The students, the ones who remained, quickly stormed through the door into the smoke laden hallways and quickly split up to find exits. Little did they know that the majority of them would fall anyway despite having a better chance of escape. Noroi was left with a small group of students, mainly new students and a student in a white uniform. They would find a route that was relatively untouched by the flames. Their footsteps echoed off of the marble floors as pained screams mixed with the sounds of the flames crackling. They eventually found an exit, it was a straight shot out, a few ran out in front of them, eager to leave the burning building, others that wanted to go back and try to find others had their hopes dashed. Burning debris suddenly fell from the ceiling, barring their way back to the others who had already unfortunately perished. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I suddenly fell forward as something crashed into me. "Son of a..." I muttered, I turned around ready to yell at whatever idiot had just ran into me. I was shocked that it was the dog from earlier that had done it. "Oh, it's you." I said surprised, I thought the poor thing would be too afraid to move anywhere or would have died in one of the many explosions or fires in the school. "I wonder if anyone else made it out... probably not." I thought, I got up and dusted myself off and patted the Greyhound's head gently. "Let's get away from here, shall we?" I asked as I walked down the cobblestone path... something felt off... I couldn't quite place my finger on it.
Lucian panicked quietly trying to find a phone not being that rich or with a lot of money he had to find a phone like a pay phone that could work to try and report the fire. he hoped others got out but he started only to care about his safety at the moment brushing out any small flames that had appeared on his clothing giving a few holes making him annoyed. "G-great i've gotta save up for cleaning and new clothing now..." he looked around sighing sad.
The Mystery of the Fire: SOLVED Noroi led the way towards the gate, the people behind him babbling, trying to speak over one another. He glanced around and noticed that one dude and what looked like a dog. He frowned, and waved at them to come over. "Hey, you see anyone else?" he asked. I looked over at the boy and a group of students. I was shocked anyone had gotten out alive, I had been certain that the bombs would have taken everyone out. "Only me and this dog." I said crossing my arms. "I'm surprised that anyone made it out." I said. "I'm not," a very calm voice said. Noroi turned to see Tam calmly walking up, hands in the pockets of what remained of his jeans, his shirt burned to cinders. His face was calculating. "It seems... that we've all made it out alive," the half fair said, one hand reaching up to rub his chin, the other clasping his elbow. He started to pace. "Tell me, did anyone notice anything?" "You lived? Goody." I said, he had annoyed me and I didn't really care about people, but if it removed a nuisance from my life, I wasn't going to act heartbroken, I sighed and looked back at what happened and I did notice a few things. "...Well there are a few things that I've noticed, first, the sprinklers didn't go off, which is strange because you'd expect them to when the fire alarm goes off, which it didn't, meaning someone sabotaged it, next no water pipes burst, and with a bomb you'd have to either know the school very intimately or be very lucky, finally... there's no sirens... when I first got out here, I thought something was amiss, but... there's no sirens whatsoever, when there's an explosion you'd expect some kind of commotion, people at the gate trying to see what happened, police holding them off, and fire fighters trying to rescue students and put out the blaze... but it seems like any other day." I said. Tam nodded at Joe, and turned to Noroi. "According to my senses, the water pipes and sprinkler systems were fully functioning," the half dragon said. "In fact, I burst a few myself, they were fine." Tam thought about it for a bit. "The key to this entire mystery... is you, fine sir!" Tam turned and pointed at the sole student in white. "I find it oddly suspicious that you're so calm in this crisis, not to mention the fact that you are also, apparently, the only survivor who doesn't have magic, according to your uniform. You were the one who set off this entire debacle!" The student in white chuckled. "Lil' ol' me? Noooo I couldn't have done such a thing, and I do so have magic, you big mean fairy!" He said grinning, he stuck his tongue out. "...Oh god it's him." I thought, I thought that I recognized the mannerisms, the guy kind of leaves an impression, I'd just let the crazy guy handle it. I mean... magic...? I guess it wasn't too far fetched after what I had seen... but I'd rather just say that it was just god finally giving me a break and it was just the smoke inhalation or a mental disorder. Tam frowned, turned, paced, then said. "I don't recall telling anyone I was a fairy, Mr. Dodgson." "I'm not that dashing super cool dean and I was merely insinuating that you're a flamboyant homosexual." He said grinning, obviously trying not to burst out laughing. I stared at him for a second and blinked a few times as I saw something very disturbing... chains. They ripped through his body after shooting out of the ground and through his body, aiming at his chest, they kept rushing through him, they went high into the air, carrying away chunks of flesh and bone, but he seemed fine and no one else seemed to notice. "Okay, it's official, I need to go to the looney bin." I said. "Oh wait for me, I love those guys!" He said grinning. "Heh," Tam chuckled. "I suppose I am a homosexual of a sort. However... I noticed that something has happened to one of our own... Tell me, good sir, why do you need to go to the looney bin?" Tam glanced at Joe, expectant. "...No one else sees them...?" I asked and took it from the quizzical expressions that I got from everyone that was a 'no, now get on with it crazy'. "...There are chains... ripping him apart." I said looking to the side. Tam thought, briefly, then turned to the student in white. "Answer me this question honestly," Tam said. "Was the fire in the auditorium actually a fire?" "Why wouldn't it be? I mean it burnt lots of students to a crisp and it crushed others, you saw it too, and that poor heroic dashingly handsome dean was killed in the explosion!" He said. I wasn't looking, but I did hear more chains shoot out and tear through muscle and bone, causing me to wince. "Then, tell me," Tam said, turning to the building. "Why did the sprinklers not go off? And why aren't there any fire men or women on the way over?" The blond turned, and pointed. "That's because there was no fire! It was all an illusion! If there had been a bomb going off like many people think there had been, then my friend would have noticed it! A bomb is not a natural element in that room, but a specific persons magic is, especially if that room has been a host to that specific breed of magic for several years! If there had been a foreign magic user that the room was unfamiliar with, then he would have detected it!" Tam pointed at Noroi. "As someone who is part dragon, Noroi has the natural ability to detect foreign objects in a room, and he didn't sense a single thing. The only conclusion I can come to is that a mage with very powerful illusion magic, one that commonly uses his or her magic in that room. The only ones in that room who could have done so are the dean and the staff of the school, and maybe some older students." Tam turned to the student. "It doesn't help that you stink like the dean as well, Mr. Dodgson. The birds keep complaining." "Hey I do not stink!" He said pouting. "Oh phooey, you ruined my fun." He said realizing his mistake. "Oh well, yup, you're right, fire, not real." He said chuckling and snapped his fingers as the illusion melted away, the school perfectly fine, the ruined clothing of the students returning to normal, there were blue uniformed students standing around chuckling and waving to the bewildered students, and a few teachers as well, and of course Peggy who was just shaking her head quietly. Tam gave a small grin. "That was a class act, Mr. Dodgson," he said, bowing. "I'm honored to be attending your school. And, it seems, we have uncovered an element nobody had expected. Unless you did the entire time." He glanced at Joe from his peripheral vision. "In the meantime, I must say, that was a great test. I'm sure I failed." "Hm... no on both counts." He said grinning, he had returned to his normal clothing. "You all passed with flying colors, you all got out using your magic, if you didn't use your magic, you would've died, now let's all adjourn to the auditorium, shall we?" He said. "Hey wait one minute... you're saying that you just put us through hell... for a test?!" I asked. "Yup!~" He said grinning, my eye twitched. I wanted nothing more than to rip that top hat apart and choke him with it... I accomplished the first part. A few arcs of light shot right through his hat and tore it to shreds, and a few tiny balls of light caught the scraps barely and just ended up smacking him in the face. "Heeeey! That was my favorite!" He said pouting, rubbing his cheeks, Peggy merely rolled her eyes. He had a closet dedicated just to top hats that were all his favorite. Tam merely looked up at the building, and smiled. This... is gonna be fun.
I spend the next few unfortunate minutes looking like a crybaby......or well I guess I am one. The thought of leaving others to die was terrifying. But I glanced back towards the school to see that several students had actually survived. But a few seemed hurt.....and a dog made it out? Well at least it survived. I was too far away to really catch wind of the situation but I see one of the student snap and the wreckage just vanishes. What in the world was going on? I then decide to get up and hesitantly walk over to the gathered group. A bit anxious from the hostility being showed to one in the group. "Um....H-hello? What just happened? I'm confused."
Wyndy started growling the moment they were safe, realizing alongside the others that something was off. And to find out it was all a test triggered one of the rare things to piss her off. She shape-shifted back to human form, aware that she was nude but, like most shape shifters, only cared for modesty, and wasn't scared of being in the buff. Her emerald green gaze was intense -almost aflame with rage. "If we hadn't used our magic then we would have died? Then what about the students who didn't pass? How would you explain that to their parents?" she growled, poking the dean in the chest with a thin finger.
"My dear, my dear, calm down, they didn't die... well they did but they didn't, I mean yeah they did get toasted or crushed but they didn't... oh just follow me and you'll see what I mean." He said, the teachers weren't really eager to jump in, nor the students. He dug himself into the mess he can dig himself out. "Also, shouldn't you be more worried about your clothing situation? I mean it's all out there, I'm not complaining, but just wanted to point it out." He said cocking his head. A few teachers and students sighed in exasperation. "Creep." I thought crossing my arms, the female form didn't interest me so I avoided looking at the shape shifting dog girl, unlike some of the other guys. I was quite annoyed that the dog turned out to be a human girl and furthermore I was nice to her. I hoped she didn't get the wrong impression. I didn't want anything to do with her or anyone else here. I turned to the scared looking girl. "It was a test, everyone's fine, everything is fine, now stop crying and woman up, one of the things I can't stand in this world is a crybaby." I said coldly and walked into the building without looking back. I was still peeved about what had happened... they were likely watching and they had seen me in my moment of weakness and desperation. It sickened me to no end.
"Hrrrm..." Tam watched as Joe walked away, rubbing his chin. Noroi frowned after him. "What are you thinking?" the half dragon asked. "He's lonely," Tam said, simply. "His aura is shredded. He needs help." "Yeah, good lu- oh Kami-sama." Noroi glanced at Tam. "No. No. No! Don't let your idiotic..." Tam ignored him, and walked off, thinking. Noroi groaned.
A deep growl throbbed in Wyndy's chest and her ears shifted into those of a dog's to fold back. "I am perfectly fine. I would think the dean of this school would be familiar with a shape-shifter's mannerisms. Or am i your first?" her parents had trained her to be respectful, but this was pushing the line. Instead, she shape shifted back into her grey form and padded in the direction of the dorms, only to pause next to Noroi. She barked pnce to get his attention, then nodded in the direction of Tam's fleeing backside and gave him a look that hopefully said "what's he up to?".
"He's gonna try to play therapist," Noroi said to the shapeshifter, recognizing the look. "And he's probably gonna get ME involved at some point..." The half dragon groaned, and pet the dog. "Don't worry about him... yet."
I look towards Joe shocked as he told my to stop being a crybaby. I know I did look like a crybaby but....I wasn't expecting to be gotten after for it. I mean, I hadn't done anything wrong. I look towards Joe as he began leaving. "H-hey! I didn't do anything wrong.....I-It's not weird to get upset over the possibility of others dying! Don't get mad at me for something anyone would do!" I felt my eyes starting to water as I quickly rubbed it away so I wouldn't start crying again. "I don't like this....I don't like it at all." I says looking towards the ground disheartened from all of this.
Lucian started wandering around seeing Joe and the others annoyed quietly looking at a girl he hasn't met before seeming rather upset and it felt bad. "So what the hell is going on here? Obviously something is very up and I want to know..." He says obviously annoyed and a little dirty from the fire and smoke. "One why the hell did the school get set fucking alight..." he says annoyed. "Two why are we the only real students that got out of that fire... and three why is miss so sad? is she hurt?" He says worring for the girl. "If she is we need to get her medical attention and everyone else that is hurt. and if anyone starts dicking around with me... I will punch them in the face."
Noroi sighed at the new arrival, an explained everything from the top, about how it was an illusion, a test made by the dean, and how Joe was a big jerk that seemed to have caught the attention of the half fairy who was now wandering the grounds.
As everyone gathered to get back inside, the dean stopped in front of them before they entered the room. "Now, when I dismiss you, do not get up, it is merely for the mortal's benefit, we'll chat about your... special circumstances." He said grinning and walked inside. As he had said, no one had been harmed, the ones who had 'perished' during the fire were sleeping soundly in their chairs, not noticing as people sat back down and the dean got back onto the stage. As soon as everyone was back into place the dean went on just as he had before Joe had ran out of the auditorium. He noted that the gates opened at 7 AM and closed at 9 PM. He then presented everyone a uniform determining on what group they got into. Once everyone had received their uniform he dismissed the students. But only students with white uniforms left, not even glancing in our direction, likely seeing an illusion of everyone else leaving with them. Once the last student had left he clapped his hands together. "Well I'd say that was successful. Now most of you that are glaring daggers at me are wondering what the hell just happened. Well for those of you that are dimwitted, a few staff, a few students, and yours truly, created an illusion to make you believe that you were in danger. Now for those of you that are quicker on the take and are wondering why, it was to force some of you to perform your magic in front of us, for others it was to awaken your powers. You see, as most of you should have figured out by now, is that we've noticed that each one of you were involved with some incident where magic may have been involved. Some of you may have allowed a slight sliver of magic out, others might have used it for their own gain, or in self defense, whatever the reason, we don't really care. Magic awakens either naturally or it must be triggered in a situation in which one is forced into a life or death situation, but it isn't unheard of for it to come to the surface before it has been properly awoken." He explained. "But it's also very fun to watch you all run around crying for mommy and daddy." He tacked on grinning. "Aaaanyway, we can't let you little bastards running around with uncontrolled magic, it could be disastrous for our kind, we try to limit the knowledge of magic to mortals. A rare few know, only those that we feel necessary to trust, after all, humans could potentially wipe us out or it could just cause a lot of fighting and a lot of death, so we should avoid that, even though it'd probably be super fun and epic!" He said grinning. "Aaaanyway... onto the rules, boring, I know, but it's to save us the work of cleaning your entrails off of the wall." He said. "So, just a few basic things, don't use magic unsupervised, especially with spells that you've never cast before, they can have disastrous effects, once a boy had summoned an angry water spirit in the library, messed up the binding ritual and it took us days to restore the books and computers, quite a bother. Furthermore if you are experimenting then do please do it with supervision, even an experiment that you've performed a thousand times could go awry and it's best to have a teacher there to clean up your mess before you unleash a pissed off demon or an inferno onto the school, oh, and you are allowed weapons on school grounds, however, they will need to be disguised, you will learn how to do this in your studies." He said. He put his finger to his chin and tilted his head. "Hm... let's see... missing anything...? Oh, yes, don't use your magic on humans unless it's self defense, I mean, I admit it is quite fun to see their faces when they find that gravity and physics have seemed to have stopped working. For instance this idiot didn't hold the elevator for me... let's just say that was one hell of an elevator ride for him." He said grinning. "Anyway, there's a bit more that you'll need to know, but we can save that for later." He said. "For now, you are dismissed, but don't leave campus, after all, we do need to select your new classes and we shall need your input." He said.
Tam watched the assembly, then glanced around, half expectantly. "Whatcha looking for?" Noroi asked. "The chocolate room, I could swear I made a left turn at the Rabbit Hole and wound up at the Chocolate Factory." Noroi snorted, then stood up. "Well, I'm gonna check out the library, you coming?" the half dragon asked. "Actually, I'm gonna walk around a bit," Tam said, getting up. "I want to check for something."
I got up and walked out of the auditorium and then outside, I found a secluded area out in the courtyard, the one for blue students. I looked down at my hands. "Magic...? Really? Have to play this trick on me too?" I asked quietly to no one in particularly, take my brother away, send a fairy after me, and make me a freak too. I sighed and focused on the strange energy in me and watched as a small ball of light appeared in my hand, I grabbed it and squeezed until it disappeared. "...Nothing can be easy, can it?" I muttered.
Lucian was leaning back bored quietly looking up at the dean bored laughing. "To be honest it was badass but you did hurt the cute girl... and everyone else it pisses me off." Lucian yawned quietly. "I knew magic existed for years ago and was happy i guess but heh I bet i'm going to enjoy learning how to get better at this." Lucian laughed as lightning again jumped from his fingers him shrugging like anything and nothing was a care to him.
Suddenly, the P.A speakers went off. "New group B students please come to the office, there appears to have been a scheduling issue and we must get your input on this semester's classes, thank you." The female voice on the speaker said. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I looked up at the speaker hanging in the corner. "Smart, it allows us to select our new classes without arousing too much suspicion... however those that have been going here for years would think that was strange... unless they just have someone that seems incompetent running group B's office." I thought, then I shrugged. "Maybe they just don't really care enough to think about it." I thought. I walked back inside and then to the right and through the doors, where I was going to be studying for the next year. When I walked through there was a long corridor of doors, likely the many classrooms, it branched off a little ways forward, but before that there was a room with a gold placard saying 'Administration'. I walked through and took the first seat that I saw against the wall and looked around, it looked like any other administrative room in any other school, a desk with a two people working behind it, and a hallway leading to several rooms in the back, likely offices for the councilors... though I had to wonder where the Dean's office was, since it'd be unlikely that he'd have two offices in each side of the building.
Wyndy followed after Joe, looking at her new surroundings curiously, if a little warilly. She wondered what kind of classes she would be taking. Myndy would love this....she'd insist on taking every art class she could. A faint, but sad smile tweaked her mouth and a small laugh escaped.
I stop to listen to the announcement going on. Something about class schedules. Well considering I hadn't signed up yet it must be time to do that now. Probably making sure we could use our magic like he said. I think before starting to head that direction. I tried to picture my head the tour we had taken earlier. Remembering the path to admissions I begin walking in that direction. Though not very pleased to see other people heading there as well. Not a surprise with how they were called as well.
Lucian sighed heading to the office quietly admissions was the place he had to go and he just sighed looking at everyone else. "First setting up a fire then... Making us start classes how insane is everyone here?" he sighed quietly stretching laughing. "Well no matter it's more excitement in my life woo!" Lucian seemed to change emotion from seriously annoyed to being really cheery to be honest he was pretty excited to learn and become stronger. "i wonder what we can do in these classes anyway?"
One by one students were called in to their respective councilor's office. When I myself got in and looked at the classes we were allowed to attend I felt confused almost immediately. "Runology, Herbology, Smithing, Magical History...?" I mumbled, reading off a few that I saw off of the list. I looked up and the councilor was holding out a schedule for me. "Huh? Hey I-" The councilor merely waved me off, I mumbled a few obscenities under my breath and walked out of the office, as I walked by the desk on the way out the peppy attendant smiled. "You're allowed to leave, but we are having a getting to know ya lunch in the Cafeteria if you're interested." She said. "Yeah, sure, whatever." I muttered, not really caring, I'd probably hang out for as long as I could to avoid going home... unless that annoying fairy pops up, then I'm out of here.
A cute blonde haired girl chose that time to accidentally bump into Joe. "Oh, sorry, sorry," she said, gently bouncing on the balls of her feet, which seemed to be wrapped in glass sneakers. "I got here late. Did I miss anything exciting?" She seemed to be a cheerful and pleasant sort.
I frowned. "Watch where you're going." I said coldly, with that, I walked away from her, I hoped that she'd take it as 'I don't want to talk to you and I'm sure you don't want to me either unless you really want a headache or get pissed off.' Once everyone had been signed up for their respective classes they were free to explore the grounds, go to their rooms, check out the town, or anything else they wished really, and in the cafeteria students were mingling and eating, getting to know one another, there were a few teachers there as well, talking to other staff members, returning students that liked them, and the occassional new student.
Cindy glanced back at the retreating boy, and idly flipped open a book. "That wasn't very nice," she said, grinning to herself. She went and got her schedule and made her way to the meeting room. Tam sat in a chair, reading his book, occasionally flashing a smile to someone, or nodding politely. "You're up to something," Noroi said, sitting next to Tam. Tam merely shrugged. "Maybe I am."
I step over to the lady and look over the list of classes. "Um.....Hmmm Herbology....magic history and magic circles seem interesting. Can I take those?" S he blinks as the woman hands her a paper form of her schedule and smiles. "Thank you." She says quietly before turning to notice a girl bumping into the grump. "...Woah..." She steps over to Cindy giving her a small smile following her. "U-um hello? He doesn't seem to like anyone really...Mine name is Chrysalis what is yours?"
