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Varnis wasn't able to sleep as he stared at the ceiling. He had felt an odd pain the night before, and was unable to sleep due to it. Staring up at the ceiling, he just lied there as his body seemed to rise in temperature. Sitting up, he pushed his legs off the side of the bed, and looked at Damien as he was asleep. Placing his head in his hands he closed his eyes as the pain, and heat started to become worse. "What is this?" He said silently to himself as he felt weakness from not being able to sleep. Trying to stand up, he fell down to the floor. Raiden came over to him as Varnis fell and pushed up against him. Raiden's body temperature was rising as well. Varnis felt how warm Raiden was, but he was unable to do much, except for crawl over to the bathroom, and climb into the shower to let the cold water pour over his head, as he held onto Raiden who was the same way as Varnis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wha-?" Vanna sat up quickly as Faust yelled out. Rubbing her eyes, she looked about and could hear the birds chirping. Smiling, she got out of bed, and walked over to the window as she opened it, and smelled the cool spring air. It reminded her of when she lived in the forest, and smiled. "I miss this scent." She smiled as she turned and leaned against the wall.

"And the Lord decreed justice, and his servants obeyed. I wished for truth, and this is the world I found."

The world was collapsing, or so it would seem to anyone near the impact zone. The force had blown the shrine apart, and a pair of corpses were lying on the ground, gutted and with massive gouges in their chests, arms, and faces. Shimmers of aura had lasted for hours, falling from the sky as the remains of the dimensional field enacted by Wish to prevent teleportation dissolved over time. For one looking in, it appeared as if it had been ravaged by some force beyond simple comprehension.

He had not stayed long. The Dragon King had only reappeared twice after that, once for a simple greetings and an observation of classes, and once that had ended he had spoken briefly to Simon, giving him the most basic of information about what he had been given and the responsibility he would need to fulfill in a few years.

Near had not returned since.

On occasion Simon had been seized by dull pain, but for the most part it was gone. It had now been three weeks since the Saraiia had last acted up, and it was showing no signs of resurgence. Occasional surges of power had been sensed by him (through it?), but all were far away, barely on the edge of his perception, even enhanced by this odd thing.

It had taken him a long time to research it, with little success. Apparently, the "gift" was a strange sort of device, meant as a charm against harm originally. Over time it had grown, evolved into something incomprehensible and dangerous: it could consume matter freely, with little regard for such typical earthly things as inefficiency and loss of energy. Perhaps, he feared, these people would use it as a weapon of war to end whatever struggle they must be going through. That had not yet died down, and the longer he went without hearing anything the more acute it had become.

As for Vel, there was little notable for him. Small discoveries, a few useful but most hardly, and little progress made towards his final goal. He had become more skilled in combat but was never the best, nor did he aim to be (in that field). The artistic efforts he pursued had become of greater quality, though, and there was a subtle change growing in his aura and perception of the world.

Of these beings from the western part of the world, there was little news. A brief piece in a publication he had seen attributed a small uprising's brief quelling to them, and there had been one particularly disturbing scene: a feral, rogue Were utterly destroyed, silver swords nearly four feet long driven through each of its paws, its heart, and its skull. He had not talked to people about this image, though perhaps others had seen it. But no follow-up ever surfaced and there was little to think about afterward.

Garreth's eyes traveled over to his door where he saw Aoi, giving her a look as if to say 'help me' as he finished lacing up his boots.

"I'm going to see my granddaughter." he said, saying the last word as if it left a bitter taste in his mouth. "She more than likely had something to do with this."

"Wait," Garreth said, making his final adjustments to himself before following Faust to the door. The white-haired man flung it open the rest of the way and saw Aoi standing there. He looked back at Garreth, waiting for him to speak. "I think the prince was involved, as well. He disappeared around the time he visited the school."

"Namen is toast." he said simply, pushing past Aoi and running downstairs. He started banging random students doors, not even sure of which room was Namen's.

--

Theron woke up before the loud knocks started. He blinked a few times as things came into focus. He saw Diente's face and yawned. "Mornin'..." he said, letting his face fall onto the naked chest. His eyes flew open suddenly, and he started scrambling away from him, rolling off the bed and landing on the floor. "Oh my Lau, don't punch me please! You're in my room. I did nothing! Be merciful!"

--

Namen's eyes flew open when she heard a bunch of knocking out in the hall. "What's going on...?" she mumbled, sitting up. Her messy white hair was now most of the way down her back again, and her bangs had recently been cut short again to keep the thick mass out of her face. She scratched at the back of her head sleepily as she stood up and opened the window rather than the door. "Here's my escape." she added to no one in particular through a yawn, recognizing the way the knocks sounded.

Tara had jumped when the shout was given by Garreth and then again when Faust was knocking. She had been up already and was watching the nature outside her window. " they'll be near here this time of year " She said to herself as she smiled her own longhair now past her but and had gone wavy. She sighed and brushed it out as she got dressed and cared for Echo's incapacitated body.

Julia hadn't been awake though and jumped whens he had a dream of nothing important. " stupid clowns...scary stupid clowns "S he shivered and got dressed making her way towards the cafeteria feeling decent.

Faust turned quickly to the voice that spoke as Garreth came down the stairs next. He stared at Diente for a moment. "Which room is Namen's?" he asked, smiling pleasantly, though it still looked a bit scary.

Namen sat on the window sill as she heard Faust ask, but she didn't go any farther. Only made herself comfortable where she was sitting. "Might as well get his over with, hm?" she said, yawning again as Garreth opened Namen and Rain's door the rest of the way. He didn't want to subject Diente to Faust's temper if the boy chose to get smart with him, of which he was sure Diente wouldn't, but one could never be to sure.

"Over here, Faust." he said, motioning for Rain to leave the room as Faust stormed in, crossing his arms and staring down his granddaughter.
--

Theron raised a brow as he pulled himself up from the floor. "That was awkward..." he mumbled, standing completely and shaking his head as he started to get dressed.

Markis wasn't fully asleep as the two walked into the room, and headed into the bathroom. He cought a glimpse of Rain before the bathroom door was closed, and locked. Sitting up, he looked about, and ignored the fact that Rain was in the bathroom with Diente. Sitting up in the bed, he wrapped the blanket around him as he got a chill up his back. pushing his legs off the side of the bed, he sat there, not really wanting to get out of bed.

Namen smiled at Rain as she left, then turned her attention to her grandfather. "I imagine I don't need to ask what you're upset about." she said, tilting her head. "Dad?"

Faust laughed darkly. "Why would you do that, Namen?" he asked, grabbing her by the shoulders. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't gentle, either.

"He's my father. What other reason do I need?" she asked, frowning. Faust stared at her, and she could feel the intensity of his gaze. He opened his mouth to speak and she flung her arms around him suddenly. "Don't make me leave!" she cried. Faust peeled her off of him and sat her down firmly on the bed.

"What good would that do me?!" he exclaimed, pacing a bit. "It's not going to bring him back here. Do you have any idea what you've done?! I'd kill you if you weren't my own flesh and blood..." he growled.

"Then rid the world of another useless person." Namen said, sitting in a lounging position. "You have no problem doing it to anyone else. You have no problem imprisoning innocent people."

"Don't push me, Namen." Faust said, looking dangerously at her. "You're not going anywhere. I don't want you catching up to that c**k roach, so you're staying right here. Now tell me how you got him out."

"The prince came and I asked him to." she said simply. "And dad's princess was with him. It worked out perfect." she added, grinning a bit. Faust felt his hand twitching. How badly he wanted to slap his own grandchild!

"I'm disowning you!" he exclaimed, leaving her room. He looked at Garreth. "She can do whatever the hell she wants. She's no longer my grandchild if she chooses that filth over the man that raised her." he growled. "I'll be back after I see what I can dig up." he finished, storming out of the building. Namen walked toward the hallway, crossing her arms as she stood in the doorway. She was smiling a bit, but it wasn't completely triumphant or pleased.

"Not how I'd planned it..." she muttered to herself.

--

Theron knew he probably shouldn't have been laughing, but he was anyway. "Oh, you got me though!" he cried, sitting down to pull his boots onto his feet. "I wish I could've seen the look on my face." he chuckled.