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Post by Lucy on Mar 13, 2014 20:52:48 GMT -8
I'm just gonna use this to type up my story on 3ds so I don't have to waste time doing it on the computer.
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"Who you were before you came here no longer matters," she said. "Who you will be after you leave here does not matter yet. While you are here, you will live, and learn, in the now."
She was an imposing figure, tall and firm of stance, with eyes that could bore through steel. Her jet black hair was prematurely streaked with silver; extremely prematurely, in fact, considering she had yet to celebrate even her eighteenth birthday. Her skin seemed to glow; not the healthy, warm glow of the freshly washed, but a cold, silvery glow that in any other circumstance would be seen as a sickly pallor. She was garbed in a simple white uniform, but on her, it gave the effect of the elegantly draped robes of the ancient Olympians. Around her neck hung a long, pointed, pearly horn on a silver chain. She emanated the silver light of the moon; but more obviously, she emanated power. It was only to be expected of the Queen of the Sisterhood of Diana -- or rather, the president of the student council.
The crowd of new students that had been chattering in excited, nervous, anxious tones silenced immediately. They looked up at her, standing at the elevated podium of the immense hall, with a mixture of wonder, awe, and, possibly, fear. There was no movement. Not even the thick, navy curtains lining the walls of the room stirred. Towards the back of the crowd, Elspeth rolled her eyes. |
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Post by Lucy on Mar 15, 2014 22:46:55 GMT -8
"My name is Inara," the silver woman said. Her voice was powerful, and filled the hall like the roar of a lion - or rather, a tiger whose roars were used in place of a lion's, because lion roars are actually kind of lame - though she did not seem to shout, or use a microphone. "I swear that I will endeavor to serve you to my utmost as the hand of justice and order in this otherwise chaotic school. Obey my rules, and the next four years will be enjoyable for all of you. Trouble makers will be dealt with swiftly and harshly by the Sisterhood. That is all. Lani, cue the curtains."
As Inara left the podium and disappeared from sight, attention was draw to a bespectacled girl that had apparently been standing behind her the whole time, unnoticed next to the president's radience.
"Ah-- right!" she said, giving a nervous smile as she stepped up to the podium. She fumbled to tuck her clipboard underneath her arm, then gave two sharp claps.
The thick curtains lining the sides of the hall fell away. Their absence revealed, not walls, as had been expected, but a hall at least twice as big as it had originally appeared. Light flooded in from the newly exposed windows of the true walls (which were a few dozen feet back), leaving the students blinking at the sudden brightness. Elspeth rubbed her eyes to clear the sparks and proceeded to gawk at the sights now accousting her. Her new friend, Margaret, clutched her arm. "Elspeth, look..." she breathed, as if anyone in the room was doing anything but looking.
Elspeth and Margaret hadn't been friends for very long; they had met only a few weeks prior, shortly after they had been visited by people claiming to be wizards, who told them that they had magical potential. Margaret had accepted the news with shining eyes; Elspeth had required a series of spell demonstrations before she grudgingly admitted that it wasn't all a trick. They had then been spirited away for a two week preparatory course, necessary for all young mages who hadn't been raised in the magical world, where they befriended each other and learned all the things about the ways that magic and the School worked.
All of the boring lectures and papers, however, hadn't prepared them for the sights they were now seeing. The crowd of new students peered around in awe at the arrays of stands that had been arranged on either side of the hall, each one decorated fantastically in an attempt to outdo each other. Every booth seemed to have some sort of theme; one was covered in all manners of plants, while another had a rainbow of potions in strangely twisted bottles sending up puffs of candy-colored smoke. One especially notable one had what appeared to be a real, live (albeit small) dragon tethered to a post, huffing indignant spurts of fire as a student in a brown uniform tried to calm it.
Each stand had a large banner or sign indicating the name of the faction it represented. Closest to the back of the room, on either side of where the students stood, were the Scribes and the Alchemists; past them were Fauna and Green Thumb, followed by the Sunseekers and the Spellfencing Team. Members of each group attended their stands, demonstrating spells and abilities signature to their faction. Spellfencers jousted with glowing swords, Alchemists created colorful explosions, Fauna bustled about trying to keep their dragon under control.
At the end of the hall, near the podium, stood two more stands: one in gold, and one in silver. They bore no garish sign, and their attendants stood in disciplined silence rather than performing parlor tricks. The golden one was surrounded by shining torches, which reflected off of the gold phoenix statue displayed in the center. It was brighter than even the sun shining through the windows.
The final stand, though less bright and flashy than any other, somehow stood out the most. It was decorated only with two solemn silver columns, and attended by four girls in the same white uniform Inara and Lani wore. Like Inara, the girls and booth itself seemed to exude a calm, eerie power, like a full moon bathing a quiet landscape in cold light. Elspeth felt chilled just looking at them.
((aand that's all I have for now folks, stay tuned)) |
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Post by Lucy on Mar 17, 2014 21:26:26 GMT -8
"New friends!" the mousy-looking girl said, trying to sound cheerful and hide the shake in her voice. "On behalf of the Sisterhood, I would like to welcome all of you to this school! I just know it's going to be a great year!"
"Oh boy," Elspeth said under her breath. Margaret elbowed her.
"Now, I assume everyone knows the basic way this school works, correct? You should've learned more extensively about it from your magical relatives or the preparatory course. But just in case, let me refresh your memory.
"This school, inherently, has no rules. The teachers don't regulate or intervene in our lives; they teach their classes, but otherwise don't affect us in any way. As they tell you in the prep course, the goal of this was to force students to toughen up and learn to take care of themselves. What they don't tell you is that this system only ended up creating nothing but anarchy and chaos!" Lani's voice was slowly growing stronger and more passionate as she got more into her speech. "The school was overrun with shoddily formed gangs fighting for dominance and priviliges, not caring for the wellbeing of anyone but themselves and their closest circles. Older students preyed on inexperienced new students, and life at the school was miserable for everyone except the very strongest!"
Murmurs of worry swept through the crowd of new students. They certainly didn't like the sound of being preyed on.
"But then, like a ray of moonlight piercing the dark clouds, the Sisterhood of Diana appeared to set things in order!" Lani continued, now running full-throttle. "Made up of some of the strongest, most virtuous girls in the school, and blessed with the power of the moon goddess herself, the Sisterhood brought stability to the chaos! They laid down and enforced their own rules on the lawless school, making it fair and safe for the weak and inexperienced once more. They took the quarrelsome gangs and reformed them into seven cohesive factions allied for the good of all. They even went as far as to painstakingly construct schedules and regulations to ease the confusion of the average school day. The Sisterhood of Diana works hard to keep the peace, and improve school life for everyone!" Lani stopped to catch her breath. It was obvious that she had very strong feelings on the subject; she seemed to be getting pretty worked up, and her face was tinged with pink.
"Tch," Elspeth muttered, crossing her arms. "Sounds a bit like fanatical propaganda if you ask me. No form of government is that good, especially not one where a small group of people makes and enforces all the rules themselves."
"Elspeth, shh!" Margaret hissed, elbowing her friend once more. The curly-haired girl was listening to Lani with a spellbound look, obviously eating the speech right up. Elspeth rolled her eyes again, but didn't say anything more.
Lani took a deep breath and continued more calmly. "Over the next week, you all will be able to choose which of the eight factions you want to join. Your faction will determine your main social circle and the types of magic you'll study, so be sure to think about it carefully." She pointed down at the signless, silver stand on the right side of the podium. The other white-uniformed girls there gave a salute. "If you think you have the potential, don't be afraid to apply to the Sisterhood! There's no penalty for trying, and we welcome new sisters with open arms." She gave a warm smile, and switched her microphone to her right hand, using her left to point at the golden stand. The students there, three boys and one girl in red uniforms trimmed with gold, also saluted. "If you don't think you're cut out for the Sisterhood, whether because you're not a girl or for some other reason, but you're still interested in the line of work, Phoenix may be the place for you. As our brother faction, they aid us in maintaining the school's peace, and are very respectable."
((descriptions of remaining 6 to come soon)) |
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Post by Lucy on Mar 18, 2014 17:37:09 GMT -8
Six students decked out in yellow uniforms were huddled by the stand labeled "Sunseekers," whispering amongst themselves. When Lani stopped talking, they straightened themselves out, and their hands shot up above their heads simultaneously. A small blast of light burst from each of their hands, and then collided in the air, creating what could be described as a miniature supernova. The intensely bright orb of light hung in the air for a moment before dissipating into sparkles. "Ooh's" and "aah's" swept through the crowd.
"Ah, yes, thank you for that, though you were supposed to wait until after I had introduced you..." Lani said, still smiling but sounding slightly annoyed. She coughed. "Well then, ladies and gentlemen, those are the Sunseekers! They're dedicated to learning and mastering all types of magic, so if you're hard-working and can't choose just one specialty you should check them out." The Sunseekers waved cheerily at the new students.
"That seems like something you might like, Elspeth!" Margaret whispered.
Elspeth gave them an appraising look. "Hmm... Maybe. But I dunno if I could stand wearing that uniform, they look like dandelions." Margaret gave an exasperated sigh.
"Now, the Spellfencers!" Lani continued, pointing at the stand opposite of the Sunseekers. Upon Lani's cue, students in silver and red resumed dueling with their enchanted swords. "They channel their magic through their weapons, and focus on semi-physical combat. A faction for the more sporty types. Next, Fauna!"
A brown-clad student bribed the tethered dragon with a small piece of jerkey, and it spat a jet of fire into the air. It gobbled up the meat, and gave what could only be called a glare at its handler.
"Fauna specializes in taming, training, and researching animals, which is more interesting than it sounds when you consider the wide variety of magical creatures in existence. They also dabble in a bit of healing magic, as does their sister faction, Green Thumb!"
The students in green waved their hands, and every bud on the vines entangling their stand bloomed simultaneously, then dropped their petals. One student created a small gust of breeze, on which the petals floated as if they were in the opening scene of an anime.
"As the name implies, they deal with plants and nature magic--"
All of a sudden, a resounding BOOM shook the hall, accompanied by a cloud of lavender bubbles. Everything went silent.
"Um... Uh, sorry about that," a girl in purple called out. "We, uh... didn't time that reaction quite right."
Lani sighed and rubbed her temples. How was she going to impress Inara if stuff like this kept happening? She plastered a smile back on and brought the microphone to her mouth once more. "And that would be the Alchemists. They treat magic like a science, and specialize in potions, physical magical components, and, well, alchemy." The Alchemists gave a few embarrassed laughs, and Lani tried not to glare at them.
"And lastly, the Scribes. They focus on information and are mostly compromised of writers, journalists, and historians."
The Scribes, whose off-white uniforms were the color of old book pages and covered in almost as much ink, levitated a large piece of paper in the air. It read, in elegantly calligraphed letters, "We mostly use magic for practical purposes and don't really have anything flashy to demonstrate. Sorry about that."
Laughter bubbled up from the crowd, and the Scribes gave a few wry smiles. Lani looked like she was almost at her wit's end.
"AHEM!" the exasperated girl said, trying to hush the crowd again. "You will now be given one hour to speak to various faction members and learn more about what each group is like. Afterwards, you'll be directed to the new student dorms, where you'll stay until you have a faction to lodge with. You'll get a few hours to settle before the banquet at six o' clock...:
From a hard to see balcony high above the main hall, Inara watched her put-upon assistant explain the new students' schedule for the next week. The poor girl had struggled with this opening ceremony, but it was hardly her fault. Inara sighed and leaned against the railing, scanning the crowd of new faces for girls who looked like the type to join the Sisterhood.
From a much more hidden and shadowy alcove, another, more sinister figure watched the crowd. Like the new students, he wore no color-coded uniform to denote his faction, instead dressing all in black, but he was obviously older than a first-year. As Lani's speech drew to a close, he smiled like a cat scheming to get into the cream. He brought a walkie-talkie to his mouth.
((finally starting on the good stuff))
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Post by Lucy on Mar 29, 2014 18:57:48 GMT -8
"The boring exposition's finally done, time to get this show on the road," the boy said. "Stealth Distraction Team, are you in position?"
Another shadowy figure standing at the edge of the hall, hidden with a shimmering cloaking spell, looked around to account for their teammates. "Affirmative," they whispered into their walkie-talkie.
"Roger that," the boy said. "Infiltration Distraction Team?"
Around the room, various students in colored uniforms who hadn't taken part in the faction demonstrations or even spoken to the other people at their stands, yet somehow- as if by magic- hadn't been noticed as out of place, whispered "affirmative" into their own walkie-talkies.
"Awesome," the boy said, now bouncing slightly in excitement. "Performers, you read-- I mean, are you in position?" Another round of affirmatives, and the boy had to stop himself from doing a little dance. He drew a hand over his face and composed himself. Had to look impressive for the big show. "Cue the lights."
Four stealth team members, one in each corner of the hall, cast a spell to black out the windows. At the same time, another one threw the switch for the ceiling lights. The room went dark.
Inara's eyes widened in alarm.
Lani stopped talking and gazed around in horror, trying to imagine what was going wrong NOW.
Margaret clutched Elspeth's arm. "What's happening?" she asked, sounding slightly fearful.
Elspeth looked around with a raised eyebrow. "I think... something interesting."
The crowd of students whispered in hushed tones, waiting nervously for something to happen.
The boy smiled. "Showtime."
An evil laugh echoed throughout the hall. It was the laugh of a supervillain who knew that supervillainy was an incredibly hammy profession, and loved it. "New students, do not be alarmed!"
A boy in black strode into the room on floating magic steps that appeared as he put his foot down and disappeared when he stepped off. He stopped a bit in front of the podium, above everyone's heads. "My name is Elliot, and I represent the faction of New Moon."
Elspeth watched, intrigued. The boy had dark hair, and no immediately apparent flaws. "Handsome" wouldn't be an unfair description, but he wasn't the dazzling sort of handsome you see in models or singers. He looked, Elspeth thought with a mental snicker, like the stereotypical dark, mysterious love interest who shows up to drag an overly-normal girl into some sort of supernatural goings-on. Heh, would've preferred that to the Hagrid speech and a two week summer school.
"New Moon faction? But Elliot, that's not one of the ones we just saw!" Elliot said in a mock falsetto. "No, it's not. And you know why that is?" he continued, speaking normally once more. "It's because those ironfisted Sisterhood supremacists have been lying to you." Gasps and skeptical murmurs swept through the crowd.
Inara clutched the railing and glared down at what was happening, her teeth clenched. But she wouldn't intervene yet. This show was Lani's time to shine, to prove herself, and she wanted to see how her assistant would handle it.
The Sisterhood and Phoenix students were looking to Lani for orders. The mousy girl shook herself out of her horrified stupor and jumped down off the stage. However, before she could utter an order, a stealth team member clamped a black gloved hand over her mouth. She shoved them off of her with a silvery blast of light (she wasn't in the Sisterhood for nothing), only to find that her assailant had magically sealed her lips together. "Mm! Mph!" she tried to shout, scrabbling at her mouth.
Seeing this, the Sisterhood and Phoenix began to mobilize on their own, only to discover that they had been caged in by multi-layered invisible barriers. One Phoenix member kicked the barrier and cursed.
Elliot paid no mind to the events going on beneath his feet, and continued to talk. "The School before the Sisterhood was no where near as awful as they want you to think. It's all a chocolate coating of propaganda to make you swallow the pill of their dictatorship!"
Worried whispers filled the room, both from the action and from Elliot's words. "Should we do something?" Margaret asked, looking with worry at the Sisterhood's and Phoenix's plight.
"No way," Elspeth said. She was watching the black-clad boy with a wry grin on her face. "This is just getting good."
Elliot shushed the crowd and continued. "The factions were once organic and informal, like families, free to split and merge and evolve to fit the needs of their members. It could be a bit confusing, yes, but people looked out for each other, and everyone got along alright. But then the Sisterhood showed up with their flashy moon magic and froze everything into a rigid structure. They made the factions they liked 'official' and gave them rules and schedules, and disbanded the rest." ((out of room for typing on 3ds)) |
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Post by Lucy on Mar 29, 2014 19:06:08 GMT -8
Elliot turned around and looked straight up at Inara's balcony. "But you didn't quite manage that, did you, ladies?" he said, flashing a cheeky grin.
Inara's eyes flashed with anger. Lani was still struggling to undo the liplock spell, and the rest of her officers in attendance were trapped. The students from the other factions looked around nervously, unsure if they should try to intervene.
"Don't just stand there!" Inara shouted. "DO something!"
But Elliot had prepared for that, too. He snapped his fingers, and the infiltration team that was scattered amongst the various stands began to act. Before the other students even knew what was happening, potions were spilling and mixing on the floor with chaotic results, weapon racks and stacks of books were knocked over, and the dragon was free from its restraints. It flew through the air, spurting flame with malicious glee, and managed to light the leafy Green Thumb stand on fire. All the faction members burst into frantic motion, too worried about stopping their own problems to apprehend the black-clad rebels.
Elliot stood above it all, revelling in the chaos for a moment before continuing. "There's a lucky number thirteen factions at this school, five of which aren't considered 'official.' But they're seriously way cooler than the other eight. Please welcome Merlin's Council, the Dark Order, the Artisans, and Daydream!"
((next time: the true end to the exposition)) |
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Post by Lucy on Apr 4, 2014 21:57:36 GMT -8
Four figures rose up on magical platforms like the one Elliot was standing on: a girl with turquoise hair, a boy with thick glasses, an indeterminable person in a black cloak, and a sloppy-looking boy with rumpled clothing. The turquoise haired girl moved her hands gracefully, as if conducting an orchestra or sculpting something visible to her eyes only, and a swirl of pure color bloomed in the air. "The Artisans, she said, in a clear and ringing voice, "treat magic as an artform, and strive for beauty and perfection. We are free thinkers, and do not bend to the will of the Sisterhood, though they keep trying to assimilate us." She shot a smug look at the girls in white, who glared back, still attempting to break through the many layers of the barrier that held them.
There was a slight pause before the bespectacled boy realized it was his turn to speak. He coughed and straightened his glasses, then pointed his finger upward, creating a silver spark that burst into a shining star-shaped rune. "Merlin's Order is about knowledge for knowledge's sake," he said, voice a bit squeaky and stiff with the tone of an over-rehearsed message. "We study anything and everything magic, unlike the Sunseekers, who stole our tagline but limit themselves to only the over-sanitized magic the Sisterhood pre-approves." One student in yellow paused in their chase of stray book pages and gave him a middle finger. Elspeth snickered.
The cloaked person raised their arms, slowly and ominously, and a smoky black curve appeared in the air. It opened into the shape of an eye, inky and dripping. The crowd waited with bated breath for them to speak, expecting some sort of deep, spooky tone. Instead, the figure's voice was surprisingly soft and feminine. "The Dark Order is a refuge for those with interests in the black arts and taboo magic. We are not evil, but it is not a faction for the faint of heart or staunch in morals." Many students shivered.
The sloppy boy made a half-hearted gesture and summoned a hazy cloud. "Uh, yeah, Daydream is just kind of chill," he said, sounding sleepy and detached. The room was silent, waiting for him to continue, but apparently that was all he had to say.
Elliot clapped his hands together, breaking the silence. "Right!" he said cheerfully. "The Iron Witch is gone form her balcony, which means she's on her way down, and the rest of her cronies have just about broken out of their cages, so it's time for us to make like a banana and split! If you have any interest in joining one of these fine factions, don't call us, we'll call you; just make your interest known and a member from the appropriate group will contact you. It's been fun!"
"Wait!" Elspeth called out. Margaret and the other students around her glanced at her in alarm. Elliot looked down at her, an eyebrow raised. "What about your faction? New Moon?" she asked firmly, crossing her arms. Elliot smiled.
"New Moon?" he said, examining her. "Well, every empire needs its 'rebel scum' to curse at, don't you think?" Elspeth stared him down, expression unmoving, as if assessing him. He met her gaze and held it, neither seemingly willing to acquiesce and break eye contact first. The impromptu staring contest, however, was abruptly cut short as the platform Elliot was standing on was blasted out form under his feet, sending him toppling to the ground. Inara was on the scene now. She shattered the glowing barriers surrounding her subordinates and tore the sealing spell off of Lani's mouth.
"L-Lady Inara, I'm so sorry!" Lani choked out, obviously trying not to tear up. "I've f-failed you..."
Inara sighed and put a hand on her assistant's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault," she said calmly. Then she whirled around and searched the crowd, eyes blazing with silver fire.
Elliot had wasted no time springing back to his feet after being shot down. "And that's our cue to leave! Au revoir, everyone!" he shouted, waving cheerfully, and dashed into the crowd of students. He winked at Elspeth as he ran past her, but she showed no reaction, only watching him with arms crossed. Inara plunged into the crowd after him, shoving students out of her way, but the black-clad boy had too much of a head start.
The other members of the rebel factions were likewise making a swift exit. A door had opened up in what had seemingly been an ordinary wall, and most of the distraction team had already scooted through it into an unlit corridor. The last one through was Elliot, who turned to give a cheeky salute to Inara as she reached out to grab him, or blast him, or both. The door slammed shut in her face, leaving no trace that it had ever been there. She pounded the blank wall in frustration.
The silence that the crowd had held in awe of the unexpected events was now fully broken. The new students chattered to each other with excitement and fearfulness, and the faction members bemoaned the disaster that had just occurred. The dragon was tethered once more, the books and weapons stacked and racked, the potions mopped up, and the fires put out, but the damage was still evident. A Scribe sighed and stroked the charred spine of a book sadly.
"How could anyone do this?" Margaret whimpered, looking around. "Everything was going so nicely, and then those... New Moon people showed up and wrecked it. I never would have imagined the school had some sort of anarchist cell trying to screw everything up!"
Elspeth had a distant look in her eyes as she pondered everything that had just transpired. "I dunno," she said, smiling slowly. "I kind of liked them."
((END SCENE)) |
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Post by Lucy on Apr 4, 2014 22:34:28 GMT -8
"Elspeth!" The whisper was harsh, and tickled her ear. "Elspeth, wake up!" Elspeth groaned and rolled over, burying her face in the pillow to escape the insistent voice. She felt the beds dip as another body clambered onto it. A pair of hands grasped her shoulder and shook her. "Elspeth, come on!" the voice said, a little louder, and now distinguishable as Margaret's. Elspeth recalled where she was and her eyes snapped open.
"Oh my god, I'm not late for the first day, am I? Did I sleep in?!" he asked, panicking, as she bolted upright in her bed. Margaret was sitting next to her, still wearing her flower-print flannel pajamas. She giggled at her friend's confusion.
"Don't worry, we still have plenty of time," the curly-haired girl reassured her. Elspeth sighed in relief and fell back onto her pillow with a soft thump. Margaret climbed off the bed. It was the bottom half of a bunk bed, made up in clean, white sheets. Several other bunk beds filled the form room, which was busy with girls in various stages of waking and getting ready. It was only a temporary room for new students to stay in until they chose a faction to live with, decorated plainly with neutral colors, but it nevertheless had a slightly cozy feel to it.
"Hey, don't go falling back asleep," Margaret warned. "We only have a little while until breakfast, and I don't think you want to have to rush to get ready on your first day."
Elspeth groaned and rolled off the bed, dragging her cocoon of sheets with her. It took a moment for her to extricate herself from the tangle of fabric, but she eventually managed to haul her begrudging body into a standing position. Her short, wispy hair was sticking out all over the place, and her eyes fluttered to stay open. Margaret giggled again. "Not a morning person, are you?" she teased. Elspeth grumbled incoherently in response.
Each student had been given a white and grey uniform: a monochrome, less intricate version of the fancy, colorful ones the faction members had been wearing the previous day. Apparently, the color-coded dress uniforms were for special occasions only, and students all wore the grey ones for everyday. Lani had said something about it promoting inter-faction unity; people were less likely to develop prejudices if they couldn't just tell which faction someone was from by a glance.
Elspeth pulled her uniform on, messing up her hair even further, and then held up a blanket for Margaret to change behind. Despite Elspeth's assurances, the chubbier girl was too self-conscious to strip out in the open. When she was done, she climbed back up the bunk and made her bed, leaving her pajamas neatly folded on top of it.
"Honestly, that's probably the most meticulous thing I've ever seen anyone do," Elspeth sighed, waiting for her friend to finish. "Your bedroom must be like a museum."
"There's nothing wrong with being tidy," Margaret huffed, climbing back down the ladder. "And speaking of tidy, your hair is not." |
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