The Coming Darkness

Silver was having a nice time, until suddenly Enki started acting strange. He told her to get away and she got very confused, almost worried. "A-Are you alright?..."

Before she knew it he saw Enzo and pushed her away. With the red flame on his head she got a bit frightened and backed up a few steps. Isn't that...
She saw Enzo take the hit head on, but didn't worry about him. She knew he'd be okay. After the smoke cleared, there he was, standing ready to fight, like she knew he would.
It seems that feeling she had earlier was right. She figured she should probably start listening to those feelings again.

Maya came up to her and asked her to leave with her. She turned to Maya and spoke, seeing the worry in her face. "I.. Let's just back up a bit... I want to see what happens." As dumb as that sounded, she really didn't want to leave Enzo alone with Enki, even if she figured he would be okay.

Sasha was shocked by the sudden turn of events. " What the hell?" She yelled, looking towards first Enki, then Enzo, " What's going on here?"

Enki seemed to be possessed by something, though Sasha wasn't sure what. He also seemed to be attempting to attack the others. Sasha drowned when she heard Enzo's next phrase, " Y'should know me well enough to know that I don't run away from fights, Enzo," she muttered, looking around the room for any water she could use.

There!

Sasha eyed the water cooler, where frozen water and ice laid. She immediately willed it to come towards her, and the water snaked around Sasha's body, as if it were ready to attack on her command.

Seeing Enki's sudden rage, the more powerful students attending prom got themselves ready to battle. They were all mixed with different kinds of magic. "Oh?" Enki realized he was surrounded by the mages, and laughed a little. They all charged in on Enki. They got within striking range, and then was blown by an unknown force. The students flew everywhere, hitting the ceiling, the walls, and even going through some of them. The next two people to stand in Enki's way was Red and Kyoya, members of the security team.


"Looks like we have a trouble maker." Kyoya unleashed his tonfas from his box, and his purple flame appeared. Red readied himself by summoning his sword from the ground. "Enki, why?" Red asked him. "Shut the fuck up." Enki replied. Kyoya didn't do any talking, he charged straight for Enki. The first swing the security team leader made, was blocked with one arm. Enki then kicked him in the stomach, sending Kyoya skidding back 20 feet. Red grabbed his sword, and prepared to fire a beam of red energy. He pointed his sword at Enki. Whoosh. "Huh?" Red looked to his side to see Enki to his side, inches away from him. "You look tense." Enki said, grabbing his arm. He tightened his grip on Red's arm, and awful sound of bones snapping was heard. Red screamed in pain, and eventually, off came his arm. "Ughh....AAARGH!!" Enki had ripped it clean from his body, and blood was being sprayed everywhere.

"Fucking weak." He said to Red, as he collapsed on the floor. "Red!" Enzo couldn't stand it anymore, he took off, heading for Enki. "Enzo.. What a fool."

http://i45.tinypic.com/29egf7p.jpg


"Your flames are crying, Enzo."

A giggle escaped her lips when Volitaire came to sneak up behind her. "You think so?" It was a relief, that he hadn't gone and left because she was late, and that he actually thought she looked good.

Eos was about to take his hand, but before she could even get her first dance - the night took a turn for the worse. "Oh, no... What's happening?" Peering over Volitaire's shoulder she watched in awe as the scene unfolded before her eyes.

What was once a beautiful and romantic sight was now a blood soaked battlefield. In a panic, she watched Volitaire transform himself into a fierce warrior. His sheer power was almost frightening, but she was thankful it was aimed at a beast such as Enki. She didn't know Red very well, but seeing him go down in such a painfully gruesome way was horrible.

Eos wanted to use her defensive and healing powers to help, but everyone was urging her to stay back and get far away from this place. But she couldn't leave these people alone, these were... her friends. "I... I need to help!" She wished she could find JD, she had never fought alongside anyone else but him.

Volitaire saw Enzo headed for Enki. With the little control of himself he had left he knew he shouldn't intervene just yet. He then decided to take Eos elsewhere, he carried her and warped them both back to JD, who he left Eos to. "Leave." His voice was low and echoed, he gave a short look at Eos before leaping into shadows and going to combat Enki with Enzo.

"Leave."

Reaching forth she watched Voltaire disappear before her eyes. "Wait - no!" She was frustrated, scared and confused. How could he expect her to leave so easily? What if someone else got as badly injured as Red, she'd never let herself live with it if she just ran away like a coward. "JD, we need to help them!" Her eyes pierced into her brothers, knowing that a request such as this was near impossible to be granted.

" Che. " The word flew out of her mouth as she watched Red's arm rip from its shoulder. Sasha couldn't help but grin a little; Enki was strong. Unfortunately, she didn't have the holy water with her to heal him, but she trusted that Eos would be able to try and heal people.

Instead of concentrating on the wounded, Sasha decided to be on the offense. Wih a gesture of her arms, the water split itself into five different humanoid forms, with slight watery wisps that lead to her to her fingers. Sasha sent three humanoids charging at Enki, and left two for self defense.

During the struggle with Enzo, Enki saw the water figures rushing at him. He smirked, and pushed Enzo back with the same unknown force used against the other students. Enzo fell right into one of the water figures, going through it. Thankfully, the water reformed, unaffected. Enzo continued to tumble down the room until he dug his fingers into the ground, stopping it. In the mists of battle, Kenji managed to snatch his hat back. "I'll be needing this." He told Maya as he went over to Enzo. "You can't fight him alone." Kenji told him. "Me and the rest of us will help you." Enzo looked to Kenji and nodded. "Just keep him distracted." Enzo said, before he flew off over the room. Enki saw the water figures coming his way and he charged up another shot in his hand. He already knew physical attacks wouldn't work, but his flame would take care of any element.

Volitaire began distorting matter around his hand again. Preparing a Void spell, he released the wild energy and a large spatial blast fired towards Enki. The ground split and ripples danced around the black blast. Fierce wind was swirling around it as well, anything caught in the vortex revolved around it.

Sasha smirked; he thought he could get rid of her figures with flame? Unless it was incredibly hot, her water would just keep on reforming.

Sasha made one figure's arm turn into a spear, another a sword, and the last, a spiky club. The woman was using half of her power at the moment, and was interested in how Enki would react to her attacks. Sasha drew a circle with her finger, causing all three puppets to attack Enki at once.

Gotta pace myself... she thought, I need to keep my muscles functioning.

Enki saw both the water figures and the black sphere coming. He focused for the black blast first, he fired his red beam of fire at the sphere, making it grow in size, and eventually explode, causing all of the windows, and glass to break. The force itself pushed everyone back to the walls, and deform the water figures near it. while some of the holes in the school opened more. A hole in the ceiling broke apart, showing a clear sky, stars, and.. multiple planets? Once the smoke cleared, Enki saw the opening, and smiled. "Home sweet home." He said calmly. "Hey, you should pay attention." Enzo said from the corner of the room, he was storing flame in one of his fists, a hint that he was about to unleash his own X-burner. Enki smiled. "Enzo.. You would really protect these people.. over me?" "X-Burner." Enzo fired, but Enki moved out of the way just in time for the attack to miss. The beam hit the ground and blasted back anyone close to it.

One moment everything was all sunshine and rainbows and the next JD was witnessing flames erupting out of people’s heads and that douche bag ginger getting his arms ripped off. Then there was Voltaire and Eos perched right next to him, and the dark haired male told them to leave. Of course- they were probably viewed as the weakest link. JD would like to think that he was quite capable of defending himself, but honestly he was quite attached to his arms (literally) and didn't want to test the fates on that. Those eyes glanced at Eos when she begged him to stay so they could help. “Fine- I’ll cover you- heal the ginger’s arm.” He stated firmly. “Then after that we are leaving- now is not the time for this.” Damn all this chaos and dissonance was really messing with his master plan.

JD bolted after Eos- not using his magic just yet. He was assured they were not the target at all, and probably wouldn’t be for some time. About that time he witnessed the ceiling getting ripped open and a massive crash of flames and explosion rocket next to them. JD thanked his lucky stars he had protection against fire- as long as no one started shooting sparks out of their body he was good. “Do hurry- it is getting a bit too apocalyptic in here for my taste.” He the paused and looked about. "Wherever this place is. Hm- E- I don't think we are in Kansas anymore." JD grit his teeth. This was not good.

Volitaire stumbled and saw they were no longer on Earth. "I see...this isn't the school at all!" He grew angrier and quickly moved over to Enki after he dodged the X-Burner. He gripped his clothing and chains coiled him in place. He remembered that unknown force he could blast with, he had a feeling the chains would break from the force but he needed to keep him away from everyone else.

Sasha was pushed back to the wall, but managed to cushion her fall by using the remaining figures. She looked at the sky, surprised, " Where the hell are we?"

She shook her head, it wasn't time to be confused about that right now. Sasha reformed the water, only this time, she didn't make puppets, instead, the water reformed into a whip that she was able to use. Sasha got up onto her feet again, just as the X Burner fired, and sent her hurtling back. She had to use the same technique to cushion her fall, " Godammit, Enzo, get yourself together. "

Sasha jumped back up to her feet, and rushed towards Enki, this time, having the water formed in little balls all around her. She froze the first five balls, shaping them into small arrows, and fired at Enki.

She had little to no time, once JD gave her the go ahead, she sprinted alongside the walls to get to the severely injured Red. An explosion set off, sending her into the wall, but only knocking her off track slightly before she ran off again, falling to her knees beside Red. "I'm going to help you." She closed her eyes when she felt the windows and walls begin to shatter around her. The illusion was collapsing around them - but there was no time to worry, no time to panic.

Everyone else was doing their best to defeat Enki - or whatever Enki had become, Eos had to play her part, even if it wasn't in her best interest. Even if it would upset Volitaire.

Closing her eyes, she summoned her most sacred healing magic. Eos would be able to save his arm, heal the wound and stop the bleeding, but he wouldn't be able to use the arm for a few days even if it appeared completely better. It seemed Red was slipping in and out of consciousness, so she focused her power best she could - otherwise he would bleed out. A glowing golden light began to shine along Red's shoulder, the severed limb reattaching itself in place - not without leaving a massive scar where he was put back together.

Enki grabbed the chains that were coiled around him, and used it to swing Volitaire over towards the ice arrows, using him as a shield. "Don't any of you get it? I'm too strong for any of you!" Enki burned the chains that wrapped around him. There, he saw Sasha charging towards him with a water whip. "Mm, water benders." He smirked. He gave her a wicked grin, he was hoping she would get within melee range of him.

Enki felt the end of a gun barrel against the side of his head.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2z40mm9.jpg

"Die." Kenji pulled the trigger, and blasted Enki through the side of the fake Sorcerers building.

Volitaire sprouted his wings and skidded on the ground, the wings helping him take to a halt. He watched Kenji blast Enki through the fake Sorcerers. "Good. I at least kept him diverted the best I could. I can't beat someone like him, just yet." Volitaire was unaffected by the chains being used to throw him. "Also...he went through a complete personaliy change. Does being here encourage some sort of split personality? Or was he overtaken, like Void did to Red? It's strange, but who knows, this isn't even our planet." Volitaire returned to normal. He felt he should stop using his power, it does sap him of his own magic. Keeping to his thoughts he remained quiet.

Where in the nine hells were they? JD thought as he glanced about. Everyone was trying their hardest against Enki and whatever was currently controlling him. He said he would watch the boy- but honestly the transition had happened so quickly that he couldn’t have done anything to warn them otherwise. So now he was standing in front of Eos and Red attempting to make sure that no one side-swiped his sister. JD breathed deeply and calmed his senses and began to dig deep for his power- so that if something impacted him negatively that he could shift at a moment’s notice.

“Well this is getting just down right fucked. No matter what happens- I wonder how the hell we get back.” JD’s strength wasn’t sensing magic or breaking through it or even casting it for that matter- but he had spades in other areas. Currently though he was just trying to figure out what was going on. “E- done yet?” Pause. “Now?” Another pause. “Now?”

She halted just as the gunshot echoed throughout the building. Sasha furrowed her brows, and stared at the side of the building, unsure of what to do next. She needed to be ready.

Her brow twitched as her brother pestered her as she was trying to continue focus. She didn't speak aloud, but she answered in her mind 'No!' every time. Once she could sense the would was completely sealed, she quickly halted her spell. "Done!" Finally exhaling her breath, she tried her best to steady her gasps - that took a lot out of her.

"I hope he is okay..." Her eyes scanned the boy before hearing the ear shattering sound of a gunshot. Her eyes widened as she watched Enki blast through the wall. Was it over?

Maya leaped over beside Kenji, looking out the hole in the building. She took a look around, up, and back to the hole, where Enki was nowhere to found. "Hahah," she laughed unsettlingly, "what have we gotten ourselves into?" She decided that if they were going to go outside, she would be the first to go. Maya haphazardly leaned her head out of the hole in the building and looked around, trying to sense something, and frustratedly leaned back in when she realized she couldn't. She looked over to Eos. "I didn't realize you were a healer. ...Is Red completely fixed up?"

Volitaire watched where Enki was blasted. But from nowhere Montesque appeared next to him. "Volitaire, have you enjoyed your festivities?" Volitaire turned his head. "How did you get here?" "That will be explained later. I will act as your doorway out. As I did with Aurora." Montesque raised his hand forward and a temporal rift opened, showing a fast forward relapse of everything that has happened before the events of the Prom. The rift expanded and looks as if it engulfed the entire realm they were in, after which a a blue light shone and dissipated, all attendees of the Prom were transported to the front of Sorcerers. "Volitaire. Be ready. Tomorrow morning we begin." He again vanished into his Temporal seal, leaving Volitaire alienated away from everyone else. Volitaire looked down and figured now he should speak to JD, and tell Eos he was sorry about what happened.

"No, this is the same planet.. Just a different realm.. This is the Gaze." Kenji said, lowering his guard. The hole Enki had been shot through showed a lot of trees. it looked to be a.. forest?

http://i48.tinypic.com/jrac1l.jpg

Enzo lowered himself down to the ground. "The Gaze..?" Strange light seeped in through the hole in the wall, and the fierce Enki's presence is faint. Did he run? Then, he quickly sensed someone familiar. "Montesque?!" But as he shouted, the man disappeared. Doorway out? What does mean?

Meanwhile, Red was coming back to his senses, he saw Eos and JD over him. "W..what happened?" Was all he managed to say.

It seemed as if Enki had been taken care of. Once again JD had narrowly avoided conflict, or broadly avoided conflict- whichever- he had managed to stay out of the world-altering battle. Now that just left the question to where they were. Before that was asked- or answered for that matter- he found himself glancing back at Red’s magically sutured arm. Maya seemed interested as well- she sauntered up and glanced over Eos’s handy work. “E is not A healer, but THE healer.” He stated while wiggling his eyebrows to emphasize the point.

As the wall crumbled away it showed some odd forest scene and JD squinted. “Let me reiterate that point I made earlier. Kansas- we are not in it anymore.” He sighed.

His eyes flicked down and he glanced at Red as the other awoke. “E stuck your arm back to the rest of your body. Amazing right? She is talented like that. Do you need some help? I can carry you around if you do.” It was then he glanced around. “So chaps- ready to venture into the great outdoors? Or plausibly get somewhere with a lavatory- I have to relieve myself like no one’s business and I don’t quite trust the magical bushes; might contain magical snakes which in turn might be magically dangerous. And if we have learned anything from our fail-prom it is that magic hurts. Doesn't almost-one-armed-ginger?”

About to speak, Eos was cut off by her maybe not - so eloquent brother. Even though the red headed boy wasn't known for his kindness, she couldn't let him suffer. "It may look better, but you still need time to heal... don't go using it." She couldn't help but smile at him, relieved that he was alright.

Coming to her feet, she looked at Maya. "Don't listen to my brother, I'm not amazing... I have yet to fine tune my abilities, this is simply what I was naturally gifted with." She felt nervous now that everyone knew what she was made of. Would they mock her for not being able to cast any offensive magic?

"Is it safe to go out there...?" She asked, cautiously keeping still.

"Safer than staying in here." Maya thought out loud. She took a full step outside, not sensing anything dangerous. She walked slowly up to the tree, putting a hand on the trunk before a thought struck her. "I can't sense Ryuu anymore." She ran her hand down the trunk, strange dust particles filling the air and refracting light as they fell. She looked back at the hole in the wall expectantly before walking back.

Kenji nodded towards Eos. "It is." It seemed like he knew what he was talking about. Sounds of wildlife were heard outside. Enzo had changed back to his normal self, and was grunting. Taking that blast head on wasn't a good idea, it took a good deal out of him, even if it didn't look physical. "H-how do we leave?" Enzo asked him. "T-through one of the 7 entities. They can open the.. portal." Red sat up, and thanked Eos. "You're not so bad after all."

She stepped outside, not knowing what to say.

The Gaze...

The Gaze...

The name repeated itself inside Sasha's head, turning itself over and over again.

The Gaze is where the souls of dead people go...

Suddenly, a burning sensation ripped from Sasha's left eye, spreading across her body. She let out a yelp of surprise, but quickly silenced herself, biting her lip.

Can't let them find out..

The burning continued, but Sasha ignored it, or at least, tried to ignore it. It felt like the left side of her face was on fire.

Montesque held his spell in place and noticed everyone had the urge to explore. He called off the Temporal rift and decided to take his leave. "I'll be waiting." Montesque left. Volitaire stood and watched everyone looked around. He wasn't too interested with this place and was worried there were other entities that were even stronger than what Enki was. He took his seat and a large root on a tree and kept to himself. Seeing Montesque again made him think of the near future.

After a moment or so of hesitation, Eos took hold of JD's hand and began to walk. She wanted to explore, being a curious girl by nature, but due to the recent events she wanted to make sure her brother was kept close. She hadn't realized it before, but not knowing where JD was in a time of peril was rather awful.

"It's cold here." A strange breeze blew through her body, making her shiver. The dress wasn't doing a good job protecting her from the eerie atmosphere.

It was blatantly apparent that everyone knew a lot more than he did about magical places, their formation, and how to deal with them. Honestly JD wasn’t well versed in these lessons and failed to take part in the explanation of where they were and how it adversely affected how to get home.

It was alright- as per the usual- no one really spoke to him or otherwise acknowledged his existence. Eos seemed fine, and everyone was quite happy to congratulate her on the use of her magic. He was about to head off when she grabbed his hand and seemed intent on exploring. Those lips let out a taut sigh and he just let himself be drug away by her. “Well- this is confusing- to say the least. What did they say about the Gaze earlier- honestly- I didn’t think it was too very interesting and so I didn’t pay attention. Yes yes I know- bad JD.”

About the time Eos shivered- JD unlaced himself from her and peeled his jacket off. He gingerly laid it over his sister’s shoulders before taking her hand again. Probably not the most masculine thing to do, but considering all their realm jumping he didn’t want to get separated from her.

Enzo hopped out of the hole, landing into the mysteriously glowing grass and trees. This place felt familiar to him, yet he had no idea where he was. Kenji came in after Enzo, still in his adult form. "Kenji, you're still.." "My curse doesn't work in the Gaze." He said sternly. Sasha's yelp caught the attention of Enzo. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked her.

" Che, I'm fine," Sasha replied, wincing a little. Her eye still burned, and she didn't expect it to stop any sooner. Sasha began to walk forwards, stumbling a little bit, " Guh...."

"Enzo, help the poor woman out." "What do you think i'm trying to do?!" Enzo sighed, and turned back to Sasha. Without asking, he tried his best to try and help her catch up with everyone else. "We'll get Eos to look at those wounds for you." He said.

Red looked around the forest, and pointed down a certain direction. "There is a path over there." Red said. "We should follow it."

Smiling at her brothers kind gesture she stepped down from the illusion into The Gaze, following behind everyone else. Her eyes widened as they scanned the unknown realm around her. It was amazing, nearly breathtaking. She was so caught up in looking above her, she didn't notice the branch that poked out and caught hold of the front of her dress, tearing it as she tugged away. "Ah~" Looking down she blushed, attempted to cover with JD's coat, hearing her name from Enzo.

"Do you need help Sasha?" It was strange, she couldn't sense any real wounds coming from her. Where was the pain coming from? "I have a spell that works much like a common pain reliever. It won't do anything to heal you, but it will ease your discomfort..."

Volitarie got up and decided to follow behind everyone. Even though he was cautious of the Gaze, he was also interested in how the place was laid out. It was beautiful...even though they were lured here and then attempted to be murdered. That still bothered him. Closely following behind, listening to Red's instruction he noticed Sasha was in pain. He wasn't a healer, the only way he could was to trade his life force with another. That would then hurt him...and he didn't want to have Eos focused on healing him. But it didn't matter anyhow, Enzo already got Eos to do the job.

The corners of Maya's mouth were curved slightly up. She was happy that they had a healer now. With everyone, their group was complete. The only other ability that they might have needed was someone who could be a tank for the rest of them, very good at distractions and taking lots of damage. She followed behind Kenji, trying to make it seem as if she wasn't following him so closely. He was her 'date' still, and with everything that had just happened, her mind was still uneasy. She looked at Sasha, and, even though she was grateful for her help, still wasn't sure if they were compatible as friends. She spoke again. "I can't believe what happened. At all. I expected something to happen, but not... that."

Juice Girl- Sasha- seemed to have received some wounds or something of that sort in their past battle, and needed medical attention. Or at least this what JD deduced as Eos wandered away from him. He glanced at the path that Red pointed out, and honestly he wanted to follow it but he didn’t want them to speed ahead of Sasha and the rest. “Maybe I’ll go scout- eh? Sound good? Anybody want to go with me? I mean not too far ahead like ‘get lost in the woods and murdered’ far ahead, but maybe take a bit of a look around in case there is danger up the road. I’m almost-practically danger-proof.” He then smirked. “And sexy to boot.”

Sasha shook her head, " I said I'm fine..." But clearly, the girl was not fine. She had begun to perspire, and now, her whole body felt as though it was on fire. Sasha instinctively touched the eye patch, which was burning hot to the touch.

Volitaire had walked up to JD, he didn't want him to go out alone. "I'll go, I wouldn't want you getting hurt by yourself. Or anyone.." There was a lot of worry in his voice. It was even more worse that JD had saw him use a Virus that was experimented inside him when he was younger. He felt that now that JD thought he was some deranged individual.