[h1][center][color=crimson] Diana Schwarzwald [/color][/center][/h1] [center] Academy Grounds; Underground [i][b]The Redheaded Labcoat-Bikini Goddess has descended![/b][/i][/center] [@Spriggs27][@Zelosse][@Raptra] [hr] [color=crimson]"Heh, thanks. It felt...well...it felt pretty amazing really,"[/color] Diana said to the teacher, giving a hearty laugh and rubbing the back of her head for a moment whilst the teacher held her by the shoulders with excitement, [color=crimson]"Eh, but i left a spare set back in my room on the bed. Though i'd maybe scorch them only a bit, woulda' brought my extras near here if i knew we'd be doing this for a first part of the test. But hell if it wasn't fun to put my training to use and go wild with fire for once!"[/color] Diana was rather pleased in her performance, as brute strength as it was. But that was the logical and literal point of this part according to the headmaster: the brute and unrestrained use of one's element. It has been exhilarating to let go like that, as much damage as she had done to the actual hole itself along with the notable scare she' seemingly given to some of the others standing above. Heh. It was fun, though in part it also helped blow off any lingering remnants of steam from her earlier bout with a certain "ice queen". Speaking of which- [quote=@Zelosse]Hands in both pockets, Felix laughed. It was a rare sight for someone to lose their clothes. [color=red]"Ooooh. This is rich. I'm glad I get to appreciate it before everyone else."[/color] One of the many teachers overlooking the situation was already assisting the girl with her wardrobe malfunction. In all, it had been an impressive display that he simply could not let go uncomplimented. [color=red]"Is the burning clothes expected for our displays? Don't think I'd be able to rock the bikini look quite as well."[/color][/quote] Without skipping a beat, the redhead looked up at the other fire user boy with a wicked grin on her face. Oh, he had decided to go there, eh? Diana briefly struck a pose like she was some supermodel on a swimsuit magazine, before going back to normal and laughing again towards Felix. She had no hesitation about her self-image, but teasing the boy with that little pose was not something she could pass up at the moment. [color=crimson]"I guess i'm just too 'hot' to ignore, eh? Don't let your girlfriend think my charms are snatching you up now~,"[/color] the redhead said, false-flirting in a joking manner, her grin a bit more of a playful and wry smirk now as she winked at Felix to further rub in her tease before she finally let up on the matter. But more curious, she heard voices in one of the adjacent pits near herself, one of those voices being oddly familiar in its condescending tone and haughty weight thrown behind each word. Further, a familiar icy crackling sound of freezing water was all the fire user needed to get the idea. Ah, so [b]she[/b] was nearby, was she? Turning from Felix and the teacher for a moment, Diana hopped on up the back wall of her own pit, looking over to see the familiar sight of the "ice queen" from earlier. Or rather, said "ice princess" whom was standing there, icy halberd stuck in the floor to lean on whilst she checked her nails, several sculptures sitting there, and the head of one of said sculptures sitting in front of what Diana assumed was an ice teacher here. Heh. Not a bad job on the sculptures, and even the little prick had taken the time to add the touch of cutting off the head of one of them who seemed to resemble another student Diana had seen on the way in. But she had been able to hear the last bit of what Kris had said, something about asking if any other "challenges" were there for her? Diana looked a bit closer at Kris' face to see if anything had happened to her hair earlier, though she could always prod for that information. But still, she could perhaps use that idea as fuel too, fufufu... [color=crimson]"Was the statue the only one to get a little of the top there, ice princess?"[/color] Diana exclaimed in a highly flirtatious and slightly sexy manner, her elbows resting on the top of the wall whilst her chin sat in her hands, an amused look on her face as her legs lightly kicked on the other side of the wall in an amused manner, the labcoat covering up her rear where, unfortunately or not, Felix could not see a thing of her bikini bottom, [color=crimson]"You know, even if it did take anything off, i still think you look very cute when you get that bored look on your face. I could watch that all day long~"[/color] How else to throw the other girl off than to flirt with her hard right here and now? Hilarious, and a way to vent those frustrations from before without going overboard this time. Even so, and Diana did not dare mention it, she found this little ice queen's appearance to be rather attractive. Sexy, even, now that she wasn't hoisting the girl up by her collar in a rage. If only she could just nab up that little cutie and see if she would melt in her arms in bed~ [hr] [h1][center][color=gold] Leanne Hillcrest [/color][/center][/h1] [@Zelosse]/Tachanka-shishou [b][center][i]4:15 P.M. Academy Grounds; Underground[/i][/center][/b] [hr] [center][hider=Troublesome Thoughts][center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zjf4Ujubjc[/youtube][/center][/hider][/center] A test of raw power, a time to allow one's element to burst forwards with wanton abandon...well, perhaps not too much abandon. They didn't want to blow this place to hell and back because a few too many people "let loose" a bit too much. And yet, the Darkness user felt a weight suddenly fall upon her as herself and the other students walked off to their various little "cubbies" that had their own sets of stairs. As fancy and interesting as this was, the previous charm of the cavern was soon lost in the sounds and glows of displays of power from the other students. A column of flame, colorful lights, a display of the power of water, the sound of an explosion from one of the places near herself, a cascade of lightning that shot into the ceiling like nature's might made manifest during a thunderstorm. All impressive displays, and yet....Leanne found herself hesitating at first to do a thing at all with her own element. After what had happened earlier with Mr. Manilow, she did not know if anything would happen this time. She could be wrong about earlier, but...mmm, she felt there was something going on there. Except now, with a lot more people around then before, if anything happened to someone she didn't know what it would be. The teenage anxiety seeped into her mind like a parasite, prodding at her conscience and gently directing her train of thought towards some sort of "train wreck" as it were. Uncertainty lingered just underneath a facade of calm that was somewhat cracking, the pressure to perform and social anxieties of it all clashing with the notable trepidation to actually "let go" for the first time ever. For the first time in many years since....since that one time she had killed a man, the day she had discovered her powers and was knocked out by police even as she sat there scared against a wall at the time. The terror of that day sank back into her gut as the memories came back into view, and it was almost impossible not to bit down on her lip again. Did she deserve to be here? Had she deserved the care her grandmother had given her? Was she worth being born into this world, accursed and despicable as others and her parents felt she was? How could someone like her be anything good in this world? What use did she have, beyond bearing the burden of something that only brought ruin to all it- [center][color=gold]"Dear child, you need not ponder too long as to what Darkness means in this world."[/color][/center] [center][hider=Awakening][center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngegBe9OKps[/youtube][/center][/hider][/center] The words of her grandmother suddenly came into her mind, bringing the internal chaos in her mind to a sort of sudden stop that left her momentarily reeling. [center][color=gold]"Do you not feel it in the world around you during the night? The comforting blanket of shadow that allows nature to rest at ease? The soft muting of the intensity of the sun that itself prepares the world for the light of the next day? Do you not hear the sound of crickets chirping their merry song, whilst nighingale's beautiful tune drifts through the branches like a soft whisper from miles away, and the echoing din of the owl resonates off of the trunks of trees as it is announcing its presence proudly to the world? These creatures do not choose to embrace the shining light of the sun. Even some flowers only bloom in the soft embrace of the darkness, spreading their dainty petals wide and opening their arms to the soft light of the moon that dances among the inky gloom like sylvan faeries of old? What must needs light also needs the darkness. Without one, the other is meaningless, and nature itself cannot survive. Remember, my child, what you bear is a gift as sacred as the one i or any other elementalist has. Darkness soothes the world, brings rest to the weary, allows the burdens of others to rest upon it so they may go on. Never forget that."[/color][/center] Ah. How could she forget her grandmother's words so easily, so wantonly after the earlier incident? Heh. If her grandmother was here, she'd have gotten a small scolding and then be told to "go ham" with this test. She was an elementalist, connected to those forces that made the world whole and full of wonder. Something necessary even to the light, though it seemed to bear greats sins upon it all the same. She need not forget who she was, never....never again. As her breathing naturally calmed, a small smile came to Leanne's face, soon spreading into a large grin that seemed to dominate her features. She would do this. She would show what she was made of, and reveal that she deserved to exist in this world! She needed to know what she was capable of! Controlling her breathing more, Leanne began to open up the mental barriers that she had put in place in years past. Peeling it back bit by bit, she could feel the initial rush of power into her body. It was like the small spark of a....fire, coming alight and announcing its presence to the world as well. More and more she allowed it to build within her, to take the darkness into her from all around and allow her body to act as its conduit, the layers of her mind peeling back as if she was taking off iron-wrought shackles that held her chained to a wall. The shadows in the room began to grow and move towards her, bending, twisting, building around her, writhing like they were happy to be set loose. They continued to climb and climb, spread and reach out, to grasp onto the edges and places and nooks and all in their path to hold tight to life. To prove they too existed, moving with purpose yet without any sudden surges. The soft inky blackness, the velvety and potentially gentle appearance that had graced that wall she had made earlier could be seen, the light being shut out in the room around her until only a small spot sat there with Leanne herself standing upon a small platform of shadows in the only lit area in the center of her room. Tendrils of night reached up toward the heavens, grasping, growing, dancing upon their various surfaces. To Leanne, it was like a rush, an intense euphoria that continued to build within her and grow exponentially as she "let loose" for the first time in her entire life. But even the platform below the student began to rise along with the shadows in the room, swelling like a sea of comforting black and ebon that was like a new life entering into the world. The platform on its own raised her up and up, until she could look down and see herself held high above the top of her cubicle-like room. Between the tendrils she could also see the teacher, and some of the other students in their own places as well! Though even amidst the emotion surging up in her like a geyser coming to erupt, she continued to hold that last layer of control in place. That...last line of defense should she need to "shut off" the wellspring of power coursing through her veins, through her very being out into the world around her. But she was more than a little happy, and she was going to make her joy known whether it was wanted or not. [color=gold]"Haha! I-I-I'm doing it! I'm doing it!! I CAN do it!!!"[/color] the teenage girl in a black, cat-ear hoodie said, bouncing a bit in place on her heels as the joy came bursting out in her voice, her face also coming alight with elation and a sheer sense of pride that......for the first time she had in her element, actually. The shadows did not leap out, but rather had been unfolding like unto the manner of how night eventually replace the day. Bit by bit. Part by part. Growth by growth. It was a sight to see, though perhaps the teenager had allowed things to go a bit far in the process, though it was no hurting anyone it seemed. And yet.... [quote]At first thought it was nothing. A headache of some kind, gone quick as it had arrived, that flickered across the mind. It was to be ignored, expected to be ignored. Treated like a bad idea that simply would not be dismissed. The words were harsh and jarring despite being so quiet. [h1][color=darkblue]You.. are.. broken.[/color][/h1] The whispers echo at the back of your mind no matter how hard you try to forget. To dismiss the noise as insecurity.. yet each word seems to strike your very soul. A dull pain similar to the loss of a loved one. Again the sensation flees as quick as it had come. [h1][color=darkblue]You.. are.. infected.[/color][/h1] The voice took a familiar tone. Mimicking the same wise tone as Leanne's grandmother.[/quote] The wind came right out of the girl's sails as her mind was assailed, jarred by the harsh whisper, followed by the dull, deep pain that seemed to echo something she had felt a time ago. It was like a pain that was brief in nature, flitting about like a leaf in the wind and being gone just as fast, and yet...hitting her where it hurt the most. Mocking her in a wizened tone like her grandmother, it was a terrible feeling that, even after it had left, put the Darkness user into very visible shock. To the naked, eye, it would appear like someone had punched Leanne in the diaphragm in the span of a second, and then killed a puppy in front of her to boot. Leanne had no idea what she had just heard in her head. But it...ah.....was this the sort of thing Mr. Manilow had gone through earlier? As much of a guess as it was, Leanne had no idea and didn't know. Did she want to know? Did she want to face the ramifications of......not knowing? Sweat beads formed on Leanne's forehead, a slight panting being heard from coming from her mouth. This was not as a result of exhaustion and efforts, which many might think without a second thought, but instead came from just how much the sudden and deep this mental..."attack" had left an impression on her in that moment.