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MOST POPULAR STORY:
xxx●xTo be decided after New Year's Day!

INSTRUCTIONS:
xxx●xPick one of your MFHS characters to focus on, and write a Christmas-themed poem or small story revolving around them and the above prompt - then post it here!
xxx●xYou can submit as many stories as you would like for each day and for different characters, but the thread gets locked after 24 hours. This thread will stay up until New Year's Day.
xxx●xThe overall most popular story will be decided in a poll attached to the next day's thread. This prompt isn't part of the main challenge, and so I've got something else special planned. : )
xxx●xCopy the code below and insert it into the top of your post. It's a label asking for which character you're writing for and the title of your piece, if any.

[align=center][size=18][color=#5E7D7E][b]"Untitled [change this if you have a title]"[/b][/color]
[color=#ADA96E][replace this line with your character's name][/color][/size][/align]

The air was...cool? It wasn't freezing as it had been last I'd felt it. When was the last time? My sense of time has completely faded away, it feels like I've been sleeping for both an eternity and just a blink of an eye. The place I was at, laying even, looked to be a great meadow. An eerie silence settled over the entire plain, except for the occasional chirp of a stray bird fluttering about.

I propped up my body into a sitting position and rubbed my hands over my eyes. What had I just been doing? Why was I hear now? I don't remember anything right now, the only thing I know is who I am. This place put me at ease, and it didn't really bother me that much that I didn't remember anything.

Once my eyes stopped wandering around the meadow around me, they settled to looking forward. In front of me was not what I expected in the least, but I was not startled. He was a satyr, just like me, but different in his own respect. He was bigger, furrier, with hair that was soft and gray from age. His expression was kind, fatherly, and I could only stare with mouth agape as he stared at me.

"Hello, Cajus. I'm glad to see you're awake?" His voice was pure and gentle like a bubbling stream, and my ears twitched in response to the sound of my name. How did he know who I was? It didn't feel wrong that he should, he felt like the other satyr should know him very well.

"My name, you know my name?" I inquired curiously, with a slight c**k of my head as I began raise up on my hands and knees, crawling a bit closer. Everything in my existence led up to this moment, meeting this satyr was the epitome of my life. I could be at ease now.

"Of course, of course. I know the names of all my children. And you know mine as well, Cajus," he replied calmly.

"I do?"

"You do."

I thought to myself for a moment, but the answer was obviously. There wasn't only one great satyr in all of time, and only one that would refer to him as one of his children like that.

"The Great Pan? Is that you?" I felt myself getting anxious now as I sat near to him, my body just mere inches from his. This moment was supremacy, complete nirvana for me.

"I am one and the same, but do not refer to me as Great. I am just Pan, or you may call me friend. We're all the same here." I wanted to ask him just where "here" was, but was it truly necessary? I was meeting with Pan, the great entity I felt I was serving with my assisting with nature.

"We have all the time we need for getting to know one another, my friend. Would you like me to show you something?" Pan himself was offering to show me something, how could I refuse? I nodded my head with exuberance, and he waved his shaggy arm to the serene pool near to us. Just how long had that been there?

"Look into the pool young Cajus, and see what you need to put your mind at ease." Put my mind at ease? I was perfectly happy right now, what could be wrong? I did as he indicated and leaned over the pool to peer within. What I saw wasn't mere water, but instead glancing at a scene. From what I could tell the scenery was Mystic Fountain, and the focus was on a single stone in the center. tombstone even.

"Is that...?"

"It is."

Nothing more needed to be said to know what I was looking at, but strangely it didn't bother me. As I looked down at the scene of the school, realization started to flood over my being and memories started coming back. Then, a silver haired male appeared walking up to the tombstone carrying flowers, roses to be more specific.

He approached the tombstone cautiously as he got closer, standing right next to it as he opened the hand holding the flowers and allowing them to fall. A gust of wind picked up and rustled the silver male's hair and clothes as he stood there completely still.

Suddenly, without being prompted, the boy pulled back his leg and gave the stone a hearty kick. I shirked back when watching this, recalling now the hatred I shared with this boy, Ialo was his name. I began to look away, but Pan shook his head and instructed me to continue. There was nothing else for me to do than to comply.

"You're such a stupid....stupid idiot! No one asked you to get your stupid a** killed over me, and I most certainly didn't!" He spoke after reeling back with a howl, having hurt himself on the tomb stone. "How am I supposed to keep hating you if you do stupid stuff like that? We were supposed to have a big fight to finally settled everything. Now...now I'm left like this. Don't you know how this is supposed to work you stupid goat boy?"

Eventually he stormed off, and I was staring in shock as I watched the scene play out. Did that mean Ialo....cared? Or was he just stricken by guilt? It was nice to see Mystic Fountain was healing nicely after what had happened. The attack, it'd been horrible, and had occurred while the school had been very vulnerable.

Ialo left the sight, and I could at least rest at ease knowing Ialo was alive. I had not sacrificed myself in vain, and that made it all the more worthwhile. Just as what I thought Pan had to show me was finished, I noticed my very best friends were there to see. My heart swelled in sadness, seeing a small Toshi crumble to pieces at soon as he was at the grave, yowling as he wiped away stray tears from his face. Light could only stand besides him and watch, incapable of tears but very capable of sadness.

I needed not see anymore, and so the scene faded back to the crystal clear pool. I wasn't entirely sure how this would put my spirit to rest, but I trusted the God. There was a sense of closure, and it would probably lead to peace. I could only hope.

"A friend like you only comes around once in a lifetime Cajus, one with the ability to touch the hearts of everyone around him. Even their enemies. Now, it's time for you to see one more thing. It's been a very long time Cajus, but it's time for you to see your earthly family once more."

I took a deep breath of air, and nodded my head. I peered into the depths of the pool once more to see my family for the first in a long time, and the last until we could meet face to face.

This was it.

Everything that had been steadily building up for the last few hours had culminated in this one moment. All the chaos, all the doubt, all the fear and worry, it all melted away as Alec narrowed his eyes at his opponent. He had it, he knew it in his gut that this would be the final blow. After this, all debts would be settled. Justice would be served, and everything that had been lost would be restored.

Alec steadied his hand, bringing it back almost in slow motion as he visualized the moment of impact in his mind. Time froze, all sounds stopped, and all that Alec registered was the sense of accomplishment at having set this up perfectly. Everything had fallen into place exactly as he had planned. Alec let his hand move forward, time speeding up as his conviction, his very essence was poured into-


The shot went wide. Alec's pool cue went screwy as his concentration was broken with the blatant interjection from Jack. This caused the cue ball to jump and bounce off the table, landing on the wooden floor with a resounding 'crack!' Alec whirled around and glared at Jack with an angry grin. "You son of a b***h!" Alec laughed alongside Jack's own roaring laughter as he went to retrieve the cue ball from where it had rolled before turning around to look at the people he had been playing pool with. Jack, Gerwald, and Toshi had all agreed to come to Alec's New Year's Eve bash, and were now in the middle of a game of team billiards. Alec and Gerwald were solids, Jack and Toshi had gotten stripes. Alec was about to sink the '8' ball when Jack decided to open his mouth, forcing Alec to scratch. Alec looked over at his opponent and grinned maliciously at him.

"You know damn well that doesn't count."

"Aye, but it's still funny as hell."

Alec couldn't argue with that logic, so he just laughed along with the giant of a man and set the ball back approximately where it was before the snafu. The others were laughing as well, waiting patiently this time to see how the shot would go. Alec lined up the shot again, moving his cue stick back and forth a few times to get a feel for the shot. Then he let loose, sending the cue ball shooting across the table and sinking the '8' ball beautifully. Alec stood tall in triumph, turning around and giving his partner a victory high five. Jack and Toshi ruefully admitted defeat, putting their sticks away and shaking hands over the game. The men dispersed, going off to different parts of the house to socialize with the other guests that had shown up for the party.

Alec leaned back against the pool table and looked out at the crowded living room full of people. It had been 6 years since that fateful year at Mystic Fountain, the massive attack that had nearly destroyed the school entirely. But they'd won, and with exceptionally minimal casualties. If it hadn't been for the quick response of everyone; teachers, students and the exterminators, Alec was sure there would have been far more fatalities than there had been. But there hadn't been, and now he was proud to say that most of his friends were enjoying life with him in his own home 6 years later.

And so many had shown up too! Jack, Gerwald, and Toshi had been among the first to arrive. Yuna had arrived with Toshi, seeing as they had finally tied the knot a few years ago. They'd even brought their little girl along with them, an adorable two year old named Hana. She had twin tails like her dad, and a tiny pair of wings like her mom. She had Toshi wrapped around her little finger for sure.

Next had been some of the staff of MFHS. Penelope, Arthur, Yanna, Veronica, Grasta, even Claudette and Fiona had shown up. Alec was glad that Claudette had shown up, decked out in her finest and a pretty lady on her arm. He was happy to know she respected him enough to accept his offer of free food and drink. Many of the others were more acquaintances than friends truthfully, but he felt that they should at least have the option to spend New Years with familiar people. Penny was sitting on the couch, taking up much of it due to her tall stature. She was talking with Grasta and Fiona, chatting about one thing or another. Arthur, bless his soul, had offered to play babysitter for the night. He would have his hands full too, as more guests showed up bringing their respective broods with them.

After the women had shown up some of Alec's old students had begun to trickle in at odd intervals. Light and Cajus had both shown up in a flash, quite literally. They'd been spending the last few hours in space (which Alec STILL couldn't understand how that worked), before shooting back down to earth and showing up at his doorstep. They'd been together ever since the attack but had never made anything official. It was official to them though, and that's all that mattered. Alec did try to politely ask that Light leave her gadgets at home for the party, which she politely declined by flipping him the bird. Luckily Cajus had politely changed her mind with some well placed hickeys, and she was now at the party mostly unarmed.

Next had been Petra and Viktor, who had made things official with a rather large ceremony that Alec clearly remembered involving bagpipes and other strange instruments at the reception. They'd brought along their adoptive daughter as well, a cute little brunette named Lilly. She had little bat wings protruding from the back of her holiday dress, which just made her that much cuter to everyone else. She had a stuffed doll with her, clutching it tightly as she timidly adjusted to the new surroundings.

Then there was Ialo, with Ophelia wrapped snugly around his arm. Ialo had kindly decided to postpone work for this party, a testament to the true friendship he and Alec now shared. They both looked great, of course. Ialo's business had been doing exceptionally well lately, and he was quickly on the fast track to being a serious competitor with his folks. Attached to Lia's hand was their own daughter, which Alec was sure was almost entirely Lia's doing. She looked exactly like her mother, blonde locks and all. She looked as prim and proper as ever, a direct result of Lia's influence most likely. She had a doll with her as well, a much fancier, designer doll from the looks of it. Ialo had decided to bring a small gift for the party, which he handed to Alec reluctantly when he answered the door.

"Whats this?"

"Potato salad. From Italy."

"...I didn't know Italy had potato salad."

"They don't. I had it imported from here while we there for Christmas."

"We wanted to bring something for the party you see. It would be horribly bad manners if we hadn't."

"Well thank you but... you mean you flew all the way from Italy to make this party?"

"You're welcome."

After the rather charming welcome from Ialo, Naomi had shown up with her newlywed husband in tow. They had met in college, and Naomi had fallen head over heels from him from the stories she had told Alec. The guy was tall, charming, and more importantly tough enough to handle Naomi. Naomi took a little bit longer to get to the party than the others, due to the small bulge in her belly poking out from under her long sweater. Alec couldn't help but comment on this when they came inside.

"So, couldn't wait huh? Had to get busy?"

"Oh shut up! You know you didn't wait either."

"Heh, too true. Was it her idea or yours dude?"

"Hers man. I wanted to wait, but she was all 'I'm gonna live longer than you! We need to make babies now!'"

A punch to the arm later and the two were properly welcomed into the house.

Then it was the other Rinaldi's turn to make her entrance. Honestly Alec was highly surprised by her marriage to Henri. He had despised the man when he first heard about his plans for his student, and had done everything in his power to make sure that Danni didn't get suckered into his scheme. But those plans had failed, and now they had been married for an entire 6 years. And as per their... ugh, 'contract', Danni had conceived 4 times, granting them a total of 5 kids with the twins. As soon as they all came in the older children immediately rushed over to Arthur, trying to jump on his back while screaming something along the lines of "Bird Doggy!" Alec was amazed that despite the odd circumstances, after 6 years of living with the man Danni honestly seemed... content. Alec could never have guessed she would have wound up this way, or taken such a road to get there. But she was happy, and that warranted that Alec give Henri a respectful handshake as he welcomed them all into his home.

Finally the last few people to show up for the party arrived. Brody, in all his fabulous glory, had shown up in a bright pink Beetle, honking the horn a few times before he strutted up the walk to the front door. Following him was Takeru, fashionably late as always. Alec wasn't sure if he would show up, but the offer of free sushi seemed to have work. And then finally there was Barry and Gemini, the only two exterminators from the incident that bothered to stay in contact with Alec. Granted it was mostly Barry that kept in contact with him, but Gem was a good sport as he went along with his partner's wishes. Alec welcomed them all in, then promptly showed Barry the kitchen as he was itching to get some baking done.

In fact the only person who didn't show up that had been invited was Mr. White. Alec wasn't surprised exactly, the man had retired immediately after the incident. He had moved to Brazil, somewhere warm where he could finally try and relax. After receiving the invitation Alec got a prompt reply from the old man, stating, "I came to Brazil to get away from the cold boy. Why the hell would I go back to it?" Though Nigel had sent a rather nice postcard of him in an old fashioned swim suit on the beach. The card was currently hanging in the living room along all the other cards Alec had received that year.

Alec now looked around at everyone enjoying themselves. It was very late at night, and most of the children had been put to bed in the guest bedroom, all piled atop one another in the large queen sized bed. Everyone else it seemed had something to do. Brody and Lia had managed to start talking about fashion several hours earlier, and had yet to stop their flow. Naomi was sitting with her husband, eating from a plate of snacks she had pilfered from the buffet. Next to her was Danni, similarly tearing into a plate of sweets as the two discussed just how much pain Naomi was going to be in when her child was ready to pop. Cajus and Toshi had gotten into a friendly competition over by the dart board, while Jack and Arthur jeered and cheered respectively. Yuna and Petra were discussing music, whereas Vik was actually playing music on his mandolin for everyone to hear. Veronica had been floating in and out of the party ever since she arrived, caught in something of a dreamlike state as she made casual comments to anyone who was nearby. Claudette was busy on the couch, playing idly with her date's hair as the two of them snuck kisses when they were absolutely sure other people were watching. Barry had finally finished cooking what he was after and had come out to listen to Vik play. His better half and Takeru were currently outside, smoking their own respective drugs as they watched the snow fall.

Of course the loudest people in the room were currently Ialo and Light, who had gotten into an argument over something technical. As best as Alec could guess, Ialo was arguing about the quantifiable value of will in text-based spell casting over oral spell casting. The argument seemed to have come to a head, and he quickly looked at Alec in a bid for support.

"Alec! PLEASE tell her that there's no way someone's will can hope to overcome the Strohmson effect while speaking incantations!"

Alec laughed aloud to himself before cupping his hands over his mouth and speaking loud enough so Lia could hear him.

"Hey Lia! Your husband's trying to be smart again. Can you fix that please?"

Lia suddenly looked at Alec at the mention of her name, then back at Ialo's furious face. She smiled once, calling back to Alec in her signature lady-like manner.

"But of course! One moment please."

Lia then politely excused herself from Brody before turning on her heel and marching straight up to Ialo with a stern look on her face. Ialo rightfully looked worried, as he began to stammer excuses about how he was right, Light was wrong, and she should obviously listen to him because he was so right.

But before he could spit any of that out Lia suddenly grabbed his face in both hands and planted a passionate, forceful kiss on his lips. Ialo's muffled cry could barely be heard before he closed his eyes and succumbed to his wife's tactic. His hands reached her waist and he dipped her, still kissing her as much of the room erupted into laughter and applause. Light for her part looked pleased as this clearly meant she had won the argument, and went to get Cajus so she could celebrate appropriately.

Alec laughed as he watched the happy antics of his friends. So many good memories had been made in the last 6 years. So many friendships, so much laughter and good times. He was truly blessed to have so many friends to spend the holidays with.

But Alec's true blessing came toddling into the living room right then, holding onto a stuffed turtle and wiping sleep from his eyes. Alec didn't notice Isaac until the 3 year old began to tug on his pants leg. "Daddyyyy, can't sleep. Too loud." Alec's face immediately softened as he looked down at his son, his blonde hair tousled and falling in front of his face. He smiled as he kneeled down and picked him up in both hands, holding him so he was at his eye level. "Aww, I'm sorry little man. Let's get you back to bed, I promise we'll be more quiet." Isaac nodded sleepily a few times before collapsing onto his dad's shoulder, already half asleep as Alec carried him to his bedroom.

As Alec laid Isaac down on his bed and tucked him in, he heard the door open again behind him. Alec didn't stop tucking his son in, but he knew who it was who had entered the room. The woman was wearing short heels, fashionable but practical around the house. Her one leg was exposed beneath the slit in her black dress, which gripped her body and showed off all her amazing curves. She walked silently up to Alec, the carpet muffling the usual clack of her heels. She put her hand on his shoulder as she watched him lean over, placing a kiss on Isaac's forehead before pulling back from the slumbering toddler.

Alec watched his son sleeping for a little while longer before he turned around and looked into the sparkling, loving eyes of his wife. Her long hair fell down past her shoulders, and framed her face beautifully as she let her hands trace over his arms. Alec held her close to him, his hands on her waist while she smiled that same smile that always lit up his world.

"Is Melissa still asleep?"

"Yes, she passed out a little while ago."

"Good. Wouldn't want them to wake up cranky tomorrow morning. ...or later tonight, when I get a chance to get you out of that dress~"

She grinned at him, a fox-like grin with a twinkle in her eye, daring him to try it right now if he so desired. Alec grinned back, holding her face in one hand as he gazed into those beautiful eyes of hers. He stared for a long moment, just taking her in before finally leaning in close and whispering to her, "I love you, so damn much." She merely responded by kissing him, fully and passionately on the lips. Their tongues even managed to slip into each others mouths for a few moments before they pulled away, realizing which room they were in. They smiled to themselves as they left Isaac's room, closing the door behind them as they went back to the party.

At 10 minutes to midnight, Alec took a spoon from the buffet table and tapped his glass of sparkling grape juice a few times to get everyone's attention. Alec made a few comments to Jack, who poked his head out the door and got Gem and Takeru's attention to come back inside. Once everyone was assembled and alert, Alec raised his glass and began to talk.

"I just wanted to make a toast. It's been 6 years since that incident at Mystic Fountain, and I've had a blast with each and every one of you in that long, but short time."

Everyone immediately perked up at these words. Couples reached out for each other, holding each other close as everyone listened to what Alec had to say. His own wife walked up and snuck her hand around his waist, smiling up at him as he continued.

"There's been a lot of change in the last 6 years, and most of its been for the better. We've made new friends, new careers and new families. There's been a lot of opportunities, a lot of possibilities for everyone in here, and we've all prospered from it. And I'm fairly confident that there's going to be a lot more opportunities again in the future."

Alec lifted his glass again, and everyone else did so along with him, beaming with pride at their own accomplishments over the years. Alec smiled at all of his friends before finishing off his toast.

"I just wanted to thank you all for the great times we've shared. Here's to you, my friends... my family. Mazel tov!"

"You're not Jewish!"

"You're getting free booze, shut up."

Everyone laughed, Alec included before they all downed their drinks. Just as the last glass was put down Alec looked over at the TV and saw that the ball was starting to drop in Times Square. Alec pointed this out and everyone immediately looked at the screen. The countdown was starting to begin, and everyone joined in when the 10 second mark hit. Alec's wife turned his face towards hers, looking up at him with nothing but the deepest love as the others around them counted down the seconds. As the final seconds wound down, their faces grew ever closer, her hands timing it perfectly so that they would kiss as soon as the new year had arrived.

..3..

"...Alec..."

..2..

"..Alec.."

..1..



Alec woke with a start to the sound of several people cheering at once, each either downing their drinks or kissing a significant other. He was at Mystic Fountain, sitting in the cafeteria as the staff and students here for the holiday whooped and welcomed in the new year with gusto. Alec had been shaken awake by Jack, who was holding onto a half finished glass of champagne.

Alec rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he looked around, starting to realize where he was. He shook his head a few times, trying to rid himself of the nagging feeling that he wasn't really here, or that he hadn't been just a few seconds ago. Jack was looking down at him, surprised his friend had slept through the ball drop. "You alright dude? You missed the countdown." Alec looked up at Jack and smiled, stretching his arms and nodding through a yawn as he responded. "Yeah, yeah. Just... had a weird dream was all." Jack smiled down at his friend and took a seat next to him at the table he had chosen for a pillow. He offered him a glass of bubbling liquid, noticing the look of confusion in Alec's eyes. "It's that sparkling juice stuff. Non-alcoholic and all that."

Alec smiled and took the offered drink. Jack lifted his up, holding it out towards Alec. "To the new year!" Alec nodded once, a strange sense of deja-vu overcoming him as he clacked his glass with Jack's. "Yeah... to new possibilities." Jack nodded his agreement, then threw back his glass and downed his champagne. Alec did likewise, feeling the carbonation sear his throat as he downed his drink in one go.

Alec set the glass down on the table and looked around, noticing several of the female teachers milling about. Penelope, Grasta, Fiona, each of them looked very nice in the attire they'd chosen for the event. Whether it was fancy or casual, they each had a certain allure that Alec couldn't deny.

Alec sat back in his chair and pondered aloud to himself, a sense of purpose overcoming him as he watched the women going about their business.

"...New possibilities... Indeed."

XXXX

"ION STORM!" Light cried with all her might, floating above the heads of the other battling students. Numerous bolt of lightning struck her from raging storm clouds above, and glowing white hot, the tiny Nymph held her hands outstretched as the electricity beamed from her fingertips into the mobbed invaders before her. With an almighty crack swathes of them were cut down as the focused lightning burnt through their ranks. Making just as much noise, the massive silver-white dragon form of Ialo let loose a thunderous roar as he emerged from inside the the storm clouds he had created to let loose a blast of super-chilled air on the surviving enemies.

The skies were their territory, along with several other flight capable students, they were reigning down magical terror on anything that as much as looked at them funny. Coupled with support from various students on the ground, such as Cajus with his snagging plant vines and rather impressive speed, they were dominating.

"Ialo to the right!" Light screamed as a twisted shadow like form took off from the rooftop below. A blast of icicle riddled wind caught the being head on, shooting it down in seconds. Turning on the spot, Light watched as four more took off from the corn fields.
"No you ******** don't." She muttered pulling the end of her laser pen open to release the compressed fusion ball inside.
"Black Nova!!" The ball expanded and contracted, taking on ultraviolet properties before it was shot off into the fields with a burst of gravity.

The impact was tremendous as the tiny black star ravaged the corn around it. Screeches of unnatural pain filled the air from the twisted bodies of the attackers. Looking inside her jacket, Light counted three more pens. She was running low on 'ammo' and as much as they were in complete control, she knew they couldn't keep this up much longer.

An eagle like shriek sounded as a Arthur peppered the rooftop with arrow like feathers from his wings. The elderly Griffin wasn’t about to just cower away, not this time, not after his friends had been taken from him. Flapping his wings, Arthur backed up as small tornado like winds formed on either side of his body before they spiralled towards the gymnasium roof, blowing several attackers into the sky.
“Ahh, I.. I am getting, way too old… for this…”



Chaos surrounded everything, the schools forces were broken and beaten back. Most of the students, those too injured or ill equipped were taking refuge inside the Coliseum under the guard of the Medical Team (and Yuna), Alec and the Rinaldi sisters, nothing would get through the combined barriers of those sisters, not when the lives of everyone was on the line, and if anything did get through it would have to face the wrath of an irate Lich and a pissed off vampire.

"Saeed there's too many!" Alec called out from just outside the barrier. He was letting lose jets of flame and molten rock along with a small band of adept elemental students to keep the stress down on the barriers. So far there had only been two breaches, but another three were on their way, the enemy forces were just too numerous.

These fiends had interrupted his research, if he lost it then that would be hundreds of years wasted, he couldn't afford to let that happen. His grey skinned form zipped amongst the temporary beds dealing with any serious injuries he could manage. Saeed looked over, as Alec shouted for help. Two of his adepts were being ushered into the barrier by Antonius, with blood gushing from their hands, but more important right now was the bubbling of the barrier above them, another break through.

Danni sang through some spell incantations with her sister as yet another barrier began to form between their clasped hands, the first barrier was crumbling and badly needed replacing, hopefully they could get this one standing in enough time.

"I shall deal with them Leaton! Keep your attention on the main forces!" the Lich called out assertively as he flashed towards the buckling area above, passing Yuna as she rushed to treat the two adepts.
His hands lit up as thousands of tiny magical circles flooded from his palms towards the gap, physically rotting anything that they touched. Healing magic worked both ways, if you could heal, you could decay...

The smell of rotting flesh fell in a gangrenous rush as the attackers bodies crumbled away onto Alec's team. The purple haired mage gagged as the stench reached them, but with a quick gust of wind magic they were clear to focus once more.
"Remember what I taught you! Focus on the energy and keep a cool head!
"Show 'em what Mystic Fountain is made of!"
"YEAH!"
Alec and his little group gave another push back, flares and floods shot out from them, taking down those who got too close.



Inside the school, it was a free for all, mostly. Some students had formed groups with others, and any teacher not given specific orders was escorting them to safety. Fiona had found herself in the dormitories watching over Toshi, Fumi and Malice. The four of them were highly outmatched by the enemy, and Fiona had taken a bad hit to her ribs and left leg.

Focusing on her spellcasters, four shots let loose down the corridor in front of them into the shadow like beasts they were cornered by. Moments later, the bullets erupted into green flames burning the beasts to ash.
"Quickly, quickly, to the stai-ahh." She started pointing towards the stairwell at the end of the corridor.

Finding her arm being placed over the shoulders of the Nekomata, Fiona grimaced as the four of them made their way out of danger.



Elsewhere, inside one of the English rooms, Vik, Naomi and Petra were completely cornered. The door to the room was barricaded high with desks and book shelves but it was no use. The door inched open every moment and even with all three of them pushing back they were failing.
"Naomi get to the window, bystro! We need to escape!" Viktor ordered as his military training filled his brain.

Nodding, Naomi rushed from their barricade and opened the window, creating a condensed fire rope for them to climb down to safety. At least that was the plan. with Naomi gone the barricaded door gave much quicker than before, clawed limb flailed through the gaps, and as the seconds passed they only increased in numbers.
"Go now! Go! GO!" the Shapeshifter shouted pushing all his strength into the barrier as Naomi descended her rope and let loose a primal scream as her instincts took over. The ground below was covered in those shadow creatures, but that was nothing a white hot fireball couldn’t deal with. Letting loose a barrage of scorching heat, Naomi landed in a small clearing before the creatures rushed forwards to a fiery death.

Holding the barrier for as long as she could, Vik watched over Petra as she left his side and made for the window., only to be ambushed by a hail of claws and teeth as a creature scaled the walls and appeared from Naomi’s rope. It grabbed Petra in its jaws , shaking her like a ragdoll, filling the room with her shrill cries of pain. Tossing her to the side, Petra battered off the far wall with a dull thud

“NO! No no no!!”
Viks claws immediately morphed into view, the poison glands on his nail beds and skin leaking drops of liquid death down their edges as the creatures arm reached towards him. Viktor’s hair flashed bright red and his skin drained of all colour turning pale white. With one swipe he caught the creature on the wrist, flooding it’s 'blood' with toxins and adverse chemicals. His odd eyes filled with hatred as he listened as the creature choked up, and froth at the mouth, collapsing immediately to the floor. With no one holding it back, the barricade quickly gave in.

Spinning on the spot, Vik roared out a battle cry as she lunged into the waiting claws. With poison tipped blades, the Soviet humanoid weapon tore through their ranks, ignoring the pain the beings were inflicting as their claws sliced through his flesh. In mere seconds the creature lay broken and choking on closed airways, bleeding from their eyes as the toxins broke down the walls of their blood vessels, digesting them from the inside out like a spider would do to a fly.

Vik panted heavily, his hands dripping with both the blood of revenge and his own. Quickly gathering his thoughts he dashed back into the room to Petra’s broken form. She was a mess, blood coated her shredded clothes and skin…
“Pet-Petra… please, don’t… Don’t leave me alone!” He stuttered, falling to his knees and hugging her limp body into his arms



The basement levels. The catacomb like maze had been broken apart, the fountain glowed in all its glory, and the shadow like creatures stood in ordered lines as their commanders marched forwards.

Heavy footsteps clunked past the snarling beings as they bowed their heads at their masters. They dare not look upon them without permission as the beings were in just as much danger as the students, they were expendable.
“How long I have waited, how long I have yearned for this power once more. My friend, I believe that tonight we shall make the world tremble at our feet once more…” The armoured figure said politely as it picked some shedding skin from its forehead as another horn pushed through. Finally having gained control, Arik had wasted no time. Jacks body was now his own, and was slowly morphing to match the image of his soul. And soon, the world would belong to him too.
“Takeru, if you would oversee the clearing up of the rest of the school, I have a coliseum to destroy…” Arik said quietly to the corrupted Tengu.

Locked deep inside, Jack could do nothing but watch on as his world crumbled, his friends were killed, his students slaughtered. He tried to scream out in anger but there was no air, nothing. He was trapped in his own body and there was nothing he could do about it.
“You… b*****d…”