Enduring Cherry Blossom

//Hey everyone ^^ The Prologue to the next RP will launch in this thread, just wanted to outline the forecast one more time, before we begin ^^

The next RP will be divided into a Prologue section and the Main Story section, they will be in 2 different threads.

The Prologue will be a separate story, it will happen at an unknown location, at an unknown time. You'll be going in completely blind and will have to slowly piece the story together, from the small hints and details in the background.

If you read the Genome Accord up till Chapter 9, your mind may be blown.
If you read just the prologue to the Genome Accord, your mind may also be slightly blown.
Even if you haven't read the Genome Accord, the characters in the story will fill out the blanks.




For the Prologue you'll have to roll from 1 to 3 characters, completely new characters, based on the initial intro post that will give you the first setting.







CAUTION!



- Permanent Death is Turned On.

- Every character you meet in the story, both NPC and Player Characters, May die, based on certain conditions and choices.




- The choices you make in this Prologue, may have massive, extreme consequences on the Main Story later. From the smallest choices that seem trivial and insignificant, to the massive choices that may affect many lives, the most unexpected choices may affect the Main Story.



- Choose wisely


- Good luck, and have fun =)

The massive tour bus slowly pulled to a stop at a red light on the serpentine road, still a ways off from the mountains summit. All you could see to your left were green hills and pastures, stretching as far into the horizon, as the eye could see. It was quite beautiful at first, but after spending 36 hours on the road, with a brief stop at a crappy hotel, you were just about done with the greenery.

The bus finally lurched forward again and resumed its climb up the serpentine road to the peak of the mountain. Most of the other kids on the bus were pretty much done with this, writhing on the edge of their seats, while others screamed, laughed and giggled, bouncing around the vehicle, climbing over each others heads in an attempt to see the shrine at the top of the mountain, which, upon reaching, will allegedly provide a breath taking view of your destination.

Miss Dubois, your old homeroom teacher had checked out a while back, sitting at the frost seat next to the driver and dozing off, her head propped up with her hand on the window sill. So she didn't notice when one of the more terrifying 16 year old jocks made a 180 in his seat, turning right back to face you and heavily leaned on his back-seat, giving you an unhinged grin:


"WAAHAHA! FRESH MEAT FOR THE MEAT GRINDER!!!" Wearing a loosely buttoned blue shirt and his gray cap sideways, the kid smugly and confidently pointed at his chest:
"Name's Braxton! You wonna survive, you stick with me, 'First Years'!" that last phrase was apparently how he addressed you "This'll be my third year in this shindig! And I got a wicked scar to show for it, right here!" He traced a massive line across his chest "Wonna see-"


"Damn it Brax! Stop scaring the First Years!" a kid in a dark jacket who sat in perfect silence beside you for most of the trip, very uncharacteristically scowled and pushed the jock back to his seat, then apologetically looked at you, almost shyly:

"Don't mind my friend, please, he's touched in the head!"

"Your mum!" Brax scowled collecting his fist, but there was no malice behind it. From their body language and chemistry, you began to suspect these two knew each other for a while, and this type of exchange and banter was commonplace and accepted.


"I'm Harvie, its nice to meet you." the boy in the dark jacket shyly smiled, he couldn't be older than 16 either, about the same age as you:
"Me and Brax enlisted at 14, so we've done 2 years already. Don't be anxious just because you're joining in late. Its not as hard as they say, we'll help you bridge the gaps in homework material."


"The only thing you'll help them bridge, is a quick path to embarrass-ville," A girl in a flowery dress leaned over your seat from behind, propping up her head with both hands on the back of your seat "Remember the last time you tried to dance with a staff?"

"Lily!.." Harvie groaned and hid his face with both palms "We agreed to never bring that up again!"


"Alright you lot, settle down!" Miss Dubois, your old homeroom teacher, finally deined to awaken and with a strict wave, motioned everyone back to their seats. A quick glance out the window made you realize you were finally rolling into the shrine at the top of the mountain:

"We'll be picking up your new Class Representative shortly, she will be your guide for the next year.  She has a lot of hands-on experience and a lot to share, so listen to her religiously! If I hear her saying anything bad about you, there will be hell to pay!!" Miss Dubois shook her fist for emphasis. Nobody took her seriously.




The bus finally rolled to a stop, beneath the pink cherry blossoms at the shrines entrance, the front doors opened and an extremely hyperactive girl with a blinding smile jumped in, dressed in a traditional school uniform and waved excitedly at you with both hands:

"HELLOOOO EVERYONE! I am your Class Rep, Katsura Yui! Lets have a productive year together!"











As the bus started rolling again, you finally saw what's on the other side of the mountain.












"Hello and Welcome to Kryuger's School for Extra-Ordinary Summoners!"


Yui brightly smiled. Your eyes were already glued to the window. The school was massive, parts of it kept flashing by, as the bus rolled down the mountain toward it.




A green field outside the castle walls, filled with perfect rows of students in spotless white karate kimono's, practicing one kata after another. Punch, kick, punch, punch, kick, in perfect sync, the 200 students screaming "HAYA" with the last heavy punch, releasing a fireball from their fists in perfect unison, the flames shooting out into the sky like fireworks.



In a courtyard nearby, some fifty girls in traditional yukata's were performing a perfectly synchronized dance, twisting and twirling in place, standing on the tip of one foot like professional dancers, twirling over and over. Each one holding a dazzling golden staff in their hand, flipping and turning it with graceful, untraceable movements, before they all suddenly planted their staves into the ground, screaming "KATSU!" and their bodies were instantly surrounded by waves of golden light as a rather large pentagram appeared before each one.



Some distance away, a group of 4 students were practicing the same movements under the stern gaze of their graying instructor, only these students had a very vague idea of what they were supposed to do or say during this ritual, especially one girl that was chanting something very complicated in a foreign language, before stumbling, mispronouncing one of the words and clumsily planting her staff into the ground.


The pentagram that materialized in front of her, wasn't golden, like the ones you saw in the courtyard, but dark red and gloomy and after it flashed once, a messy explosion followed, covering all 4 students in ash, before the wind blew the smoke away, revealing a rather mangy transparent kitten sitting at the center of the pentagram, screeching wildly and staring daggers at the 5 people around it.


"DAMN IT GATRY! ITS 'LEMENOSA! NOT LemenoSAAAA!!!" the instructor shook his fist angrily at the unfortunate yukata wearing girl "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO-"

His scolding was cut short, when the mangy, orange, transparent kitten locked eyes on Gatry, scowled and started chasing her, hissing horribly.

"EEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!!!!" The girl released a high pitched shriek and broke into a wild sprint, still carrying her golden staff, as the orange cat started chasing her.


"GATRY!" The teacher bellowed "WHERE YOU GOING!?! TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR EISHI!"

Gatry only managed another weak shriek, before the mangy kitten launched itself at her hair and began biting and chewing her ponytail, while the girl frantically waved her head around:
"AAAAAAGH! DON'T EAT MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!"



The bus continued to roll, and the group soon faded from view, replaced by a courtyard by the schools side entrance. A pair of kids in formal school uniforms were giggling inappropriately while drawing a bizarre looking pentagram behind the corner, with a direct line of sight to the school entrance.

The wooden entrance door swung open and a snobbish looking professor in formal robes stepped out and began strolling into the courtyard, with a handful of books and his nose held high. The pair of kids behind the corner started convulsing hysterically, just barely suppressing their laughter, before one of them planted his hands on the pentagram, making it glow.


The next second, a portal had opened above the professors head, dumping several kilograms of a month old dumpster trash right on his perfect robe and balding head.

"DENIS!!!" The professor bellowed, as the pair of kids broke into uncontrollable laughter, dashing away as fast as their feet carried them, while the professor stared in horror at his garbage covered robe that turned from bright blue, to brown.



The scene changed again, revealing an endless vegetation field that stretched almost into the horizon. Well over a dozen students, aged somewhere around 18 and 25, stood in a perfect circle, all chanting something in unison. A series of pentagrams appeared before them, glowing blue and the sky directly above them turned dark with clouds gathering quickly, before a freak storm descended upon them, raining water all over the vegetation field.

You noted how the dark storm clouds formed only above the field, directly over the pentagrams, while the rest of the sky remained perfectly sunny and clear.




Another training field soon came into view, this one an obstacle course, where dozens of students were swinging on ropes, climbing walls and crawling through mud, all wearing military fatigues, each student accompanied closely by an orange transparent partner, that all crawled, swung and climbed over the same obstacles as everyone else.

Some of the transparent creatures looked like wolves, some like humans, other looked like creatures of nightmare fuel, but they all worked so closely and in such perfect sync with their human partners, you got the sense they've been training together for years.


In the corner of the school, you saw a day-care center for toddles under age 5, seemingly the kids belonging to the local teachers, who had to stay somewhere during the day. A transparent orange woman in a traditional yukata was playing with the human children in the dirt, letting them crawl all over her. Eventually, she fell in the mud and began kindheartedly laughing, as the 2 and 3 year old children crawled over her and tugged at her hair.


"WE ARE TROOPER, PARA-TROOPER
SUPER HUMEN SUPER DOOPER!"
A duo of voices was sounding from an adjacent training field, were students close to age 18 were training martial art with training dummies made of rock or wood.

A human boy and a giant orange wolf monster of transparent nature were chanting some sort of incantation in unison, dancing around each other and making scary faces:


"ELECTRONIC!
SUPER SONIC!
ECONOMIC!"

The human boy and orange wolf bent sideways towards each other, making contact with their index fingers extended to each other.

"SYNCHRONIZE!!!"


A moderate explosion followed, consuming them both, before the orange wolf burst out of the smoke, with the human boy suspended deep inside the wolves body, still conscious and very determined, as the wolf proceeded to run a very difficult obstacle course, that included punching through semi-trailer sized rocks and manifesting jagged purple crystals and hurling them at training dummies, cleaving them in half.



The bus you were riding in, finally stopped by the schools grand main entrance and Katsura Yui jumped out, waving you to follow. Somewhere in the background, you noticed a girl in a yukata chased by a mangy orange cat. The cat finally caught up to her and launched itself at the girls hair, beginning to chew on her ponytail and making the girl wildly shake her head around.

"Naaaaaah!~" A girl about 17 speaks up, "I think we got this!" she yelps. Her hair is long and blond, but also strangely, highlighted in black, Her eyes, a honey brown. Shes also wearing a yellow and black striped shirt covered by a bright yellow zip up hoodie, with bright yellow skinny jeans. Her hair is clipped back with a hairclip depicting a honeybee, Even her backpack is black and white striped. A patch stitched into the center of her backpack depicts a happy smiling bumble bee with lines tracing behind it, and the words in bright bold yellow text 'BEE HAPPY' Above and below the image. It takes you a moment to see them... but she has 4 transparent insect wings that eagerly buzz in short erratic bursts behind her, and you aren't sure how you didn't notice before but... she even has a pair of small yellow antenna, that perk up between her blond locks, they twitch and change direction, constantly scanning the air and the new environment, "Nice to meet you too! My name is Sam, But everybody calls me Buzzy! Im not sure where they get that from Sam though!" Her wings buzz excitedly behind her creating an admittedly very loud hum that she quickly silences with a blush and a nervous giggle. Her antenna perk at the sound of their rep and all of her attention is suddenly torn away from the students. For a short girl she is also quite stocky. When presented with the wall of students against the window, you watch a bee Force her way through and become one with the student wall against the window.

Buzzy apon seeing the approaching stop, rushes to gather her things and make for her place in line in the center isle of the bus. she nervously shuffles between students but as the students try to cram her in she turns her shoulders sideways and braces her stance. This is a girl who despite her looks, holds her ground and creates her own space as she makes it off the bus.  she locks eyes with someone motioning for her to follow. With a shrug, she follows along with this random character, hoping to make a useful friend on her first day.

(Nr 1.)
"'Sup Brax, I'm Malcolm!" Replies a guy from the back. "If this is the meatgrinder, then I worry for my head!" He said it with a grin on his face.

There didn't seem much special about him, with Black hair and dark eyes. However, it is notable that his left eyebrow was much thinner then his right, and he seems to wear some sort of pendant, though the symbol of it is hidden.

That comment wasn't his last, seeming to make a remark on most of the stuff you saw on the trip there.

"Hundred's of Haiyah's? Someone REALLY messed up the fried rice."

"Some blonde must think that's art."

"The world is flipped, pussy chasing girls!"

"Shit hit the man."

"Curious local weather."

"That could make you millions on furaffinity."

"Pussy came back!"

He snickered as he went along.

(Nr 2.)
Even further in the back is a girl looking out the window quietly. She had green hair, wearing a baggy hoodie and sweatpants. Well, girl? It was hard to tell, due to her appearance. Sitting in the bus, she should be your age, but her solemn facial expression and large frame seemed to say something else. She was quite tall, a first glance it would make you think that she's like 6 feet. Despite the bagginess of the clothes, you could still somewhat make out her bust and hips.

During the whole trip she stayed quiet, with the hood up. You could vaguely remember that at the rolecall she has the the name Desiree. Why she was quiet wasn't clear, only that she was. Maybe she glanced at others, but if someone looked back, she was only seen looking out the window. Why she was here, wasn't clear. She didn't seem cut out for this.

(Nr 3.)
"Why hello there Yui!" An effeminate figure said to the class rep. "I'm Julie, I hope we can get to know each other real good real soon." Spoken with a wink and an excited wave.

Her appearance was not exactly fit for the school they headed too. Her pastel colored hair was styled to give the subtle idea of cat ears, and a long braid in which a silver ribbon was woven. Her features were soft, except for her sharp striking blue eyes which could be thanks to the make up she wore. In each ear was one small ring in the earlobe. She had a slender figure, while she wore a frilly shirt, short skirt and thigh-high socks.

"Ooooh, I wanna do that!" She said at seeing the graceful dancing in the courtyard. "It looks so fabulous!" She squeed.

Once off the bus, seeing the student get harassed by the cat, she went over to her.
"Hey, stop that! That's a very bad kitty!" She tries to grab the cat to make it let go.

"Oh goody, I just can't wait to get out there" one of the passengers on the bus commented sarcastically, as he looked out the window at the students out on the obstacle course as the bus passed by.

A short boy with pale skin and a shock of black hair, his left shoulder was distinctly higher than his right and, beneath the baggy folds of his oversized trousers, his leg muscles appeared enlarged or swollen.

Since the luggage rack above his seat was taken up by a compact folding wheelchair, he carried his bag on his lap, leaving him quite cramped.

"Yeah, it looks really fun!" his seat neighbour replied, missing the tone of their voice completely, and trying to peek around the bag obstructing his view.

He was a much taller boy, with long blonde hair that fell down over his eyes, which he continuously brushed aside behind his ears during the journey, only for his fringe to fall back down again at the next bump in the road.

He wore an ugly beige shirt with 3/4 sleeves that looked awkward on his lanky figure, with some foreign script printed on the front, a set of flowing squiggles that resembled "BUSH CHENEY 2004". He had no idea what the words said, as he had just bought it from a street vendor on a trip abroad.

"I think he was joking" a girl in the row behind them said out of nowhere, her head poking through the gap between the boys' chairs. At her sudden insertion, both jumped slightly, as they could have sworn the row behind them was empty up until just a second ago.

She had a round face with freckled cheeks, and green eyes that somehow achieved the appearance of looked alternatively like nothing was going on behind them and everything was. Neither boy could see what her hair was like, thanks to an orange and green beanie hat she wore, which if they didn't know better could have looked like it had snow on it.

"Where'd you...?" the taller boy asked, before the girl spoke again.

"Christabel Hickinbottom."

"Ebenezer Barclay, but I said where, not who..."

Having learnt the boy's name, she promptly turned her head to his shorter companion, seemingly no longer interested in him.

"And you are?"

The boy by the window tried his best to ignore her, deciding he didn't want anything to do with her particular brand of crazy.

After a few seconds, he succumbed and glanced her way out of the corner of his eye, only to be met by the girl staring unblinking into his very soul.

"Alright, Gladwin Dencher, you happy now!" he snapped, but as soon as he said it, the girl was gone, as if she had never been there at all.

"Nice to meet you, Gladwin" Ebenezer said, offering a hand.

Sighing in defeat, Gladwin took it, and resigned himself to whatever life had in store in this nuthouse.

A girl aged 15 with brown eyes sits close to the introduction of Braxton, Harvie, and Lily. She's wearing brown work boots, jeans with frayed bottoms, a white t-shirt, open red flannel, and a dark grey beanie. A pair of fox ears perk out from some expertly cut holes in the beanie and darkish wavy brown hair falls just a bit past her shoulders and upper back. As she got on the bus a trail of muddy footprints followed her to her seat along with the sent of the fresh out doors, mostly coniferous trees.  

"Hey there, I'm Megan" the girl introduces herself to the strange trio and people sitting near by. She sounds cheerful enough in her tone.

Once stopped Megan finds her way off the bus and follows the class reprentative with the rest of the students.

Buzzy wrote:Buzzy apon seeing the approaching stop, rushes to gather her things and make for her place in line in the center isle of the bus. she nervously shuffles between students but as the students try to cram her in she turns her shoulders sideways and braces her stance.

"Don't let the cheery facade fool you," Braxton quietly said, watching the shining walls of the castle with a strangely somber expression, as he stood closer to Sam:
"This is a military run academy, made for the specific purpose of mass producing elite soldiers, for the war against the Chimera."

He grimly scanned the crowd of students, as they cheered and pilled off the bus:
"Most of these poor sods won't survive their first year after graduatin- AAAAGH!"

"AAAAAAAAAANNnnndd Happy Thoughts!" Yui somehow managed to circle around and popped her head in between you two, making Brax jump out of his skin: "You know Brax," Yui looked at him with a pitying smile "if you payed a little more attention in chemistry class, perhaps your pentagrams wouldn't detonate prematurely, that could help you survive your first year after graduation."


"Aaah! Who needs Summoner magic anyway! I'm a Unicorn!" Braxton defensively crossed his arms "Don't need a frilly Eishi to help me cast anything!"

"...Brax.." Yui's expression became even more pitying "...chemistry is even more necessary for Unicorn magic."

"...or I could just use a gun?" Brax shrugged.

"You're such a blockhead." Yui released a cute giggle, making Brax blush, as Yui frolicked back to the head of the class.

Malcolm wrote:There didn't seem much special about him, with Black hair and dark eyes. However, it is notable that his left eyebrow was much thinner then his right, and he seems to wear some sort of pendant, though the symbol of it is hidden.

"...Hey, what's that?" Malcolm suddenly felt an eerie presence beside him and realized Lily was standing nearby and trying to study the markings on his pendant:

"Ah! Oooooo!" she gasped "That's not an Eishi Seal, is it?" She tilted her head in amazement "That's crazy! Where'd you get it?" for some reason, she decided to follow her own narrative before you even replied.

Julie wrote:"Ooooh, I wanna do that!" She said at seeing the graceful dancing in the courtyard. "It looks so fabulous!" She squeed.

"Aaah, you're interested in the Bardic Dance Spells?" Yui nodded several times with an approving smile "Don't worry. That class is mandatory, so you'll all be learning to use a Summoning Staff in short ord-" her words were drowned out by Brax groaning so loud, he was likely heard on the other side of campus, prompting several students to burst out in a giggle.

Julie wrote:Once off the bus, seeing the student get harassed by the cat, she went over to her.
"Hey, stop that! That's a very bad kitty!" She tries to grab the cat to make it let go.

Upon your approach, the mangy transparent cat immediately let go of the ponytail and jumped onto your shoulders, circling around your head several times, before coming to a rest on your shoulders, hiding behind your head and hissing horribly at the yukata-wearing-girl, who's hair he was chewing a moment ago.


The girl in question, Gatry, you think her name was, released a slow sigh of relief and looked at you, grateful and apologetic:

"I'm so sorry, when the Summoning sequence is disrupted by improper form or incorrect incantation, the journey can become very... unpleasant... for the Eishi." she looked at the cat that was still hiding on your shoulders and hissing horribly at Gatry:
"Not to mention, the wrong Eishi might be summoned... I'm afraid that little guy's beef with me is entirely justified." she shyly stuck her tongue out and knocked on her own head with a knuckle "Oopsie."

The orange, transparent cat was eyeing her very suspiciously. Judging by the feeling of claws digging into your skin, right through your shirt, the cat might be taking residence on your shoulders for a while.

Barclay wrote:
He wore an ugly beige shirt with 3/4 sleeves that looked awkward on his lanky figure, with some foreign script printed on the front, a set of flowing squiggles that resembled "BUSH CHENEY 2004". He had no idea what the words said, as he had just bought it from a street vendor on a trip abroad.

"Ah! OOOOOO!" Lily suddenly gasped beside you and pointed at your shirt "Bush Cheney 2004? Are you an archeologist?!?" Her eyes lit up with excitement "I have been studying Earth's history myself, but for something that happened over a millennia ago, it's extremely difficult to find any accurate data on it. Our ancestors didn't take nearly enough records when they left homeworld, if you ask me. Only 5 million Terra-bites? Hello?" She threw her hands up in exhaustion.

Megan wrote:As she got on the bus a trail of muddy footprints followed her to her seat along with the sent of the fresh out doors, mostly coniferous trees.  

"Hey there, I'm Megan" the girl introduces herself to the strange trio and people sitting near by. She sounds cheerful enough in her tone.

Once stopped Megan finds her way off the bus and follows the class reprentative with the rest of the students.

As you got off the bus, a trail of mud still followed in your wake, making your homeroom teacher frown and launch into a tirade about discipline, representation of your hometown in the capital city's academy and the importance of proper form. You tuned her out pretty quickly, as your eyes became drawn to your footprints.

Something, was walking behind the class. You couldn't see it, but something was there.

It stepped on the grass lightly, barely bending the grass strands, as if it had barely any weight. It didn't leave any tracks in its wake, as it slowly circled the gathering crowd. Something, something invisible, was walking around you.

A ghost, perhaps. Or something much worse.



Unbeknownst to this entity, it stepped right into your trail of mud and began dragging it along its path, marking its trail quite clearly. Judging by its footprints, it was wearing the traditional Japanese sandals.

The muddy sandals began making their way to Yui, who remained completely oblivious to the threat, as the young girl launched into a long and boring monologue about rules on the school grounds, as she began leading you to the castle. Closer, closer! The muddy sandals were getting closer to her by the second, until they stood right behind Yui, and finally struck from behind!



You noticed Yui get pinched on the side of her stomach, by an invisible force.

Yui jolted and released a short, high-pitched yelp, before continuing her monologue as if nothing had happened.


This prompted the invisible entity to burst into a female sounding laughter, shuffling her sandals in place:
"Damn it! How did you sense me?" the ghostly female voice asked, in between giggles.

"I could smell you." Yui replied with a smug, shit eating grin, looking back at the empty air behind her. This prompted the invisible entity to slap Yui over the shoulder.

"Shut yer mouth, I smell of sunflowers." the entity said, making Yui burst into giggles:

"I know!"



Noticing a very alarmed expression in most of the students, Yui looked over her shoulder and politely nodded:
"Polly, please introduce yourself."


You saw the muddy sandals walking toward the edge of the road, that led to the castle's main entrance, until slowly, but surely, an entity came into being. A transparent, ghostly and orange looking woman in a traditional japanese yukata, holding a golden staff and pleasantly smiling. She stopped next to a fancy light pole and gave a polite, traditional bow:










"Good morning Class B-4, my name is Polyphony. I am an Eishi liaison assigned to Kryuger's Academy, one of many liaisons in facts. Among other duties, I'm also in charge of your Summoning Classes, so we'll be seeing each other quite often. Let's all work together and cooperate to fight the Chimera!"


Most of the students erupted in applause and cheering, as Yui came close to Polly and smiled:

"Okay everyone! I know the first weeks may seem overwhelming, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me or Polly!" she released another blinding smile. You noticed both Harvie and Brax subtly blush and avoid making direct eye contact with Yui.


"And now, how about a tour of our new magical school?" Yui grinned with a blinding smile. Her yellow eyes reflecting the sun, as her black wings reshuffled.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Barclay wrote:
He wore an ugly beige shirt with 3/4 sleeves that looked awkward on his lanky figure, with some foreign script printed on the front, a set of flowing squiggles that resembled "BUSH CHENEY 2004". He had no idea what the words said, as he had just bought it from a street vendor on a trip abroad.

"Ah! OOOOOO!" Lily suddenly gasped beside you and pointed at your shirt "Bush Cheney 2004? Are you an archeologist?!?" Her eyes lit up with excitement "I have been studying Earth's history myself, but for something that happened over a millennia ago, it's extremely difficult to find any accurate data on it. Our ancestors didn't take nearly enough records when they left homeworld, if you ask me. Only 5 million Terra-bites? Hello?" She threw her hands up in exhaustion.

"Huh?" Ebenezer said, tilting his head, with no clue what she was going on about.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Most of the students erupted in applause and cheering, as Yui came close to Polly and smiled:

"Okay everyone! I know the first weeks may seem overwhelming, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me or Polly!" she released another blinding smile. You noticed both Harvie and Brax subtly blush and avoid making direct eye contact with Yui.

"And now, how about a tour of our new magical school?" Yui grinned with a blinding smile. Her yellow eyes reflecting the sun, as her black wings reshuffled.

As the students pile off the bus, Gladwin struggles with his wheelchair, which was only just narrow enough to fit through the isle in between the rows of chairs either side.

Gladwin wrote:
As the students pile off the bus, Gladwin struggles with his wheelchair, which was only just narrow enough to fit through the isle in between the rows of chairs either side.

"...duuuude" You heard Braxton voice next to you and noticed the kid standing nearby with his arms in his jean's pockets:

"Do you need like, help with that?" He asked, looking awkwardly at the wheelchair: "Is that why you joined the Academy, man? To get your legs fixed? I heard the Academy's offering the latest in genetic and regenerative treatment for its students. My big bro made a Contract with an Eishi once, got shot in the head by a Chimera and just got back up, like nothing happened man.

Still has a wicked scar on his forehead, never lets me forget it man." Braxton whistled, rubbing his own forehead in slight discomfort.


"Yo man, if you like, ask Polly or something, maybe she can regenerate your legs or whatever. I saw Summoners bounce back from worse. There's no way they're gonna let you ship off to war like this, you know?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Gladwin wrote:
As the students pile off the bus, Gladwin struggles with his wheelchair, which was only just narrow enough to fit through the isle in between the rows of chairs either side.

"...duuuude" You heard Braxton voice next to you and noticed the kid standing nearby with his arms in his jean's pockets:

"Do you need like, help with that?" He asked, looking awkwardly at the wheelchair: "Is that why you joined the Academy, man? To get your legs fixed? I heard the Academy's offering the latest in genetic and regenerative treatment for its students. My big bro made a Contract with an Eishi once, got shot in the head by a Chimera and just got back up, like nothing happened man.

Still has a wicked scar on his forehead, never lets me forget it man." Braxton whistled, rubbing his own forehead in slight discomfort.

"Yo man, if you like, ask Polly or something, maybe she can regenerate your legs or whatever. I saw Summoners bounce back from worse. There's no way they're gonna let you ship off to war like this, you know?"

"I'm fine" Gladwin snapped, more out of habit than anything else, before composing himself. "Thank you, but no. I've managed this far, it's no problem."

Megan takes off her flannel and ties it securely around her waste. With only the t-shirt a lot more of her arms are showing. There is a definitive tone to them that would developed from consistant physical labour.

Noticing Braxton and Harvie's reaction to Yui she leans over and only half whispers "You're right, she is kinda cute."

Buzzy raises her brow, "Come on man have some faith." She rears back a fist and punches Braxton on the shoulder... Owwwww... even as a witcher or whatever you are, this bee has a nasty sting and thats gonna leave a bruise for at least a minute. The girl eyes Braxton suspiciously a moment before her attention flips to Yui. She tilts her head curiously and fidgets with one of her backpack straps, "I wouldn't have joined if I didn't think I could handle it!" She raises her nose proudly, "This bee is destined for great things just you wait and see..." Being one of the first few students there, she waits for everyone to unload before Yuis voice startles her back to attention, "You wouldn't happen to have a map of the school wooould you? It would make learning its layout alot easier." She smiles shyly as she interlocks her fingers in front of her standing loosely at attention.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"...Hey, what's that?" Malcolm suddenly felt an eerie presence beside him and realized Lily was standing nearby and trying to study the markings on his pendant:

"Ah! Oooooo!" she gasped "That's not an Eishi Seal, is it?" She tilted her head in amazement "That's crazy! Where'd you get it?" for some reason, she decided to follow her own narrative before you even replied.

"Nah, that's not an Eisi seal, glasses would be more practical." Malcolm said with a snicker. He then revealed it in full.



"It's probably from the old world. I dunno what it means, but it looks cool and gives me peace of mind. Then again, some give a piece of their mind to me for wearing it, but they never say why." He ponders.

Kaylee Brown wrote:
Upon your approach, the mangy transparent cat immediately let go of the ponytail and jumped onto your shoulders, circling around your head several times, before coming to a rest on your shoulders, hiding behind your head and hissing horribly at the yukata-wearing-girl, who's hair he was chewing a moment ago.


The girl in question, Gatry, you think her name was, released a slow sigh of relief and looked at you, grateful and apologetic:

"I'm so sorry, when the Summoning sequence is disrupted by improper form or incorrect incantation, the journey can become very... unpleasant... for the Eishi." she looked at the cat that was still hiding on your shoulders and hissing horribly at Gatry:
"Not to mention, the wrong Eishi might be summoned... I'm afraid that little guy's beef with me is entirely justified." she shyly stuck her tongue out and knocked on her own head with a knuckle "Oopsie."

The orange, transparent cat was eyeing her very suspiciously. Judging by the feeling of claws digging into your skin, right through your shirt, the cat might be taking residence on your shoulders for a while.

Julie scratches the chin of the cat, talking to it in a cutesy voice. "Oh, this girl has troubled you with her magic spell. I get why you're mad, but she didn't mean to do that." When she notices his nails diggin into her, she followed up with the same voice. "I get that you'd like to sit on my shoulder, but if you ruin my shirt, those cute nails will be clipped."

She then looks at Gatry. "It's no problem. I'm Julie, by the way. What's your name?" She may know already, but asked to not embarass her further by bringing up she saw the summoning and chewing out.

While that was going on, Desiree had quietly left the bus, wandering on her own around before the assembly happened. When going there, she bumped into Buzzy by accident. due to her large frame, it did pack a bit of a punch.

"....." She backed off, looking nervous.

Buzzy quitely peeks over at the pendant Malcom has, "My mama once told me that symbol was used by a reeeeeaaaaaaalllly old summoner to kill a whole buncha people! and now where-ever you see it, it brings bad luck! and worst of all GHOSTS! Just a whole lotta ghosts! Ghosts everywhere!" she stares at you wide eyed before suddenly returning to to normal, "Thats just what she told me though."


The bump nearly knocks the poor bee over, "H-Hay!" she takes a couple of steps to rebalance herself before turning to see her weighty assailant. Her eyes pass over you, scanning you up and down in imminent judgement before coming to a conclusion, "Oh! Its just a shy one." She says dismissively, its up to you if that's insulting but you seem forgiven rather quickly, "Hai! Everybody calls me Buzzy! So I guess that's my name!" she holds out a hand for a handshake, her wings behind her emit a soft exited buzz, "Nice to meet you!"

Desiree looked at the shorter girl, looking for any hostility. When she doesn't see any, she gingerly reaches out to shake her hand.

"D-Desiree... Sorry for that..."

Despite her hand being bigger, Desiree's grip didn't match that of Buzzy. She didn't seem very comfortable with it, possibly due to the collision, or just awkward in general. Because of the bumping, her hood had fallen off, revealing a pair of goat horns on top of her head.

"Its O.K!" she smiles brightly and gives her a very theatric double thumbs up, "I'm not sure how you missed me though! Im bright yellow!" She looks over her own outfit with a sudden frown, "Man... I really dressed like a caution sign and thought it was a good idea." she shrugs before that cheerful demeanor washes over her again, "Oh well!~ Its very nice to meet you Desiree!" she looks at her with a firm smile and a nod.

"I-I guess..." She stammers. "I-I was lost in thought... A-and you're shorter then me... Not that that's bad! J-Just... Um..."

She covers her chest with her arms. "I get my view to below blocked..." She sighs, like she just finished a strenous job.

Malcolm looks over and grins. "Hey, queen Bee got a new subject."

Upon hearing it, Desiree puts her hood back on to hide her face.

"Dont kick the hive buddy." Her cheerful tone doesn't leave her, but her grin holds a tinge of danger to it as she addresses Malcom, "Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee? Well im all bee." The danger disappears nearly as soon as it had appeared as she hammers you with bad jokes, "Don't make me BEE aggressive." She pauses a moment, "Did you know that according to all known laws of aviation..."

"I know, you like jazz!" He replied, the veiled threat having no effect on him at all.

"But you don't have to get so worker up about it, you get more flies with honey then with venom. Don't get riled by every buzz, only when it stings. Even then, it may not even bee all bad, you know. Just some friendly banter."

Desiree just blinks at the storm of puns the two make, not sure what to make of it.

"U-Um... Please, no fighting..."

Malcolm shrugged. "It's cool, that wasn't happening. We'll let it bee, hive five!"

He holds up his hand for one.

First the girl giggles, and as he continues on, genuine laughter, "No- No fighting." she snickers back at Desiree as she accepts and gives Malcom his high five, "I like your style funny man." the mirth of the moment seems to be sticking with her as her attention turns to whatever the upper class might have in store for them, "Hive, five... HAH!" she snickers.

Gladwin wrote:"I'm fine" Gladwin snapped, more out of habit than anything else, before composing himself. "Thank you, but no. I've managed this far, it's no problem."

"Oh, Duuuuuude!" Braxton's eyes suddenly widened in realization "Did you like, get drafted against your will man? Oh duuuude, I'm sorry, I didn't know it happened to you brah. I mean, I volunteered so I wouldn't know, but I heard," Braxton articulated with both hands quite colorfully:

"kids in outlying villages started getting mandatory drafts, cos of how bad the war is going, you know? Coming home from junior high-school one day, and BAM! There's soldiers knocking on your door. Is that what happened to you man?"


Braxton shrugged again: "Oh duude, that sucks. I mean, I wouldn't know cos I volunteered. Runs in the family, you know? My grandpa fought, my dad fought, my old bro too and like, now its my turn, you know?" He flexed his giant bicep and planted his open palm on it:

"Time for the next generation to show the old-timers how its done, you know?" He wickedly grinned:

"The bloody war's been going on for three decades now, probably gonna last for three decades more. Reckon when I have kids, they gonna fight in the war too, you know?" His eyes darted toward Yui for an unspecified reason and Braxton blushed, before returning his gaze at you and started to flex his muscles again, knocking his fists together:

"We better learn the ropes man! So we can teach the next generation how its done, just like my family taught me, you with me bro?" he grinned, extending his fist toward you, apparently expecting you to give him a fist bump.

Megan wrote:Noticing Braxton and Harvie's reaction to Yui she leans over and only half whispers "You're right, she is kinda cute."

Harvie and Brax both jolted as if a lightning bolt's been discharged right in their face, blushed and turned away immediately, facing different directions:

"W-wuaaa?" Brax awkwardly laughed, scratching the back of his head and turning red as a lobster "Dunno whacha talking about pal, better lay off the hash, you seeing things, right Harv?"

"Y-yea ahaha... we're just friends-..err.. classmates!" Harvie awkwardly laughed, rivaling Brax in the redness of face "We just studied in the same class for 3 years, that's all."

"I reckon Yu- I mean Katsura-san was here long before we enlisted too," Braxton said, his expression turning a bit gloomy "She was practically raised in this school after what hap-"

"Brax" Harvie quietly cut him off, giving him a quick glance and Braxton went quiet real fast.

"Right, uhh... anyway bro, Brax is a free man, he fall for no one, you hear!" Braxton raised his nose a little too high, crossing his arms.

Off to the side, Lily rolled her eyes so hard, they almost popped out of her head.

Buzzy wrote:"Come on man have some faith." She rears back a fist and punches Braxton on the shoulder... Owwwww... even as a witcher or whatever you are, this bee has a nasty sting and thats gonna leave a bruise for at least a minute.

As you take a closer look at Braxton, his eyes don't seem to be glowing. In fact all the new students around you, including Yui, have completely normal eyes.

"Oh dude! You pack a punch!" Braxton grinned and extended his hand for a handshake "I think we gonna be fast friends, bro! Wonna be my sparring partner? Harvie's alright but he's a bit of a milquetoast."

"You're a milquetoast!" Harvie shook his fist at him.

"Ah chill bro, I'm just playing" Braxton laughed a bit, as Polly wandered off toward Yui and became invisible again.


"Miss Polly?" Lily called from the back row "How come you can turn invisible like that?"


Polly giggled a bit "Eishi are invisible under Kepler's sun. So human's can't see us in their visual spectrum. Buuut," Polly wandered toward one of the light poles at the edge of the avenue and gradually turned visible with each step. You began to notice the light at the top of the pole was glowing a very dim purple, just like most light poles in the school:

"We are visible to a degree, in the Ultra-violet spectrum. The Kryuger's Academy thus placed numerous U.V. lights all across the campus, so everyone can see us, even humans not yet Contracted to an Eishi."

Buzzy wrote:"You wouldn't happen to have a map of the school wooould you?

"M-Map? Ah-... ahaha..." Yui turned red and awkwardly laughed for a moment "Ah- yes! The Campus Map! O-of course! I have it right he-" she checked her pockets awkwardly, almost theatrically, before releasing a sheepish smile:
"Ah! Oopsie.. I might have accidentally left it in class... ehehe..."

Polly subtly shook her head, narrowing her eyes. Looks like she's not buying the act and clearly suspects Yui just didn't think of bringing one here.

"I'll get you all all one, by tomorrow afternoon, super promise" Yui clasped her palms together with a disarming smile "A-anyway, if you can all follow me, I'll show you around the campus!" she waved you to follow and began marching on stiff legs.

Malcolm wrote:"It's probably from the old world. I dunno what it means, but it looks cool and gives me peace of mind. Then again, some give a piece of their mind to me for wearing it, but they never say why." He ponders.

Harvie, who was watching you from the corner of his eye and taking a drink from his water bottle, suddenly spit out all of it on the ground.

Lily's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she stared at your pendant, before she spread in a very alarmed, awkward smile and began inching away:

"Oh that's so niiice! Oh hey, I gotta go! I gotta... do the thing-" she inched away a bit further, before breaking into a sprint to the other end of the group. Several seconds passed before you noticed the surrounding students are giving you a very wide berth and looking at you uneasily.

Julie wrote:"I get that you'd like to sit on my shoulder, but if you ruin my shirt, those cute nails will be clipped."

She then looks at Gatry. "It's no problem. I'm Julie, by the way. What's your name?"

The cat growled, its eyes still locked on Gatry, but its nails retracted and it remained on your shoulders, largely hidden from view behind your head.

"Gatry" the yukata wearing girl smiled, shyly grasping her golden staff, as if she didn't know what to do with it:
"Wow, haha, you really have a way with Eishi, that little one took a liking to you instantly." Her face became a bit gloomy and she looked down "I can't seem to grasp the Summoning thing at all. No matter how much I try, I always mess up the sequence somehow... or the pentagrams... or the Words of the Contract..." she hopelessly sighed, looking down, then jolted and waved both hands in front of her:

"I uh.. ehehe.. didn't mean to spill my problems at you, please, forget what I said," she bowed several times "and thank you for the help with the Eishi," she smiled "Don't worry, it was a Temporary Summons, so he should teleport back to his homeworld in a few hours, all on his own."







The 50 something kids that piled out of the bus began a long journey down the main castle's avenue, both sides of which were decorated by animal-styled brush, flower beds and beautiful white wooden arcs on both sides that had flowers growing all over them.

Now that Polly had mentioned it, you did noticed light poles with blue light bulbs inside each one, dispersed across the avenue and throughout every courtyard and training field in the school grounds. Walking up the 30 marble steps up the grand double doors you really felt how towering the castle looked. Standing well over 150 stories tall, its first floor had a ceiling 20 meters high and its wooden double doors seemed impossible to open by human strength alone.


Dozens of students in traditional yukata's, karate kimonos' and school uniforms ran up and down the stairs, hurrying to class or to the training grounds outside. Numerous Eishi drifted about, all dressed as if for a ball or special occasion, beautiful dresses, traditional and old fashioned, their demeanor patient, caring and kind, watching over the children with an empathic smile, as the students yelled, laughed and sprinted in every direction.


"This is the main hall, where special ceremonies are held," Yui gestured to the enormous open space around you. A 20 meter tall ceiling, painted in classical historical drawings and a room nearly a hundred meters in length, ending in a most gigantic pipe organ you've ever seen in your life. A lone Eishi dressed in a spotless monks robe was playing a tranquil peaceful tune on it.


"To the left is the mess hall, and to the right is the hallway that leads to the Artifact Room and the Library, where we will now go," Yui cheerily said, twisting on her heels and turning right at the rooms center.

The right-side hallway had wooden walls and ceiling, all decorated with vegetation ornaments carved out of wood. Every few spaces a portrait of a prominent historical figure or warrior hung, painted in the classical art style.


Walking down the hallway, you noticed one of the paintings was not a painting at all, but a giant TV screen, displaying the world map, in real time, updated every 10 minutes, judging by the running text at the bottom, which also reflected the stock exchange movements and one-liner news bulletins.










"Hey Yui?" Lily called from the back row "Where are we on this map?"

"Our Academy is located just on the edge of the Golden City - Sideris." Yui nodded "Its that dark star, on the top-left corner of the map, see? If you go up the Academy's towers, you can actually see Sideris' skyscrapers in the distance. The city's not far, just a 10 minute bus ride away."

"This Academy looks very expensive," Lily commented, watching the paintings. "How much cash do you think they threw at it during construction?"

"Perks of living 10 minutes away form the capital city," Yui grinned "The Order of Architects spared no expense to construct this Academy. The most beautiful city on Kepler deserves the most prestigious and gorgeous Academy too."



She beamed and froliced along. The hallway linked to some sort of door-less room, very spacey and open, almost like it was meant for some sort of ceremony. There were no paintings here, no ornaments. Only featureless wooden walls.

And a massive, black stone plate, that hung on the left wall, taking its entirely, from the floor to the ceiling. You thought it was stone at first, but it periodically blinked, revealing itself to be a very subtle holographic screen, with some sort of very small, tiny text on it, written in white letters on black stone. The text changed periodically, and two pedestals with lit fires burned on each side of the black plate.


Yui's expression contorted and changed, growing wistful, or melancholic. She wrapped herself in her arms and tried to leave the room, after lingering in it for but a moment.

"...Class Rep?" Lily quietly called "...what's that wall?"

Yui jolted in her tracks and stood in place, avoiding to make eye contact with the black plate. Her head was facing the hallway up ahead so you couldn't see her expression. When she spoke, she sounded quiet:


"...that's the Memorial Wall... depicting every student and graduate of this Academy, who lost their lives in the war."


She continued to stare straight ahead at the hallway, before sneaking a quick glance at the black plate, then sighing "...come on." she continued on her way forward.


The names on the wall numbered in hundreds of thousands, and every few minutes, the wall blinked, revealing another set of names, first name, last name, age, over and over. You noticed the vast majority were aged between 18 and 22

"So up for grabs, eh? Cool cool" Megan nods with a mischievous smirk

Megan takes note of the nature based art and a nod of appreciation follows.

"Hope we get to visit there at least once while here, I want to see if peak man made beauty can stand up to nature's" she adds in as the Golden City and its close proximity is brought up

Once learning what the screen is for Megan removes her beanie until they are out of the hallway before putting it back on.

She suddenly tilts her head at Braxton as he holds out his hand for a handshake "Yeah..." it doesn't sound very enthusiastic at first, kinda zoned out actually, "Yeah! Sure! Why not!" She shrugs, as though she hadn't just blanked out right in front of you, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake, "You look like you've been through the ringer and I prefer putting myself at my limit to get better. I think you'll make a great sparring partner!" She says with a bright smile.



"Wha-" her gaze narrows at their class rep, "No map! That bus ride took a good few minutes to cross the school and those students looked way older and far more skilled then me. I do NOT want to wander out that way and get struck by MEGA LIGHTNING for accidently picking the wrong direction." She sighs in conserned acceptance, "Dont forget. It is actually really important."

Buzzy pauses in front of the wall, her gaze becoming distant for a very long moment. She just stares at the wall in silence. Her attitude, her demenor, the light in her eyes flickers away like a blown out candle. She doesnt withold herself from it like the other students, but instead she approaches and trails the walls length, her eyes scanning the names up and down as she looks for a specific name...

'Hughie Hives age 24'

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Gladwin wrote:"I'm fine" Gladwin snapped, more out of habit than anything else, before composing himself. "Thank you, but no. I've managed this far, it's no problem."

"Oh, Duuuuuude!" Braxton's eyes suddenly widened in realization "Did you like, get drafted against your will man? Oh duuuude, I'm sorry, I didn't know it happened to you brah. I mean, I volunteered so I wouldn't know, but I heard," Braxton articulated with both hands quite colorfully:

"kids in outlying villages started getting mandatory drafts, cos of how bad the war is going, you know? Coming home from junior high-school one day, and BAM! There's soldiers knocking on your door. Is that what happened to you man?"

"I'd rather not talk about it if that's alright" Gladwin sighed.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"The bloody war's been going on for three decades now, probably gonna last for three decades more. Reckon when I have kids, they gonna fight in the war too, you know?" His eyes darted toward Yui for an unspecified reason and Braxton blushed, before returning his gaze at you and started to flex his muscles again, knocking his fists together:

"We better learn the ropes man! So we can teach the next generation how its done, just like my family taught me, you with me bro?" he grinned, extending his fist toward you, apparently expecting you to give him a fist bump.

Seeking a way to end this conversation as quickly as possible, Gladwin eagerly returned the offered fistbump.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Our Academy is located just on the edge of the Golden City - Sideris." Yui nodded "Its that dark star, on the top-left corner of the map, see? If you go up the Academy's towers, you can actually see Sideris' skyscrapers in the distance. The city's not far, just a 10 minute bus ride away."

"And there's Chimera..." Ebenzer gulped nervously, noting the distance from the academy to the border.

Some Sinner wrote:Buzzy pauses in front of the wall, her gaze becoming distant for a very long moment. She just stares at the wall in silence. Her attitude, her demenor, the light in her eyes flickers away like a blown out candle. She doesnt withold herself from it like the other students, but instead she approaches and trails the walls length, her eyes scanning the names up and down as she looks for a specific name...

'Hughie Hives age 24'

"Do you really want to find it?" Christabel said, her head appearing just inches behind Buzzy's left shoulder, unheralded by the tell-tale clack of footsteps, appearing almost from thin air.