Athena ran to Kaiyon and forced herself to cry against him. Her face buried in his chest her arms wrapped around him. She was a wonderful actress as she whispered, "I'm so sorry Kaiyon... i could have tracked down where he was and somehow told you or tried to fight him and i couldn't do either." ooc: I promise not to post until after Kaiyon posts in response of this tomorrow if he posts or on monday.
Thorne was beginning to like the idea of having this girl as an ally rather than a future hostage. She had some skills and after a little training at this school with their help she would be a valuable asset especially as a spy. Thorne could sense Karukai off to his left and below him so he hopped out of his tree and silently snuck to where the sensation came from. He found Karukai leaning against a large rock hidden in its shadow, watching his plan unfurl. "I have to hand it to you Karukai, you have actually impressed me with something besides your ruthless fighting for once." "What exactly did you do to her?" "I removed all of the energy in her arm with one of my seeds because I thought you were trying to kill her, so how is she one of us now?"
Tetsu watched Athena closely through his blue hair. Something didn't feel right to him anymore, and as much as he wanted to trust Athena, something was telling him to watch his back. He didn't understand why he'd need to, but the soft voice that echoed within his mind... His demon side... Warned him to watch out for what was to come. ~Be careful, Little One. Something is amiss. Don't be so trusting.~ That's all his demon would tell him, but he knew well to listen. He couldn't allow his emotions to cloud his mind any longer; he needed to stay alert and on gaurd.
ooc: "Sore wa himitsu desu" means "That is a secret" "How did I do it?" Karukai repeated Thorne's question. He chuckled, and said, "Sore wa himitsu desu." "It looks like they're already beginning to suspect, though. We should find some way to get their attention away from her. You do it this time. I've already caused enough trouble to keep me amused for a good while." He stalked off, up the mountain, laughing quietly to himself. ------------------- Meanwhile, Shinryu was fighting against the beast Thorne had sent against him. Things weren't going too well. He had sustained a few injuries, and had barely scratched the beast. It was because the creature had interrupted his initial spell. The mana burn had left him weak and confused for a moment. But he was recovering, and his position improved with every passing moment. He parried another claw slash as he fell back once again.
in case someone doesn't know <...> are thoughts and "..." is speech "A secret huh..." Thorne didn't like secrets in between shadowists, it made them less effective as a team, but right now it didn't matter. <I've made one very successful diversion tonight already so it wont be a problem for me to create another.> Thorne pulled from his pocket another seed, he was lucky that his Soul Catcher seeds were relatively small otherwise he wouldn't be able to carry so many. Thorne needed a way to take the suspicion off of Athena, if he didn't she wouldn't be of any use to them as a spy. Rolling the little seed inbetween his fingers he couldn't help but realize what he was about to do was a bit of a gamble. A time ago he had used this seed to absorb the power of a demon parasite and now the seed had become longer and a sickly red and pink color. <If I infect Athena with this she will temporarily be taken over by its power and when her friends defeat her and remove the parasite/seed they will no doubt blame it for their bad feelings.> Thorne tossed the seed into Athena's left shoulderblade after awakening its power just like the Karukai infested seed. The seed burrowed into her shoulder like a tiny clam burrows into the sand at the beach. She seemed to notice the pain but was too involved in her crying act to react to it, until it started to take effect. Suddenly the crying stopped and Thorne could feel the original parasite's aura spreading through her body. In a matter of seconds the primal mind of the original parasite would take over and she would attack her companions with unrelenting force. Thorne again perched himself high in a tree so he could watch everything unfold. <If a sparrow I infected with Karukai's energy was stronger than a gryphon then how strong would this lovely girl be, infected with the instincts and regenerative abilities of that parasite from long ago?> <I only hope they can actually beat her and then blame all their suspicions on the parasite/seed that is now imbedded in her left shoulder.> Thorne watched anxiously for what would happen next.
ooc: lol i guess i have to break my promise already... she needs to act doesn't she. AIC: Athena's mind was now completely under the contol of the parasite. Her eyes glowed a freaky pink color as she pushed herself away from Kaiyon. The parasite pulged from her left shoulder making it apparent to all that it was controlling her. She unsheathed her crystal sword as a pink light pulsated around her and the sword as she leapt up and went towards Kakajo intending to chop off his head.
"What in the...!!!" Kakajo whispered as he barely had enough time to parry off the blow. He leapt back as a huge crater appeared to where he was once at. He looked over at Kaiyon and shouted, "What in the world did he do to her?!!!" He pushed Athena's blow back as she came at him again... this time she ended up right in front of Kaiyon. Kakajo watched as she looked at Kaiyon for a moment but then turned her attention back to Kakajo... it seemed that even in the paristic state she would refuse to harm Kaiyon.... but he was another story.
Kaiyon jumped behind Athena and grabbed her arms. "ATHENA! What are you doing!? You could have chopped his head off!" Katsuke saw and sighed. "Oh lord...that kid's just plain dumb now. Doesent he realize whats happening?". Tai Kami laughed and said "Yep...he's an idiot" They both watched as Kaiyon tried to talk her off from killing someone. Katsuke however thought different in his mind. "He's either dumb...or he knows. If he does....he wants to be in denial. At least thats a good thing. Wouldn't want to piss him off myself..."
Athena pulled herself free from Kaiyon's grasp and leaped away from him in a defensive stance and a eerie voice came forth from her saying, "This body will not let me harm you Kaiyon... but her feelings are not strong enough for the others... Do not get in it's way."
This isn't what Thorne had expected from his seed. Instead of merely changing her personality and giving her some new powers the seed had actually become a parasite with a mind of its own. <Note to self: never absorb parasitic auras.> Thorne didn't want to be seen but at the same time he didn't want these students to be forced to kill her, she was too valuable. Dropping into the bushes next to the clearing he quickly unfurled the long vine whip he had wrapped around his lower torso. <If they can't defeat her I'll have to step in and remove the parasite.> <I hope it doesn't come to that, I dont want any of them to know I'm even at this school until the test is over and there are no suspicions against me.> Thorne tensed up, ready to spring into the fray like he had with Karukai's initial infection.
Kaiyon leapt for Athenna, trying to grab her once more. "Come on! What are you doing!? Get a hold of yourself!" said Kaiyon, knowing it'd be futile. He kept trying to convince her, but no response what being shown. "Damnit...why!? Why her?" he thought. And just as he kept trying to convince her, he thought..."Kurakai......him. This is all his fault. If I lose her.....if I....lose....". After those thoughts, memmories of Kaiyon flashed in him. This was not the first time this had happened. The only other girl that cared for him, was taken as a Shadowist as well. As much as he thought he could save her, she was hunted by other Sword Mages and slain in front of him. He knew he couldn't possibly do anything else....so he yelled his feelings for Athena without realizing it. Katsuke stared at him and noticed that as saying such words, tears rolled down his eyes. And he knew why....
Athena shudderred violently. The parasite and her own feelings for Kaiyon were battling for control. Her body noticibly went pale and she felt herself weaken due to the intense battle between the two. She exhaled her breath as she fell backwards... her mind pitched in blackness as the battle raged on inside her body... ooc: i'll be getting offline soon so had to do something...
As Athena struggled against what was manipulating her, Kaiyon held on to her tight. When he opened his eyes, he noticed he was crying. This was one of the few times he experienced this. As Athena struggled, he wispered his feelings softly on her ear once again. Katsuke was watching and was enraged at how attached he had grown of her. He felt guilt about it as well. He knew what was going through his mind. Tai Kami looked at him and though "You have every right to be guilty, student..."
Athena could hear Kaiyon's voice in her mind. His gentle voice trying to help her get through this. How little he knew of what was going on. She knew that their bond was strong enough to keep her from harming him but she knew that the others... well... she couldn't stop it from harming them and she honestly didn't care since she'd been turned. The only thing that had stayed the same was her love for Kaiyon. Her eyes snapped open as a pink glow pulseated around her. Forcing Kaiyon away and against a tree as vines wrapped around him. She looked at him and said, "I will not harm you and it would seem that this is the only way to make sure that you do not get in my way." Her eyes scanned the area... searching for who would be the easiest target in the group. Her eyes came to rest on Tetsu and an evil grin began to slowly spread across her face. She laughed as she brought her sword at ready it was pulsating with the same pink energy as she was and that energy began to grow darker and darker until it was black and in a voice not of her own said, "I now have control of this girl's body and abilities. Prepare for the fight of your life Tetsu." Athena then began to charge at Tetsu.
Kakajo leaped in front of Tetsu and blocked the attack. He forced Athena back a ways and said, "Well you won't be in control for long. You're going down Parasite! We want our Athena back!" Kakajo turned and went to cut the parasite off of her shoulder but instead Athena gave him a gash on his arm. He looked at her in amazement and shouted, "We'll all need to work together on this." ooc: hey yea i think this is the only way we should be able to get the parasite off is for at least two or three ppl to team up.
When the pulse from Athena knocked Kaiyon into a large tree Thorne took a chance and willed some vines attached to the tree to wrap around him, tieing him up. One final vine wrapped across his face, covering his mouth, asuring Athena that his voice would not be her undoing. At least for now. This whole stunt Thorne was pulling with the parasite was to cover up for Athena's strange behavior. It was not intended to dispose of any of the students. If Thorne's cover up was going to work the students would have to work together to defeat her and if they didn't, Thorne would have to reveal himself and remove the parasite himself to keep Athena from blowing any chance she had at being a spy. The battle got ugly very quickly. Kakajo and Tetsu came at Athena from both sides weapons drawn. They didn't appear to be in offensive fighting stances however, they seemed more like they were charging her in defensive stances. Thorne guessed they were trying to close in and get a hold of her while being able to parry any attacks from her. The parasite/seed's energy pulsated from Athena's left shoulder and she jumped with frightening speed straight at Kakajo. He managed to block a blow from one of Athena's swords but received the top of Athena's foot in side of the head as payment. Thorne saw three quick glimmers of light fly through the air and strike Athena's clothes at her right hip and her two shoulders, pinning her to a nearby tree. The lights were tiny throwing knives. Thorne looked over to catch Tetsu dashing for Athena's infected shoulder. <That's it now> Thorne thought to himself. But Tetsu's quick thinking was ruined when Athena dislocated her own shoulder in order to pull one of the knives loose from the tree and free herself. Tetsu's sword shimmered as it struck Athena's Crystal sword with surprising force but he too was knocked back and took a solid kick to the chest, winding him. <This is bad, the seed made her stronger than I had anticipated it would> Thorne loosened some of the vines holding Kaiyon allowing him to yell out to Athena. Hopefully, Kaiyon would be able to stall her long enough for Thorne to lure some reinforcements to the students. As a plan B, Thorne also caused several strong but limber roots to discretely rise from the ground and wrap themselves around Athena's ankles. She hadn't noticed yet, most likely because there were some conflicts going on inside her mind brought about by the words that Kaiyon was yelling to her. She didn't seem completely conscious of what was going on around her. Thorne ran through the forest back to where he had created his first diversion. Hopefully Shinryu had finally beaten his deformed bird and was capable of fighting still. Thorne arrived at the small clearing where he had run into Shinryu to find Shinryu was still struggling with the vile beast. <Maybe this boy isn't as strong as I thought if a mere sparrow infected with Karukai's aura is too much for him.> Thorne was only going to give Shinryu a few more moments to defeat his bird. If he couldn't, Thorne would command the seed in the side of the bird to expel itself from the bird's body, leaving behind the mutated remains of the bird. <You only have a few more moments to defeat this opponent on your own Shinryu.> <That's all I'm giving you.> <You are needed elsewhere.>
Luckily, by this time, Shinryu had recovered completely. It took a while, but only because he was interrupted while casting a very high-level spell. He hadn't sustained many injuries, but he had yet to injure the beast beyond a mere flesh wound. He had been concentrating on recovering, not on winning. Taking advantage of his recovery, Shinryu fell back once more, and chanted a spell. Speed amplified, he dashed forward, and began to attack. Moving at several times the speed he had before, he cast another spell. At this point, the bird-beast was unable to defend itself from his rapid strikes, with Shinryu's second spell slowing down it's reaction time. Soon, it was reduced to a bloody mess on the ground. No sooner had it collapsed to the ground, than a black pod-shaped thing detached from the bird's shoulder, instantly reverting it to its original sparrow form. Whirling around, Shinryu cleaved the thing neatly in half, before sheathing his sword and saying, "Owatta." (ooc: I'm pretty sure that means "It ends" but Babelfish is a jerk, and I can't be sure)
Kaiyon could not yell, as the vines were also wrapped around his neck and any words would kill him. He used his training and let the air left in his lungs hold him. He knew it would not be long now, until he was freed. Action had to be taken immediatly by him, otherwise...... Katsuke was trusting his instincts once more and decided to attack Athenna himself. He used the spell Kaiyon had previously used to get close to Athenna. Now was the time to reveal his arts to those who Kaiyon followed. He concentrated and yelled out the spell..."Itaru!". A wave of energy mastered enough to push anyone from his range away, however he intended Athena would be impervious to it, and so she was. He drew his sword and began to fight her. Kaiyon was able to see Katsuke was about to fight Athena now. This had made him nervious so he was losing concentration on his breath. He was loosing it, so he knew a spell was his last option. Concentrated one last time and yelled out "ITARU!", the same spell Katsuke had used. The vines vanished in the energy's prescence and he made a thrust towards Katsuke. He drew his sword and began to fight him instead of her. The speed of their fight was almost incredible. They were both serious. Kaiyon looked at Katsuke, his eyes glowing red...."you will not harm her.....you will not harm her ever...again". He yelled and continuted aiming for Katsuke's vital spots, and all Katsuke could do was wait, until Kaiyon's rage passed. Tai Kami knew Kaiyon was pressuring his body with a Darkness spell he had secretly chanted, however she knew thats how he held his breath for so long.
Athena moved inbetween Kaiyon and Katuske and said, "Leave Kaiyon... this is my fight." Athena grinned as she charged towards Katuske as her sword parried against his. Now he was a worthy opponent and she put all of herself into fighting him. She was pleasantly surprised when one of Katuske's blows landed on the arm attatched to the affected shoulder and she began to bleed. "So i've been struck." She whispered, as she parried off another attack, "This is getting interesting."
The fact that Katsuke had struck Athena enraged him even more. He saw her bleed and memmories came to him once again, memmories best forgoten. He aimed for Katsuke once again, but this time he didn't miss. His sword had gone through the arm Katsuke had used to strike Athena. Tai Kami could not stand by any longer so she joined the fight. She went and held Kaiyon off with one of her spells. She held him tight so that he wouldn't escape. "This outta hold you, you little idiot". She waited for Katsuke, and he didnt fail. He chanted a purification spell, and so did Tai Kami. Athena yelled in pain at the purification spell. Kaiyon was more enraged at what was going on, but he couldn't budge...Tai Kami was holding him. He felt useless....
