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“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,     or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,     or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know     that the hand of the Lord has done this?” Job 12:7-9 (NIV) Melissa didn’t ask the computers in her head the “friend” question again, nor did they offer any further reply. Instead, her dreams were more abstract, never fully solidifying into something describable outside of their emotional resonance. The sense that she had dreamed without remembering any of it was refreshing -- almost novel, if not for the fact that Melissa knew she must have experienced such a thing before arriving on Prana, before her and Zadkiel and Sandalphon’s introduction. When she woke up, she felt even more refreshed than expected, though it was a feeling that quickly faded back down to merely “pleasant,” cemented with such luxuries as a warm shower and clean clothes. Fen was awake first, something Melissa knew even before she came downstairs by the smells wafting out of the kitchen and up into the dormitory area. “Mm, good morning,” Melissa said. It turned out, though, that Fen was busy typing away at her watch, which made Melissa realize she probably needed to check her own. Mauvache was asking them for volunteer efforts, though in a way that made it seem like they were being voluntold. “I would like you to,” Mauvache wrote. Melissa knew what that meant, though, if it wasn’t what it meant, she probably would have volunteered for it anyway. And yet, worries cropped up regarding other parts of the message. Community service was fine, of course, but the phrase “Guardian’s growing fanbase” just served to remind her of her own burgeoning celebrity, unhindered from even the basest security that a show duel costume might have provided her. But, in a strange turn, the message did not upset Melissa’s mood overall. It may have dampered it a little, but certainly not to the point she might have expected. She certainly didn’t feel like she was about to lose a breakfast she hadn’t even eaten yet. This, too, was practically a novel sensation for Melissa. Perhaps not the sensation itself, but certainly the fact of having noticed it.  She sent a second assenting message following Fen’s. It sounded less stressful than some other days she could think of, all things considered. Of course, that meant that it probably wouldn’t be, but Melissa tried not to think too hard about that. She finished her breakfast quickly, and said, “I’d better go finish getting ready.”

JA Annelise nodded along with Jacklyn. Though she didn't really know herself if Anima was a great adventurer or not if Jacklyn was saying it then it must be true. "She isn't with us but that doesn't mean she gave up. She just..." the girl's voice trailed off. What then? She just didn't want to be with them? She put her hand to her chin as she tried to think hard on this for some time. She wasn't used to people leaving if they weren't told to by her parents so when she stopped to think about it she wasn't sure how to feel about it now that it was brought up again. "anyway, what does it matter to you? And what are you all doing here anyway?"  "It doesn't MATTER to me." Chad said with a shrug and a shake of his head. "I just was curious what happened after a beat her so soundly. Someone like you probably doesn't understand the minds of strong trainers. As for what I'm doing here, do you expect me to stay on that little island the whole time? This is the only place to reach the mainland where the real challenge starts." "Wait but Chad didn't you say you wanted to 'see what those losers were up to' earlier?" Chad whirled on Kenta and said, "I did not! Urgh, don't just go saying things like that, right Fuyumi?" But Fuyumi wasn't paying attention. She was still staring at Jacklyn. "Actually only one of them lost." she said, though the way her eyes narrowed slightly showed she still wasn't sure how it had happened in the first place. QB The boy reacted first to Normandie's assault on the berry pouch. "Hey don't go stealing my....my..." he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the pouch without recognition in his gaze. The distraction caused him not to even realize that the Shellos had been creeping towards his pile of snacks but Haunter had sprung into action in his place. The boy noticed just in time to see the Shellos hitting Haunter with a direct shot. He could see that the Haunter was struggling and panic began to set in. "Haunter, Lick..no, wait, get back..." he took a deep breath and shook his head, "we're still winning this! Just keep away and Curse will take them out, don't worry about attacking them!"  

Theo's plan was a resounding success! In short order, the delinquent uprising was taken care of, and relative peace had returned to the campus of Dead End Academy. But only for now, based on the comment of the old man who was walking up to the scene in the company of a couple older students. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s dead. That’s better than usual,” After some discussion between this Mr. Klein, and the two students Ken & Aife, a request came forth. Klein wanted Ken & Aife to help bring the knocked-out students to the school infirmary, and Ken further requested that the still-conscious freshmen helped clean up their fallen classmates. Some were quite injured. Theo, thankfully, was not one of them. A couple scratches and down a sleeping potion, but otherwise, she was fine. Flynn was already handling the matter of explaining what had happened here, and so Theo got herself busy helping bring students to the infirmary. The young witch liked to consider herself as being fairly fit. However, she was mostly built for long, continuous activity more than anything. Feats of great strength weren't really in her ballpark. That meant that picking up a student's body wasn't really feasible. Dragging their unconscious body across the ground, however? She could do that reasonably well. As she took one of the downed students by the hands and started dragging, her attention was further drawn to the brief bickering of Ken & Aife. She definitely had questions for these two, to have shown up in the company of a teacher. "So are you two like, student council members or something? He looks the part, sure, but you..." Theo quizzically tilted her head at Aife. "I dunno..." "No, and please don't vote for me. I don't want another incident," Ken answered. "Yeah, it ain't nothing like a student council. You could call us... concerned students that take care of the others." Aife offered.  "That sounds like you're part of the student council," Ken quipped. "Shut up," "So you're not part of the student council." Theo liked this girl. She was subtle with her phrasing, and while the witch had a hunch about what she really meant from past experience, she wasn't about to throw any conclusions around all willy-nilly. It reminded her of her own business. Calling yourself a witch likely didn't attract many customers - an idea she'd decided to test when she made those business cards that proudly had "witch for hire" printed on them - so you'd market yourself as other things. Euphemisms, really. Aife's phrasing was very much that. "I like you. Perhaps you can tell me a bit more once this crowd is outta the way." The school infirmary was, as school infirmaries went, mildly underwhelming. It had the full breadth of equipment needed to serve its purpose, but not much else. Even the laptop on the school nurse's desk was clearly her personal computer, implying the school couldn't afford the extra expense of a work computer for her. Furthermore, there was an entire corner of the room dedicated to janitorial equipment. Perhaps because of that, for all its flaws, the infirmary was clean to a point that could only be called immaculate. And then there was the school nurse herself. She matched her one-room kingdom perfectly; incredibly clean, with nothing more or less than what she needed to function as a person. As the door opened, her singular eye immediately swung to the doorway, where the first of multiple students bringing in other unconscious students walked in. The first of them happening to be Aife. To whom Carlotta gave a raised eyebrow. "First day of school and you're already in my office. How badly did he beat you this time?" "Oy, stop assumin' he beats me every time I walk into this crummy room!" Aife snapped. "Yes, I think I've managed to hold back enough to not send her here every time," Ken added. "I swear to god, shut up!" "Hmm, so it would seem." As other students began filing into the room, their unconscious classmates in tow, Carlotta got up from the chair and started looking over the lot. Starting with Aife, in greater detail this time. "No bruises, bloody nose, black eyes, anything of the like. I commend your restraint, both of you. Next question: How badly did you beat these kids?" Carlotta took one of the unconscious students from Ken, laying them out on an empty infirmary bed. "And what's the kill count this time? Strictly speaking, that's not my field, but even I get a bit curious about school gossip every so often." "I turned them into pulp!" Aife stated loudly and proudly, loud enough for people in the halls to hear her. "But, I didn't kill none of them! Getting good, ain't I? A merciful leader anyone would wanna follow!" "What? We didn't fight at all," Ken stated. "It was wrapped up by the time we got there. This new freshmen class seems pretty special." "I see. Just put the unconscious on whatever beds are available. If - or when - we run out of beds, feel free to pile them up in that empty corner back there." Immediately, Carlotta turned her attention to the student she'd picked up from Ken, examining them intently for anything out of the ordinary. "One of you freshmen, explain what happened. There's too many knocked out kids and not enough dead ones for this to be your average start-of-school-year brawl."