[i]"Darkness, those that sow seeds of fear, grant my plea, lend me your ears..."[/i] Tiny flames danced upon the wicks of candles, glowing softly, providing the only source of light in the black room. A circle was apparent on the floor, the dark violet candles placed evenly around the edges. Runes were transcribed along the rim and on the inside, with shapes and criss-crossing lines intersecting each other in both meaningful and meaningless ways, all giving off a luminescent aura, although faint. [i]"Bestow upon me evil thoughts, hate and greed and lust and rot..."[/i] The gleaming light upon the circle began to pulse like that of a heartbeat, and the flickering embers danced upon their candles as an unseen wind began to blow. With the dark aura casting its light upon the floor, it became obvious that a cloaked figure was kneeling in the center, a book open before it and a bowl filled with an unidentified liquid. [i]"Grant me strength to desecrate, thine enemies I'll eviscerate..."[/i] The rythmic glowing of the circle began to beat faster, and the wind grew violent, one by one extinguishing the candles. The bowl began to boil and slosh about, and pale hands from beneath the robe reached inside, dipping slender fingers within the bubbling brew and bringing them beneath the hood of the robe. A low hum broke the room of its silence as the robed one rose the bowl into the air. [i]"Foul blessing sinister one, I heed! Pray I go forth and accomplish-"[/i] "Lissaaaaa! Breakfaaaaast!" Light of a different kind filled the room as the door flung open, casting the morning sun's rays upon the robed figure and shedding light into the dark room. The walls were painted a dark violet, covered in posters from metal bands with a plain wooden desk housing a laptop computer and a bed neatly made up with deep purple sheets, and for demonic magical runes painted in the center it was suspiciously clean. The hooded being in the center of the circle picked up a hand to shield its face from the blinding sun, and in doing so spilled the contents of the bowl over the floor, washing out some of the runes and lines. The strong wind turned into a tempest, knocking the candles onto their sides as the magic circle glew ever brighter, exploding with arcane energy in a crackling fizzle. The robed figure promptly stood and pulled back her hood to reveal a grey-skinned adolescent girl of raven hair with dark makeup and vaguely asian features. "Mooooom! You broke the incantation!" she whined accusingly. Standing in the doorway was another robed woman, although in a completely different robe. A bathrobe. She was much older, with salmon hair, a round face, and almond shaped eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry sweetie, but even vassals for the devil need to have a healthy breakfast if they're going to have enough energy for their first day of high school!" the older woman exclaimed as she stepped over the lines of the circle to give the girl a big squeeze. She fought free of the hug and glared at her. "Get out of my room, Mom! I'll be down later! And I'm not Lissamarie, I'm Bloody Mary!" the girl screeched as she pushed her mother out the door. "Whatever you say, sweetie. Just make sure that you clean up this mess before you leave for school!" Lissamarie gave no hesitation in slamming the door behind her and pressing her frame against. She let out a large sigh and began to pace back and forth in annoyance before finally digging through the closet to grab a towel and scrubbing the floor free of the liquid and chalk. Lissamarie Angelica Hawthorne, or rather, Bloody Mary, one of the many new Freshmen at Bridge City High School, clomped down the steps of her modest middle-class home with a deep set frown upon her face. She often frowned, that was just how her face looked at rest, but the morning wasn't looking too good as it happened. Nevertheless, she was anxious and excited for her first day. Lissamarie only recently came upon her Striker Witch class a few months ago and dove head first into the Gothic clique, and it showed. Her outfit was composed of a crisp pair of tight-fitting black jeans feeding into black buckled boots that went up to mid-calf. A sinister looking black corset with red trim covered her athletic frame, leaving her shoulders bare. Fingerless mesh gloves adorned her hands, ending just before the elbow, and thin wristbands with archaic symbols wrapped over those. Around her neck a black, hooded cloak hung, with a violet interior and gemmed clasp in the design of a claw, ending just past her waist. Her hair was as black as her outfit, with mauve streaks running throughout and at her roots, although not by choice. It was her natural hair color, inherited from her mother along with her violet eyes and asian features. Those purple eyes looked set in with the generous amount of eyeliner she applied that morning, and matching her dark motif came a pair of skull studded earings. "Well someone looks positively dark today Lissam- I mean, [i]Bloody Mary[/i]! Excited for your first day?" came an excited response from her mother, now in a navy blue pantsuit, long salmon hair now done in a french braid. Lissamarie rolled her eyes and engaged her HUD in an attempt to ignore her as she came to sit across from her parents. A breakfast feast lay before them, from pancakes and waffles to eggs and cereal and halves of grapefruit. Lissamarie simply grabbed a single piece of toast and nibbled on it as she checked her newsfeed for info about the Fighting School Network. Rumor had it that with the new school year came promises of a grand tournament, with the winner earning a wish. Lissamarie didn't know what she would wish for, but a wish was a wish. Couldn't pass that up. How hard would it be to pound some kid's face in with this new class? She hadn't seen anything like it so far, and designed it for exactly that: to overwhelm and surprise. "Don't be too anxious, Lissa. With a new school comes new opportunites. I'm sure you'll make some good friends on your first day. Why, I met one of my Nemeses on my first day! Vex the Conqueror! Hell of a guy, little too deep into the using draconic slaves to conquer the Outerrealm, though. Wonder what he's up to lately?" Her father went into his own HUD as his inspirational peptalk segwayed itself into messaging someone from high school. He was a tall, mountain of a man, bespectacled with short auburn hair. He was clad in his familiar, white silver armor and golden cape, causing him to make a clinking noise everytime he picked up his coffee mug to take a sip. "[i]Bloody Mary[/i], Dad," Lissamarie seethed, taking a particularly vicious bite of her toast in protest, "I'm the Queen of the Arcane and vassal of Asmodeus. [i]Lissamarie[/i] doesn't stand up to my reputation." "[i]Princess[/i] of the Arcane, sweetie! Your mom might be an old lady, but I think I'm still the queen of magic in this house!" her mother teased. "Old lady? I thought that the rightful Queen was a beautiful young woman with a particularly dashing husband?" "Oh, stop!" her mother squealed as her father swept her over on his massive arm to give her a kiss. Lissamarie stuck out her tongue in disgust and turned her body away from them as she grabbed another slice of toast and attempted to tune out the mushiness. "I think that the [i]Queen of the Arcane[/i] is going to be late for school!" Lissamarie rolled her eyes again. "No, [i]mom[/i], I've still got- Damn it!" As her eyes drifted up to the corner of her head, she witnessed that she only had a handful of minutes to make it. Both her parents began to laugh as she bolted from her seat and out the door, toast between her teeth, muttering "damn it" repeatedly before slamming the door behind her. "She really is your child, you know," her father remarked as he nuzzled his nose against his wife's. ----------- She was floating up a waterfall made of flowers. It smelled like honey and cinnamon, but other than that, it was quite incorporeal. It felt as if she were being carried up by some languid spirit force. Her wits weren't quite about her, either. They were as if dulled by the current of petals. From behind a shroud, her mind told her looking down wouldn't be a wise idea. She had no intention of doing that. Finally, she reached the top of the waterfall, and beheld a chromatic landscape, mostly dominated by pink. Strange creatures danced on giant flower-petals, and the clouds were playing harps. Bizarre, but she couldn't shake a creeping sense of anxiety. There was something wrong about the angles and planes of the garden. Something inconsistent, as if it would vanish suddenly, and she'd plunge down, down to her death. Alice yawned out of bed. The clock read six-thirty-two. Not bad. Blearily, she stumbled to the bathroom and took a rigorously cold shower. Slightly less bleary but more shivery, she stumbled out and opened the wardrobe, to the side, by her bed. The clothes she had selected yesterday -- her favorite star-wars t-shirt and skinny jeans -- were hanging neatly. She put them on. Turning to the desk, she grabbed her bag, also already prepared. Let's see… train tickets, bus tickets, money, a notebook, pencil case. Alice shrugged and grabbed her sketchpad, too. You never know. Feeling ready enough, Alice tip-toed down the stairs, not wanting to wake her mother. Once in the kitchen, she made herself some toast, and grabbed a glass of milk. Alice noticed it was vibrating slightly, a sure sign her dad was still in the studio, and probably working on some rather violent dubstep, or something. She finished her toast, gulped down the milk, put the glass in the sink and tossed the plate, and made her way outside, grabbing her coat on the way. She checked her phone. Seven o'clock. Provided the train was on time, she'd make it for sure. Putting on some Lightbearer, Alice skipped down the driveway. ----------- Bloody Mary came to a landing in front of the entrance to Bridge City High, looking strikingly different from when she left. Clawed hands and feet, a pointed tail, black horns, red cat-like eyes, and sharp teeth set her apart from that morning, but it was the wings for which she transformed. As part of her Core Ability, Bloody Mary could transform into a half-demon almost at will, and the wings were very convenient for getting around. But it came with a small side effect. As she began to walk inside, her demonic features faded away into embers, drifting away on the wind. She crinkled her nose. Transforming always made her smell like smoke. It was brimstone, so she'd been told, but as far as she considered it was smoke and it made her smell nasty for an hour afterward. The chill bit at her skin and shivers went up Mary's spine. She regretted not wearing something with actual sleeves, but she hadn't gotten around to setting up her Combat Attire and if she wanted to fight someone she'd rip her shirt if she wanted to use her wings. The cloak helped a bit when the wind was blowing, which was off and on today. Her stomach held butterflies today, nervous for her first day at school. Last year in middle school she was a Nobody, and was relentlessly teased for it. Her pact with Asmodeus just made her look weird to everyone else, as they'd see her talk to her "imaginary friend" and study the occult, so she didn't make too many friends. This year would be different... at least she tried to tell herself that. She took a deep breath before walking through the arches to the courtyard and instantly regretted it. First day and she smelt like burnt, rotten eggs. Fan-freakin'-tastic! As she stalled, she heard a far away voice on mic, and students began to leave through the way she was going. Her eyes widened in fear and her heart hit the overclock button. First day, smelling like smoke, [i]and[/i] late? She hustled forward, sliding and shifting through the Upperclassmen unapologetically as she made her way into the courtyard. The principal was giving his speech, much to her relief. She was [i]almost[/i] late, but not quite. "You will be representing your class and this school in the upcoming battles, so we all expect you to do well. Now, classes are starting soon, but today is something of a special day for freshmen. Today we test your abilities. Break off into couples and we'll get this show on the road!" Good, so she caught the important part. As soon as the announcement came, the students began buzzing, weaving among the crowd to find their perfect opponent, and some of them had already cleared out a space to begin as they initiated Battle Mode. Mary was lost, and began to eye through the crowd of Freshmen for someone worthy of her skills to pound into the dirt. ----- Upon arriving at Bridge High, Alice had realized she was one of the first ones there. It looked ominous, deserted and apparently still closed. Fortunately, a nice janitor had pointed her in the right direction, and so she'd been sitting in the indicated courtyard, watching other students trickle in slowly, wondering what the makeshift stage was for. It was quite embarrassing, really. Alice dismissed the thought soon enough, though. She was where she was supposed to be, and everything was going smoothly. Soon enough, a man in a pin-striped suit walked up onto said stage. Alice guessed it was the principal. He seemed, from his movements, like the kind of man that would, when in a room full of people, create himself a stage, and other people would immediately be drawn to him. "I am principal Drydest Rizzo and what I am about to say is mostly for the freshmen, so the rest of you can go on to classes if you'd like." Much of the people assembled drifted off, still leaving a good number of people. Alice saw a green-haired girl, another girl with very colorful hair, a guy with very intense red eyes, staring into the sky. Meanwhile, the Principal was continuing his speech. "You will be representing your class and this school in the upcoming battles, so we all expect you to do well. Now, classes are starting soon, but today is something of a special day for freshmen. Today we test your abilities. Break off into couples and we'll get this show on the road!" As he said this, another girl, goth-looking, entered the courtyard. Alice's lips curled into a frown. --------- Scanning around the chaos of the courtyard/battlefield, Mary locked eyes with another girl her age, and time slowed to a crawl around them, as if no one else existed and certainly weren't punching the crap out of each other. White hair, pale skin, freckles, nerd culture T-shirt. She kind of reminded herself of when she was a Nobody. But something was off... this other girl was giving her [i]the look[/i]. A look of scorn with which Bloody Mary was all too familiar with. The look someone gave their shoe when they stepped on a piece of gum, or when they got their steak back too overdone. [i]That[/i] look. This almost set Mary off. Who was this girl to think that she was better? Her own frown intensified to almost a glare. Not this time. Losing her cool wouldn't look favorably to her reputation on her first day. Besides... it was now socially acceptable to beat the ever-loving snot out of this girl's face. As long as she accepted the terms to a "friendly" fight. Mary simply squared off to the judgy girl and opened her HUD. She used the infrared option to find her profile picture among a few other students between them. [i]Alice[/i] it said. Whatever, she was dead meat as far as Mary was concerned. With a few taps in the air, the HUD closed. A text box popped up in front of the other girl. "[i]Bloody Mary[/i] has challenged you to a battle! Will you accept?" Mary stood expectantly, cracking her knuckles and hopping up on her toes, anticipating the karmic justice she was about to dish out as she stared down the white-haired girl. Alice blinked. She checked her HUD, then looked at the girl in front of her. Then back at her HUD again. The girl was staring at her with fearsome intensity, as if she'd slapped her, or something. She sighed. The Principal had wanted the students to fight, after all. Alice accepted the invitation and stood. "I don't like people who are late," she said, quietly.