Estylwen

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Auditorium
@Nanaya @ERode @Psyker Landshark @Sifr @AThousandCurses

---

A brief flash of lightning, striking the side of Gulliver's barrier like a plasma globe. In it, she saw Gullivar staring agape into the face of Davil. Davil's expression was... off.

The bolt faded out, and darkness shrouded the stage again. Moments later, the shattering of glass. Her shadowy hands immediately confirmed Gulliver on the ground. The crack of a few well-placed blows, and all fell silent.

The knight, she presumed, had dealt the final blow.

Finally.

The telepathic connection shook. “Take all the chairs and toss them into my Door. The others don’t have enough strength to fight for twenty minutes over these chairs, especially if Ethos are introduced."

Her mind briefly thought of the frantic screams she heard outside when she ran through the hallways of the campus building. The other students, the slower ones, she didn't know what they were capable of. It went without saying, however, that she didn't want to tempt fate by having too many students, and too few seats. Gulliver was a prime example of students feeling comfortable in their Ethos.

Otis was right.

Many in their company were not in a position to fight more, not if it could be avoided. If they could exact dominance, they might sway the students to act peacefully. Dominance in this situation didn't necessarily mean who had the strongest Ethos. It could be as simple as... who had the most seats.

Ciara worked quickly, shadowy hands ripping the remaining seats up, row by row. She avoided the ones that were splintered into smithereens, instead focusing on the aisle and back row seats.

"Still so Hungry..." A Voice whimpered in the back of her mind.

Her red eyes narrowed. "I'm trying to concentrate-"

"The Light is weak, why not take it now?"

"Will you shut. up."

She paused briefly as shadowy hands around the auditorium tossed seat after seat into the open Door. One student was sitting in a seat she needed. She sighed, merging with shadows and reappearing in front of the boy. It was the one from before, the analyst.

"I need your seat." She said flatly in the darkness. Shadowy tendrils gently pulled the boy to a standing position while other appendages snapped the seat's base, carting it off to the Door.

She disappeared, reappearing on the stage as the last seat was chucked into the dark void of the Door. Otis mentioned something about opening the windows. She could do that in seconds, making everyone's lives easier. Shadowy tendrils gripped the shutters along the walls of the auditorium and, with a single breath, flew open.

Instantly, Ciara's shadows vaporized, reducing her to working with her own singular shadow.

The auditorium, bathed in sunlight, was a sight for sore eyes. The ruins of the mechanical giant, still steaming a bit as it lay crumpled. Wood chips and splintered chairs in the center front of the auditorium. Not a single place to sit in the rows surrounding the stage. Each chair hastily torn up and taken away. Any passerby would say the seats mysteriously disappeared.

The light caused Ciara's red eyes to blink rapidly, and her nose wrinkled. What caught her gaze next, however, was the knight, out of breath as she lay against the foot of the stage.

"It's. Just. Sitting there." The child-like Voice in her head whined impatiently. "Now's our chance!"

Ciara remained silent, eyeing the knight stoically, before hopping off the stage. She hesitated, staring at the half-elf, before extending out a hand. The knight looked like they could use a bit of assistance in getting seated comfortably on the stage. Whether or not the knight accepted Ciara's assistance, Ciara's next move was to follow Otis' lead. Following darkness always proved to be entertaining, if not more fortuitous, in her line of experience.

A smile that wasn't hers briefly flashed across her face as she stared at the knight, before Ciara's lips pursed.

Her Hunger wouldn't get the best of her today. Even if it killed her.

Iris Ascendis

I'll wait for @ERode to go before I post, I'll have something up tomorrow.

Congrats, folks. Looks like we may have finally completed the first objective: Get to the auditorium.

Iris Ascendis

@Sifr All duly noted, and definietly take it easy. Ciara's definietly keeping an eye out for her.

Iris Ascendis

@Sifr I uh, took care of the kimono mannekin-

@ERode Either Batman or the Joker-

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Auditorium
@Nanaya @ERode @Psyker Landshark @Sifr @AThousandCurses

---

Flashes in her mind.

An opening door. Gulliver, unaware in his bubble.

The images that Otis allowed through the telepathic link were poignant and self-explanatory.

He had a plan to do some divine culling himself.

The older girl with a hooded visage shot out the final light. Much to her satisfaction. But-

"No!" She called out, the Voices in her head screaming as a fatal lightning bolt struck the knight, running her through and hitting the far wall, the impact palpable. She couldn't move fast enough. She could only watch in horror as the knight let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Every nerve ending in Ciara's body fired off, her blood running cold, then hot.

A crack of a gun, Otis' gun, and the final window was shuttered out.

Finally...

Ciara took a haggard breath, dark mist slowly seeping off her vibrating form, hands extending out. Slowly, like little wisps of harvest grass blowing on a cold night, appendages with tiny, child-shaped hands grew. They came up from every floorboard, every crack in the wall, the ceiling. Every inch of the auditorium was covered in shadowy appendages.

Although she couldn't see, Ciara could feel every inch of the darkness. Every brush that the shadowy hands felt, she felt. She could differentiate between cloth, warm human skin, metal, and wood. The appendages grew, feelers identifying each Mannekin and encircling their limbs, crawling up to constrict around their torsos. She could feel them delightfully struggling under her shadowy hands, and she tightened her grip. Some even tried to outrun her, smarter than the others. But nowhere was safe, and she pinned these escapees too.

The hands quickly differentiated friends from foes and gave the knight, Otis, the boy with glasses, and the hooded girl a wide berth. The hands tried to dig their way into Gulliver's protective barrier, but to no avail.

As the darkness grew, so did her Hunger. Snapping the torso of every one of Gulliver's despicable Manniken would not give her enough satisfaction.

"So Hungry!" A Voice somewhere in her pulsing mind.

He... he hurt the light. The delicious light. It was hers!

A dark look crossed her face as the mist only grew, her frame perfectly still. A decision calmed her outward appearance, though inside, she felt like a firestorm.

No. She would Eat every. Single. Mannekin in this room.

Starting with the Mannekin wearing a kimono, which had sailed towards the hooded girl before Ciara's shadows intervened. Ciara brought this Manniken closer, a glint in her eye as the Mannekin struggled uselessly against her tight grip.

"I'm Hungry!" Said an enranged Voice.

Ciara was silent. In that single moment, the only sound that could be heard was Ciara... breathing in.

Like a cascade from its toes to its head, in the darkness of the auditorium, the Mannekin dissolved into burnt ash. Its heart fluttered and glowed briefly before surrendering its essence, causing the dark aura to intensify around Ciara. A contented sigh escaped her lips, her eyes flashing a strange red iris surrounded by black sclera. She had been Hungry for so long... yet her Hunger remained.

She took a moment, bringing the rest of the Mannekin near her. The ones that struggled, she snapped their torsos without hesitation.

Her next breath... would signal the end of these wooden warriors in one fell swoop.

Iris Ascendis

No worries, Sifr. There's no pressure. I'll slowly work on my post, and will probably post in 2-3 hours.

Iris Ascendis

Is it alright for this round I post last? That gives everyone a chance to react. I'll leave the last shutter for either Hildegunde or Otis to shut.

Iris Ascendis

Thanks for the assistance, Sifr. All good on the double, I've done that before. ^^;

Yaaaay T-pose!

Iris Ascendis

Made the attack a little easier for ya, Psyker.

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Auditorium
@Nanaya @ERode @Psyker Landshark @Sifr @AThousandCurses

---

"No one is dying, girl. You will all be defeated, dreams crushed as you return to your homes emptyhanded, but you will not die."

Ah yes. The divine culling, as Gulliver had put it.

Ciara's eyes darted around the auditorium. She had expected to see teachers here, waiting for their students. But alas, only Michael, the janitor she had seen previously, had given any indication of an actual faculty presence in this academy.

The knight's light was growing.

There was the sound of lips smacking in her mind, and building annoyance.

"What are you doing? It's right there, distracted and tired. Now is your best chance!" Said the child-like Voice fervently, acting like a war strategist for its own goals, at the center of its own little world.

"We're not doing this, not right now."

Frantic. "But look. Look! It's so, so tasty!"

She watched as the knight inflicted damage on the giant, radiating sweet, scrumptious light. Ciara almost failed to noticed the mechanical giant replaced its lost parts, this time with wood.

Interesting.

"Heads up!"

To Ciara's deep-set relief, darkness washed over her as more light was extinguished. Her shadow was extending, strengthening. Replicating the conditions was not as powerful as standing under a New Moon, but Ciara was no beggar when it came to the completeness found within growing darkness.

The help the older girl provided was noted. She would introduce herself after this was over, if they survived. A sharp shot. Clearing the lights like the girl could do this with her eyes closed.

Interesting.

Gulliver appeared to not quite agree.

"Y-You think me one to fear the darkness?"

Ciara glanced at him from across the auditorium as she slammed another shutter shut, a cold look in her eyes. Still talking big. But, his tone strongly indicated otherwise.

"I know not why that one wretch's Ethos is of darkness, but is an omen of times long past! If there is anyone I cannot accept to attend here, it is that vile shadow witch above all others!"

Ciara blinked, a disturbed memory loosening its hold from her suppressed mind.

---

"I'm telling you, there's something wrong with her."

Toenails curled on the cold wood floor uncomfortably, the arm of a teddy squished tighter in small hands.

Peeking around the corner at a lone table, a single candle lighting up the grim faces of the caregivers.

"The kids don't come near her. She talks to herself."

"It's a bad omen for us all."

"Should have never let that-"

The floor squeaked under her feet. Standing at the door, vision blurry as wet tears pooled in her eyes. She sought comfort after a nightmare, but-

"Oh, what is it doing out of bed!?"

"Hey! Get back here!"

---

Ciara grit her teeth, arms trembling as she locked weapons with another Mannekin.

"...But first, the earthworm."

"No!" A Voice screamed.

Without permission, and without thinking, Ciara's body moved, appearing out of a swirling shadow on stage, dagger drawing.

ZZZAP!

The lightning meant for the knight was rerouted through a make-shift lighting rod: Ciara's dagger. A surprised yelp escaped her ribcage, the voltage arcing through her body and dispersing on the floorboards at her feet. As the attack subsided, she stood for a single moment, before falling painfully to her knees, smoke seeping off her jacket. The air was charged with the smell of burnt wood.

"Must.. protect… the Light…" said a Voice somewhere in her foggy head.

"So… hungry…" Ciara echoed back, everything numb, trying to get her bearings.

She took a pained breath, and then another, knowing she was in a vulnerable position. She had to close more shutters, she had to protect herself.

"It's safe, the Light is safe… I still want it." Said the Voice.

Ciara ignored the voice, glaring up at Gulliver briefly before trying to move. Everything hurt. She had to get it together.

Voices not inside her head sounded around her.

"Upon… the Foreteller has its summoner, Gulliver Bronstel, inside the center… Suggestion, destroy…'core.'"

The what? There was something inside the giant…?

“Knock knock.”

Familiar. A familiar rapping on the open channel already within her mind.

"You… have a plan…?" She thought to Otis, a bit out of breath.

Taking another breath to steady herself, Ciara shakily got to her feet. If she hadn't been attacked while she was vulnerable, she would teleport back to the shutters, and continue to shut the remainder. Hopefully, it would only be a few more seconds, and the auditorium would be plunged in darkness.