Solomon Academy

Auditorium

Before Hades could open his mouth to speak the room suddenly filled with an intense and overwhelming power, like a physical force that seemed to be crushing down over each person in the room. Even the gods onstage didn't look like they were dealing with it too well, but then all at once it lightened up along with a yawn from backstage. "Don't worry big bro, I think I can answer for you," a young looking man stepped onto the stage, dressed in blue pajamas with white clouds across it, heavily ringed eyes, and carrying a long pillow that seemed to be covered by a spell from one of the teachers to censor it.

"Hello various demigods, good to meet you. My name is Zeus, feel free to add me on steam as 'skydaddy1'," he yawned again into his hand before snapping and summoning a chair, collapsing into it. "You might know me from such hits as defeating the Titans, founding the Greek pantheon, and a lot of stuff my wife would get really mad at me for reminding her of. Anyway when gods fight they take a bit of authority from each other, and when I beat dear old dad up I took his authority over his main aspect." Zeus snapped his fingers, and suddenly the world seemed to freeze.

With a casual sort of air he summoned a magical screen that showed the school, students frozen midstep, fires in a chem lab hanging as if suspended in a photo. "Said power only extends to Earth, so someone with the domain of sleep will take care of the astronauts. While frozen they won't so much as move, unless touched by an outside source. For instance, the big scary monster floating to the world."

Zeus drooped a bit before snapping back to attention. "Okay right, nuclear weapons. Well you see, if I got hit by a nuke it would suck, but I would live, and probably be pissed about it. Right now the ugly thing wants to help people, if it sees people attacking it, well then its going to put its back into attacking. And that would suck," Zeus blinked and suddenly perked up. "Oh shoot, my shows." and just as suddenly as he arrived, the top god of Olympus disappeared.

Hades looked at the scorch mark left behind by his brother and sighed, stepping back to the front of the stage. "What my younger brother said is...mostly correct. We only have the information from our oracles, thus it is impossible to say if a nuclear weapon would be able to damage it beyond the sudden explosion of heat. It might even go so far as to empower it further."

"As for your mission," his eyes turned to Móirín. "Ensuring either yourself or someone sympathetic to our cause ends up on the throne of your people is still a top priority. As a primordial race they can harm the Outer Being's and exist in number to make that useful. Your class should be focused only on that, when it is complete, feel free to do whatever else you want." he made the implication behind that clear enough. "As for access to the teachers, feel free, this meeting will be ended for now, further strategy will be gone over on a class by class basis." and with that said, the god of the dead disappeared, leaving students and teachers to either leave or mill about talking.

Be better, because what is the harm in trying?

Juliana was distracted from her internal panic over their oncoming death by...

...this is Zeus? This is the king of the gods?

He looked like a cliché unemployed bastard in sitcoms. He acted like a cliché unemployed bastard in sitcoms! Juli fought back her cringe as he explained the situation, and showed them...

...the world. Frozen in time.

The cringe feeling faded away, replaced by...hollowness. The world was already frozen. Juli blinked, staring at the screen. Already...frozen. She thought about her mother and grandmother and aunt and cousins, wondering what they'd been doing at the moment the gods hit the pause button. Her grandmother might've been in the kitchen, cooking up a delicious meal. Her mother driving home after a long day of work, her aunt watching her cousins play in the backyard.

Juli had never gotten to say goodbye. Or tell her family she loved them.

Her throat began to burn.

"...what...do we do now...?"

"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."

Katarina

...was that it? Some fratboy not even out of bed popping in to tell them 'Sorry, your ideas suck, also nukes are bad m'kay?' The least he could have done is give them some alternative, but he didn't even have the good grace to do that much. And they weren't being sent to deal with the threat at hand. She supposed that having a race of beings capable of hurting the big black blob at their beck and call wouldn't hurt, but she was more than a bit miffed at... everything, really.

But the worst thing they could do was sit back and do nothing. She had already given the others her honest opinion, and the one she wanted to pounce on and claw to shreds had already vanished in a puff of smoke. If they weren't on a time table, she'd give them a piece of her mind. But that would have to wait until *after* they weren't about to be absorbed into some insane gooey collective.

By Bast, if she wasn't a Sphinx, she'd have vomited ten times over by now.

She turned to Juli. "Start packing our bags for Fomorian Country, I suppose. The worst thing we can do is stand around gawking like simpletons. I don't know about you, but I'm not about to let myself or everyone else be turned to space dust or gibbering loons without having done something to prevent it."

It took her moment to realize she may have gone a bit too far. She sighed, turning back to catperson form while still retaining the colouring and regality of a Spinx. Hopefully, she'd have found a happy medium.

"Look, Juli. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't believe any of us do. And deep down, there's a part of me that is completely out of their depth. In fact, I'm still fighting the urge to vomit. But the other part is telling me to keep doing what we can for as long as we can. Perhaps it won't be enough. Perhaps we're all wasting our time with meaningless frivolities. But the least we can do is try."

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

Auditorium

Jirou had heard many stories about Zeus. King of the Greek gods. Bearer of lightning. Slayer of Chronos. The guy who had screwed anything that he physically could (and even some that didn't seem possible). And sure, the lazy looking fratboy that suddenly appeared on stage radiated power befitting such a position (plus the fact that he froze the entire planet's time with all the apparent effort of flicking on a light switch). Everything else though...well, let's just say that the Oni wasn't expecting what he witnessed. The moment Zeus made his sudden exit, Jirou turned to Hades with a bewildered expression and asked, "Forgive me for my rudeness but...how did your pantheon remain so functional with a god like him at the helm?"

His personal opinions aside, Jirou forced himself to focus on the well being of his class and their next steps. "Katarina raises a fair point. As...frustrating as it is to let a threat like the Family be, it we know next to nothing about how to fight against it. Not to mention we were already busy with the Fomorian matter before this sprung up. No, our priority is still to deal with the succession before shifting our attentions to the Family." The Oni rubbed his brow and sighed, wondering even now if he was making the right call. "I do not mean to sound callous, especially with our families paused in time against the threat...but we cannot afford to half-ass our efforts and fail both. That being said, I am simply one person working off limited information, and am open to your opinions in order to make a more informed decision. I will also spend what time I can learning more about the Family and I encourage you all to do the same."

Jun Sheng

The appearance of the de facto leader of the Greek/Roman pantheon had been a shock, not to mention his attitude in the face of a cataclysmic, world-ending threat.

All of the divine entities that Jun had met thus far all seemed rather detached from the regular world in some way, but none of them had exhibited the same kind of flippant attitude that Zeus had in the face of such a threat to the very existence of humanity itself.

That kind of attitude made Jun wonder what his divine progenitor was like. If they ever met, would he leave in the blink of an eye with only a cursory greeting? Would he even acknowledge Jun's presence? Given his luck with familial relationships, Jun didn't much like his odds.

"The less I have to deal with the Family, the better. Besides, as much as I hate to say it, I agree with the demon. We can't just forget about the succession and the second years to help out with this."

Auditorium

---

Móirín whipped her head towards Kat trying to twist her point to support her cowardice before discipline reasserted itself. Sorting this kind of thing out was literally what they had signed up for. She still didn't want part of the strategy to be leaving her parents hanging in the wind.
And then people began to repeat each other. She was about to repeat her stunt with her montante when it felt like the air had turned to lead and she had to lean on it for support. Embarrassing. And not at all queenly. Móirín stared at the spot where Zeus had been long after the king of the Greek pantheon had left and so casually showed the room up. "skydaddy1," she tilted her head back and forth, hoping she could actually memorize that. "Yeah, sure. No one wanted to call home or anything..." In another time, she would jump right on the video game invitation. Heck, she was going to say 'give me a minute to call home and I'll be on steam after I speak to Kaguya.' Well, it was done. And Zeus out-powered her. The queen to be. More importantly, he wasn't in strangling range, having vanished off to Whereverland.
Hm. She'd never been particularly ambitious before. But well, she had work to do. Móirín noted that Hades never actually answered her about how much the freezing protected their family but well, she could find that out herself. The fomorian nodded at Jirou and Hades in that order and about faced to leave and almost walked smack into Jun. Convenient.
She blinked at that and shook her head. "Jirou, Jun, I'm going to see Kaguya. She saw it first hand, and, more on mission, I hope she has a crystal ball/phone thing. Plus, more magic training would be nice either way. You two are the class sorcerers, do you want to join?"

Edited by CenturyEye on Jan 2nd 2021 at 6:47:41 AM

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Auditorium

As soon as the brief arriving god stated his name and all the way through to well after he had departed Kyn had frozen up a bit, putting her bow away and softly murmuring various things under her breath with a tone of both reverence and fear.

Odd.

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Soon enough the class went about their own works, meeting up with teachers or just being around each other for comfort. They would learn that time had restarted, but the moment the Family came within range to launch their first spores to the planet the freeze would take place in an instant. The next day they would go through their normal routine, only to find that Aphrodite didn't seem her normal excitable self.

"So students, I have some news for you, one happy and one...maybe not so much." she glanced toward her class with a smile. "I've received permission from Hades to put a protection detail around your families taken from former graduates of Solomon Academy whom can be trusted to take care of them in the off chance any of your family members are directly targeted. The second is for the next two weeks we won't be seeing much of each other." she paused and turned away from the class for a moment before patting her cheeks and turning around.

"Each of you will be assigned a temporary teacher who will be working individually with you to ensure you are prepared for the fights ahead. Try to make the most of their lessons."

As if on cue the door to the room opened, and in walked a number of figures, each approaching a different student.

The first was someone who appeared to be a rather old man who stopped in front of Kyn, a kind smile that would remind most of a grandparent about to sneak a twenty into your pocket. However Kyn's honed instincts would be able to pick up just how dangerous the individual in front of her was despite his apparent age. "My name is Wōden, I go by some other names in various stories but I believe that is the identity that you would most easily associate with me. I'll be helping train you in your new abilities, and to continue your mastery of the hunt."

Jun's visitor was quite a bit more excitable, practically rushing into the room and putting the smaller boy in a headlock. "Man its been too long since they let me do any teaching, all because 'oh no Great Sage mortals break when you do that." the figure before Jun would be easily recognizable to him, and probably quite shocking to everyone else, given he was quite literally a human sized monkey dressed in regalia fit for a royal. "Names Monkey, and I'm going to be focusing on raising your divinity."

The next to enter was the familiar face of Kaguya, a careful mask of utter neutrality that was broken upon seeing Monkey, a hint of annoyance flashing for just a moment before walking over to Jirou. "You will be training with me for the next two weeks to increase your magical potential, along with controlling your base nature as an Oni."

Aaron rather then a proper and polite introduction would find a massive spear thrown directly at his head with enough force to make a loud crack through the air. Still given his reflexes and skill it would be an easy enough thing to catch or deflect. Approaching him was a woman easily above six feet and built solidly of muscle, sporting an all too bloodthirsty smile. "Greetings and well met half brother, my name is 'you haven't earned knowing it yet', and I'm going to bust you into shape or kill you trying." she smirked and extended her hand, as if waiting for him to return the spear.

Juliana in the meantime would feel a sudden shift next to her, only to find a figure sitting atop a desk next to her and holding her ceremonial dagger in its hands. "Neat, but since you are feeling a bit hesitant to use it for the moment I'll hold onto it, unless you can steal it back." he raised an eyebrow and spun it around. "As the one who gave it to you originally, I think its fine don't you?"

Móirín's visitor was another familiar face, Scáthach who for once was dressed in a well fitted suit rather then her typical combat gear, giving a nod to the Formarian with a hint of respect. "Working will be a bit rough, but if you can survive me then we can make a noble out of you yet."

Finally came Kat's teacher, who had an equally shocking appearance to the monkey that had come in earlier, in that she had the body of a woman but the head of a lioness. Everything about her screamed danger, and from the look she gave Kat it seemed like she was being sized up for something. "Kitten, lets hope you only inherited sister's power, if you didn't get a bit of my temper you aren't going to survive," the goddess, who Kat would somehow instantly recognize as Sekhmet gave what could be called a smile.

Be better, because what is the harm in trying?

Kynigos regarded her assigned teacher curiously for a moment, picking out features and turning the name over in her mouth before things clicked into place.

"The wily old man of the north; a surprise but one that I appreciate. It will be an honor to train with the grandmaster of the Wild Hunt."

The huntress puts on a small but genuine smile as she stands and gives a brief little bow (movement, not weapon) to her teacher for the next couple of weeks.

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Aaron

It was fortunate that the spear was aimed at the person with the best combat instincts, because Aaron wasn't sure if some of his classmates would have been able to dodge the damn thing, especially with how little warning had been given.

Aaron, on the other hand, casually ducked to the side, snapping his hand out to grab it, spinning with the spear's motion a moment before coming to a halt.

He grinned as he spun the spear in his hand, striding towards the woman who threw it to meet her.

"Hiya, sis." Aaron handed her spear back. "I'm lookin' forward to it. And don't worry about killing me; you'd sooner break the Earth."

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Katarina

Katarina scowled at... her aunt?

...huh.

She wasn't sure how she knew, but somehow, this was her aunt. She could certainly see the family resemblance.

Either way, by now, not much could faze her. But she knew a sadist when she saw one. Hell, the other two were already in the room. The logical conclusion was to make it a set.

But that didn't mean she was going to sit down down and take it.

"I suppose you're going to play the part of Drill Sargent Nasty and make me perform a hundred million sit-ups until I beg for mercy? Though I'll have you know, I've seen Full Metal Jacket, and I know how it ends."

Edited by kkhohoho on Jan 6th 2021 at 8:28:44 AM

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

Okay. So their teachers for the next two weeks included an old man, a monkey, Kaguya, and a woman who was most likely a psychopath. Juliana was really dreading whoever they got to teach her.

Suddenly, she felt something shift beside her. She didn't even get the chance to turn and see what it was before...

Before...

Juli stared at the person sitting in front of her. He was familiar.

Very familiar.

To the eyes of everyone around here, the man sitting on the desk was, in a word, gorgeous. Not Aphrodite's radiant, cheerful beauty though. This beauty was cold, dark, sensual. The sort that tempted with the allure of the forbidden. At the same time, though, he looked so much like Juli. Same slender build, same brown eyes, same tan skin. Even their faces were similar.

After much stunned silence, Juli snapped back to reality and exclaimed, "Dad?!"

Tezcatlipoca gave her a very aggravating grin. "Hi, Juli. How's school?"

Juli stared more. Her eye started twitching. Maybe back when it was just letters, she'd been fine with him...but being face to face was making her frustration bubble back to the forefront. "What are you doing here?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tezcatlipoca swung one leg over the other. "Solomon Academy needed people to come power-level the first-years. And who better to teach my eclectic skillset than...oh right, me."

"They couldn't have found anyone else?!" Juli almost yelled. "Someone who didn't up and leave for no reason?!"

For a moment, the smile slipped off her father's face, and he looked almost hurt—but it vanished quickly, replaced by mild irritation. "Look, you find someone who knows how to be stealthy and can do magic." He slid off the desk and stood to his full height...which wasn't much taller than Juli herself. "It'll go fine! I'm not like those other teachers. I'm not going to throw you into a lava pit on your first day and expect you to swim. You'll still have enough blood for your heart to function."

"Oh, I feel safer already."

He gave her a grin. "That's the spirit!"

Juli groaned. This was going to be a long two weeks.

"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."

Jun Sheng

Receiving the hairs of the Great Sage had been one thing, but actually meeting them in person was an entirely different matter. Despite their playful attitude, Jun knew very well from the legends and myths surrounding his tutor that they were not to be taken lightly at all.

Despite the outwardly playful behaviour and words, the "monkey" had an odd aura about them. It was relaxing and soothing, like being in the company of a long-time friend and wanting to cut loose, maybe chat and indulge a bit in earthly pleasures... yet at the same time Jun could feel a strength in the sinewy arms wrapping around him which more than suggested that if they so felt like it, Jun's life could very easily be snuffed out with a quick twist.

Alright Jun, approach this carefully. From the stories, you know he's more than a little volatile, so choose your words wisely.

Jun quickly extricated himself from the headlock, which the Great Sage loosened and allowed him to escape from, all while maintaining that wide, face-splitting grin.

"Um... Great Sage, I need to thank you for your prior gift of hairs from your esteemed person, and I must also apologise for failing to use them thus far. This may not seem prudent, but I'd like to ask you what exactly I can do with them, because I was planning on eating them if all else failed."

The "monkey" howled with laughter, doubling over at the waist and drawing disapproving looks from some of the other tutors, particularly Kaguya.

"Kid, you are a riot! How do you even think of something as ridiculous as that while speaking like a Ming-dynasty eunuch with a broom shoved up his ass? Though, to be fair, that isn't the worst idea. Kinda reminds me of something your harebrained grandad would think of." The "monkey" breathlessly said, wiping a tear from its eye. "First time I met him, it was after I'd kicked the asses of a hundred thousand divine soldiers, the 28 constellations and the four heavenly kings. And you know what he does? He comes right up to me and challenges me to a duel! Good times, good times."

Jun was a bit taken aback by the response, although the talk of his divine progenitor did pique his interest.

"If it's not too much trouble, can I ask how my progenitor is doing? I've prayed quite a few times, but I don't get much of a response. Is it because I'm too distant of a relation? Will increasing my divinity make him notice me? How do I even do that? I'm still only able to replicate his sash and spear, after all..." As Jun spoke morosely, he briefly felt a rustle in his clothes, as though a passing breeze had blown by.

But there were no doors or windows nearby...

"Wait a second, where did the hairs go?" Jun began to panic as he checked his pockets. How had he misplaced them?

"You asked how you were going to get a start on that, yeah?" Jun spun around, only to yelp and spring back as he found himself face to face with the "monkey", whose grin had turned into something closer to a leer.

"Y-yes...?" Jun answered hesitantly, still patting at his pockets desperately.

"Well, I've been thinking about what you said... and maybe it's not such a bad idea after all!"

"Wait, which part of what I-"

"Now open wide, kiddo!" The "monkey" exclaimed, shoving a hand at Jun's face and forcing a bundle of scratchy strands into his mouth. Jun choked, reflexively gagging and attempting to spit out the hairs. The "monkey" had different ideas, however, and promptly produced a pitcher of water out of thin air, shoving it into Jun's mouth and forcing him to gulp the hairs down.

Choking and spluttering, Jun fell to his knees while "monkey" did a little dance on the spot, chattering excitedly to itself.

If the rest of the two weeks was going to be more of the same... He at least hoped that the rest had a worse time.

Auditorium

"Sure, I don't see why not." Jirou agreed and followed Moirin to speak with Kaguya.

Training

Listening to Aphrodite's news brightened the Oni's spirits. He felt relieved that his family would be fine during the time stop, though he did feel a little worried about what his little siblings might get up to if they got too bored in the shop. The news about training was also welcomed. He still remembered what happened to him under the Sake's influence, and had been hoping to do more to bring his nature under heel. "I look forward to your guidance, Sensei." He replied to Kaguya, dipping his head in a slight bow.

Personal Coaching

---

Móirín, naturally, immediately called her parents when someone finally told her that that first freeze was a dry run. And f*$k them very much for that joke. Next would be her fomorii but Kaguya told her there were complications. The moon lady would have to find her some surface fomorians to get news from. They only really gathered at the king's command—and that throne was empty. Or they gathered to elect the new king and she'd have to wait for that. And then there was the issue that the old king died in battle with 'an unknown group'. Because that just happened everyday.
When the day came for coaching, she was weighed down by research, but the training was something she wouldn't miss even were this her first day here.
"Coach Scáthach," Móirín snickered, partly for seeing the coach in the suit. Partly from stress relief that the Greek boy had survived meeting his teacher. That spear was eye-catching. It couldn't beat Scáthach in a monkey suit though. "I'm sorry ma'am, I think the tax office is down the road a ways. And if you're here to take me shopping, I'm gonna have to refuse. Or are you cosplaying the agents from The Matrix? I could use a few smarmy 'Mssss Doheeeerrrtys'."

Edited by CenturyEye on Jan 6th 2021 at 5:24:09 AM

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

The man who introduced himself as Wōden gave a bright grin toward Kyn, the sort of smile a wolf might give to a sheep once it had entered the pen. "You will be riding at the front of the Wild Hunt at my side for the next two weeks, the others will not go so far as to make you prey, but at the first sign of weakness they will attempt to take your spot. If you intend to serve under the Mistress of the Moon I suggest you take this time to learn how to remove such ideas from others while learning." with that said the old man and Kyn walked out the door into a large wooded area where two horses the sizes of minivans were waited for them.

The Amazon took the spear that Aaron had offered her and gave a laugh that nearly shook the foundation of the room. "I'm either going to kill you on the first day or your going to become one of fathers most interesting children." she turned and waved for him to follow. "I can already tell you have the fundamentals down, so we'll start with some light exercise of boulder breaking and move on to sparring while using those as weights." they stepped out into what appeared to be a massive quarry, women of the same build as the one who taught him each watching Aaron with predatory smiles. "You'll start sparring against our other sisters, lets see if any of them can 'shatter the planet' before you get to me."

Sekhmet for her part only looked at Kat before suddenly letting out a loud laugh and giving a single nod of her lioness head. "Good, thats the attitude of a lioness instead of a meek housecat, that means we can skip the personality work and show you what you can do with a set of claws and a bit of divine power," with that the two would exit to a desert before a massive pyramid that seemed to be floating about ten feet off the ground. "I'll make you a small promise, by the time we are done you are going to be amazing."

Kaguya nodded at Jirou, leading him away without much fanfare only for the oni to find himself in a beautiful spring fed by a waterfall and surrounded by nature. "This is known as the Spring of Purification, through the name is a bit of a falsehood," Kaguya stepped over the water as Jirou would quickly realize that the area around him was inhabited by quite a few other creature, none of whom seemed too happy to see him. "Evil spirits are drawn to the water to drink of it, thus lowering its purity. If you can guard it for four days in a row without a single creature drinking it the water will regain its power, and drinking from it will bring you a newfound strength." she brought one of her sleeves to cover her mouth. "Through a warning, if you fall in the water will drain your power and feed the spirits your own strength."

Móirín's jokes didn't seem to so much as pierce the ever unflappable Scáthach, who simply smiled toward the young Fomorian. "Your fighting skill is off the charts, honestly if I just spent the next two weeks training you to fight you would probably reach a level your class wouldn't be able to meet in terms of practical skill. However as a Fomorian your skills are barely above that of an child. I'm going to spend the next two weeks fixing that error and bringing up those abilities to your current physical ones." with that said she brought Móirín to an island, not particular large and mostly barren. "There is nothing to eat here, and just enough wood for fires at night. If you want to eat get it from the ocean, through I have to warn you, this is my personally aquarium where I put things that catch my interest." a murderous smile crossed her face. "So at the very least, it will be interesting to see what becomes 'food'."

Monkey finally finished laughing and took Jun away with him to a monastery built high atop a mountain. There they would spend the next two weeks training, through never alone with just his teacher. He would meet spirits of legend and of little note, each with advice to give or challenging him as a way to get one in on Monkey.

As for Juli, her challenge against her father was just as advertised, hunting each other through the jungle using every means available. Traps, magic, and just pure physical will. Each time Juli got close to matching him the deity revealed a bit more skill, always staying just enough ahead that there was always a thought she could catch up.

For two weeks the students would see little to nothing of each other, and all the while forces played in the background. The Family continued their slow drift through the void, approaching ever closer to Earth, hidden by the magics of the deities from normal society.

As for the second years, they all stood around a coffin, slicing their palms and letting their blood fall on the wooden box as something within began to shake. "Its almost awake, just three more pieces and it will be active." Marco clenched his fist and smiled. "So long as you can deliver, seeing how 'reduced' you were."

A ghostly image appeared behind the group, taking the form of Armin as he waved his hand. "I'll admit that knife had a pretty neat trick, but all I lost was most of my blood, and my body, so long as you can build me a new one I'll have a 'ghost of a chance' to get back." the image of Schrödinger leapt into the picture. "And our little angel here will get me into the secret area within the Academy, even if I'm just a drop of blood at the moment, I'll figure it out from there."

Marco gave a nod and took a deep breath. "All other tasks at hand have been complete. All thats left is putting you on the throne. How does it feel?"

Abraham brought a hand up to touch his completely bandaged head and left his fingers over where his eyes should be. "Like power," a deep crimson glow came from under the bandages.

Two Weeks Later

The final day of training for the students would see each of them meeting back in the dorm room for a day of rest before their big mission, the first time some of them would have seen each other. They most likely had stories to share, or things that they just wanted to forget while seeing their friends again.

Be better, because what is the harm in trying?

Katarina

As soon as Katarina got back home, the first thing she did was kick down the door as she lumbered in. Dressed in thin white silk and a gold bra, she stomped into the hall, growling as she inched towards the couch with a noticeable gait. She walked with a slight hunch, ready to go on all fours at a moment's notice, and her sharp claws were chalked with blood. Reaching her destination, she leapt on the sofa, landing stomach first and flinging her arms as she stretched herself out her limbs.

She wasn't sure how she managed to last. She thought the school was bad, but her aunt was like a viper filled with the guts of a disgruntled hawk. Forced to wear a skimpy silk dress that barely protected her from the elements, half the time she was forced to rough it, honing her senses to the fullest and hunting lizards or jackalope just to survive. All while scouring the desert for whatever oasis' or bodies or water she could find. If the dress wasn't so comfy, she'd have torn Sehkmet's guts out the second she got the chance.

And she had plenty of chances. The other half involved facing her aunt head-on, and she was every bit as nasty as she appeared. Howling at her and berating like a harpy when she wasn't pounding her skull into the pavement, and near plucking her eyes out when she was. She was forced to use everything at her disposal to keep up. Ducking, weaving, shapeshifting back and forth, sometimes in an instant. Turning into a tabby to avoid a near killing blow, only to slip under and slit her stomach one of her own. She wasn't sure she could kill her, but she knew that she wouldn't walk away until she was prepared to put her all into each and every blow she dealt. If she ever had a sense of mercy, she wasn't sure how much was left by the time she was finished with her.

She rubbed her aching temple, pressing against the gem that was now constantly embedded in her forehead. She hadn't even known about it before Sehkmet worked her like a dog. She wouldn't say how she knew, but she was undoubtedly familiar with the thing. Whenever she wasn't honing her killer instinct, she was propping up shields, slamming the pyramid with a giant fist, and creating swords and buzzsaws and laser beams out of thin air. If she wasn't in a battle for survival, she'd almost be thrilled. But she still wanted to know who gave her that blessed bauble. And for what purpose.

And most importantly, why she couldn't pluck it out of her damn head. Somehow, she wasn't sure giving her a power boost was the only thing it was doing to her. But what was she supposed to do about it? Pray to the Gods for mercy?

Fact chance of that.

Still, she was back at school, safe in sound, and in one piece. And a good deal stronger for it. For the next hour or two, she'd bead to the world, but she'd be lying if a small part of her wasn't thrilled.

If nothing else, the Christmas Cat was to die for.

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

Aaron

Striding confidently into the hall, Aaron kept his chin up, even though his whole body felt heavy. The soreness, the dull ache, kept him moving. It made him feel more alive. Energized, despite his aching muscles.

---

He hadn't been able to keep count of how many times his sisters had brought him to his knees. Each time, he'd gotten back up, saying nothing, merely preparing for more pain. At first, they demolished him. Aaron had good instincts, but the Amazons spent their lives training to fight.

Yet with each loss, Aaron learned. His movements became quicker, his blows stronger, until he could keep up, could even surpass some of them.

By the time he'd squared off with Hippolyta herself, he'd actually managed to hold his own for more than ten seconds. Through intense battle, he'd learned how to move, how to let his body react without needing to stop and think. Though he'd grown faster and stronger in those two weeks, it was that lesson that really made him shine in battle.

In the process, he'd learned to call his weapons in the heat of battle, without thought. He'd learned more than just swords, spears, or axes. He'd added to his arsenal tridents (though they reminded him of his wayward cousin, he consoled himself with the knowledge that Uncle Poseidon was displeased with her), whips, chains (learning in the process that Amazons did not appreciate bondage jokes), knives, hooks, knuckledusters, even clawed gauntlets.

In his last day of training, one other power had revealed itself to him. Something even his sisters apparently hadn't expected. He'd given a battle cry, and in that moment the sister he'd been sparring with had frozen mid-swing, sending her sprawling to the dirt.

He had learned of his brothers, Phobos and Deimos, panic and dread. Apparently all sons of Ares could inspire fear in those of weak will. Though Aaron had no idea if it would work on the second years, and he'd had little time to practice it, against wild beasts it could potentially be useful.

And it was quite fitting, Aaron thought. Because one way or another, he'd make sure the second years knew fear.

---

"Hey, babe." Aaron smiled, seeing his lover sprawled out on the couch. "Tough training, huh? Same as me, then. I feel like one big bruise."

He plopped down on a recliner next to her couch, sighing blissfully as he sank into it. "Your aunt seemed pretty intense. Could be a war god thing; would explain why my sisters are all psychos."

Then Aaron noticed her clothes for the first time. "Love that outfit. You really nail the 'Egyptian Queen' look. Though you'd look hot in anything, so I guess that's not surprising."

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Jirou

For the first time in two weeks, Jirou stepped foot back in the dorm room and saw his classmates once again. Despite looking like a zoo used him as a scratching post and feeling physically and magically wrung out, the Oni was beaming and looked a bit...more. His skin was a bit redder, his teeth and claws sharper, and his horns had grown an inch. His bat and sheathed sword hung by his side, marks of battle marring their surfaces.

10 days. It had taken 10 days for him to be able to guard the Spring of Purification and restore its power. He lost count of the number of times he had been knocked into the waters and drained of his strength, only to jump out seconds later and smack away the spirits with only panic and willpower fueling him on. By the dawn of the last day, Jirou had been running on nothing but instinct, muscle memory, and the white hot determination to let nothing touch the edge of the lake after getting this far. The relief from seeing the spring light up with power brought all that accumulated exhaustion and pain down on him like a breached dam, Jirou was later brought back to consciousness by a thoroughly amused Shuten Dōji who informed him that he had passed out face first in the Spring, and then teased him about less suicidal ways for an Oni drown in his drink.

Humiliation aside, Kaguya and Shuten spent the remainder of the second week helping Jirou adapt to his new divinity and power, making liberal use of the former's mindscape as a collateral free training arena for his magic and strength. The Oni also swore she got a kick out of seeing him getting his ass beat around by his own grandfather, but couldn't really prove it given how muted her expression was. But all that was over, and Jirou was back indoors with his class. He gave Aaron and Kat a wave as he grabbed a drink from the fridge, plopped down on a floor cushion and took a long sip.

"I think that is more of a supernatural thing. My Grandfather dropped by to help train me, and decided that making me eat pavement in as many unique ways as possible would be a lovely grandparent-grandchild bonding exercise." He remarked dryly.

Wilson!

---

"Well," Móirín folded her arms, grinning. "Well, duh it is. Not to brag but I'm... what?" The coach was teaching her fomorian skills? At least it wasn't extending her pinky and tying bows. "Child though? Oh, that's low." Being the strongest fighter counted for alot, she was sure.
Scáthach's new gym looked just like the old one really. Móirín looked about. For about three seconds. It only took three seconds. There was the occasional upturned rock. She didn't even see sand in between the rocks, just dead ground and mud. And... no that was pretty much it. She was ankle deep in mud and could probably cast a second pair of shoes from the amount that had gotten in. It smelled like well, like mud. And of course, everywhere, the damn place was freezing. Móirín had dressed herself in gym shorts and a sleeveless shirt in anticipation of training. No one had told her to bring trench boots and an effin coat!
"You sure there's nothing to eat here?" Móirín deadpanned, pointing over her shoulder at the desolation. "I think I saw a rock under that rock..." Naturally, when the fomorian turned back the coach had already taken her leave. So, Móirín could say her expletives in private and look for the mythical trees that supposed firewood would come from. It'd have to wait though. The very first step nearly ended with her drowning in a sinkhole when the mud suddenly just gave way.
There technically was wood. There was also gale force winds, ocean sprays, and well, everything seemed to be wet. The upside (normally) came when she tried to roll in the seawater to at least get off the mud. She'd be cold and wet either way, but well, the mud would be gone. She parted her hair and glared with all 11 eyes at the thing. Even the glass eye was probably trained on the giant shark swimming her way.
"Sit!" Móirín near snarled at the thing, more out of exasperation than thinking a shark was a dog. But then it did. And she didn't have time to be confused while it sat there. Her roaring could have had that effect. She just moved, drew sword and dagger, and brained the thing.
Okay, I feel better now. Really better. The water ran off her along with the mud but just being in it felt better. When in Rome. Móirín got went with it and dove in fully, dragging her catch with and taking bites on the swim. Still cold. Definitely wet. But she was much freer in this environment.
It took less than a day for her to be int he water near full time. Scáthach had alot of fish. Like alot of fish. And Móirín learned alot. Tiny invisible jellyfish left huge, burning welts on your skin when they stung you and seemingly filled your lungs with nails. Giant rays and octopi could coordinate to chokeslam you through the water.
At first she used her light. Her fancy sword glowed like a lure and helped her decide when and where to fight. And then there was finally fire. Not the octopus that she hit. The manta that was right behind it suddenly burst into green flames like it'd swallowed oil. If she wasn't motivated before...

---

Two Weeks Later

Móirín returned to the dorms silently, and still in the same clothes she'd left in, albeit they'd been crusted with salt from the sea. She still had to get used to being dry. Or not leading schools of sea monsters against other sea monsters.
Her body hair was a tad longer, she smelled like ocean and whale blubber, and she probably still had meat under her nails but she still looked like Móirín. Occasionally, she'd hiccup and 'spittle' melted through the floor but it was Móirín.
"Yo," the fomorian said simply, swallowing the brew down.

Edited by CenturyEye on Jan 10th 2021 at 4:29:11 AM

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

WHOOPS

Edited by svenorzokarkoff on Jan 9th 2021 at 4:49:21 AM

Class Dorms

And in steps Kynigos.

She hasn't changed much over these past two weeks, at least on a visual level; she's wearing a large hooded pelt cloak that bulks out her figure and a number of trophies of her recent hunts loosely decorating her armor. There is a sense of utter confidence as she strides into the room and sits down on a couch.

"Hail friends, how has your training vacations treated you?"

Her voice is a bit smoother and less awkward now, a sentiment matched by the curves of her face and sparkling eyes.

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Jun Sheng

"Wait, what do you mean my training is ove- oh."

Instead of returning to school through conventional means, Jun's arrival would only be preceded by an abrupt pop as he materialised in the common room.

For once, Jun was not wearing oversized, baggy elastic sportswear, and instead was dressed in a loose-fitting robe and tunic, dyed a light blue throughout. Jun's face and clothes were streaked with dirt and grime, evidence of the various challenges he had undertaken under the watchful eyes of a variety of spirits, demons and gods in an effort to greater connect him to the pantheon of his homeland.

From a calligraphy contest with the horse-faced and bull-headed guardians of hell to the surprisingly hard task of stealing a single ingot from the god of fortune, the last two weeks had been an endless line of trials, challenges, riddles and battles one after the other.

And at the end of it all, his final task was given by the father of his divine ancestor, Li Jing. Although their interactions had been brief, Jun had gotten the distinct impression that there was no love lost between him and Nezha, a relationship perhaps exemplified by the fact that Nezha had once tried to kill Li Jing, and only now had settled into an uneasy peace punctuated by Li Jing's mystical golden pagoda specifically designed to entrap Nezha and his kin.

Li Jing's trial for Jun had been the hardest of the lot, as he found himself entrapped within the same pagoda that had confounded his progenitor with only one goal: to endure it for 24 hours, then immediately fight combatants of Li Jing's choosing.

Within the glaringly bright confines of the pagoda grounds, Jun found himself constantly pursued by creatures and spirits composed of licking flames, which were seemingly immune to his best efforts to combat them.

Any weapons he called upon crumbled into dust upon contact with their forms, and when he tried to summon his flames, they were violently wrenched from his control and empowered his pursuers. His immunity to heat and flame had been taken from him, and Jun was left with many burns on his body as he hid and fled, emerging from the pagoda at the end of the day exhausted and unsteady.

In a cruel twist, Li Jing immediately pitted him in combat with a young dragon in the middle of a lake, whose mere presence had called upon a storm that weakened Jun's magic.

It had taken Jun all of his strength, skill and cunning to escape with his life. The dragon was young and inexperienced much like Jun himself, so it had kept its distance, attacking Jun with surprise attacks from underneath the water or through the dense cloud cover and retreating before Jun could successfully counterattack. Eventually, Jun won by feigning weakness, luring it in to land what it thought was the finishing blow. The dragon had clamped onto Jun with its jaws, diving beneath the water in an attempt to finish the fight. However, Jun had wrapped his scarf around his body as armour, reducing the severity of the bite and leaving him in an optimal position to summon his spear and fight back. Weakened as he was, Jun was only capable of calling upon the head of the spear, which he drove over and over again into the dragon's head even as it held him in a death grip. Just when he thought he was out of breath and completely spent, the dragon had yielded, surrendering the fight to him.

And at the end of it all, he found himself facing Li Jing and the Monkey. The Monkey had clapped a hand on his shoulder, healing his wounds and giving him words of encouragement, while Li Jing had simply given a curt nod of approval.

And now he found himself back in the academy, facing his worn and clearly changed friends.

"All of you seem... different. I dunno, it's kind of like an aura-thing. The vibes I'm getting are kinda unfamiliar."

Juliana's training...well, it probably hadn't been as brutal as her classmates', but she could hardly call it easy either. She hadn't been tossed into a lava pit and expected to swim, sure, but she had been tossed into a jungle and expected to hunt down a god. A god that was also hunting her down.

The first few days, she hadn't even bothered with hunting. She'd just turned on her sort-of invisibility and hid, hoping for a victory by endurance. That hadn't worked—Tezcatlipoca was very perceptive and also gods were bullshit like that. She'd actually been admonished for overusing it, which...

...okay, he had a point, she'd give him that.

After that, Juli had actually put some effort into the hunt. She'd wait in tree branches or bushes to ambush him. She'd observe the animals, looking to see if it was actually her father in disguise. She'd stalk through the jungle, ready to strike or flee at any moment. And she did all of that without the safety net of the sort-of invisibility.

(Interspersed between all this were actual lessons, mostly of the magic variety. And while Juli was still nowhere near her father's level—few people were, according to him—she was getting better surprisingly quickly. Stronger spells of darkness, turning the ground into obsidian and then manipulating it, and even calling down a lightning bolt were all part of her repertoire now.)

(She'd also learned about naguals. Hers was a cat. It let her turn into a cat.)

Juli had managed to steal her dagger back too, though that was only on the final day and at the end of the hunt, so she didn't get to use it (not like she wanted to, really). Still...she'd progressed a lot. Her dad had been quite proud of her, saying that not even Artemis could have a better hunter.

Juli really, really hoped that he didn't bring that up to Artemis herself. Ever. There was no way that could end well.

Anyway, now to the dorms.

"Hi," Juli said. She'd been there for a while, actually, it was just that nobody had noticed her up until she'd spoken.

"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."

Back to the Dorms

---

Móirín pursed her lips and spouted another liter of brine, then looked at Jun. "I didn't eat any pavement..." She paused a moment. "Don't know about any aura either. Apparently, there's alot of plankton and algae in the water though so that stuff may be glowing. Scáthach didn't teach anything about auras."
"Oh," she smiled then. "I got alot of use out of that dagger by the way. It really pushes between the ribs and lets you peel in a way bigger blades won't." She palmed her greatsword. "Though crushing is fun too. Especially when the monsters go kaboom."
"And I guess that means my vacation went well. Had a seaside spot with alot of deep water excursions and it was calm skies the whole time. Didn't even have to fight for a spot on the beach."

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives