Supernaturalis Academy: Waging War Against Human Hunters [[NoH & Periodical]]

[Periodical]

Her words seemed to send Malice into a fervor of sorts. Her movements became much more erratic and jerky. Her temper seemed to flare as she rambled on. Elizabeth seemed to find it quite amusing the Malice had taken such an interest in the shapeshifter. It was only day one, and already Malice was much more invested in the cohort than she had been in the past. Perhaps it was due to the incident last year? Elizabeth knew Malice had blamed herself, and despite the vast majority of her colleagues telling her otherwise, the thought was clearly very much ingrained deep within Malice's brain, regardless of reason. When Malice mentioned beasts, Elizabeth shook her head ever so slightly. It was a great feat to teach a shapeshifter how to morph into a beast and keep their own brain. A feat that was seemingly larger than a four year cohort could offer. Unless Malice was looking to invest the vast majority of her time into the shapeshifter, it almost seemed unreasonable.

It wasn't so much that Elizabeth didn't believe in the group they had gotten for the year, quite the contrary. Fact was, Elizabeth was realistic. Students could be taught quite a bit in four years time, but none of them were going to be masters of anything when they left the school. Even some of her brightest pupils, the ones who had learned the most, were crushed under the weight of living in the real world. At Supernaturalis, the environment was much more controlled. Past their little utopia, the only thing that reigned was chaos. Out of those she had been keeping in touch with, three were hunted down and executed and the fourth was on the run. The rest she had hardly heard from and could only expect the worst. Shapeshifters were much different than werewolves, and the illusion of choice often lead to damning results. Camouflage was often a shapeshifter's best friend, and if they couldn't camouflage effectively, they were doomed. Besides, Gwen didn't seem to have the mental capacity to learn as she needed. It would take Malice half a year to train Gwen's mental game, and that would put her behind the eight ball quite considerably.

"We both know that making her own choice isn't why she's here." Elizabeth said quite matter of factly. "We don't have that kind of time. She will make her own choice, but it won't be without influence." Elizabeth said finally. As much as Elizabeth hated looking at the cohort in such a manner, she felt as though she needed to. They were there to teach their students how to survive and she just wasn't interested in visions of grandeur that might be setting up the students for failure. She respected Malice for her ideals, but in Elizabeth's humble opinion, they were sorely misplaced.

She listened to Malice's story, and only glanced up when Malice's voice changed. Still, she sat with one leg crossed over the other. Meeting eyes with this new entity, she listened once more. "And you are?" She asked for a brief moment. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting." She said before she stood and took a step forward to face the demon eye to eye. Her own eyes searched the blackened eyes for a brief moment. She already knew the answer. Sitting back down on the couch, she refilled her mug before setting it down once more.

"If I may be so brash." She said finally. "What is your role in all this? I understand you have a contract with Malice, but what is it that you are seeking?" She mused outloud. "I mean, surely there are other ways to achieve what you want that don't involve this school. I refuse to believe you are here because Malice wants to be here." She said, taking a sip from her mug. Of course, she didn't fully expect the demon to answer, though curiousity seemed to get the better of her.

What was comforting, was the fact that Malice still seemed to care about the students. Elizabeth did as well, and the differing opinions about their potential would serve to benefit them in the long run. Elizabeth was much more matter of fact, and much more of a straight shooter. She called things like she saw them. Malice seemed quite a bit more idealistic and while Elizabeth knew they would need to find their happy medium, the fact that the incident hadn't scarred Malice from shying away made Elizabeth quite pleased to say the least.

----

The girl followed behind Dean as she took her on the grand tour of the school. She had wondered how the campus was split and Dean had explained it to her quite well. She let out a little laugh at his rendition of the auditorium. When they made their way across the lawn to the dorms, Gwen shook her head as Dean recounted his past roommate. "My goodness, that sounds awful." She said before she was led towards the body of water. Gwen wasn't much of a swimmer, but she was willing to try anything once. "Wow, that's the biggest fish I've seen! Are you sure it's not a shark?" Gwen asked as she stared down at it. She was grateful that she had found what seemed like a nice group of friends, though she realized it was a little early to tell.

"I don't think I've ever been." Gwen said, glancing back towards Dean. Glancing towards the sun, there was still quite a bit of daylight left. "Do you think we could go fishing right now?" She asked, looking back towards the water. She didn't feel like swimming, but she loved being near the water, even if this wasn't exactly a beach. From her time as a little girl, being near the water was always something that was quite calming for her. She hadn't been near the water much, but she did like it when she was there. Everything seemed much more peaceful, and much more calming.

"Where would we get what we need?" She asked finally. "Does the school provide anything, or do you have whatever we need to start?" Gwen was quite curious, she had seen people fish before, but most of what she had seen were spear fisherman. "I must say, I'm not that strong. It may take me a moment to get the spear deep enough to get anything." She said with a smile. "I can change my form, but I can't exactly make myself stronger on a whim."

 

[Nine of Hartz]

“Alona refers to me as ‘Old Man’.” The entity within Malice spoke calmly, continuing to maintain the sophisticated stance on the couch as Elizabeth addressed it. Ironically, this was probably the most collected Malice would ever appear to be, her face remaining still and un-phased as the questions continued. “And yes, this is our first time meeting...directly.” The dark eyes remained on Elizabeth, watching her approach with a calm expression. As Elizabeth backed off, the darkened eyes shifted across the apartment, studying the features and mess of boxes Malice had yet to put away.

“My role?” The question caused Malice’s brow to quirk, a grin slowly creeping across her lips. “Our situation is not as...precarious...as typical demonic possessions. We exist as Malice now, not as Alona or as darkness. We are symbiotic. Our consciousness does remain a bit...fractured...allowing me to speak to you now. It would be understandable to mistrust such a phenomenon.” Shifting again on the couch, the dark eyes locked onto Malice’s arm. The darkened skin was well past the elbow of her arm, now a layer of small scales. “It is difficult, to manifest without a corporeal vessel. But Alona is just that, my vessel. I am along for the ride.” Leaning back against the couch, Malice’s body inhaled deeply, dark eyes closing.

“Alona was becoming frantic, so I soothed her. I am confident she will scream at me later for this though. She does not appreciate me disrupting her...brash...reputation.” The dark eyes slowly opened, locking onto Elizabeth’s brown ones. Remaining still for several moments, the dark eyes did not blink as they continued to stare at Elizabeth. “I have no ulterior motives pertaining to this Academy. I am here because I am bonded to Alona and must go where she roams. Believe it or not, she grew tired of constant mayhem and violence. Thus, why she came here. To pass her knowledge on and leave some type of legacy, other than the bodies of her enemies in her wake.” Slowly re-crossing Malice’s legs, the demon continued to stare at Elizabeth before rising from the couch.

“I will apologize for the clutter. She did not inherit that trait from my influence.” As Malice’s body moved throughout the apartment, she began to carry boxes into her room to clear the shared living space. Once everything was cleared out, Malice stood in the doorway. The scales and darkened skin began to slowly recede along her skin, showing the demon releasing its grip upon their shared consciousness. “I understand your mistrust of my kind, Lycanthrope. It is...instinctive...to do so. However, we are here to stay, Alona and I. Hopefully, with time, we will become more...comfortable...with one another.”

---

Dean froze as he heard the word ‘shark’ escaping Gwen’s lips. He turned to look at her then to where she was looking, staring at the large creature in the depths. “I’m not sure...actually.” His eyes remained wide for several moments, his hands pushing his long locks of hair behind his ears. “Maybe we shouldn’t go swimming...” The heat had been getting to him, as they roamed about, but the thought of coming face to face with a shark was more than he wanted to take on. Turning to Gwen, Dean motioned for her to follow him off the jetty.

“There’s an outdoor gear shed somewhere around the training yard. We should be able to get some fishing poles.” He eyed Gwen’s shoulders and arms, seeing that she looked strong but was not nearly as bulky as Jin or himself. “You don’t have to use a spear to fish. We can get some poles. They say it’s a game of patience, after all.” Smirking lightly, he continued to walk beside Gwen, bumping into her shoulder occasionally in a playful manner.

“You’re lucky, you know, that you can become whatever you want.” Sighing slightly, he kept his blue eyes looking ahead, staying close to her side. “It’s hard sometimes, being a doppelganger. Knowing that I have to consume genetic material to duplicate a form. It makes dating incredibly difficult. I’ve been terrified of accidentally becoming someone else if I get too close to them.” Speaking candidly, probably too candidly, Dean shifted awkwardly as he kept walking. “You’re lucky, that you can choose...”

---

“Miss Kamui, are you ready to depart?” Vera was no longer wearing her white lab coat, but had a medical kit slung over her arm.

“Yeah, sure am.” Shade watched Vera approach her, inspecting how her warm fingertips removed the needle from her hand with gentle and precise motions. “You sure are good at that.” Her eyes remained on Vera, watching the vampire smile confidently.

“I have been a nurse since before your parents were born. I would certainly hope my technique would be perfected.” Chuckling softly, she pressed a wad of cotton to Shade’s hand and taped it, keeping gentle pressure against the bleeding hole to help it clot.

“Aren’t you going to lick it?”

“Excuse me?” Vera’s eyes widened in surprise as Shade spoke, turning to stare at her.

“Well, you’re a vampire, right? Don’t you, I dunno, freak out each time you smell or see blood?” As she finished asking her question, Shade flushed with embarrassment as Vera laughed at her.

“Oh, dear child, I am not a fledgling!” Composing herself, Vera smoothed her ornate blouse, shaking her head so her ginger hair bounced beside her shoulders. “Most newly turned struggle with their thirst, yes, but I am nearly a century old. I am more seasoned, thankfully.” Patting Shade’s hand, Vera motioned for her to follow. Shade did so immediately, grabbing the large overshirt she had been wearing over her tank top before coming to the infirmary.

“Are you taking me to my dorm? Rosary Tea?”

“Rosary Pea. And yes, I am.” Vera nodded firmly, looking up at Shade. While not the smallest vampire she had ever met, Vera was shorter than most of the students she met. It had no bearing on her ability to overpower them, after all. Leading the way through the staff building, Vera emerged into the sunlight, walking forward confidently. Shade shook her head, following after her with a wide step.

“Doesn’t the sun, like, burn?” She stared at Vera’s fair complexion, trembling as the woman’s green eyes became bright crimson for a few seconds before fading back to green.

“Certainly. But there are spells and trinkets that alleviate such weaknesses. The human threat has forced many supernatural creatures to begin working together amicably.” Vera continued walking across the lawn, not caring to stick to the winding paths due to their restrictive nature. Her heeled boots moved through the blades of grass, her fingers slowly tracing along a few shoots that had been missed by the groundskeepers.

“This is such a strange place. Demons making us taste their blood. Vampires day walking. Monsters kept in a ‘conservatory’...” Shade pointed over at the structure and fenced off area of the island that did in fact house dangerous creatures. “It’s like a damn story book.”

“Indeed.” Vera smirked as her green eyes drifted side to side, her nose lifting up lightly as she smelled the air. “It seems to be feeding time too.” She smirked more as she continued to walk, screeching heard off in the distance from the conservatory, which prompted Shade to jerk as she was startled.

“How did you know that was going to happen!?”

“I could smell the blood.” Chuckling again, she adjusted the medical kit around her arm, continuing to move toward Rosary Pea. Her green eyes slid to the side, immediately spotting the Asian Elf. Her feet began to move more quickly, carrying her forward with incredible speed even though her body didn't move to run.

"Hey! Wait up!" Moving forward more quickly, Shade struggled to keep up with Vera’s increased speed, having to jog after her. Vera did not slow down though, instead proceeding onward until she was twenty paces away from Jin. She came to an abrupt stop, not appearing to be winded in any capacity. Clearing her throat gently, Vera lifted her hand and waved in greeting.

“Mr. Sato, are you in need of medical attention? I overheard a student mention you became ill earlier in the day.” Her hands instinctively reached for the medical pack, ready to withdraw any number of medicines she carried.