[h1][u]Ciara Ventura[/u][/h1]
[i][color=gray]Wingram Academy, Main Building[/color][/i]
[@Nanaya] [@ERode]
[hr]

[i]Darkness.[/i]

Upon closer examination of the spirited boy, calling himself Davil, Ciara would tilt her head curiously and relax a bit. She inwardly smirked, [i]"You should never judge a book by its cover, idiot."[/i]

[i]"Don't call me idiot, idiot!"[/i] The child-like Voice bit back harshly before seeming to relax as well. [i]"It's dark... It's all dark..."[/i]

Cirara hummed, nodding to herself, her initial impressions of Davil changing to one of strange, unexplainable comfort. Logically, one could never trust a person with so much darkness in them. But people like Davil and her new friend made the Voices in her head relax, which was something she could never do on her own. So she took it all in stride, the benefits outweighing the risks for her.

As her friend carefully examined the disarmed Mannekin, her gaze flickered to Davil as he enthusiastically charged at the intruders down the hallway.

Before... well, he came crawling back, covered in dark grease stains.

She sighed, already taking a step forward.

[i][b]"There's no way this is your help, right? I mean, that would just be downright sad."[/b][/i]

She heard the voice echo through the halls, staring at the walls where she saw the eyeballs briefly before blinking out of existence. She had to scoff again, taking another step forward as a wave of darkness grew in front of her feet, sweeping down the hall to push away the Mannekin, slowing down their charge and giving herself a few precious seconds.

[b]"If you're really so confident, why don't you tell us where the auditorium is? I imagine that's where you're holed up. We can settle this, face to face."[/b] She said to the hallway, trying in vain to find the source of the snobby boy's voice.

She smirked coldly. [b]"Unless you're scared."[/b]

As she spoke, her tentacles were busy at work, pulling out whatever loose furniture she could get her hands on. Quickly, classroom chairs and desks filled the hallway, stacking on top of each other to create a barrier between Ciara and the approaching Mannekins. Almost instantly, the sounds of bats smacking against wooden desks ricocheted off the walls, creating an uncomfortable staccato in the air.

She pursed her lips, trying to ignore them, tentacles pushing the desks and chairs to give more strength to the barrier. At the same time, she eyed the katana spinning uselessly on the floor. She gingerly snapped up the handle of the katana, taking great care to avoid having her shadowy tendrils touch the razor-sharp edge before shutting it off with another appendage and returning it back to the grease-stained Davil.

She thought they might have a moment to relax. But alas. That was before she saw another leader-type Mannekin making its way to the barrier, and she gritted her teeth. A bashing sound louder than all the rest resounded as the pompadour wig Mannekin's lightning bat crashed against her barrier. Desks and chairs were knocked into the walls, until the Mannekin made contact with bare tentacle. 

[b]"Ow!"[/b] Ciara hissed, tentacles buckling the moment they were hit with an electrical shock.

With the air charged with electricity, one final smack caused the barrier to fall, desks and chairs flying across the hallway in a haphazard manner. Ciara quickly moved back, shifting out of the way as a desk landed where she used to stand. Quickly, she unsheathed her daggers again, darkness coating the blades as she eyed the pompadour Mannekin with an intense glare, aftermath lightning arcs flickering across her twitching arms.

How would they make it to the auditorium, at the rate they were going now?

Her eyes shifted to her friend staring hard at the incapacitated Mannekin on the ground, before the air was charged a second time. This time with essence.

[i][b]"Calm."[/b][/i]

Her knees wanted to buckle as she heard the magic-filled word, and everything grew unimaginably still on the battlefield. She couldn't even hear it when her hands dropped the daggers out of blind serenity, the hilts making a metallic clink as they scattered at her feet. She tried to blink, hearing nothing, not even her own heartbeat. 

Wasn't she in the middle of a fight?

She blinked again, trying to get her bearings uselessly. She could only stare at the Mannekin on the ground, wondering how the [i]word[/i] would affect it and if they finally had an ace with which to [i]seek[/i] out the auditorium.