Lotus was becoming increasingly agitated with the small insect. Whenever lotus neared the thing it flew away. Lotus wished she had some wings so she could catch the insect quicker. Lotus was getting on the verge of a massive rage quit. Lotus roared. she was frustrated by everything and everyone. She wanted to kill things but deep down she knew she could not. She wanted to leave the school and forget about the club. She wanted everything to stay how it was and remain unchanged. it hit her. "Miss Rachel wanted me to catch a live golden butterfly. Butterfly." Lotus pondered her lesson.
Dot finally couldn't wait any longer. "What are you thinking you dumb human?"
Lotus sighed. " My father taught me that the butterfly was a symbol. And symbol of a great transformation of ones' self. The fact that it's golden means perfection. Miss Rachel doesn't actually want the insect. She wants me to return with a living spark. And will to learn and further my bond with you and others in the club. And create a bond that helps myself and others to become the perfect people she needs." Lotus said that with confidence. She had a feeling of being incorrect in her gut but she decided to ignore it.

Julian raised his hand and sent her flying backwards telekinetically; telekinesis was never anything that he had been capable of while he was alive.

"Alice," chided Julian "Listen to yourself. Why would I ever try to kill you? Don't you see?" He disappeared and then quickly reappeared at Alice's side, "Hubris. Hubris is what got us killed. We were so blinded by our greatness and the conquests over all of our enemies that we did not see that a Demon Prince was orchestrating an attack directly against us."

"There are two things you must know, one do not underestimate anyone. You are powerful, but the new recruits are going to be even stronger than you or any of the other upper years will ever be. Two, be wary of omnivident ghosts, they have all the powers they had in life, as well as many more powers than the average ghost. I believe that some of us may not be coherent, and that puts you and innocents at risk."

He disappeared once more before reappearing in the middle of the room with his fiery blade drawn as Ardor perched on the upper rim of the room silently.

"Now, come again," he said patiently.

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

As usual, the book began to turn pages, and then it stopped, before turning back a few pages. The page opened detailed how to summon forth a being from the ether, and then various other words in a strange writing he could not understand underneath the main title.

This page was different than the ones he typically dealt with in the past, rather than present him with a spell, there was a list of ingredients and a ritual described on the page:

Moss from a henge
3 Toadstools
Water from a natural spring
The knot of an ash tree
The knot of an elder tree
The knot of an oak tree
The petals of a bluebell
The blood of a half-breed

All this must be poured into the center of a ring of rocks, mushrooms, moss, or uneven grass. The summoner must then play a light-hearted jig upon a lute, panpipes, or a lute while dancing around the circle under the light of the moon. Avoid such rings on Halloween and May Eve.

For best results, conduct ritual on a solstice or equinox.

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

His brothers took flight as well, each of them dodging the fire. The dragon went to snap at the one named Emerson, providing Grayson/Lloyd the perfect opportunity to attack its eye with his fore-talons. The dragon roared loudly, sending a flock of nearby birds flying into the sky in terror, loosing a jet stream of fire in various directions as it howled in pain and anger. Eventually it stopped, its damaged eye closed, yet the other focused on Grayson. It charged at the young griffin angrily.

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

As Johnny meditated, he thought about what had happened thus far as he practiced. It seemed that he could summon the energy bolts quite easily, as he had done it on more than one occasion through concentration. However, as he idled and allowed the energy sphere to grow larger and larger, it was then that he always felt that growing pressure in his head. Perhaps that was the key? He could only call forth and use the energy spheres quickly, for if he waited too long, it would begin to drain his energy.

He decided to test out his theory.

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

The butterfly flittered about hesitantly, as if listening to what the girl had to say. It floated from side to side, as if it was balancing the various things that Lotus had said. Some of it was true, some of it was not, there was much still for the girl to learn, though what her father had told her was the very key to what she had to learn.

The butterfly floated over to Lotus, landing on her nose and then disappeared in a shower of sparkles. It released a warm sensation throughout Lotus' body, almost like a hug, or after taking that first sip of hot chocolate on a cold winter day. Looking down at her hands, she could see that white fur covered her body, and her hands had changed into paws. Her senses were greatly heightened, seeing and smelling and hearing various little things she had not noticed before.

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

Maximilian erupted forth from the pool of water in the center of the chamber as soon as he successfully 'manipulated' the water which had been spewing forth from the fountain. Despite not fully understanding what was going on when he was meditating, Maximilian felt somewhat satisfied with what he had just discovered and decided that for now he had meditated enough. It was now time for questions; he obviously wasn't 'in tune' enough with the spiritual world to just figure this whole thing out on his own. Maximilian wanted answers or at the very least a chance to talk to someone who knew more about this sort of thing than himself. He thought about waiting awhile and asking Miss Rachel about it next time she had floated by to see the students, but eventually decided against it. He wanted answers now but the only other person on the team that had the spiritual knowledge he sought was Evelyn and he wasn't quite comfortable asking one of his peers for help, even if it was her. For now he decided he would at least go to the plaza an observe with his own eyes what he had seen before with his spiritual ones, from there he would decide whether or not he would be approach Evelyn about the issue.

Maximilian left the Palace of Seers and followed his original route back to the center of the city, back to the plaza. From a nearby corner Maximilian simply observed the plaza for sometime whilst he mulled over his options.

Simply remaining in a calm state of heightened awareness, Evelyn continued to float off of the ground while the energy flowed around her in a perfect sphere. The sphere seemed to emit a low hum as it pulsed with energy, stirring up a gentle breeze in a circle around her. Yet it seemed this ability wasn't the only thing new about her, apparently meditating with one's own spirit had allowed her sensing abilities to mature exponentially as well.

The radius of her "sixth sense" had greatly expanded, allowing her to sense everything within Apollon. It was a lot less overwhelming than the last time she had done so, it was as if her eyes had adjusted to the light, allowing her to see with greater clarity. She could sense Maximilian approaching, and turned her head to his direction. Dispelling the energy field from around her she uncrossed her legs and daintily landed on the ground. Her demeanour, for once, seemed very relaxed and at peace.

"Hey Maximilian!" she called out to him "I think I finished what Miss Rachel wanted me to do, how'd it go with you?"

Seeing the effect of their attack, Lloyd decided to take out it's other eye. If he could manage to do that, perhaps the dragon would lead it's self to it's own demise. Recklessly charging head on, he attempted to swerve out of the way at the last minute and attack with their talons. Time to put the griffin species supposed unmatched swift and nimbleness to the test. What else happened in Grayson's life that Lloyd had no idea of?

---

Johnathan stood up proudly. Maybe it was because of the sudden burst of energy he had, or maybe it was because he just wanted to get this over with, but nevertheless, he continued. He honestly couldn't believe he didn't find that out before, even if it only happened twice. But how would he imbue a sigil inside? Just will it? Summoning another energy sphere, he tried to will the sigil Fragor and quickly aimed squarely at a target.

Alice righted herself in midair as she was pushed back by the telekinesis, landing on her feet. Suddenly Julian appeared right before her. "You think I don't know that?" She shouted at her former teacher. "Why do you think I spent so much time training while you were off playing pinball in the s****?!" She swung once more with more vigor than she's ever shown, but just as she did he disappeared once more and appeared in the center of the room. "Now look at you! Trying to hold me off with evil powers like telekinesis! I should rip that totem from your grasp before you defile it any more! As for the new recruits, I'll be a better teacher than you ever were! I'll turn them into the finest soldiers the world has ever seen!" Reaching deep within herself, she tapped into her spiritual energy. Power flowed within her. She manipulated it, shaping it like a drill. Visibly it pulsed around her, becoming corporeal. "Now watch! Your telekinesis is rudimentary! I'll bore right through it." Alice took a deep breath and charged, sword in one hand, shield in the other. With master-level technique and precision she maintained the drill while using the same energy to protect herself from Ardor's fire. If he used telekinesis, she would shatter it. "You know you can't beat me in a swordfight! That's why you cheat!" She aimed once more for the throat. "Now, leave this realm!"

_________________________

Daniel stared at the book in a sort of stupor, until finally the words clicked. "What's all this!? Where am I going to find all these plants?" He held his head in one hand. "I'm dead!" With a start he used his magical senses and looked for Alice. He could not find her presence, so she didn't follow him. If he was lucky she would still be tied up in Apollon. He exhaled sharply and pain shot through his arm and chest. Daniel had forgotten about his battle wounds. Maybe that girl with the pure aura could fix him up. Forgetting her name, he left his room and stood in the hallway. "Anyone here?" He called into the darkness.

"What the hell?" Damian exclaimed as he rubbed the shocked hand. Did he waste his precious time to be shocked? Perhaps it was just bad luck, he thought as he hesitantly reached for the bauble. "Shock me again and I'll send you to oblivion." He picked it up and resumed his close examination.

"Of course I can't beat you in a sword fight" replied Julian calmly, as he disappeared once more and reappeared off to the side out of her path, "Our weapons were designed to specifically deal with ghosts," he shook his head, "No, this is taking too long"

Immediately all the fire in the room went out, and the Senate Hall was plunged into darkness, and then just as suddenly the temperature within the room began to drop rapidly. Alice could see her breath as she breathed, and along the walls ice began to form rapidly covering the walls as wind began to blow through the hall.

"Alice," spoke Julian from nowhere in particular, his presence seemed to be everywhere around her, impossible to locate, "Find your inner serenity, do not be quick to strike, and question all that you have learned. Only then will I be able to find peace." The room's temperature continued to fall, the chill was biting into Alice's bones, causing her to shiver. Eventually he reappeared, sitting on one of the higher ledges as it snowed inside the Senate Hall.

"I wasn't supposed to die," he said in a sombre voice "That was the one gift that I shared with Ardor. Unfortunately, a younger phoenix had moved into our territory, weakening our abilities. You'll meet her, Idelia, a very troubled girl who has a young phoenix totem. I imagine she'll be a handful, Ms. Shields had to deal with her."

"I trust you Alice, you are a fine leader. Marco would be glad to know that you've taken on his duties" Alice recalled Marco, the charismatic Caelorum leader of the SDU the prior year. He was an excellent tactician and fighter, yet he was very down to earth and kind hearted. He had hoped to become a drama teacher or guidance councillor after graduation.

"We're all counting on you Alice," continued Julian, "We may be lost, but I'm sure you can help us find the light...and bring us peace. Can you promise me that?"

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

As Daniel called out, one of the doors opened, and a vaguely familiar head popped out. A blonde-haired girl with a braid resting on each of her shoulders smiled at the boy. If he remembered who she was, he'd recall that she was Fiona from his class.

"Hey Daniel!" exclaimed Fiona cheerful "Guess you're part of this whole magic club thing too! I can't believe it! Magic. Real. Who'd a thunk?!"

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

Once again, Lloyd/Grayson had been successful, and the dragon's other eye was wounded. In a fit of rage it roared and belched forth a thick cloud of smoke. They were all blinded, as they were enveloped by the smokescreen, making it difficult for them to see and breathe.

He could hear flapping as the dragon retreated, and then gradually the smoke faded away. However to his surprise, he was yet again, in another location. This time however he was in a great temple. At the very back of the temple stood a giant statue of a man with two pairs of dragonfly wings on his back. It was quite ornate, as a golden circlet rested on his head, and his hair was long and sculpted as if flowing in the wind. The statue held an orb above its head that reflected the sunlight brilliantly. Instinctively, Lloyd felt a sense of respect for the figure.

An old man, who looked like what could be described as an elf from fairy tales, walked towards Lloyd/Grayson with a scroll in his hands. "Grayson, you have been quite successful throughout your trials, you have but this one last battle before we commence the ritual" The man pointed off the balcony into a small arena below where a young elven man stood waiting and a purple wyvern with a young woman with green skin and leaves in her hair on its waited at the other end.

"If you are capable of winning this battle with Erynder, you will be ready for the ordeals of the other realm," stated the old man, "You may begin when you are ready."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The colour of the orb changed as it was imbued with the sigil, taking on a red colour, it flew towards the target and exploded with a loud "BANG" as it hit the target.

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

As Damian looked within the glass bobble, he was quite surprised to see that the small jolt that he had received was now bouncing around within the orb.

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

Maximilian immediately jumped to attention as Evelyn landed directly in front of him.

"O-oh hey." He was not only startled by her sudden appearance but a bit embarrassed as well. He hoped deep down that she didn't realize he was observing her in the plaza, especially after what had happened yesterday. He was worried she would get the wrong idea and think he was some kind of stalker or sleaze when really he was just interested in his powers.

You're over thinking it, don't worry about it. He immediately pulled himself together and let out a tired sigh.

"It went alright I suppose. I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details of what exactly I just did, it was a spiritual thing and I'm not quite the spiritual type." He shrugged and quickly tried to put an optimistic spin on things. "Maybe with a little practice I could get a better hang of it, I never really had an out of body experience before, and that's kinda' what it was like. But besides that I also got this."

Maximilian reached deep into the pocket of his uniform and produced the vial of water for Evelyn to see. "I almost forgot about it." he smiled as he held it out. "Apparently the water inside is nearly limitless. I'm guessing because of your powers, you probably didn't receive any physical gifts like this, right?"

Ooc: lol you need to proofread better kiki
"Why'd you make it so c-cold?" Alice stuttered out as the room froze. "Can't you see how thin my uniform is?" Julian couldn't beat her in a swordfight, and they both knew she'd eventually catch him. This fight was over. She laid down her arms and peered at Julian, longing to mess up his hair once more. "I'll bring peace to you all," she said. The emotions that had been building were becoming too much to bear. "I've missed you, Julian. Come here right now!" She touched her fingers to her lips. "I need a hug, and some cocoa. Then I'll train the pheonix kid and get to work freeing our peers."

Pain arced through Daniel's arrm and torso. He coughed and saw blood on his hands. "Help!" He wheezed before falling over.


OOC: It was a rushed post >.> Cuz of SOMEONE. OHHHH I see what you're saying now

Johnathan nodded triumphantly, feeling he had accomplished his task. He realized he had been working himself to the bone lately. The game yesterday, which proved he wasn't useless as he and others had been led to believe. The interaction with Tsubaki yesterday which boosted his confidence. The clone in which he strained his limits. Training with Evelyn which improved his ability to fend for himself. Even this training session to help with his foreign powers. Maybe it was time to take a break. Training won't do you good if you're exhausted.

He wasn't as near as strong as Alice and Evelyn, but maybe one day he might be. Yeah, by the time you're thirty, and even then they'll be light years ahead. A voice said, which Johnathan attempted to suppress. He frowned. If he was going to relax, what would he do, stay in Apollon? That didn't seem bad and he really didn't have any non-omnivident friends, not that it bothered him, and he assumed that his peers were busy with stuff Miss Rachel gave them. Finally making up his mind, he decided to go the library.

---

So this is how totems get admitted into Lloyd's realm? All he had to do now was win this last battle, the last one had been relatively easy but Lloyd/Grayson had not dared to let his guard down because of that. Taking off, he soared high and created a tremendous gust of wind towards his opponents with their wings to either smack them into the wall or throw them off balance so he can attack. He prepared to advance.

Damian's eyes were glued to the bauble, watching the bouncing inside. He could not grasp what he should do now, perhaps he could free the tiny bolt or perhaps empower it with a bolt of his own? "...No." Nothing seemed like a good idea at this point and his complete lack of creativity was proving to be a massive hindrance. Having given up, he set it on the stall. "Fighting demons was easier than figuring this out." He stood back from the stall with his arms crossed, resisting the urge to just shatter the bauble.

Lotus felt a rush of energy as the butterfly touched her. She felt the cold vanish as she was filled with pure instincts. Lotus looked at her hands they were covered in a beautiful shade of white. She had stripes that started at her wrists and moved up her arm and down her back. She followed the stripes down to a tail. Lotus had a tail? She got filled again with excitement. She could finally do something she had always wanted to try. Lotus stood on all four of her padded appendages before she began running in circles chasing her tail. After that, she heard a noise. she stopped to look. She didn't see anything. She was bored with tail chasing, but she still had energy. Lotus quickly and easily, thanks to her new found power, scaled a tree. Lotus let out a scream. The scream had the sharpness of Lotus yet the deep boom of dots roar. It sounded as though a new creature had arrived in this world. Lotus stood a top the tree moving her head looking to the various directions of the sounds she heard.

Evelyn was quite pleased by these turn of events. She had heard that various Naturae had a spiritual side to their abilities, her own sister Stephanie had the ability to bind spirits with vines alone, what Maximilian was talking about seemed to be the clear awakening of his own spiritual aspect. A vial of unlimited water seemed quite interesting, and would definitely prove to be vital to his abilities. That definitely must have helped Naturae whose abilities were not all around them; just as August carried around a lighter, and her sister walked around with seeds.

"Wow, that sounds amazing" smiled Evelyn sincerely, "And you're right, I didn't receive anything physical, though I can do this now," raising the golden energy field around herself, "My sensing abilities have gotten a lot more defined as well, that's how I knew that you were here" She then turned her attention to the situation that Maximilian had described.

"I believe what you were doing was scrying" theorized Evelyn, "Lore states that certain Aqua Naturae were able to see things in water; other people, the past, and sometimes the future. I personally don't know how it works, but from what I've read, it's been described as a spiritual sonar of sorts." A look of understanding appeared on her face as she realized how Maximilian was there in the first place "Which is probably how you were able to find me so quickly" she said as she looked back at the fountain behind her. "Supposedly, at some point you'll be able to simply show images of what you're seeing in the water itself, the ability is quite interesting."

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

Julian smiled genuinely, yet with a tinge of sadness in his eyes, "I've missed you too Alice, and I believe in you." The room continued to get colder and colder as a blizzard stirred within the hall. Alice saw a bright light open up behind Julian and he smiled at her once more, though the wind began to spiral around him violently, making it difficult to see him. She could barely make out an image of Julian stretching out his hand towards her and then turning to walk into the bright light. There was a loud "CRACK" followed by a resounding "BOOM" as the bright light disappeared with Julian.

Immediately the snow stopped falling and all was silent. Ardor was nowhere to be found. The room was filled with snow and the air was chilled. On the ground in front of Alice where Julian had stood, was a ring nearly identical to Julian's except, instead of gold, it was platinum, and a small azure ball of ice.

Before Alice could decide what to do with these things however, the ball of ice began to twitch, as if something was inside and it cracked. Out popped a fuzzy headed chick, with down feathers of white and blue, tiny green eyes and a dark grey beak. It looked at Alice expectantly as if it were familiar with her.

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

Leaving Daniel til a later post.

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

Elaine, the librarian, looked down at Johnny from atop a ladder as she placed books on shelves. "Hello Johnathan," she said in her usual cheerful manner, "Are you looking for any books in particular, or have you come to study for your winter exams, which will be coming up in a few weeks?"

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

"Hold on big guy!" yelled Erynder as he scrambled off an outcrop and jumped onto the griffin's back, as Lloyd flew back down and the other two effortlessly dodged the attack "We've got to do this together, we'll knock Laurel off of Cinder and then you'll take on Laurel, while I take on Cinder. Let's go!" he yelled while spinning a wooden staff over his head, as the other girl on the wyvern charged towards them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: Jack, you were on the right track!!

The bauble sat on the stall without doing anything, the one bolt of lightning continuing to bounce around in the globe.

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

Lotus is free to go around and do stuff for a bit as tiger Lotus.

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

The bird stared at Alice, and she stared back. "What am I going to do with you?" She wondered out loud. The girl reached out and stroked the creatures down.

Phora gently glided downwards until she was in front of her master. "Is that a phoenix?" She asked. "It looks delicious. I don't want to be, how you might say, chopped liver. Can we just eat it?"

"Noooo!" Alice replied. "You're not chopped liver, either. A baby bird is no replacement for you." Alice giggled. "It's so pretty though!"

Even that made Phora jealous, but for the moment she stowed it as she recalled what happened. "Alice, one of these kids is using the ether to cast spells. We have to stop him!"

Alice looked up from the phoenix and exchanged grave expressions with her totem. "I think I know what to do." She scooped up the phoenix, ring, and weapons and used her senses to find Lotus. "I think she's fused with her familiar... Perfect!" She tracked Lotus throughout the island until she came upon the girl in her new form.

"Lotus!" She called out. "Come here!"