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[right]Interactions: All My Friends At School :) 
[code]Cornell High[/code][/right][hr]

It was interesting to Daniel, how the mind readily accepted whatever conformed to its desired view no matter how incidental. Even in this state, with the things he’d seen and how justified his paranoia or depression may be, he fell into the trap of delusion. The bickering, being yelled at by Vicky, the world hadn’t begun ending a few nights ago.

A laugh of amazement almost erupted from Daniel on witnessing Tommy’s backpack spring to life in the form of a four-legged creature. Not even catching Tommy’s casual invitation to ask for any snacks Porter held within, Daniel followed it with wide-eyes and a bemused smile as it ambled across the room and rested before Lupe. 

[i][colour=SkyBlue]’I think I’ve finally lost my mind.’[/colour][/i] Daniel thought to himself, dryly noting how little care most of the other attendees paid the creature. Seems he’d missed even more than he realised.

[quote=Lynn][color=8A2BE2]“Hey, party boy,”[/color][/quote]

[colour=SkyBlue]”Serenelight, Lynn.”[/colour] Daniel smiled. The wonderment of magic replacing his trepidation, the boy let himself lapse, indulge in the fantasy that this was a homeroom and Lynn was living out a mundane first day of school. Instead of a ragtag group of teenagers discussing the torn fabric of reality.

Naturally, that illusion had to be destroyed. Inside Daniel’s soul, a force pulled at him to pay attention to the other meeting entrant, Tyler Fox. Tellingly, Daniel was able to filter out Tyler’s proclamations initially, the quarterback making a grand, self-aggrandizing speech was, if anything, another familiar part of mundane life. Valor, however, found itself awoken from the tedium of teenage ramblings by Tyler’s insistence on leadership. Much of it was drivel, of course, chest pounding over egocentric matters, what piqued Valor’s attention was the implication and the subject. It remembered Tyler, how he fled, how his decisions condemned someone to death, wrestling the sin away from that monster and bearing it himself. There did need to be someone in control of these proceedings, Tyler needed to be judged, they all needed to be judged.

Daniel tightened his knees, resisting the urge that was compelling him, like a puppet, to rise from his seat and commence the application of justice. A fire burned inside his neck, pushed down into a barely audible choke that threatened to pop his skull from his torso. Tuyen broke him from his struggle, her greeting serving as distraction enough for Daniel to bury the knight from ripping free of its vessel. He managed to give her a weak smile, sadly noting the flecks of crimson marring her eyes. He remembered their promise to each other, it gave him enough wherewithal to stay in control. If she’d managed to endure, so would he.

Breathing steadying, letting the sounds of Tommy and Tyler argue drown into a garbled noise in the back of his thoughts, Daniel Mars remained behind the wheel. 

[colour=SkyBlue]”I-”[/colour] Daniel was about to explain his “abilities”, or try to encourage some civility, maybe he was going to burst into song. The world would never know, as Vicky reemerged with a vengeance.

The condescending laugh provided the foundation of the performance and Vicky, like a master performer, appeared to go forward from there. Vicky could certainly be disarmingly unpredictable at the best of times, yet Tyler seemed to always set something off in her, Daniel wasn’t sure if Vicky or Valor - the uncompromising anticipation of judgement - had been more challenged by Tyler’s speech. He felt a little sad for her, recalling a moment that stuck with him one year at camp.

[i]iYou’re a nice person.[/i]

He remembered saying it very innocuously. A statement of fact. Not even adding the surprise he felt inwardly at the revelation. He, personally, never had any enmity towards the cheerleader, but he’d certainly seen the tears of those who incurred her wrath in the past. She looked at him funny when he said that, as if it wounded her, then confused her, then she smiled, hard. Of course she was a nice person, she was always a nice person. Then she left, quickly. Leaving Daniel behind on the log seat feeling like he’d offended her in some way.

He felt much the same way when she began analysing him from the table, awkwardly looking away and fiddling with his hands. He made the mistake of looking back when the bat appeared from thin air back in her hand. Magic still couldn’t help but fascinate him, like a boy in Galilee seeing water turn to wine. His obvious attraction to magic and the possible sacrilegious implications still troubled him. 

[quote=Vicky][color=32cd32]“What do you got for us, preacher boy? Are you just here to pass out snacks and try to save our souls? Or is it something else. What does that good book say again, Daniel? [i]Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live[/i]?”[/color][/quote]

Screeching, the chair’s legs emitting a high pitched scream as they dragged across the laminated floor. Daniel Mars was on his feet without ever realising he wanted to stand, twisting his body and gripping the bat in his hand. Pale blue lamps stared at Vicky, peeling away the artificial layer and witnessing her in all the ways a person preferred not to be witnessed. Threatening a peacekeeper was a punishable offense, for the sake of harmony with its currently disagreeable host, it would let the first transgression slide. There would not be a second.

And, just as suddenly as that piece of defiance had arrived, it vanished. Daniel’s cold stare softened, as if he’d woken from a coma. His hand quickly relinquished the bat back to Vicky and disgust washed over him, he did not keep the demon at bay this time, its control was surrendered voluntarily. 

[colour=SkyBlue]”I’m sorry.”[/colour] Daniel quickly said, dropping back onto his seat and gripping his head in his hands. He was naive to think he could control this monster, he was naive to think there was wonderment in any of this.

[colour=SkyBlue]”I can… [i]I[/i] can’t do anything.”[/colour] He admitted, sitting back and wiping his face. Whatever attempt at composure was gone now, replaced with a dead expression and a thousand yard stare. [colour=SkyBlue]”There’s another thing inhabiting my body, my soul. It… I don’t know, found me during the party? It craves justice, whatever that means I usually never know and it’s always bad.”[/colour]

[colour=SkyBlue]”It’s strong.”[/colour] Daniel conceded with a furrowed brow, he directed himself towards Kari’s board, [i]what we know[/i], Daniel realised he didn’t know nearly enough. [colour=SkyBlue]”Some of you might have saw at the warehouse. It makes weapons from thin air, is strong enough to toss around debris like paper and it will not stop, ever, until whoever it judges guilty is dead.”[/colour]

An almost spiteful, quiet laugh - closer to an exhale - passed Daniel’s lips. [colour=SkyBlue]”It calls itself Valor.”[/colour] His gaze lowered with an imperceptible shake of the head. [colour=SkyBlue]“It’s tough, at least. I- [i]it[/i], took a direct blow from that monster and got back up for more.”[/colour] His head looked back up, some mixture of shame and insecurity gnawing at his face. [colour=SkyBlue]”That’s… that’s it, I guess.”[/colour]

Daniel went back to looking at no one in particular, the illusion of earlier shattered beyond repair. His hand touched his chest, finding the outline of a cross from his necklace beneath his sweater, he realised he hadn’t answered Vicky’s question, provocative though it may be. He had no answer, none he wanted to verbalise anyway. The matter was clear, they were all abominations, perhaps everyone was, damned from Adam onwards. Daniel bit the inside of his lip, feeling Lynn, Vicky, Tommy, Tyler, Lupe all of them, inching away from him. Even if Tuyen shared a similar curse, even if another being inhabited himself, he felt alone. A freak.