[b][i][center][color=a187be]Annabeth Gulch[/color][/center][/i][/b]

Annabeth looked down at Lyn in her arms. She still blamed herself. She should have just left with Lyn. She wanted to fight with the others, but because she did she nearly got Lyn killed. Granted it was only Blood Sickness, but it wouldn't have happened if Annabeth just left.

Rather offered Annabeth some tea which she took a few sips from. Then she just drained the whole cup. She coughed as she burned her mouth from the hot tea. But Annabeth knew that she was running low on Mageblood too. She was dizzy and her vision blurry. Closing her eyes for a moment Annabeth allowed herself a moment of rest. For some reason, she felt very tired.

When Annabeth opened her eyes she didn't know how long she was out. Not too long since the sun was more or less still the same, but Annabeth wasn't certain if she was asleep for a few minutes or an hour. Lyn was still in her arms, so adjusting herself so the child was comfortable Annabeth patted her cheek. [color=a187be]”Lyn. Lyn, are you alright?”[/color] She heard a little noise from Lyn, making Annabeth happy. As the two sat there regaining their strength, Annabeth whispered a nursery rhyme about the Twilight College.

[center][color=a187be]”I journey here into a darkness deep
Through this land of twilight, in this magic keep
But even in endless nights there are stars in the sky
I will not say my quest is done, nor tell the light goodbye.”[/color][/center]



[b][i][center]Tyrael Marchosias[/center][/i][/b]

Tyrael had already turned his back against the others students and nagas alike. He knew they opposed him. They all did. [B][I]”Can't you see? You can't win against them. They'll never let you win. They're holding you back. You can’t save Mar, you failed your mission, can’t and now you've become and enemy of the college. There's nothing left for you anymore. You are their enemy now.”[/I][/B] 

Tyrael said nothing, did nothing. Slowly he changed back his his usual form, dismissing the demonic influence over him. But he could hear their whispers putting him down. To anyone else they'd be petty insults. But they were always on Tyrael's mind, and they represented his own thoughts. His inner demon weren't some great monster bent on taking over the world or destroying all of life. It was nothing but regrets and self-loathing. 

Because of it he perpetuates the vicious cycle: because he considers his demon to be nothing more than a petty bully, he ignores them and believes they cannot control him. But they hurt him emotionally, something he has very little experience in. But because he must project an image of strength and dominance over his demons, he cannot admit his weakness, as obvious as it is. Tyrael can't seek help because it's suppose to be assumed he was strong enough. He could stand the idea that he isn't already powerful enough. The idea that he has a weakness scares him. And he can't be scared, he's not suppose to be. Tyrael is suppose to be the fearless, unstoppable Overlord of the Inferno. Anything less and he may as well be as nobody.

Brooding in his own thoughts, Tyrael didn't notice Khan until they were both in the same hall. He was initially surprised to see the Headmaster here, but then remembered Ssarak’s illusion. He must have used the doppelganger to alert Khan. For a moment Tyrael pondered a battle between himself and the headmaster.

There was no doubt that in terms of demons, Khan’s was much stronger. Tyrael had an army under his command, but a single one of Khan’s own demons had the strength of an army alone. Of the few demons Khan employs, each could be an Archdemon in terms of power. But of his demons, only two could be used reliably. The others were powerful, but treacherous. The exact sort of thing that Tyrael constantly tells his students to [i]never[/i] work with. Even if they were honorable enough to uphold their end of the bargain, in the end the price is your life. Surely if Khan used even just one of them, it would end in a mutual kill.

But Tyrael wasn't going to fight Khan. If he was here to stop him, punish him, then so be it. Tyrael would accept his punishment, for whatever reason. [B][I]”This is their appreciation. This is your reward for doing your job to the college and for protecting your loved ones. For your loyalty you will be punished. Your enemies will be allowed to roam free, and those treacherous students will be hailed as heroes. And you. You'll be a pariah to the college. You'll never see Mar or Lyn again. You'll never teach, be stripped of your authority. The college will abandon you for your most hated enemy. You will lose EVERYTHING!”[/I][/B]

A single tear fell from Tyrael's eye. He didn't realize how much he was going to lose. He stood petrified. Everything he's worked for, all lost just because those students sided with strangers. He wanted to run. Go back to a simpler time where he could just run away or kill his problems. But now he was out of options. He sighed and walked towards Khan. 

[B]”We should not waste time. Name your judgement.”[/B]



[b][i][center]Catacombs[/center][/i][/b]

As the students gathered their wounded and the naga rallied together, a single person had gone missing. The strange, blind swamp orc. She had fled during the chaos before Darius’s sound burst, fleeing deeper into the catacombs. But without a guide and with no luck, she would never escape. Indeed, as she wandered, she ended up in a lost area of the catacombs, unknown to even the likes of Tyrael and other members of the college. Here even the dead were so old they were nothing more than bones and dust. The names on their tombs have long since been lost to the annals of time.

But the girl was not alone here. There was one creature here that served as the lone protector of this foreboding area. A [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/95/cf/b1/95cfb1ba01b2aab99d547bce0dc6a6da.jpg]golem[/url] made by a necromancer before even Uicle’s time, who’s sole purpose was to collect corpses and impale them onto it’s body spikes. The golem was black with rust and blood, with streaks of white made from the ancient dust of bones from skeletons long ago. This golem patrolled the catacombs, but it was not a guardian of the dead, merely a cleaner. And it would cleanse the catacombs of the living as well, given the opportunity. Such is the life of the Corpse Collector.

And that was Lira’s fate. She had the misfortune to be in the path of the catacomb roaming monstrosity. But it was not by it’s hand that she died. No, when she crossed path with the beast, it reached out and grabbed her, breaking her arm in a single pull. It tore off her hand when she tried to struggle, and the monster followed her as her blood left a trail alongside her fear. Her death was inevitable here. But her death was not going to be meaningless.

Because the Corpse Collector was not what made this part of the catacombs forbidden. Unbeknownst to those in the college, there was a dark history hidden away here. The Corpse Collector was simply it’s unintentional guardian. As Lira’s life was draining from her body, the air around her became cold. The walls became icy and the floor slick. All it took was one errant slip, and Lira lost her footing and went skidding on the sloped floor. Despite her wounds she was still living, still suffering, until the sickening sound of her flesh and bones peeling apart silenced her cries of pain.

The blood drained from Lira's body and pooled into the altar. Her body began to grow stiff as ice covered her body, but even death was beyond her grasp. No, she would live, and suffer, to give life to this unholy sepulcher. The blade of ice, just an inch away from her heart, glowed with tainted magic as a voice spoke out from the Altar of Ice and Murder.

[i][b][color=black]”Khan"[/color][/b][/i]