Adi nodded, his tolerance for demons, like most Angelorum, was nil. Further provided that August had abandoned them shortly after they had their first mission, Adi felt little in the way of mercy for the boy. He burst towards the boy with his karambit raised, releasing a powerful gust of air behind himself as he jet forwards. Basil noted it was definitely an ability that Adi had not had before his departure.

August could do little to protect himself, for Adi was much too fast. Adi sliced horizontally across the boy's raised arms before flipping backwards into the air and rushing forwards once more to strike him on his side. August hissed unnaturally, reeling backwards from the strikes, but he was not done. He raised his hands and loosed a powerful stream of fire at the group.

"I am a god! You cannot defeat me!"

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"There is something very powerful beyond those doors, but I also faintly sense your peers beyond them as well" replied Miss Rachel while slicing at another spider that had crawled too close to their perimeter. "We will have to play it by ear, everything you know is what I know right now"

"Incoming!" yelled a voice from above. The fire creature had launched herself into the air, cloaking herself in bright yellow flames while somersaulting through the air.

"Greta!" cautioned Miss Rachel, while looking back at Miss Shield who nodded in response. The translucent wings revealed themselves as once again a force field appeared around the group. As the creature landed with a slam onto the ground, a powerful wave of fire swept over the room, burning all the spiders around them completely. Inside the force field, all Johnny and Maximilian could hear were the tortured screeches of the spiders, for the fires completely filled the room, blanketing the force field with fire. The fires quickly died after the screeches, but when they were all gone, they could not see the fire creature. Instead, they saw Chantelle, looking quite pale near the front doors.

"Alright, let's move ahead," stated Miss Rachel as Miss Shields lowered her shield.

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Perhaps the demon had not expected the Scot to suddenly charge his Naturae possessed friend. Surely, it had overestimated the friendship that existed between the two children. Rather, it seems that the demon had underestimated the bond between the Scot and the snobby girl. It groaned audibly as the Scot charged into its chest, the blackened eyes widened in shock.

"Well, well, well," it said as it shakily got up from the ground "Looks like I need to teach you some manners," it said while winds began to spin around the possessed boy violently. The wind continued to grow stronger until it became a significant gale, blowing everything in front of him backwards. The trees began to creek and snow and ice flew through the air as Dominic's neck cracked eerily as he twisted his neck and stretched his limbs unnaturally.

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Fiona's eyes widened in shock as the scythe struck her, sending her reeling backwards onto the ground with her eyes closed. All was silent for a few moments, and the girl suddenly opened her eyes, gasping deeply for air. Fiona clutched at her chest, and scratched at her throat until she began to cough.

That was when they both saw it. Long shaggy hair, and elongated limbs; green sickly flesh and a hunched over back. Spiked armour on its shoulders, and wearing a leather jerkin. They could not see its eyes, or most of its face, but they knew it was looking at it. Around its wrists were chains, with each of them ending in the back of Fiona, who struggled to stand up once again.

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The forest grew colder as Phora flew in between the branches of the frozen trees. The hell hounds, merely beasts, did not realise that they were still being followed by the pixie.

"You have strayed too far from home, daughter of Titania," said an ancient voice "Leave this place, and you shall not perish. Our war is with the children of Adam and Eve."

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Miss Rachel and the group approached the doors leading to the ballroom cautiously, Miss Shields bending down to help Chantelle stand up, the girl leaning on her shoulder. Miss Rachel stood in front of the door, noticing wind blowing from underneath it, and pulled on it tentatively. Of course, nothing happened, as the doors had been sealed shut. Sighing, Miss Rachel straightened her back as she looked directly at them and said:

"Doors, I command you to open!"

There was a click as the doors unlocked, and one of them creaked open in front of her. "Stand back," she warned while turning to the others, "I don't know what may happen next" Opening the door, she was shocked to find the room completely empty; not a student or chaperone to be found. Standing on the stage, the DJ continued to play music, completely unaware that they had entered the room. Johnny would note that he could feel something familiar, something very dark that had swallowed him before.
Meanwhile Maximilian's senses, much more acute, knew that the DJ was not who he appeared to be.

"Greta –"began Miss Rachel.

"I know" replied the secretary looking up at the DJ.

Phora skidded to a stop and looked around for the source of the voice. "If you kill Alice, what happens to me, huh?!" She demanded. "Come out here and fight me, coward!"

"A god doesn't get triple-checked by an angel," Alice said. "Sorbet, put out these fires." The phoenix did as Alice commanded, dousing the flames with gouts of ice.

Daniel rose from his meditation and uttered the words, "Exus rebina, vulia, ti kowosum." A heavy rain began to fall from the clouds. "Your fire is now useless! Give in, demon!"

Alice gazed in Daniel's direction. "Why does your spirit not pay the price for these twisted magics?" She began. "Are you even human?"

Id watched as the ground dried and the various forms of debris flew behind her. She was standing behind Logan letting him block the force of the wind from Dom. Id summoned Ego. The phoenix landed on her shoulder. She made several motions with her hands after she finished Ego flew off her shoudler and in between Logan and her. He held still as Idelia poured some of her vodka on him. The bird created a spark. Within seconds a small blast was heard as the fire proof bird lit himself ablaze. After letting it burn and grow a consume the bird Ego flew into the winds. The winds began to feed the fire. Ego grew hotter and brighter as he let fire get out of control. Sparks began to fly off the bird creating smaller fires on the dried ground. Id raised her hand and pointed made a loop ending by pointing at Dom. Ego closed his wings letting the winds carry him away from Dom. before he reached the treeline he spread his wings and made a sharp turn up using his momentum he zipped into the air. Ego turned and began a flaming dive bomb at Dom's head. Id began to cackle as the fires spread around her. "BURN BURN!" Idelia's logic and reason had left her as the fires began to grow and spread around her. "Become consumed by the beauty OF FIRE!"

Lotus noticed the rain falling. before hearing Alice trying to start a fight with the wrong side yet again. Lotus shrugged her comment off assuming Daniel could defend himself, she had August to worry about. She needed to make sure she wasn't going to become injured by getting near him. She grabbed an Icicle that was made during Sorbet's attacks. She quickly threw the sharped ice at August. She watched to see how close it got before melting.

As the breeze around Dominic’s body grew into gale-force winds, Logan shifted his weight forward and planted his sword in the ground to prevent being swept off balance. His approached slowed to a crawl, the distance between him and the demon shrinking one step at a time.

“Relinquish Dominic’s body right now, or I’ll expel you by force!” He shouted above the tempest swirling around him, but it was too late.

Id had already taken action. Logan watched as Ego launched into the air and prepared to do a nosedive toward Dominic. Fire had begun to spread on the ground, covering a large area of the clearing. The Scot could hear his classmate laughing maniacally behind him, as well as yelling some mildly disconcerting things. Even as Logan’s fury subsided, his desire to retaliate for what the demon had done to his friends made it difficult to give up on his target. Still, in the end, good sense won out. He gripped his claymore, still lodged in the ground, and used it to hurl himself sideways, allowing the wind to carry him as he tumbled end over end.

When the junior finally skidded to a halt, he was no more than a few yards away from an apparently unconscious Evelyn. As the fires began to encroach, he hastily rushed to her side, hoisted her over his shoulder and ran. He stopped only when he didn’t feel they were in immediate danger anymore, then pressed two of his fingers against the girl’s neck, checking her pulse as best he knew how. He prayed that Idelia would be able to hold her own against the demon for a few minutes, though part of him hoped that the inverse was also true.

They were certainly walking into a trap, this had to be a trap...

As the doors swung open Maximilian prepared himself for the worst possible outcome, but open the door's full opening they were not attacked or even surrounded...


So, they want us to come in then.

Crossing his arms he looked up towards the DJ, then around the room and then once more towards the DJ.

"Greta –"

Maximilian hummed a subtle sigh as he watched Miss Rachel call for her associate's attention.

"So... they're expecting us." He looked up towards Miss Rachel. "That would mean this is a trap, or I suppose this means they already have us trapped and they're certain they, whoever they are, can contain us."

The fact Purgo elicited such a strong physical reaction to Fiona actually shocked Tsubaki for a moment, causing the girl to absent-mindedly blink and stare at the manifestation for the few moments it took before Fiona's coughing fit. When that happened Tsubaki quickly dropped the weapon, reaching out her now free hand to the fallen girl.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" but she cut herself off and took a step back as the demon materialized.

Unsure of how to approach the newly revealed threat with Fiona in between them, Tsubaki placed one hand in her pouch and left the outstretched one to linger in case she needed to draw upon another sigil. Even though the use of Purgo left her visibly shaky.

---

It was amazing the luck that Derrek had that the parts he needed from the chair and that his flat head screwdriver from his lockpicking set fix the screws for said chair's fasteners. With what he made out of those, he supposed it was only right to thank God that Arclight was preppy enough to spare no expenses, even when it came to chairs they probably hardly ever used. Not that his cross was pretty or that he effectively knew how to use it, he was more banking if he had to go back into the frey that one of the others new something better than a spotty-at-best Lord's Prayer.

The appearance of the demon seemed to energize Damian further, though he was left a bit unnerved by the more experienced Tsubaki being more shaken. He wasn't brimming with any ideas at the moment on how to free Fiona so instead he figured to keep the demon as busy as possible. "Break the damn chains!" He exclaimed, not quite considering how difficult it may be. He then outstretched his hand toward the hunchbacked demon and cast a bolt of electricity in one fluid motion, he had been extremely hesitant to harm Fiona, regardless of her possession, but he was eager to mess up this hideous green being.

Johnathan was particularly anxious due to the similar feeling he felt all those days ago. The same feeling when his friend was dragged away. The same feeling that forced him to lash out against his peers. The same feeling that fractured his soul and mutated him. This semi-evolved into anger as he glared at the DJ. He doubted the person who persuaded Carter and eventually himself to sign that contract and this DJ are the same person, but it was obvious they were in cahoots or originated from the same source.

"They" hadn't ambushed them or attempted to stop the group as they made their way towards the ball. He was surprised Alice and Evelyn hadn't sensed the DJ and attempted to do something about it. But what happened to the majority who had attended the ball could easily happen to them, right? He partly expected Miss Rachel to have some sort of plan to save them, but for the second time he had heard her say that she didn't predict this from happening.

------

Lloyd scoffed in response to August. "Naturae are so hardheaded and egotistical, especially those who wield fire."

"You should be one to talk." Grayson replied.

OOC: Oh god, I just love everyone's characters! We've come so far *tear* *tear*

The dj continued to ignore the group, his attention seeming to be incredibly engrossed with the turntables before him. Without missing a beat, the music started to play backwards, sounding much less like the bubblegum pop that was playing before. It was eerie making its listeners feel disconcerted as the new music played around them.

"Give us your soul, and we will go!" sang a voice from the speakers. The voice was deep and multi-toned, Ms. Shields shuddered, and glowing wings stretched outwards from her back. Her spirit manifested wings wanted to protect her, but it did not know from what yet. "Give us your soul, and we will go!"

"We will do no such thing!" exclaimed Miss Rachel, "Where are the children!"

"Give us the soul, and we will go!" repeated the speakers, a jungle drum beginning to play in the background as the windowpanes shook with the dark rhythm.

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Logan could sigh with relief, for Evelyn's pulse was normal. She stirred slightly at his touch, groaning as she moved, before falling back unconscious.

"Do you think we fear fire?!" yelled Dominic with a sick laugh, "Do not forget where I am from, daughter of Eve" Dominic quickly slid out of the way as the phoenix dived towards him, his body swinging limply through the air like a ragdoll. He snapped his hanging head sharply in Id's direction and the winds around her began to pick up speed drastically. The fires began to grow even bigger as a cyclone spun around the girl.

"Wind and fire, 'round and 'round. How much longer til she falls to the ground?" Cackled Dom. "How horrible this puppet shall feel" he mused out loud, "To know that he suffocated his comrade."

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The demon froze, the lightning barely causing a scratch on the chains that bound Fiona to it. It looked in a particular direction, looking at neither Tsubaki nor Damian. Something had caught its attention, and it narrowed its eyes as it tried to perceive something in the distance. Little did the two know, Derrek's makeshift cross had caused the demon stall.

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The water soaked August to the bone, though the heat he emanated still managed to melt the icicle within a meter of his body. Steam rose from his skin as the cool rain fell on his body, and he looked around almost surprised and confused.

"Li!" yelled Adi. The young man nodded and flew forward on a burst of spiritual energy. In his hand were two ofuda, which he quickly placed on August's forehead.

"Oni tachisare!" he yelled, the kanji on the paper lighting up as August began to claw at his face. His eyes opened wide, flickering between darkness and his own regular ones. Behind him, the group could see chains leading to a very tall figure that had only now just become apparent. He was translucent, almost as if he were not there, and completely black. It was now clear who was pulling the strings behind August's back.

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"Foolish fae" boomed the voice with a chuckle. "You are an insignificant bug. A freak of creation."

Phora could feel a tightening sensation in her chest, as if she were being slowly crushed in a fist. This was where the foreign spirit had made its mistake however, for being touched by its presence, she could hear a strange music, as if coming from behind a glass wall.

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A sudden shrieking alerted the group in the ballroom that they were not alone. A cloud of imps began to rise up from behind the DJ and headed towards the group.

"They're protecting the DJ!" exclaimed Miss Rachel, "Do what you must to protect yourselves, but make your goal to reach the stage!"


OOC: Horrible post is horrible...this chapter needs to end now >.>

And I missed my after work nap ;~;

The tightening feeling caused Phora to fall to the ground. She struggled to rise to her feet, and then she heard the music. It seemed to give her strength. "Stop cheating, fight me for real!" She demanded.

Alice drew her sword upon seeing the man in black. "I'll cut these chains!" She said, swinging at the chains attached to August's back.

Daniel looked over his new comrades. "Where's Evelyn?" He asked. The teenager tapped on Lotus's shoulder. "Hey, let's go find Evelyn, I'm sure she knows what to do."

That burning on the back of his head could only mean one thing, Derrek knew, but it was confusing- there was no way his mother could be here. And it wasn't like he was doing anything wrong. Or not doing anything at all. He probably, maybe, sorta, kinda, helping? Surely. But still he turned to face the looming presence. Through the tree line he could barely make out something only slightly worse then what he though. It's glare was almost a call to arms, and Derrek's fight or fight response choose an unusual choice. Fight.

Making his way out of his hiding spot he noticed the demon beast's gaze lazily resting on his cross, which he shook in response. "Hey boy. Want the stick? Come get the stick."

OoC: Tsubaki chooses to delay her spot on the initiative list.

He scoffed. "Well that didn't have much of a chan-" He froze, his brow furrowing in confusion. The demon's gaze was turned elsewhere, either disregarding him as a potential threat or finding something of more interest. The reveal was encouraging, bringing a grin out of Damian as Derrek emerged with a cross, taunting the beast. He then made use of the distraction and faded out of sight, making his way round the beast.

Logan could sigh with relief. Evelyn seemed to be okay for the time being. He prepared to head back to the battlefield, but something that stopped him dead in his tracks. Beyond the tree line, all he could see was a huge, fiery vortex swirling around the clearing. He clenched his fist, reminded once again of his limits. There was no way he’d be able to approach Dominic with all that raw power being tossed around like so much confetti.

“Augh!” The Scot shouted, dropping to his knees and driving his fist into the ground. All I’m good for is whacking enemies with my sword. If I can’t get near them, how am I supposed to be of any use?

Logan wasn’t sure how, but Abigail had made sure his only other option was literally in pieces. He hadn’t known she was capable of being so petty as to risk putting him and his friends in danger just to prove a point. Perhaps he could summon her and tell her to- No, that would take a lot of effort and concentration, more than he was able to spare at the moment. With the fire still spinning out of control in the clearing, he couldn’t very well jump back into the fray either. He could only think of one course of action.

With a sigh, Logan invoked Abigail’s rifle once again. As he cleared a spot on the forest floor, the pieces fell in a pile, just as before. Without hesitating, he began to reassemble it as quickly as he could, doing his best to remember the procedure he had been taught.

“Hang in there, Idelia.” He murmured as he worked.

Like hell I'm going to rush the stage... Maximilian frowned as he looked over the barrage of imps coming his general direction. There was no telling what dangers were ahead of him, he just wasn't experienced enough to tell for sure whether or not he could handle himself in this type of scenario and besides, his elders seemed like much better choices to the lead the charge. That was that then, his mind was made up. He would stay with Miss Rachel and act as support, if he saw a certain window of opportunity he'd make his own move forward but for now he would bide his time and hold out until that moment arrived.

With a wondrous gush, Maximilian's vial of water exploded forth towards the stage. He hoped if he created a wave big enough he could flood the stage and wash the imps back. If the water settled he could maybe even freeze it to create a situation that better suited his fighting style but for now he just wanted to create an opening for his 'team'.

"This isn't like you." Grayson started in his gryphon language. "Staying out of the action like this."

"I know, but it seemed like they can handle it themselves." Lloyd said, automatically responding in the same language, and knowing fully well that Grayson himself was getting antsy similarly. It was at that moment they found the thing behind August's possession. Obviously his first instinct was to run in there and rush it. Then he realized that would be a good ticket into Heaven instead. "Should we fuse?" Grayson asked, sensing his master's ambitions in taking on the figure.

"No. Not yet anyway. We have to test him out and see what the bastard is capable of." Almost instantaneously He summoned his swordstaff and got aboard Grayson. They then took to the skies where they would have an advantage if it came down to it.

-----

Johnathan marked himself with Arx and summoned his billhooks. Slash, not strike. He tried to remind himself while thinking over the pseudo training with Evelyn. Well, nothing can injure me now so I might as well... He thought before he put a halt on his planned assault. Maximilian had sent water that was rushing towards the stage, most likely to get the imps washed up in it. He had started towards the horde, but paused to see what would become of this.