A Legacy of Conquest

Even though the school did not officially open until Monday most of the student body returned over the final weekend of spring break.  Hardly anyone arrived early for the fall semester, but the school was always packed before the official start of the spring term. It was not the weather or even the extravagant displays set up for the campus tours that brought everyone back in droves. They came early to see the posting of the spring field practicum that made Golden Mist academy famous.

The placements would not be posted on the outside walls  of the academic buildings on the center quad until 8 am Monday. After an incident from years passed the staff started patrolling the campus the day before posting, expelling all students caught out of the dorms between midnight and 5am, but the students still came back on Sunday to spend the night so they would not have to wait on the first bus to campus in the morning.

Nearly every student who thought they had even the tiniest sliver of a chance at getting picked poured out of their dorms onto the main courtyard the moment the clock struck five. The students formed a mob along the mile long strip of rope that marked the magic line that no one could cross. The screams of the crowd was nigh unbearable for those who lacked the foresight to wear protection, and the smaller students ran a high risk of being trampled as people scrambled and shoved their way towards the front.  
Irile was front and center when the barriers were finally lowered. There were over ten  thousand sheets spread across the area. One for each senior in the twentieth percentile and the unit they would be leading on this year's invasion. The students spread out across the quad, with even the most brutish students being careful to avoid damaging the lavish fountains, sculptures, and landscaping that had been paid for by some of the most affluent alumnus of the academy. The confidence of each student was made clear by the way they moved. Some meekly meandered their way to the bottom end of the list and worked their way up. Others brazenly dashed toward the other end, most of whom were disappointed to find they did not make the cut for the valedictorian's unit.

While she had a healthy sense of pride Irile joined the majority of the students by starting towards the middle. She was confident that she had a spot somewhere, after all she did exceed all expectations in last year's practicum and last semester she caught the eye of many professors after inventing her own weapon technique despite being told it was too impractical to ever be of use. Surely she had earned her place in one of the top units, even if she did have that one bad grade looming over her head. She started about a fifth of the way down from the first unit and worked her way up from there. As she got closer to the end she grew more and more paranoid . Her desperation grew with each list that lacked her name. Was it possible that she had aimed too high, or even worse that she did not make the cut at all this year? No, that would be too unfair. It was not like unarmed self defense meant anything to someone who would not be caught without her weapon in a million years, and all her teachers in the firearms department told her she was one of the most promising  students that they had ever had. This simply could not be happening.  She started to mutter as she approached the end. "Freak,freak, freak, freak, freak." She was now reading over the final list before she would have to take a long walk of shame to the far end of the courtyard. "Freak yeah!" She jumped into the air with her hands reaching for the sky as she shouted out in victory. After landing she continued to pump her fists in the air for a few more seconds before finally stepping off to the side so the rest of the crowd could work their way through.

She could not believe it. By some miracle she had made same unit as the school valedictorian. Her dream had come true, well almost. Her dream was to be on the same team as last year's valedictorian, the dwarf with the magic pseudo cannon that went by the nickname the mad lion. Being paired with Myrillian was almost as good though. Everyone knew about Myrillian, and rumors about him permeated the school, thanks to him being both the top student and a member of the royal family. Even if he was overrated, and would likely never sit on top of the throne he was still a prince, and impressing him would be a major step towards becoming a somebody. Irile would be sure to bring her A game for this.

Whoosh! Zip! Tap a strangers shoulder... Whoosh! Already gone!

Naida giggled when she heard the random guy complain for the third time. "Who keeps doing that?! It's not funny!" She just could not help herself. These slowpokes were too easy to mess with. She moved on from that guy before he had an aneurysm or something. Who to mess with next? Tapping shoulders was getting boring, maybe she would give herself a challenge and see if she could boop them on the nose without being seen. Just then another student by the name of Clarence stepped up beside her and she sighed audibly.

Clarence was tall, handsome, strong, and most of all a complete imbecile. He was currently Naida's arch-nemesis and he thoroughly enjoyed getting under her skin whenever possible.

"Leave me alone Clarence."

"Aww whats wrong shrimp? Not my fault you can't make any friends. You don't have to deflect all that repressed anger on me." He looked at her with a hurt expression that could not have been more phony.

"You're just jealous because I am probably on one of the A lists and you would be lucky if you made the cut at all! Besides you have a fat head!" With that she zipped off into the crowd feeling like she had really let him have it that time. People in this school were such jerks. She could not understand for the life of her why she could not get along with any of them. I mean, look how awesome I am! She thought as she zigged and zagged through the crowd making her way to the front.

"Step aside slowpokes, grade A badass coming through! C'mon get outa the way! Why are you all so slow?" On and on she went until she finally reached the wall and started whipping from paper to paper searching for her name. She wanted to start searching near the top where she assumed her name would be but she made it closer to the middle first and just started there. No. No. No. No.

This was weird. Her name was not on any of these. As a freshman she was not so conceited to expect her name all the way at the top. Maybe there was some kind of mistake? Obviously she belonged on one of these awesome teams and not one of the slowpoke teams at the other end!

"Hey what is this anyways? They forgot to put my name on these lists!" She shouted though she was mostly ignored. Finally she reached the very first list and scanned it with almost no hope. At first she scanned it halfheartedly and  passed right over her own name. She started to walk away much slower then usual then her mind suddenly registered what she had seen. She bolted back to the list, knocking someone else out of the way and looked at it wide eyed.

"Woo hoo!" She started running around in excited circles and dashed out of the area when people started complaining. "I did it! I did it! I am on the A list!" She shouted to no one in particular. She spotted Clarence and pulled up next to him. "Hey guess what fathead? I will be on the team with Myrillian this year! Hey what are you doing all the way at this end? You telling me they didn't put you on the best team based on your looks? Awwww..." Bam! She was gone before he had a chance to reply.

She whipped over to a nearby bench and sat down for a moment beaming. The smile quickly faded though as she looked around. Bragging had been fun but it would be nice if she had someone to celebrate with. A girl walked by who looked a little familiar. "Hey guess what..." Naida tried to get her attention but she walked right past her without a glance.

"Hey you guess what..." She tried again with a boy she had never met. Again he walked by talking to his friend as though she did not exist. Finally she leaned back against the bench and swallowed hard.

Whatever I don't need these losers anyways.

Just then she spotted a sophomore she knew to be called Irile. She hopped off the bench and raced over. She recognized her right away but for a moment she could not recall from where or when. "Hey guess what!? I made the team with Myrillian! Isn't that fantastic! At first I thought I would only make one of the teams in the middle ya know cause I'm only a freshman after all and I am pretty short I hate to admit it but it's true but then I was looking and I was starting to get mad because I couldn't find my name I was all like 'Well there must be some mistake' cause I am so awesome and I reached the first list and I barely even looked cause I was like ya right but then BAM! there I was! I ran in circles and said woo hoo and bragged to that fathead over there and sat on a bench then I saw you so I ran over here and now here we are at exactly that point in time plus however long it took me to say all this..." She finally had to stop for a breath...

Lilith watched from a distance as she saw everyone clambering to see the lists, practically fighting to see who was where and she just shook her head as she had a feeling she wouldn't be rated very highly as she not only joined late, but she was a outcast more then most. Being a Dragon born was more trouble then it was worth she thought, maybe enrolling here was a mistake but after dwelling on these very thoughts for a few moments, Lilith shook the thoughts out of her mind as she decided to try and see where she was placed, or rather the unit she might be placed in, she doubted it really, she was just a walking target for most.

As Lilith approached the 'boards' as she called them, she saw other students noticing her and moving out of the way, almost as if she was 'unclean', but as they did this, they kept moving forward. Lilith sighed as she got to the front,starting at the lowest ranking 'units' and making her way through them slowly, feeling content that she hadn't made the cut at all until she got to the 'last unit', freezing as she saw her name on the top 'unit' list and it took her a little while to get over this, even with others pushing to the front. Lilith was thrown down by the amount of people and quickly recovered after as she moved out of the way, heading towards her usual seat on the outskirts of one of the fields. Lilith referred to the group that held any royalty as the 'top' unit, she didn't know why she did this, she just did.

Lilith shook her head slightly as she picked up the shield she had come to the academy with, using it to mark her 'place', she sighed gently as she did and sat down as she ran her hands over it, to remind herself why she came here, despite all that had gone wrong. Lilith sighed a little as she did and closed her eyes. "If only I was actually more like the others... Seems like I'm one of a kind here... But... That's the same as everywhere I've been... It's like I'm an extinct race..." She sighed one last time as she pulled the shield up and put it onto her back as she stood up herself, getting ready to try and spot the 'gathering' point from where she was. "Can't believe this... The top unit.... I guess I best make up for this."

After letting out a nice long "Woo!" to dispose of her excess excitement Irile decided to make her way to the nearest bus stop. There was plenty of time for her to go to the shooting range. She did not have to be back for the mission briefing until fifteen hundred hours.

Most of the other students were still  searching for their placements when she unknowingly walked by the bench where Nadia had been sitting. She saw a blur out of  the corner of her eye but it did not truly register until she felt a bump at her waist. Living amidst a large dwarf population both at home and in the dorms on campus she  had grown accustomed to watching where she was going, so it came as a surprise when she unknowingly bumped into someone.

She felt rather sheepish and her smile revealed as much when she looked down at the bubbly freshman. "Ur…sorry. I didn't see you there." She quickly bit her lower lip after realizing the joke she had unintentionally made at the small girl's expense. As the little redhead chattered on Irile was unable to tell if she yelling at her or rambling on about something entirely different. All she could hear was muffled squeaking. She must have forgotten to unblock her ears again. At least the expression on the vaguely familiar looking girl's face did not seem to be one of anger.  By the time Irile had got a grip on her earplugs and pulled them out the girl had finished her spiel, and Irile had heard exactly none of it. "I'm sorry can you repeat that?" She said as she finished cleaning her ear with her index finger. It was at this time she finally got a good look at the girl and realized that the redhead was not an unusually tall dwarf but an unusually short sprite. With this realization she knew exactly who the girl in front of her was and where they had met. In response the memories and emotions that sprung back into her mind Irile straightened her back and clenched her jaw shut. She decided she would not say anything defensive just yet. Maybe Nadia did not remember her, or maybe she had the tact not so say anything if she did, but that seemed unlikely at best.

Tinglatio stood at the magic line as the ocean surged past.  Excitement filled the air and the people, but he was unaffected. He walked purposefully towards the bottom of the row, not because he thought that he was that terrible, but because finding out that you are above the bottom is more heartening than being below the top.  He walked up the row of lists, checking each with a cursory glance, and soon enough found himself near the end. Very near the end in fact, there was but one sheet tacked upon the wall he had not checked.

-------------------
Unit One
Leader: Myrillian Soniette
Members:
Naida Aelfdane
Hitori Kyya
Tinglatio Joren-Sin
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Well, then"
There was, apparently no need to worry about being below the top.  Being at the top has some drawbacks, all the attention, all the high standards. "Ugh, well, might as well get ready."  He was about to turn away when he realized. "I haven't seen--"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hitori Kyya
Tinglatio Joren-Sin
Rathion Valor
Nolarii Buvelle
Thomas Wraith
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"I stopped reading too soon..."

He finally started away from the lists, having taken more than my fair share of time away from the hopefuls crowding around the Unit One list, and headed back to his dorm to prepare for the briefing.

It was far too crowded in the courtyard for the farmboy’s liking.

Instead of being like the mob, Rathion was content with waiting. Of course, he was very curious to see if he had made the cut to be on a unit, but he wasn’t about to risk life and limb to know it. Muses know that there were bound to be quite a few disappointed people and he didn’t want to get caught up with that. Rathion polished his armor and sharpened his sword in the solitude of his room. The metallic, rhythmic shring that reverberated in the bedroom gave him a sense of peace. He was nervous, of course, and this monotonous, yet necessary, task was one that soothed his soul.

After completing the task, he looked out the window of his dorm. He saw that people were starting to return to their rooms, some jumping for joy and some hanging their head in shame. He stood up and sheathed his sword. He donned the school uniform and readjusted his tie carefully. He cleared his throat and put on his shoes, lacing them with an unhurried air. Just as he was about to exit, his roommate burst in. Rathion watched the young man stomp across the room, taking off his tie and flinging it onto his bed.

“Didn’t make it,” Announced the roommate, “Didn’t see your name up there either.” Rathion felt his unease spike. It was very probable that his roommate wasn’t paying close attention for Rathion’s name and just overlooked it, but it was also probable that Rathion didn’t make it at all.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Rathion said graciously, “But I think I want to just double check it for myself.”

With that, Rathion left, closing the door behind him gently. His thoughts were jumbled as he made his way into the courtyard. He passed by a few people he knew and acknowledged them with a head nod. He got stopped a few times and chatted leisurely, never rushing anyone despite his rising anxiety. Some wanted to brag about their placements and others wanted to complain about theirs. It was a long time before he reached the postings. Nobody said they saw his name anywhere and he felt a lump grow in his throat.

He started at the bottom, scanning the papers cautiously. He became more and more discouraged as he reached the middle. He was about two thirds of the way up when he sighed and turned around. There was no way he would be in any of the top tier units. He put his hand behind head and sighed. There was always next year.

“Hey, man! Where you going?” Asked one of his classmates. Rathion turned around, seeing his friend pointing at the valedictorian unit. Rathion offered a genuine smile of congratulations and wandered towards the teenager.

“You did well, good job!” Rathion said, patting his friend on the back. The boy laughed and shook his head, pointing at the list.

“Not me,” He replied. Rathion furrowed his brow and glanced up. His grey eyes widened in shock when he saw his name up there. The celebratory slap was returned. Rathion barely moved, putting his finger on the list. Then he pointed back to himself, looking questionably at his friend. It earned him a chuckle.

“Yup, you,” Said the friend.

Rathion stood up straight, recovering from his shock. He had made a unit! Not just any unit, the best unit. Justifiable pride swelled within him and it came out in a toothy smile. He exchanged some pleasantries with his classmate before walking away. He had his work cut out for him. First, introduce himself to members of his group. Second, train harder to control his power. Third, or probably first, find some victory food. Red meat sounded good.

Rathion’s smile didn’t wane all the way to the dining hall.

Nolarii stepped between the bustling people with both grace and silent anger. No matter how many times she was jostled or bumped into she never emitted even a sound. So many who take their voice for granted... she thought to herself, And here I walk in silence. Let's see who's minds must bear my magic just to interact...

She frowned as, right next to her, a girl shouted a bit too loudly. A glance at the list the girl was looking at showed that her own name was on there. Of all the people to be grouped with... She thought with a roll of her eyes, steping away from the sheets. Her ears catching the sound of a young motormouth rambling about her actions. As she listened to those around her she sighed and seated herself on a bench, simply waiting for the Valedictoran to appear.

He better not be late... She muttered as she took Etwahl from her back and let it hover against her fingers. Plucking out a soft tune with no meaning to it.

Tommy strode to the front of the crowd, ignoring the complaints issuing forth from the young students. One especially burly half-ogre tried to block his path, who demanded, "Where do you think you are trying to go?" But before the pugilist could get physical, Tommy dove between the bumbling freshman's legs, rolled to a standing position, and continued on as though nothing had happened. By the time the half-ogre had realized what had happened and turned around, Tommy was already lost amid the sea of students. Beginning at the mid-highs, Tommy worked his way up the listings to find his name. Showing no outward emotion, he began to worry that he was lower on the lists than he had originally thought, however, when he found his name on the top list, the Valedictorian's list, Tommy did not cry out, nor crack a smile, he stood, nodded, and strode away.

Scale made his way through the herd of young, hopeful students, who all were praying that they would make it onto the Valedictorian list this year. Some rejoiced, and some strode away emotionless when they found their name on said list. He on the other hand pushed his way straight to the front, ignoring any who dared speak to him, and if they tried again he gave them a sickening glare and they backed down almost immediately. He started at the top, making his way down the list, finding his name reasonably placed, and he smirked.

As surprising as it was, the psychopath that was Scale was a straight A' Student. He was Insane, not stupid, though he let few know of his surprising intelligence. He turned, and walked back through the crowd, hearing constant whispers of "Oh god, it's Him!" and often followed by the immediate retreat from the owner's of the whisper. "Well, I think it's time to go get some chow." He hissed, making his way to the nearest dining hall, following a fellow Valedictorian that he had identified earlier as Rathion. They had never actually spoken, but now that they were on the same squad, he was going to have to make some sort of friends. "Hey Rathion! Grabbing some eats? I hope you don't mind if I come with, I'm starving" He yelled, making sure that he could hear the emphasis in his words.

Legion was not as silent as Tommy was. He dispersed from his eyes in a glowing silvery cloud and hovered in front of Tommy. "Did you see that?!?! Did you see that!?!?! Course you saw it. You were looking right at it. Tommy! Tommy! You made it! I made it! We made it! Come on! Show some emotion! Are you happy? Upset? Won't your parents be proud? You should write them a letter! I'll write it for you! Wait... I can't write.... Can I borrow your body for a bit? We need to write a letter. Oh hey a butterfly! We'll be all powerful! We can become commander of the group! Everyone will have to do what we say. They fight for us, die for us, and shine your shoes! Wouldn't you like someone to shine your shoes Tommy? Your shoes are all scuffed!!! Why won't you take care of your shoes? You said that your mom gave them to you. Won't she be upset if she comes to visit and your shoes are scuffed? And what about the group? They won't respect you if your shoes are scuffed. Let's go get your shoes shined. Hey you!"

His rant broke off as he turned to another student, who was surprised to be addressed by a silver cloud. "Hey you! Tommy got in the top group! I'll bet you didn't! I'll bet you didn't even make the list! Nah nah." Legion formed the shape of a mouth sticking it's tongue out at the poor kid. The mist dissipated again and drifted toward Tommy. "Adios loser! I was mean to that kid wasn't I? I should apologize. Its not kind to make fun of people. Sticks and stones can't break your bones but words will always harm you? Wait that's not it. Stones and bones can break you but words will never harm sticks? Words and stone can break you sticks but Tommy will never harm you...." Legion trailed off entirely confused and musing internally.

"Hey, Rathion!" Upon hearing his name, the paladin gave pause and pivoted on his heel to see the source of the call. He came face to chest with Scale, appropriately named for the scales that covered him head to toe. Rathion had to turn his head upwards to make eye contact. Growing up in the immediate vicinity of celestials made him acquainted to the awkward kink in his neck. He gave the hydra blend a genuine smile. He was very pleased to talk to Scale and he was about 80% sure Scale was on his unit. Rathion was sure the rumors weren't true about Scale and that he was a sincerely nice guy.

"Good morning, Scale," Rathion greeted warmly. Upon Scale's self invitation, Rathion was sure the rumors were untrue. There were a few aspects he was hazy about, and decided to take his power down a few notches just in case. He wasn't sure how the man-hydra came to be but he wasn't about to take a chance. If the blend was held together because of magic, Scale would have felt a slight tingling sensation as Rathion adjusted his power levels down. If not, no harm, no foul.

"Of course," Rathion accepted, "I'd enjoy it very much if you accompanied me." With that, Rathion began to walk towards the closest dining hall, assuming Scale would follow.

The gentleman was always awestruck by how large everything here was. It seemed like every day there were new sights to see and places to explore. Of course, he terribly missed the peacefulness of home, the rhythmic thump as the celestials moved the trees, the song of birds and bugs, and he would have loved to go back. However, he was needed here. His fate lied with the populated, loud, and constantly moving school.

"Have you met any other people on our squad?" Asked Rathion, an attempt at getting a conversation started while they walked, "I recognize a few of the names but I don't think I ever talked to any of them. Ah, excuse me," Rathion said as he stepped out of the way of a beautiful redheaded female student and tipped his imaginary hat, "I believe we are supposed to have a briefing today sometime, but I wasn't told when or where. Maybe we will meet them there... if we can find it."

Scale looked at Rathion almost confused, and then shook his head, mumbling.  "No no no, I can't do that Mighaeleth."  He turned to face the man, running his tongue over his sharpened teeth.  Rathion was a shorter build than himself, and definately wasn't as muscular, but there was something about him that made Scale feel uneasy.  This feeling was accompanied by a slight tingling, and an outburst from the Hydra inside of him.  "Quiet Mighaeleth!  This is none of your concern!  I'll do what I want!  It's my damned body!"  He yelled, his hand clutching the right side of his face in agony.  It didn't take him long to recover, and he followed behind Rathion silently.  

As Rathion spoke, Scale looked up.  "No, I haven't seen anyone else in our squad, just you."  He smirked, showing his razor sharp teeth to Rathion once again as walked by a blood-red haired female.  An immediate outburst followed the sight.  "Oooooh~ That Hair, Its color reminds me of... Blood"  The last word was pronounced with a sinister emphasis, and an evil energy flowed out of him for a moment, until he snapped his teeth in anger.  "I told you to quit that Mighaeleth!" His attention quickly snapped back to Rathion. "I haven't the slightest Idea of where we're going to meet. But I'm starved..."

Rathion's eyebrow perched at this outburst. Maybe some of the rumors really were true. Scale rambled off, talking to someone who wasn't there. A couple of times Rathion turned around to see if someone was whispering to Scale. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and Scale's little outburst lasted longer than Rathion expected. His skin crawled as they passed by the redhead and Scale talked about her hair. There was something sinister surrounding him. Instinctively, Rathion's right hand went to his left hip, reaching for a sword that wasn't there.

He quickly realized his mistake and returned to a relaxed position, hoping Scale was too caught up in his own musings to notice. This could be, potentially, a big problem. Scale made him feel uneasy now. There was no doubt in his mind that there would be confrontation with this other side Scale was trying to keep locked away. He could barely keep it inside as it was. Until then, though, Rathion would do his best to help Scale. He knew there was good in him. There was good in everyone. Sometimes you just had to dig a little deep.

Deciding the best course of action was not to feed the beast, but to starve it with disinterest, Rathion continued their conversation. He would bring up the issue another time. Preferably when they were alone and Rathion was armed. Not that he wanted to kill him, no, but Scale had a good foot on him and was nearly twice his weight, not to mention the armor like scales. Hand to hand combat (which might happen, if that part of the rumor was true) would surely end badly for Rathion. However, the problem would be addressed... eventually.

"I'm thinking about red meat. Lots of it," Rathion said casually. They had reached the dining hall and the paladin opened the door for his newfound friend, "I'm thinking of some gahuo steak or chipped hell cow. What about you?" He assumed Scale was carnivorous, given the teeth.

"I'm excited about the prospect of being on a unit like this. I'm sure there are people with powers I've never seen. I just hope I can keep up," Rathion said as he walked to the order counter, "Speaking of, I'm not sure if I know what your specialty is. Magic? Swordsplay? Hand to hand combat?" Rathion looked Scale up and down, "I hope it's not hand to hand combat, no one would stand a chance!" He let out a short laugh at his own joke.

Scale laughed slightly, starting to giggle at an untold joke. He looked Rathion in the eyes, letting him look into his eyes, showing him the madness within his soul. Scale laughed once more as he watched him react. He had reached for a sword that wasn't there, he may as well be as crazy as he! He popped his jaw and neck, then rested his hand on Rathion's shoulder. "What's wrong pal? Scared of old Migh? He's not that bad, once you learn how to put him in his place." Scale thought about the possibility of the man fighting him unarmed, and decided it was unlikely. He was a foot taller, armored, and had the weight advantage.

At the mention of food, Scale almost started to drool. He hadn't eaten in a while, and he licked his lips. "I'll take one of everything... I'm dying for some food." He smiled absentmindedly at the server as he listened to Rathion. "Well, Swordsplay AND Hand to Hand... Here, watch" He said, laughing with glee as his scales sharpened, and formed themself into a longsword, which he pulled from his body, and watched as the scales quickly replaced themselves with newer scales. "I use a sword usually, or I can do this." He pressed the blade against his arm, it quickly retracting back into his scales, and the scales along his arm formed a blade that ran the length of his wrist to his elbows. "I'm never without a weapon Rath."

Mirthea Soniette, one of the nieces of the current emperor, was casually donning her clothing as she prepared to head out for the day. She stopped after getting dressed to look at herself in the mirror. With such beautiful blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a gorgeous face, it was no wonder nearly every man, and some women, hit on her. She sighed, and left to check out which unit she made it on this year. As she walked, she began to reminisce about her unit she served in last year. Had to deal with that damned dwarf valedictorian, I think they called him the mad puma or something, shooting off his cannon at everything that moved. Nearly got us killed when he gave away my position. Mithea walked slowly to the end of the list, where the top unit was. She, unlike most, liked to check the top first, then work her way down. She scanned the sheet, and was slightly surprised to see her name on the unit her cousin, the valedictorian, was leading. She saw a name she recognized and mumbled to herself "Irile Irar, huh? She's one I remember. Kinda cute from what I can recall....." Mirthea looked around for a bit, but couldn't find her. Oh well, I'll look later.

A big cerberus lied in the grass near the school, waiting for the boards to clear so she could finally see if she made it and what team she will be on. Suddenly she felt something on her back and she flinched and stood up on all fours when she heard a loud screech come from the new creature. She shook off the creature and sighed at what she saw.

“Tala, you have a really annoying brother…”

“Don’t I know it…” The middle head thought to the other two. Right in front of this four foot, three-headed canine was another creature of legend; the majestic phoenix, bound to an annoying life form that Tala knew as Hitori, her twin brother.

“Ya know, if he wasn’t so annoying and he wasn’t, ya know, your brother, I would totally say you should date him.” The left head thought to the other two heads. The middle looked to her in disgust.

“Are you freaking serious? Or crazy?” She expressed, following the thought with a growl.

“Tala, you really need to get a hold of yourself. People might get curious as to why you suddenly growled at yourself.” Another voice pierced through her mental walls, sounding almost smug. The center head, the leader, looked to the fire bird with narrow eyes.

“This is none of your business! Stay out of my head!” She snarled through her telepathy while she bared her teeth.

The bird raised its wings from its sides. “Whoa, baby sis has teeth and claws! Whatever shall I do?” He teased, a weak screech leaving his beak.

“I will eat you one of these days, you over-cooked chicken!” She let out a bark and growled while the other two heads looked around, probably for some rodent to chase after.

“What an insult! I’m crushed.” The bird thought as he flapped his wings.

Another bark bellowed from Tala before she ran towards the fire peacock and raked a paw over his face. The bird screeched loudly and turned to one side to keep the dog creature from hitting it again.

“What was that for, Alpha!? You damaged his pretty face!” The head to the left panicked.

“He was insulting me! Didn’t you hear him?” The leader exclaimed.

“We only hear him if you both are human or using that telepathic mumbo jumbo in your human form. As our Cerberus form, we are separate heads. He only spoke to you.” The right one said.

“Forget it, it’s none of your concern what I do.” Leader said just before she heard another voice.

“Dang, Tala. I made you that mad, what happened to playful banter?” It asked, the phoenix turned to show the red blood seeping from a three inch wound over his eye.

The middle head whimpered and in seconds the beast began to grow. Fur shortened and claws became lower and less sharp. The creature back arched and three heads became one. The fur on top of the middle head grew out like a mane and morphed its color into a bright red. When the transformation was done, the only hint to her previous form were her ears and tail while Beta and Delta returned to being dormant in her mind.

Tala looked down at her birdbrained brother and crossed her arms. “Well, change back so I can look at the wound. I wanna see how bad I nicked you and if it’s worth healing.”

The bird cooed softly as its body shifted and deformed. Wings shortened to be arms and his beak went back into his head. His tail shrunk and his height increased while his feathers flattened to create smooth skin. Fully human with an orange tint, the only thing left of his previous form were the black feathers that shed from his left shoulder.

The dog girl squinted her eyes and tilted her head to one side as she looked at her brother’s wound. She didn’t even noticed where his eyes had wandered to. He snickered to himself before he opened his big mouth. “Tala, do your boobs always get bigger after you transform? I thought you were a B cup before you shifted, I’m not complaining though, but I’m not sharing you.”

Her eyes widened in surprise before she drew her hand up and backhanded his face, just above his cheekbone to hit the wound she had given him. He yelled in surprise and pain, but laughed. “Forget the stupid wound! You can heal by yourself! Don’t ask me for help after that!” She yelled.

The boy put a finger to his lips and grinned to his little sister. “How about a bet? If I win, you have to heal the wound. No arguments.”

“And if I win?” She asked and her eyes brightened at an idea. “If I win, you have to do whatever I say for the rest of the week.” A smirk crept to her face.

Hitori cracked his knuckles with a smirk similar to his sister’s. “Deal, but don’t expect me to go easy on you because you’re my baby sister.” He mused while he backed away.

The twin sighed in disapproval and backed away as well. “I’m only three minutes younger than you! Why do you have to rub that in all the time? I’m the more mature one!”

He laughed heartily. “You got really upset over a few snarky comments and almost clawed my eyes out! Mature isn’t a word to describe you, Tally.” Hitori took up his axe from where they leaned against the school building and raised it above his head with both his hands. He shift his weight to balance himself and unlocked the two blades from each other. He held one in place with his left hand while the other one spun slowly, picking up speed. The boy’s arms quickly bent so the two blades were behind his back and when he brought the two back above his head, either hand had an axe tightly gripped.

The girl unsheathed her rapier from her side and bit down on her lower lip. “Whatever.” She said as she put her right foot in front of her and balanced her weight on both her feet. “Good luck. You’ll need it, Tori.”

“Bring it on, Shorty.” He joked before he dashed at her, his axes at his sides. When he was close enough, he raised the blade over his head and brought it down toward Tala. Easy escape was what he intended and sure enough she took the advantage of being rather agile and moved to one side to get away. She took her advantage and slashed with her rapier to hit her brother’s side. The attack was in vain; however, since he used his other axe to block her.

Tala let the blade slide off his and moved away from him as he regained his position. She charged at him again, this time feinting right and trying to hit him arm with the blade. Once again the attack was blocked by his other axe, making Tala annoyed with him for separating the two weapons in the first place.

An idea struck the girl as she moved back to gain distance from her brother. She straightened her right arm out with the rapier and focused her energy into the rapier. From her fingers slipped a blue-ish purple hue that quickly engulfed the weapon. Her eyes flashed to purple as she fired the attack. A triumphant smile came to her face as it hit his abdomen. He cringed a bit, but she knew it wasn’t enough to hinder his movement considering it would only give him a burning sensation.

“Nice attack. Got a better one?” He called as he sent one of his axes flying towards his sister.

“20%...” She mumbled and watched the axe come for her. She felt her heart race and dropped her rapier, lifting her hand high enough to catch the axe. The girl grabbed the hilt and grinned at her success. She loved having control over her brother’s weaponry when she needed it. Her arm went to her side and she let the blade dig into the ground. Being quite weaker than her brother made it hard to support the blade like her rapier, so she decided against trying to throw it back.

The girl focused her energy in a ball the size of her hand and pushed it towards her brother. More specifically, her brother’s second axe. Just as she had anticipated, he blocked the attack with his blade and the attack knocked the blade out of his hand to lie on the ground. “How’s Tori without his precious weapons, huh?” She teased before she mumbled. “25%...”

“I’ll be fine, little sis.” He said as he moved closer to her. “Just means more of a challenge. Thanks, Tally.”

Tala growled and focused another ball of magic, about the size of her palm and shot it at her brother, hoping to hit him in the stomach. “28%” She said as she bit her lip again. He dodged expertly and lunged for his sister, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her towards him.

“Ahh!” She yelled and twisted her wrist to get away and gain more ground between them. She focused another ball of the same size and continued walking backward to get away. The girl pushed it toward him and managed to scrape his side, creating a new wound for him. He cringed at the pain and stopped moving so he could look at it. It was rather big and it burned, but nothing Tala could make better after the fight.

“Tala! Look what you did!” Delta cried inside the girl’s head.

“Not now. I am trying to win this. Go away.” Tala responded.

“Are you trying to kill your own brother!? Is that how you win? This would be unacceptable if you two were cerberus.” Beta interjected.

“Go away! I’m busy, dang it!”

“Stop trying to hurt your brother, Alpha!” Delta complained and the girl reached up and put her hands over her ears.

“Shut up! I’ll do what I freaking want!” She proclaimed as she felt her body hit the ground, knocking the wind out of her.

“Got ya.” Her brother said, his sly smirk plain on his face as he pinned her hands to her side.

“Wha- No! Get off me! That wasn’t even fair! Delta and Beta started talking to me!” She yelled and squirmed under his grasp.

“Nope. A deal’s a deal. Now you have to heal my eye and my side.” He said as he stood up and put his foot on top of her stomach. He reached behind him to his backpack and took out a herbal cigarette, placing it in his mouth and then taking out his flint and steel to light it.

“You idiot! You need to stop smoking! That’s horrible for you and you know it! Let me up, dang it!” His sis whined and tried to push him off. He let her up as he exhaled the smoke with a sigh.

Tala growled and smacked the cig to the ground, stomping it out with her shoe. “Screw you.” She said and looked to her head, seeing it tint to purple and she moved to her brother’s side wound. She pressed her hand on the wound gently and felt the wound begin to close up a bit. Of course, it didn’t close up completely, but he wouldn’t have to wait a few days for it to completely heal now. Her glowing hand reached up and his eyelid closed to she could touch her hand to his skin. The skin closed up nicely, but she didn’t allow it to heal to the full potential.

“That’s gonna scar. Hope you’re happy.” She said, feeling confident in herself that he wouldn’t like it.

He opened his eye and smiled. “So I’ll be a dude with a sexy scar? The ladies will love me.” He joked.

“Ugh! Go jump off a bridge!” She yelled and walked toward the school. Hitori grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“You realize we should be seeing the boards, right? Find out what we are doing?”

She looked out to where crowds of people swarmed and shuddered. “I really would rather wait for the people to clear out…” She admitted and ended being pulled with her brother to the boards. “Let go!!” She cried again, but ended up trying in vain to get away. He dragged her around the boards and people to find their name on the List with both of them being with Myrillian.

A smile plastered itself on Hitori’s face. “We made it in, Tala!” He exclaimed loudly and grabbed her other hand so she would look at him. “We are in!” He said again.

She tilted her head, not comprehending for a moment and then let herself smile. “We did?” She asked and felt something burst inside her. “Whoo hoo!” She screamed and jumped up and down on a bit before her brother dragged her back to where they had been before.

He let her go and grabbed his axes, locking them back together in one swoop while Tala retrieved her rapier and sheathed it.

Now to find the other teammates.

Naida hardly even noticed when the girl bumped into her and did not hear the apology at all. When the girl suddenly pulled earplugs out of her ears and asked Naida to repeat herself, she did not skip a beat.

"Oh sure I said, I made the team with Myrillian! but at first I thought I would only make one of the teams in the middle ya know cause I'm only a freshman after all and I am pretty short I hate to admit it but it's true but then I was looking and I was starting to get mad because I couldn't find my name I was all like 'Well there must be some mistake' cause I am so awesome and I reached the first list and I barely even looked cause I was like ya right but then BOOM! ... or maybe I said BAM! there I was! I ran in circles and said woo hoo and bragged to that fathead over there and sat on a bench then I saw you so I ran over here and now here we are at exactly that point in time plus however long it took me to say all this... and now plus the time it took you to pull those... wait."

Naida zipped around Irile and inspected her more closely. "I know you! Your the one who's butt I kicked in hand to hand! I got an A in that class thanks to you and your slow motion punches!" She stood there smiling up at the tall girl, completely unaware of the insult she had just made.

Irile's jaw dropped slightly as Naida blathered on. It was a mystery how the sprite found time to breathe with the way she talked. Just after she had convinced herself that the other girl had forgotten about their last meeting and began to relax Naida took a verbal sucker punch at her. The taller girl's face flushed and she stammered until she could find the words she needed, even when they came she was far from an elegant speaker. "That class was stupid anyway. Only an idiot would get caught unarmed in a combat situation, and you wouldn’t have won in a real fight anyway! I couldn't even feel your punches, and one good kick, which I would have landed eventually would have been enough to shoot your tiny tush right through the nearest wall." After spouting her rebuttal crossed her arms over her chest and turned her face to the side with her head held high hoping she had made her point clear enough for the flighty sprite to comprehend.

Naida was taken off guard by the girls cross words. She had only been poking fun at her about the fight. Now she was feeling kind of irritated that she was not getting fair credit for winning. She had won that fight fair and square! She was a fantastic unarmed fighter and this girl was acting like she could have taken her in only one hit? She stood as tall as she could, which was not tall at all, and puffed out her little chest.
"Oh ya?!" She said getting a little loud now. "Well I won that fight without cheating or anything so why don't you quit being a sore loser! Besides you couldn't kick me if I gave your foot a head-start. And I may have a tiny tush but I don't need to worry about getting knocked through any walls because I don't stand around letting people use me for a boxing bag like you! " She crossed her little arms and looked up at her with a sassy smile on her lips.

Irile let out on along crescendoing growl before bending her back over her waist to get closer to the sprite level. The loud mouthed ginger was simply too exasperating. Who in Wrath did she think she was talking to her like that. Well, maybe Irile had started it by jumping the proverbial gun a little, but muses be blasted if she would admit THAT anytime soon. "Like that even matters! Punching and kicking never did anyone any good in a real battle. So what if you can predict punches, and so what if you can move out of the way of them! There's never been and never will be ANYONE who can out predict or out maneuver a bullet at that's that!"

Naida was about to challenge Irile to pull her gun right now and see if she even got it out of the holster. But a very unusual thought stopped her. Suddenly she had a strong and very alien urge to apologize to this girl and try to make it right. She stared at Irile with her mouth open and a finger pointed in her direction and for the first time in her life she was not sure what to say. She dropped her hand, stared at the ground for a moment and through clenched teeth mumbled, "Sorry. I should not have rubbed it in so much that I won the fight. I suppose not everyone is strong in the same way. To be honest I probably could not hit an ogre ten feet in front of me with a gun." She looked back up at Irile hopefully.

By the time the other girl opened her mouth again Irile was already taking a deep breath in preparation for another rebuttal, but she once again found herself momentarily speechless by the sprite's words. The last thing she had expected was an apology. She let out a big puff or air before speaking. "Huh?" She was indecisive on whether she should be proud of winning the argument or ashamed of being even more hotheaded than the fire-haired freshman. What she eventually ended up displaying was pride. "Blasted right you're sorry…." Then the guilt kicked in. She wished the stupid freshman had kept running her mouth. Now she had to come up with something nice to say. Being angry would have been so much easier. "Maybe punching stuff isn't totally useles." She scratched her head. She needed to add something, anything, preferably something to change the sujbect "And...uh….nice goggles I guess?"

Naida thought she might cry right in front of everyone when Irile did not seem to accept her apology. She literally was about a half-second from bolting when Irile softened a little. She smiled at the compliment about her goggles and said. "Hey ya yours are pretty cool too! I wear mine to avoid getting bugs in my eyes when I run but I usually keep em on my head while I am standing still. It may look like I am running without them over my eyes but that's just cause I put them on and take them off so fast that you can't see it! Watch!" She zipped around Irile and when she stopped in front of her again she was wearing the glasses and smiling up at her proudly. "Hey maybe sometime I can give you some pointers on fighting and maybe you could show me how to properly shoot a gun? What do ya think?"

Even knowing that the sprite was going to dart Irile had a hard time following her with her eyes. She questioned whether or not if she actually could nail a target moving at such great speed. She then silently scolded herself for think such thoughts. She should never consider shooting another student, even as a joke, and of course she could hit something even at that speed. Sure enough she did not see Nadia remove her goggles, but when she went to say as much the small girl was already talking over her again. Honestly Irile knew she needed all the help she could get. Whether she thought it was stupid or not she could not graduate without getting at least a C in basic unarmed combat. It was hard to admit that though. To save face she had to accept nonchalantly so it seemed like Nadia was getting the better deal. "Suuuuuure," she said after a long pause. "Shake on it?" She extended her right handed and lowered it until it was even with Nadia's face.


Naida beamed like she had won the lottery when she took Irile's hand.

The tabletop had been transformed into a valley clearing, surrounded by wooded mountains, with a small lake on one side.  Two miniature armies were locked in combat, one comprised of Seivanies denizens, while the other was made up of the people of Gresgriegoluth, not one individual over a centimeter high.  The Gresgriegoluthians seemed to be winning mostly through numbers and the sheer power of kinetic energy weapons that they could bring to bear. The Seivanies magical and physical sheilds did well to block most of the barrage and return flame and destruction, but the tide was slowly turning against them. Suddenly, a squad of High Elves, obviously an elite force, rushed across no-mans-land and broke the Gresgriegoluth front lines.  The gnomes couldn't re-target their artillery units fast enough, and they lost a third of their mid-range installations before the high elves were forcefully requested to discontinue their advance by a group of cyclops rear-guards. Tinglatio sat on a chair, leaning over the scene, watching the proceedings intently.  

Suddenly, he frowned.  The entirety of the valley stopped moving, bullets in mid air.  One high elf was frozen with a determined look on his face, casting an obviously devastating spell as his magical forcefield hung in midair in front of him, fatal cracks lining it's surface, thanks to a dwarven heavy machine gun unit hell-bent on removing him. Tinglatio glanced up at the clock, then back down at the valley. He glanced back up at the clock.

"Shit!"  The time read 12:47. "I have GOT to stop losing track of time." He scurried around his dorm, collecting his equipment; coat, backpack, hat, wallet, as fast as his cluttered assortment of random rocks, knick-knacks, and items with interesting shapes and textures would allow.  Which, granted, wasn't very fast at all, but he made do.

After he had collected his things, he rushed off to the meeting place for the briefing, hopefully not too late.

Meanwhile, as he was leaving the room, the frozen scene on the table slowly dissolved into thin air, forgotten

Myrillian sat in the lecture hall, roughly about the front centre of the cavernous room with the rest of the top twenty students sitting on either side of him and the top twenty percent sitting in the rows of desks behind him. The valedictorian was in all honesty bored out of his mind as Headmaster Mahtan Melwasúl rattled off the various rules and regulations regarding the practicum, which was on top of the tedious briefing which detailed the order for which the practicum would follow. The young prince had already read through all the information, reread it and ensured that he understood them: in fact he had even prepared his first move once his team had been assigned to him. However despite all this Myrillian Lorien Soniette had to keep up appearances: a perfect pupil with outstanding grades, always attentive and obedient who uphold the school values. ”The perfect son for the great emperor who can barely even spend his son a thought.” Myrillian groaned internally as he stared blankly at the Headmaster who in his ignorance continued to drone on, explaining everything in excruciating detail, much to the prince’s annoyance.

I wonder who I will have to work with, in fact I wonder what my mission will be? Myrillian mused ”Hopefully it won’t be too difficult but on the other hand a mission that is too easily accomplished will not help me earn fathers respect. Indeed it would be preferable if my mission is not too far from the empire, perhaps an invasion into the unclaimed parts of Ctlethni or an invasion of one of Toregth’s weaker empires.”

“Hey Myrillian.” A boy behind the prince said as he poked the noble “Can you believe Old Melly can spout all this junk with barely a break. Doesn’t he know that ‘young uns’ like us can’t stay sitting to a pointless speech for hours on end.” This boy was a close friend of Myrillian, a reasonably handsome celestial with a good brain but impatient. It had in fact surprised the prince that Islegos had only started talking now, three hours into the meeting.
Turning to the boy with dark purple hair and eyes that radiated white and pink glittering light Myrillian scowled. “Isley, how many time must I tell you not to disturb me during announcements.” The prince lectured somewhat calmly “Luckily I have already gone through all of this. There is a book in your bag that you may find interesting so please try not to cause any more disruptions.” Myrillian’s face softened to its usual calm and emotionless state that it was during class. Islegos quietly searched his bag, surprised to find the book that his friend had arranged to be found there months prior to the date. Pulling out the book the celestial was soon absorbed so deeply into the book that the outside world was barely more than a hindrance to his preferred reality.

Inwardly Myrillian groaned again when the sound of a stomach growling echoed throughout the hall. He himself had not eaten since last night. This morning he had woken up extra early so that he would have more time than he usually had to make himself presentable and clean after his morning workout, not that his roommate appreciated it of course. That sprite was as lazy as Lenora and as stupid as the muses were intelligent, to put it straight it was a miracle that he even managed it get into the academy. Myr considered that he was likely put in the same dorm as the spawn of Lenora so that his good habits may rub off on the sprite. The concept was enough to make the high elf laugh for he knew that drive was the only thing that mattered, drive and one’s own abilities were the only reagents in success as far as the prince was concerned and truth be told it has gotten him this far.

“If it were up to Heiled, we would still be in bed knowing that we had no chance to be on any of the lists” Myrillian thought, furrowing his eyebrows as he did so “Hmph, I have bigger plans than failure. I will not sit idly by while cheap fortunes pour themselves into my dead hands; such a life is a living death which shall only be rewarded with a one way trip to Lenora’s realm of Ytelviastes. No fathers praise is worth far more, fathers praise and a place in immortal Utopia ellesan mielasThothAnkeithiesthes.”

Quote :

A young boy with hair golden like the a paled sun and eyes which seemed to have been crafted from Gulgegothre’s ice flows held a small mana vial full of liquid before an aged man. Both  were elves, high elves but the elder was dressed in lavish clothes and wore a beard which reached down to his lean belly. On a throne beside the man sat a most gorgeous woman with a face as kind as that of Margret though the cruel chain of blades that rested beside her suggested otherwise.

“What is this Myrrillian?” the man questioned, his elegant voice even colder than the boy’s eyes.

“A potion Myalieses, it makes wounds heal faster and you don’t feel the pain while it’s still in you.” The boy responded in a voice that was a mixture of utter trepidation and optimistic glee.

“Is it?” The emperor asked with a barely amused smile “Well then let’s see. Guard come and cut the little princes hand!” He barked the last sentence in a very un-elvish manner.

“Sulleran! Really…” the empress tried to protest. Her eyes were as wide as saucers while her lips were barely visible unlike the trembling of her hands.

“Relax Fiasselle.” Her husband responded as he lifted a single hand. Though the emperor was not of royal blood he radiated authority and power. Still visibly furious, the other ruler held her tongue for she knew that a spat between them could have dire repercussions across the empire. “If his potion works, he will not feel pain for long nor will he wound stay.” The emperor added with a cruel smile played across his lips, it was of course barely visible now but in his youth when he had less facial hair the smile would have sent shivers down the spine of whoever was unfortunate enough to witness it.

Fearfully a guard approached the princeling, a drawn dagger revealing its wicked sharp edge. Hesitantly she made a cut across the childs hand, drawing blood and piercing muscle. Quickly the guard took the potion from the princes other hand, opened the vial and offered it to the child who fought fruitlessly to hold back his tears ad sobs. The young Myrillian Lorien Soniette foolishly took the potion, of course he could not know that he had made a critical mistake in the potion as it turned out looking quite as he had expected in appearance, and drank it. Immediately a blood curdling scream echoed through the caverns of Resrondal’s solid mountain section as unbelievable pain rolled up the little alchemy practioners arm along with hideous tendrils of oily black and putrid green.

“Myrillian!” the empress screamed as she ran to her son and clutched his arm uttering a prayer. The guard ran off, likely to look for the old lady Tshiera Kels, Myrillian’s alchemy instructor who was acclaimed for her skill in herbal alchemy. It took a whole hour for the aged unicorn to hobble to the prince, his mother crying as she tried to stop the spread of the discoloration which had already covered his entire arm and was spreading up his chest.

“Your Majesty, please make way.” The kindly lady said as she looked carefully at the infection tut-tutting. “He will survive, but it will be a painful process. His soul has been tainted by the potion, tainted in such a way that it is visible in his very flesh” the old women observed grimly. Like lightning she opened a bag at her hip and mixed three vials of liquid.

The resultant potion was poured into the still moaning but now unconscious boy’s mouth and then onto the wound. With the contact of the liquid and the exposed flesh, the child released more blood curdling screams but through all of this his father did not even flinch, in fact he seemed somewhat pleased by the outcome if nothing else while he muttered something about a useless son being nothing but a scab at a barely audible level. The process was repeated twelve times that day; some while the child was conscious while others left him unconscious before the end. The process was repeated thrice as often for weeks to come

Even after treatment, it took many years for Myrillian’s wound to heal but even though there was no physical scar left, his mother and sisters noticed that the innocent boy was never the same after that day. He was always calculating his next move, planning ahead and untrusting of everyone.

Myrillian stared at his hand, the one that thankfully bared no markings after his first potion inflicted a wound upon his soul. After that he was certain to learn how to use his skill as an arcana to see at least the basic idea around what effects a potion should have. Being an arcana may have of course have been exactly what caused his problem in the first place; having no corresponding translator sibling marked him as a bad omen to many, an idea which the prince scoffed at yet knew that his father held some stock in.

Myrillian’s train of thought was broken however when Shaikera, a minotauress and second amongst the seniors nudged him. The headmaster was changing his tune. “Now I shall give each of you your ‘assignments’.” The old elf announced as he brushed some of his neat silver hair with his hand. “Myrillian Soniette, you will be sabotaging the navy fleets of La’merisy. Shaikera Poiltergath you will be leading a empress Fiasselle to the throne room of Ilexioxetlon, we hear that the road has become quite dangerous and that a particularly nasty group of military insurgents wish to assassinate the empress on the way to her diplomatic mission.  Jeanannethiether …” Myrillian didn’t pay much attention to what was said after his mission was announced.

“Typical” he thought somewhat irritably “I am given the most difficult mission possible. Besides the empire, La’merisy is the most powerful nation on Jaanaharis and weilds the strongest navy. Destroying their navy is impossible but I can weaken their attack force dealing critical blows to their main docks, starting with that of Amilcelesta.”

When the drone of the headmaster talking through the rest of the assignment ended instructors began to hand out folders, dull pieces of yellowish brown thick paper with a name scrawled on and holding a thin pile of papers. Myrillian was far from impressed with the presentation even if there were quite a number to be dealt out.

“You are to meet with your teams at Three O’clock sharp in the main hall. Late comers may forfeit their task, privileges or marks so it is in your best interests to arrive on time.”  The headmaster made as his final announcement in the extraordinarily tedious and tiring conference. “All are dismissed. Anyone who has a query please come see me now.”

Very few had the energy to go listen to further instructions and explanations, even if they were unsure of something. Myrillian of course had none and so he walked out of the lecture hall with a semi-regal stride. “Myrillian that is one tough mission you have.” Shaikera commented, bringing her large chocolate-brown bovine face round t meet Myr. “I hope you don’t intend to try and out do yourself.”

“Of course not Shaikera.” The high elf responded “It would be impossible to bring down La’merisy’s navy force. I can however weaken it.”

“That’s the spirit” Islegos said with a big grin on his face “At least you know you can’t do everything”

“I deal mainly with support Isley, I couldn’t possibly work without whoever my team consists of”

“He is right you know Kersteilen.” The minotaur maiden commented “You know his skills, but we should be off on our own ways to prepare. Let the valedictorian get to his plans” The two were off, the celestial rather reluctant but he bowed his head and went to prepare himself. Myr was about to start off down the deserted hall way when he noticed a gorgeous woman approaching him, or at least she seemed to be. Her hair was white like snow and her leather outfit like ash and bone with trims black as death. The woman’s eyes were blue pit of sorrow while her mouth and half her face was covered by the collar extending up from her neck.

The woman floated over to him, gently hovering above the floor. Myrillian wanted to back away but his body wouldn’t move, no it was more like the air had suddenly become too thick to move through as he could feel himself inching in to the direction he desired. Faster than he could move, the woman leaned in and ran her finger down his forehead making what felt like a triquetra then she vanished as the ground beneath her cracked to release a thick mist which proceeded to retreat back into a crack that completely sealed itself.

“Helena.” Myrrilian managed to whisper. “The ghost queen, supposedly an omen of death and storms.” Myrillian was slightly shaken yet he mused that he was twice cursed as he wandered down the hallway to his room with his good for nothing roommate and bag of potions. As he waked he read through the folders contents. Some of the students he recognised (such as Mirthea, and Victoria) while others he did not. The folder also contained a small collage of the students pictures, a rather thoughtful gesture as it helped him a good deal.

Myrillian took the collage and placed it in a small vile of liquid that he removed from one of his pockets and then proceeded to pour the now blood red mixture (the page had dissolved into the liquid) into a royal blue liquid which retained its color. After his pupils briefly flashed a brilliant blue, the high elf drank the potion and broadcasted a message to all the students in his team. “Greetings, I am Myrillian Lorien Soniette. I would like to request that you meet me at the table in the far back left of the cafeteria in five minutes. Failure to complete this task will have unfavourable resuts.”

With his message sent and the potion already working its way out of his system Myrillian walked off to the designated table, pulling a rather large red apple from his right pants pocket which had obviously not contained something of the size.

Entering the cafeteria, his mother noticed him. “Myrillian! Come over here.” She called to her son.

Myrillian did as he was instructed, being embraced almost immediately by his mother. “What are you doing here mother?” The prince asked. He of course knew why she was there, at least partially.

“One of the seniors has been tasked with escorting me to Aeth” the empress said with a smile “I am not what I used to be dear. But you already knew all that now but I do have a nice little surprise for you.”

“A surprise?”

“Yes” His mother said handing him a sizeable square package. “Use it well dear. I know it will come in useful. Now let this old woman get another hug before she stops embarrassing her big so any further.”

“Mother, you shouldn’t have. Was the princes initial response followed by “Mother you couldn’t do that.” Which he said while tenderly embracing his mother in a hug.

“Now go show them what you are made of, my strong little elven alchemist.” The empress said before she walked off leaving Myrillian with the package.

“First the meeting then opening this.” Myrillian thought after a few seconds stunned silence. He rolled up the folder and slid it into one of his pockets as he walked off to the table he designated for his groups meeting, tossing a philter at it to dispel the magic of an earlier potion which ‘hid’ the table from all but himself.

Tinglatio showed up late. Again. But he was pleased to see that it was irrelevant, the briefing was only for the unit leaders.  
"Well, then."
Just then, he realized that he was so caught up in his sim, that he entirely neglected lunch, so he headed off to the chow hall.  He built a plate with steak and bread and cheese and gravy and wolfed it down. He thought about it, then realized he hadn't had breakfast either, and built another, similar plate, and ate that too.  
Once he finished with his gorging, he considered starting a new sim, just to pass the time.  That was when the message came through.  He stayed put for a moment, and looked towards the area in question. there was already someone there, he threw something at thin air, and a table appeared.  That must be Myrillian. He also noted several other varied figures moving towards the table.  
Tinglatio finally decided that he had wasted enough time, and headed on over to the table himself.

Zouch wandered the halls of the new and astonishing school which he got put into since had only arrived a few hours earlier. He was told he was unique and that was why he got in but everyone else seemed so much stronger than him. He was enrolled late after all the teams had been made, so the teachers had told him that since he was younger than everyone else in the school and with his talent he would be put in the current valedictorian's team. A message was sent to the valedictorian as an added challenge that he would be getting a youngster to aid him and for him to guide Zouch.

I wonder what this Valedictorian is like, His last name is that of the royal family so that means he is a prince. What am I to a prince, well in a school aren't we all equal, well probably not, social status and money and power all equate in social status doesn't matter where you are. Oh well. we are all supposed to be equal so ill treat people like equals  

As he was walking down the hall drowned in his own thoughts a new thought forcefully entered his mind and went “Greetings, I is Myrillian Lorien Soniette. I would like to request that you meet me at the table in the far back left of the cafeteria in five minutes. Failure to COMPLETE this task will have unfavorable results.”

Well that was new he thought as he staggered a bit from the shock on magic on him. Guess i got to see how he communicates, need to get used to more magic flying around. Well of to the Cafeteria. He pulls out a map of the school and finds the cafeteria nearby and walks that way.

As he enters the Cafeteria to seem some students bustling about fighting for a spot in the line for food. He looks to the aforementioned table and sees a single student there looking mildly bored. Zouch walks up to it but before he gets there another students gets to the table first. Zouch went to the table after the other and sits down at the table and his buddy which he has named Grim crawls out of the hood of his jacket and onto his shoulder. he doesn't say a word as he just pets Grim.

For the second time in the past ten minutes, Rathion's eyebrow rose. That was a convenient ability, even if it was a little disturbing to watch. Rathion placed a napkin on his lap, nodding at Scale. The server brought out whatever she could carry, giving Scale a slightly dirty look for making her work so hard. Rathion gave her a small apologetic smile as she set down his plate. Eagerly, he took his knife and fork in hand and began to cut into his completely time inappropriate steak.

"I'm sure it must be a lot easier to have a weapon you don't have to carry around," Rathion said as he divided the meat, "And I'm sure it gave your opponents quite a shock," He popped a piece into his mouth and chewed.

Just then, the pretty redhead from earlier approached them. Rathion didn't recognize her so he assumed she was in one of the higher classes. Maybe a senior? She asked about the valedictorian class and Rathion nodded, swallowing down the chewed up bits of steak. He wasn't sure if she was just going around asking who was on the valedictorian class or if she knew their names. Scale seemed to be pretty infamous around here, so it's possible she put two and two together.

Rathion set down his knife and extended his right hand towards the senior when the woman had an outburst against another student. Rathion gingerly touched his ear, positive there had to be some sort of long term damage from that. He was also sure he was bringing out the crazy in people. First Scale, now this lady shouting about squids and private parts.

"Victoria Bloodspring. Charmed to meet you two," She said, again extending her hand towards them. The paladin wasn't well informed about her. However, he assumed that by her spot on the valedictorian class she was intelligent, the fact she was beautiful was obvious, and her temper seemed to make her dangerous. This day was getting more and more interesting. Rathion grasped her hand in a gentle, yet completely masculine manner. His callouses brushed against her palm as he introduced himself.

"Rathion Valor. You were right. Both myself and Scale," Rathion turned, gesturing towards said student and acknowledging him with a nod, "Are new members of the valedictorian class. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

Just as he was about to take the second bite of his breakfast, a voice echoed in his head. It told him to be at the cafeteria (which he was) in five minutes. That meant he had five minutes before this meeting to scarf down the rest of this meal.

Challenge accepted.

Exactly four minutes and twenty five seconds later, the sixteen ounce steak was gone and in Rathion's digestive tract. He turned his head and watched an elf create a table out of thin air. Rathion recognized him as Myrillian, heir to the throne and leader of the valedictorian unit. Rathion turned to his very strange yet oddly entertaining company as he took the napkin off his lap gingerly.

"Well then," He said, setting aside the napkin and adjusting his tie, "Looks like it's time to meet the rest of our squad." He stood up, looking at the others who already started to gather. Not wanting to be rude, he waited for his acquaintances to go to the other table first.

Scale looked at the server as she brought out their food, and could immediately tell how disgusted she was with him.  She was just like the rest, she despised what he was, she despised how he looked, she despised how he acted.  Fury welled up deep inside of him, fueled by the hydra's Taunts.

Look at her! She despises being in the same room as you! You are an outcast! You will never belong to this world! The moment you let your guard down you will be betrayed, disposed of!  I am the only one you can rely on other than yourself! Scale clutched his head with both hands, dropping to his knees in excruciating pain.  "Quit It!  You don't know that!  You're lying to me!"  He remained on the floor and finally let out a vicious, primal roar, and then there was silence.  He stood, without a word, hands clenched into fists, teeth showing and nostrils flaring.  He brought his left hand up to the side of his head, clutching it in agony as the red-head approached them. He ignored most of what she said, until she told them her name, and extended her arm.

He tried to calm himself, taking her hand, his own trembling in rage, shaking it gently.  "I... I am Scale..."  He muttered, refusing to make eye contact with the woman, and staring down at his own armored hand.  "I am not just a monster... my name... is Scale..." He rambled, then let go of her hand.  He walked away for a few steps, and then his mind was filled with the voice of their squad leader, and his body shook with anger as he walked over to the table, an ancient anger that he fought desperately to keep bottled inside of him.