private Academy of Magic

[Toothless the Night Fury 260]

Ignoring Red's comment, Jason watched Ajax as he walked away, obviously upset about the situation. He was glad that the situation was defused, but he expected to see that angry kid again. What was his problem? He got so upset over so little, that it was a quite disturbing sight to see.

 

Jason appreciated the support he got support from the blonde, still standing in her place a few feet away from him. Then again, it was quite strange that she suddenly burst out into a frantic fit, swinging her arms at the air as it was filled with thousands of stinging wasps. But then again, what WASN't strange on this train?

 

Suprisingly, it was the same girl he saw two times earlier. Once when he hopped on the train, and the second during the acid accident. He could have swore he saw her another time after that, but he couldn't quite remember the event. Jason still felt a bit stingy about being around her, his hand being burnt and all. But really, it wasn't her fault. It was his decision to touch the yellow acidic liquid in his bed, so it was his own stupidity after all.

 

Jason gave a slight smile to her, then turned around and walked away, now headed back to his room. He suddenly had the desire to write in his book, so he pulled out a small grey pencil and began to scribble down some words into his journal.

[Mephala 2,633]

(LOL, perfect timing Toothy m'dear. Now I can do something XD)

 

Luce ignored Jason's smile, instead turning to glare daggers at Thalia. It was her fault that Luce had made a fool of herself. Thalia did a crude pantomime of her twitching attack with exaggerated motions and facial expressions, and feeling her own face getting hot, Luce turned around and stormed off the her room.

Slamming the door shut, she glanced around at the wreckage that had been created when she and Julian had had their little fight. She couldn't feel his prescence and sat down on the bed, staring out the window.

After a few moments she reached into her bag and pulled out an enormous book, at sold two thousand pages, and hefted it onto her lap. Opening it, she scanned the pages, which were filled with complicated equations and scrawled messages that were near illegible. She flipped forwards a few pages, and began to write neatly, the numbers slowly filling the page as she muttered softly to herself.

 

Jaime stood up.

"It appears you've merely overexerted yourself, Olivia. Refrain from doing so in the future." He turned his back to here and began to fill out a few charts, calling over his shoulder "If I may be so bold, my dear, what happened?"

Olivia swallowed. "I just haven't been sleeping much lately. And I didn't eat breakfast." She shrugged though he couldn't see her. "I guess I'm just, yanno, tired?"

He turned back to her and lifted an eyebrow. "I see." He waved to the door. "You're free to go. Now please, stay out of trouble."

Olivia nodded and smiled. "Thanks, doctor," she said perkily.

"Call me Jaime," he said, and waved her out.

She skipped down the hallway and then tripped. Hearing the thud, he poked his head out the door. Olivia grinned sheepishly and shrugged from the floor. "Uh, sorry?"

With a sigh he pulled his head back in and shut the door, and she continued out to the dining room.

The mood seemed very tense, and she frowned, nearly backing out of the room, when a voice came over the speakers.

 

"The train will be arriving in five minutes time. Please gather your things."

 

Olivia almost bounced to her room and shoved her minimal belongings willy-nilly into her bag, nearly bumping into Thalia on her way out. Thalia had a shifty look on her face and startled when Olivia said hello.

"Oh. Uh. Hey, Olivia," she said.

"Hey! You wanna hang out? I know you wanna visit that graveyard, and the arboretum is close," said Olivia cheerfully.

Thalia pushed her hands in her pockets and then nodded. "Sure, why not? Sounds fine to me."

The train ground to a halt and everyone crowded to get off except Luce, who Olivia noted was missing. She saw Red and waved for him to come over.

Thalia saw this and groaned. "Aw, man, why are you inviting him?" she muttered.

Olivia was confused. "He seems nice enough, he helped me earlier."

"He tried to pick a fight with Captain Goth," replied Thalia with an eyeroll. "Luckily, Luce had a hilarious spaz attack, and that other quiet kid that's all over Sasha stepped in."

Olivia glanced at Red, and then shook her head. "Naw, he seems nice. I'm sure there was a reason."

Thalia rolled her eyes and fingered the money she'd stolen from Luce with a smile. "Whatever you say, hun."

 

Meanwhile, Luce was lingering behind. Ms. Frey approached her, the last to disembark.

"Ms. Bolton, it's time you left," she said coldly, folding her hands. Luce started and then scrambled off, bumping into several other in her mad rush to leave.

Thalia lifted and eyebrow. "Whacko."

Olivia just nodded her agreement with a tight mouth.

 

No one noticed the dark shadow that lingered just behind the group.

[Flicker Sweet 3,391]

Red wandered aimlessly down the hallways.......suddenly the loudspeaker declared that they would soon be arriving. Red looked around and noticed Olivia peeking out of a door way. Red sprinted over to her and immediately asked her, "Hey how are you feeling?" Upon closer inspection he noticed that she was obviously fine, so he asked her a huge series of questions that he had been wanting to ask her ever since his hand was fixed, "Why did you pass out like that? What happened to my hand? Things that are broken don't normally fix themselves, at least not in five seconds. Why did you try to play it off like it wasn't hurt? It was turning shades of green and purple, there was no way I was mistaken about it being broken." After the series of questions Red realized he was being slightly rude at not noting that she was okay and not injured or sick or anything. He paused for a moment to consider this then looked back at Olivia and said, "I'm glad you're okay by the way, I'm sorry, I should have said that first thing....."

Edited November 15, 2012 by Red

[Mephala 2,633]

Thalia raised her eyebrows at Red's outburst and, seeing Olivia looking embarrassed, held up her hands.

"Calm down, cowboy. Give the lady some room," she said in a sarcastically stern voice with a roguish wink. "Now, I don't think we've been properly introduced. Angry redheaded boy, I'm Thalia. It's nice to see that the rumour is true that you guys all have rotten tempers." She cocked her head and grinned at him.

"Oh, shut it, Thalia," said Olivia, giving her a playful shove and turning to Red. She shrugged. "Evidently your hand wasn't that bad, you just misjudged how bad it was. I have practice with this, I know it was just a little bruised. And anyways, I'm a little tired. The doctor gave me a few needles and I'm okay now." She suddenly began to stride off nervously, obviously not wanting to discuss it further.

Thalia followed, gesturing for Red to follow. "C'mon, this one's pretty quick. I guess that's what you get for living in the middle of a forest your entire life, huh?" She also picked up her pace to keep up with the other girls long legs.

[Flicker Sweet 3,391]

Red refused, "no, Not until you explain to me what's going on. I know a bruise form a break, breaks involve multiple discolorations of the skin and deformation, both of which I had. And suddenly my hand was fixed, no I want to know what's going on."

He turned to Thalia, "nice to meet you, my name's Nick, but you can call me Red if you prefer.I'm not mad, I'm confused about what's going on here, I punched a mirror and broke my hand in several places on the wall behind that mirror. Olivia touched it and it was suddenly healed, I want to know what's going on, near as I can tell, there's something I'm not being told here, and Olivia is trying to hide it from me." While he said this red tried to make his voice sound as calm as possible. He looked Thalia in the eyes and did not show any trace of anger (or any emotion really) on his face. He wanted to see if she knew anything, but that seemed highly unlikely. Red's more creative side suddenly jumped to the thought that maybe Olivia had some sort of healing power, but Red dismissed this thought instantly. There was no way someone could have any sort of super powers in real life. This wasn't one of his comic books after all.

[Mephala 2,633]

"If she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to talk," said Thalia airily, and suddenly Red's wallet was in her hands as she flipped through it with a bored expression. He hadn't even noticed that while she was talking she had snaked her hand into his pocket ans gently slid it out. Then, as though she had just noticed it, she gave him a mock look of horror. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I hope you don't mind!" She slid the money she had removed back into it carefully and handed it back to him, then smiled. "Might want to keep that baby better hidden, dude-even the most half-assed of thieves would be able to take that no problem." She kicked a rock as she looked around. "Nice town, isn't it?"

They were close to the waterfront, and the buildings lining the street were worn from the salty air, giving it a cutesy charm. The water was a beautiful dark teal colour, and Thalia stopped and leaned over a railing high above the cliffs.

"I've never been to the ocean," she said wistfully. "I wanted to go ever since I was a little girl. Wish we could stay here longer."

[Flicker Sweet 3,391]

Red scowled but couldn't help but giggle a bit, "not funny, thanks for the tip." He placed his wallet in a pocket in his jacket. He looked around taking in the scenery, "yeah, it is quite nice here, wish I could've lived in a small town like this....."

Red looked back to Olivia, "any way back to what I was saying before, I know that it was broken, I know you did........something......I have a theory but it is one hundred percent guaranteed to be wrong. I just want to know what happened...." Red was starting to get somewhat irritated at Olivia treating him like he was stupid, it was obvious that something had happened, he just wanted to know what. As his frustration built, several objects around Red began to slide away from him, though Red was totally oblivious to this. Eventually a chair rose from the ground and flew past Olivia, just barely missing her head. Rd jumped, "What the fuck?! What the hell?! Who-" Red turned around and saw that nobody was following them, the three of them were totally alone. "How did that just happen? WHAT just happened?!" Red looked at Olivia and Thalia, hoping that one of them could shed some light on the recent event.

Edited November 15, 2012 by Red

[Mephala 2,633]

Thalia just rolled her eyes and muttered "idiot", then fell behind as she allowed Red and Olivia to talk.

Olivia spun around after the chair flew past her head, but rather than her normal slightly ditzy expression she looked pissed off. "I don't know what you're talking about, for God's sake! You don't need to start throwing chairs at me!" She made a few infuriated high pitched noises, and then stomped her foot like a child.

Thalia was trying to hide her snorts behind them as she shook with violent silent laughter, now rifling through Olivia's small bag, which she had neatly grabbed.

 

Luce had quickly sought out a tailor and sat waiting primly for him to complete the jacket that she had wrecked ealrier. She looked out at the ocean and sighed-it was beautiful. Just like the place that her parents used to take her.

Luce suddenly stiffened, and her vision darkened as she suddenly felt herself violently shoved into a memory.

 

They were all there. Her, Mummy, and Daddy-the only family she had ever known.

It was late summer, and they were sitting on a deserted expanse of beach with a vast looming house above them.

Luce was maybe six or seven, and her hair was almost at her waist, even as it was braided tightly behind her. Her floral bathing suit was wet from the ocean and she lay on her towel, drying off.

"Would you like to go for another paddle, Luce?" asked her mother, smiling at her. Luce nodded vehemently and her mother led her to the water by the hand.

When the entered, Luce shrieked in delight at the cold water, but her mother's face had a cold smile on it as she suddenly reached out and shoved Luce's head underwater. Her laughter turned to terrified screams as she struggled, water filling her lungs, and-

 

"Hello? Miss?"

Luce snapped out of her reverie and snatched the fixed jacket from the tailor, shoved a bill in his hand, and bolted out the door, the bell tinkling unpleasantly as she pushed the door open with a violent shove, leaving a confused man behind her.

[Flicker Sweet 3,391]

Red turned back around, "first of all, give it back. Second of all, that wasn't me! Honestly! I didn't touch the freaking thing! I thought someone had thrown it at her, but I turned and looked, there's nobody else out here right now! We're the only ones here, how the fuck did that chair go flying like that?! IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!!!!" Red began using his normal voice, which many people will often note sounds more like yelling than talking. He began to feel himself getting more frustrated with the current situation, he swung his arms in frustration and another chair, closer to him but still not within his reach, fell over and slid about six feet down the road. Red stopped and stared at the chair, now parked in the middle of a crosswalk. "What in the name of God is going on here?! What the fuck?" He turned back to Thalia, "Is there something I'm missing?! PLEASE tell me that I'm missing something! There's gotta be a reason for this, chairs are not sentient, or even LIVING, beings! They don't just MOVE like this! So why is this happening?!"

[THE WILD HUNT 213]

Ajax was still asleep when the announcement to get off the train had passed. Waking up shortly after the dream, he realized they had stopped and that the people were entering the town Ms.Frey mentioned earlier. Quickly gathering his stuff, he ran down the hall and jumped through the door when it seemed everone else had left. He still had a headache, so he wasn't in the mood to talk for he moment. Ajax spotted a lonely bench overlooking the ocean and decided it would be a good place to settle his thoughts and emotions. Sitting down in it, he decided to sketch random things like he usually does when relaxing. He remembered the creature from his dreams, similar to Plague but different in many ways. As he drew it, he began to develop a bad feeling as it grew close to completion. He suddenly fond himself sketching strange symbols, hieroglyphs really, when he all of a sudden began to cough heavily.

<Don't, draw a knife through it, or destroy it completely.>

Listening to the voice, Ajax ripped the page out of the spiral and ripped it shreds. From the corner of his eye he caught sight of the creature, which angrily opened its mouth as it faded away.

<Its quite dangerous to draw something from mythology, or better yet, someone who houses the spirit of an ancient being which was deared by the Egyptians, so much in fact that they outlawed any drawings or crarvings of it anywhere.>

Ajax nodded and put the spiral away, staring at the ocean and thinking of his dream. It seemed to vivid to be a nightmare, confusing him even more.

[Toothless the Night Fury 260]

The speaker crackled to life as an announcement rang for the second time, forcing Jason to put down his pencil and sigh. Running a hand through his hair, he began to pack up what little he had to leave for the airport. A How To Train Your Dragon book, his pencil case with only a few grey utencils within it, and the two notebooks was what the light backpack was filled up with.

 

But when Jason went to slip his journal into his backpack, his fingers suddenly slipped, the entire weight of the book now crashing upon the ground. Various papers were scattered around the room, as Jason immediately bent over to pick them up. He soon came across a sheet of paper that he didn't reconize at first glance.

 

It was a brown sheet of paper, and heavily worn over the ages. He was suprised he didn't notice it sooner within the jumble of white lined binder paper. Picking up the sheet, it felt sandpapery between his fingers. Rough, not smooth like the paper manufactured today. Some of the edges were scarred with black charcoal. One side was blank, and the other a wall of text with a small picture in the middle.

 

Like if a strange magic was jamming his senses, he couldn't comprehend the text, nor the picture. It seemed... fuzzy. As he tried to squint to make sense of the jumble of characters, he smelled something in the air...

 

Smoke. Jason coughed under it's grasp, feeling as if someone was literally strangling him from behind. He tried to look for the door to escape, but the dark soot was so thick that he could barely see his feet only a couple feet away. All he could make out was the dark outline of his hands, and the paper, which suddenly came into focus...

 

It was a news article... Jason couldn't resist to read it. As his eyes traced down the text, a flurry of images slammed into his head like a hammer.

 

Fire... fire everywhere... It seemed to consume the house itself as it hopped from furniture to furniture, racing along the walls as it ignited everything in it's path...

 

Clutching the side of his head as the pain hit, blood-curling screams echoed in his head. Jason stood helpless as he watched the long flames wrap around the three humans...

 

"AAAAAHHHH!" Jason awoke, breathing heavily, his entire body covered in a cold sweat. After taking a few moments to collect himself, he realized he must have fallen asleep on top of his desk. It was all a nightmare... He confirmed to himself as he packed up, once again putting all of his stuff in his black backpack. It was all a nightmare...

 

Jason quickly made his way toward the exit, and almost forgot that he was meeting Sasha in the middle cart. Taking a seat on one of the couches, he ordered a ice water and an asprin, sending one of the waitressess off as he put his head in his hands.

 

However, during the rush of his packing, he didn't see that small brown piece of paper under his bed, with the news headline reading, "Family burned alive in fire; only one survivor"...

[THE WILD HUNT 213]

Ajax began to speak silently to Plague, asking him to explain more about what had happened and who and what the new creature was.

<That would be Corrosion. Like me, he's a human who's bonded with the same species of alien life, and unfortunately similar to me, he possesses tremendous supernatural power. Like I said before, he houses the spirit of the demonic Egyptian snake, Apophis. In turn, this grants him access to powerful magic such as fire and storm, the most notable of the chaos magics, and some control over desert. His powers also extend to more advanced forms, but with such powers comes great hinderence of sorts. He has lost his weakness to fire, but still bears weak resistance to extremely loud sound waves. Then there's the magical barriers, meaning he can be fought with those acquainted with the Egyptian realm of order, really just the "order" magic such as harnessing the sun's influence of magic and whatnot, as well as doing Egyptian rituals used to weaken Apophis.>

After hearing Plague's long explanation of Corrosion, he got up and left the area, deciding to take a look around town and explore the nature and other areas. He still remained confused why he would know of Corrosion and what links he'd have, but he saved the thoughts for later.

[Apollo 297]

*Sasha walked into the sitting room and sat down next to Jason.*

"Hey, you ready to get this show on the road?"

*She said with a smile. Then she noticed that Jason seemed a bit out of it.*

"Hey, you feeling alright?"

*She said with concern in her voice.*

 

----

 

*Xander stumbled as he stepped off the train and cursed his clumsiness. He was distracted, and that always made his senses a bit wobbly. There was a lot of strange interference in this area, and he couldn't really figure out what it was. Xander shrugged it off and extended his range to try and get a grasp on the area, it would be pretty embarrassing if he was constantly crashing into walls and whatnot. While scanning, he located the plane, which was his destination, but it was still another few hours until it was time to get on, so he headed towards one of the other groups of students that were wandering around. (Thalia, Olivia, + Red)*

"Hey! Excuse me, do you mind if I walked with you guys?"

*He played innocent, not wanting to reveal that he had his strange senses.*

"Im unsure of where to go, and I don't want to get lost. I hope you three don't mind if a tag along for a bit."

[Mephala 2,633]

Thalia tossed the bag over her shoulder and shrugged. "No can do, my good sir. Some stuff in here may be worth something."

Shr glanced at the chair and shrugged, then lifted her arm to pat Red on the shoulder with a false look of motherly sympathy. "Now angry ginger, m'dear, if there is one thing you must know in life it's that asking questions will usually get you in a lot of shit." She leaned her head flirtatiously on his shoulder and winked her one visible eye. "Trust me."

Hearing another person behind them, she twirled on a ragged heel and extended her hand coolly, noting his eyes. "Thalia," she chimed, and Olivia muttered "Olivia" really quietly.

Thalia paused for a moment. "That's Bibs. She's a little bit quiet, so I apologize for that." She paused for a beat and then said "You're blind, right? Does it suck as much as it sounds?"

Olivia first look affronted at being called Bibs, and then her eyebrows shot into her fringe at Thalia's lack of tact. "First of all, it's Olivia, and second, I apologize for my companions rudeness."

Thalia shrugged, not looking sorry at all. "It's a valid question."

Olivia sighed audibly and then continued to walk.

[Apollo 297]

*Xander gave a small smile. It wasn't the first time someone had commented on his blindness, and somehow he knew it wouldn't be the last.*

"Its okay, Im used to it. Im Xander, by the way. Xander Shale, and yes. Being blind does kinda suck."

*He turned his head towards the ocean.*

"Not knowing colors is disappointing, and has made people greatly doubt my ability as an artist, but I know shapes, and thats why I sculpt. Its, different. Seeing things with my hands instead of my eyes. But it makes me unique, ya'know? And honestly, I wouldn't change it for the world."

*Xander said. He was proud of the way he was, though he didn't always like it. This is the way he was, and its the way he would always be. His 6th sense helped, sure, but that didn't always make things better.*

"So, where is it that we are headed? I would have liked to have seen the map, but, well you know."

*This was actually true. He couldn't read words, or see images because of his blindness and not even the 6th sense could fix that. Its another reason he didn't draw or paint. Images were a mystery to him and braille was exceptionally difficult to learn, he still struggled with it.*

[Mephala 2,633]

Thalia shrugged. "Some island called Dragonstone. I didn't really look at it, I prefer to explore."

Olivia sighed again at Thalia's indifference and explained. "The island is pretty organized. Right now we have some free time in Casterly Rock. I'm heading to the arboretum, and Thalia wants to check out some mausoleum or something."

The girl she was referring to was currently going through Xander's wallet and replied evenly, "Loads of things too loot there. Plus I liked dead things."

Olivia gave her a strange look and then laughed a little. "There are some things I am never going to understand about you,"

Thalia shrugged and then handed Xander his wallet. "And there are going to be a lot of things I don't understand about myself, either."

 

Luce saw Ajax sitting on a bench alone as she ran along the quiet streets, and staggered over heavily to give him the jacket.

"It's done," she panted, then collapsed on the bench as well and leaned back, staring at the sky as her chest heaved. She wasn't really sure whether she was laughing or crying.

[Toothless the Night Fury 260]

Jason shook his head, a headache still pounding within his temple. "Let's just get outside. Maybe some fresh air would help." He stood up and walked toward the door, but had time to take the asprin and the glass of water before he left the train. As soon as Jason stepped outside, he was immediately blinded by the afternoon sun. His eyes, however, quickly made the adjustment, and the first thing he noticed was the ocean breeze.

 

It smelled of salt, with the slight aroma of fish drifing in the air. The wind had an amazing cool feel as it brushed past Jason's skin, and suddenly realized he should have brought a jacket, silly him. His eyes soon began to examine his surroundings, and wasn't disapointed by the town's old-fasioned, and still amazing architecture. Scanning over the treetops, he could barely catch a glimpse of the lighthouse on the far side of the island.

 

Jason couldn't help but chuckle. The small little town was pleasing to all of his senses, and he wouldn't be suprised if the cooking was amazing too. "Why couldn't we have school here?" He joked to Sasha.

[Power Ten 213]

As the last of the passengers departed from the train, Luke quietly moved out with them, taking care to avoid contact with any of the others. He looked down at the shopping bag clenched tightly in his left hand to check that all of his belongings were intact. Inside the bag was a wrapped bundle of cloth which seemed to contain several objects, as well as a pencil and notebook. His eyes flicked around at the others on the platform, and he swiftly departed, heading nowhere in particular.

Luke took a deep inhale through his mask, enjoying the unique small town smell. He couldn't quite place it, but the smell made him think of home, of comfort, of times when his life wasn't a living hell. He stood there, not wanting to break away from his little moment of peace, but he knew he had to go before he got too reminiscent.

He continued his aimless wandering, not quite sure why he had agreed to this whole thing in the first place. Someone had just dropped a letter in his bag as he was leaving the homeless shelter for the morning.

Maybe he wanted a shower and some food that didn't taste like grease and piss. Maybe he wanted a warm bed. Or maybe he wanted to escape from his old life and start fresh.

<Fuckin' a, what am I thinking? I just accepted an invitation to a place I've never applied to, or even heard of!> He thought irritably.

Luke caught a whiff of something nasty, and mentally facepalmed when he remembered that the source of the odor was himself.

<I was probably thinking hot showers...> his stomach grumbled <and food>

Character - Luke - Power Ten -

Edited November 16, 2012 by Power Ten

[Apollo 297]

*Xander realized that Thalia was handing him something. He clumsily took it and recognized the texture of the leather.*

"My wallet? Really?"

*Xander said, obviously a little dissapointed in Thalia's action. He sighed and put the walle in his front pocket*

"Please dont take it again, this wallet was my great grandfathers. He took it off a nazi he killed during the second world war. Its very important to me. Reason is, is because even though it was made at least seventy years ago, its still in near perfect condition. No one knows why it hasn't gotten shoddy at all, but it just hasn't. My father used it, and my grandfather used it. Now I use it, and it is one of my most prized possetions."

 

----

 

*Sasha smiled. Jason seemed to be feeling better and that made her happy.*

"Im sure the island will be nice and pretty too. Maybe they will even let us come and visit the town every now and then. Who knows."

*Sasha spotted the art supply store a bit down the road.*

"Come on. Lets go see what they have in stock at the art supply store. Im running out of colored pencils anyway, shall we go take a look?"

*Sasha smiled and took Jason's hand in her own.*

[THE WILD HUNT 213]

Ajax was genuinely surprised when Luce showed up with the originally damaged coat. Considering the fact she suddenly turned hostile towards him and also that he purposely insulted her behavior, he thought they would no longer be engaging in any more "friendly" conversations. Inspecting his black coat, he was surprised at how well the damage had been repaired, leaving little to no traces of it. Slipping it on, he thanked her.

"Thanks a lot for fixing this, it is kinda my favorite coat," said Ajax as he enjoyed the warmth it provided. He noticed she was breathing heavily and somewhat crying or laughinh, but he didn't think much of it and wrote it off as mere exhaustion from running towards. Although Luce had done this seemingly kind act, he still felt it wasn't entirely safe to give her his full trust. "Backstabbing" was something he felt could come from her at any given time, so he got up and looked towards the town. Ajax decided he would stop by the library to see if he could find any books about ancient Egyptian mythology, as well as anything which could inform him more on the nature of his own abilities and Plague's twisted realm.

"I'm going to explore the town, and later the surroundings... Tag along if you want," he said, not wanting to seem entirely rude to her.

[Toothless the Night Fury 260]

The thought of returning back to the island did bring a small smile to Jason's lips. But, then again, he didn't even get the chance to tour the island, so it was a bit early to start hoping.

 

"Heh." Jason chuckled. "Maybe..." He smiled at Sasha, meeting her eyes with his own for a moment.

 

When Sasha mentioned the art store, Jason remembered that he was in need of some new pencils. The dull grey pencils he had weren't giving him quite the effect he wanted. They always seemed off by a few shades. Many of his sketches seemed either too light, or too dark, which was why he scrapped so many of them.

 

Some color wouldn't hurt e—

 

Jason's thoughts were interrupted when a warm hand clasped around his. When he realized that it was Sasha who held his hand, he couldn't help but blush. It's been quite a while since anyone has actually given a second look at the once foster child, and probably never when someone was so... intimate... with him. He liked it.

 

Butterflies seemed to flutter in Jason's stomach, as he suddenly was at a loss for words. The only thing he could do... was hold her hand back.

 

"Y-yeah. Let's get going." Jason smiled back, unable to mask his affection for her.

[Power Ten 213]

Luke's eyes darted amongst the passerby as he slowly shuffled through the town.  As a building to his left moved out of view, a beautiful seascape was revealed to him.  He stopped mid-step and admired the view.  

As Luke stood still on the sidewalk, a group of teenagers was fast approaching.  Most of them simply stepped around him, but one especially distracted kid ran right into him.  Luke's hand reflexively went up and tried to push the offender away, causing a small static spark to be transferred to the teen.

The kid stumbled backwards slightly and gave Luke a rotten look, whispering "deranged bum" to his mates as he hurried past.  

Luke clenched his fist in anger and debated wether or not to floor this kid, but then his usual collectedness came back and he breathed out a sigh of frustration.  <He's right about one thing: I need a bath> he thought sullenly as he caught another whiff of himself.

He remembered the seascape in front of him, and made to grab the pencil and notebook from his plastic bag, only to find the pencil had snapped in half, and he didn't have a sharpener.  He looked around in hopes of seeing a convenience store or something, and to his surprise, there was an art store right behind him.  Luke checked his back pocket to find a wrinkled old dollar bill.  He clenched it in his fist as he opened the door to the store. 

The cashier gave him a disapproving look, to which he responded by pointing to his mask, shrugging and waving the dollar bill.  She eep'd and ducked back behind the register.  

Luke simply shrugged and walked over to where pencils might be.  <damn, these are some expensive pencils!> he mused as he looked over the selection.

[Mephala 2,633]

"So you got it off a dead man?" Thalia snorted. "Killing isn't something you should be proud of, no matter how evil the person is. Obviously your grandfather was just as bad as that Nazi was. That's sick, I can't believe anyone would WANT to use that. And now I've touched it." She suddenly sound upset, and she shook her head and said "I think I need some time alone" before walking away.

Olivia watched her go and then turned to Xander. "Sorry about that wallet incident. I just recently met Thai, but she has a touch of the kleptomania about her." She looked at the retreating form again and chewed her lip softly, trying to figure out what made her so upset.

 

"Stop fucking following me!" grunted Thalia, but the ghost was persistent. "Goddamnit, stuff like that should come with a warning." The ghost made a moaning sound and tried to touch her arm but she shook it off grouchily. "Get your nasty old man hands away from me and go back to your wallet," she snorted. The ghost frowned and moaned again, and this time Thalia rolled her eyes. "No, I can't help you with that, all right? And I don't take bloody requests. It's not my fault you're too stupid to find your own wife."

The ghost looked pitiful and Thalia sighed. "Okay, FINE! Just leave me alone for now, I'll help you later."

It made a happy moaning sound and floated away, back towards the others, and Thalia rubbed her head. "I don't have time for this..."

"How kind of you, my dear," said a voice with amusement, and she spun around to see Julian leaning against a railing.

"Oh. You again. Joy."

"Now now, it's really nothing." The man examined his perfectly shaped fingernails. "Seeing you help that ghost made me wonder if you're interested in another...proposition."

"I'm really not," said Thalia, feeling a little nervous under his scrutinizing golden eyes, but her laughed a little and crossed his arms confidently.

"Oh, I'm sure you will be, especially if I told you I could help you...find him."

Thalia froze and then nodded slowly. "I'm listening."

 

Luce shook her head and adjusted her tight tank top again. "I...I'm not feeling so great. I think I may just go to the docks." She paused for a moment. "But...I really appreciate the offer. Thank you." She lightly touched his shoulder, her eyes still filled with tears, and headed for the docks. Even if he didn't want her to hang out and it was a hollow offer, it was more than Luce had ever had.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Petyr Baelish

[Apollo 297]

"Its fine."

*Xander said to Olivia after Thalia had stormed off.*

"I understand how she feels. Killing disgusts me too, but sometimes it is a nessasary evil. My great grandfather hated being a soldier. He dispised killing. But he had no choice. His father had forced him into military service. It tore him up, and eventually, his bad memories from wartime are what ended up killing him."

*Xander explained leaning on the railing over the bay.*

 

----

 

*Sasha and Jason walked casually into the art supply store. Upon entering the store, Sasha's eyes went wide with joy.*

"I fucking love art stores. Did I tell you that? Im like a kid in a candy store, I just cant get enough, and I always end up buying way too much."

*She smiled and took Jason along with her into an isle filled with boxes of different pencils, pens, markers, and variois other drawing tools, of all kinds of colors and brands. Sasha was absentmindeldy looking through the selection when she bumped into a boy also looking around. (Luke)*

"Oh, sorry about that."

*Sasha said to him.*

"I get a bit excited in these places."

*Sasha gave a meek smile at the stranger.*

[THE WILD HUNT 213]

Ajax nodded at Luce response and let her go, surprised even more at her seemingly genuine gratitude. It touched him a bit, and he had seen the tears in her eyes, but before he could question her on what was wrong, she was already halfway towards the docks. He turned and left the area, somewhat uneasy about leaving her alone again, for he felt a slight sense of malignant character in the air. Ajax pushed it to the back of his mind, deciding it was probably just him being rattled up with the incident that happened in the train room.

Ajax headed for the art store after both seeing that some of the people he knew had headed there and choosing to buy a few extra spirals, colors, and pencils when he remembered he was low on supplies. Entering the store he caught sight of Jason and contemplated whether or not he should apologize for slightly directing his anger towards him. Afterall, Jason had tried to stop Ajax from causing more uneccesary trouble, so his scolwing wasnt a fine way to thank him. However, seeing he was seemingly on a date with Sasha, he let them be and began to look for the materials he wanted. Ajax also took noticed of a vagabond, but paid no attention to him and tried his best to ignore the smell.