Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Morning Exercise
"'Months of peace and quiet'?" Móirín raised an eyebrow. "I'd never subject myself to that." She'd just walked in dripping wet from her latest hunting party. Well second latest now. The school knew how to welcome back their favorites. Sort of. They could have sent out a squad of hydras.
Móirín did not draw her own sword or dagger, instead grabbing a flailing beast-wraith thing by its outstretched arms. Then she charged in around the edges of the horde and swung the body at the others until it broke.
The no sword thing didn't last long then. She unsheathed her BFS and cut down beast-wraiths in an a smooth motion. There was little wasted movement. Hm. She used the space she'd one to finish equipping her shield. Minor as these monsters might be, she still treated them like threats (mostly). It was a form of respect.
Thus, she didn't charge them head on. Móirín pushed tables and obstacles in the beast-things' way and pierced them in quick flourishes while they were pinned or stunned. 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 Light That Blinds
Juli
Juli was about to answer Amaya's question when Artemis and Aphrodite showed up for the starting assembly. And by "assembly", we of course mean "monster showdown".
"Get behind me!" Juli shouted, quickly pulling Amaya out of harm's way with one hand and drawing her dagger with the other. She flicked her wrist, and in an instant the beasts before her were magically blinded, leaving them easy pickings. Then, she slashed and cut and stabbed like all hell had broken loose, blood splattering onto the floor.
Don't look at the blood. Don't look. Don't look.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Auditorium
Artemis watched as her pets were dismantled, the returning students falling back into line with their own abilities and managing to push ahead against things that had once given them issues. They were long away from those kids who had trouble against skeletons. And the new students had proven themselves to be quite competent as well, falling naturally into their roles while being supported by the others. That being said it wasn't as if they were falling behind, while they might not match step to step the potential behind the two was obvious for anyone to see.
With a snap of her fingers Artemis closed the portals leaving the last of her beasts to be felled by the students before giving a small nod. "Impressively done, I can se that your skills haven't diminished over the summer. And for our new additions you've done admirably, look at those students who you are joining not with a feeling of shame for not being able to match, instead think of them as goalposts to inspire toward throughout your time at this Academy."
With that said the room became dim as various holographic images played about the room. The first showed a small army of mechanical clowns lead by a lanky creature that looked like a parody of a human and a machine mixed together. Behind them a town burned. Another image showed a mass of creatures that seemed to have been fused together, blade like appendages attached to their bodies as they stole away people into their twisted bodies.
"Outer Beings are twisted parodies of gods, without the same mindset that humanity has they seek their own goals at the expense of all. The deities are unable to fight them as they exist beyond the scope of the natural world which we govern. Humans are also unable to compete, their bodies and minds both frail before the assaults of our enemy. But the mixture of god and man creates those who can take up the sword to fight against these beings. Those of you who have returned know the horrors that are waiting to claim the world, and those of you who have just arrived will know by their expressions that the destruction they bring isn't that which can be ignored. Thus I will ask each of you now. You may walk the path of strife that protects humanity, or you may live an ordinary life in the Academy, living a day to day life unaffiliated with this hidden world. What do you choose?"
There was not really any choice for Warren here. He had to push himself to the top. Ares's kid there was clearly able to showboat and fight, and he'd barely kept it together while everyone else just tore these things to shreds.
"I'm stepping up." Warren finally said. He coughed, another little gout of flame escaping his mouth. "Moloch's power needs to be used. You wouldn't happen to have him on a, uh, rolodex, or something, would you?"
Moloch had some explaining to do, and maybe he'd finally be able to do so. He had given Warren a big push, giving him these horns here. And now he'd gotten dividends: real peers, freaks like him.
Amaya felt like she was going to throw up watching the video. Not that afraid— the rest of the class seemed both powerful and competent— but disgusted that the Outer Beings could even exist. She couldn't go to a normal life knowing they were out there, killing people, especially since her healing powers could directly save someone's life. Besides, this was probably the most useful she'd ever get the opportunity to be. "Sure, I'll do it. Join this class, I mean." She also added one of the dumbest things she had ever said, a high bar, recognizing it as such as soon as she was done speaking. "Maybe it'll be fun."
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone
Breath of the Sun
Aaron
Even though he hadn't been facing it, Aaron bisected the beastman as soon as Amaya kicked it towards him, turning and swinging on instinct alone. He gave her a reassuring nod, before turning back to the fight.
Only for it to end shortly thereafter. He huffed and dismissed his blades, unsatisfied with such a short and easy battle. Then he exhaled, reminding himself why they'd been fighting in the first place. He was quiet at the Outer Being presentation, memories of last year and the horrors they'd fought surfacing.
For a moment, he closed his eyes. When they opened, he was grinning, and her turned to the newcomers.
"Welcome aboard, newbies. Glad to see you can both handle yourselves." His gaze flicked over to Amaya for a moment. "Though don't worry too much if you're not the best at hand to hand. You gotta find your niche, y'know?" He flexed one arm. "I got the most muscle, but the others are better than me at magic and shit. I'm sure you'll figure out what you're best at."
Edited by kagescorpionakki on Apr 8th 2021 at 5:35:25 AM
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Fwomph
Auditorium
And it seemed like just as things were getting started, the battle had come to a close. Kyn wondered whether she had been a little too enthusiastic with her grappling of the monster and just carefully stepped away and straightened out her uniform.
"I will do whatever it takes to defend humanity from these creatures."
She resisted adding the word 'mother' to the end of that sentence. She had her little 'leave them guessing' mentality going on right now and also the first impression with new students of being 'the headmaster's daughter' might make them more... Cagey around her? Her assumptions may have been wrong, she spent a fair chunk of summer researching depictions of school life in media.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
The Light That Blinds
Juli
Juli sheathed her dagger, rather pleased at how brief the battle was. No one had gotten injured or lost their lives, which was good. To be expected from this group, sure, but good nonetheless.
"My answer hasn't changed from last year," she said in response to Artemis's question. "I'll keep fighting." And looking for a better way.
She looked to Amaya. "It's fine that you're not the best fighter. You don't have to be. Who knows? Maybe your thing won't be fighting at all."
Being responsible for death isn't a burden anyone should carry.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Katarina
"Do we have a choice? We don't kill them, they kill us. Unless one of us would rather sip a bottle of cognac while the world falls around their ankles? Believe me, it doesn't get much simpler than that."
But it wasn't quite that simple, was it? These days, she had few qualms about braving the unknown and taking on any rabid beasty she could see. But it wasn't so easy for those first stepping through, was it? If she had been the person she was when she first walked through these halls, she would have scurried out the door with her tail between her legs. But that was then. This was now. If they couldn't stomach it, that was...
Careful. Or do you want a relapse?
...perfectly understandable. She had been there herself. Even so, they seemed willing. But the least she could do was give them a shoulder to lean on.
"That's the spirit! Everything's fun if you put the proper spin on it. But if it isn't fun, there's no shame in backing out. I'd be lying if I said I never thought about it once upon a time. But if you're here long enough, wading into uncharted waters and starting Lovecraft's puss in the face without throwing up your guts becomes second nature."
She gave Juli a quick glance. "Or it does to most of us."
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Did they really just ask that?
Móirín flourished as the last beast-wraith-thing went down and re-strapped Levi to her back.
"I know you weren't asking me that..." The fomorian looked miffed that she'd even been asked to cut and run. This was her normal life in any case, and she was never going back. Any one of the things she went through since coming here was reason enough for that, and she had just come back from leading a deep ocean hunting party and being all respectable. Never. Going. Back.
"How are we starting off this time?" She folded her arms. "Scáthach still the happy-go-lucky flower child I knew? Hadron's ass still have a Final Fantasy sized health bar?" She hadn't inquired about Scáthach in some time, preferring to practice with her fellow fomorians over the summer, but the franken-dude... She wanted progress on that one. 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
It was a little embarrassing how two of her classmates had consoled Amaya about her lack of fighting skill already. But it was more than fair. "Thanks," she said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, I definitely want to get better. But healing will be more useful in a real battle, so I'll focus on that."
She smiled at the cat girl's reply. Her attitude was extremely encouraging; for someone who had been through all of that to be able to face it positively made the threats seem so much more easy to comprehend and, because of that, to take on. Like monsters from a kids' cartoon instead of a horror movie.
"Hadron?" She didn't know they had previously fought enemies that were still out there. Well, it made sense if a subtler threat managed to escape and they just couldn't find them again. She would also have asked about the other name the older student had said, but she didn't want to mispronounce it on her first interaction with most of these students. How embarrassing.
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Auditorium
Móirín cocked her head and glanced at ... 'the new girl' who asked the question. "Right, history." She started. "The last class 2 turned evil, went AWOL, and bargained with a bunch of outer beings to make a frankenstein thing that talks alot. One of the traitors tried to use my fomorians in that plan, and Aaron's cousin did use alot of civilians when we first caught up to her."
"And Shoot the Medic First is a thing, and I don't think outer beings are Geneva compliant. You're gonna want to train up even if its not your thing." 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
"Last class two. Just want to interject here." Warren raised his hand at Moirin's explanation. He stepped a little closer, playing with his horns again. "Does that make us the new class two, or are we part of yours—class one? Because if we're replacing a bunch of lost students, uh, there's two of us. And it sounds like there used to be more." Frustrating to know that they were already maybe being set up as replacements here. And that they were arriving in the middle of an existing catastrophe; was Moloch, and by extension Warren, called in as a favor? Seemed like it'd be his style.
Fwomph
Auditorium Explanations
"They were the second-year class last year when we were first-years. Technically they would now be third-year students given we are second-year students but I'm pretty sure they are not valid as students given they betrayed the gods by working with the Outer Beings in a clearly failed attempt at making a viable weapon to use against the same Outer Beings. The result is Hadron, a creature that will likely develop into an Outer Being itself if it is not slain. The problem is we have no idea how to slay it."
Kyn said with an air of nonchalance.
"My strongest abilities harmed it, but not enough to destroy it. If we can get an entire team at the same threshold of power and do an alpha strike it might be enough..."
She wandered over to the buffet table and grabbed something sweet.
"Though... Hades had issues, but that could just be because he is a god and thus incapable of harming an Outer Being like Hadron..."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Auditorium
Artemis let the students talk amongst themselves for a moment before speaking over any further conversation. "The details pertaining to the Traitor Class can be spoken of later, at the moment you are no doubt confused about the pressence of two new students amongst your numbers. This is simply due to their base talents and abilities already exceeding the baseline for the current Class 1. In other words I believe that by putting them among a more experienced group their potential can further be harnessed." she gave a look that offered no room for argument. "With all that out of the way I leave you to the mercy of your homeroom teacher, Aphrodite."
Aphrodite stepped forward, still as radiantly beautiful as the last time the students had been around her but seemingly all the more so from their time apart. "Welcome returning students of Solomon Academy," her smile dipped into a frown as a sad expression crossed her face. "Three entire months of summer and not one call, not a letter to your homeroom teacher, have you no hearts for how much I worry?" she pouted and stamped her foot, but quickly changed around and looked to the two new students. "Hopefully you don't fully corrupt your new classmates with all your bad habits." she giggled, a sound not unlike a beautiful sunrise. "Regardless, if our two new students will please carefully watch me."
She hoped off the stage and summoned a marker from thin air and began to write on the door, moving with deliberate slowness to ensure each student would be able to see the marking. "All it takes is this symbol written on a entrance of any kind, and it will be linked to your dorms," she pushed open the door and it no longer lead to a hallway, but to a massive room with multiple doorways.
"Welcome to Solomon Academy's special dorm room, a safe haven from the world." she turned to the students and gave them time to draw it all in.
The room itself was a combination of a rest area and living room, with a massive television taking up one of the walls with a number of entertainment devices ready to connect to it. Beyond that there were shelves full of books from around the world, and some that looked like they had probably never been published in the first place. But what was most striking was above, the dome that made up the ceiling of their dorm room was a massive mural depicting the class in rather heroic poses, idealized versions of what they could become on a macro scale. "While you've seen it before make sure to give our new students some time to properly absorb the grandeur, remember this will be their first time seeing it."
Each of the paths leading out of the room were marked by a students name, along with a special design around said name that linked them back to their divine heritage. "Each of your rooms have been designed with comfort and your personal styles kept in mind. With a bit of flair from yours truly. Anything you don't like simply leave a note when you go to your classes and your little helpers will make sure to fix it up."
Before she could continue the dorm was flooded by a sea of cats, moving around Juli and Kat with great interest, purring and nuzzling against them. "Ah yes, pets may be kept with special permission, through these cats are..." she smiled mysteriously. "Well as Second Years you'll discover a bit more about the Academy."
With that said she turned. "I understand you all have questions, not just our new students but our returning students as well. Hadron, the Traitors, even what new complications will be forced upon you. But please take one day to just enjoy this moment of quiet, because after today, well you'll be in for a whole new world." with that mysterious bit out of the way Aphrodite vanished from the room, leaving the students in their new home for the next stretch of time.
Amaya’s door had embossed silver rivers that connected to a wider ocean around the edges of the door. She stared at it. This whole day had been so much more imposing than she expected, and it was only morning. After a few seconds she snapped out of it, trying to get one of the cats to let her pet it.
The mural on the ceiling was deeply embarrassing to her, and she tried to act like she didn’t notice it. Even if she was going to be successful and gain insane supernatural abilities beyond human perception, or whatever, she still wouldn’t feel like any kind of mythic hero. Or she hoped she wouldn’t.
“So… they seemed nice.”
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone
Breath of the Sun
Aaron
He'd forgotten how fancy the dorms could be. Having been staying here for a year, Aaron had just sort of gotten used to the grand murals and personalized touches.
It was only the presence of the two new dorms that made him remember how amazed he'd been when he'd first set foot here. It felt like that had been yesterday, and the memory of a time before he'd known the horrors of the universe made him smile wistfully.
He was brought out of his thoughts by a sharp bark, and looked to see the horde of cats parting as a beast ran past them.
A massive hound with rust-red fur, and a fire in its eyes. Two horns rose up from its head, long and thin, like blades; they even looked as though they were made of bronze rather than bone.
"Havoc." Aaron grinned, as it jumped up on its hind legs to lick at his face. "Missed you too, buddy."
Then he reached up, slipping a hand between Havoc's horns, and said "Heel." Havoc stopped, lowering himself to the ground, his tail betraying his excitement by slapping the floor.
"Good boy." Aaron knelt to continue petting him, scratching Havoc's belly as the war hound rolled over. "I swear you get taller every day. Another year and you'll be big enough to ride on."
It was true; even though he wasn't fully grown, in a single year, Havoc was longer from head to tail than Aaron was tall. His horns were over a foot long, now, and almost as sharp as his teeth. They curved back slightly, so as not to get in the way of his face, but if he lowered his nose to the ground he could easily use them like spears.
Aaron rose, and turned towards the new girl. Havoc rose with him, and trotted over to Amaya to sniff at her inquisitively. "This is my dog, Havoc. He looks mean, but he's well trained, and a bit softie. He hangs around the dorms most of the time, though this year I should be able to start taking him on missions."
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Warren had never really had a head, or money, for videogames. The books similarly didn't grab him much—libraries were fine, you didn't need to own the books. The mural was what grabbed him though, an image of what was clearly supposed to be what he could be. A stalwart titan of wealth, with his horns gleaming and dangerous, clad in a suit trimmed with gold. Holding a gold coin hovering in his outstretched palm, with an expression of absolute confidence, and control in a situation. Flames licked out from the sides of his mouth. Warren felt, for an instant, that he actually could be that.
He stepped next to his fellow member of Class 2. Apparently the both of them could keep up with the rest of these people, despite what they'd just seen. Aaron he could buy, at the very least—edged weapons didn't do very much to him, and his horns were powerful weapons in their own right. This girl must have her own tricks too then.
"Hey, I didn't introduce myself, I'm Warren." He said, extending a hand to her. "Nice's the closest vibe I can get off her myself, her vibes felt hard to read to me." That tracked, to him. Not only was Aprhodite infamous for being scary and dangerous, but Aphrodite's people, well, Venus's really, were enemies of Moloch's when the god lived in Carthage.
She was petting Havoc, the hellhound, who single handedly finished the job of making her feel at home. “He’s so cute… and being able to ride him into battle sounds so cool.” It was also impressive that he had and was able to care for a dog like this. “What do you feed this guy?”
“Hi, Warren! I’m Amaya.” She gave him a high five in his outstretched hand, not caring whether it should have been a handshake instead. “Maybe. Aphrodite might have been a little too perfect. I don’t know what any of these gods are really like,” she said, a little sheepishly. She was trying not to look too curiously at his horns or the slight glow that seemed to emanate from his mouth. What would it have been like to grow up like that? She might have had a better idea about the existence of the supernatural, but would she have been able to live out in the open? Was he able to live out in the open, or did he have to stay inside at all times?
“You’re one of the new students too, right?” She turned to look at… Havoc’s owner. “Is there anything you think we should know? Also, what’s your name?”
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone
Fwomph
Dorms
Kyn gave out a soft whistle as she stepped back into the dorm commons and let the wave of nostalgia wash over her (as much as it had only been a few months since she was last here). This was the closest thing she had to a home and between it and the heroism that has been conducted through the school, she had a lot of wondrous memories.
"To those who are new to this place, welcome. To those of us who are returning, welcome home."
And then in came bounding in one of the class pets. Kyn smiled broadly and carefully lowered herself down to get closer to eye level with the pupper.
"Havoc! How much you have grown! Soon you will be a strong companion for Aaron, a mighty dog of war!"
Seems like the local huntress is in a good mood now that she's back at school.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Katarina
As the cats surrounded her, Katarina couldn't help but giggle. "Did you miss me?" She shrank down, morphing into a small black cat as she frolicked with the other kitties. A far cry from where she started.
She would have petted Havoc, but being near her always made her nervous. She always had a thing against dogs, but even after meeting Aaron and being in the same dorm with them for a year, she was more skittish around dogs than ever.
Probably a cat thing.
Edited by kkhohoho on Apr 14th 2021 at 10:24:57 AM
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Móirín - Callbacks
Don't get her wrong, Móirín would always be happy to stay in a room like this. But unlike the last time, she actually stopped to look around. She'd managed to spend the entire first year completely ignoring even the mural. About this time last year, she'd fantasized about being fed grapes atop a mountain of corpses. That... had already happened. More than once actually. And naturally, the mural did not depict that past image. She had to go higher. And had to lift others higher too now.
Oh, and technically her whole room could be a boudoir. Her dorm again had her name in the old Irish script, full name this time. And a new title. All in beautiful calligraphy but on a rather plain door this year.
"I think you're laying it on a little thick, Kyn." Móirín said, touching the new door. Technically, she didn't have to come back for 'the good stuff'. She and her own hadn't really wanted for money since she got her gifts. "It is good to be back."
For the moment, she leaned against her door, watching the newly grown Havoc trot behind Aaron. That was as good an excuse to hang out in the entrance as any. Móirín didn't plan on just vanishing again or giving the newbies the impression that she was completely unapproachable but... well, people watching on her dorm door would do for now. 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
"Amaya, got it." Warren repeated after Amaya and nodded. "Aphrodite caused wars, back in the day. But ah..." Warren thought back to the cremated children he'd read were found at sites of Moloch's worship. "Glass houses."
He waved at the dog, trying to not be too unfriendly, kept his distance. He didn't want to overwhelm the good boy and catch a horn. It'd be a whole thing and he didn't want to cause a fire when they were supposed to be moving in. Aaron probably caught on that Warren was lighter and less solid than he should be when they shook hands, but explaining the exact nature of his anatomy was an unnecessary bore.
"Excuse me, just going to check out my own room." He slipped past, over to the one labeled as Warren Nasir. His door was designed to look like his name was embossed on a coin, wreathed in fire. Ten elephants ringed the outside, which took him a second—elephants, like Hannibal's armies. Like Moloch's fingers. Little bit overdesigned, but he was sort of into it. Ginsberg's poetry was the manifestation most people would know Moloch for; to ignore it would be, well... ignorant. Warren turned the knob and was about to duck, before he noticed that the door was tall and wide enough to accommodate his horns! "How bout that." He said to himself, and just peeked inside.
The first thing Warren noticed was that the bed was also sized for horns, with extra space past the pillow to accommodate him. The rest of the room had exposed brick on the walls, one window, a desk, and heavy carpeting—a warm hollow of peace and quiet like he'd have wanted. Not a hideout or a temple for a golden god, thankfully. He sighed and dipped back out.
"What kinda stuff'd you get in your room?" Warren asked, looking over at the classmate who'd hung around her own door, with the weird Irish script. "I don't know much about your sphere of mythology, I'm more uh, mediterranean, levantine."
Breath of the Sun
Aaron
"I feed him meat, mostly. He's big 'cause he's some kinda divine beast. He was a gift from my dad." Aaron was still smiling, though the thought of his father soured him somewhat.
That, and Kat's reaction. He knew it was just an instinctive thing, but he still felt bad every time he saw her edge away from Havoc. Havoc, for his part, gave Kat an inquisitive look, but was too busy being pet by Amaya to focus on anything else.
"We actually all got gifts from our parents last year, so you guys might get something too. Unless you already got yours." Aaron looked over the new kids nameplates before looking back to his old one.
It had changed, slightly; it still bore his name etched into bronze above crossed spears, and his name was still flanked by the image of the twin warriors Phobos and Deimos, his half-brothers. But now, beneath it, was the stylized image of a snarling dog's face, from which protruded two horns.
Aaron couldn't help but smile at the addition. That, and at Kyn's over-eagerness. Havoc barked happily at Kyn, before licking her nose. Evidently, he recognized her as family.
"Yeah, he'll be a killing machine in no time." He gave Kyn a smirk. "Maybe I'll let you borrow him for your hunts, ey cousin? You could teach him how to track scents."
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
Auditorium
Kyn tried her best to not give her mom a wave; she was after all trying to maintain an air of mystique and 'who might be this girl's divine parent' to herself. But when the puppers (a term that I theorize only Kyn would ever use for such twisted creatures) turned up, she couldn't resist getting into the fray quickly.
"Aha! Look at these good good spirits!"
Kyn did not bring her main weapon to this little orientation party (that might have made the guessing too easy) so instead she opted to treat this little skirmish session as a chance to utilize the very underappreciated art of leaping into the fray and wrasslin' a monster.
"Feisty one here, wonderful!"
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.