blowing off steam

[YuukiHyouketsu]

Yuuki was buzzing the Lauri mountains---even though she'd had to fight in the tournament there, she loved the place! it was cold, and big...and just flat out a great place to fly. Yuuki pulled in her wings for a fast dive, pulling straight up last minute and using mostly the speed from her fall to get her some altitude. when her speed let out, she just leaned back, and let herself fall for a bit. and as she crossed her arms over her chest, her mind began to wander...

Yuuki didnt regret coming to Lillegard---even though it had only come about because of her family having to split to avoid being hunted--there were so many people here that she felt she could trust and befreind--the only problem were those few exceptions. the ones that could cause that pain for her....the ones that could put everyone's lives in jeopardy. her wings started sliding forward. suddleny, she did several barrel rolls, and ended up with her belly just skimming some kind of lake, her wings brushing the surface, before she pulled up again.

she continued to perform several dives, loop-de-loops and what have you's, before she decided to begin to land....

[Leon Barner]

The Lauri Mountains were an ideal place for Leon to relax. Unlike the cliffs, it was further away from the castle and took up a large portion of the island. It was difficult for people to hike too far into them, and virtually impossible to reach their very heart unless one could fly, like Leon.

Now Leon lay on a flat area of one of the mountains, wings outstretched over the cool stone, and eyes closed facing the sun. This was something he often did when he was alone. He was a loafer sometimes.

He opened his eyes again and tried his hand at some of his energy manipulation. He summoned some energy into his hands, dark, flame-like wisps, and began to form it into shapes. He had no particular figure in mind when he started but after looking at it he realized the flames had taken the shape of Rachael's pendant, the two wings overlapping eachother. His eyebrows furrowed and he extinguished the flame.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

as Yuuki began to decend, she spotted an odd figure laying out on the rocks. curious, she landed nearby. when she saw the dark, black wings, she felt her heart clench...but no...this was not the set of wings that she knew. too late, she realized the possibility of who those wings belonged to. trying to stop herself from getting to close, she stopped so hard that her legs flew out from her, and she fell on her butt. too close! her brain screamed. but something else in her erupted--yes, there was no doubt that this was the demon boy.

she tried to move away, but some other power gripped her limbs in place--like she was frozen, which was ironic, because the cold normally made her stronger.... no... her brain whispered painfully...she knew what was happening. suddenly, a dark, neon blue--almost black, began to take over the bright blue of the dragon tattoo...slowly, it began to spread to all of her other tattoos, creeping towards her eyes.

she felt a pressure in her chest in head, and suddenly it was like she was seeing too things at once--the mountains, and a a blue room with a crystal type look to it. suddenly, with one last shove, the remains of the light blue in her eyes were extinguished, and all she could see was the the crystal room....

ha! a voice roared in triumph. i win, yuuki. wont you ever learn? i gain power from being near those like me--evil; demons! didn't you learn during the tournament? stupid little girl the voice laughed evily, and then smiled...with Yuuki's lips...her eyes....

nononono!!! her mind screamed, but it was useless--no one could hear her now. she was just a consciousness...inside the crystal of her pendant....while Ketsuta walked around in her body.


the dragon demon that had been dormant in her for most of her life had found a way to waken, and gain power, and was now walking around, with control of Yuukis body.

and she was stuck in a freaking pendant.


Ketsuta strutted towards Leon, power eminating from her very being, her eyes blazing their midnight blue......

[Leon Barner]

Leon looked over without getting up when he heard footsteps. Someone else was here, a flyer, like himself. He looked her over from head to toe as she approached, looking for gold jewelery as always. All he found was a crystal pendant around her neck that seemed to stand out for whatever reason.

The girl's wings were a simalar style to his own, bigger though. He reached into shirt moving his sterling silver cross to the outside just in case. Her wings were blue, but in a lot of cases angels a hint of color to their wings that especially stood out in the sunlight. He didn't get that familiar feeling that she was an angel, and her exterior in general seemed to a bit dark for it anyway, but he was taking no chances.

"What do you want?" He asked the girl, indignatantly. He hated this place ever more with each new person her met. He was sure this girl wouldn't be any different.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

Ketsuta raised an eyebrow. "hmmm...you get right to the point don't you? good. it saves me some time." her voice was nothing like Yuuki's...it was almost more of a purring....but there was some underlying tone that was quite reminisceant of a cobra ready to strike, with a combination of a cat playing with its food. feline, and reptilian....

"what i want, is to know why someone like you, who obviously has quite different intentions than what this kind of school would promote, is doing here." she raised her eyebrow, her lip quirking slightly. this boy could be quite interesting. she found humans to be so dull, but a demon....the other two girls that she'd met, whom would have started out with potential, had ended up continuing on a path that had made them of no interest to her---they had given her enough power to create quite a problem for the stubborn Yuuki, but nothing else. just wastes of time. this boy was different, though....

[Leon Barner]

Leon sat up now, crossing his legs. A looked of suspicion crossed his face as he continued to look the girl over, suspiciously.

Finally, he asked slowly, "Now why would you be interested in that?" Then he stood and added, "And for that matter, what could you possibly know about my intentions?"

Leon had a distinct feeling that this girl was not unlike himself, and found himself wondering her intentions. He was being a bit defensive now. It seemed that he always got like that when people approached him unannounced. There was something else though. Something about the way the girl held herself, the way she spoke, made him feel as though he had to take care with what he said. He could tell that she was intelligent, methodical.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

a slow smile crept across Ketsuta's face, "well, if it weren't for your intentions i wouldn't be here." her eyes lit strangely. he was responding quite well to her...she knew that she's managed to catch his attention, even if just slightly. [color=blue]"the last time i saw a Demon was several hundreds of years ago, so you'll have to excuse my memory, but i recall that they poses magic skills, usually, yes? how are yours coming along?"

her smile widened just a tad bit, and she held her hands out in front of her, palms up. blue, liquid-like looking flames licked up her hands, and solidified into an old looking book---the cover was in latin. she held it up slightly, and skimmed her fingers along the cover. "some greedy demon gave this to me to keep and make sure no one stole it. he figured that when he came back for it, he'd be immortal. never came back. he thought that he was immortal enough to touch gold. he was a tad ahead of himself, i suppose." she shrugged nonchalantly, looking at the cover of the book with about the same expression, as she continued to slide her fingers over the silver lettering.

[Leon Barner]

Leon's eyebrows furrowed at her first statement, and he tensed up when she said the word "demon". She wasn't a demon, right? She couldn't be. He didn't get the familiar sensation that told him a demonic presence was near. His eyes widened as the book appeared in her hands. He could tell the title was in latin, but didn't know enough of the language to decipher what it meant. It was impossible for him to hide his intrigue. Interest was an emotion he normally didn't like to show, either. His favorite emotion was indifference.

Now he listened intently to what the girl said, her story about this greedy demon. The demon was an idiot. Leon knew now that immortality was simply not accessible to lesser demons. The demon god wouldn't allow for it and the act of possessing angels to get it in turn angered the angel god. And to believe that you were immortal enough to touch gold was an act of pure folly. Though, now that he thought about it, just how did one know when one became immortal? He always thought he would feel different, but maybe that wasn't true. The gods were just a regular angel and demon, the only difference being that they weren't phased by gold or silver.

Leon studied the book as the girls pale fingers ran over it. He willed the meaning of its title to come out to him, but he simply didn't know enough the Latin language. "What is it?" He asked, trying to keep his voice toneless, but even he heard the lust hidden beneath it. He hardly gave himself the opportunity to process just how much she knew about demons, and therefore about him. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

Ketsuta opened the book, letting its pages fall shut slowly and gently, just at the angle so Leon could see. [color=cyan]"This? a very, very old spellbook. at least as old as i am, really. from ancient times when the whole world was fully aware of the evils it contained--and i'm not talking of the silly Salem Witch Trials, i assure you."

she smiled, and a reptilian sound--almost like a purr--sounded from her throat for just a split second, her eyes brightening. "i believe i've been holding onto it for just a tad too long, don't you?


at the mention of the spellbook, yuuki began to fear what ketsuta's intentions were. what was she planning? Yuuki ran to the edge of the crystal, pressing her hands to the edge. she couldn't so much see what was hapenning through the crystal, as she could see through Ketsuta's eyes. she watched as the pages fell gently...her eyes widened in horror, as she realized what she might've been planning---she never did anything if it had no benefit to her. in horror, Yuuki started pounding on the crystal, screaming to be let out, but no one could hear or see her.

(blech...sorry if i should have made the reveal of the spellbook more intriguing....its quite difficult writing for ketsuta...even more difficult to catch and keep leon's attention. lol)

[Leon Barner]

A spellbook! Of course, a part of him had had a sense that that was exactly what it was. But it was impossible. He had met the demon god. He hated the idea of lesser demons trying to become as him. There was no way he'd allow for a spellbook, espicially one as old as this one appeared to be, to remain in existence.

There was no mistaking it though. A lot of the spells used the same words as the ones he used in his spells. He didn't recognize any of the specific spells, but he definitly recognized the words.

He got a hold of himself, forcing himself to put his indifferent face on, and looked directly at the girl. "Get to the point," he ordered her, this managing to keep the lust out of his voice.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

Ketsuta's lip quirked. "here's the deal," she reach behind her neck, and opened the clasp of the dragon pendant around her neck. she held it up, with part of it looped around her finger. "you hold on to this little pendant here--don't worry, no gold included--and you get this spellbook." she held the two items up, side by side, and raised an eyebrow at Leon.
"do we have a deal? or will this book have to collect dust for another few hundred years?"

Yuuki was shrieking desperately from inside the crystal. no!!!! as soon as the pendant came off from Ketsuta's/her neck, Yuuki felt a pressure, then something like a tearing. she shuddered, suddenly feeling like a cold, empty shell...like a stiff breeze could blow her over. shocked, she fell to her knees (though she didn't feel anything--she felt numb, like she might as well be a ghost]. yuuki shuddered again. crap. things were going south very quickly. she had to do something, and quickly. truthfully, she wasn't sure she could survive for very long in this crystal alone---let alone when the crystal was off. crap.....

[Leon Barner]

Leon eyed the pendant, then looked back to Yuuki. He didn't think of the pendant at first, just the spellbook. He thought of the gods and how they especially didn't want him practicing magic. Of course, he had already shown how little he cared for this, though. He knew even before at Lillegard that he was going to use the opportunity to learn more magic. Unfortunatly, this wasn't easily done.

The only way he had to learn magic was the latin dictionary he'd snuck into his backpack before leaving Rosewood county. It was book... written by a human, but it was the best he could afford. That alone could have gotten him killed. Now seeing the spellbook he realized how idiotic the dictionary had been. He had risked his life for such a weak attempt. But this spellbook...

He wasn't going to be the fool. He wasn't going to blindly trust this girl he'd just met. "Let me look through it. I'll find a spell that I recognize. Make sure it's the real deal."

[YuukiHyouketsu]

ketsuta noted the fact that this particular demon child was at least using his head. she shrugged, and handed him the book. "don't try to run off with it. i'm faster than i look." as long as he was holding the book and not the pendant, leon wouldn't get very far. she'd made sure of that, and that fact would continue to hold as long as she was in control. as she waited, she began to twirl the pendant around her finger, looking bored.

i can hear you screaming you know. if you don't shut it, i'll chuck you into the lake. perhaps you'll be lucky and become a ghost...?

Yuuki's eyes flared with rage from within your glimmering cell. she'd never been so angry in all her life---and it frightened her. it frightened her than ketsuta could manage to push her so far. she'd work all her life to be unfasable--to be strong, and hide her emotions. it seems i failed... she thought sadly, trying to keep her thoughts hidden from ketsuta. how ironic...i came here to be safe. what a mess

[Leon Barner]

Leon took the book in his hands, felt its weight. It was huge. He only knew three spell out of this entire book... Just opening it and looking freely through its pages, he had a sense that it couldn't possibly have been fake. The book was ordered by spell types. Of course, it was entirely in latin, and he had no way of knowing what the random gibberish following each spell name could possibly mean. Occasionly he turned to a page that had some sort of drawing for one of the spells.

The first spell he looked up was the one for his wings. "Gate to the Heavens" was its english translation, ironic as it was. Beside the spell was a detailed drawing of a wing. It was colorless, just a lineart, and he was fairly certain there was no difference in structure between an angels and a demons wings anyway.

The next one translated to "Virtue of the Spirit". It was the moldable energy he called to his hands. Following this spell was a long description that took almost two whole pages. There was a lot one could do with that spell. Leon felt it warrented such a lengthy description.

The last one, the only one that didn't come naturally to every demon or angel in the world: "Gate through Matter". It was the spell that allowed him the phase through solid objects and the only one Tanner had bothered to teach him. He thought it was nondestructive or that Leon would at least not be able to find a way to make it destructive. This one didn't have much to it in the spellbook. It was a simple spell.

Once Leon was satisfied with the authenticity of the spellbook, he handed it back to the girl and turned his attention to the pendant. He didn't know what it was, he didn't know what would happen if he took it. He didn't like that thought. If she didn't want it why didn't she just throw it into the lake? "What is it?" he asked, gesturing to the pendant with his chin.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

Ketusuta's eyes blazed slightly. she held the pendant up." this? this is an annoying trinket that i can't seem to get rid of. its nothing to you, but its a source of many complications for me. i simply need it out of the way....i'm the only one that can break it, but i'm not really sure what will happen if i do that, so i find it best to avoid that option. so," she leveled her gaze, almost as though in a stare down with leon. [color=blue]"do we have a deal?"


yuuki was quivering in her cell all the while.....was she going to die?



(gah! too short! it will get better soon, i promise)

[Leon Barner]

Leon looked to the pendant then back at the girl. He'd already lost interest in the pendant entirely. Right now his only concern was the book. How to keep the gods from finding out he had it. How to go about translating it in the fastest way possible. Most of all though, where to start?

He could go from front to back. Though, he knew he wouldn't be powerful enough to do some, probably most, of the spells. He could find the ones he knew, master them first. Or he could hunt for ones that he'd seen before like Cass's teleportation spell or Feign's guardian spell. This would take a lot of time, though. He'd already tried to figure out these spells on his own with the latin dictionary. He'd spent hours trying to figure the right phrase to no avail.

He shook the thoughts out of his head; he was getting ahead of himself. He had to answer the girl before she took back her offer. With no external expression he said with an almost steely voice, "Deal."

[YuukiHyouketsu]

Ketsuta smiled in a way that didn't quite reach her eyes. she let go of the book, and it started to sort of levitate towards leon. as soon as it reached his fingertips, she tossed the pendant at him, then gave him a sarcastic, limp salute. "enjoy. i know i certainly will." then, calmly, she turned, lept into the air and soared off into the skies, relishing in her new-found freedom....



yuuki shrieked in horror as the pendant was chucked at leon, for as soon as the pendant left ketsuta's/her fingers, she was completely and absolutely disconnected from her body. she felt sick and insubstantial, and all remaining tone to her skin and hair drained away. she was pale--practically all white, and her hair looked like a washed out blue. a single tear rolled down her cheek as her final connection with the outside world--her sight through ketsuta's eyes (no longer hers) faded away. she fell to her knees in pain and desperation. what do i do now? wither away? or am i just stuck like this forever? i don't even know which option is worse..... she cried bitterly, her pain beginning to eminate from the pendant itself, making the crystal set in its claws being to glow an almost pained dark blue...like washed out, greyish navy.


(her pain is literally tangible to anyone touching the pendant now....and possibly even the ghostly sound of her cries?)

[Leon Barner]

Leon didn't even look at the girl as she flew away, only the book. He turned on the ball of his foot to the back of the flat area of the mountain. at the far end it countinued sharply upwards into regular mountain again, giving him something to lean back on.

As he began to walk towards he was going to put the pendant in the pocket of his hoody, but the light and, if he listened closely, the sounded it emitted made him stop. He lifted it to eye level and looked into the blue crystal. He got a quick sense that something was inside of it, and this realization made him drop it. He was going to pick it right back up again, but decided against it. leave it alone for now; I'll pick it up later.

He continued towards the mountain wall and sat up against it, opening the book to begin studying it. Right now he would just look at the drawings since he didn't have his latin dictionary with him. He allowed himself one glance towards the pendant on the ground a few meters away from him before shaking his and turning his attention back to the book.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

(just realize he can't physically travel more than a quarter mile away from the pendant. lol. that's how ketsuta set it up ^^. i wanted to make sure leon didn't leave yuuki sitting there.)


Yuuki was slamming her palms against the walls of her crystal cage, wishing she could at least see. but no, she had no idea where she was, or what was going on. in desperation, she gave one last shove to the crystal, feeling herself turning invisible as she sometimes did when she was upset. at the same time, she felt the rush of energy she usually only felt when she was trying to force ketsuta back out of her body. when her hands met the crystal, there was a moment where they slid right through the wall--just before she was suddenly shoved out of her prison. she hit the ground flat her her face, rolling to a stop. she looked around, trying to take stock of what was going on.


she was still in the mountains---and the demon boy was still there.....but ketsuta was not. what was going on??? she walked toward him, calling, and trying to get his attention he was looking through the spell book ketsuta had given him--yuuki shuddered, but concentrated on figuring out what was going on---and getting back to her body.

at that last though, she froze and looked down, letting out a wail that floated ghostly through the air--the only sound that Leon could have possibly heard at all. she was not in a body at all...she looked and felt similar to how she normally did when she turned invisible, except she felt even less substantial, and weaker. she couldn't even seem to get herself visible again. for a moment, her body flickered weakly, like a specter seen in the corner of your eye. she felt so lost, and a tear slowly slid down her cheek.

no. i'm not giving up yet!! she ran toward the demon boy, feeling a tug as she did so--she couldn't move far from the pendant, but she did manage to reach him. desperately, she waved her hands in front of his face, trying to get him to look--she even tried to punch him, but her hand just went right through.

finally, practically insane with desperation, she shrieked suddenly: "OI! LOOK UP, DAMMIT!!"".

as she shrieked, her body suddenly came bursting into full view, right in front of leon. her hair flared straight out with her rage, and kind of stayed there , moving as though under water. her eyes were blazing a crazy blue--brilliant cobalt. that was the only thing that seemed to hold any color--her whole body was sort of visible, though see through, but her hair had streaks in the same glowing cobalt as her eyes. that water shard and icicle tattoos all over her body were also glowing in the same color. she figured that, at that moment, she probably looked about as demonic as she usually did when ketsuta was trying to take over her body.

[Leon Barner]

Leon jolted into a standing position, a bit awkwardly because he'd sitting cross-legged. The book feel to the ground with a loud thunkp and he had a fleeting thought that the book was ancient and he should be careful with it. He summoned some energy to his right hand in case he needed to to defend himself.

The girl had just materialized out of thin air. She looked similar to the girl he'd just made the deal with but there were distinct differences in her general colors and in the way she held herself. The half-invisible girl standing in front of him now was someone completely different than the girl who'd just left.

"Where the hell did you come from??" He demanded, though he had a pretty good idea of what the answer may be. Looking, literally, through the girl he saw the pendant, right he'd dropped it.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

Yuuki blinked in surprise at leon's response.....he could see her now? she glanced down at herself. yep. she was visible...and a bit to close to leon she backed off a bit, though she was still on edge. "from the pendant," she grumped back bitterly. " are you insane or what? it think you would have to be to make a deal with Ketsuta! didn't you even think that the only reason she would do something for you is for her personal gain, only? weren't you even curious? of course not! and now look were you've gotten me--stuck as a freaking ghost with no way of getting back to my body---and now she's going to go after Rachael! you stupid idiot!" yuuki had never been this angry in her life. she didn't care that he was a demon---she was going to chew him out, if it was the last thing she did! how could he possibly have been so ignorant?

[Leon Barner]

Leon forgot everything the girl had said as soon as she mentioned Rachael. Why would she go after Rachael? What was Rachael doing here in the first place??

Leon shook his head and picked up the book. He walked past the girl, picking the pendant up off the ground practically without stopping. Then he launched himself off the mountain, catching himself with his wings.

He needed to find Rachael now. He'd be in trouble if anything happened to her on his watch. He flew lower towards the lake where he'd met Leigha and found a tree by it that would suit his needs. He placed the book in its branches in such a way that you would be able to see it unless you were for it. It wasn't the safest of all places but it would have to due for now.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

Yuuki yelped as she got yanked along with the pendant---she had an even more limited radius from it then leon. it was like a tugging in her chest. as soon as leon launched himself into the air, she made sure she did the same, in case all the weight of her being would be in her chest when she got yanked up into the air. she didn't think it would hurt too mcuh, being as she was practically a ghost, but she figured she should fly to stay on the safe side of things.

when leon had marched off, she'd tried to get his attention, and get him to stop, but she soon realized it was no use. she was only a ghost, and she had no say in the matter. she would not being going back to her body anytime soon, she was fairly sure. still, she could at least make an attempt.

she pumped her wings to get in front of him, to at least have her say for a second. "do you even know where she is?" to her dismay, he ended up fly right through her, because she was unable to get in front of him very far. she shuddered at how it felt--blech. she pumped her wings again, quite determined to keep up with him so she didn't have to deal with being yanked along, but dang he was fly fast. i guess he does at least care somewhat for her, she thought. she would have never guessed that he would go leaping into the air like that once she had mentioned Rachael's name.

"look, are you going to at least tell me what you're planning on doing?" this was going to be one bumpy ride, she was sure of that....

(you can control where we go or whatever, i'll figure out how to get yuuki back in her body eventually...its fun to have no clue what will happen next ^^. when/if we meet up with rachael, you could just include some of her posts in with leon's, like i do with ketsuta and yuuki, if it makes it easier. i find it kind of fun to have yuuki as a ghost...might do it more often. just...less killing intentions with ketsuta. so we can leave yuuki floating there for as long as we need to)

[Leon Barner]

Leon ignored Yuuki as they flew, not answering any of her questions. He was ascending higher and higher, as high as gravity would allow him to go. From this height he could see Heron Forest in the distance and a bit of the Castle's roof.

Leon wasn't concerned with the girl who'd given him the book, who was evidently name Ketsuta. He just needed to find Rachael. Anyway, finding her would be easier than finding Ketsuta, he just needed to get close enough.

Now he looked back to Yuuki. Remembering what she'd said before mentioning Rachael. Of course he'd realized that Ketsuta must have gained something by getting rid of the pendant. He didn't care. In his opinion, nobody did anything for any other reason. Specifically, she'd said she was a ghost with no way back to her body. He could tell now that she wasn't able to travel far from the pendant. He still didn't understand it entirely, didn't really care to.

"You met Rachael? Where was the last place you saw her?" he demanded.

[YuukiHyouketsu]

as they had begun to get high, yuuki was quite grateful that the cold in the air had never bothered her, and that she could fly through it easily. though, considering the predicament that she was in, she doubted that it really mattered.

"i don't know....she had only just gotten to the castle.." she looked at the pendant desperately, wishing that she could hold it, or where it, but she was so insubstantial that it would just slide right through her fingers if she tried.

she gave her wings a hard beat to get a slight lead on Leon--she was still feeling that tugging in her chest, and it was driving her nuts! "I think her house is Eala....maybe we should start there?" she attempted to coast for a second to get her thoughts a bit more in order. she could see the castle in the distance---at their speed, they could probably reach it in a few minutes, really--maybe 7, tops. she figured ketsuta had gotten a 5 minute head start....she grimaced at what she could possibly do in five minutes. she was slightly peeved at leon's course of action, but she figured it was the fastest way to get him motivated, and therefore, her fastest route back to the castle and hopefully, her body. plus, throw rachael into the mix, and she was set pretty far on edge. she had no idea what ketusta would do to her, but she was quite certain that, once she was finished, she would set her sights on the school itself. yuuki just hoped that the headmistress would be able to hold her off. she also hoped that if ketsuta did get as far as attacking the castle (which she hoped and prayed she wouldn't, because that would me that rachael.....she grimaced) that jami and owen would remember that yuuki had told them to beat the snot out of her, as it wasn't yuuki's body anymore.

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