Solomon Academy: Void Stars

Dorms

Grim smiled. "To me, you're a nice person who is true to themselves. I can't give much advice, but I can say you should believe in yourself. All I saw earlier, honestly? I saw Setsuna. You say you're an Oni, right. Well, then you're an Oni. Nothing more to it than that. I don't know if this is the best advice I can give. I'm not a psychiatrist. I'm just a silly guy who has a bone for an arm. That said, I do see lots of people who do want to be your friend, or already are, really. Oh, and if it makes you feel any better? I like that scary angry look. It's really cute." He giggled a little, quite happy to be so open with another person. "Speaking of friends, do you want to join them? We could play some fun games or watch something, or whatever works, really~"

Alice

She smiled politely at what seemed like Axel's attempt at a joke. "No problem."

After a moment had passed, Alice said, "Sorry to hear. About the news getting dropped on you, I mean. It'd be a lot to handle."

"I grew up knowing that, uh, something wasn't quite right. Had to talk to a scholar from the 1200s to get the whole story."

She put the teacup aside. "Books and things are more my natural state than fighting, I guess. Easier to wrap your head around."

Setsuna

"C-cute?"

Setsuna blushed. She'd heard a lot of things about her looks, but no-one said she was cute. Strong, sure. Maybe beautiful. But never cute.

"U-uh, arigato!" Y-you're cute too..."

She turned away in embarrassment. "U-uh, that is, you are cute? But not that cute... "(I mean, you are, but most people wouldn't come out and say it because they're cowardsfuck this is embarrassing...)

She shot up, turning big and red and strong, more angry at herself than anything. "U-um, forget I said anything? You want to play some shogi? We could throw in some drinks too. Long as you don't tell anybody..."

Dorms

Grim stretched a bit. "Well, you could say it's an acquired taste. I mean, I dated a Bone Ooze a while back, after all. They were quite the cuddler. I went through a looooot of Milk." He giggled a bit. "But getting back on task, while I don't drink, I think games sound fine. Never heard of Shogi, though. How do you play?"

Grim scratched his chin. "I guess I should explain better. What people would call scary I would call cute. That, and stuff like horror is more wholesome to me. It's kind of odd, I admit. I mean, the horror movies you'd see with things like Frankestein's Monster... well, that's kind of a normal day for me. In fact, something like a Zombie Apocalypse is not odd to me, until the shotgun comes out. Now that's scary." He gave off a visible shudder when he said the word shotgun.

Edited by Irene on Dec 24th 2022 at 5:52:33 AM

Axel managed to rub his neck for a second. He looked at her, a bit surprised.

"Boy, that must have been a story" He said, blinking a bit.

"Well, I am good at fighting, at least," He said Can't stop getting in brawls, anyways "If you want, I can help you with that" He mentally slapped himself. Smooth, dude.

"Need to get the history straight, anyway"

Lucifer's Office

Olivia really needed a moment after all the business in what may have literally been a moment of time travel to Paris a week ago was done, but after she re-centered she nodded slightly before realizing she should be acting a lot more badass after that.

"I can hold more than one desire in my head, but yeah; we have an understanding Morningstar."

And with that, Olivia tried to do her best power-strut into the dorms.

The Dorms

"Oi, Setsu!?"

Olivia shouted as she re-entered the hub of the dorms, taking a moment to look at the gathering of card players and flash them a smile before wandering deeper looking for the target of her oncoming question... And also, just subtly, the door to the dorm room she completely neglected to use last night but was now keenly aware was likely set aside for her.

"Did you have a family member up in France last week?"

Setsuna

"O-oh! Shogi is, um, it's complicated? There's a lot of rules and different steps and pieces. Half the time we flip or smash the table before learning everything, but it helps broaden the mind? There's maybe arm wrestling, but I don't want to break your bones or anything..."

She searched the shelves, looking for a proper set. She wasn't sure the school had shogi, but it was worth a look.

"...b-but I don't mind that stuff either? The monster stuff I mean. Us oni are monsters anyway? So what's scary to most people isn't scary to us. If there's a rotten corpse, that's an easy meal. Not that we don't appreciate what other people consider cute? I mean, most of us don't, but I do maybe? B-but that doesn't mean you're not cute..."

She was getting somewhere when Olivia rushed in. She didn't know what she was yelling about, but it didn't make her less flustered.

"H-huh? Uh, no, I don't think so? If anyone else left the village, they didn't tell me..."

This was bad. Setsuna thought she was the only one who'd left. Were they looking for her? She'd been gone a couple weeks, but she didn't leave on the best of terms. Maybe it was someone from another village? That was possible, but it didn't make things easier. She didn't want some random oni to show up and ask stupid questions...

"...w-wait, what were you doing in France? Is France a real place? I've never been to France, I don't think..."

Alice

Alice blinked a little, surprised by Axel's offer.

"Oh! Um, yeah, yes please. That would be really appreciated, actually, thank you."

She looked toward the dorm room door as Olivia entered with a shout, before turning back to Axel.

"I can help with the history stuff too, if it helps. Though don't feel you have to say yes," she added.

Dorms

Grim giggled a bit, quite happy that he saw her happy again. "Hey, no worries. Maybe I'll get the game, maybe I won't. Just trying is fun enough. And yeah, you'd easily break my arm. ...And not so much in a funny fashion." He took a moment... and removed the arm, flailed it around, and reattached it. "Basically it only matters if it's not a joke. I like to call it a 'Humor Bone Ability'. I am aware of the fact it's already a joke."

He noticed Olivia. "Oh, hey again. Sorry for leaving while you were speaking. ...Wait, what about France? And yes, it's a real place. I got a cousin over there. Sadly the birds don't like him as he likes watching them..." Grim was pretty vague, but hey, nobody asked for more details yet~

The Part Of The Dorm Setsuna And Grim Are At

"Okay so firstly heya Grim. Secondly, Satan time traveled me to France a week ago—"

She stopped herself.

"Or put up an extremely convincing illusion of Paris a week ago. Anyways it was to see how I'd react to danger but more importantly for you there was another oni there! I mean, I think it was an oni? Looked pretty similar in the general whole—"

Olivia reached out her hands as though she was about to do the 'this' gesture towards Setsuna before realizing that it might either be not entirely recognized as such or just considered a bit rude.

"Yaknow, vibrant skin tones and horns and a preference for blunt melee weapons. That sort of deal."

"Then I'll do my best to help you then" Axel said. Might be a tough process, but if at least he can help her get moving properly, at least they can think how to incorporate her powers later.

"I don't feel like I have to, but this is a pretty good offer and it'd be a pity to let it go away, really" He tried to joke, even if he flinched at how that sounded.

Leon

Leon nodded at Merlon's words. The fact that Olivia was called to a teacher's office is quite concerning, more so since it's the Devil that called her, but he supposed there's nothing to do about it now but wait.

Not that it took too long, as Olivia returned and began chatting with Grim and Setsuna about her experiences.

"France, seven days ago, huh?" Leon remembered that there was something major happened in that time and place. His attempts at astrology when he was preparing for school revealed that much. Unfortunately, his ineptitude meant that the what was frustratingly vague.

Leon tried asking his brother about it, but Cyrus...

"Don't worry, it's not going to be your problem up until it is. Ask your friends about it."

Cyrus was as cryptic as always.

"Did Lucifer show you anything of interest outside of the oni?"

Edited by drearyArchon on Jan 7th 2023 at 7:25:24 PM

Alice

"I guess we have a deal, then. I'll try to do my best as well. Like you said, it'd be a pity to let the opportunity pass. So thanks, again."

Alice picked up her teacup and finished the rest of it. She felt relieved to have help with classwork, even if it probably involved sparring.

"Oh, also, I was wondering," she added, "who's your divine ancestor? Sorry if that's too personal, I was just curious."

"Awesome" Axel said, more calmly, at least he'll get some help in the matter.

He needed to get the plans for a good training regime, though. Might need to give some fitness reading.

But then, there was another question, snapping him out.

"Oh, my ancestor? No problem, it's Thor" He said, with a shrug. "How about you? If you don't mind"

The Dorm

"Oh nothing much. Just a whole-ass Outer Being that I shot in the face. Sure it wasn't like a one-hit kill but I still feel like I contributed."

Olivia chuffed a little and did a little finger gun as though that reenacts her little adventure into the past.

"Well, I mean if it was actual time travel. If it was an illusion then oh well no harm done. Anyways, I'm gonna drop my stuff in my room, maybe grab some supper and then it's off to bed for me."

Giving a wink at the fact that everyone likely had a thousand and one questions that Olivia was not going to answer right now, she stepped away from the clusters of people and started looking for a plaque with her name on it. And find it she did: a plain little steel nameplate upon a door, bearing only an engraving of a sword for decoration.

Olivia's Room

Compared to some other rooms in the dorms, Olivia's was practically plain. No big adornments or decor that screamed a divine connection, just blank walls, pale blue carpet and some wooden furniture that lent the place at least a little contrast and warmth. The room felt cozy in that way and perhaps even safe. That was more than could be said of most places Olivia had slept the past two years, so stepping into this space that was hers and secure was a kind of contentment she hadn't really considered possible with her quest incomplete. It helped, of course, that the bed looked extremely comfortable and there was just one piece of decoration.

On a side table near the door was a shadow-box frame, within which had been arranged multiple fractured shards of gold (almost like feathers) and alabaster (could swear it was faintly luminescent) and a single crumpled bullet at the center of the arrangement.

Olivia knew what she was looking at practically immediately and smiled broadly to no one in particular as she tilted the trophy back and forth to see how the light caught pieces of it. With that last bolstering of her resolve in place, she shucked her oversized and overpacked jacket onto the bed and let the physical lifting of weight off her shoulders coincide with the mental one. For now, she was home; fulfilling her goals could come in due time.

Dorm

Well, it went without saying(ha) that Grim learned a bit about a new game a bit later, but before that...

He went wide-eyed at hearing the talk about Olivia's gun. His jaw dropped to the floor, detatched. Luckily he didn't curl up, but Grim pretty much became a ghostly statue.

Slaying Class

Days passed for the students in a wave of further training with either Sun Wukong or Isis, pushing them to develop skills in combat or further understanding of their innate divine abilities. It would no doubt come as a surprise for the students when Lucifer announced that they would be starting a new class that day.

"While I am sure you have been enjoying your last two classes so far the next one is going to be rather more...hm, challenging in certain ways. Your teacher is one of the best on the subject matter so there shouldn't be any trouble in learning, but should other issues arrive you are more then welcome to seek me out." with that said the fallen angel opened a doorway to their next class. "Good luck."

Their exit from the homeroom into the new classroom was like stepping out of the modern day into a past era, the floor being a soft and pure white sand rather then cold linoleum and sort torches giving off light. To add to the odd design a number of different trophies hung on the walls, grim creatures whose faces had been forever frozen in their death masks. There were also no chairs or desks for the students.

"Right and wrong," a voice echoed throughout the room. "Good and evil, us and them." the various shadows along the walls began to seemingly move in lock step, forming before the students eyes into a tall and well dressed man, easily seven and a half feet of pure muscle with eyes that shone with both kindness and a sort of power that couldn't quite be explained. "Under father sky there are an uncountable number of reasons to fight, but at times you must remember to teether yourself to mother earth, simplify things down to their core. 'I fight because I want to. I fight because I hate to see others hurt. I fight simply to move and experience.' None of these are any worse then other reasons that people might find right."

The man motioned for the students to find a place to sit or stand amongst the soft sand under their feet before sitting himself. "My name is Glooscap, and unlike many of the teachers who you have met so far I was once like yourselves, born with blood of the divine and tasked with protecting those around me. Now I am, somewhat more then I once was." he laughed, as if declaring himself as a god was no more interesting then talking about a favored food.

"From Sun Wukong you will gain skills and strength to fight. From Isis you will learn how to draw out the power of your divine blood. You will have many teachers during your time here, but my class is special in that my end goal isn't to make you stronger. It is to help you learn to kill."

He let those words hang in the air for a moment before speaking again. "That word no doubt holds a heavy meaning in your minds, as it should. Outer Beings are malicious to the life of this world, of that there is no doubt. If they weren't they would pass our world by or become a part of it." he closed his eyes. "I understand some of you may have your doubts, after all while some of you do come from a background more engrained in mythology only a small few likely know of the Outer Being's, beyond what you have heard from those of us here."

He gave a kind smile to the class. "So for this time, ask what you want to know. No question to grand or small about what you will be asked to face, and I shall answer."

Hikari Mochizuki

Here they were, a new class and teacher. Hikari eyed the trophies around the room in curiosity, imagining what they must have once been attached to. She liked this place, it was comfy, and the sandy floor was a nice natural addition to contrast the other classrooms. When their teacher made their entrance, and introduced themselves as Glooscap, she bowed politely in greeting, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"I like you," she told him outright after he had finished his piece, and she sat down cross-legged atop the sand, tilting her head a fraction at the prospect of positing questions. Her lack of reaction towards what was meant to be a severe statement was already telling, and so she decided to just be upfront with what was on her mind. "Teacher... what if I have no strong attachments, and feel no hesitation if I'm meant to kill? Will I be looked down on for it, or is this an advantage here?"

It was probably the most frank she'd been in a while, but this class was right up her alley, and she wanted to be sure if that would be considered a good thing or not by their teacher.

Slaying Class

Olivia was, as per usual, silently soaking in the immediate preamble from the new teacher and the subsequent bombshell-if-it-wasn't-kinda-obvious remarks from the class' local morally dubious shapeshifting fox.

"Oh, yaknow, I've got a decent question. Are we going to be expected to kill people? Like... No, they probably wouldn't get that... As in people who are influenced by an Outer Being but aren't themselves part of the monster..? Am I making sense?"

Setsuna

Setsuna didn't pay much attention to the classroom. She liked feeling the sand under her feet, but she had other things on her mind. Busting heads wasn't an issue, she knew how to do that. But she couldn't get a handle on magic class. Every time she tried, she ended up drained. She was lucky she could it at all. She knew the reason, but she was no closer to solving it.

And then there was that Oni in France. She knew France was real, but if France was real, then the oni was too. She prayed they weren't looking for her. If they found her, she wasn't sure she could face them. The thought alone gave the willies.

"U-um, I maybe have the same question as Hikari-chan? I mean, it's not like I don't feel bad about it. B-but if someone tells me to kill someone or they're trying to kill me, then I kill them first. I'm not proud about it or anything, but that's how it is... (Maybe we can sit this one out? Don't want to badmouth these fuckers, but if they can't bust some damn heads, that's their problem...)

Axel felt like he was doing some progress with his learning, at least, even if he struggled with making a good training menu, at least to get Alice used to fighting, or get her as sharp and fit as possible to act quickly in a fight. Trying to avoid getting into his level at once. That'd be a recipe for pain.

The class now was... something else, he had to say. As far as he knew, he never really went out for the kill, sure, he might get into a fight with little to no thought, and might have gotten too into the thrill of it but he never really went out with the intent to kill.

"It's gonna be a real downer" He commented.

Leon

"Are there any common traits that Outer Beings tend to share?" Leon asked as he started taking notes. "We were told that they're universally immune to interference from full gods, but are there any other traits like that that we should look out for?]"

Slaying Class

Glooscap listened to each question asked and took a moment to consider before giving any answer. "As for your questions, Hikari and Setsuna, no your drive will not hold you back in the least. And if you worry about being divided from your peers then become the swords of your class that can fall while others hesitate. All are welcome in Solomon Academy, and you will inevitably find your niche."

Olivia's question caused a frown to cross the deities face. "Whenever possible we attempt to ensure that the victims of the Outer Beings are brought in and healed, but I won't deny that there are those creatures who mutate and twist the human form into a mockery in order to attack us. Thankfully the skills and abilities you will gain here will put you on a different level from normal people, and knocking them out from the fight with less lethal means will be a choice."

"Ah, already thinking ahead to the fight I see," Glooscap grinned at Leon's forward thinking. "A few different factors link our foes. The first is that they do not understand humans, what drives them, what they feel, our emotions put us apart from them. Meaning that just as they are unpredictable to us, we are just the same to them. Study what you can of them, and use their lack of understanding as a weapon to bring them down. The second is their ability to warp the world around them, each Outer Being carries a piece of their home inside of them, and the longer they infect our world the more their own will take over."

"Today is about coming to terms with why you have to fight, and thus I will be taking you to one of the more hidden places on this planet. First please take up arms," with a wave of his hand a variety of weapons appeared on various racks before the students. "There is a small chance that we might encounter enemy forces, nothing that I don't believe you can handle but there is always a risk."

Once each student was equipped they would feel the unnerving sensation of their location being shifted, standing not in the soft sands of the classroom but in the warm environment of a jungle teeming with sounds of life. "Welcome to the Amazon Rainforest, a place full to the brim with the energy of Mother Earth," he drew a deep breath in, reaching a hand forward to touch an invisible barrier. "Look around, feel the very life of this place," with a flick of his wrist the barrier disappeared, revealing a sterile land in front of them of metal, odd machines dotting a large area with broken machines as far as the eye could see. "And this, is the remains of what an Outer Being thought was more appropriate." he took a step forward, urging the class forward. The metal beneath their feet was warm despite the cool climate around them, a steady beat of something moving under them. "Explore around, get a feel for the place. Afterward I would like your thoughts on this place."

As the rest of the class moved forward Glooscap put a hand on Grim's boney shoulder. "Except for you young man, there is something I wish to talk to you about regarding what Sun Wukong and Isis have told me about your development."

Marlon

The magician had no questions, of course. He almost seemed bored, fiddling with a deck of cards with one hand while resting his cheek on the other. Yet his expression was a placid smile, giving away no indication of his feelings one way or the other.

When the teacher called up the weapon racks, Marlon summoned a number of smaller blades to himself with a gesture, vanishing them up his sleeves for later use.

While they teleported, Marlon focused on the feeling, the flow of the magic being used. Probably not something he could replicate any time soon, but he worth studying, at least.

Then he blinked, his smile faltering a moment as he observed the ruined land.

He strode across the metal ground, glancing at the ruined machines and pondering their purpose. "Not big on ecological conservation, are they? I'm surprised the Earth is still in one piece if they do this on the reg."

Moving to one of the nearby machines, he ran a gloved finger across it, trying to feel the inside of the thing with his magic. Assuming any magic in these things at all - given the source, he couldn't rule out sufficiently advanced tech.

Hikari Mochizuki

"Interesting," Hikari said in a general fashion; towards the teacher's acceptance and encouragement of her and Setsuna's queries as well as the other developments. Hikari didn't take a weapon, instead merely glancing at the rack and committing a few of the more useful configurations to memory. Once they transported to the Amazon (which Hikari was quickly enthralled by despite the climate, and found herself smiling peacefully) she made sure to extend a blade out from her forearm; which pierced her palm and stuck out a good foot or so as a stabbing implement.

Seeing that there were no active threats around, she hummed to herself and ventured over towards one of the other machines. She leaned her face close to it, sniffed the air, and then pulled back with a pensive expression as she cupped her chin in her palm. After some consideration, she turned her head very slightly towards the others; still keeping her eye on the machine in case it decided to come to life in the meantime.

"The ground's warm. I can detect... vibrations. Either the landscape is active, or there are creatures beneath us," she remarked. "How cruel. Think of all the spirit that's been killed. It's senseless."

She had a mite more attachment to the natural world, as it was where her family had come from. The wilds of nature were untameable—should have been untameable. Yet, here was the most diverse biome in the world devastated by an ignorant-

"Is this a metaphor?" she wondered aloud, her brain shifting gears into theorycrafting as she thought about what kind of Outer Being would do this. She then shook her head, deciding to kneel down and try to slide her sharp implement into the surface of the ground like an injection needle. "Depending how deep this effect reaches, it could be reversible. Destruction refreshes the ground. If there's any life, it's still fighting. That might be what the movement is."