually got injured that badly?" Miro started to raise his voice, much to the surprise of the girl in the corner. She shirked back a little into the confines of her own room, surprised by the outburst.

"M-maybe... I'm overreacting." Miro breathed, slowly turning his gaze away from her. "I-I don't know why I did that... It's just that... I feel obligated in some way to protect you. You just look so... helpless, sometimes." Miro scratched the back of his head nervously. A little bit of heat made its way to his cheeks, and Miro took notice of his own embarrassment. Suddenly, his face grew dark and menacing.

"...You probably think I'm stupid right now. I probably am, too... Well, listen to this. Go do whatever you want. Do what you think is right. I-I don't care anymore."

He only gave a quick glance back toward the pink-eyed girl before turning away and walking towards his dorm room, no longer expecting for her to follow. But as he walked away, he chest felt holllow.

OOC:

NOTE: Yes, your character should say the name of their attack if they use any sort of special ability, most of the time.

Miro stopped. He stood there for a moment, before turning to face Kaida, his face a mix of concern and anger.

"Do you even know him?" He threw a finger at the motionless body lying against the wall. "He won't stop until he's got some mark of his on you, or he even kills you! But he's afraid of me. If he knows I'm the one protecting you-" Miro stuttered in a way that was very unlike himself. He usually never felt this way around anyone, even around authority figures.

"H-he won't try to hurt you anymore." His face was solemn, as he gazed directly into her bright, pink eyes. "I don't want to see you hurt, Kaida." At that moment, Miro felt a rush of emotions that he'd never felt overcome his body. He rubbed the palm of his hand into his face, his mind cloudy with confusion. What the hell is this...? As he stared into those eyes, Miro swore he could find hints of emotion in there somewhere, something he'd never see Kaida do. He felt the blood rush to his face, turning it a bright red. Noticing the unusual fuzziness that had crept up to his cheeks, Miro quickly turned the opposite way, slightly embarrassed. He'd never acted this way in front of anyone of the opposite gender. Why would he feeling this way towards Kaida? Could that mean- No! You two are just friends! Friends only protect each other!His mind screamed out at him, his consciousness's imaginary hands beating at his skull. But, right now, he didn't want to listen to the little voice inside his head. Miro calmly flicked his hair out of his forehead and threw Kaida a gentle smile.

"Now go get some sleep. You're going to thank me later for it, anyway." Miro ended his words with that and started towards his room. "...And if you don't mind it, my room's open." He hid the blush on his face before walking off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His opponent let loose a scream of agony before falling to the ground, defeated. The boy's hair was charred black and stood up straight in long, messy spikes. Ions crackled in the dry air. The long, metal chain coiled around itself as it too fell to the floor, no longer charged with the normally lethal amounts of electricity. The chain led back to its owner, a slim, exotic looking boy with glasses that were too big for his face. Batou straightened his glasses, twirling his weapon before he shot a threatening glance to the rest of the gang. While they were armed with knives and other deadly objects, and outnumbered him 10-to-1, they all knew they stood no chance against the might of magic. One of them stepped backward in fright, before the others followed in suit, and in moments the entire gang had fled before him. Batou sighed, letting his body rest against the walls of the main hall. This was the third time he'd had ties with the Polo gang, today. He was beginning to wonder if he'd done anything to anger them, because they were no longer seemed like random encounters... he stretched his palm before him and focused his mind, like his teacher had taught him. Suddenly, electricity burst from his fingertips and danced around his hand, like rogue specks of light. Batou smiled to himself. His powers weren't waning or decreasing in strength at all, which was a good sign. If the time ever called for it, he would still be able to fight. Quickly, he slipped the chain he used as a weapon into one of the random pockets in his vest, and stood up. His ears picked up the sound of countless pattering footsteps down the hallway. Thanks to the poor lighting, he couldn't see a damn thing.

"More of them...?" Batou whispered to himself. He could only fend off a few people at a time... but according to the number of feet coming for him, there were about twenty of them out for his blood. It didn't take him a heartbeat's time to realize he stood no chance against those odds. Swiftly, his feet making no noise at all, Batou swept himself down the hallway, the opposite direction of the incoming gang. Thankfully, he didn't hear them pick up speed: they hadn't noticed him yet. After making mental maps of the entire school, Batou knew he didn't have much more to go before he ran into a dead end. His mind racing, he quickly darted into the nearest classroom. Unfortunately, he didn't account for any random passerby that might get into his way, and that minor miscalculation-

Batou let out a small 'oof!' as he felt himself smash into someone, rather hard. The force of it sent the other person reeling to the floor, while Batou managed to keep his footing, albeit stunned.

"Wh-what the hell?" The student shouted, coughing a little before quickly standing up. Batou didn't know it, but his name was Efrin. He hadn't seen this boy ever since he'd been at Templar Academy: that must have meant he was new here. That also meant he might be slightly volatile due to the change in surroundings...

"M-my... deepest apologies..." Batou breathed, letting out a hand. He intended it for a friendly handshake, but apparently the other boy didn't immediately understand what was going on.

"...A sorry would have been good enough, and why are you sticking your hand out like that...?" The student asked, looking quizzically at Batou's outstretched hand, which was beckoning for a form of apology.

"Oh, oh..." Batou quickly felt incredibly embarrassed. Suddenly, a white-haired girl emerged from the doorway, accompanying the brunette student he collided into earlier. Batou felt a small shiver tremble down his back. He never had much experience or skill with talking to girls. He couldn't manage to make eye contact with that girl, so he quickly averted his gaze to the boy. But then, he noticed the two were holding hands, which only made him feel more nervous... sweat dripped copiously down his forehead. At this rate, he would be drenched in a matter of minutes, and it shouldn't be long until the gang-

"HEY! YOU THERE!" Batou pivoted himself towards the source of the noise, which happened to be the rest of the infamous Polo gang... but although it seemed to be the rest of its members, it seemed to be lacking its leader... the terrifying Polo himself. Nevertheless, twenty or so armed students was nothing to take lightly.

"Nobody, and I mean nobody, messes with the Polo gang without a mark!" One of them stepped forward, which Batou assumed was the temporary leader. The lack of a true leader would make them easier to manage... but... even Batou doubted he could take this many. His feet shifted nervously. Slowly, he reached into his jacket, and pulled out the long, metallic chain he always used for combat. It twinkled as it dropped to the floor.

"Hey, you." Suddenly, Batou felt a hand on his shoulder. "If these guys are after you, then you're not fighting them alone. Maybe after we're done with them, we can introduce each other?" The other student seemed oddly happy and chirpy, even though he was probably risking his life and health for someone he didn't even know... Batou had no choice but to nod nervously.

"You have my strength as well," the white-haired maiden spoke, casting him a gaze that sent chills down Batou's spine. He quickly looked towards the huge mass of students that was making their way towards them like a charge of angry buffalo. Batou quickly searched for the weakest one: it was the black-haired brute somewhere in the middle of the group, who seemed to be of less strength than the others. Batou focused intently: the chain suddenly crackled, charged with electricity. Without a moment's notice, he flung the other end towards the boy's face: it flew straight and true, smashing into student and delivering a debilitating surge of energy to his nerves. He dropped to the floor, unconscious. Batou didn't have time to gloat over his accomplishment, as he soon found a fist flying towards his face. He shifted his body to the side, making it miss by mere inches. He flicked his wrist, causing the taut chain to whip around the student's arm, coiling around it like a snake. Batou sent the electricity flying through the metal, and then his opponent was defeated. Batou shot a glance to his allies to check on their progress: the brunette he had befriended moments ago was hacking away at a gang member with inordinate skill with an enormous sword. The white-haired girl, on the other hand, was firing radiant spears of light into the crowd, impaling and incapacitating opponents. A blade suddenly made its way dangerously near Batou's head: he swiftly dodged, and twisted the chain around it. A small shock through the two channels of conductive metal was more than enough to defeat that aggressor. Even though he risked getting seriously injured, Batou didn't mind, because now he was no longer fighting alone.

It was only minutes before Batou, the brunette, and the white-haired girl had dealt with the rest of Polo's gang, the very few that were left having left the scene of the battle. Batou, with breaths coming deep and ragged, slumped himself against the wall, utterly exhausted. He'd never fought that many enemies before, and he would have most certainly lost had it not been for the help of his allies.

"Oh, hey, you! I never got your name." Suddenly, the brunette popped up in front of Batou's face, surprising him a little. He quickly searched his mind for the answer, which really took him a lot longer than he should have.

"Uh.. uh... it's Batou... Batou Kaishin."

"Well, Batou, it's nice to meet you." The boy grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. Batou wondered how the other managed to put so much energy into such an action, he was still breathing heavily as well. "And Batou, this is Serra. Serra Novelia." He let an outstretched hand towards the exceptionally pretty white-haired girl, who smiled and took the brunette's hand.

"I'm Efrin. Efrin Resolu."

As Miro walked, he felt a familiar presence creep up behind him. Already knowing who it was, he failed to suppress a smile as he turned himself around. As he had fully expected, Kaida was directly behind him. "Should it neglect to trouble you, perhaps I might trust you to ensure that I awaken with a sufficient amount of time to return to class?" She asked, in a very much un-Kaida manner. Moments before, she was so full of energy and retaliated with force against everything he said, but now, he could sense a slight tinge of timidity hidden in her words. Still, it made her seem so many times cuter... Wait a minute, what the hell am I thinking about?! He found himself staring at her, and in response his conscience mentally slapped him across the face. The guilt washed over him, but what surprised him was that he didn't care anymore. Did he really feel this way towards Kaida? In his mind, the lines between friend and... the other... were becoming blurrier by the second. Maybe he was going insane... suddenly, the sight of those vivid, pink eyes brought him back to attention.

"O-oh," he stuttered, redness flushing across his face once again. "Of course. I mean, I'm fine with it. But do you really feel okay about me watching over you... while you sleep? This is me we are talking about..." Miro forced a tight grin as he nervously scratched the back of his head. Damn, why was it becoming so hard to talk to Kaida? You two are just friends... he repeated to himself, over and over again. But they were simply becoming mere words as the seconds ticked by, no longer having meaning.

"K-Kaida?" He asked. "If it isn't too much to ask from you..." At that moment, the entire world seemed to freeze.

"What do you think of me?"

OOC: Brain-fart.