Alice looked away from the enemy to Tsubaki. "Alice!" She said. "Aren't you glad your powers aren't a pain in the a** like hers?" Alice seemed to consider this for a moment. "You're a pain in the a** too," She said after a few seconds of deliberation. She looked back at the enemy. "Can't we just kill them? It would be faster, and easier." Alice shook her head. "These are people! People Rachel doesn't want us to kill!" She c*** her head. "Are they important?" She nodded. "Every person is important! Anyway, we have a fast and easy way to beat them. Let me show you." She dropped her guard and grabbed Tsubaki around the waist, then took off into the air. "You're so light!" She said to Tsubaki. "Are all Asian people this skinny?" She shook her head again. "I've seen fat ones." They flew towards the house and landed on the porch next to Evelyn. Alice set Tsubaki down and patted her on the head. "Sorry about that. Evelyn, don't get in the way please. Tsubaki and I will wrap this up. Hey demons! Over here! Get ready Tsubaki!"

ooc: internet died, personal issues, etc
Never before had Damian watched a celebration interrupted before it even began, but with the hellhound strolling in after the panicking man and Lloyd quickly ordering them to protect the man, they could do nothing but get to it. Damian nodded immediately, making his way toward them and when he was closer, he quickly cast a bolt at the hellhound headed toward them.

Evelyn looked up sceptically at Alice and Tsubaki, not that she didn't trust them, just that their situation was so dire, she wasn't sure that they would be able to accomplish anything. The entire neighbourhood was literally riddled with demons. Nevertheless she said nothing, she was too tired to bother voicing her opinion, and would rather reserve her energy for an elaborate escape with the others should their plan fail.

"Alright Tsubaki!" yelled Alice over the wind, "Dom and I will direct the wind so that all these people are led into the house. When you're ready, give me a shout and I'll shut the door, and you do your..." she paused, which allowed her Phora side to perk up "ASIAN HOCUS POCUS" she coughed slightly as she regained her composure before continuing, "Yes, that."

Nodding uncertainly, Tsubaki and Evelyn watched as Alice's fairy wings fluttered as she flew into the air and Dom jump to the ground on a gust of powerful wind.

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The bolt of electricity loosed by Damian hit its mark as it struck the lead hellhound directly in its face. It slid along the marble tiles sliding backwards, turning to growl at the boy. Lowering its head it ran toward the boy, an apparent distraction to its assigned task.

The other two hellhounds continued to run after the man, not caring for the other children. Though Lotus used this to her advantage, leaping into the air she sprouted fur and transformed into a white tiger once again. Leaping on top of one of the hellhounds and rolling with it into the wall with a mighty roar. In the meanwhile Grayson swooped down from the rafters of the opera house with a shriek and landed on top of the other hellhound with his fore-talons. Grasping the creature and flinging it against the wall while extending his wings triumphantly.

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The ghost having been expelled by the ofuda, the boys were free to go home. Their trip back was quite uneventful, though even after they had entered the academy Li had not yet woken up. Fortunately it was evening, and the school was largely deserted. Thus, sneaking him through the front door and into their club room was met without any difficulty.

"Ah, you have returned, young masters" spoke Sir William suddenly as they walked down the secret stairs and into The Sanctuary, "But wait, why is master Li unconscious?"

"We were hoping Miss Rachel might have an answer," replied Logan with a shrug as he lay Li on one of the couches.

"Lady Dawn is not here" replied the ghost with a tinge of concern in his voice.

"Surprise surprise" mumbled Derrek.

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Alice and Dom stood back to back as they stood on the ground. On the balcony above them they could still see Evelyn and Tsubaki watching with concerned expressions, but they did not have time to linger.

"Alright Dom," she said sharply "We're going to get as many of them in the house as we can, got it?" Dom nodded enthusiastically, though it was quite apparent that he was afraid, and quite frankly in over his head. Alice couldn't help but pity the guy, she remembered her first time in battle.

"Ok, now!" She flew into the air, swinging her staff around herself as possessed neighbours leapt toward her viciously. The Phora side of herself allowed her to smack a few of them around without feeling too guilty, reasoning that she didn't want them to touch her wings. She looked over at the door, Dom had blown it open, she couldn't help but feel proud at how quickly he had learned to control his powers.

Dom spun on his heels, kicking up a twister as he spun and pulling towards himself a few of the possessed. Positioning himself in front of the door, he waited until they lunged for him before he acrobatically flipped over the group and blew them into the house with a powerful gust of wind from a windmill kick. At its heart, everything he was doing were things he'd usually do in his own breakdancing routines. It's what helped him stay so calm, despite the very dire situation that they were in.

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Maximilian was ready to chase after the hellhounds, though footsteps in the s**** caused him to turn around. Even before he saw anyone, he knew it was evil, that new sense he had developed was slowly helping him to become more sensitively aware to the spiritual. Like a drop of blood in a clear pond, he knew that he was to come face to face with the owner of the hounds. He wondered if it was how Evelyn felt all the time.

"Show yourself," spoke Maximilian coolly, and on cue, a man in a black suit with a briefcase in one hand and in the other chains which held the hellhounds, walked out of the shadows.

"Greetings little lord," spoke the man formally "I'm sure you'd love to play, but I've got a debt to collect"

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Ms. Ignianus remained silent, looking up at the beam of light as it shot directly into the sky. It stopped only once it reached the top of the containment dome that they had entered earlier, rippling across the top of the dome and flowing around it like liquid gold.

Daniel looked back at the cauldron as he heard a second boom erupt from the cauldron. It was much louder than the first, causing the ground to tremble slightly beneath their feet. He looked over with a panicked expression at Miss Rachel who in turn only had a smile across her face as she looked up at the golden light show around them. A second wave of energy emanated from the cauldron, except it was vertical, blasting through them harmlessly as it swept across the neighbourhood passing through every inch of territory.

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As the hound leapt for Damian, he turned himself invisible, moving out of its way and repositioning himself strategically so that he loosed another bolt at the hellhound, sending it flying into the wall. In that instant, Damian reappeared, his axe drawn and he swung it over his head aiming at the hound to cleave it in two. The hellhound however was quicker, recovering itself and moving out of the way just in time.

Lotus and the hellhound rolled about as they clawed and bit at each other. Despite being a bit smaller than Lotus, the hellhound managed to put up a fight. She on the other hand only seemed to get angrier and angrier as their struggle continued. Just as she was about to bite at it once more, the hellhound's claws suddenly began to glow bright red, and it struck her. She felt a mixture of searing heat and pain, sending her reeling backwards and growling at the hound from a distance.

Lloyd was quick to step in after Grayson had thrown the hellhound against the wall. His weapon drawn he swung at the beast, gashing its shoulder. It yelped in rage, and quickly lunged at the youth before he could defend himself. Knocking him onto the ground with only his sword to protect his face from the red hot snapping jaws of the hellhound.

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Logan, and Johnny had relegated themselves to the library in hopes that they would find something of worth detailing Li's current condition. Unfortunately, their research was largely unfruitful, apparently supernatural unconsciousness was an incredibly common ailment for the omnivident with a plethora of causes. For all they knew it could be all of the reasons they had found, or none of them at all.

"Umm, guys?" they heard Derrek call from the main room "Li's floating"

Looking at each other for a split second before rushing out of the library they found what Derrek said to be true. Li's body now levitated a few inches over the couch covered in a blue energy that looked very much like what Li described as "the flow". Once again they all looked at each other dumbfounded, what did this all mean?

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Evelyn and Tsubaki watched as Dom and Alice moved around gracefully as they stuffed the neighbours into the house. It almost looked like they were dancing, as they weaved about around each other like leaves blowing in the wind.

"I think...I think that's enough" murmured Tsubaki almost to herself. Evelyn looked up at the girl who leaned over the balcony cautiously. Truly, she wondered how it was that this girl had managed to be an exorcist for so long without slipping into a nervous fit.

"I don't think they heard you" spoke Evelyn dryly.

"Ah, oh yes!" she replied embarrassedly "Umm, you guys can stop now!" she yelled while leaning over the railing of the balcony.

Alice looked up at Tsubaki having heard the girl and gave her a thumbs up. She looked over at Dom who then looked up at Tsubaki as well. She shrunk back from the front of the balcony, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Dom hopped up onto the balcony with a burst of wind, landing gently beside the girls, while Alice stabbed her staff into the ground, resuming the wall of wind around the house that she had conjured earlier.

"Alright Tsubaki go ahead!"

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"No," replied Maximilian coldly, and the pipes in the s**** began to rattle violently around him. The demon smiled, but Maximilian was unmoved, bored even.

"Very well, little lord" replied the demon with a snarl, and it raised its hand towards the pipes, shaking them loose. However, before anything could even be done, a surge of water erupted from the pipes blasting the demon into the wall. The water then swirled around and floated behind Maximilian as he casually walked towards it and leaned forward.

"I really don't have the time for this," he said casually "So leave"

With a screech the demon lunged towards Maximilian, but the boy was much faster. He stepped to the side, swinging a wave of water that once again flung the demon against another wall.

"Leave" threatened Maximilian once more.

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Daniel watched the light emanate from the cauldron and spread throughout the neighborhood. Cautiously he crept towards the cauldron and peered straight inside. The light momentarily blinded him and he reeled from the head rush. As soon as he moved another eruption happened. Regaining his senses, he watched the light flow through the neighborhood and wondered once more what function the spell performed.

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The hellhound was clearly wary of Damian's axe, not giving any ground as it searched for an opening. Damian tried multiple times to stun the creature with lightning, but each time it recovered and moved just before the axe split it in two. Even so, a plan was slowly forming in his mind. With carefully placed lightning bolts and axe swings, he worked the hellhound into a corner, limiting its movement. Now that he had it right where he wanted, he lifted the weapon over his head, preparing to strike, but the enemy chose that moment to pounce, sending the axe flying and pinning Damian to the ground.

As the burning pain dissipated, Lotus charged back into the fray without a second thought. The hellhound matched her furiosity and charged as well, but as they met in the middle Lotus gained the upper hand with her larger size. They struggled and rolled about once more. Eventually Lotus flipped the hound onto its back, revealing it's weaker underside. Remembering her fight with Alice, she knew just where to strike, chomping down on the creature's throat. Something snapped and she tasted blood. The hellhound struggled weakly for a few more seconds before it shuttered and stopped moving. Seeing this, Lotus let out a victorious roar that echoed throughout the building.

Lloyd's mind raced as the deathly jaws of the hellhound got closer with each second. Using his weapon as a sort of barricade, he tried to position himself to throw the monster off of him, but it was strong. With each passing second the hound became more voracious, and it howled for blood. Lloyd deliberately left himself open for a split second, allowing the creature to attack. Just before the jaws reached his throat he stabbed with the sword, right through the creatures mouth. It screeched from pain as the totem user threw it off. Grayson arrived just in time to finish it off with a simple rake from its claws.

Just then, he heard Lotus's roar and decided to go make sure the others were okay. Instead of Lotus, he found Damian struggling underneath one of the hounds. Grayson swooped down and grabbed it. The totem brought his catch to it's master, who killed it with his swordstaff. Lloyd looked at the others. "Are you guys okay?"

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As Tsubaki prepared to exorcise the demons, all four of them felt something strange in the air. Alice was noticeably agitated by this. She looked off into the distance and saw golden light flowing towards them. Taking flight, she landed on the balcony and spoke to Evelyn. "See that?" She said, pointing towards the wave of light. "I think it's some kind of magic. We might be about to die." The four would-be exorcists watched nervously until the light reached the house. To Alice's surprise, it simply passed through them harmlessly. Even more surprising, it was as if the wave of light was dragging away the evil that she sensed, and the possessed people could be heard screaming as the demons were cleansed from their bodies.

"Aww," said Phora. "I wanted to see more Asian ex... exerc... exerscissors."

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Maximilian watched the soaked demon spit out water. "We can keep doing this all day," he said. "Or you can leave in peace. Your hounds are dead by now anyway." The demon pulled one of the chains and seemingly realized the boy was right.

"Interesting," the demon said. "I'll be back. Next time my servants will devour you all." With a courteous nod the man stepped into the shadows before disappearing completely.

~ CHAPTER 3 END ~

Winter, Tuesday 13:00 (1:00 PM)

The grip of winter had finally taken hold on the fair city of Darren as snowflakes fell to the ground. The mass exorcism had a significantly profound effect upon the city, shifting the balance from predominant darkness to one with a bit more light. No more, were there any reports of demons attacking individuals in broad daylight, in fact it had been very quiet as of late. Aside from the usual ghost hunting, the Supernatural Defense Unit actually had the time to act like regular children again. Their powers rapidly coming under control, they had the opportunity to make friends and join other clubs. Only Li seemed drastically changed by the experience having lost his powers following the episode with the ghost. Miss Rachel saw it fit to transfer him to a town called Tai Lo, the origin city for Artes Fluunt and possibly a source which could restore his powers. Earlier in the year it would have been a blow to the team as they lost a senior student, but with the freshmen now more confident in their abilities they wished their friend well as he left for Tibet.

Exams having been completed, the traditions of Arclight Academy were in full swing. During the last week of school there were no classes as Arclight Academy turned towards more cultural endeavours. There were excursions to the Sterling Opera House for orchestral dramas and symphonies, excursions to the theatre to watch cinematic masterpieces, even excursions to the Darren Archives and Newspaper to learn about the past and present of the city. It was all entertaining and light-hearted. On campus was the Arclight Winter Festival, one of the few instances where the gates of the academy are open to the public to partake in the winter festivities before Christmas. Above all however, was the Arclight Winter Ball at the end of the week. It was an incredibly elaborate ball typically held at the Grand Palace Hotel or the Red Stag Country Club, however this year, it was at Darren City Hall, hosted by the mayor himself. Everyone would dress in their best apparel as they were served by world-class chefs and musicians. Of course with such events came drama as people asked each other to the dance, but this was all a part of Winter Week, the last week before the Christmas break!

Presently, the students were on campus as the winter festival was in full swing. White lights were hung from the trees in the courtyard as music played cheerful Christmas choruses. Rides were set up on the school grounds as were vendors from within the city. Harrison Kline from Tea Tyme set up a pop-up tea stall, Ms. Ignianus set up a fortune telling booth, and Antonio Ferrorio set up a pizza stand in particular.

Miss Rachel walked the grounds cheerfully in a white peacoat with a bright red scarf wrapped around her neck and white earmuffs humming tunes to herself. Many of the kids had gotten the opportunity to meet the new guidance councillor and had become quite fond of the eccentric woman. She waved short hellos to the children who passed her as she walked about the festival with a smile on her face. Her eyes however, they seemed ever watchful, as if she were working out a puzzle.

Tsubaki watched as her breath-cloud mixed into the steam of the tea before her and sighed. After the scene at Miss Sulivan's house, she had spent much more time practicing making ofuda charms, and could now officially claim to have exorcize a ghost after nearly a year and a half in a supernatural defense force composed of children. She had also stepped in to watch the Glee club practice a few times, but that had yet to go any farther than the front door. Her birthday had passed in October, and was a small affair composed of a few the Archive Club members she had accidentally mention it too, and her room mate, of course. If you excluded family, it was still probably more people than the total sum of all her other birthdays combined. Her mother did not make it to the states for the gathering, but still sent a card and more tea blend, some of that now being used at the Tea Tyme were she had volunteered to help out at. Somehow, not being a popular choice in drink had stirred a bit of melancholy in the girl. She sighed again; It was silly to be upset at something like that, and she stood up and resolved to push it back if she couldn't just get over it, after all, her break was almost over, and her tea still needed to be drunk. It wasn't steaming any more.

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Derrek dove behind cover as yet another set of explosions peppered the area around him, their shrapnel burning the skin were it touched. The many laughs of his opponents bouncing off the scenery around him prevented him from knowing, even for an instant, where they were. At any moment he could be overwhelmed, no hope of escape, not enough weapons to protect himself. For a moment he wondered what made him accept to do this, but that moment was cut short as something larger drew near.

He stood, knowing that he should face this new threat with dignity. As they came into view he merely looked in their direction and said, "Hey," with a nod of his head. He didn't know if the upper classmen acknowledged him back or not, as the rain of snowballs from the children nearby nearly knocked him over. Somehow they had made a structure from the snow that could easily be called a fortress and filled more than one storeroom with a large pile of premade ammo. Their mistake.

But then, how could they predict that their own snowballs would attack them as soon as their backs were turned?

(Footnote: You might want to increase Tsubaki's age from 14 to 15 in her bio, to actively reflect her passed birthday.)

Fresh snow crunched beneath Alice's boots as she wandered about the campus. Ms. Ignianus was on the campus, which made her nervous, so she made it a point to keep an eye on the fortune telling stand. Next to her was Phora, who was leaving a trail of misshapen snowballs as they walked. The two chatted back and forth until they both suddenly stopped in their tracks. "Do you smell that?!" They asked each other as they looked in sync towards the pizza stand. With the fortune telling stand forgotten, they charged towards the smell and took a seat. "Hey Antonio!" Alice said. "Two slices of pizza please~!"

Daniel tried to focus on the glass orb in front of him, but it was hard to ignore the feeling of Alice's spirit coming closer. Still, he wanted to figure out how to trigger the glimpses into the future he had previously experienced, hopefully before things got really busy at the fortune telling stand so he could help Ms. Ignianus. The vitri had spent the last few hours designing a sort of lightshow involving mirrors and colors, trying to recreate what he had done at the Palace of the Seer. He switched on a light in the stand and set a mirror at an angle on the ground, to imitate the water, and caught both the reflections in the glass orb.

Lotus woke and got dressed her her new white coat and black scarf. Once she was warm and comfy she headed outside. She traversed the frozen courtyard as she looked for Chantelle. Lotus finally spotted her glowing red hair among the snow.SHe walked over to her and watched Chantelle as she hung some mistletoe. "So Chantelle, need some help?" Lotus had signed up for assisting in hanging the mistletoe but she was being hopeful Chantelle would give her something else to do.

Idelia looked around the courtyard for the most secluded part of the courtyard. She finally found it and made her way to the trash can which was there. She watched the festival from a distance she began to get cold, which is expected if your not near the festivities. She looked at the trash in the can before she lit it ablaze with her lighter. She began to warm up by her hobo fire. With her cut up clothes she fit the part of hobo. She continued to watch the students run around the festival. Her stomach growled...Idelia reluctantly reached in her pocket and pulled out her "In case of emergency" marshmallows, crackers and Chocolate. She looked around the ground before finally finding the perfect stick. She began making s'mores at her hobo barrel fire. After the first one was done she looked up to see a small crowd around her wanting some of her precious food.

Winter was undoubtedly Maximilian's favourite time of year. He loved the cold temperatures, the snow, and even at times the holidays that were generally situated with it. This year was a bit different though, he was away from home this time and he was dealing with fairly stressful situations daily. He felt more drowsy than pleasant this winter and so instead of joining his fellow students and club-mates for the winter festival he instead felt content watching from afar, beneath a tree, wrapped up tightly in brown, padded winter coat. From here he felt like he could keep an eye out for trouble, but at the same time remain blissfully lax, and if something caught his attention like interesting food or drink he was only a few steps away. The whole situation might seem anti-social to others but to him it was perfect, he was about as engaged with the festival as he was ever going to be.

The weeks following the exorcisms had been a nice change of pace, a hush falling over the town as winter set in. The loss of Li had been a major blow to the Archive Club, and to Logan specifically, who had begun to view him as something of a mentor. He tried not to blame himself for what had happened, however; to do so would be fruitless. Instead, he had focused his efforts on other pursuits. His grades and social life were practically in tatters, and he had neglected practicing with his fiddle in particular. As exciting and dangerous as the club's ventures were, it felt good to have an opportunity to lead a normal life again, if only temporarily. He had had big plans for Winter Week.

Now he found himself thrust back into the midst of combat, his vacation cut short by the howling winds of battle. He bobbed and wove as he made his way across the icy field, dodging white hot projectiles as he ran for cover. A silhouette up ahead called out to him, though he could tell not through the fog of war whether they were friend or foe. However, any enemy of the scoundrels presently bombarding him could only be an ally. With a final sprint, Logan dove behind the admittedly meager pile of debris where the figure waited.

"Oh, hey Derrek." Logan said, pressing himself to the ground. "Need a hand?"

Johnathan's eyes lazily bounced back and forth as he watched safely from the outskirts of the battle with his arms folded and found himself leaning against some building, preferring not to get involved. He was alone, not surprisingly. It wasn't such a rare case as he thought. Sure he was pretty quiet and kept to himself but he also liked being around other people and having conversations, though most times then not other people were the ones beginning the conversation. The freshman did not consider himself shy in the slightest, however. He was also pretty tall, and a significant portion of his peers he had spoken to had thought he was an upperclassman simply from his height.

Apart from Tsubaki's birthday and the occasional conversations with Damian and Logan, he hadn't interacted much his other fellow SDU members as per usual. Since he flew past his academics so far with flying colors, he invested more time training and keeping his promise he made to himself. He also made entries in his newly obtained sketchbook of course, which included cartoonish versions of his past adventures in his spare time.

Coincidentally, he was dressed in all black: his peacoat, gloves, pants and boots. He yawned while debating whether or not he should make his way over to one of the stands, and saw his breath visible for a second, but he was just so comfortable in this position...


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"No, it should be enough to keep me warm." Lloyd said to Grayson, after he questioned his choice in a vest jacket. The two conversed as they walked around the festival. They certainly didn't have anything this grand at his old school. Right now, Lloyd was on the look out for his friends he met a few months ago. Supposedly they were going to be here.

Jerome's eyes widened in surprise and his body felt cold as he was hit by the projectiles. Falling to the ground, he crawled to safety as missiles flew overhead striking down both friend and foe. It was mayhem, senseless and cold. He moved inconspicuously, so not to attract further attention to himself, his breath laboured as he made his way to the bunker.

"Get him to safety!" exclaimed Tyler from above the din, James and Simon focused their shots on the enemy so as to give their ally the cover needed to return to their bunker. Sliding behind the wall of protection, Jerome received a firm pat on his shoulder from Tyler, commending his bravery against the enemy.

"Together now!" commanded Tyler while pointing at the enemy's fort. Missiles flew overhead as they collectively loosed their ammo onto the enemy.

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OOC: Did you ever name it? I don't remember >.>

"Certo bella!" smiled Mr. Ferrorio from in front of his mobile pizza oven. Whistling to himself, he took out his pizza cutter and deftly cut two pieces for the girl. He slid it over the counter in her direction with a friendly wink before quickly turning to the next person in line to take their order.

Just as Alice was about to take a bite of her pizza, she hear the familiar "peep" of the phoenix chick from her shoulder. While no one else could see the supernatural creature, it had nestled into the crook of her neck, rubbing itself against her cheek before fluttering down onto the ground. It had still not yet learned how to fly, its wings tiny and covered in downy blue and white feathers. It did however have three long cool blue feathers on the crown of its forehead; it had matured slightly. It hopped about on the ground happily, relishing the winter season.

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"Lloyd, my man!" yelled Paolo from behind him. Paolo's feet crunched in the snow as he made his way to his roommate's side. "Guess what?!" he said with a broad grin. However before Lloyd could even answer, Paolo told him. "Trish said that she'd be my date to the Winter Ball this weekend!" He fist pumped into the air as he hopped around excitedly. He suddenly stopped after looking at Lloyd with a questioning expression.

"Hey" he said slyly "Do you have a date yet? Hmmm" he nudged Lloyd in the ribs, "You do happen to be friends with the prettiest girl in the entire school" he nudged Lloyd once again. "You can tell me, man," he said with a laugh.

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Chantelle smiled warmly as Lotus approached her, and stepped down from the ladder from where she had hung mistletoe and fresh pine garland. She wore clothes that seemed a bit light for the winter weather, a light red coat and a yellow scarf and red earmuffs. Her ruby-red hair seemed duller in the summer, though her cheeks were rosy in comparison.

"I've actually put up enough mistletoe," she said in her usual calming way, "I was going to bring out some more poinsettias. If you could get them for me from the storage room while I put up more of this pine garland, I would be eternally grateful."

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Whatever it was that Daniel had done, it definitely had an effect. The glass orb began to suddenly fill with a thick fog, swirling about within the sphere. A sudden cackling alerted him of Ms. Ignianus' presence behind him.

"Don't mind me" she said with a crooked smile "It is a shame you know no fae. Still, a half sage is better than no sage." She shrugged and left the boy to himself.

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"You got any more?" asked Emilia who stood closest to the fire. Beside her stood Felix and Leslie looking at Idelia with equally hungry eyes. David Torrente also walked up to the fire, his hands in his pockets, bundled in a peacoat of black with a striped scarf.

"If you keep the fire going...I can provide you with the necessary supplies."

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Sangeeta walked towards the tea stall with a slice of pizza in one hand. After ordering a chai tea from Harrison, she walked over to Tsubaki, offering the girl the slice. "Here," she said with a smile "You don't want to go back home looking like they've starved you here in America" Taking a sip of her spiced tea, she sighed happily as the aroma filled her lungs.

"You look troubled, friend," she said gently "It's Winter Week! Exams are done! No classes! The Winter Ball! What is on your mind Tsubaki?"

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While the past few weeks had been monotonous, Evelyn could not help but enjoy the normalcy of school. All her life seemed to revolve around the supernatural, so it was refreshing to enjoy things in the natural for a change. Winter Week was especially fun, with its outings and air of gaiety; she had heard so much of it from her sisters that she couldn't wait to experience it herself.

All of that however seemed to end when she received her invitation to the Arclight Winter Ball.

She looked wistfully into her cup of lavender tea made from the plants grown by her sister and sighed. The small reminder of home stirred a pang of homesickness in her heart wondering what it was she was to do with invitation. Being homeschooled throughout her childhood, dealing with boys was never an issue for her, but high school was a very different thing indeed. She was very different from her sisters who were charming, flirty or outgoing, she had none of such qualities, and yet here she was with an invitation to the ball.

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Johnny and Maximilian are free to continue as they see fit.
MIA: Damian?

Winter was by far Damian's least favorite season of the year. He was not yet accustomed to it, having lived in warmer, southern areas and as such, his displeasure seemed broadcast openly as he shivered in his regular brown coat. A mental note was made to prepare with greater effort and warmer clothing the next time winter came crawling. At present, he was in no mood for much of the rides. The battlefield of snow didn't appeal to him either and while tea may be reassuringly warm, he hadn't developed a taste for it. As such, he merely searched for a place to stand by for the sake of not disrupting traffic or attracting attention. Ms. Ignianus fortune telling booth seemed relatively void of attention, thus attracting him. With a heavy sigh, he made his way over with his arms crossed.

Amused, Alice watched the phoenix chick flutter about. She reached down and scooped the baby up into her hands. "My old mentor had a phoenix totem, remember?" She asked her totem. Phora nodded as she chewed the pizza and watched intently. "His was the color of flames. But this one is blue."

Phora c*** her head. "Blue fire?" She asked. "Or maybe he breathes snow instead!"

"Well, he certainly seems to be enjoying the weather."

"He still needs a name," Phora said.

The two of them pondered for a moment.

"Snow... Ice cream..." Phora seemed lost in thought. "SORBET!" She shouted.

Alice laughed. "That's a good name. Sorbet it is!" She placed the newly-named phoenix in her jacket, where it could ride along wherever she went.
They finished off their pizza before Alice did a routine check of sorts with her spiritual senses, and she suddenly remembered Ms. Ignianus was on the campus. She groaned and gave the fortune telling stand a loathsome gaze. "Go away so I can have fun please~!"

Daniel watched with excitement as the glass orb reacted to his experiment, ignoring his mentor. He rubbed the crystal ball and peered into the smoke. As he tried to clear it he heard the footsteps of someone approaching. He popped his head out of the stand and saw Damian. "Uhhh, hi," He said.

"Paolo!" Lloyd yelled back as turned to face his roommate and gave him a friendly slap on the back. "I glad to hear that you and Trish are going." He seemed to be smiling about something else, however. "I haven't asked her yet actually..." His eyes suddenly grew wide. "Wait, she isn't going with anyone else yet right?" He asked as he felt an odd pang. "It felt like we've hit if off well so far."

---

Johnathan mulled over his choices. It didn't seem like such a bad idea, but he had no idea how it actually would turn out. He still continued to watch the fight, glad none of it drifted his way. He could easily escape if it came down to him going through what he was currently wrestling over. He was positive there would be more chances, and he had some in the past, but now felt like it was the best time.

Lotus began walking around looking for the storage room. "So Dot what do you think she meant be 'eternally grateful'? Is she gonna be like those annoying this in the movie about the toys?" Dot shrugged as they made their down the corridor.

Id looked at the girl. The girl's big eyes made Id's heart tingle...It was disgusting. Id smiled "Of course I have more." She paused and as the girl went to speak Idelia continued "For me and me only of course." with that she stuffed the s'more supplies into her pockets before grabbing snow and throwing it onto the fire to extinguish it. She smiled real big before leaving.