"Thank God for this weird dress code, or thank Dawn I guess." As far as he was concerned, the more sports oriented the attire, the better. The actual sports didn't matter, it was just much more comfortable to be doing basically everything in sports-like apparel. For all that he focused on it, blue shorts and a regular, boring white t-shirt didn't actually soothe his unease. He'd spoken with his fellow club members already and it was fine, many of them were still themselves, maybe even friendlier. This on the other hand was the first official club meeting after the school year they had beforehand. It should feel like a fresh start yet everything Simon did still lingered after bothering him throughout the summer. That is, on top of everything else that happened.

He was surprised to be grateful to see Idelia and the back of a head he'd never seen before. If anything, they were a welcome distraction, albeit a weird one. Damian didn't know why they seemed preoccupied with the door but he also didn't really care yet. If he just came in and sat down maybe they could go through with this meeting and he could relax. "Fire starter, new person, good to see you." Politely inching his way around the new student to enter, he only offered a complimentary wave to the two behind him before freezing as a familiar yet old presence made itself known. "...He's back?" Whispered to no one in particular, Damian glanced at Evelyn to figure that she noticed too. "Huh..." Both curious and surprised, he quietly took his seat, offering another mere lazy wave to anyone that looked his way.

"Oh my god. It's a door. You open them."

The sudden load voice caught Antilita off guard. Had she been so distracted as to not see someone lurking nearby? Had she been standing there in some sort of spell until someone else arrived? Instinctively she tried to spin around to get a good look only to stumble backwards as though she'd been pushed, barely catching herself from falling.

"Seriously what is with you people and doors?"

The voice belonged to an intimidating woman who's style made it clear she wasn't to be trifled with. Antilita wouldn't have believed she even went to the school had she not been in uniform. Or what was once a uniform the poor thing. Though it must be safe to go in she thought, this girl hadn't seem to get the memo of showing up in gym clothes so must not have been in the club and she opened the door just fine. Not wanting to make an enemy of someone that lurked the halls counting money like a villain in a bad mafia movie she nodded and made her way inside. Leaving with a polite, "Yes thank you, I'll keep it in mind for the future."

Once out of eyesight of the redhead her face took on a frustrated scold for a moment before perking back up for the students inside. She didn't know what to expect form any of them, although she recognized one for sure, Evelyn St. Augustine. That girl's family was even more prominent in Darren than her own, though Antilita could never seem to recall interacting with her, she was a bit of a wallflower that one. Antilita concluded she'd just take an empty seat on her own for now until she could feel out the pecking order the older members of the club had already established in their own time here.

The Darren Archive Club? Joey vaguely remembered having seen the booth yesterday. He'd only taken a brief glance before moving onto other clubs with more interesting names. Whatever an 'archive club' was, it sounded stuffy and academic. Though, there hadn't been much information at the booth about what the club actually did, and a stuffy academic club probably wouldn't ask you to wear a gym uniform to its first meeting. Weird.

Well, for whatever reason, he'd been invited to the club. He ought to show up for the first meeting to find out what was up, at least. After changing into his gym uniform, Joey pulled out his map of the school and spent the next few minutes trying to find the counselor's office. When he turned the corner to see a small girl in gym attire walking through a door, he gathered he was probably in the right place. He sped up and entered the room a few moments after the girl did.

Closing the door behind him, Joey took a look around. He recognized the girl from the club booth. Unsurprisingly, he didn't know anyone else, but they looked to be mostly upperclassmen. Since everyone else was sitting, Joey followed suit and picked a seat next to the small girl, who he was pretty sure was also a freshman. "You're new too, right?" he asked her. If she wasn't a freshman, this would be really awkward. "Do you have any idea what this club's about?"

Another tall one huh? For a moment Antilita though maybe the boy that sat next to her was also an upperclassman but then she recalled seeing him the 1st year class meetings and the like, he was the one with a rather hand to pronounce first name and provided a nickname instead. She was able to further confirm this by his two questions. And seeing he was in the right place in the right attire she answered him promptly.

"Oh of course. But first," she held out a hand. "Antilita, and you're... Joonho Choi, Joey if I remember correctly."

After pleasantries she continued softly. "Well, I don't really know all the details, even with my contacts research can only do so much, but chiefly the Arclight Academy Archive Club is devoted to the training of it's members bodies, minds, and spirits in hopes of unlocking and improving their potential in their Arte."

"And of course making sure they can use it safely and responsibly around both themselves and civilians." She wiggled back in forth in her seat as she spoke. "It's all rather exciting isn't it. I've met precious few like me and I can't wait to get to know everyone here. I'm an Animalium myself, how about you?"

Joey shook Antilita's hand when she offered it. Her knowing his name took him by surprise, until he realized she must've overheard it at some point during the freshman orientation. "Yeah, I'm Joey. I'm impressed you remembered that. Nice to meet you, Antilita."

Antilita gave off the impression of someone who knew what was going on, so Joey listened attentively to her explanation of the club. "Training its members' bodies, minds, and spirits in hopes of unlocking and improving their potential in their art"? Weird phrasing, but Antilita sure looked excited about it. Joey supposed he'd been invited because he'd gotten a scholarship for the theater program, then? Still didn't explain the gym attire. And the name of the club still seemed unfitting.

He started to get lost when Antilita mentioned "safety and responsibility" and "civilians." By the time she declared herself an "Animalium," whatever that meant, Joey was staring at her. Her explanation had, instead of illuminating anything, left him thoroughly confused with no idea how to answer her question. Falteringly, he offered, "I'm... a tenor?"

Suddenly, Alice threw open the door, with just enough force that it stopped before slamming against the wall. She stood in the doorway for a moment, happy as can be, smiling to herself and twirling around before prancing through it. She milled her way to the space between the instructor's desk and the front row of student seats. "Hi Hi Hiiiii~!" She said, waving with a big grin and then she did a nice bow. "I missed you all soooo much!" She said and she began to dance about some of the rows, grasping people into big tight hugs, introducing herself to the newcomers, and she squeezed Tsubaki from behind. "Tsubakiii~ You're so cuuuuute~" Then she was back in the front of the classroom in the blink of an eye, she put her hands on her hips and grinned with a little red blush on her cheeks. "Who wants to come over and have dinner after the meeting? I'll make ummm... Anything you want! If it's not reaaallly expensive at the store, I guess." She looked pretty and a little intimidating in her archery gear, though archery gear was not usually fashionable, she had this one custom made so she looked like a badass.

Daniel walked in next, wearing a simple tracksuit. He smiled at everyone. "Hi everyone, my name's Daniel, if you're new. I'm the Sage around here, so..." Alice grabbed him into her arms and gave him a noogie with a mischievous smile.

"You'd better come to dinner after the meeting or you won't get any salad dressing on your clothes!" She said.

OOC: This is kinda heavy, but I have to do it for intro stuff. So I may do an earlier post depending on responses to move into the exciting training stuff! I’m also thinking of having my character posts (Evelyn, Fiona, Adi, and Li) more frequent so that they can get some interaction.

Alice’s whirlwind arrival was well-timed, for it drew the attention of everyone to the front of the classroom, just as Miss Rachel walked through the door. The door slowly closed behind her, as if some mysterious tailwind had suddenly stirred in the room. Fiona, fortunately having finished braiding Tsubaki’s hair before Alice’s arrival, now sensed what Evelyn and Damian had noted earlier. There was some sort of entity in the room, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. Miss Rachel surveyed the room before her as the students grew silent in anticipation, her amber eyes flashed with interest as they landed on the two new students.

“Welcome back, everyone” Miss Rachel said in a warm tone. She then turned specifically to Antilita and Joey, “And a very warm welcome to both of you” Her gaze was complex, as it was both gentle but also probing, as if she were reading the two first years. She broke her stare and looked up over the room as whole with a smile.

“Now, before I begin, I would like to present this year’s club presidents, Alice Pearson joins us once again and Xhu Chen Li will be taking on the role this year.” She turned her attention to Joey, “It seems time for a bit of an explanation, no? You see, you’ve been invited here because of a very special talent that you have and that we all share. That is, the gift of omnividence,” she let the word hang in the air for a moment before continuing “Every single person in the room can see beyond much more than just you and me. We can see as well as interact with all manner of supernatural beings. Just look around you, as you come to acknowledge this gift, you’ll see that we’re not quite alone.”

Joey did as he was told, and it was like he was putting on a pair of new glasses for the first time. The world seemed so much clearer, and things were starting to come into focus: there was a white tiger resting at Lotus’ feet, a winged child and a blue bird resting on each of Alice’s shoulder and a larger red bird perched on a shelf behind Idelia.

“The Darren Archive Club is a part of a network of school clubs designed to train children like you to live with and use their powers. We use our powers not only for ourselves, but to protect others who cannot see as we do. And seeing is only the beginning, for you will soon discover your arte” She stepped away from Joey and smiled broadly at the rest of the group.

“Sir William, if you will”

“As always, my pleasure, Lady Dawn” spoke a disembodied – though familiar to the upper years – voice. The ghostly knight came into view, looking quite like they remembered, but a bit more translucent. He seemed much less solid than the last time they had seen him, a bit more ghost-like.

“Hello children” spoke the ghost knight, cordially.

“Antilita, Joey, I present to you, Sir William – the protector of our club room and its secrets.” Once again, Miss Rachel turned her attention to Joey “I know this is quite a lot to take in, but you have to know that deep within your heart you’ve known all along. It’s so much easier to see – to believe – when you are a young child and as we get older and tell ourselves not to see, to fit in with the rest of the world. You don’t have to do that here.”

“Shall I open the s****, my lady?” inquired Sir William.

“Yes, please,” she replied, looking back at the knight. “Alright everyone, let’s see how rust you’ve all gotten over the summer” She said with a laugh as the rest of the students got up from their seats as the secret entrance revealed itself. “Antilita, Joey, as club members you’re welcome to join us. Joey, we’ll figure out what your particular arte may be, but I have a hunch I know what it already is” She said with a knowing wink.

In the s****, the students would see the familiar rooms that they had traversed in the past. Miss Rachel had obviously spent some time down there, as it seemed cleaner and more organized than when they had left it at the end of the last school year. Now would be the time to test out their abilities and stretch their limbs a bit before the training exercise begins.

Seconds before the room had been rather calm but suddenly energy shot through it. No, rather a young woman did. She seemed to know everyone, and Antilita greatly appreciated the way she wore her hair. She caught the girl's name as fellow students greeted her back, Alice. She had been the club president last year, easy information to find out even casually, so she wondered how they decided that role, and if anyone could be. When greeted she replied in kind though she didn't think Alice had heard her and had already moved on to the girl that had got her hair braided a bit earlier.

Following her was the student counselor, no first a boy by the name of Daniel that wanted to be called Sage -noted-, then the counselor, one Miss Rachael. After a quick introduction she quickly solved the class president issue. It was to be an appointed dictatorship then. Following that was a summary of omnividence, that she quickly realized was for Joey. She hadn't expected anyone to come into the club blind like that and her hand subconsciously moved to her mouth as to block the words she'd already spoken. It was the ghost, Sir William that caused her to jump in her seat a little bit though. She'd never heard of a helpful ghost. Was it really okay they used him like this and not helped him move on? Not much time to ponder long on it though as they were being ushered to a spooky hidden tunnel, but nothing bad every happened to her before when strange people took her into dark tunnels to train her omnividence before so it must be okay and the normal way everyone does it.

"Woah, sorry about the whole spiel before," Antilita apologetically spoke to Joey. "I figured you already knew about all this stuff. Oh well, don't worry about it, you'll learn fast. Or die young. Good luck!" She punctuated her statement with a forceful slap to his desk, shaking it just a little bit.

---

Tsubaki was pleased to find out Sir William was alright after what happened last year and greeting him politely as she moved down the secret tunnel. It had looked like some spring cleaning had gone on over the break in the tunnels below the school. Tsubaki wondered for a seconded if cleaning was just a thing people decided to do will she was gone, but obviously that wasn't the case. The impeccable hallways were pretty useful to her though as she began limbering up. The small stretches didn't take her long to do, she had already got a bit of blood flowing from all the moving around they did at orientation today so she soon moved into her ballet and general dance stretches. She thought it was a bit silly she didn't used to do all of them in front of the club, there wasn't anything to be embarrassed about. All she was doing was putting the sole of her foot on the back of her head and leaning over at a right angle, that's just being healthy.

Lotus finished prepping. She gave a friendly smile to Sir William before continuing down the stairs to the s****. Dot trailed behind her the two were ready to begin training. The s**** gave them a certain amount of eagerness and relief in seeing it again after their summer away. Lotus looked around and took in the familiar place before she sat down and waited for Miss Rachel's instructions.

---

Idelia stood as she did, Ego took a quick circle around the room. Before taking his normal place on Id's shoulder. Idelia pushed her way down the stairs. As she did she cased each of the students she passed. This year Id had an agenda. Since she cared not for her own broach she planned to steal everyone else's by the end of the year. She made note of where everyone kept theirs and quickly patted the sitting Lotus's head as she passed. Idelia's skill with pick pocketing made this sleight of hand easy as she claimed her first prize. She counted the others whom she knew had one in her mind. Alice, Damian, Daniel, Evelynn, Tsubaki, and finally Miss Rachel. One down six more to go.

(OOC: I'm willing to pm with peeps on how they would like their broaches stolen as well as if they notice/care. Just lemme know.)

Throughout all of Alice's tempest of cheer and Miss Rachel's calming influence, Damian steadily rapped his fingers against his table. He wasn't anxious, just slightly overflowing with anticipation and simultaneously trying to force himself to realize this is really just like last year's beginning all over again. There was no dragon to fight, no rogue Spiritorum to make today as much of a disaster as his summer vacation and definitely no possessed friends. Like any other student besides maybe Derrek wherever he was, Damian had the dilligence to follow Miss Rachel's words and eyes, being particularly surprised by the new boy. He'd seen the girl on his way in atleast and she looked like she had a clue what was going on. For some reason Miss Rachel's words to Joey only left Damian daydreaming himself, remembering how bizzare this all first was. In some ways he still found it strange.

Seeing Sir William once more was comforting to some degree though the young man wondered if the ghost looked much more translucent. He had to gauge the reactions of other students familiar with him to see if it wasn't just his imagination. That didn't seem normal but nobody was bringing it up so he shrugged it off. Entering the s****, he was fairly underwhelmed that all they'd done was clean it but really, he wasn't sure he could appreciate surprises anyway. Seeing as he probably shouldn't just start hurling lightning bolts especially with a newcomer around, he settled for something else. Vanishing from sight in a position where he doubted anyone would bump into him, he decided on some simple workout stretches, nothing fancy. Speaking of something vaguely related to fancy, he raised an eyebrow at Tsubaki's... stretching? "Wow, that's... a stretch, that you're doing. Hey Lotus, don't you want to get in on some apparently unorthodox stretching?" Said the invisible teen.

The arrival of two more people momentarily pushed Joey's confusion to the back of his mind, as Alice's energetic entry and introduction distracted him with ease. In the face of her enthusiasm, he relaxed. If the club members were this friendly with each other, Joey probably had nothing to worry about.

When the club counselor entered the room and stared straight at him and Antilita, Joey started to get a little nervous. Miss Rachel hadn't looked threatening or anything, but the directness of her gaze was a little unnerving. As she spoke the word 'explanation,' though, Joey perked up in his seat. 'Omnividence' meant nothing to him--Joey deflated slightly, wondering where these people were getting these fake words--and then Miss Rachel went on to talk about supernatural beings, and he was lost again.

Then he looked around, and froze in his seat as if he'd been struck. Joey blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, but the animals in the room remained almost defiantly visible. He wasn't even going to start thinking about the tiny person sitting on Alice's shoulder. Okay, so he was dreaming. Right? One pinch later, he hadn't woken up, but that didn't prove anything. This had to be some kind of weird stress dream because he was worried about getting started at Arclight. Any second now, he'd wake up.

Miss Rachel introduced some kind of ghost knight, and Joey had to resist the urge to laugh. Definitely a dream. His certainty faltered when Miss Rachel turned to look at him again, though. The way she spoke, it almost felt like she knew what he was thinking--if this was a dream, though, that made sense, because this was all in his head. And of all subjects, his head had chosen to have a dream about how when he was a kid, he'd thought he was able to see ghosts. Which was dumb, because he was older now, and he knew that when he saw things other people didn't... Oh. He was just proving Miss Rachel right.

This wasn't a dream. Joey could actually see ghosts. There was actually a ghostly knight in front of him, opening up a secret entrance to a s****.

Still reeling, Joey barely registered Antilita talking to him. She sounded apologetic, though "learn fast or die young" was a bit of an ominous statement, and the slap to his desk made him jump. Joey rubbed the back of his head and said, "Thanks, I guess?"

Shaking his head and laughing a little to himself at the strangeness of this situation, Joey stood and followed Miss Rachel. He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before asking, "So, what's this... arte stuff you were talking about? Antilita mentioned it, I'm getting the impression it's not just painting."

“You are correct,” smiled Miss Rachel walking briskly into the s**** as Joey followed closely behind her. “We are all born with the gift of omnividence that lets us see the unseen. However, the manifestation of an arte is quite particular; it is the guiding tool that allows you to access your spiritual potential and provide you a greater means to interact with the supernatural. Most do not manifest an arte at all, with many omnivident going throughout their life forgoing the fullness of their spiritual potential, while others manifest their arte involuntarily, either due to our environment, our heritage, or some other extraordinary circumstance. Then there are others that have the potential of arte manifestation who must undergo the Rite of Choosing.”

Miss Rachel paused as she stopped to open a door and ushered Joey in. The room was eerily dark, with an air of mysticism about it. Candles flickered along the lengths of the wall, and in the centre burned a brilliant fire in a golden brazier. Encircling the fire were twenty evenly-paced podiums made of marble that looked as if they had come from Ancient Greece. On each podium was a single silver bowl filled with stones that had been polished to a smooth sheen.

“The Rite of Choosing is an ancient ritual,” spoke Miss Rachel suddenly breaking the silence of the room. “In antiquity, an omnivident individual would step into a ring, such as the one before you, select a stone from one of the podiums and throw it into the fire which reveals the arte – your arte.” She smiled warmly “When you are ready, go ahead”

---------------------------------------------------

“Alright!” said Li to the assembled group in the main hall “It’s time to see how rusty you’ve all gotten since the summer” teased the co-president. “We’re going to do some very basic ghost combat – If you wouldn’t mind, Sir William?”

“But of course, master Li,” spoke up the ghost from nowhere in particular. A group of twelve ghostly knights appeared from the shadows. To note, they seemed a bit translucent and less tangible than those apparitions that had been invoked a year before. Still, they would pack quite a ghostly punch if the children got too reckless.

Li continued to take charge, “Adi, you’ll have Tsubaki, Lotus, and Evelyn; I will have Idelia, Damian, and Antilita and Alice, you’ll have Fiona and Daniel. Our mission is to take out the ghostly knights! Let’s go!”

On cue, the ghosts began running toward the children with their weapons raised to attack.

OOC: Reminder that there will be no one hit kills~
OOC: Also, sorry I haven’t been home all weekend @_@

Phora hopped off of Alice's shoulder and ferociously clawed an approaching knight, the sound of the nails raking up apart the ghost's armor and flesh could be heard throughout the s**** as Alice stepped in upon Phora's retreat to guard against attacks. All the while, they seemed to be talking about how best to prepare a meal of delicious lobster tail for whomever chooses to join them after class, laughing nonchalantly as they awaited the knight's counterattack.

"They didn't give us any time to plan?" Phora asked.

"You attacked too quickly!" Alice said. "You should have waited. Daniel, cover Fiona while Sorbet keeps the third knight busy."

Daniel turned to cover Fiona and shot a twisting column of fire towards another one of the knights, while Sorbet attempted to freeze the third knight's feet in place. Daniel shouted at the Phoenix, "freeze mine as well!" As he drew his shortsword, though the phoenix was busy.

Lotus went to reply to Damian "I mean... It may look unorthodox but it looks like she's still stretching her muscles."
Lotus took a long careful breath before striking a defensive pose. She wasn't going to be reckless this time. She waited for a chance to strike. She planned to parry the incoming attacks and have Dot move to flank. And if the large tiger flanking them didn't work perhaps Dot could at least be a distraction.

---

Idelia let out a huff.
"Really ghost guys? We do this every year. Aren't you all tired of losing? I mean name one time you've actually beat the students." Id taunted the ghosts. "I'll make you a deal. I won't even do anything this fight." Idelia shrugged before turning to Damian and slapping him on the back.
"Go get 'em tiger. Now your chance." She motioned in front of her towards Li and the encroaching ghosts. After doing so Id simply plopped onto the ground and began eating her s'mores as usual.

Joey would be lying if he said the room Miss Rachel lead him into wasn't at least a little bit creepy. A dark room filled with marble podiums and candles was a room that spelled 'weird cult' if he'd ever seen one. Listening to Miss Rachel explain the Rite of Choosing he was supposed to perform, Joey couldn't help but feel a little ridiculous. Just pick a rock and throw it into the fire? He eyed the fire in the middle of the room critically. It looked entirely normal to him, but earlier he'd somehow failed to notice an entire tiger, so he supposed he was just going to have to get used to this weirdness.

As far as Joey could tell, the stones on each podium were practically identical. After wandering aimlessly around a few of the podiums, Joey picked a stone at random and stepped forward, hesitating for a moment to think this is so weird before tossing it into the fire as he'd been instructed.