The Coming Darkness

Enzo got dressed after a brief conversation with Kenji. He had no intentions of telling him about Minus Fire. Even though his instincts told him to. He dressed into the new school uniform, and made his way out of his room, and towards the lobby. There, Enki was waiting. "Morning, Sky." He greeted him. Enzo smiled, and nodded at him. "Hey, Enki!" They both joined up with each other, and walked out into the chilly air.

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There, they spotted Maya. "Oi, Maya!" Enzo called out, waving her down with a happy grin.

Silver walked out and saw Enzo, Enki, and Maya. She decided to stroll over to them and say hi, considering they didn't see her yesterday after the incident. She felt lucky Eos was so good at what she did, even though she did have a huge scar on her leg. She realized she was wearing a skirt due to the uniform deal, and pulled it down a bit to hide the scar from them. Even so, Silver definitely felt top notch. She popped in right next to Enzo, who barely even realized she was there.

"Hi everyone," she said with a slight smile on her face.

Curled up as if she were in a fetal position, Sasha had been asleep for the past ten minutes or so. She'd had a rather strange dream last night...

She was having a snowball fight with another boy. Who...she couldn't remember his face. The fight progressed, and Sasha was laughing with the male, who in turn fell, and landed on top of her. Heart pounding, Sasha was pulled by the male, standing close next to him. They were looking at each other, and Enzo seemed to be staring intently at-

Wait.

Enzo?!

Sasha jerked awake in a rush, surprised.

Right...that happened...last night...but we didn't actually...And why...why am I still thinking about this?!

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Just imagine that expression on Sasha, and you'll be all good.

Sasha's cheeks reddened, and her hands reached out to touch them, feeling rather embarrased by the dream, and that strange feeling that had started in the pit of her stomach.

"Argh!" She punched a pillow, unsure of what else to do.

The girl sighed, and got ready, slipping on the new and very uncomfortable uniform, then marching outside the dorms. She saw the group of friends that were walking ahead of her, but since she still felt a bit awkward around Enzo, Sasha decided to lurk in the background.

After being escorted back to her room, she gave her brother a convincing look of calm before closing the door. But as the door came to a close, she let her head press against it and closed her eyes. "Why, JD? Why is this happening?" She was angry, confused and the lingering feeling of falling was still ever present in her mind.

Ever since their parents passed, JD had acquired some kind of split personality. Granted, it only came out on rare occasions - and they don't bother her half as much as they did when she was younger, but they were becoming far more frequent. Always talking about fate, always talking about her being the vessel. None of it ever made sense, and after every encounter with Sleeping Brother she was left with a sick feeling all over.

Attempting to wash off that feeling, Eos took a long hot shower. Afterward, she dressed herself in the new school uniform, buttoning up the last couple buttons. It wouldn't have been so horrible if it was in a different color - she really did hate green. It looked terrible on her, at least in her opinion.

Kicking on her shoes she stepped out of her dorm and headed down the hall, her eyes distant - her face, expressionless. She couldn't stop thinking. All she wanted was a distraction.

JD had no answer for Eos. He honestly wished he could give her one, but his lips always fell silent as he shook his head and kissed forehead in sweet reverence.

As his sister dismissed him- he went back to his own dorm and dressed somewhat in the school uniform. JD had decorated it highly in his own fashion, and honestly it didn’t look at all like one would expect from a militaristic academy. He slowly meandered his way through the halls until he ran across where everyone was meeting at. Immediately he honed in on Silver and approached in his normal fashion as his arm went around her waist and his lips went to her cheek. “So I’m thinking a right proper date tonight: you, me, good food, and the best romantics you have ever seen in your life. You’ll have nothing better to do that turn into a right warm puddle of my affection.” JD jested softly as he leaned into her somewhat possessively. No matter what had happened previously he was Silver’s, and he wanted to make sure that everyone knew that.

Enzo jumped, throwing up some kind of defensive, kung-fu stance at the body that was right beside him. He realized it was Silver and he lowered his guard. "Y..You scared me.." He stated the obvious. Then, JD came over, and purposed a date... A date?! He looked between the two. Were they seriously dating?

"Are you two going out?!" He asked them. Enki stood behind Enzo, with his head lowered, and his lips shut. He stared at the both of them with disappointed eyes, before sighing, and closing his eyes. The drama of the social life. Enki hummed in his mind.

Silver giggled when Enzo jumped but stopped when she felt an arm around her waist. She felt a kiss on her cheek and then that familiar voice spoke again. She blushed a bit, not really wanting to let everyone in on the events that took place in her room last night. "U-Um, well.." She paused, beginning to twirl her hair in her fingers, and noticing Enki behind Enzo. Feeling bad, she closed her mouth and decided to let JD do the talking. He was good at that anyways.

Maya stayed as quiet as she could, skulking towards the group and keeping her gaze down. She did not look at anyone or adress anyone, but instead spent her time listening. It was almost impossible to ignore Ryuu, but she focused. Not on Silver at all, as a tinge of jealousy made itself known. She sighed.

“We are,” JD responded shortly. “I suppose- unless Silver had an abjection to it.” HE offered someone sweetly considering his usual venomous tone. Yet the figured she would somewhat care to keep intact her mystery, and JD had utterly ruined that in his motions of affection. Unfortunately the boy was not the one to casually let those he cared for uncared for. “I mean she is the one that wooed me.” He offered in hopes of appeasing the countless folks who that this odd. Silver was strong while JD was barely trustworthy. He didn’t want to seem like he was overstepping his boundaries when in truth he could have showered her with more affection than she was receiving now.

Enzo blinked. He had not imagined his friends would get familiar with each other so quickly. Still, he was happy. Happy for both her, and JD. "Congratulations!" He cheered them, and laughed. Enki poked Enzo on the shoulder. "I'd hate to interrupt, but there is class..." "Ahh, that's right!" Enzo recalled that his new mentor was Aleister. And that he had the ability to unlock the Minus Fire.

Out of nowhere, Ling popped up between the group and with his big shining smile gave a good morning to his peers. "Well good morning to all of you. I hate to interrupt your party but it is time for Enzo to continue on with his mentoring from the headmaster. Are you ready Enzo-buddy?"

Enzo jumped again, at Ling's entrance, then calmed himself down. Man, I need a backbone.. Ling reminded him of his mentoring. He stood up straight and nodded. "Yes, I'm ready!" He walked over to Ling, gave his goodbyes to Enki and his other peers, before leaving with Ling.

Maya's breathing finally calmed, and she looked up at everyone. She faked a small smile as best as she could, and also congratulated Silver. Then, Enki brought up school, and Ling appeared. Class? Now? There's no way I'd... she shook her head. Enzo seemed excited, and walked off with Ling.

Maya looked back at the others, shifting uncomfortably."Well, good luck with school. I have to go deal with something, maybe I'll see you guys later."

Aleister had taken Enzo back into the dungeon, this time both Ling and Joanne were present both of them looked like geared up for battle. "You look well rested Enzo, we should be able to continue on." Aleister looked at Enzo before walking closer and staring into his eyes in depth. "You look rather strange Enzo. Did something good happen to you last night?" Aleister was examining him from head to toe. Ling just sat the edge of the balcony while Joanne was leaning behind him without a care to the lesson.

Enzo got easily flustered at remembering what happened last night. Did they know about it? were they watching? Those answers he couldn't figure out. "J-just beat a hard game last night." He laughed nervously. "L-let's get started on today's lesson." He said, eager to change the subject.

"Well.." Enki looked at the newly made couple. He didn't know what to think of them, though he had respect for them. "Your rings.. are nice."

Silver's face was bright red at this point, with all the congratulations going around. She casually slipped free of JD's hold on her and turned away from the two remaining boys. She put her hand over her cheeks, trying to hide the blush. Is it really just me, JD, and Enki now?... Oh, this isn't awkward at all.
Silver took a deep breath and turned back, hoping her cheeks weren't as red as they were before. "Th-Thanks.." She glanced to her ring, noting it was still there and still as shiny as ever.

The bodies kept under the trees, they knew their target well, and could trace his manna from miles away. They hopped through the branches, doing best to keep out of sight and not to raise suspicion. Much smarter than other undead. Their tattered cloth flapped in the wind blowing pass the speed of their sprinting and jumping. With so much movement not a grunt was made or a breath taken. They kept going, soon they would reach Volitaire...

It was mid-morning about now and Volitaire came out his bunker and surfaced. He thought he'd get some air before he tried at Venciersio again. But now he thought out how he would approach. But he wondered if this was all worth it...he wasn't sure how the fight really began. He did say he would kill him if he didn't give him what he wanted...but taken by surprise by a unseen force would be a bit difficult to start a battle on. He knew Venciersio would be waiting. He looked back at the ring, it shone in the rays of sunlight that came through the trees and wondered if he really became stronger. All he knew was his virus was intensified. He'd figure out soon.

Aleister let out a soft hum then just shook his head. "Never mind then. We will continue our lesson. Have you decided in wanting to learn the Minus Fire?"

Aleister had his back turned to Enzo but instead gave a quick glance to Ling. Ling noticed the glance and they ended up telepathically communicate with each other. Ling just nodded and jumped onto his feet. "Well, Enzo-buddy. Good luck with today's lesson. I got some errands to attend to." With that Ling started walking up the spiraling floors leaving Joanne behind to watch over the training. Aleister turning back to Enzo brought out his little notebook and started recording some stuff. "Or if you feel that jumping into the advance work would be too difficult. I can teach you more about the Sky Flame and how much further you can master it."

Enzo shrugged. As awesome as the Minus Fire sounded, he couldn't rush it. He waved at Ling as he left, and looked back at Aleister. "You're the mentor," He said. "You decide what I do."

Maya had walked off towards the forest. She glanced back over her shoulder once for a look at the group she was leaving. After looking back, she regretted it. I have no idea what I'm doing here. She lowered her head and continued walking. Maya's feelings and thoughts were still too easily influenced by Ryuu, making it hard to tell what she was really feeling.

"Indeed. Mastering your Sky Flame is perfectly a key to mastering the Minus Fire. Then let us first improve your control of the flame." Aleister snapped his fingers as three battle dummies appeared in front of Enzo. "The flame reacts well based upon your desire to protect. Not just yourself but other as well. You must imagine yourself wanting to become more powerful. If your friends and family are in danger, you need to gather all of your strength to surpass the limitation of your body to eliminate the enemy and threat that would possibly bring harm to those you love. In order to do so, you must imagined these dummies as the most heinous villains you have ever fought. Imagine that they are threatening the person you care for, the person you lived for, the person you..." he paused for a second before putting and emphasis on this word. "Love. Imagine that you only have a second to react. With that you can simply toss a punch to these dummies and able to disintegrate them with just that single throw. Go ahead Enzo, show me your flame."

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Enzo took those words to the heart, closing his eyes, he imagined a desperate battle, one that had wiped out everyone he cared for. He was on a mission to rescue one last person, saving Peach from Bowser, if you will. His peach, turned out to be Sasha. And he wasn't surprised, either. Just the thought of his friends in sheer danger ignited his flames, and pretty intense, too. He opened his orange eyes, his contacts giving him three targets. He clenched his fists and ran towards them, storing flame into his right hand, as much as possible. One movement.. One attack that would end it all. He pulled his fist back, rearing up a mighty, sliding punch. "X-Buster!" He shouted, punching the dummy in the middle, and releasing his pent up flames at the same time as the impact, creating an explosive punch that knocked back the other two dummies.

Aleister just smiled and clapped his hand. "Excellent Enzo, we are on the right track to unlocking all that potential." Joanne got off the wall and was quite startled by that punch that was thrown. "He wasn't like that since the last time I saw him fight. What happened to him during that disappearance?"

"That X-Buster is marvelous. You must be feeling it. In the back of your head, through your veins, in your heart. Your whole body just roaring with power waiting to be released. That Enzo is what is needed in order to use Minus Fire. But on the side bar, you will also greatly improve your current skill. Let us move onto the next exercise then." Aleister waked over to the wall and grabbed onto one of the lit torch.

Enzo stood upright, proud of himself that he had not only impressed Aleister, but the incredibly mean girl Joanne aswell. He knew he was on the right track himself. He followed Aleister, his flames still active.

"The wood used for this torch is a special type of material only found in the deepest parts of the forest in Whiterun. We stumbled on it when building Sorcerers and discovered that when in contact with fire, it could burn long and forever. We even predicted that it will go as far as 1000 years. The strange thing is that we do not know where these wood came from." He distinguish the flame by absorbing the fire. "However, simple human fire and magical spells can not last long. Strangely enough, it some hows only reacts to our flame." Aleister let Enzo hold onto the stick. "We believe that the stronger our emotions are, the more heat it will conduct thus igniting a long-lasting fire. Of course it is not a simple task. If you recall yesterday's practice. I was able to make the whole room brighter without even touching one too. Let us say that is your homework. Discover what it means to have strong emotions and when you figure it out, then we will start working on the Minus Fire. In the meanwhile, let us take a short break. Ms. Heartland, prepare the tea for both of us." Joanne just nodded and walked up the steps.

Joanne had left the head master room and Aleister started to drink from the cup. "I was just a young boy back when I have met Primo Sky. In fact I was something of an assistant. However, I was not a magic user. My body can not channel manna. However, I have discovered of a way for non-magic to use magic like skill and that was through Alchemy. Both Ling and Joanne are user of such arts, even Ivan had learned a couple of tricks too."

Enzo sipped some of the tea he was given. Whatever it was, it was good, and reminded him of the Inn of Anvil, which resided in The Gaze. "What kind of person was Primo Sky?" The question he could of asked, was about the mysterious book, The Lady and The Book, and why he couldn't read any of it. That had to wait, unfortunately. He took another sip of his tea.

Aleister chuckled as he was thinking of those fond memories. "He was actually was not the leader figure you would ever imagine. He fooled around with girls, neglected his duties, he even accidentally started a fire in the town. It took everyone to put it out. But the way he treated everyone. His family, friends, strangers, travelers, even his enemies. Each and every one of them he had felt affection, love, and respect. That was what made Sky the leader of the village. He was a whole lot like you Enzo except his grades are a lot more acceptable than yours." Aleister placed down his cup and let out a dejected smile. "Of course, he passed away young. The power he used to work and fight took too much of a toll on him and was given to each person worthy to hold onto his power. Well that is all you needed to know about the past Enzo, let us talk about something else. Would you like to learn the history of Sorcerers or how Magic was born? We still have some time before we continue on."

Enzo couldn't help but laugh at the fact that a man like Primo Sky would set off a fire. It sounded alot like what Enzo would have done. It seemed Aleister knew quite a lot about not only the school, but the history of where entities such as Enzo and himself had come from. But the only thing that bugged him, was the Minus Fire.
"Where did you find the Minus Fire? How did that come into play?"


He had a feeling something was odd about it. None of the 7 entities of the Gaze knew, and there wasn't an 8th, as far as Enzo knew.

Volitaire walked to the waterfall nearby the bunker. He sat down at the waters edge and staarted thinking of how to suppress his Virus. It wouldn't be but so much help to him, seeing how he was knocked out and can't even remember what happened. It was like a bad trip. He looked up at the waterfall and started to relax hearing the roar of the water. "Suppressing the Virus is going to be bad...I won't be able to fight him until my own manna begins to restore itself. If I tap into the Virus manna I'll end up going crazy and not thinking the battle through. I do with I had help from Einso right about now...Artizle can't even come. He used to serve Venciersio and his Spatial magic will prove bad for a close combat attacker. He'll just keep pushing him away. At the same time I'm the only other person who knows some of that School of magic. Giving me some chance. Hmm..where's Montesque?" He looked to the waterfall as a way to keep himself at ease while he thought about the situation.

Meanwhile, the bodies managed to arrive at a treeline in front of Sorcerers. They had to figure another way around so they could not be seen. Thay had no spells regarding stealth. Artimeayus took a bold move. He charged a red flare that began to spew embers and took on a molten form, obsidian began to materialize out of the magma and grow into a large ball. The embers began to burn the ground under him and he shot the ball into the forest, causing a fire. The kept back and waited for others to be distracted.

"If you have desires in wanting to protect, then what would happen if your desires shifted to the opposite direction? The Minus Fire stems from the strong desire to protect but by using darkness instead of light. When Sky passed down his seven flames, there was one more thing that was left in his body and that was the Minus Fire. He was willing to pass away with that evilness remaining in his body. Consuming every bit of him even fearing that it would eat his soul even after death. We who loved Sky very much refused that and decided to host that evil in another vessel. You should already know who is chosen." Aleister finished his tea and placed the empty cup onto the table. He let out a deep breath and continued. "While having Minus Fire inside me, I spent my years trying to figure out what it was. Turns out it was something very simple. The Minus Fire is just another side to the Sky Flame. You may have noticed it, but no matter how many times you use our flame to fight, there is a limitation to our strength. When we fight those who are evil, the flame stops itself before going too far in order to ensure that even our opponent are safe enough from death's door. But what if we removed that limitation, exchanging our enemies' life in order to protect them. Do you see where I am going with this Enzo? The Minus Flame true nature is that it is our Flame evil and that is what causes you to go berserk. During the Battle Royale and when you killed your mother."