Titanomachy Rebirth (IC)

[RacingeR]

Masaki Tomomi
Location: Zeus High School – Floor 2 (Class 208)
Time: Noon

It was always a rather interesting experience to get a reaction of either Gennadiya or Rachel, one rather inexpressive, and the other always playing it cool and acting as if she never got affected by the actions of others. So having the both of them cringe a bit with the last portion of your little act was both unusual and pretty funny to watch.

“Yes, yeah, I can have lunch with you.” Rachel answered, giving you a half-hearted glare. “Your cooking is good, I got to ask you to teach me one of these days. Everything I make always ends up tasting insipid…”

Insipid… it was more like that every time she so much as touched egg fried rise, an Asian somewhere woke up screaming in incoherent terror, but it was best to keep that particular comment to yourself. Mostly because sometimes you were the Asian screaming in horror. Rice shouldn’t be treated that way. It is inhuman. Your Japanese spirit rebels against the thought.

Genna nodded at your invitation, but then your attention returned to Rachel and her pencil, once again tapping against the desk.

“There’s no plan. I mean, Cynthia’s dumb as a brick so I’m not worried about any scheme she has in mind, and much as I loathe the brat, I don’t think she really has bad intentions.” She transmitted; her bad mood clear despite the particular method of communication. She didn’t even reply to your barb about her lack of empathy, which probably said volumes about how worried she actually was. “But just that she keeps trying to drag Shelia into the mud with her is… I think it is pressuring her too much.”

“I don’t think having a friendly rivalry would be bad for Shelia, though. It could do her some good…” Gennadiya gently tapped her pencil to add her own opinion to the mix.

“If it was someone else, maybe. But Shelia doesn’t work that way, you know? For her it only adds pressure, makes her feel cornered and pushed, I guess. I mean, I’m just worried because she is…” Rachel’s message paused for a moment, not because she was searching for words, but because she didn’t want to say what she was going to say. “She’s fragile-“

You recalled Shelia for a moment. Perhaps it was due to putting her side-by-side with the very cynical Rachel, but she was indeed painfully innocent if you thought about it. Sometimes one had to wonder if she’d been kept away from the world in a nuclear refuge.

No, wait a moment, before that…

The both of you turned towards Gennadiya.

“Since when do you know morse?” Rachel hissed between her teeth, echoing your own surprise.

The Russian girl looked quite smug, but before she could answer…

Your desk and the various implements on top of it clattered. Your chair trembled a bit, as the vibrations of the tremor traveled through the floors of the school building and reached you.

It was sudden, and startling enough to make everyone in the classroom react in one way or the other, but by the time people processed what had just happened, the tremor was completely gone.

What was that, an earthquake? That made sense, but…

Everyone fell silent as your teacher stood up. Mr. Hunt frowned openly, as if considering that something like his class shouldn’t be interrupted by something as unimportant as an earthquake.

And yet, you could detect something strange beneath his calm façade. An impatience of some sort as well as surprise, yet no fear, or perhaps you should say no startlement.

The muscular teacher looked at his wristwatch, still frowning, and muttered something inaudible. You were able to make out the word ‘early’, but that just left you confused.

Early? What was early? You were fairly sure you were supposed to be at lunch break five minutes ago…

“Class is dismissed.” Mr. Hunt cleared his throat before announcing such. “You can go. We’ll… continue these exercises next class. There won’t be homework today.” He said curtly, before walking out of the classroom in a stride that was just a bit too hurried.

You felt strange, but ultimately the behavior of the teacher was just a minor note, something you caught from the corner of your eyes and was permanently engraved in your memory regardless of your will or interest. That was just how your ‘gift’ worked, after all.

It was just a small aside compared to having experienced the brief quake. You exchanged somewhat confused stares with the girls, who didn’t quite seem to know how to react.

“Should we get to the ground floor?” Rachel suggested. “Seriously, at least he should’ve addressed what just happened.” She added with a frown.

“Seems to be over already…” Genna commented. “At least I don’t have to deal with this anymore… today.” She left her pen over her paper, as if she considered the issue solved.


Lorelei Weber
Location: Zeus High School – 5th Floor (Student Council Room)
Time: Noon

“If only some club administrators weren’t absolute assholes like Fontaine, maybe that’d work. No… actually we should just implement that, at least that’d force them to show their faces instead of hiding behind their members.” Rosalin grumbled. “I don’t have a problem with Jones, but I wish Petrov wouldn’t send him every time to argue the budget. One would think he’d have the balls to come fight for it himself…”

“Rosalin, language.” Rose gently chided her friend, who sighed.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway, I don’t think I can beat the captain of the Martial Arts Team just with two months of Judo classes, Lorelei.” She directed a very rare half-smile towards you. “But the thought of beating her up does cheer me up some, thanks.”

“The idea of making her take care of the paperwork has its appeal, you have to admit.” Alexander said, placing aside an already finished stack.

“Yes, but certain considerations get in the way of that.” Rose replied. “Considerations like the Geneva Convention.”

“Ah yes. That one does indeed get in the way sometimes.” Alexander nodded. “Well, I think you can continue helping us here.” He said, apparently done with his own dose of light sarcasm and already ready to tackle the next stack. “We’ll just send Joz to fetch Henry’s lazy ass, and-“

You reached towards the misplaced paper, only to find it slipping away from you as your workstation clattered around you, the papers you had stacked so neatly in a tower falling apart and spreading through the floor as if the world itself was having a laugh at you.

The light tremor ran through the building, and then disappeared entirely in the span of a second, but it was enough to startle everyone.

By the time you all had stood up, it had passed, but a certain tension had replaced the somewhat relaxed air from earlier.

“We should go make sure nobody’s hurt.” Rose said nervously, pushing aside an errant strand of hair from her eyes. “I’m sure everything’s alright, but some students may have panicked…”

“Yes, we ought to go help the teachers.” Alexander frowned. “We’ll go to their break room. We can sort out this mess later.” He said, waving his hand at the flood of paper that had replaced the formerly tidy floor.

“Wait a minute.” Rosalin interrupted quickly. “Jozefa, Lorelei. Can you girls go fetch Henry? He’s probably slacking off somewhere and trying to not get involved, but we probably want all the people we can get to help, just in case.”

Well now. It seemed like you were going to go fetch Henry, after all. Although you had the feeling Rosalin simply didn’t want Jozefa wandering the hallways by herself right now.


Myo
Location: Zeus High School – Courtyard (Track Field)
Time: Noon

“Oh, you know, the usual, nothing of note aside from being the one in charge over here.” She added with a small grumble. Understandably enough. The track team wasn’t particularly fractious or hard to manage, as far as you knew, but it was probably still quite the task to handle.

You speculated internally about her being Shirai, trying to recall what you knew about that particular girl. It had been many, many years since the last time you’d met, after all. She had always seemed very flashy for a stealth specialist, but she was pretty good at disguising herself.

Kirstin’s body type didn’t match. The heights were somewhat similar, and there were many ways to disguise a bust, but… no, there was just no way to know. Maybe, you should-.

“Actually, there’s something you could help me with.” Kirstin said apologetically. Oh. So she was approaching you in order to ask you a favor. That explained the unusual sociability. “You see, we were supposed to get our papers over to the Student Council, but it seems our captain forgot about it entirely. One has to wonder how she remembers all the papers and stuff the other clubs asked of her, then forgets about hers…” She sighed and put a hand on her head, as if fighting off a headache.

“Anyway, you think you could go over there with the papers real quick? You’d be doing me one hell of a favor, as I still need to keep things going over here.” She added.

Well now. This was quite opportune. You were fairly sure of your newly assigned companion’s ability to find you if you were to find an isolated place with no witnesses to communicate with her, and this was a good opportunity to just disappear off the map for a few minutes, enough to at least talk some with her…

You were busy with these thoughts when it happened.

It was lightning fast, but you felt it, under your feet, the light tremor that ran through the school terrains. Your clubmates didn’t notice, you were in the ground after all, and the noise of their talk drowned whatever small clattering there was in the surroundings, but your trained senses noticed the unusual fact unerringly.

And… you could feel it all of a sudden.

A sense of pressure you couldn’t quite explain. Urgency and cautiousness. As if time was suddenly running out. The very air grew strange, as if things were changing in a completely indescribably way under your very eyes, and you were the only one who noticed.

There wasn’t a logical explanation for this. You’d been trained since you had memory to be an assassin, and you were abnormal even for this school, an anomaly even for other anomalies. It was simply something instinctive, something that had been asleep since many months ago that had suddenly woken up and started screaming wrongness at you.

This small quake was the start of something. Of what, you couldn’t tell, but you had your mission to fulfill.

[Tangerang]

Myo
Location: Zeus High School – Courtyard (Track Field)
Time: Noon

“Oh, you know, the usual, nothing of note aside from being the one in charge over here.”

Myo nodded as she played along. But she was having her doubts. It was seeming to be increasingly unlikely that she was the other agent sent by their organization. In that case, it's best to end this discussion as soon as possible and continue looking.

“Actually, there’s something you could help me with. You see, we were supposed to get our papers over to the Student Council, but it seems our captain forgot about it entirely. One has to wonder how she remembers all the papers and stuff the other clubs asked of her, then forgets about hers… Anyway, you think you could go over there with the papers real quick? You’d be doing me one hell of a favor, as I still need to keep things going over here.”

Myo considered this proposal. It was a convenient one for her. She felt sure that she would be able to meet up with Shirai during the window this errand provided. Beyond that, she had no real reason to refuse.

"Sure, it's no proble-"

The words caught in her throat.

A wave of nausea. A sense of panic. A pain in her skull. A vision of sand slipping through an hourglass.

She blinked and the world returned to normal. Except her instincts were still screaming at her, every nerve on high alert. She didn't understand why or how, but she knew intrinsically; something had changed. Things had suddenly become much more urgent.

This was an emergency. She could no longer take her time in executing her mission.

"-Sorry, I just remembered something urgent, maybe next time."

Myo yelled as she turned around in a single motion and sprinted out the room. By the time the words arrived, she had vanished.

Myo
Location: Zeus High School – Dorms (3rd Floor – Myo’s Room)
Time: Noon

Myo returned to her room in record time. The moment she was inside, she slammed the door shut and locked it, and then went over to where she stashed her equipment. Her weapons were where she left them. Good.

She quickly began to change. At the bottom of her drawer, she removed a thin, unopened box. Without hesitation, she rips it open. To most people, it would simply look like perhaps a set of strange stylish clothes, but for those who knew, this was her 'uniform'. Without hesitation, she donned her 'armor'.

She then grabbed her twin weapons from the top of her bed. It perfectly locked into place, as expected. How many times has she done this now? She felt a part of her finally relax. Throughout this entire time, she had another feeling of minor discomfort, or being out place. But here, finally she was 'complete'. She was 'whole'.

With that said, while she was ready to carry out her mission, she was not ready to leave her room just yet. She would put her normal clothes over her combat clothes, to keep the disguise until the moment was right.

Just as she thought that, the atmosphere in the room changed. Even with her back to the door, even though it was still locked, she could tell that there was now an intruder in her room. And a familiar presence at that.

"What's the situation, Shirai?"

[Frantic Author]

Johnny Justice & Cyrus Ferdinand
Location: Zeus High School – 4^th Floor (Crooklyn Hideout)
Time: Noon

"Ch!" Johnny barked out a sound of annoyance, standing up and kicking the TV. "Damn thing's been on the fritz for weeks! Cy, you thinking that we got a little scammed here or what? Do we need t' bust some heads to get what we went there for?"

He let out a sigh, cracking his neck and frowning as he leaned against the wall.

"Feels like my expectations were set a little high on this place," he said with a drawl, crossing his legs. "Lotta these 'strongest of the strong' are more like the 'jabbiest of the jabbers', right?"

Johnny grinned, bright and wide, looking at Camilla.

"If you're into gambling, how bout a bet, then?" He asked, leaning confidently against the wall with a smug grin crossing his lips. "Course, betting's always gotta have something to give, right? When the chips fall down, do you wanna be the gangsters or the house? 'Cause the thing about the house is, well..."

He shrugged his shoulders, flipping a chip he'd pocketed in the air and grabbing it.

"We always win. Just the way the world works."

A couple of crooks off the streets of Brooklyn can't take down the house. They could barely even take down the mafia, what're they gonna do about the biggest cheeses there are?

"I'm sure Zhong's havin' lotsa fun in her little red kingdom," he said grinning wryly as a flash of faces went through his mind. "But 'ventually, something gives. And I'd bet you anything she'll give before anyone else."

[Plue]

Eilian Aubrey
Location: Zeus High School – 5^th Floor (Crafts Club)
Time: Noon

"Preservation of self is a worthy goal." She said, tone bereft of any condescending inflection, yet somehow dry enough to inflict damage on its own.

Any interest her eyes might have held for the... quaint clockwork has faded as she quickly jots down a few lines on a piece of paper before. The requirements to repair already having been parsed, broken down and compiled. Thrusting the paper at Astor, pinched between metal clad thumb and middle finger.

"Material requirement procurement costs."

While the many digit total is quite affordable for Eilian she finds no reason to waste her pocket change on the quite boring part of actually fixing the piece. She could hardly be blamed for the original gauche choice of metal. Electrum gears? If not for the complicated compensations in the escapement it should have broken long ago.

[Erlkonig]

Masaki Tomomi
Location: Zeus High School – Floor 2 (Class 208)
Time: Noon

Tomomi's eyes lingered on the teacher's broad silhouette until it disappeared beyond the threshold of the classroom door. The unwelcome crawl that had made its way through her spine would gradually fade, but not before the queasiness of the moment engraved itself on her mind.

Promptly shelved away for another, more relevant moment.

"An earthquake, in this state?" Tomomi mumbled in disbelief. "It must have been something else. A nearby demolition, perhaps... But you're right that it doesn't make a girl feel safe anywhere but as close to the dirt as possible."

She'd need to check up on her brother, of course. He would be alarmed at the prospect of an earthquake anywhere near where she could come to harm, and a concerned Taichi was better known for his hair-trigger temper and recklessness than any sort of sense. But running to her gallant protector could wait for the moment, as she refocused on the issue at hand.

"Talking about one's feelings is a good way to deal with pressure and vent out stress. I know Shelia isn't the kind to vent, but perhaps we could talk to her, give her our reassurances." Tomomi said with a small smile. "I fear she is the sort that would try to be friends with Cynthia regardless of what we might tell her, but if she can understand that Cynthia means no harm and is just dealing with pubescent jealousy she won't feel so hated."

The last word made her lips quirk down for a moment. There was little Tomomi reviled more than isolating or pressuring a person to the degree they considered themselves a hateful being. It dredged up images of a past better forgotten.

"Either way, girls' talk or no, I think we should go find her." Tomomi stared pointedly outside the window. "Lightning may not strike twice but earthquakes come in ripples and waves. She should be fine out there, but even if she so much as tripped and bruised her knee I am sure it would finalize your transformation into a wicked witch- Stepmother role not included." She smirked at the joke, but the angled brows and leveled stare were pointedly admonishing towards Rachel.

"We can swing by the dojo as well, and reassure my darling brother that I'm not about to become a tragic stereotype from a two-bit second-rate anime." She repressed her amusement, all too aware that Taichi would definitely follow similarly stereotypical behavior if Tomomi ever filled in the dead imouto prophecy in such a clichéd manner. "Finally, Genna..."

She rested her finger on the half-finished maths sheet. "You grab that and pack it in your bag. We are friends sure enough. That is why, as your friend, we will be picking up that homework later tonight. Falling behind is not allowed, you hear me?"

It might have seemed cruel, but the alternative was detention under the insufferable bore of a man or, god forbid, even more homework.

Sometimes, one had to play the part of the lesser evil.

[RacingeR]

Aster Hunter
Location: Zeus High School – Courtyard (Tree Garden)
Time: Noon


Eight against one. It was a rough challenge for most fighters, even if they were prepared for it. Cecily hadn’t been prepared, and downing two was already an exceptional result. Yet, for you, it was not enough. For one, you were fully confident the same challenge wouldn’t prove to be such an issue for you. In fact, you were quite sure there were a few members of the gang that would easily demolish these guys, without even counting Zhongli herself, who’d probably mow them down in the blink of an eye.

But all Cecily could do was answer to your admonitions with a vulgar comment about your mother you chose to ignore as you waited the outcome. Physical realities couldn’t be changed that easily. If she had reacted more quickly and chose a more hit and run style rather than merely standing her ground… ah well, she screwed up, so she got her just desserts.

But of course, the tennis guys couldn’t let your comment go like that. Furthermore, there wasn’t quite enough space for six guys to be attacking a single girl at the same time, so one of the seniors grumbled, and stepped away, charging over towards you.

“Who the heck are you calling feeble, you bitch?!” He asked irately. He was a big guy, admittedly, towering over you by a decent bit, but you had to wonder how someone who was supposed to participate in a fairly endurance-intensive sport had let himself go quite that much while still remaining a team member. Shame, he could’ve made a decent opponent otherwise.

He punched you from above, and you watched his attack come the same way you’d watch walking garbage crawl its way to you. Might as well…

You unleashed your own attack, not particularly bothering to change from your relaxed posture, your arm surging forwards and catching his mid-strike. For a moment, all the guy was able to do was stare dumbly at you, as you seemed to somehow loom over him despite his higher stature.

Then you put more strength into your arm and sent the boy reeling backwards, before kicking off your three and slamming your outstretched arm into him, throwing him to the ground a few meters away. He hadn’t taken much damage from that one, but that was going to absolutely sting on his pride.

This gave the rest of the indeed feeble congregation a moment of pause to look at the fallen guy, most probably not believing he’d actually done something as stupid as picking a fight with you with no backup. That moment was all that Cecily needed.

She burst out into a storm of punches and elbows, wriggling momentarily free of the immediate encirclement. The moment she had room to breathe, one of her legs lashed out in a beautiful arc and hit one of the initial guys right into his crotch with all of her considerable strength.

You could’ve sworn you heard the squelch from here. The poor guy howled like a demon as he rocketed up the air in a jump that would’ve made an Olympic athlete proud, before falling to the ground, foaming at the mouth and screaming.

This infuriated the others, but now, four against one, Cecily was giving as good as she got. One of the seniors got in a nasty punch on her face, but she once again rolled with it and countered nigh-instantly with a kick to his ribs that left the man hurting. She elbowed another of the underclassmen that tried to approach her, managing now to keep a bit of distance in order for her kicks to be effective. Now, all she needed to do was get a few good hits in, and they’d be wiped out.

You kept analyzing her style meanwhile. The way she used her elbows to keep them away and position them for her kicks, plus the generous use of knees… she had a more formal root to her style, no doubt. Muay Thai, would be your guess, but very unpolished upper body game.

You watched as Cecily positioned herself, dodging a kick and preparing to attack with one of her own. She stepped in, and-

The sudden onset of activity centered all in the same patch of ground, so many footsteps applied with great strength had weakened the consistency of dirt that wasn’t particularly hard in the first place. That part of the clearing had started to become muddy, a fact hidden by the grass that covered it in the first place.

No, no. Let’s be absolutely clear here.

Only a single place in the whole clearing, in the whole battleground, had become muddy. Said place was perfectly hidden by the grass above it. And it was the place where Cecily happened to step into. Something she couldn’t have known about, and thus couldn’t have avoided in any way.

As a result, the moment she did her step in, her foot slipped, and she lost her footing. She tried to correct it, but one of her opponents didn’t miss the chance and pushed her, destroying her equilibrium completely. She panicked, tried to grab onto someone before falling, but failed…

And managed to faceplant straight into the mud patch.

To her credit, she kept moving, rolling aside to avoid a stomp, and fighting with low kicks from the floor, trying to keep the other boys from getting too close while waiting for the opportunity to stand up, but her position had once again become absolutely disastrous.

You were left befuddled. You supposed that if the same thing happened to you, you’d end up in a similar situation, given the absolute surprise of the event. Hell, any fighter you cared to think about would be absolutely fucked by this little event. It was just… you weren’t the kind of guy this kind of thing happened to.

Bad luck as a term felt a bit too small to describe Cecily Ridley’s situation. How had it even ended up like this in the first place? This whole situation was comedic in a way that rather than funny, just felt confusing.

Oh, the guy you threw away is standing up and glaring daggers at you.

[Spinach]

Cyrus Ferdinand
Location: Zeus High School – 4th Floor (Crooklyn Hideout)
Time: Noon

“That TV’s got about enough life in it for one more of those kicks before it breaks, Johnny.” Cyrus grabbed the remote and hit the power button to turn off the old piece of junk. “Not that I care. Thing’s junk, but it is junk I won. So if you wanna treat it as a punching bag, go right ahead.”

The vibe was all off from the TV’s little fit. Cyrus would have sighed, were he the expressive, sighing type. Instead he just picked up all of the cards and began shuffling.

All the while Johnny went on about the house, about Zhong. About gangs and pulls for power, loyalty and prestige. That was Johnny’s playground, his dominion. Cyrus would play in it, but setting up those games was all on Johnny.

“We don’t always win.” Cyrus finally cut in. “We just don’t lose when it counts.”

Then, he set the deck down.

“As for how to do it, keep playing, keep feeling. But more than anything, keep betting. Because there’s nothing there to feel if nothing’s on the line.”

He looked up from under his hat.

“Whaddya say?”

[RacingeR]

Jordan J. Jones & Aaron Arturio
Location: Zeus High School – Courtyard (Football Field)
Time: Noon

Stunned silence. That’s a good description of the way everyone receives Aaron’s initial speech. Bewilderment as each member of the club tries to discern the meaning of his words and fails painfully save for a few exceptions.

Well, the part about stealing Zhongli’s phone was clear enough, in fact, so clear that many were staring at the boy as if he was a madman. Not helped by his speech.

However, Jordan’s translation had clarified things, somewhat.

Okay, now literally everyone was staring at Aaron as if he was a madman.

A frown appears on the captain’s face, while the coach groans at the troublesome news. Of course, now that he knows about it, he ought to do something about it. But everyone knew just how hard it was to deal with Zhong’s gang.

The school’s authorities always kept things from getting too far, mostly. Suspiciously so, even. That was all they did at the end of the day, as if they couldn’t be bothered to deal with something as unrealistic and out of place and just insane as the gang.

Part of that had to be related to outside factors. Even for the two of you the name of Stacy Tirrel was well known, as well as how rich and influential her family was. But this wasn’t enough to explain it all.

However, this was Zeus High School. This is normal. You don’t question things here; you accept them at face value. That’s how it works. This is normal.

So, Jordan plays his own little game, knowing full well how stunned everyone was, and how little anyone cared to get involved in this mess, as well as knowing how little going for the authorities was going to accomplish.

“Alright. I’m going with you.” Of course, the eagle-eyed captain didn’t miss the meaning of his words, and immediately volunteers. Even for everyone else, things are fairly clear, but… nobody makes a move to join him as he crosses over to stand besides Aaron.

Lavrenti shot a glance at Lizbeth, but the boxer groaned and shrugged. “I’d be happy to get into a scrap with those shitheads, but I ain’t gonna fight for a bitch like Rhodes. Nope. No way.”

The Russian nodded curtly at her words, and quickly ushered you two out of the room and outside, walking you quickly away from the lockers. He was about to say something, but a booming voice interrupted him.

“Wait a moment, boys!” The voice of the coach instantly galvanized the trio, forcing you to stop on your tracks and turn to look at him. The looming mountain of a man approached, a beefy hand on his pocket, while the other scratched at his head.

“I’m going to go report what I’ve heard to security, see if we can break this up before it escalates.” Philips said, before anyone could present any excuses. “I don’t know about anything that may or may not have happened after I left the room, nor did I hear anything but a tip from a student that wished to remain anonymous.”

He walked past you, heading towards the school building. “I’m just gonna say, if any of you boys has to miss next game because you got your asses on the hospital, I’m gonna be mighty pissed, ya hear?”

With these words, he made his way out of the field, walking towards the school’s entrance, and leaving you three to decide what to do.

And because you were outside, on the ground floor, although you heard some suspicious rattling come from the locker room, you missed the slight tremor that ran through the school terrain and its buildings.

“What are you planning, Jordan?” Lavrenti asked, then grimaced. “Let me warn you, you are going to have a hard time finding a student willing to lift a finger for Rhodes.”


Masaki Taichi & Eleanor Lansing
Location: Zeus High School – 5^th Floor (Swordsmanship Team Training Room)
Time: Noon

Eleanor:

“Wait up. Ah, damn…” Kaitlin muttered in irritation. “Taichi, you’re in charge for now. Try to not be up here too late, and keep an eye on the twins!”

She quickly gave an order as the team leader, and followed after Eleanor.

“What, you thought I’d leave you to go at it alone?” The redhead said, catching up to you with a short dash, and then crossing her arms when you stared at her. “I hardly can stay still and do nothing while one of my teammates is in trouble, right?”

“And nothing says we can’t employ strength in numbers ourselves! Besides, I am quite hungry myself.” She said, very evidently having decided to accompany you regardless of your opinion.

Two versus a bunch of the gang wasn’t exactly strength in numbers… and you really had to wonder if this sheltered princess had any idea of what she was walking into. You were no stranger to violence, but you doubted Kaitlin had much experience in that field. Certainly, she was strong, but being able to employ that strength…

Not that there was much you could do about it. This girl was very stubborn once she had decided on something. That you had come to know quite well after such a long time here.

You brace for a confrontation. A confrontation that doesn’t happen.

You do spot quite a few of gang members around the fifth floor as you go down to the fourth, and they do spot you. But instead of swarming at you as you had expected, they mostly ignore you. Some do point at you, and one you identify as a friend of the guy whose beatdown had caused your probation gives you a very ugly stare, but they don’t approach you. If anything, they go around, as if they couldn’t be bothered with giving you a lesson right now.

Almost as if they were searching for something, or someone…

Before you could think some more on that, a tremor runs through the school building. As you were mid-step, you almost slip and fall, but your companion grabs you before you could.

Sounds of startlement and fear ring around the whole floor, reaching your ears in a cacophony, but by the time the body informed the brain about the quake, it had already passed, gone entirely.

Leaving a lot of stunned and confused students, that were starting to recompose themselves, as well as a bunch of searching gangsters, some of who had stopped, but some who had already resumed the search.


Taichi:

“Yes, Senpai!” The twins beam at your praise, and then set about doing their stretching exercises and preparing to rest. With Kaitlin and Eleanor out, it seems like that’ll be it for today. You doubted Izabella would be up for a duel right now.

“Familiar with Kinetic Kendo? I can’t say so.” The white-haired girl tilted her head slightly, drawing a finger to her chin in thought. “I’ve seen the twins employ it a few times, so I’ve acquired a considerable understanding of their style, but I don’t dare say I’m quite familiar with it yet, at least not without testing it with my own sword.”

Saying that she had a ‘considerable understanding’ just by seeing a few spars was already quite the claim. However, she didn’t seem to be lying about it.

“Hm, I guess you could say I just felt it~” She said teasingly, smiling slightly. You glared at her, and she shrugged. “I’m not lying, actually-“

But her words were interrupted by the slight quake that ran through the school building, causing everything to tremble in unison, the ground shaking below you. The teacups trembled atop the table, part of their content dribbling out of them and onto the table.

By the time you stood up, startled, it had passed, it was gone. You heard the twins making startled noises, the sound of Izabella’s chair moving backwards as she too stood up suddenly.

Her face had lost all of her earlier cheer, and instead her expression had darkened considerably, although that was just a sidenote.

“Really feels like home.” “Yeah, it does!” You heard the twins’ somewhat sarcastic remarks. They had fallen over when the quake had happened, as they’d been doing that leg stretching exercise where you stood on one leg holding the other with your arm, but they seemed to have suffered no hurt whatsoever.


Sakura Sumeragi & Ishmael Freeman
Location: Zeus High School – Floor 6 (Infirmary)
Time: Noon

Sakura:

“Well, that sucks.” Maeve says bluntly, without delay, expressing her opinion while you sink more into your cocoon. “I can’t imagine living with something like that.”

“Not that genetics haven’t played a trick on us too.” Medb pointed dryly. You saw her glancing at her own nails askance, apparently having heard your muttered final statements, unlike her sister. She then attempted to show her phone to her twin.

“Yeah, but it ain’t the same thing!” Maeve said, pointedly ignoring the phone. “Our thing is kinda weird and freaky but not like this, right?”

And before you could get a word in edgewise…

The younger twin gets on your bed, and manages to envelope you and your cocoon into a big hug.

“There, there.” She says soothingly, as if comforting a small animal. “No need to feel awkward about it. Believe it or not, we know how it feels like being treated differently because of what you are.”

So, she had seen through that part at least, perhaps due to shared experience. This sudden invasion of personal space was quite the surprise, aside from a bit embarrassing. Did this friendly and warm girl truly have a reputation of being hard to approach?

“Right, sis?” She turned her head to look at her sister, and you did the same. Medb had been quite mindful about her twin’s intrusive nature, and surely, she had something to say about this, right?

… She was staring at you in your blushed state inside your cocoon, a slight blush on her own cheeks and a shine on her eyes, similar to those which children got when seeing a cute animal.

“Cute…” You heard her mutter clearly, her phone forgotten.

“Well, whatever. Anyway! Don’t worry about it, if you need help with anything, you can count on us two!” Maeve said cheerily.

And then-

Ishmael:

“If you call Ms. Lovell ‘dragon maiden’ to her face, you’d get yet another redhead sending you straight to the hospital.” The nurse commented, amused.

“Yeah, I saw what you compiled, you got most of it ready but we’re still missing the current club member data.” Myrthe said. “Which we were supposed to be dealing with during the time you were getting your ass handed to you by that shithead.”

Oh, that might be a bit of a problem. You had forgotten about it entirely thanks to having your brain shaken so badly. Yes, the data wasn’t ready until today so you were supposed to handle it, but of course, if the president and you were on the infirmary… and the twins were here too. You could’ve counted on Medb to handle that if you two were out otherwise.

And of course, the other team members wouldn’t bother with it. Welp.

“Damn. I mean, you are right.” Myrthe sighed and settled down. “I was hoping I could argue it out with her and get a bit more out of it, some of our swimsuits are in need of replacements, especially because a certain someone’s bust won’t stop growing.” She sent an annoyed stare towards Maeve, who was busy hugging the sickly girl on the bed for some reason.

“Well, ahhh, whatever. I’m just going to fight it out with her, she’ll be a smug little shit about it for a while but I’m sure she’ll relent a bit.” She shrugged. “Wish the stuff Zeus uses wasn’t so high quality, the costs add up so much.”

She was about to release more complaints while your headache subsided and you started to feel more like a person once again, when it happened.



The tremor was small, but strong enough to be perceptible, strong enough to shake the infirmary up. It was over in an instant, but in that instant, quite a few things happened.

The clatter was hellish, accompanied by the sudden sound of glass shattering as a bottle of something that happened to be too near the border of the table fell and shattered against the floor.

For Ishmael, it turned out to be rather troubling, as he still wasn’t in quite the state to put that much strength on his limbs. The sudden, completely unexpected quake caused him to slip off his chair and impact against the floor. Yet another bump to the head. Today was definitely not his day, and he couldn’t even begin to predict how much worse it was going to get.

Meanwhile, the sudden, extremely loud onset of noise caused Maeve to suddenly seize up in overt panic, going completely rigid while still wrapped around Sakura. Her whole weight fell over the sickly girl, who wasn’t in a good position for that, and whose posture had been shaken by the quake.

The end result was that both girls fell off the bed and smacked against the floor.

“Sis!” “Ms. Sumeragi!”

The exclamations of both Medb and Mila could be heard the moment the quake ended, so short that it felt like it had been there for less than a second.

The older twin quickly ran towards the fallen girls, starting to help her sister up with a pained expression.

Meanwhile, Mila hesitated for a second, then made her way towards Sakura. “Don’t move him yet!” She ordered to Myrthe who was approaching Ishmael to help him up.

“Are you alright, Ms. Sumeragi?” The nurse asked, kneeling besides her patient. Thankfully it hadn’t been a big hit or anything. It hurt a bit and it would leave a bruise, but that’d be all.

Meanwhile, Ishmael was having a different kind of problem.

An earthquake… no, something about a quake. Something in his past, he was reminded of something he’d been told, but his memory wasn’t quite helping right now, thanks to that second assault towards his cranium.

Something your grandfather had said, but what?

[Eru Erufu]

Jordan J. Jones & Aaron Arturio
Location: Zeus High School – Courtyard (Football Field)
Time: Noon

“You are a wonderful man, Lavrenti! Truly a noble man amongst noble men to rush to the defense of a fairest maiden, and one he has personal disdain for at that!” Aaron answers instantly, triumphant grin plastered across his face. Though the boy is internally very disappointed that he only got one recruit out of his speech, he does his very best not to let it show on his face. “Thank you, Coach. You have a noble soul, and I respect your devotion to your duty as instructor and mentor!”

As the three newly minted musketeers make their way out of the locker room, Aaron pays the slight shaking no mind. Earthquakes, while not common, are a known quantity to him; one as minor as this is no cause to pause in his quest against the Wicked Wretched Wu Zhongli herself! “Where to next, my most noble of comrades? Shall we recruit more to our cause, or set out to challenge the Queen of Chaos herself?”

And that truly is the chief conundrum, isn’t it? They are but three men, no matter how strong their wills are. And three men cannot possibly hope to unseat Zhongli on their own… right? These questions and more Aaron asks himself within the privacy of his own mind, where doubts creep in to rot his outward facing mask of utter confidence. “Where on Earth can we find enough people to unseat Zhongli’s Gang… that right there is the million-dollar question.” He murmurs to himself, only loud enough for perhaps Jordan to hear.

[arkturus]

Olivia Reeds
Location: Zeus High School – 4th Floor (Class 406)
Time: Noon

“What the- you, I mean, what the fuck?” The boy put his dukes up, eyeing you warily. Good striking stance, definitely a brawler type. Street fighting, then. Most of Zhongli’s people are like that, of course. “Who are you? Who the hell do you think you are, huh? Get out of my way!”

Olivia smiled. As unpolished as this boy was, he showed some promise. Perhaps he would make for a good sparring partner.

“Me? Just a concerned bystander stepping in, nothing more.” Olivia started slowly circling around the hotheaded youth, moving away from her protective position between the boy and her classmates and approaching him like a predator on the hunt. She twirled her umbrella idly as she thought of her next step. By attacking him from behind she instilled the idea that she was a threat, one who he could not have his back turned to. His confrontational nature and the male inclination towards linear thinking meant that he would prioritize her first.

The boy’s eyes naturally followed her as she effortlessly weaved between the desks of the classroom. Based on his earlier reaction it seemed that he didn’t like being openly challenged. Rather than being physically hurt from the throw, perhaps it was his pride–his positive self image built through using violence as his source of agency–that she had bruised. She would lean on this psychological sore spot.

“Honestly, what did you expect when you started such an obvious confrontation in the middle of a classroom? Is the space between your ears empty? If you’re upset then the blame your own stupidity.”

She stopped when she reached the door, blocking the red-haired boy from his escape path. Subconsciously he would understand that he was surrounded as his eyes could not see everyone at once. To glance back at the two girls behind him he would have to take his eyes off Olivia. His fight or flight response would probably kick in soon.

And now to throw him a lifeline.

“Follow me, we’ll settle this outside. That is, unless you’re too scared that you’ll lose to a girl.”

Olivia punctuated her last remark with a sneer before turning around, opening the door, and striding out of the room.

She knew a good spot, somewhat close to the cafeteria. If things went quickly, she wouldn't lose too much of her lunch time. If not then perhaps a certain wannabe knight would interfere again. At this time of day she'd probably be making her way there by now.

[RacingeR]

Xavier Augustus & Willow Durand
Location: Zeus High School – 5^th Floor (Music Club)
Time: Noon

“Hey! Who are you calling an idiot?!” The blond brat complained, but by then you all had moved on to making the arrangements necessary for this show to function.

“Huh? Yeah! Of course I’ll do my best!” The singer cheered upon hearing Xavier’s words. “You just wait, Shelia, I’ll make you take me serio-“

He ignored her mutters, speaking to Adelyn, who nodded back at him. “That’s fine. We should figure out how to sync the beats with the dancing once we all have come with a workable skeleton, if dancing is going to be a big part of-“

Her speech was interrupted by the sound of the door closing. You had started to get so engrossed in your respective tasks, that you hadn’t noticed the door opening and someone entering the room.

“Hello! Sorry that I’m late, I had a call from my manager that couldn’t wait till later.” Shelia Hathaway smilingly intruded into the room. Almost as naturally as one breathes, all your collective attention was pulled towards her. Even without doing much of anything to call attention to herself and wearing nothing flashier than a normal school uniform, she had a way to take over the room while she was there.

“Hi, Willow! Why are you here? Is something going on? Can I help?” She asked, tilting her head innocently, tails of pink hair waving around her as she did so.

Looking at Cynthia’s face, she was already pouting, and her pouting had intensified the moment she heard Shelia’s words.

But as the tension in the room skyrocketed, and before she could say anything in response…

A tremor ran through the building. There were no major consequences in the clubroom, aside from a hellish clatter: one unoccupied chair fell over, and the left-behind utensils of one the club members fell all over the floor from their precarious position on the border of a table.

And that was all. Almost as soon as it was felt, the quake was over.


Eilian Aubrey
Location: Zeus High School – 5^th Floor (Crafts Club)
Time: Noon

“Ugh…” Astor groaned at your words, but couldn’t say anything in reply. He groaned again upon seeing the costs on the paper.

“Fine, I can afford it. More or less when would you have it ready?” He asks after sighing, massaging his forehead as if to save off a headache.

You were about to reply to him, when the quake happens. The building shakes around you, but it is over in the blink of the eye.

Of course, you are in the Crafts Club, and the spectacle of so many things falling to the floor is quite the thing. Many people here had surprisingly messy workspaces, and many definitely had a lot of small safety issues that became rather clear now.

You watched the ensuing disaster, as well as the few members of the club that were here instead of eating lunch somewhere running around like ants, with the smugness of one who knew they wouldn’t have to clean the mess.

Well, no, to be exact, some of your stuff, as well as some of your tools, had also fallen over, even if most of your workshop survived the experience undamaged.

“An earthquake? In this state?” Astor asks at nobody in particular as he stares at the disaster on the rest of the room. You, however, notice something within your own mess.

A pocket-watch the size of your (ungloved) hand, its exterior made of what appears to be very ancient bronze, is on the floor, near you.

Where did it come from? You don’t remember this being in your workshop. Did it come from here, or from somewhere nearby?

Something about it feels strange…


Olivia Reeds
Location: Zeus High School – 4th Floor (Class 406)
Time: Noon

The boy practically bared his teeth at you in a snarl, adrenaline starting to run through his body as he prepared himself for a fight, his attention fully on you but not completely forgetting the two girls at the back, even knowing they were not fighters.

Your strategy was working, and you were playing him like a fiddle, making him go along with you with ease. He had, of course, no idea of what you were pulling off here.

“Alright, if you need a lesson about keeping your nose out of shit that ain’t your business, I’ll give it to you free of charge.” He said through gritted teeth, ready to go along with your suggestion.

However, at that moment… a certain someone makes a completely unexpected interruption.

Ida abandons her spot behind Krystine, and runs up to you, passing near the surprised gangster wannabe. She reaches you, and tugs on your sleeve to make sure she’s got your attention, before gesturing at you and the intruder energetically, stomping at the ground twice. You had a hard time understanding her mute appeal, but the general gist could be summarized as “NO FIGHTING”.

Before either of you could answer to that, a shake ran through the school building, causing chairs and utensils to fall all over. It is brief but impactful, and you grabbed Ida to stabilize her before she could fall over.

The quake ends, and you are now standing in a much messier classroom, with the tension have gone down considerably.

“Fine.” The boy sighed, lowering his fists and putting them on his pockets.

“Thought better of it, Jason?” Krystine muttered.

“Shut up, pervert.” The boy, the aforementioned Jason, replied, not hiding his despisal at all. The white-haired girl paled at his comment, her eyes shining furiously. “This ain’t over, not by a long shot. I’ll bring up all the authorities I got to if it comes down to it.” He added, voice full of acid on the first phrase, but somewhat hollow on the second, as if he himself knew it was an empty threat.

Krystine made no reply, and the redhead walked his way towards you… or more accurately, towards the door.

“Outta my way.” He said, hands still on his pockets as if to show he wasn’t going to start slinging punches right now. He was still keeping a certain distance, however, so he was pretty wary still.

[RacingeR]

Alexandra Gray
Location: Zeus High School – 5^th Floor (Martial Arts Team Training Room)
Time: Noon

“Wait. What are you doing? Why are you stripping?!” Hiyori practically screams in confusion as she sees you cast your trousers aside as if it was the normal thing to do, completely ignoring the quake. “What full transparency, no, no, there’s no need to-!”

“Yes, I shall join you.” Gwendoline bows almost formally… as she starts taking her clothes off herself. “We shall train in the nude, as true warriors. I will guide you the way they did in my temple!”

“What kind of fucking temple is that?! You two, put your clothes on, we have gi for training! Christ’s sake, there are boys in the team and one could walk in at any moment! GET DRESSED!”

Eventually, she manages to wrangle the both of you back into your clothes, and into the training gi, after having quite a lot to say about Gwen and her habit of using her gi and nothing else to train.

Now, you stand in front of Hiyori, ready for a spar, with Gwen watching from the side.

“Alright. This is just a spar to see where you’re at and how we can help you get better, not a test. I already got a decent idea of your capabilities from seeing you train, but we’ll get a better look at you now.” She says as she takes her stance, somewhat smugly, but you can feel she’s indeed taking you seriously as an opponent. “Come at me however you want!”

Her stance is, as expected, karate. Hiyori’s, despite her not all that impressive size or musculature, a striking specialist. Not that you’d underestimate her due to that: she put her knowledge of anatomy to good use, and her attacks were extremely precise and very painful despite her overall lack of strength.

Of course, this was somewhat deceiving. If you had to point out her actual specialty, it would be defense. She was quite tough and pretty good at absorbing attacks until she could get hers in. She also mixed some French savate on her kicks, or what she was allowed to in a competition at least. In theory, all this put together made her very strong on both offense and defense, but you knew she wasn’t that good.

For one, she wasn’t good at soft martial arts and fending them off, hence her incompatibility with Gwen’s given specialties of Aikido and Judo. She could fend off attempts to pin or throw her, but once she was in the ground, her groundwork was extremely weak. She also wasn’t all that fast for Zeus standards, and her reflexes were quite lacking.

Of course, she was someone who focused in martial arts, while your main talent was mostly imitation, and you could be considered an amateur, if a skilled one. There lied the main difference between the two of you, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t surpass this wall.

It all depended on how you chose to approach this.


Kaguya & Neru Sune
Location: Zeus High School – Rooftop
Time: Noon

“Yeah, definitely felt that tremor.” Ludmilla said, standing up after Kaguya did so (presumably so she could get a good look at her friend’s figure, because this is Ludmilla we’re talking about), dusting herself off as well. It was a distracting spectacle, but thankfully the other school idol had Neru’s attention well in hand.

“Yes. There was indeed a quake.” Mary said thoughtfully, a strange look on her face. Her pink-haired enemy of sorts shot her a weird look, but the church girl ignored her entirely.

“Hm, I think I know about you. You are that, uhh, Tune? Tuna? The boy that keeps falling asleep in class and wakes up screaming, that one. One of my friends is classmates with him. Naru Tuna, I think was the name.” Ludmilla shrugs and diverted her attention to the boy. Her words are devoid of malice, and instead are full of curiosity.

“Yeah, this was the first time I felt something like that, don’t think there’s been an earthquake in all the years I’ve attended this school.” She adds. “I mean there’s been weird things, like Zhong’s entire gang, but this school’s full of weirdos in the first place so I just run with it.” She shrugged to emphasize her words. “Anyway, Kaguya’s right, we should make ourselves scarce- Mary, what are you doing?”

At some point, the brunette had closed up on Neru. If Kaguya had been too close, then Mary had gotten definitely way too close, invading his personal space, examining Neru from many angles, as well as his expression and reactions.

“You look haunted.” She says, with a particular emphasis to her words that practically transforms the phrase into ‘you are haunted’. There’s something to her eyes that causes a chill to go down the boy’s spine, something that he can’t quite describe. Conviction and fanaticism and something else… “Here.”

She takes her hands to one of her uniform’s pockets, and extracts a metallic necklace from it, shoving it straight into Neru’s hands without giving him the chance to reject it. It consists of a round, iron (at least you think it is iron) coin-like piece, strung through with a steel chain. It feels strangely warm to the touch, and on both faces of it you can see a vaguely carved figure, that of a hooded yet charming woman. “This will be of help for you.”

You look back at her, but she’s already said her piece, and is leaving towards the stairs. “Beware that she-devil, she will devour you.” She says, sending an envenomed stare at the pink-head, before making her way down the stairs. “Bye, Kaguya.”

And like that, she’s gone.

“… Did she lose her marbles entirely or what?” Ludmilla asks, annoyed. “I was having so much fun teasing her…”

Compendium Update

Strange Necklace

An accessory made by the heretical Church of the Sixteen Saints. Depicts one of the Sixteen, the False Virgin, St. Tricia. Oddly warm to the touch, feeling unsettling, and yet comforting.

Strong believers in the supernatural, the members of the Sixteen often use apparel meant to keep influences from the beyond away. Their most secret order, which frequently conflicts with mages across the world, often forges this equipment, which finds its way to most of their members, no matter how uninvolved in the occult side of the sect, as a widespread net of protection.

The False Virgin is often associated with the concept of protection and barriers against magic, and thus this necklace grants +5 Existence to the user, as well as protection against the influences of Horrors and Wrongs, though its effectiveness on this respect depends on the strength of the influencer.

[Katie]

Eleanor Lansing
Location: Zeus High School – 4th Floor
Time: Noon

“Thank you,” Eleanor says politely, using the other girl to help pull herself up. An earthquake in the Midwest? Completely absurd. But, with no other evidence, that seems to be exactly what has happened. Strange, inexplicable, but ultimately something she could not do anything about.

She takes a look around. Nobody seems significantly injured. That meant she could focus on the task at hand.

Who are they looking for?

Who could be so important that the gang would pointlessly be searching across the entire school? She doubted that her reputation stopped the gang from trying to take a shot at her. No, if anything, it just meant they had someone so important to be searching for. Might as well meddle in their affairs, just to ruin their plans.

What is truly annoying, though, is the presence of Kaitlin right next to her. If she were by herself, she could do things the hard way. Slam someone into a wall, ask for names, get an answer one way or another. But the other girl’s moral fiber wouldn’t allow for that.

Instead, they’ll just have to do it the hard way. “Tail” the idiots trying to find their needle in a haystack.

“You really don’t need to come along,” Elanor finally says, glaring at the other girl. “I’m just going to stick my nose into trouble. You don’t need to be an accomplice.”

[Mormarth]

Alexandra Gray
Location: Zeus High School – 5th Floor (Martial Arts Team Training Room)
Time: Noon

"There's no need for this," I protested, "The jacket is easy to remove and my shirt is fine to move around in, it's just to avoid damaging my trousers, you don't have to trouble yourself on my account."

Tugging experimentally on the sleeves, lips pursing as I did so, I let my eyes settle across the somewhat shorter form of my new captain.

She's experienced in defense, particularly striking, and her splicing of savate with more traditional karate allows for a firm offensive base as well.

Still, I'd been observant enough to know some of her soft points. Judo, or Aikido, similar to the arts Gwendoline uses in her own conversation.

She's abrasive, and hard to get a hold of, and prefers to keep people at a distance.

Hypothesized approach...

Can be flustered when unprepared? Taking me seriously.

Weak on ground game, need to penetrate defense, force takedown.

Infighting would be path to victory, likely knows this, will use kicks to keep at distance.

Hard defense.

Soft offense.

Read her movements, gauge the reaction, do not cede the initiative or she will adapt.

Control space, pressure.

There was a moment of silence.

Then I pushed off the balls of my feet and rushed in at her, arms loose and relaxed along the center of my body, my center of gravity lowering just so.

Bait her into her strong points.

Then, focus on tight parry-work, work with the Gi, pressure lightly with sweeps and force her to fall back on the french boxing.

Then we're in the clinch, find the takedown.

She's strong on defense, but use your speed to your advantage.

[palad1n]

Kaguya
Location: Zeus High School – Rooftop
Time: Noon

"Bye, Mary." She waved with a smile as Mary disappeared down the stairs before looking at the necklace Mary had given.

Kaguya isn't religious by any stretch of the imagination, but she's pretty sure that Mary should have given Naru a rosary instead of... whatever the necklace is if she's a Christian, but then again she doesn't really know about this stuff. Hell, Mary actually seemed like a proper nun when she examined Naru, so who's she to judge?

“… Did she lose her marbles entirely or what? I was having so much fun teasing her…”

"Some people can't take too much teasing, Lud. I think the poor girl's gonna explode if not for the quake and Naru here." She smiled at her friend. "And whether she's right or not, it's a nice gesture regardless, no? She thought he's haunted, so she gave him a protective charm. Who knows, maybe it really does work." She shrugged. "So I think you could cut her some slack."

Indeed, unlike Ludmilla, Kaguya isn't entirely sure to write off Mary as 'losing her marbles' or being delusional.

ZEUS is a strange school, and the students here aren't normal in one way or another, whether it's because of their talent, gifts, background, or something else... and it made Kaguya wonder why and how Mary could get in, so to speak. Of course Ludmilla could be completely right and Mary's just too delusional, getting in from a myriad of possible mundane reasons, but if she got in because of her faith...

Well, it's something to think about. At the very least, the implication and possibility is interesting, and she might seek the girl later to find out more about why she thought Naru is haunted.

"Anyway, we should follow her example. I really don't want to tempt fate by lingering around." She turns to the boy once again. "Maybe you can tell us a little bit about yourself as we go. Do you have narcolepsy or something similar Naru?" She pauses, giving him a reassuring smile before she starts walking to the stairs with a dramatic flip of her hair. "Only if you don't mind telling, of course."

[Bloble]

Jordan J. Jones
Location: Zeus High School – Courtyard (Football Field)
Time: Noon

“What are you planning, Jordan? Let me warn you, you are going to have a hard time finding a student willing to lift a finger for Rhodes.”

"Man, I don't even know."

Jordan furrowed his brows and then pinched the top of his nose between thumb and index figure for good measure. His face scrunched up as his brain ran a mile a minute for five long seconds. Aaron's ranting filled the air.

Rhodes, Rhodes... yeah, she was the nosy girl who dug into everyone's dirty laundry. Not the most popular gal around. He didn't care but others would.

"What kinda mess did you drag us into, Arturio... alright, let's go."

Jordan set off at a power-walk pace, pausing only to make sure the other two boys were following behind him. Plan, plan... he had no plan. Jordan J. Jones was not a plan kinda guy. He was a run fast and do what captain says kinda guy. So he looked to the captain for advice again, speaking one word at a time without being sure what he'd say, like a construction worker building the bridge under his feet one brick at a time.

"Guys, hows about we forget all that 'take down Zhong' crap for now and focus on bailing Rhodes outta trouble? If they've got her cornered in a classroom somewhere and it's only a few people, we could run a play or something. Two guys hold the line, other guy grabs the ball and goes for touchdown."

Jordan scratched sheepishly at his short-cropped hair.

"Or I could run up to the council room. Maybe get a student council member to come down with us, could scare off Zhong's guys? I dunno, what do you think, Lav?"

[RacingeR]

Myo
Location: Zeus High School – Dorms (3rd Floor – Myo’s Room)
Time: Noon

“Well, do you want the good or the bad news first?” A dust dry voice replies to you, prompting you to turn around.

Shirai didn’t look much like an assassin, and perhaps that was the point. How a pink-haired girl with those proportions and those looks managed to pass as part of the background and move about completely unnoticed was beyond you. Then again, it probably had to do with her ability to somehow materialize inside your room with no visible means to her entrance

Logically speaking, you were fairly sure she had made her way through the window at some point, noiselessly and undetected. She had to have been tracking you since earlier today: unlike you she doesn’t have a ‘uniform’, but rather is wearing a school uniform, and has probably managed to mix with the students. There were so many of them in Zeus that it is impossible for someone to know everyone in here.

You had been trained in the combat division, if with an orientation to deep strikes and special ops (which translated, always, to assassinations) while Shirai was more oriented towards the stealth and infiltration specialty. Perhaps saying that you were two different types of assassins would be a better explanation.

As far as you knew, Shirai and you were the last two living members of your ‘generation’. Of course, ‘as far as you knew’ meant little, your Organization was so fond of secrecy when it came to their own agents, that you didn’t even know its name, nor did you ever feel the need to. That was the way you were raised to be, and so was Shirai.

Either way, it wasn’t the first time you’d been paired together, although the last time had been… four years ago already? It had been a long time, but you’d been sure you’d get thrown together again sooner or later. This girl was like a cockroach, as hard to kill and as noxious as one, at least.

“The bad news are,” she started, not waiting for you to reply, “that I’ve lost contact with everyone. Neither our handler or the backup personnel or the contacts in the area… nobody’s answering. They’re all gone.”

There’s a slight shake to her voice that her dryness doesn’t manage to hide. Whatever it was, she had felt it too. That time was running out. It was not something logical, it was an instinct developed through the years, but it was clearly there. A feeling of impending danger, that if you delayed any more, your mission would become impossible to carry.

And the mission was everything. That was how you were taught and raised.

“Hell, I can’t even seem to contact the outside world at all since the quake.” She adds with a bit more agitation, shaking one of the phone-like communication devices you used to contact your people. “All I got today was the identity of the target, the order to execute, and then silence. I think we can assume they’re MIA or KIA. We’re alone. And I get the feeling that if we’re going to do it, we have to do it right now. Well, you’re the one that has to do it, I’m just backing you up, you do the chopping, I hide in the shadows. Like always~.” Shirai smiles cynically at that. Typical, though she’d be along with you, the heavy lifting is up to you. She’s not intended to be a fighter, so she’s not going to be risking it.

Cockroach is an apt description, for sure.

But the quake… that is what you heard people panicking about in the hallways. That is what has galvanized the both of you into action now, that has caused this sense of unease and danger.

“The good news is that I’ve got a good bead on the target and where they are, and our dear principal doesn’t seem like he intends to move from where he’s sitting at, so at least we’re not going to be playing hide and seek. We enter, you destroy, I cheer from the sidelines and take care of the evidence, and then we run away. Simple, isn’t it?”

[SnowSpartan]

Willow Durand
Location: Zeus High School – 5^th Floor (Music Club)
Time: Noon


Playing with her hair, Willow hums Cynthia’s song to get a better feel for it. Feel out how it makes her want to move. She could consider including some visual effects, she’ll have to ask Cynthia her thoughts on it. Willow likes to use falling petals, smaller fireworks, snowfall, and other such effects to enhance her own performances. It would be important to find out before Willow goes too far in.

As much as she can’t blame the idol for not being good at choreography, Xavier’s honest reaction, and Adelyne’s confusion, was correct. It is true that Cynthia’s choreography is…undeveloped.

It is also nice to see that Xavier can be so honest with Cynthia. Willow was never very good at being honest with people when involving something they don’t want to hear.

Speaking of Xavier, he turns to her.

“Thanks Willow, we’ll be relying on you. If there’s anything at all I can do to make this process a little easier, just let me know. Especially if you're having problems capturing the emotional core of the song.”

Willow’s dress sways as she spins to face Xavier. “Thanks for your concern! I’ll let you know if something comes up!” A thankful smile is thrown his way. It’s nice to see that Cynthia is friends with people as considerate and reliable as him and Adelyn. She hasn’t interacted with Cynthia for long, but even she gets the sense that Cynthia’s stronger with them. Xavier has watched out for the idol and reprimanded her when she needed it. And, having worked with Adelyne multiple times, Willow knows how reliable she is. Both as a person and as a musician. She’s not sure if there is an instrument Adelyn can’t play!

Willow can see how those three get along so well. Especially now, with Xavier getting everybody pumped up.

Just then, Shelia walks into the room,

“Hi, Willow! Why are you here? Is something going on? Can I help?”

Hmm, Willow’s in a slightly delicate situation. Cynthia’s forceful rivalry with Shelia requires care when interacting with the both of them in the same room. She wishes her father was here, he would know what to say. Willow herself isn’t sure what to do about Cynthia’s sense of rivalry. Maybe it’s not her place, but this one sided rivalry of Cynthia’s can’t be healthy. Particularly for Shelia. Willow knows how much the rivalry affects her. It may be fine now, but Willow’s worried they’ll both get hurt by it. That their friendship will also get hurt by it, and she doesn’t want that for them.

Before Willow can figure out how to respond…

“!”

The room’s instruments start shaking. What’s going on? Wait, it's not the instruments that are shaking. The room is shaking; this is an earthquake.

Willow shifts her footing to get a wider base for balance, as the sound of something falling echoes behind her. The earthquake doesn’t seem to be serious, but Willow quickly scans the room for something secure, like a desk or table, she could hide under if necessary. Just as she starts to get concerned, the earthquake dies down.

Quiet briefly pervades the room.

She peers around. Nobody seems to be hurt. But still, an earthquake? That was unexpected, she’s pretty sure they’re rare in this part of the country.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Willow’s the first to break that silence, tilting her head to the side, before leaving the event behind her. Her eyes determinedly light up and she gives the room her signature grin to diffuse the tension in the room.

She turns back to Shelia.

“Hey! We’re working on helping Cynthia with her next performance. It’s looking to be really good. I can feel the passion she has for this, and I’d bet you’ll love it!” While speaking, Willow moves animatedly.

“Unless you’re good at choreography, I’m not sure if you can help me. But, maybe the others have something…?” Willow looks expectantly towards the other three.

Maybe Cynthia’s desire for a rival in Shelia will go away if they work together? Willow’s not sure, but it’s worth a shot if Cynthia is willing.

[Vorbis]

Lorelei Weber
Location: Zeus High School – 5th Floor (Student Council Room)
Time: Noon

Lorelei continued to work quietly, seemingly nonplussed at the idea of her advice being unusable due to the Geneva Convention. Did that matter to them? Maybe there were rules in war, but in high school, monstrous behavior was the norm. And anyway it would be fitting punishment... she reached for another paper, and was both shocked and disappointed to find her entire stack of neatly ordered and signed papers being defaced by a sudden tremor.

Kansas was not a state that was subject to earthquakes. While some seismological activity was not abnormal for any province with oil drilling, this was not something Zeus Academy was anywhere near. It shouldn't have happened. An anomaly. Her hair fell over her eyes in the quake, which to the others seemed to have masked the normally unflappable Lorelei's surprise.

She brushes the hair, and breathes.

"Yes. Jozefa and I will go find Henry, wherever he is. Consider moving carefully through the halls though. Stay close to the walls, and to each other. Remember though that you will not be the only ones in the hallways, and the safest place to be in an earthquake is as far from any doorways as possible. Tremors rarely travel alone. And... stay inside the school. Being outside right now is going to be more dangerous than being in here."

Earthquakes were in smaller magnitude and somewhat more frequent in Germany, so Lorelei knew how to deal with them. It didn't help, of course, that she was about to defy her own dictation to the other students by willfully going outside. But if she didn't go, Jozefa would be going alone.

"Maybe... stack my papers up first before leaving. I can tell you how things are in the hallways when we're back. Henry can't be far." Lorelei looked for a moment, then stood up. "Let's go, Jozefa."

Lorelei was for the first time in a while, a mite unsure. But it's not like this was anything she hadn't dealt with before.

[RacingeR]

Jordan J. Jones & Aaron Arturio
Location: Zeus High School – Courtyard (Football Field)
Time: Noon

“I wouldn’t quite say I’ve got a personal disdain for her, uhh, Arturio.” Lavrenti said, scratching his head, evidently not sure of how to parse Aaron in general. Apparently, this type of person was something he wasn’t good at dealing with. “Point being that a lot of the student body does, and for good reason.”

“That’s why I don’t think we’re going to get many recruits to help her. Hell, not many people are willing to go against the gang unless it concerns themselves, nobody wants that trouble on their lives…” The quarterback shook his head and sunk into thought as everyone followed after Jordan.

Once the runningback had said his piece, Lavrenti frowned, and then nodded. “I agree, forget about that. It is not going to happen, not with the means we have at our disposal. Instead, the focus should be helping Rhodes.”

He sighed, then spoke slowly, as if musing every word. “Camila Shane and Ashley Lee. Those two are the ones in the gang with the biggest beef with her. I dunno what she dug up about their pasts, she was forced to resign from the Newspaper before she could publish it, but those two got downright murderous about it. If I were Cyrus…” He said, referencing one half of a particular duo in the school. “I would bet that Zhong’s cut those two off the loop.”

“She definitely will do something horrible to her if she gets her hands on her. Zhong, well, the whole gang really, has a score to settle with Chamellia, but I don’t think she’s stupid enough to cross the line, that’s why she got those two out of it. Still, its not something I’m willing to let happen.” Lavrenti sighed. “The issue is that Rhodes is infamously hard to catch. She’s a master of disappearing whenever there’s trouble and reappearing once it has cooled down. It won’t be that easy to find her, but I think her chances of remaining hidden are low with the whole gang going for her, not that I know how she does it.”

“And that’s our problem, we’re just three boys searching for a really hard to find person. We could wait until the gang finds them, but a lot of these people are hard to deal with, if someone like Tirrel is on scene, it’d be hard for us to pull a fast one on them like that.” He concluded, pointing out the problems he saw with your idea. “And I don’t think having someone from the council with us would be enough to intimidate them, no if Zhong’s mobilized the whole gang. But I think it is worth telling them about it if we come across them, same if we run across these two girls, Eleanor Lansing and Kaitlin Walterson, they’d be willing to help too…”

“No, wait, that’s right… a play, a distraction tactic. That’s a good idea, Jordan.” Lavrenti said all of a sudden, his stare intensifying as his thoughts raced. It was one of the rare occasions you got to see the thought process of your captain in full. “If we do something that can distract the gang, hold their whole attention, we could at least buy some time. But what could we do?”


Johnny Justice & Cyrus Ferdinand
Location: Zeus High School – 4^th Floor (Crooklyn Hideout)
Time: Noon

Johnny’s kick accomplished exactly nothing, but once Cyrus pressed the power button, the TV went off, falling silent. There was an odd quality to the silence, one you couldn’t quite put words to, but it was ignored entirely as conversation once again resumed.

“Oh sure, in that we agree. This school’s not the way you’d picture it. There are heavyweights here, sure, a bunch of people that are worth a second look. But the average person here’s still… so average. Dull. Not quite ‘there’, y’know? Well, not like I had any other option but to come here, but it is a bit of a letdown.”

She seemed about to say more, but at that moment, Ashley opened her mouth for the first time in this conversation. “ ‘We just don’t lose when it counts’? Those are big words.”

Her tone is flat, and perhaps bored, but there’s an undercurrent of something there.

“That you’d say ‘We always win’ is a lot more believable. Guys always say that line when bragging. But saying that you never lose when it counts is a lot bigger. That is something you got to back up. It is a lot ‘heavier’.” She pointed out, and then fell silent, her eyes returning to Cyrus’ deck as she waited for the next hand to be dealt, apparently having said all she had to say.

“Well, you heard her.” Camila shrugged with a half-smile on her face. “But lemme tell you something from my part.”

“Strength’s what I’m after. I’m a pragmatic gal. If there’s something I learned is that strength’s what really matters. That’s the one thing that’s going to protect you at the end. And I don’t mean just your usual musclehead strength.” She said, raising her index finger. “I dunno who’d win it if you and Zhong slugged it out, but that’s not the point. There’s strength in numbers. There’s intimidation in numbers. You can get away with shit if you got enough backup. There’s ‘safety’ in that. That’s what you don’t have.”

“But, I told you I’m a gambling girl, right? Not gonna back down on that.” Her face, however, became serious. “But lemme warn you, don’t underestimate Zhongli. She ain’t right. And I don’t mean the cast iron bitch bravado she puts up. I don’t think that girl will give before anyone else. I don’t think that girl knows how to give.”

“But, if ya wanna bet on whether you’ll get above the gang or not, sure, I’m your girl. But what exactly do you wanna bet?”

Meanwhile, June sighed, propping her elbow on the table and resting her head on top of her hand. “Man… a normal person would say the best bet is the one you know you cannot lose. But that isn’t really a ‘bet’, right? That’s not what you find interesting, am I right? I knew it, but you guys are really crazy.”

There was a bit of a shrug, as she thought. Whatever it was about, it wasn’t something you could guess at. You weren’t a mind reader, but you didn’t need to be one to tell that this girl was profoundly unhappy in some way. In your general impression, she always was.

“Well, I do wanna bet.” Joaquin motioned to cut the deck. “C’mon, Cy, when are we playing the next hand?” He seemed to be somewhat bored of the talking.

But before he could do so, before June could answer your question, the door to the Hideout opened, and, rare event, an adult passed through the threshold.

“Hey, boys. And girls. What are we playing?”

It was not any day that a Nobel prize winner dropped by, but Chester Garrard, Sciences Director of the school, wasn’t a rare sight, precisely.

It wasn’t only just due to his job as a professor and director, but apparently, aside from having a degree in practically any scientific field you cared to name, he had a degree in psychology. So, he also doubled as the school’s counselor.

He was also probably the most dangerous person in the faculty as far as you knew. It was not something precisely rational. It was more of a sensation, the kind of thing that made one look at a person and go ‘this guy’s the real deal’. It was an air about him that spoke of experience and savviness.

That he looked more like a washed-up, aging man rather than an award winning super scientist only helped to reinforce that feeling.

“Yo, Mr. Justice, Mr. Ferdinand, Mr. Woods.” He smiled slightly as he approached the table, taking one chair and dragging it with him. He set it before the table, leaving it reversed, and then sat down, facing Johnny and Cyrus. “Ms. Shane, Ms. Lee, Ms. Blumen.”

The three gang girls looked like they had wanted to be everywhere else right now. Camila and Ashley were both expressionless, and June looked troubled and tense, but Chester didn’t pay much attention to them, his stare settling on Johnny and Cyrus, instead.


“So, are you dealing or what?” He asked idly, tapping on the table.