Humanum Familiares [Best Rookie/Most Original Aug/Sep '11]

[Scarf Blade]

Kiroku dragged himself slowly to Miku and Miharu, the duration of the fruit had ended just shy of appearing in the clearing. Both turned to him with a hint of interest as he let Benjamin down and told him to stay close by. He was way too tired to stand, but the sheer force of his will was enabling him to stay active until he completed his tasks. "Trade 'ya," Kiroku said to Miharu, taking out the Lunar Dust and showing her the gash on the side of his arm. His mage nodded, tossing the final phial over and caught the bag of powder. At the same time, Kiroku let the bottle about a quarter way before handing it back. He then took out the Dragonsbane and poured a little bit into the potion. Miharu had no complaints; in fact, those were probably the amounts she was going to use. He got lucky, she supposed.

"I have to say, Kiroku, you did rather well," Miharu said, taking the bottle of blood and poison to process it into the anti-toxin, but then frowned, "I suppose I should have said something better than 'rather well...' I mean, it looks like more went on than just some scouting."

"Oh, it was nothing. I'll take the compliment as it is," Kiroku said, slowly laughing as he felt his body start to go weak. It only made him laugh a little harder. Miku and Benjamin looked at him with concern, but Miharu seemed to be uninterested. "I'm not that used to Volo... heheheh... eh.........." As he laughed, he sank to the ground before passing out on the ground. He was fast asleep now.

"... Did he just die?" Benjamin asked, fear in his face as he looked down at the other boy. That's the last thing Miku wanted to hear, but before she could get into hysterics, Kiroku shifted a little. Nope, he wasn't dead.

"I did not give him a lot to work with, so he must have used up a lot of energy retrieving the Dust, rescuing Benjamin, and then running back here. He will be fine, he is sleeping soundly," Miharu said, walking over to the boy and pulling out some bandages. She ran her fingers through the hair closest to his forehead to push it out of the way. She was checking to see if he had a fever, but it didn't feel like it. Kiroku let out a small sigh in his sleep, smiling as a light blush appeared under his face. Miharu blinked, looking down at the boy with a look of slight disbelief. Was he having a particular dream? Or was his body responding to the contact she made? Either way, the mage rolled her eyes as she rolled up his sleeve and motioned for some of the water laying besides her cauldron. Benjamin retrieved it, and she used it to cleanse the wound of possible infectious bacteria. She then wrapped the bandage snug around the wound; Kiroku's smile growing slightly bigger. "Fool..."

Miku just watched as Kiroku reacted in his sleep. What was that? Had he been aware the whole time? Or was this in reaction to Miharu? The village girl felt dumb. She asked Miharu about her relationship with Kiroku, but they never once thought about how Kiroku himself felt. For all they know, Miku thought, he could have been madly in love with Miharu and there the two were establishing that Miku could ask him out! Even if it was true or not, the girl felt bad that she hadn't considered the boy's feelings. "How could I..." Miku thought to herself, a small amount of tears forming in her eyes as she looked away from the other three, "I don't deserve it... Kiroku." Benjamin looked at the village girl confused, not sure what she was talking about. Miharu, on the other hand, seemed to try to piece together what the girl was thinking, and had an accurate grasp of the matter.

"I do not know why, but I doubt it is anything," the mage said, looking down at the sleeping boy, "He had not slept since we left Tristein, so it would be best if we let him sleep."

"... Mi..." Kiroku muttered in his sleep, a content look on his face as he scratched a little at his bandages, "Mi..."

"Is Kiroku-sama trying to say "Miharu?" Or is he trying to say "Miku?" Both your names start the same," Benjamin said, looking at the two girls with hopes that they'd clarify things.

"Whoever he's trying to say, I'm sure she makes him happy," Miku said, seeming to take that as that. That didn't really help at all; the slave boy was looking for a more direct answer.

"Your sleeping will get you into trouble one day, mark my words," Miharu grumbled to Kiroku, whom didn't seem to catch it at all. Of course not; he was asleep.



Kiroku started to feel a syrupy liquid run down his throat as he began to stir from his slumber. At first he wanted to go back to sleep, but then he suddenly felt wide awake. His eyes focusing, he could see the vague blurs of one of the girls. He couldn't tell which one it was, but he smiled a bit before the real wake up call: a metal golem thundering towards them. throwing himself up, he saw the behemoth charging towards them with a man on its shoulders. The man seemed rather angry, but also of royalty.

"There's no time, we have to run," Miku said, Kiroku standing up to meet her worried look. Kiroku looked over for a second, then down at his weapon. This was combat; he'd have his abilities back. He couldn't see Adriel nor Gregory anywhere, but he heard Josh. That was him, and there was no mistaking it. He managed to escape himself, but even he seemed to be cautious of this foe. Whatever happened, the situation was serious.

But there was one thing irking him: running away. Put quite simply, no, he wasn't going to do that again. Especially because, Kiroku knew, that this man, that royal person standing on the golem, was the one that caused the clay army. He could feel it in his bones. It made him want to shatter some. After all, that was the least of his promise. "Kiroku, no!" Miku shouted as Kiroku picked up his weapon and ran towards the golem. He was feeling much better now. With that Revitalization Potion in him, he was feeling like he had a full eight hours and then some.

"You're mine!!" Kiroku growled at the king. He avoided the golem's grasp by jumping over the hand and landing right on the arm. Running up it, the boy prepared for a series of swings and parries. This wasn't going to be easy, but he was going to go through with it even if he had to win by the bare skin of his teeth. "I've had enough of avoiding the enemy and running away; it's time to take a stand and TAKE. YOU. DOWN!! " He stabbed and swung at the King violently in an attempt to strike him. Both were exchanging blows only to be parried by each other. Each were trying to find some kind of opening.

On the ground, Miku ran as fast as she could with the others to avoid the golem's feet. She had no clue what was going on up above, but she was routing for Kiroku. "Take him down! Show no mercy!!" Miku chanted. maybe getting some strange looks from Emil, Benjamin and Miharu.

[Aura Rift]

Joshs vision was foggy but he managed to pull himself together. His hand was still slightly stinging.

The area was pitch black with the dead of night, the only thing shedding light was the burning town of Mayhearth in the distance.

"Take him down! Show no mercy!!" Miku chanted.

Joshs vision cleared as his confusionat the girls outburst set in, it wasn't what he had expected, but it had snappe him out of it, he watched as the others turned to fight the golem.

***

Emil nestled Kenna on the ground as he drew his sword. He let his magic seep through him and his eyes glowed a dark blue.

"I'm sick of this journey, lets end this here!!" Emil jumped upwards towards the golems shoulder and used a jet of water to propel himself upwards.

He struck out at the kings arm and hit him while he was distracted with Kiroku. The king growled with rage and reached for Emil with the golems hand, Emil had no time to react and was about to get grabbed when a sudden slash came from out of the blue and sliced through the golems hand causing it to be launched back. Emil jaw dropped as Josh landed beside him on the golems shoulder.

***

Josh watched as the golem went for Emil.

"Leonda now!" Josh cried.

The princess cast her spell and launched Josh upwards with a pillar of earth Josh sliced the golems hand with his blade and knocked it back. Josh landed beside Emil.

"Why hello there ponce, you miss me?" Josh snickered.

"Gandalfr!!!" The king struck at Josh with his blade and knocked him backwards.

Josh was launched off the edge and was about to fall to his death.

***

A darkness opened up at the foot of the golem and a man was launched out he caught Josh and landed up on the golems shoulder.

The man could not be seen for his dark cloak covered his face.

The man darted forward and sliced at the king, scraping through his armour and wounding his chest.

The man jumped back and ripped his cloak off to reveal a man with a grey beard and hair and clothes similar to Joshs.

"You won't have him... NOT AGAIN!" Gregory cried.

***

Joshs face was written with shock as he fell, he was sure of his death but suddenly a man caught him and lifted him back up to the golems shoulder.

He was completely shocked when the man turned out to be his father.

"D...Dad?!?!" Josh cried.

***

Emil smirked.

"Ahhh Gregory! Should have known you wouldn't die so easily!" Emil smirked.

"Wait you two know each other?!" Josh gasped.

"Not the time son! We can argue when we sort this one out!" Gregory said gesturing to the king.

"Gandalfrs.... you will DIE!!!" The king focused himself.

And covered himself in armour made from solid rock, his blade turned to diamonds, the most poweful and hard to manipulate tool of Earth mages.

"Now die!" The king charged at Gregory Josh jumped in and parried. Allowing Gregory to strike knocking the king back and Emil to push him from the Golems shoulder with magic.

The king fell to his death.

"Is it over...?" Josh asked.

"OH ITS FAR FROM OVER GANDALFR!!!" The booming voice came from the golem.

"NOW I AM ONE WITH THE EARTH!!!" The king launched Josh, Gregory, Emil and Kiroku from his shoulder, it looked grim but Leonda caught them on a disk of Earth magic and lifted it to the golems level, giving them an equal playing field.

"Lets end this!" Josh cried.

[Scarf Blade]

(OOC: Another lengthy one I suppose, but at least it's cool :p
Oh, and I gave people space to post about what happened before and after Kiroku re-entered the fray, so no worries the king isn't dead... yet.)


"Well, it's nice to see that you're relatively well, Josh," Kiroku commented, standing on the disk as he prepared his weapon, "Give it up, you regal pain in my hide! We're far more powerful together! If we must we'll hack and grind you into gunpowder and ammunition!" The King Golem laughed as he raised a hand up. He wasn't attacking the disk, but he seemed to be channeling some magic. The metal fist glowed a dark brown.

"I DON'T NEED ANYTHING BUT POWER, FOOL!! BUT LET'S SEE WHAT YOUR FRIENDS HAVE TO SAY!!" the King Golem thundered, striking the ground below with the glowing fist. The ground rumbled violently as the fist collided and tore open. Rocks of various sizes were sent flying into the air and fell back down on the others below. Naturally Kiroku worried, but he put on a bluffing face. Miharu would no doubt get Benjamin out of the area, and the princess would conjure some sort of protection for herself and Kenna. As for Miku--

The hairs on the back of Kiroku's head stood on end as he heard the same voice that had been cheering him on now cry out in pain. Hurriedly, Kiroku looked down and was greeted by the dust cloud that was rising into the air. There was no way to see, so he did what came on impulse and ran off the disk of Earth. The King Golem laughed as if the boy was falling to his doom, but the boy was more resourceful than Josh and the King himself. Falling from that height was dangerous, but he used his weapon's chain to snare into a nearby tree on the way down and swing instead of crashing into the ground. Letting go of the weapon, as it was the least of his concerns now, the boy grinded to a halt when he finally touched the ground and darted for the wreckage site. She was nowhere to be found in plain sight. "Miku!!" Kiroku shouted, looking around for a trace of the village girl before picking a random spot to throw rocks out of the way, "Where are you?! Answer me!!"

Miharu appeared suddenly with Benjamin, placing the bag of potions aside as she too helped searching. Even Benjamin threw the rocks that he could move aside. They worked at it for minutes, but there was still no sign of her. Eventually, Miku yelled loud enough for the others to hear her. Miharu caught it first, jumping to the spot where she heard it come from. "Right here!" Miharu said quickly, watching Kiroku run over. In one fluent motion he grabbed a boulder in the way and threw it into the forest nearby. Miharu couldn't help but look at the boy incredulously as he threw the heavier rocks away like it was nothing. And then she saw it: a sudden spark of energy that lasted only a moment around her familiar. So, the mage thought, that's what's going on... "You care about Miku-chan, then?" Miharu asked, returning back to helping move the rocks away.

"That's what's going on? Gross!" Benjamin stated, hesitant to enter the small pit the other two were making with the Earth-removal. Kiroku ignored the slave boy, focusing on the task at hand. Miharu's words were ringing in his head. Especially the word "care." He didn't want to say anything with Benjamin around, but what was the point of keeping silent?

"... Miku-chan-- is a very close friend; like you," Kiroku said, uncertainty in his words. He didn't know why he was saying it, but they sounded sort of right to him. It allowed him to ignore the tension he had trying to pull the village girl out of the Earth. "I'd do the same if you were down there-- or Benjamin-- or anyone facing that metal idiot. There's... no possible way I could forgive myself if she's seriously hurt." The excavation proved to be fruitful when Kiroku unearthed Miku's upper body. Hurrying with freeing her, the boy pushed the last two rocks away and picked up the girl's body. It was a miracle; she still had breath in her. "Miku, say something."

"Kiro... ku," Miku murmured, starting to open her eyes to see the boy. Miharu stepped in with an open bottle of healing potion and forced the girl to drink it all. It wasn't the greatest wake-up call, but it seemed to return color to the girl's face. The mage sized her up and stated that she'd be fine, but Kiroku still looked uncertain. "I... you..."

"What? Come again?" Kiroku asked, Miharu placing an arm on his shoulder.

"As much as this may be important, it will be best to get out of this pit before that monstrosity decides to strike again," Miharu stated, turning around to climb out, "I'm guessing the other three up there are distracting him until you reenter the fray." Kiroku said nothing as he maneuvered the village girl so that she was clinging to his back. He himself began climbing out of the pit. At the same time, Miku was whispering into his ear.

"I won't die here-- I won't allow myself to," Miku whispered, though not yet strong enough to be strong in speech, "But even if I were to--"

"Don't say it. We'd all be sad if you died here," Kiroku stated, carefully rising from the pit and walking a distance away so that Miku wouldn't fall back in. Benjamin wanted to walk up to them and see if she would be okay, but Miharu stopped him ("Now's not the time to talk to them. Let's wait for them to finish and we'll go see if Lenora or Kenna needs our help."). Kiroku tried to set Miku down, but she stumbled on her first step. She quickly revisited his arms.

"... I'd at least know that my hero would help put an end to the King..." Miku continued, leaning up to the boy and planting a small kiss on his cheek. Kiroku didn't hide his shock, in fact the gasp was so audible Miharu and Benjamin could have happened to hear it. It wasn't uninvited, but he didn't expect it to happen. And then there were the words that she said. "Hero" made the boy beat himself on the inside; getting angrier and sadder at the same time.

"I'm no hero. I can't be," Kiroku stammered in disbelief, closing his eyes to combat the headache erupting in his head, "Heroes don't... let close ones fall."

"You'll be my hero. Always," Miku said, smiling as she closed her eyes. She was still weak from the injuries and needed rest, but knowing that didn't help. Kiroku gritted his teeth as he felt Miku be taken from his arms. Miharu stood over him with Miku. She was smiling at him knowingly.

"You need to return stronger, so free your restraints and unleash your own core," Miharu said, backing away as she started channeling magic into Kiroku through their bond. That's right. That King Golem did this. Endanger the lives of his friends on the ground. Hurt Miku. Hatred was flowing through him like blood, but he managed to keep his sanity. He could feel new power surfacing from deep inside of him. It crackled in electric blue sparks in the physical world, but on the inside it was making him feel like he was far beyond his normal strength. Such power... he could really do some significant damage. He could also feel Miharu's magic inside him; he was going to arrive back in an awe-inspiring fashion.

"Well then... LET'S GET CREATIVE!!!!!!" Kiroku shouted at the top of his lungs, feeling the energy of the core surround him and surge with a brilliant electric blue hue. The earth began rumbling around him now, as there was a lot of raw energy he was working with. Being so angry, being so emotional, and being so concerned had probably unlocked a new tier of power (something Gregory probably learned to do long ago). He was really going to feel the aftereffects soon after the battle, but that didn't matter. As long as he took that king down he was more than happy to face fatigue again. Holding his hand out in front of him, part of the energy gathered in front of him and was forming into a solid mass. Slowly, a little bit of the access blue energy combined into a scythe made of ice. Water magic. Kiroku smiled as he looked at his weapon, and then at the King Golem. This was going to do some real heavy damage. "KIROKU: AQUA REAPER FORM!!"

Charging in at blinding speeds (and on one step), the boy almost seemed to teleport on the spot. Leaping up the golem and slashed away with the scythe, several rends were made into the body of the behemoth like it was human. They wouldn't be enough to end the fight, but there was definitely more where it came from. Kiroku had jumped just high enough to backflip onto the disk of earth where the others were and listen to the King Golem's roar of... pain? Huh, guess it could gain feelings after being merged with metal. The scythe was held behind Kiroku as he made a more regal stance.

"Boy!! Do you know what that could do to you?!" Gregory blurted, realizing that Kiroku had done something that not even he, nor probably even his own son, would due unless the situation was so dire. Kiroku held a calm, composed face in light of his short emotional rampage back on the ground.

"... Nope," Kiroku said nonchalantly, "I don't care. I will make sure this man pays for all that he's done. Never mess with my friends." With that, the boy darted for the King Golem again with another single step with the scythe poised for assault. He began hacking away, and would continue to until the fight had resolved, but kept himself ready to work with and around his comrades' own attacks.

[CyBeastSaber]

'So what's the first order of business then, partner? You can't tell me we are going to just sit here all day?' Cody had asked. Honestly, Primeria didn't know what she was to do. She had heard commotion related to the other mages who had summoned "people" as well but things didn't apply to her then as it did now. Thinking about meeting the other people whom had summoned other familiars, Primeria wondered if they were similar to her, of course very different in certain aspects, and the anticipation began to bubble deep within her. There was one problem. She didn't really know where to find the others.

"....Hm..." Primeria mumbled to herself. She rarely walked about save for class and field practice, and she hardly had any friends. "... I should go ask a teacher... *cough*" Primeria finally decided as she continued to think to herself. Her eye then caught sight of Cody, whom was still waiting for some sort of answer from her.

"...O-Oh... Well... I was thinking... M-Maybe... We could go meet... *cough* the others... who summoned... people... like you." Primeria gave her answer to her familiar. "...T-Though... I'm not sure... where to find them... *cough cough*," Primeria paused to control her coughing before she continued, "...so I was thinking... of asking a teacher..." With that said, Primeria collected herself, slowly rose from her bed, and stood before Cody.

"...S-Shall we?" She meekly asked.

[Raikiri]

(OOC: Short, fail post. But my character needs to get moving.)

"...O-Oh... Well... I was thinking... M-Maybe... We could go meet... *cough* the others... who summoned... people... like you." Primeria finally answered after debating with herself. "...T-Though... I'm not sure... where to find them... *cough cough*," Primeria paused to control her coughing before she continued, "...so I was thinking... of asking a teacher..." With that said, Primeria rose from her bed, and stood before Cody. Though he wouldn't call it standing. Even sitting, Cody practically matched her height. It was cute in its own way. Cody weakly smiled and slowly rose from the ground standing before Primeria.

"...S-Shall we?" She meekly asked.

"Yeah. Let's see if we can do something about my boredom," Cody said with a sarcastic lick. Cody looked down at Primeria and brief flashes of memory emerged. Something about her seemed familiar (OOC: Ha! Pun!). He remembered falling through the portal and being disoriented, confused and out of place. His vision was blurry, his body was weak, his mind was scattered. It was coming back to him, in pieces, but the image of a small girl locking lips with him continually repeated. "Hmm," Cody audibly muttered before placing his rather large hands on Primeria's shoulders. "For some reason, I am getting a sense of deju vu. Ha! Strange. Oh well, let's go find some teacher. I think we should start with the headmaster," Cody suggested.

He walked over to the door and opened it forcefully, holding the door open for his master. "Come on. Let's go."

[Aura Rift]

Gregory smiled from the disk of Earth as Kirokus true power boiled through...

"How did he..." Josh murmured.

"Familiars can channel magic." Emil butted in.

"However its only in times of extreme need and emotional trauma and if your bodys not already prepared you'll take in magic like a commoner would and die."Emil stated.

"So thats why Kennas magic didn't kill me before." Josh murmured.

"Yes... but its still very unusual you survived... the odds of that were very... slim." Emil said.

"Josh you need to do that aswell... That form of energy requires a strong bond between familiar and mage, my mage is long dead I cannot do it myself anymore." Gregory said grabbing his sons arms and holding him in front of him.

"B...But... I don't know how! I can't, I'm not in emotional trauma or..." Josh began.

"Kennas dying Josh..." Emil lied, it had to be done.

"w...what?!" Josh cried.

"Shes taken a mortal wound and is slowly dying and that man" Emil pointed to the king golem.

"Is the man responsible." Emil finished.

"K...Kennas... Kennas...I... I wasn't here... to protect her...I... I couldn't... Josh black glow began to slightly spark little bolts of energy.

"If you want to avvenge her son, use that energy to strike that man down, avenge her!" Gregory cried.

Joshs eyes turned blood red and his face was pale and grief stricken.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" A blazing inferno erupted around Josh and Gregory and Emil had to jump back to avoid it.

Josh stood in the center of a ring of flames as he turned to face the golem who was being so mercilessly attacked by Kiroku.

"Hehe.... Hehehehehehe.... HAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I'LL WATCH YOU SUFFER OLD MAN!" The flames around Josh burned Chaos red and his spine erupted from his back as his Gandalfr ruins flickered furiously. His nails turned black and grew into claws, his erupted spines cords grew into large spikes his eyes turned to black slits on a red background and his teeth grew into fangs.

"Finnaly..." Gregory murmured.

"Phase two is complete."

Josh ran to the edge of the disk and launched himself off. Josh held his hands together and an orb of red and black energy formed in his palms. He held it above his head and launched it at the golem, it made contact and exploded in a vaccume similar to a black hole dragging off the golems helmet to reveal a rough face sewn together with rotting flesh. One of Kirokus slashs cut it open and the Golem exploded in a mass of dark flames.

"They did it!!!" Emil cried.

Josh fell to the ground in a rough heap.

"Josh! Are you Ok?!" Emil cried.

Josh dragged himself up and stood crooked and mangled, his body simply seemed to pull itself back together. Josh launched himself upwards and grabbed Emil and threw him backwards. Emil barely managed to cling onto the side.

"What are you doing you fool?!" Emil cried.

"Emil... Emil, Emil, Emil... the stupid ponce who gets in my way... now it's your turn to die... haha.... HAHAHAHA!" Josh charged at Emil and drew his sword about to strike him down in blind fury.

"No... whats going on?..." Gregory murmured.

Gregory jumped in and parried Josh strike.

"Stop this madness Josh!" Gregory cried.

"You...." Josh murmured.

"Oh Father dearest you who abandoned me... you betrayed me and Mother... you left us to rot, to ROT!" Josh shouted bearing his demonic fangs.

"So now you die with the ponce... all of you people ALL OF YOU WILL DIE! DIE BY THE POWER OF THE VOID!" Josh raised his hands into the air.

'Da mihi caeruleus ... usque ad irritum potestatem, ego postulo ut perderent omnes inimicos meos interfice hahahaha! " Josh could undertand every word this time, in his mind spells and incantations rushed around, anger flowing through his body as everything wrong about his life seeped in.

All the hardships he suffered, everything he'd been through that was horrible and painful, these were the only things left and he wanted vengeance.

Joshs raised has were forming more balls of red and black energy. He threw them and they homed in on three targets.

Emil, Gregory and... Kiroku. Joshs mind was being controlled by void magic... given to him by his true past... one shrouded in so much mystery that even he didn't know it. His whol life wether he knew it or not had been a lie. The things he had been told, the family he thought he knew. All a lie. He didn't know it yet but Joshs void magic came from his true mother. The last mage of the void lineage.

Gregory was a commoner of the world of magic, but found a way to go to the non-magical realm of Earth and went there to protect his son from himself. Gregory had though Josh ready to control his true self. He had been wrong.

(OOC: Shocking Twist :O)

[CyBeastSaber]

The touch of Cody's hand on Primeria's shoulder made her meekly tremble because his presence had already added to her nervousness. Trying to keep calm, she turned her head slightly to face Cody, revealing only a partial of her face to him as the rest was covered by her long lavender hair.

"For some reason, I am getting a sense of deju vu. Ha! Strange." Cody said aloud. Hoping he hadn't remembered what happened before, Primeria kept a confused face. "Oh well, let's go find some teacher. I think we should start with the headmaster," Cody suggested. He continued ahead towards the door, propping it open and held it as he waited for Primeria.

"Come on. Let's go." Primeria followed and nodded to Cody before exiting out of her quarters with him closing the door behind him. Leading, Primeria navigated her way around the academy hallways with Cody following nearby. She could hear his footsteps behind her, however, she didn't look back to see if he was doing anything else, such as inspecting the school or what not. Weaving through a few more hallways and up some flight of stairs, Primeria paused at the flat level of the stairs to take a few breaths of air before continuing up the second flight of stairs. Primeria wasn't sure why, but Cody was somewhat silent throughout the walk towards the Headmaster's chambers. She was glad of the silence because she was trying to keep herself composed. After climbing the sets of stone staircases, Primeria found herself facing a desk counter that sat nearby a large double door. The desk belonged to the Headmaster's secretary, Adriel, however, she wasn't there at the moment, which was awkward. Reluctant to just barge into the Headmaster's chambers, Primeria lightly knocked on the double doors despite being unsure if he was going to hear it or not.

"...P-Professor Awenston?" Primeria asked as she knocked on the door, but the door slowly pushed open as her knuckle connected with the wooden door. The small creaking seemed to invite her in and she slowly pushed the door open to investigate. Rarely does the Headmaster not lock his door or at the very least, not close it all the way. The doors creaked open and revealed...

((OOC: Okay Raikiri... take it away! Yeah I'm lame. :/ We both are failing at the moment but wait till we get moving. =D))

[Fire Heart]

Kenna could feel herself getting weaker. How was that possible? Josh must have been using her energy again. She had to fight this other wise she was going to die. She opened her eyes and saw Josh. She didn't move, she couldn't move. He was battling along with Emil, Gregory and Kiroku.

There was something wrong. Josh was using way to much magic in his fighting. Once they had killed the king, that's when everything went crazy. Kenna managed to pull herself up. Joshs mind was being controlled by void magic but she didn't know how that was even possible.

Kenna started to walk over to Josh as quickly as she could. He did not notice her. Joshs raised has were forming more balls of red and black energy. He was going to fire them in the direction of Emil, Gregory and Kiroku. They were his targets. Josh was Kenna's fimilar, she could not let this happen.

Her fast pace soon turned into a run and adrenaline kicked in. She speed past Josh as he launched the energy balls. Kenna stood firmly in front of the three guys with her arms out just as the energy balls made impact.

"No Kenna!" Emil yelled but it was too late, she had saved them, that's all that mattered.

[Scarf Blade]

(Nope, I guess what I posted didn't happen. XD)

[Aura Rift]

Josh stopped the energy balls seconds short of hitting Kenna and smirked.

"I should have known... you'd get in my way. You're so intent on keeping those you cherish safe. You'd put yourself between them and certain death to save them... you're to stuborn to realise that you're being selfish. Throwing yourself away to save someone else doesn't make you a hero, it makes you a coward, afraid to say goodbye so you give yourself up instead... all of you nobles... cowards, selfish COWARDS!..." Josh shrunk away the balls of energy and made them disappear.

"Don't you think how people would feel if they were in your place! You say your being brave doing stupid things like that but your only putting others through the pain you would have felt instead of facing it yourself!" Josh cried.

"You... you coward!" Josh drew his sword.

"I know you won't move Kenna and I'm sorry... but any obstacles in my way must be removed! Even if you're one of them!" Josh charged towards kenna, and brought his sword down across her chest, gashing her front and tossing her to the side.

Joshs own chest began to burn with the stinging sensation of pain. A familiar is not meant to harm their master, not ever.

"KENNA!" Emil charged at Josh sword drawn but he simply knocked him aside, he was no match for void magic.

Josh turned and was about to finish Emil who had crawled to Kennas side. Josh raised his sword high and held it above their heads.

"I realise everything now! My father abandoned me and my life was ripped from me! What about my Mother eh?! Shes left alone because of you people, all of you!!! I just wanted to live my life the best I could and you took that from me! You Bastards!" He pointed his sword at Kenna and Emil, pain and heartbreak in his eyes.

"None of you deserve life! You may aswell have just slit my throat because either way I'm gone!" Josh sliced his sword down but stopped it inches from Kenna and Emil.

"But I'm not like that!!! I don't kill people I don't destroy lives! I'm not built for it, Joshs body reformed in its normal shape. Rain began to fall all around.

"You!" He turned to Kenna.

"You're selfish and you don't even realise it, you took everything from me and then dared to try to be my friend, maybe more?!?!" Josh screamed. He turned to Emil.

"You! You treat others like **** because you're of higher rank then them and you act like you have honour when you're just as bad as her! Both of you, everyone in this bloody world deserves no mercy and should be slaughtered." Josh sheated his sword and began to walk away.

Tears fell from his face as his familiar ruins burned for his disrespect of his master.

"None of you deserve mercy... but I already said *sob*..... I'm not like that... I'll never drop to your level... never." Josh walked away.

"Heal yourselves up and round together the others... we're heading back to Tristein" Jos said leaving the two behind.

[Scarf Blade]

Kiroku blinked to himself as he lowered his weapon. He had been (relatively) safe from the other familiar's fury, but he couldn't help but feel bad even now. He personally thought that he would have been better off being abandoned by his family, but these were some very extenuating circumstances. There was also a likeness that could be seen in the other boy: a version of himself that knew that the world had taken everything from him. Without hesitation, he walked up to Josh. His weapon was starting to melt, even though it was raining; there was no more danger now. He'd have to remember to reclaim his weapon.

"Josh, I can't vouch for your life, but hear me out. I think you're luckier than you give yourself credit for," the boy said, walking with the other familiar. He wasn't sure where the two of them were going, but that was the least of the priorities at that moment. He stretched out with his hands behind his head and looked up at the falling rain. It was soothing to him; he saw a lot of rain where he grew up. It always put him at a sort of ease... "I'm not defending Emil-- I think he got just about what he deserved-- but I have a feeling that not all of that was meant in its entirety. Not to Kenna, anyway. And, as for your father, he's still alive for this long after his mage died. I can only guess, but I'm certain he's avoiding the grips of fate because of his love for you. Believe it or not, you've had people who cared about you all this time without knowing about it."

Kiroku stopped as they came across a long line in the ground. It wasn't deep, but it had a considerable length. More than likely it was from when he landed that first time. Sighing, he stopped walking and turned to the wooded area. "... I have to find that naginata... I almost forgot," the boy stated with a sigh. With that, he broke away from Josh and started his way into the forest. He might have been called a coward too for walking away, but he didn't mind. In fact, slowing a little bit to wait for any reply, he would have said "Yep" and laughed about it. At the very least he would be an... honest coward...?

[Aura Rift]

"Perhaps your right Kiroku... perhaps your wrong... my father abandoned me and my mother when I was ten and left us with out any money or means to sustain ourselves." Josh sighed.

"Kenna... I can't let myself get close to Kenna anymore." The rain beat down hard on Josh.

"With that other side of me buried so deep I could seriously hurt her... I don't want that..." Josh felt tears roll down his face however they were simply mixed in with the rain.

"I didn't want to say those things to Kenna, Kiroku... but she's a stupid stuborn girl, she wouldn't simply accept that I needed to stay away from her to protect her... she would have gladly put herself at risk to stop others from getting hurt. Though what I said to her was true... I could never blame her for it... but I need to to protect her..." Josh felt the stinging in his ruins stop.

"After all... it's what I was brought here to do..." Josh smirked.

"It's not about what I want anymore and I accpet that... I don't want to hurt her... but I have to in order to protect her." Josh clenched his fist.

"I can't tell if you understand Kiroku but it's just something I have to do... I... I..." Josh collapsed to his knees.

"I just want her to be safe..."

Josh stood back up and brushed the mud from his jacket.

"I can't call you a coward, your the same as me in all this... but you don't... you don't have to worry about losing control..." Josh smiled.

"But look at me bothering you with my problems! You should be going to see if Mikus alright, now go on. Shoo!" Josh put on a fake smile to hide te pain inside.

[Fire Heart]

"I know you won't move Kenna and I'm sorry... but any obstacles in my way must be removed! Even if you're one of them!" Josh charged towards Kenna, and brought his sword down across her chest, gashing her front.

As soon as the blade cut Kenna in the stomach, she screamed. Blood went everywhere as she was tossed to the side like a rag doll by Josh. She looked up at Josh with a shocked look on her face. Emil cried her name as he charged at Josh but he simply tossed Emil too. Emil made his way over to Kenna’s side.

"You're selfish and you don't even realise it, you took everything from me and then dared to try to be my friend, maybe more?!?!" Josh screamed. He turned to Emil.

Josh made his way over to them and was about to hit them both with the weapon again but then he stopped. Emil moved in front of Kenna to try and protect her. Josh stared at them with such pain in his eyes; Kenna couldn’t make herself drop his gaze.

"You! You're selfish and you don't even realise it, you took everything from me and then dared to try to be my friend, maybe more!?" Josh screamed and then turned to Emil.

"You! You treat others like **** because you're of higher rank then them and you act like you have honour when you're just as bad as her! Both of you, everyone in this bloody world deserve no mercy and should be slaughtered." Josh turned away from them.

Tears rolled down Kenna’s face. Her wound was causing her great pain but she ignored it. She was more concerned with the bitterness of Josh’s words. Emil looked down at Kenna with an expression of pure worry; it was a look that a father would give his child.

Josh was now walking away from the group with Kiroku right behind him. Kenna let out another sob as he continued to walk away. She looked down at the cut on her chest, it didn’t look good so Kenna looked up to face Emil instead.

“He is right.” Kenna sighed.

“What are you talking about Ken?” Emil asked confused.

“I am selfish; I took him away from his life. I took him away from his mother and I expect him to protect me. I am the real monster in all of this.” Kenna explained.

“I understand why he is upset about all of this and I have not helped much either with fighting with him all of the time. But you do need to know this, you are not a monster.”

“If I had of gotten that simple spell right, none of this would have happened. Tristan would have got it right and if he was here now, he could of helped.” Kenna sobbed.

“Tristan was always the strong one. We need him now.” Emil said gently.

“Emil, you never told me how Tristan actually died. You told me it was all so sudden, but what actually caused his death?” Kenna asked.

“I can’t tell you that Kenna.” Emil sighed.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know myself, I promise we will find out someday.”

“I hope so.”

“Do you think he is going to be ok?” Emil gestured to the direction that Josh had gone.

“It makes me sick to think about what he must be going through.” Kenna said.

“It makes me sick to look at that wound. We need to get it cleaned up.”

Emil took of his jacket and started to tear it up so he could stop the bleeding. He used his water magic to clean the wound. It was really painful and Kenna kept moaning in pain. Emil tied the rest of his jacket around the wound and gave a short sigh of relief.

“If I can get into the sun, I should be able to heal much faster.” Kenna said as she pulled herself up and walked slowly out of the shade.

Emil was right behind her and was ready to catch her is she were to fall. As soon as the sun touched her skin, she felt her fire awaken. It made her feel stronger and it was giving her the energy back that she had lost.

Kenna moaned in pleasure as the fire flowed through her body and made her skin glow. She still was feeling weakened by Josh’s words. She knew everything he said was true. She was a coward, she protected the people she cared about most because did not want to say good bye to the people she loved, she did not want to lose anyone else in her life and for that, she was a coward.

She had put Josh through so much. She had dragged him here against his will and now he had finally had enough. Kenna was not sure what she can say or do to try and make things better for Josh.

Kenna turned to Emil and more tears ran down her face. “What are we going to do now?” She whispered.

[Aura Rift]

Josh was in the nearby forest training and striking down tees fr no goodreason, e neded to get some anger out. He felt it when Kenna stepped into the sun.

Part of him felt good that she was Ok, anther part was sickene by it.

A single gunshot pierced the air and Josh rolled out of the way as a bullet embedded itself in a tree.

***

Emil smiled at Kenna as tears ran down her face.

"We do what Josh said... We go back to Tristein and try to salvage what has happened..." Emil frowned as he felt around his belt to find his gun missing.

"Where on Earth is my pistol?" He asked himself.

***

Gregory held the smoking gun out in his hand, the bullet had been easily dodged by his son.

"As expected phase two was a success. Despite your little rampage you're developing perfectly. Lucky that stupid girl stopped you before things got out of hand." Gregory said as he reloaded the pistol.

"Now... Lets begin phase three." Gregory raised the pistol and fired.

***

Josh rolled again to dodge the bullet.

"D...Dad?! What are you?! Why are you?!" Josh asked.

"As expected phase two was a success. Despite your little rampage you're developing perfectly. Lucky that stupid girl stopped you before things got out of hand." Gregory said as he reloaded the pistol.

"Now... Lets begin phase three." Gregory raised the pistol and fired.

Josh jumped from the guns blast range.

"What are you talking about?!" Josh cried.

Gregory didn't listen he just charged at Josh blade drawn.

Josh didn't know what happened to him, he could feel the dark void energy attacking him, trying to control him but a wall of chains burst from the grund and stopped it.

"W...What the?!" Gregory stuttered.

"Damn you Awenston... you sneaky dog... Now Adriel!" An arrow was fired and Josh flipped out of the way.

Adriel landed in front of Gregory as she launched from the tree.

"Im sorry Josh...." Adriel murmured.

"Finish him, with that blade of his he's no use to me." Gregory stated.

"Yes my master." Adriel whispered, her ruins glowing bright green. She drew back her bow.

"Wait what are you....?!" Josh cried dodging another arrow as a dark portal formed and Gregory leapt through.

"Im... so sorry..." Adirel fired a barage of arrows with her Gandalfr core as Josh span away from and blocked every one.

"Adrile stop!!!" Josh cried.

"I don't want to hurt you...."

"Youhave to Josh... you don't understand yet but I'm just a stepping stone in a much more elaborate string of events." She drew back her bow.

"Now fight back!" More arrows were fired.

Josh struck down the arrows with a strike of his blade.

He charged towards Adriel and struck at her, she drew a short sword and parried suddenly kicking Josh back with a powerful knee to the ribs.

Josh skidded back and switched his sword to a gun, he aimed and fired multiple shots as Adriel gracefully leapt and dodged each one. A chain shot out and grabbed Adriels leg as Josh aimed his gun, Adriel fired an arrow and Josh was forced to release as Adriel span and leapt away from the hastily aimed bullet Josh shot at the last moment.

"Come on Josh!" Adriel cried.

"You can't hold back, think about Kenna, fight for her." Josh stopped at Adriels words.

"Kenna... I can't be close to her antmore if I do.... Kenna means nothing to me anymore Adriel she can't!" Josh jumped towards Adriel and used one of her arrows as a launch pad for a second jump he sliced down and knocked Adriel from the tree.

Adriel drew a knife and threw it at Josh, it sliced through his left arm but he kept moving. He fell to the ground and Adriel kicked him as he did.

Josh however met Adriels kick with his own and used it to launch himself backwards. He drew his gunblade and aimed at her as he span backwards. He fired and shot a dark energy blast. Adriel was knocked backwards and Josh charged towards her, when a flash of green light appeared and a hand grabbed Adriel and pulled her through.

Josh landed back and charged towards the light but it closed before he could reach it.

Josh pounded the ground with his fist in anger, what the hell had just happened. He could have sworn he had seen Adriel smile as he was about to finish her.

[Raikiri]

OOC: Not a great post at all. But Cody as a troll is fun to be.

Cody had went to a fairly large school in the past. Filled to the brim with students, Cody developed an excellent sense of direction and an ability to slip through crowds better than anyone he knew. However, this "academy" was unlike anything he had seen before. Opulent in decoration, grand in design and titanic in size, calling the academy impressive would be an understatement. He attempted, however, to control his sense of amazement and focus on the task at hand. If it wasn't obvious before, it was now. Cody wasn't leaving. He was stuck here, whatever here was. He had to adjust and prepare for his extended vacation. As he made his way through the grandiose hallways, Cody began drawing a mental map of the academy, noting any "landmarks" he passed by. This would be an abridged map however, only taking in a selected portion of the school. It was a start, though and at this point a start was better than nothing. The map making process absorbed all his attention as the small Primeria lead the way with a sense of lost composition. Something was bothering her, that much was obvious but Cody was never that talented at reading people especially women.

A flight of stairs later, it had seemed Cody and Primeria had reached the headmaster's office. There was an empty desk lying near a large double door. Cody guessed it was for some sort of assistant, but this was 2011 and it wasn't a modern day school. What kind of medieval wizard principal needs a secretary? Oh well, Cody shrugged and instead wondered if the secretary was hot. Primeria didn't seem to notice Cody's daydreaming and focused her attention to the towering doors before them.

"...P-Professor Awenston?" Primeria asked as she knocked on the door, visibly reluctant to enter the doors. The door was slight ajar and Primeria took the invitation regardless. Cody smirked, knowing he would have the same perhaps with less manners. Breaking and entering was a hobby of his in the past.

The creaking of the door revealed…a tall, ancient looking man standing before them. The man was quite old, a snow white beard consuming half his face. It was quite long, reminding Cody of the classical depiction of the venerable wizard. His clothing was regal if a bit effeminate sporting a black gown. He appeared to have just reappeared from something, possibly explaining the open door. Cody's jaw dropped as the old wizard came into view.

"You…you…you must be Dumbledore!"

"I'm sorry, no. I am Professor Awenston. I'd appreciate to be addressed as such," the headmaster replied. He walked past Cody (who was still in a state of shock) and stood before Primeria. "He must the familiar you had summoned earlier today. I must his outfit is certainly striking. Suits a poor commoner, or some sort of horrid outcast."

"It's a popular outfit where I come from. Plenty of people wear it. It is a very selective crew however. Requires an initiation and everything," Cody interrupted the old man's conversation with Primeria. Cody traversed the room, examining every little detail with curiosity only matched by that of a small child. Touching and fondling various objects and books, Cody "marked" the room quite well. With every object he touched, the headmaster's face twitched with anger. By the end of his examination, Cody had damaged several books and broke a fancy vase.

He grabbed a piece of fruit from the conveniently placed fruit bowl; its alluring shape and unknown taste impossible to ingore. He proceeded to juggle the fruit with dexterity, before catching behind his back and take a sizable bite. Cody then collapsed into the headmaster's chair, kicking up his feet on his desk.

"Who said you can sit there?! And why are you eating that?! It was a gift!" the headmaster roared, snatching the fruit from Cody's hand and using a simple spell to toss Cody across the room. "I hope you can afford the repairs, Miss Primeria.

Cody picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off, fixing his collar and outfit while he was at it. "Oh pull the wand out of your ass, old man."

"Address me as Professor Awenston, familiar."

"Did anyone tell you have a fantastic beard?" Cody asked stroking Awenston's beard in an almost flirtatious manner, completely ignoring the headmaster's coarse order.

"STOP TOUCHING ME!"

"Okaay~~" Cody winked. "Could of just said please," he grumbled under his breath. "Though if you really want to continue this old wizard look you need add a hat with stars right there," he rambled incoherently pointing to Awenston's head. The headmaster rebelled, slapping Cody's hand away. Cody attempted to point again only to be rejected. And again. And again. And again. And again.

"Enough of these childish games!" The headmaster unleashed a thunderous roar, forcing Cody to take a few steps back before hiding behind his "master." The reality is that Cody was attempt to dodge the barrage of saliva fired at him.

Cody gulped. "You got some spit on your-"

"Slience! You will speak when spoken to." Cody replied with a thumbs up.

"Primeria Sage. You seem to have quite the familiar on your hands. I only hope that you are prepared for this," the headmaster with a certain level of distain holding a sheet of paper in his hand. Before he could continue, the paper was gone and Cody held in his hand, one arm around the headmaster himself.

Cody coughed and read the small piece of parchment aloud with a fake British accent for dramatic effect:
**************************
Tristein Academys New Familiar showcase!

As most of the noble familys will know, the second year students have summoned their familiars.

As a test of the mage and familiars skill and bond, we will once again be hosting the Familiar Showcase, A show which shows off how well the mage has trained their familiars and to show how well the bond between them has formed. The show will take place three days from now and will be an exciting occasion for all.

We will have a range of special guests but perhaps the most exciting is the princess of Tristein herself.

Leonda Hiyacenth!

We hope you will do your best to attend!

Signed: Prof. P. Awenston, headmaster of the Tristein academy for magical arts and their teachings.
*******************************

"Oh right. That explains it," Cody nodded having reached an epiphany. The headmaster stared in frustrated confusion, Cody's antics had clearly gotten to the wise man. "Your name really is Awenston. No wonder you are so angry. If only your name was epic," Cody said with a troll like smile.

"Grrrr. Primeria. Get your familiar out of here….please," Awenston begged, though the vile words sounded more like a threat.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down old timer, before you have a heart attack. We got three days for this right?" Cody said pointing at the paper.

"Yes...Yes, you did. Two days ago. The showcase is tomorrow. I'd advise you prepare for it, Primeria. It seems you do not have any sense of control over your familiar," Awenston said turning to Primeria immediately after answering Cody's question. "Now, leave my office. Immediately." Awenston brandished his staff and slammed the end on the ground, as if he was about to conjure a spell.

Cody shook his head, shrugged his shoulders and raised his arms innocently as if he was being arrested. He made his way out of the door, walking backwards not trusting the old man enough to turn his back. After making his way through the door, Cody muttered: "Jeez, what got into that old man. He's your principal? Makes me happy I don't go to school anymore. So, what are we doing about this showcase thing? Flier makes it sound you have to participate."

[CyBeastSaber]

Primeria stood outside of the Headmaster's Chambers with Cody after they were beckoned out. That was the first time she had seen the headmaster so furious... and at HER above all else, even if he was discontent with Cody. She began worrying over many of the things the headmaster had spoken of, his broken vase, the partially destroyed textbooks, and many other minor things that Cody had done. She wasn't sure how to explain the order of hierarchy to Cody and she was much too worried to do so at the moment. It was true she had no control over Cody and his actions could say he wasn't the type to BE controlled, which troubled Primeria greatly.

'Jeez, what got into that old man. He's your principal? Makes me happy I don't go to school anymore. So, what are we doing about this showcase thing? Flier makes it sound you have to participate.' Cody commented and asked. Primeria looked at him with a weak smile on her face despite her trying to put up a brave front.

"... W-Well... it is mandatory... for us summoners...," Primeria paused. The show was important to a mage in displaying their control over their familiar, however, to control a person was much too different, and Primeria had no clue how she was going to pull off such a feat. "...It basically... is a competition of sorts... to see who has the best control... and bond... with their familiars... *cough*" Primeria finished. Her worries were steadily increasing with each moment and she was clearly behind two days of training as compared to her fellow classmates. With nothing in mind, Primeria decided to retreat back to her quarters where she did her thinking best.

"...L-Let us return to my quarters..." Primeria stated and made her way towards the staircase. The day would be a long day, of that Primeria would be sure.

[Aura Rift]

Josh returned to see that thegroup had rounded themselves up Emil sat on a horse with Kenna sitting in front of him.

He had scratches and wounds on his body and he looked a wreck. The group now consisted of Benjamin, Josh, Kenna, Emil, Kiroku, Miharu, Leonda, Miku, Andre and Adria.

Emil noticed Joshs poor condition and was about to make a snide comment when he stopped himself. How could he even begin to say anything at a time like this. He decided that snide or not he had to at least attempt to make conversation as the group proceeded down the road through the dead of night.

"So... ummm Josh..." Emil said.

Josh grunted in response.

"Wheres your Dad?" Emil asked.

Joshs heartstrings pulled. His father had started talking nonsense about plans and other things, he had then attacked him and Adriel had aswell.

Why? Why would they do such a thing? and where did they go afterwards. Josh didn't want to tell the others what had happened.

"I... He said he couldn't come." Josh lied.

"Why?... Did he..." Emil began.

"I don't know..." Josh interupted.

"Now shut up."

"Oh... Ok." Emil finished.

Josh met eyes with Kenna for a moment but turned away as soon as he did.

***

"Whats wrong with Mr.Josh?" Benjamin asked. He was walking beside the horse Kenna and Emil were riding and tugged on Kennas dress as he did.

"He was really nice before but now something seems different."

***

Joshs head was full of anger and bad thoughts, he couldn't see a silver lining in this cloud, no moral of hope in this story. No spark of life in this barren landscape. His life seemed to have turned to crap. He had found his father, to be attacked by him. He had found a friend only to seperate from her to protect her. He had had a life, only for it to be ripped away.

He trudged silently in the orange glow of the sunrise, as Tristein academys flags flowed in the distance. Thanks to Leondas third tier earth magic they had made it their in less than a quarter of the original time.

[Fire Heart]

Kenna looked down at Ben and smiled. He was too young to understand all of this. He looked up at her with a look of curisitcy and that made her happy. She hoped of the horse and gestured for Emil to carry on with out her for a while.

"Josh is going through a hard time right now." Kenna explained as she walked side by side with him.

"Is he going to be nice again?" Ben asked.

"I hope so." Kenna sighed. "I really hope so."

Kenna looked up to see Josh meet her eyes briefly before he turned away. She did not know what had happened to him but it did not look good. He was beat and looked a mess. Kenna wanted to know what had happened back there but she choose not to ask, she was not ready to speak with Josh yet.

Her wounds had healed and for that she was glad. As they kept walking, the Tristein academys flags flowed in the distance. The showcase was not far away now. Kenna was not sure how she could do the showcase without Tristan, but she was going to have to. Things were going to get harder before they got easier.

[Aura Rift]

Josh sighed as the group finnaly stepped through the gates of Tristein academy, worn, beaten and exhausted.

No sooner had they stepped through the front door then the headmaster came bursting out into the main courtyard, his long hair and beard flowing behind him. He was gasping for air by the time he reached them. His face lit up as he saw the princess, he jogged over to her and grasped her hands.

"Oh your highness thank goodness your safe! I thought for sure that due to my ineptitude and ill-preperation you would have died!" Prof.Awenston grumbled.

"Please on behalf of Tristeins academy please accept our humblest apologies." The headmaster said falling to his knees.

"Oh Patrick stand yourself up will you... It was no trouble, my band of merry rescuers swiftly took me from that horrible place so you needn't worry." Leonda said, helping the frail old man upwards.

"My dear Leonda, it seems your recent captivity has not changed your humble attitude, at any rate the familiar showcase is about to begin and you're needed in the..."

"If I may Patrick..." Leonda interupted.

"Despite the early hour myself and my rescuers are quite exhausted, so if I may make the request to postpone the showcase until tommorow." Leonda finished.

"But your highness... the guests are already..." Prof. Awenston began.

Again Leonda interupted.

"They may stay here at the academy as our honoured guests. I should hope that acceptable." Leonda finished.

The headmaster sighed.

"Of course Princess Hyacenth. I will inform the audience and participants at once." and that is exactly what he did, it was met by a few grumbles and groans but otherwise was accepted by the crowd, who would be staying in the East tower, otherwise known as the guest rooms.

***

Josh sighed when he heard that they had a day of rest and quickly marched towards Kenna and grabbed her by the arm dragging her towards the central tower and student rooms.

"C'mon, we need to get back to the room and sort out this familiar showcase thing so it's over and done with and that requires rest... I hope to God you still have the key." He said grumpily, he didn't want to get to close to Kenna... but he had no choice considering the showcase was so soon and considering how tired he was, he wanted to get some rest, he didn't care what Kenna thought.

When they got to the room Josh took the keys off Kenna and opened the door he walked in and flopped unto the pile of straw he had for a bed and groaned.

"sigh... what are we going to do about this showcase thing tommorow?" He asked.

(OOC: After the familiar showcase we'll be returning to normal school life for a while, this whole Germania story arc has tired me out :3)

[Scarf Blade]

(OOC: Not deleting this; this'll be before the second to last post Aura made XD)


"I suppose I don't have to worry because there isn't anything stopping me now," Kiroku said, a knowing smile on his face as he turned his head back to Josh, "Back on Earth, there was never a choice. I've learned rather recently that losing control isn't weakness. The real weakness is running away. It'll eat at you until it's strong enough." The boy was obviously being ambiguous. As for the details, there wasn't anything else to say. Josh would probably understand what his side of the ambiguity was supposed to mean.


Kiroku sighed as he looked up into a tree. His naginata had coiled around a branch and hung out of his reach. There wasn't any branches close enough to the ground to hop up on, either, so he had to actually climb the trunk of the tree. Inching his way up, Kiroku thought about everything that had happened. With the king slain, perhaps Germania would slowly rebound and become more friendly neighbors. Kiroku was sure that this was going to be a different place the next time he visited. He also felt like he himself grew through the entire ordeal. Sure, he was now a king-slayer, but he grew in power in the final moments to win the day. Maybe it wasn't needed, but Aqua Reaper form felt right. He wasn't entirely sure why he thought of a scythe of pure ice, nor the Volo boost, so why did it happen? Perhaps the second tier of power was, to a point, as powerful as the mind of the familiar? Or was eating the Volo Fruit influential to the core inside of him? Whatever the case, maybe it wasn't set in stone. Maybe if he tried the second tier at some other point in time he'd be able to alter his form and become something even deadlier. Of course, this was all speculation.

Reaching the first branch, Kiroku sighed with relief as he climbed higher and made his way closer to the weapon. When he was close enough, he carefully laced his fingers through the holes in the chain links and unraveled the coiled chains from the tree branch. Slowly everything came loose, and Kiroku pressed the button to let the chains pull the bladed end back in and snap it to the handle pole. With the weapon fully reclaimed, the boy carefully turned around and scooted himself back to the trunk to climb down. Miharu must still be looking for Lenora, and hopefully Miku and Benjamin will still be around. I don't know if they'll still be able to hang around-- Kiroku thought to himself before being suddenly cut off. Before the boy knew what was going on, a set of lips could be felt on his own and his upper body was pulled in close to another person. Feeling his face get red, Kiroku focused his vision to see Miku with her eyes gently closed. The kiss lasted for a considerable length of time, and it felt like minutes went by until she finally freed him of her embrace. "Miku? Wh-what was that?" the boy asked defensively, a little bit in shock. Miku smiled as she tapped him on his forehead.

"A little something for my champion," Miku said simply, a sly smile on her face as she looked over to the side. Curious to know what she was looking at, Kiroku turned his head and went dumbstruck. Both Miharu and Lenora were standing on a smaller levitating disk of Earth. By their own smiles, they saw everything. Kiroku could almost feel his face turning entirely red.

"Looks like our friend here has got a girlfriend," Miharu teased, pretending to press the button on an imaginary camera, "They look so cute together, do they not?"

"I can make it official; I know quite a few people that can help spread word of this," Lenora said, giggling to herself as she looked at the boy's face, "Too bad, I could see him as my king~!"

"You know Your Majesty, at first I thought that, considering the instability of your rescue team, it would have been more merciful to let you stay in your captivity," Kiroku explained, irritation in his face as his ears reacted with slight twitches, "but now I think I have a more personal reason to throw you in there again..."

"Oh, Kiroku, don't be like that!" Lenora laughed, Miharu also throwing in her own slight giggling from behind her hand, "I was impressed to hear that you managed to reach the second tier of your core on the first ever time of its activation. Not just anyone would be able to survive that kind of feat."

"So, what? want my autograph or something?" Kiroku asked, pouting slightly.

"Nope, I suppose you could say I'm giving you a "wish!" If you want something, I'll do what I can to my power o realize that wish," the princess explained, though not getting a very enthusiastic response from Kiroku.

"Give it to Miku-- I don't want it," Kiroku stated before swinging off the tree and landing nimbly on his feet. He began walking away.

"Kiroku! Be a good sport!!" Miharu called out, almost shouting at her familiar.

[Raikiri]

Leaving the room, it didn't take long for Primeria to respond to Cody's remark of rather brutal honesty.

"... W-Well... it is mandatory... for us summoners...," Primeria paused, clearly in thought. Cody had noticed it up till now but she seemed a bit rattled. Was Cody that out of line? Was this society completely different than his own? "...It basically... is a competition of sorts... to see who has the best control... and bond... with their familiars... *cough*"

"Ah I see. I am pretty good at competitions. We should do fine," Cody replied nudging Primeria on the shoulder.

"...L-Let us return to my quarters..." Primeria stated and made her way towards the staircase. Cody shrugged and followed her, placing his hands on the back of his head. The corridors were more familiar on this path, with Cody naming most of the landmarks aloud and praising himself on his memory. Overall, he would give himself a B though. He was tripped up a bit near the middle, almost getting lost in the maze of hallways. Cody was beginning to feel guilty however. Primeria wasn't particularly talkative and perhaps he damaged her reputation a bit with the headmaster. He didn't regret his actions though. The headmaster was that kind of a teacher. In fact, Cody's disregard for his authority hopefully knocked him down a peg. Bring him down to everyone else's level for a moment or two.

"Normally I don't apologize for my actions, but eh..sorry. I guess I didn't anticipate the headmaster being a total…errm you get the idea. So, yeah. Sorry," Cody began. His speech was bit off compared to his normal flowing, intelligent rambling. Perhaps it was the fact apologizing was a totally foreign notion. It was this point they reached the door. Cody fumbled with it for a second before forcing the door open. He didn't break it but for a moment he thought he did. "Home, sweet home. Eh? Never really slept on straw though. I'll adjust," Cody said, slipping an indirect complaint.

Cody read through the flier again, remembering Primeria's earlier exposition on the subject. "So we have to show our bond and abilities, right? Kind of unfair I suppose. We have a fair amount behind. I bet the others have superpowers or something. We'll have to think outside the box and make do with what we got. Any ideas?" Cody suddenly had a strong desire to make up for his earlier actions.

Also, he really wanted to win.

[Aura Rift]

The headmaster sat at his desk thinking when a knock on the door snapped him to attention.

"Whos there?" He asked.


"It's us Patrick, may we come in." Princess Leonda spoke from the other side of the door.

"Of course Leonda. Please enter."

Leonda Hyacenth and Emil Landcroff stepped into the room.

"Did you recieve the necesary information?" Prof. Aenston asked.

"Yes sir." Emil murmured.

"We have been succesful."

"And?"

"It seems your suspicions were correct, they are truly Gandalfr, I've seen them activate Gandalfr cores final tier with my own eyes." Leonda said.

"They used magic?" The proffesor asked.

"Yes two of them did... however something very troubling has occured." Emil muttered.

"Kennas familiar... Joshua David Mist... was almost consumed by the void when he used his own magic, and he bears the hearts gear under his ruins. The ruins aswell as his gunblade seem to be restraining the hearts gear from transforming him into an uncontrollable font of chaos, however he came quite close when his own father pushed him.... His father, in the forest I went looking for my pistol ehich had been taken by said man. I found Josh being gorced to fight his father, the man called Gregory, who is a familiar himself...... and I don't know if this is posible or not... but can a familiar, if they have magic, have their own familiar? What I'm asking is can a familiar summon a familiar?" Emil finished.

"Yes... if the summoned had enough magic given by their master... it's possible... I know where this is going, you believe that Adriel was Joshs fathers familiar, while Gregory himself is the familiar and previous lover of...." The headmaster tailed off.

"Yes Patrick, we believe that Gregory is the familiar and lover who died in the legend... the legend of the chaos heart, th final wielder of the void." Leonda finished with a slight grimace.

***

Gregory stood at the top of the wide staircase leading to the void clock. He smirked with glee at its bright red glow.

Adriel knelt at the bottom of the staircase and watched her masters evil grin spread.

A single tear trickled down her face.

(OOC: C'mon guys thats three days and noone posted, don't let this die!)

[Scarf Blade]

It came as great news to hear that the showcase was being postponed until tomorrow. After all that walking he had to do after fighting that King of Germania, Kiroku was really, really, really tired. The small ambush the princess, his mage, and the village girl executed in the forest was probably a factor in it, too, but they hadn't spoke work of it since. They must have taken pitty on him and decided to keep it a secret to themselves... if just for now. In fact, he hadn't done a lot of talking on the way back. And even on the way up to Miharu's room he hadn't spoken a word, either. It had been a long series of events.

"Well, this is my room," Miharu said, opening the door to her room as Kiroku let out a huge yawn, "... It's a relatively large room; I can get another bed ordered and it should be here by tomorrow at the latest."

"What's with the pile of hay over there?" Miku asked, looking at it with a perplexed look.

"That's my bed. It's actually just as good as an actual bed, so I don't really need a new one," Kiroku spoke up, walking into the room and leaning his weapon against the dresser, "Why are you talking about it again? I thought I said it wasn't necessary."

"Before we left that was true, but now Miku-san is going to live with us," Miharu explained.

"Eh?! When was that established?!" Kiroku asked in shock, turning abruptly to stare at the two.

"Back in the forest of Germania. You gave Miku your wish that the princess bestowed upon you, and Miku wished to come back with us and become a resident of the school," Miharu said simply, and then added, "She is going to be working as the school's herbalist, but in return she can live here and hang out with us. I thought you would like that idea."

"And you have no problem with that?" Kiroku asked, obviously more concerned than the other two, "I mean, in the forest--"

"As long as you behave yourself it shouldn't be a problem," Miku said giggling. An open sign of discontent with that statement was on the boy's face.

"Me?! I wasn't the one who did the ambushing!!" Kiroku said indignantly, baring his teeth in annoyance.

"Well, she is eighteen and not my familiar; even if I have a problem with her I cannot get rid of her because it would interfere with her wish. She specifically wanted to move in with us," Miharu added, then with a sly smirk, "I can, however, discipline you without a problem."

"The news gets better and better," Kiroku groaned, slumping down onto his pile of hay as the two girls laughed.

"Don't worry, Kiroku, it'll be fine," Miku said, smiling as she played with her hair a little bit, "You can come with me to gather herbs while Miharu-sama is busy with her schoolwork. We'll have plenty of time to get used to things... huh?" By the time the boy hit the hay, he did so figuratively and literally. He was already sound asleep, and had a peaceful look on his face. He seemed content.

"Huh, I guess he is not a troubled sleeper," Miharu commented with an analytical look towards the boy.

"What?" Miku asked.

"Oh, nothing," Miharu said, walking over to the boy's weapon and picking it up. She was going to move it to a better location for him. "How about we just let him finally sleep, alright? After all the craziness of that last mission, he deserves a full duration of sleep."

"Sounds like a good idea," Miku said, walking over to Kiroku's sleeping body. She knelt down and planted one more kiss for the day on the top of his forehead. Seeming to react to it, he smiled slightly as he let out a longer exhale. "Pleasant dreams, our little Kingslayer."

Miharu thought to herself as the other girl wished Kiroku pleasant dreams. She hadn't thought about it much, but the boy was rather aware of himself when he was asleep. Waking up almost immediately when she found him in the hallway, the same when they poured the Revitalization Potion in his mouth, Miharu stroking the hairs on his head when she patched him up, and now Miku kissing his forehead. What was also odd, like Josh, was that the boy didn't seem to feel the aftereffects of achieving the final tier. There was no way that Kiroku had any magic in him, though, so it made things even stranger. What could explain this...

(OOC: There I posted :p)

[Aura Rift]

Leonda sat on her bed in the guest towers main suite.

"Oh its good to be safe again...." Leonda sighed.

"It is indeed majesty." Emil said.

"Anyways I'd best find myself some place to sleep... considering I'm no longer noble..." Emil sighed.

"Oh yes... I noticed from your lack of armour. Of all the people to give up there status... I would have never expected it from you Emil... though I suppos you had your reasons... at any rate wether or not you're my royal gaurd you still fought to defend me and for that I am grateful." Leonda smiled.

"Though I worry Emil where are you going to sleep? Where are you going to live?" Leonda asked concern across her face.

"The headmaster accepted me as a combat tutour to the school... as for living quarters... I'll sort something out." Emil smirked.

***

Benjamin sat in the headmasters office. Leonda had left his fate in the hands of professor Patrick Awenston.

"Well young man, despite your previous status as nothus, we here in Tristein would never treat a child so horribly, so before you get worried I will tell you this. You will no longer be called Nothus." The headmaster said with a smile.

"Now tell me... how are you with organising files?" The headmaster said with a grin.

***

Josh lay on the bed and listened for Kennas answer when the door burst open to reveal a man with long blonde hair at its entrance.

"So!" Emil said.

"Where do I sleep!"

Josh stood up.

"I suggest you leave ponce, nobles sleep in the guests quarters. Even I know that."

"Ah you silly brute have you already forgotten?" Emil smiled.

"I am no longer a noble. Thus I must sleep here! After all we're all friends here, right?"

"Wrong."

"Friends!"

"Enemies."

"Pals!"

"Rivals."

"Partners!"

"Nemesis."

"Family!"

"In-Laws."

"Geez are you still in a bad mood, lighten up a little." Emil muttered

"You seem to have already forgotten the last days events, I knew you were stupid but thats just pitiful. You're not staying here, thats final." Josh stated.

"Ahhhh but Josh you've become like my brother these past few days! When we work together we always win!" Emil pumped his fist in the air and put on a cheesy grin.

"I barely know you Emil and from what I've seen you're not the person i'd want to live with. Plus theres no more beds." Josh had an answer for everything it seemed.

Emil wrapped his arm around Joshs shoulder.

"Now you know thats true though it doesn't mean I can't stay here... I mean after all, this rooms bed is a king-sized, perhaps Kenna wouldn't mind if I... *Gasp*" Josh thrust his knee into Emils crotch as hard as he could.

"*Gasp* *Heave* ... th...that wasn't very brotherly..." Emil spluttered.

"Shut your trap, you perverted dog." Josh hissed.

"Oh come on! I have no where to sleep! Besides it's not your room so I say we let the rightful owner decide if I stay here or not!" Emil cried.

"Fine! But you sleep on the floor, no matter her decision!" Josh shouted.

"Oh afraid she'll with me Mr. Angry!? Thought you didn't care anymore!" Emil shouted back.

"I don't!" Josh retorted.

The two men turned to Kenna.

"Alright then whats your choice?!" They asked simoultaneously.

[CyBeastSaber]

Primeria sat upon her bed when they finally returned to her quarters. In front of the headmaster, she felt weak and helpless but then there was Cody, who seemed to mock the headmaster out of curiosity if not stupidity despite not knowing the older man's magical capabilities. In front of such an unknown force, could she really do such a thing? Primeria pondered long and hard on the subject before Cody began talking about something, causing her to turn her attention back to her rather rowdy familiar. His apology he had given to Primeria before they came in had yet to receive a reply from her and Primeria finally started to pull herself together.

"No... Don't apologize... It was my fault... for not explaining things through. *cough* You only did what was natural to you (or what she assumes was natural from how he did everything so smoothly)... as did I... which was cowering in fear..." Primeria turned her face away and fell silent for a brief moment of the truth. She was always weak, easily frightened, naive and gullible, something Cody clearly wasn't and she felt jealous of him for that. If only she wasn't so weak... if only she could be stronger for once, then maybe she could start to change her life around.

Primeria let herself collapse onto her bed as she began staring up at the dark ceiling above her with a blank mind. The sounds of small crumpling could be heard as Cody moved the flyer around his hand before he asked, 'So we have to show our bond and abilities, right? Kind of unfair I suppose. We have a fair amount behind. I bet the others have superpowers or something. We'll have to think outside the box and make do with what we got. Any ideas?' Primeria honestly wasn't sure of what Cody meant by "outside of the box". Maybe it was a different type of speech they used where he came from as Primeria looked at him confusingly before she asked, "... O-Outside of the box? ...What does that mean?" Her thoughts were clearly conflicting amongst themselves as she tried to analyze the meaning but then the earlier confrontation of the headmaster gave her some ideas... of Cody. He was nimble, a bit witty, but skillful at whatever he was doing. Maybe... just maybe...

"... C-Can I ask," Primeria started, almost completely putting aside her thoughts regarding her earlier question, "... what are your skills?"