[h1][center][color=crimson] Diana Schwarzwald [/color][/center][/h1] [center] [b][i]4:00 P.M.[/i][/b] Academy Grounds; Underground [s]A New Rival Appears?![/s][/center] [@Spriggs27][@Zelosse][@Kalleth][@baraquiel][@Pseudo Stygian] [hr] Long-winded speeches about killing each other, and learning to get along, and the sort of things one might hear being told to little kids who needed to be scolded were the words of the day for Diana and Kris, it seemed, after Mr. Manilow had finally released them. Though really, beyond simple acknowledgement of "yes, sir" the red haired German girl did not say much. She watched as the "ice princess" she had nearly tried to suffocate with flames...actually, had tried without thinking until that Darkness user had ironically intervened.......run off from the track and field grounds and off to her thing or her room or a bathroom for all Diana knew. It had been a sobering point in time for the fire user, who quietly was glad neither of the two of them had managed to deal severe wounds to each other from the looks of it. Though a little singing on the part of the ice-queen there was visible to Diana, who knew how to look for burns from...er....past experiences at home. Though by now, standing here underground at 4pm, the redhead had reverted back to her usual self after taking some time to eat with her roommate and a girl named "Lyra" and such. It had been a pleasant lunch, a good way to get past earlier events from gym class. Yet upon feeling a pair of cold eyes upon her from afar, potentially literally, Diana had looked out of the corner of her eyes and noticed a familiar face. The ice girl, the rude prick who had been down on everyone before pushing too many buttons. Heh. It was shocking that it was that girl who could have been staring at her, a thought that brought a small smile to Diana's face, though if she was as petty as she seemed then revenge might be on her mind for all the German girl knew. And if this sterotype the ice user seemed to have played out true, anyways. Besides, after the lunch Diana had gone to practice her skills...and take a nice swim to ease the mind and keep the body fit as well. It would be for the second time in the same day, but it had given her more time to practice what she had been doing before with her fire powers earlier and for the last three months overall. Of course, this went beyond just drying herself off...actually included something a bit more [b][u]interesting[/u][/b] than that. But that was not Diana's main concern at the moment. Rather, as she looked about her peers where they stood, and at both Mr. Manilow and Headmaster Kano, the teen mentally and physically readied herself, keeping her breathing calm, her heart rate steady, and keeping on a relatively relaxed demeanor to stay open to whatever they would be instructed in. Considering students of all kinds of elements were here, it was safe to say this was big and potentially competitive if she had the right idea. Interesting... [hr] [h1][center][color=gold] Leanne Hillcrest [/color][/center][/h1] [@Kalleth][@Zelosse] [b][center][i]4:00 P.M. Academy Grounds; Underground[/i][/center][/b] [hr] The incident from earlier had been....unnerving to quite a degree for Leanne, the hoodie-wearing girl having had to comfort a teacher to boot. Though after this she had been...dismissed off like the others as Mr. Manilow had left to free and talk down the two troublemakers without a true explanation or word of what had gone on to her or anything. Even so, she still felt she, even if just via the use of her element in trying to prevent a fight, had something to do with that. Unless Mr. Manilow had some kind of darkness in him, but the reality was that the man was an Earth Elementalist! How could he even have two elements, already something that seemed an impossibility, but beyond that another odd question came to mind. Could other Darkness users be stimulated by the usage of powers by other Darkness users? None of it really answered the question, nor really helped her feel better save for providing a topic of distraction for her to think on and keep a level head with in the immediate aftermath of things. Deciding not to pursue Mr. Manilow on the matter so soon, not having a full idea herself, Leanne had retired to the Infirmary to get her lip fixed. Though when that had been done she had gone back to her room. Not usually one to miss classes, the early start to the lunch period gave her a chance to ponder matters, at least whilst her roommate would in all likeliness have been back and sleeping after the early release from Gym Class. For about half an hour she had taken the time to enjoy a hot, steamy shower, her nearby phone placed on the toilet seat nearby to play music for her to use to focus on. [hider=Or rather, music from one of her favorite video games just to mask other sounds coming from the bathroom anywho.] [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk2eUGISZpk[/youtube][/center] [/hider] In all of these three months, she hadn't let anyone see her "let it go" so to say, but the nerves of the situation combined with the emotional awkwardness of the situation had gotten to her to an extent. So as the hot drops of soothing water ran over her, the Darkness user had finally begun to let out the stress in the one way she could best do so in the shower: crying. Just....crying. Though she had done her best to hide this from her roommate even, it wasn't because she was worried over being a "crybaby". She...just didn't want to overly worry anyone else, eh? But beyond that, just a way to relieve the stress when it got too much at times was an invigorating thing. Left her feeling like she was ready to take things on. Even her grandmother had noted the need to "cry" once in a while, and that bottling things up too much only led to worse things in life. Though once she had emerged from the shower, dried off, and turned off the music on her phone, she had pulled on a fresh set of attire and her trademark hoodie before setting out again silently. No need to worry Eir with a somber mood, but....she needed to herself think on the matter more. Indeed, there was some mystery that seemed to emanate from what had happened in gym class beyond just her gut feeling her powers had done something to Mr. Manilow, especially with his reaction to her as if she had just come back from the dead or something before breaking down into sobbing before she had went to hug him moments later. And to that end...eventually an idea had come to mind as she had wandered over to the gardens of the Academy. Darkness was an element that had a bad reputation, she herself had first-hand experience with that, but...why? She had never been told just what the incident behind the Darkness element falling into infamy was, nor had heard of any books on it or such. If her gut was right about Mr. Manilow, then perhaps there was something about her element that was, in essence, unique in its properties. She was no expert on science or the elements, but at the same time it felt like an educated assumption...or at least one potential factor in things that seemed worth investigating. Albeit, she would need a plan for attempting to look into her element's, well, ironically [b][u]dark[/u][/b] past.....pun intended of course. Perhaps later she could go to the library when it was mostly abandoned, see if there were any books. That could be a calmer start. She wasn't aware of any Darkness teachers here, to be frank, but there was one figure at the school who seemed to carry that inhuman air about him. Headmaster Kano. Yet approaching him like that might...mmm, she had no idea how the headmaster would react. Perhaps it would be better to not ask him first unless the matter was pressing. Eventually, though, her stomach had begun to rumble like a mighty whirlwind, with the intensity of a great earthquake....and she had gone to get some food. Alone. It allowed her to break from what felt like a far longer time than it had been, what with the questions and such on her mind and such. Just having gone to a hamburger and hot-dog place in town, as basic as it was as compared to the other flavors of foods there, she had enjoyed a simple meal....if one might count a double-decker burger with the works and medium curly fries coated in rich spices...which all came with a large Coca-Cola.....as "simple" anyways. Besides, breakfast had been light to nonexistent for her as it was, just so she could help get sleepy Eir to class. Though by this point, a good ways into the afternoon, the time for challenge and testing. Or at least, time to descend into the dark bowels of the Academy where the Earth Elementalists were supposed to train or such. Stepping down there with the rest of her group of students, the first group that would be brought forwards to face whatever came, it seemed, Leanne felt a certain sense of awe at the scene. The dark of the area, aside from the lit torches on the wall and such, brought on a sense of...well, ease to a certain extent. Like it was "home" to a certain extent, though not her literal home as it were. The night had always been her favorite time of day, though she did not shirk to get up in the day, but something about this scene seemed to blend well in her eyes on first glance. Like a sort of "harmony" had been established here purposefully and with careful intent. Smooth earthen floors stood below their feet like an ancient temple of old, whilst swirls of shadows seemed to dance merrily upon the pillars of the area with the flickering of the flaming light sources scattered about. Thin earth above and rare tiny cracks of light piercing into the soft blackness seemed beautiful, like a painting. Even the sounds of the jewel-like waters running through the earth below where they stood seemed to echo off of the walls in a soothing manner, like how a gentle breeze might cause a rustling in the trees and whistling through the logs and grass. Though as her eyes found Mr. Manilow and Headmaster Kano standing together, the teenager was snapped from the beautiful display that had briefly entranced her mind. Reminders of earlier just by seeing Mr. Manilow, and the mysterious and somewhat imposing visage of the headmaster himself, left her coming "back to earth" and mentally beginning to reinforce herself. She tried to meet each of the two's eyes, to get a read of the situation but also to see if Mr. Manilow was...well, ok after earlier. Truthfully, they were not here for some kind of playdate or silly tour of this area. That much she knew for sure.