The Coming Darkness

Closing her journal, she sighed. It had been a long day - or was it a long month? Maybe that was why she felt the way she did. Honestly, she was just tired. The comfort of the cool wooden floor made her feel at ease, and so did being able to write out all her thoughts and feelings.

Although she couldn't help lingering on the last thought she had jotted down, even as her eyes began to shut and her head rested on her arms. "Where has Voli gone...?" She had been so caught up in everything she lost track of him after he came out of the portal. Maybe he was mad she went through and didn't stick around to help. Would he think she was selfish?

"Enki, what are you doing?" Enzo's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. "Enki hasn't signed up for the school yet. I told him he could stay here." Kenji replied, in Enki's place. The red haired boy on the other hand poked his head out from the blankets. "How are these covers so clean?" He asked, with an astonished expression "Well," Enzo scratched his head. "I heard they shifted things around in the dorms, they may have given everyone new sheets or something." Enki sat up straight on the bed, his hair messed up. "I see. This is where you reside."

Enzo sighed, and looked back at the boxes contents. He took out the uniform and held it out infront of himself, examining it. "Looks very.. military." "I'll wear it if I have to." At this time, Kenji reached into the box and pulled out the gloves. "And these?" he asked. Enzo turned around and saw the gloves in Kenji's hand. Enzo set down the uniform on the computer chair and got a closer look at the gloves. "They've got..." "A magical presence, right?" Enzo nodded.


After ten or so minutes, Enzo was dressed in the new uniform, and had put on the gloves. He flexed his hand around inside the gloves. "They feel funny." He muttered. Just as he was about to leave, Enki got up and walked over to him. "S-Sky.. I want to hang out, too.." He said, nervously. Enzo turned around and smiled. "Mhm, come on then!" He said as he grabbed his hand and ran out of the dorm with Enki. Kenji couldn't help but smile at the two getting along after a harsh battle. He couldn't do the same about the rest, though.

After a bit, Sasha stood up, coming to a decision. She sighed; this was the toughest decision she'd ever made. Perhaps she would regret it, or perhaps that would be the opposite. Either way, Saha made her way out of her room, and outside of Eos's. she tapped lightly on it, "U-uh, Eos. It's Sasha," she muttered.

Volitaire rolled out of bed, feeling recharged after taking the Tonic Artizle left for him. He knew it was time, and he wish he didn't have to leave everyone out of it. But too many people would be endangered, he couldn't deal with it. But he figured he'd try to see everyone one last time before taking his leave, and possibly not returning. Artizle was still asleep, he was training all night. Doing exercises to keep his shape, leaving him pretty tired. He waved at his door and put a hood-jacket on he found around the laundry room. It was a grey jacket that managed to fit him perfectly. He lost his other suit jacket somewhere in the Gaze from when he had that fake prom. He exited the bunker and saw Montesque already standing there. "How long have you waited?" He said while climbing up and gaining footing. "Nevermind that. You need to help your friend, Silver." "Why is that..?" Montesque kept silent and a large clock-shaped seal, with spiraling cogs on the sides spun and the transported through a rift. Events quickly blowing past them and halting at a forest outside Sorcerers. Montesque pointed over at Silver, on the ground looking a mess. "Silver!" Volitaire shouted while running to her side. As he ran up he noticed a brown haired boy with her. He didn't look like her attacker, but he looked to be helping. He skidded to a stop. "And who are you?"

Silver looked to Voltaire and let out a sigh of relief, which hurt and ended up making her cough up more blood. "Voltaire, thank God, please, tell this guy to leave me alone." Her face became a bit more serious. "And we need to chat, what's this about you up and leaving?" She looked back to the boy standing next to her, who was still very determined to take her back to the school, and rolled her eyes.

"Hm?" She cooed, having already begun to drift off. At first, she became instantly nervous - afraid at whom might be on the other side. But after hearing a familiar voice she smiled to herself. "Come in~." She hadn't spoke since reaching school grounds, and was amazed how the thought of a friend instantly made her mood perk up.

Eos was still beneath bed, not realizing that it would more than likely be considered weird once Sasha noticed.

Volitaire looked up at the boy and narrowed his eyes under his hood. "I'm not sure who you are, but it looked like you helped before I got here. And I thank you. But she needs to get out this forest." He beckoned.

Sasha came in, uncertain about how to act. Never before had she done something as unorthodox as this, coming into a...a 'friend's' room to ask for advice.

Looking around, she found no one. Confused, Sasha called out again, "Where are you, Eos?"

She'd better not be hiding to scare me or something...or avoiding me...What I"m about to ask would make me look like a fool otherwise.

"This is important..." her voice trailed off, as Sasha scanned the room again.

Upon hearing her voice again she realized that she was hidden, "Oh! Apologies, love~." Her speech emanating that lovely British charm. Popping her head out from under the bed she crawled out and came to her feet - brushing off her dress. (She didn't even explain why she was under there, which made it all the stranger)

"Important?" She was a little shocked that Sasha would trust her with something important, but the thought warmed her heart. Eos' perky eyes blinked as she looked up at her, "What can I do for you?"

Enzo and Enki made their way back into the hardened school. Even though everything was different, Enzo still knew his way around. They couldn't have done too much, right? Enzo and Enki found themselves heading to the library. "The library?" Enki repeated out of curiosity. "Yeah, there is a book I found in the G-.. at your place that had a story similar to what situation we're in." Enzo explained, and in no time, they had entered the library. It was alot larger then he imagined, and he wondered how it even fit into the building, there was even a second floor catwalk going around the edges of the room. Aisles of shelves, filled with books, both on magic, and stories.

Enzo and Enki split up at this point, Enki seemingly interested in what history the real world had. Enzo walked down a few of the aisles, looking at anything starting with the letter 'T'. Eventually, Enzo found The Lady and The Book. And this version had an actual cover, with a woman's face on it.

http://i46.tinypic.com/4rvnlk.jpg

So this is Aries...

The girl seemed rather embarrassed about whatever she was going to ask. Scratching the back of her neck, Sasha averted her gaze, thinking this over and over again. Was she really ready to ask this..this kind of...girly question?

"Am...Am I really that masculine, d'ya think?" The words finally slipped themselves out of Sasha's lips, and immediately, she felt regret at speaking them, but continued, "You seem to know a lot about this kinda stuff...would you mind teaching me?"

Almost immediately after the question, Eos burst into a fit of giggly laughter. "Hehe, good one Sasha~!" But, her laughter began to calm as she became aware that Eos was the only one laughing. "Oh... uhm..." She wavered and looked from left to right, feeling like perhaps the question was a loaded one, and the wrong answer would get her in trouble.

After a few moments of deliberating, the blonde answered reluctantly - figuring the truth was the best way to go about answering. "Well, yeah... but that isn't really... a bad thing." Playing with a strand of her hair she looked her over, "Teach you? Like, how to be lady-like?"

The laughing irked Sasha a little bit, was it really that funny? She'd never grown too self conscious of her behavior, and usually stuck it in the back of her mind. Only recently did Sasha realize that she did behave a little bit...on the masculine side.

She sighed, "I suppose so, but I guess...Y'know, since I'm a girl and all..."

Sasha nodded, "Yeah, ladylike, that's it. I just kinda...wanna experience it, or something."

Artur tugs on Silver's arm relentlessly.

"Miss please you need proper medica-"

A man of most unearthly presence jumps out from a cradle of trees. From his attire and face, straight to his attitude sends Artur reeling back in shock.

"OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH," Artur yelps as he falls on his butt. "PLEASE DON'T HIT ME! I'M A DOCTOR! MY BONES ARE FRAGILE!" He raises his arms in front of his face defensively.

He made a annoyed growl and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to hurt you." He takes his hood off and moves the hair out his face. "I'm a friend of Silver's and I'm..a little worked up seeing her like this. Is it possible for us to get her to a safer place, soon?"

His arms lower and he cautiously speaks. "I-I am a medic, I need ... I need to get her to a secured facility so I can further inspect her wounds. The worst is over." He indicates to her leg.

Artur rises and back away from Silver and the man.

'He's still scary..' He mutters in his mind.

Silver glanced between Voltaire and Artur, sighing. "Do I get a say in this at all? I'd really just like to be left alone," she whined.
Remember what I told you~ His voice rang in her mind. He was still nearby, and probably watching her. Her face grew pale. "Fine, fine, take me, come on, let's go. We don't have much time to waste here.."

He picked Silver up off the ground and held her up. He remembered the forest well, the school shouldn't be too far away. But that bothered him a bit, her being so injured and so close to the school. No one would've gathered she's gone and come to find her? Especially with the new regime in play. He put that thought to the back of his mind and started walking towards the direction of the school. Wasn't hard to find, with its size and all. "My name is Volitaire, if you hadn't heard Silver already..." He exhaled a large but quite breath. First impressions wasn't a strength of his.

A librarian, and staff of the school, walked over to Enzo, who was nearly overjoyed when he saw a more recent version of the book. The man was bulky, and well built, despite being a librarian. It was obvious he was in a war of some kind. "Are you going to borrow that?" He asked. His deep voice caught Enzo off guard, and he nearly jumped. "Y-yeah, just for a day." He replied. "That's $25." "$25?! Just to rent the book for a day?!" "Take it or leave it."

Enzo sighed, and reached into his pockets. He was lucky to remember to bring with him his money. He took it everywhere. He handed the librarian $25. It felt like he was selling his soul to the devil. The librarian scoffed and walked off. I remember a librarian generally being nicer... Enzo shrugged, and carried the book with him over to the entrance. There, Enki stood. "Find what you needed, Sky?" Enzo nodded, showing him the book's cover. Enki's eyes opened like blinds on a window. "A-aries!" He stuttered. "Is that what she looked like?" "I don't know, but i'm going to read it once we get back to the dorm. It's getting pretty late, after all."

7:30PM

Artur stands awkwardly while the two leave. It takes him a moment to realize that the creepy man is talking to him.

"Oh! Wait for me! We're going to the school right?" Artur trots behind them and keeps his distance. He wrings his hands occasionally from all the stress of the day.

Volitaire, that's a weird name.

"Careful around her torso it's really bad!"

Silver realized she was a bit more tired than she thought she was when Voltaire picked her up. She leaned her head against him and crossed her arms, huffing in disapproval. "I'm fine, just take me to my bed and leave me there and I'll sleep it off." She really didn't want this new guy to examine her at all, no matter how good he was. "Oh, maybe Eos can help me out? She seems to be good at whatever it is she does. That tea was nice too." At this point she was more thinking out loud than talking to anyone. Though, she had to admit, she was feeling a bit light-headed...

"Eos.." He remembered he needed to speak to her too. It would be terrible if he just ran off without telling her. "If you can point me to her room that'd be fine, Silver. And don't worry umm..I never caught your name, cleric."

"Artur, .. Brother." He adds on as a respectful afterthought

He reties his pouch as he walks.

Volitaire nodded and looked into the direction of the school coming into view as they come towards the treeline. "I'm again appreciative of your help, Artur. If it hadn't been for you, I may be been too late. Couldn't bear to see another friend die."

Silver heard Voltaire ask for directions to Eos's room, and she pointed weakly in the direction of it. "Not too far away from mine.." she mumbled, her words slurring together a bit. She closed her eyes, feeling more tired by the second, but forced them open again for fear of having more nightmares. She really didn't want to see him again, especially not this soon. She fell limp in Voltaire's arms, still conscious and awake, but not fully there.

Artur keeps his mouth shut.

Why is he telling me this?

Making way into the school, hoping he doesn't get booted out, he follows Silver's instructions. It wasn't very crowded in the halls due to it being so late. It felt so different inside Sorcerers now. An uncomfortable different. Going over to the girls dorms he knocks on Eos' door with a bit of difficulty while holding Silver in his arms. He nervously but patiently waited for her to answer. "Artur. Your manna, it's flowing in a very wayward manner. Relax."

By now, Enzo and Enki had made their way to the dorm lobby. "I read the first part while I was at the Inn in Anvil." He said. "Ahh, I read it before, but i've forgotten it.." Then, Enki stops, and soon after noticing, Enzo did too. "Something wrong?" Enzo asked, looking back at him. "Sky.. How much of your memory do you still have?" "I.. don't remember much before my 7th birthday.. Everything is in pieces, like a puzzle."

Artur's large and curious eyes rove every aspect of the building. Such a large concrete structure is foreign to him

"Manna?" Artur tilts his head. "I don't have any manna. At least I don't think I do.. I specialize in herbs and serums."

Perhaps Volitaire meant how much he was sweating. Or maybe he could sense how anxious he was becoming. His brow furrowed.

He chuckled. "I usually relate a persons manna to their outward actions. You just seem too tense...I can see little trickles of sweat and you're shaking a little in your legs. I guess you still think I'm some monster?"