Alice whistled a long, slow note as she watched the griffon blast off towards her teams flag. "You want us to do something like this, right now?" She said to Miss Rachel. "These fights are more harsh than the real ones." The senior took a second look at all the students charging off with mischievous grins on their faces. Wordlessly, she sprinted towards the northeast tower where the flag was.
Phora, who was watching Max and Evelyn, suddenly realized Alice was gone and took off after her. "Remember when you were a first year?" She said with a sly grin.
Alice blushed. "... Let's not talk about that now."

Daniel, meanwhile, experimented with simpler ways to carry the pile of glass panes he'd assembled. After trying several designs, including a gigantic glass box, which he nearly dropped, he decided on a large orb which he could easily run with. Admiring his creation, he noticed Evelyn and Maximillian in the reflection. The two of them seemed considerably more powerful than the other first years, based on their energies, but Daniel had never seen Maximillians arte in use. Curiously, he took a step forward and spoke.
"You two are on the blue team?" He placed his right hand on the orb, and drew upon the mass of glass within to produce a small, sharp instrument ideal for throwing.

Alice reached the bottom of the tower to find an outnumbered Damian trying to protect their flag. Her eyes focused in on Lotus, who was on her way up. "Phora, get her away from the flag." Phora happily obeyed, and flew to the top of the tower, hovering over the edge Lotus was approaching. Raising her hands high into the air, she chanted something that wasn't audible over the sound of rushing wind. Throwing her hands downward, she produced torrents of buffeting, cutting winds, straight towards Lotus.

Her master, Alice, summoned her crossbow, and loaded a stack of deadly barbed arrows and began firing them towards the wings and face of Grayson.

As soon as the griffin swung it's tail, Damian leapt back immediately, resulting in him stumbling backwards and falling on his bottom. With the girl having escaped after the flag, Damian only grew angrier. He stood up, not attempting to mask his anger anymore. His chest puffed out with each breath and his typically calm, tired eyes were wide and full of hate, though he barely knew any of them. With no warning, he raised one hand and fired a bolt at the griffin, then charged at Lloyd.

OOC1: oh lordy we got a bezerker lmao
OOC2: Also, chicos, this needs not become a dodge fest, if someone does a manoeuvre that is clever/advanced/more powerful than you are/ take the hit. Everything so far has been perfectly fine, just a minor announcement. Let me trust you with this battle. Not everything has to be run by me.

Evelyn listened with her eyes closed and her face looking upwards to the sky as she willed herself not to cry. Everything Maximilian said was true, if she continued on this path she would only fall deeper and deeper into depression and darkness, and then who would she be able to help? But it was so hard. She felt so powerless. Why hadn't her sisters told her it would be like this? Why hadn't her father prepared her for the emotional toil that came along with the duties bestowed upon so many of her family? For the first time in her life she questioned whether Omnividence was truly as much a gift as she had originally thought it was. Oh to live in ignorance as the untouched did every day.

She opened her eyes once more, and looked at Maximilian as he spoke. Never had she seen the boy so animated, his very words seeming to give her life. This new side of him reassured her and gave her hope. She would be like the bird that fell and took to the skies again. Their eyes locked, and she was nearly shocked by the look of determination in his eyes. It was a gaze that transcended the physical, she sensed it to her very core.

Once he had finished talking, Evelyn smiled a sincere smile, and coughed twice as she hastily rubbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "Thank you Maximilian" she said warmly, while putting her arms behind her back and staring up at the blue sky once again, she still wasn't sure how it was they were in Apollon, or whether it was all an illusion, she chuckled "I honestly can't remember the last time I've ever cried" she said, though her expression grew serious once more and she locked eyes with Maximilian. She wanted him to know that she was truly grateful and that his message had gotten through to her, "Really though, thank you. You've given me hope."

"You two are on the blue team?"

Evelyn turned slowly on her heels upon hearing Daniel's voice with a smile on her face, as if she had come upon a new toy that she was going to play with roughly. She had completely forgotten about the little game that Miss Rachel had thrown them into. Frankly, she would've preferred to sit and talk to Maximilian and get to know him better, but alas, it would have to wait. Interestingly, perhaps because of the new fire that had been lit in her spirit by Maximilian's words, her eyes glowed with a light mirroring her usual wisps, as if a light in her head had been turned on and was shining through her eyes.

"Interesting", she said while hovering off of the ground "Your aura seems," she paused while narrowing her eyes as if trying to see something "different." She looked over at Maximilian while elevating off the ground even higher, "Daniel, we'll have to catch up later, and Maximilian, I know you can sense the aquifer that the city rests on, you're Naturae, educate Daniel on your powers." she said with a wink. That being said, she flew towards the tower where Li, Dom, and Johnny were headed.

Her bird's eye view allowed her with a very clear image of the match that was taking place below. Already on the blue tower, Lotus, Lloyd, Damian and Alice fought. She was tempted to change directions; she wanted to watch how Lloyd fought, but her own tower was at risk as Li and Logan were at a standstill, while Johnny and Dom, who approached the building by propelling himself with wind, reached the tower unimpeded. Meanwhile poor Tsubaki was dealing with her one boot, while Derrek's path seemed like it was going to run into Li and Logan.

"Hey SCOTTS!" yelled Evelyn as she flew overhead, though she didn't stop as she continued towards the tower.

Maximilian smiled euphorically as he watched Evelyn fly off. He hoped that after this whole game was over they'd have some downtime to speak to one another again. He enjoyed Evelyn's company, even if this was the first time he had the honor to partake in it, he truly wanted to do so again.

"Couldn't you have waited 10 more minutes?" Maximilian groaned from his seat on the steps as he ran his fingers through his red tinted-brown hair. "How does anyone expect me to fight after all that! All of you people have the worst timing." Reclining back onto the smooth, ruined steps, Maximilian belted out a long sigh as he place his arms in a position behind his head to support it.

"Listen, I'm not really interested in attacking you or taking your flag or whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing right now, so if you could, I would enjoy it greatly if you left me to my thoughts."

Maximilian remained paused in his reclined position for sometime before his mind once more drifted back to Evelyn. Removing his hands from behind his head he immediately brought them to his face which he covered. From behind his hands Maximilian groaned a long, over dramatic, sarcastic groan. "Aaaaaand I waaasss soooooo cloooseee." Evelyn might have been ready to break out of her shell and play with the others but Maximilian sure as hell wasn't. The boy might have seemed lazy and jaded to the rest of the world, but it was exactly what he wanted. He could be truthful and sincere around Evelyn when she needed him to be, but around the others he saw no reason to drop his 'act'.

How big was this tower? It seemed to go on forever. The short burst of energy that Johnny had seem to end and he had to go into a light jog. He sighed deeply as he continued up the tower. 

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

As Grayson's attack missed, the griffin retreated into the air only to be met with a bolt of lightning and a horde of arrows. Grayson managed to dodge the bolt of lightning, but was pelted by Alice's arrows. He started to fall, but shot back up when he was close to the ground. He then spotted Alice and charged at her at max speed, preparing for any attacks as his attention was now focused on her. 

Lloyd in the meantime was wishing Lotus had the flag by now. Damian was now angered and charged at him, but the upperclassman remained calm. He only needed a second to think as he crouched down and swiped his leg in order to trip Damian. 

Damian had quickly fallen to the ground, thanks to Lloyd swiping his leg to trip him. In spite of his rage, he was managing to form rational thoughts and rolled over on to his back. He only gave a small chuckle however as he raised his hand toward Lloyd and fired a bolt of green electricity.

Keeping his attention on the two boys ahead of him, Li had barely enough time to react to Logan appearing in front of him. He tried to move out of the way, but ended up clipping his left shoulder along Logan's shield. Thank goodness for his spiritual sense. If it wasn't for that, Li would have been a Chinese shish kebab on a Scottsman's targe. Taking a moment to recover, he stared Logan directly in the eyes for a moment before speaking.

"I have two guys going for my flag and now I'm being held back here, great," he said sarcastically. He then heard Evelyn call out from above, as she was chasing after the two boys ahead.
Reassured, Li could now stand and fight Adi's former student. It was probably best that he would be the one to deal with Logan considering his previous experience sparring with him before.

"Well, I won't have to worry about them any further," he added while summoning his tonfas. While continuing to stare Logan down, he calmly tapped the floor, placing a small spirit ward in case anyone else came to interrupt their fight. A small green, dim ball of light appeared right where he placed his hand. Rising back up, Li got ready for an attack.

_____________________________________________

Dom's improvised leaps were working out better for him than he expected. He would get to that flag in no time now that he didn't have to maneuver through all those buildings. For the first time in a while, he felt completely free from all his burdens. Getting closer and closer to the tower, he heard a noise from behind him.

"Hey SCOTTS!"

It was Evelyn flying from behind, ready to take out him and Johnny. Panicked, he acted out of reaction. To be honest, she scared Dom.

"Hey Evelyn, over here!" He shouted as he twisted midair, blasting a gust of wind at her direction. Not paying attention to his footing, he slipped on the edge of the next building, losing his balance and falling into a wheel barrow of hay. A brief moment of silence followed.

"Ow...I'll get up from here...eventually."

Tsubaki was recovering from her fall now and had decided to ditch her other boot so that she could run evenly. If anything losing her heels might actually help her if this became as much as a race as it appear to begin as, being tiny on the other hand, did not. Despite her throbbing head, and being focused on getting back in the game, the scene between Evelyn and Max had not escaped her completely. Tsubaki had as well inherited a demon hunter's role, but the major difference lied in what role that was. Tsubaki had inherited the role of a supporter, yet it was strange that there was nothing at this moment she could do to support these people she had come to known, if at least by a little. Her team, as a figure, on the other hand, she could support, so she left the two, or now it was three, no, two again, to their own devices.

"Iter, guide my heart!" Tsubaki commanded the sigil that refused her calls but a few days ago, and as she did it condensed and formed into a compass that resembled a rustic red pocket watch. Opening it, she began following it's direction. Little did she know that it pointed to The Plaza Apallon, not to either flag or tower.

---

*sigh*

Despite a later start and walking instead of running, Derrek was rapidly approaching, relatively speaking, the stand off between the red headed kid and the Asian boy. If he remembered right the first was against his team, and the second was on his team. For a moment he thought to avoid them both completely, until he realized that this might be a chance to help his team out and get out of playing this game all in one. Plus he might need to earn brownie points here, as there was a chance that he might have just smashed his teammate's sister's face into the pavement. He didn't know.

"*sigh* I'll have to learn who everyone here is at some point, I suppose," Derrek muttered to himself as he readied Tsubaki's boot in hand. "HEY YOU," he shouted at Logan as he flung the footwear at him as well, "I just smoked one of your teammates without trying, and now you're out numbered. Just give up and you probably won't get hurt."

Derrek had positioned himself under one of awnings connected to one of the shabbier buildings nearby, so that if it was needed he could use it's tiles as a ranged weapon. No one knew his power yet, so they probably wouldn't expect it, but at the same time, fire hardened clay sheets might not do much vs magical ancestral armor.

Lotus could finally see the top ledge. "almost there."
Then she heard it, Alice's voice. Lotus looked at the edge as Phora appeared. After Phora did a kinda silly dance a gust of wind began to batter Lotus around.
Lotus sunk her claws deeper into the wall as she flattened against it bracing the wind. Lotus thought quickly, "Phora you should be Protecting the flag, you should be protecting the soft a squishy human. I mean what would happen if that griffin hurt her while you were guarding a flag. I know your very smart Phora, you'll want to protect Alice." Lotus spared a quick glance downwards. She how the knew was fairing. " DOT GIVE HIM SOME HELP!" as Lotus shouted this Dot appeared and pounced at Damian. Lotus then began her climb slower due to her extra caution she was using because of Phora.

Phora was shocked to see Lotus still hanging on. No matter, this all fit into her plan. Backing up, she grabbed the red flag and flew it high into the air.

Alice leaped out of the way of Graysons path just in time to avoid being grabbed or gored. The fourth year was confident she could dodge a straight charge every time, since the creature seemed to simply accelerate in a straight line. She'd be surprised if the griffon didn't charge right into one of the buildings. Prone on the floor, clutching her crossbow, she aimed it towards Dot, hoping to get rid of the nuisance, and fired another volley of bolts from only a few meters away.

Daniel watched Maximillian carefully. Was he not being taken seriously? This guy was obviously wearing a mask. He could feel it in the air. There was no reason for Daniel to believe he wouldn't be attacked as soon as he turned around. He threw the glass missile towards Max without warning.

Logan chuckled at Li's apparent dismay. As long as he was blocking his path, there was nothing to keep Dom and Johnny from retrieving the blue flag.
"HEY SCOTTS!" Logan turned toward the source of the yell in time to see Evelyn sailing above his head.
"Ah, cripes." He mumbled under his breath. Knowing that there wasn't really anything he could do about her intrusion, he quickly turned his attention back to Li, who seemed to be in higher spirits now.

"Dunnae get yer hopes up, lad. "As soon as I'm through wit' ye, she's next!" Logan laughed as Li took up arms. What fun would this be if it was too easy? From experience, he figured that Li wouldn't be goaded into making the first move, and the sooner he was dealt with, the better. As such, he decided to meet the problem the same way he dealt with most other things: head-on. With a loud yell, he charged directly at his opponent, positioning his claymore for a wide, horizontal swing.

Grayson stopped mid way, expecting this to happen and was was directly behind Alice. Lloyd could tell she wasn't aware of just how agile the griffin could be. Grayson grabbed Alice with it's talons, after she was done shooting her arrows and threw her at the tower. Grayson then shot up into the air and went after Phora. 

Unfortunately, Lloyd wasn't as nimble as his familiar, and ended up taking the bolt of lightning, however seemingly fine. Though to his surprise, Dot came and pinned Damian to the ground. If Grayson hadn't been occupied he'd have done the same thing a long time ago. 

OOC: Look at you all RPing without my hand guiding you <3

Evelyn, smiled as she saw Dom below looking back as he took note of her presence. Perfect. Her original plan had only been to distract Logan, but if she had managed to briefly catch the attention of Dom as well, that was a bonus. Predictably Dom decided to do something about her approach, and flung a gust of air in her direction. She smirked. She'd been flying since she was three and a half, a bit of wind wasn't going to put much of a damper in her arrival. She adjusted her altitude, diving lower, while the breeze flew over her head, tossing her hair about wildly as it passed. Much to her continued pleasure Dom had missed the next building and fell, not bothering to stop she pelted his location with a series of explosive wisps that exploded in brilliant flashes of light as they hit the ground.

Luckily for Evelyn, Johnny was Notatorum, and they weren't particularly known for their athletic prowess. So by the time he had reached the top of the tower, she had already inside and was waiting for him at the top. Her eyes glowing brightly, a tad off putting as it was never something she was able to do before, she smiled and summoned her glaive with a flourish and leaned against it casually.

"Ok Johnny," she said calmly "Your best bet right now is to go back down."

Damian was shocked and only angered further seeing the bolt do nothing. His urge to bash the boy's head was completely forgotten though as he was pinned under a tiger of all thing. It seemed thus far his powers wouldn't cut it, so as he held the beast's sharp fanged mouth away from him with one hand, he reached up with the other, feeling around for an eye. When he believed he found what he was looking for, he yelled and pulled back his hand, only to thrust it into the animal's eye, jabbing violently at it. Despite the volley of arrows being fired already, Damian took no measures in being careful. He wanted out of this position and soon.

Lotus finally reached the top and took a much needed breather. She looked at phora holding the flag. Then she looked over the edge. Watching Dot roar in pain before she began clawing at her victim's belly. "think Lotus think...That's it!" Lotus looked over the edge at Damain. " Dot let him go!" With that the tiger vanished in thin air. "I mean he's a upperclassmen that can't take a little first year. At least Alice is a challenge. Why I'd bet he couldn't fire lighting this far" ,she pointed next to her, "Why I'll even hold still, come lame-o." She leaned over the edge carefully sp to not lose balance.