darkSpyro

Derek bit his bottom lip, "um, but if it goes up-where will it come down at? I don't really want to get crushed." He rubbed his forehead again with a sigh, "There has to be a much better and safer way of doing this."

Raven watches Myra and Derek discuss their plans on moving the boulder , "How long have you known Myra?" She asked, sensing that Nazeem seemed to have a soft spot for the girl.

Myra thought for a moment before pointing at the boulder. "Well, if we lift it straight up then it should come straight back down." She then pauses for a moment more. "Well, if we slowly remove the pressure pushing it up then it should come down slowly and safely."

The fiery being waited a solid for seconds before he actually responded to the question. "Five, perhaps even six years ago now I have known Myra." He says as he turns his head towards Derek and Myra once more. "Friends we found withing each other, and stayed that way we have for a long time."

Derek shrugged, "Alright, I guess that makes sense. Might as well give it a shot!" He smiles at Myra and cracks his knuckles. "You start with the water," he said. He was a little more excited before, definitely more than a wet person with a hurt forehead should be. But he had hope!

"Oh wow, so you have known each other for a while. Not to be rude but," Raven shrugged her shoulders, "Has she always been like this?" She gave a light laugh to try and possibly make it sound a little nicer, "She's very sweet but a little too carefree it seems."

Myra began to redraw her arcane circle. Sure enough, a few minutes later she had recreated the same circle that she had earlier. She gave Derek a thumbs up before pressing her hands to the circle again. Air sucked towards the circle, and water began to bubble through the flagstone beneath the rock.

Nazeem nodded to Ravens first statement. He however clearly hesitates to answer her question. Once she redraws her circle he finally gives an answer in a more distant sounding voice than his previous answers. "Myra... Her nature primarily remained the same as years past. As long as I have known her she has been but one person in her mannerisms."

Derek nodded at Myra's thumbs up and as the water bubbled up, "Water. More force," he commanded. He was hopeful that this would work. How could it go wrong? It was simple enough planning, right?

Raven thought over Nazeems reply as she watched Myra and Derek try once more to make the rock move, together this time though it seemed. "So she has always been childish in her ways then?" She frowned slightly, "Innocent may be a better word to describe her as though. "

Derek can feel his magic drain as he casts. Once his command is complete the boulder seems to shake for a moment before shooting up under an eruption of water. Myra lets out a stream out laughter as it rises. "See, of course we could do it!" The water slowly dies down, but not slowly enough. It begins to fall towards where Myra crouches at the edge of the circle.

Time seems to hang there for a moment, only to speed up suddenly. Several things occur as the sensation of flow return to everyone present. Felix moves faster than a human should be able to, ending up the closest to the scene, save for Myra and Derek. Meredith points her staff in the direction of Myra, the flagstones underneath her move backwards sharply. Nazeem had let out a babble of an incantation in a panicked voice.
But with a seconds warning it seems as it all magic within the courtyard has suddenly been expelled out. In a suffocating swiftness a null sphere looms over you all. And with a thundering crash the boulder collides with the ground. As if nothing else can move in this sphere Walker strides towards where Myra sits starring dazed at the shattered stones where she had been sitting moments before.
And as suddenly as it left it returned. Nazeem bracing himself as if he were light headed, Felix steadying himself to stop from tripping over his own feet, Meredith lowering her staff, and Myra still staring in shock of what had just occurred. In a loud voice Walker lets out a casual statement, "So, what have you learned from this?

Derek found himself unable to do anything but stand and stare at what was happening, but then again, it all seemed to happen so fast. He had thought for sure that the boulder would crush Myra as it came down but he couldn't find the strength or effort to stop it. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as they all stood there and he looked at Myra and the boulder that had fallen too close, "I'm so sorry Myra. Are you okay?" He asked as he finally made himself move to kneel beside her.

Raven was still in shock from what had happened, she had tried saying a few words to help as everyone else was trying to but it was a if all the magic wa gone and now she was left feeling a little sick. She was relieved to see that Myra was okay but she thought that the professor wa maybe a little too calm. Myra had almost been crushed after all.

Her voice strained to form words at first, but in a moment Myra began to speak."I, uh... Yeah, I'm okay." She said, turning to face Derek. "That was really close. We really moved it though!" Myra let out nervous laughter as she began to put on a strained smile. "It just goes to show what Magisters can do when they work together."

Nazeem seems to steady himself and begins to run, or rather glide, towards Myra. She looks up at him and begins some statement but is cut off as Nazeem kneels down and pulls her into a tight embrace. After a few moments she lets out a little more, less nervous laughter. "Hey, come on, Nazeem. I can't breathe if you hold on that tightly!"

Meredith just watches for a moment before responding to professor Walker. "Had they planned in further detail nothing would have happened. Neither of them seem to be incompetent enough in either physics or magic to properly control any basic spell work."

Derek forced a smile of his own, "Yeah, we moved it." He stood and moved aside as Nazeem moved forward and embraced Myra. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground.

Raven watched with her arms crossed over her chest, she couldn't say that she necessarily disagreed with Meredith this time. If they had thought it through a little better than the outcome might have been a little less dramatic and dangerous. She stepped up to stand beside Derek, she wasn't much of a people person but she could tell that he felt horrible about what had happened. She nudged his side with her elbow, "Don't worry about it so much, she's okay," she said softly without looking away from Nazeem and Myra.

After a few moments of Myra trying to convince Nazeem that she was in fact fine he finally releases her. She gives her fiery friend a patient smile before beginning to move. She stands, brushes her self off and walks in front of Derek. "Hey, we did it and that's what matters. Don't be so down." She says to Derek

Felix shoots Meredith a dirty look and walks over to Professor Walker as she begins to lecture. "Alright. Meredith has a point. Poor planning led to possible disaster. However, it's not like anyone else in the group offered to point out the flaw in their plan. Lesson one of being in a family: Don't let family members screw up." She turned to Nazeem, and point at him. "You. My office after this. You know why."
Her finger moved to pointing at Derek and then to Myra, "I'm sending both you and Bearer a physics book. Read it."
To Raven and Felix, "Neither of you screwed up, but you did just watch. A Magister's family is hard to replace. Remember that."
And finally to Meredith, "You aren't wrong, but I'd like to ask that you not look down on your classmates without helping them."
To this Meredith clicks her tongue in annoyance, crossing her arms, and speaking in a clearly annoyed tone. "Last I checked I moved the stones under her. She's not a splat on the pavement. Seems like help to me, though clearly not enough. "

Derek nodded, "I'm just glad you're okay. I don't want to lose any family members." He brushed at his eyes a little, making sure there were no tears. Listening to the professor he nodded and even laughed a little, "I suppose knowing physics a little better could be helpful."

Raven nodded at the professors words, she did just watch. She sighed and looked up at the sky, this would take some getting used to. She wasn't very good with people and now she would hve to learn to be a part of a family and look out for them. They had a special little family, this should be interesting.

Professor Walker looks the class up and down one more time before clapping her hands together. "As your teacher, I believe that we've had enough near death experiences for one day. Class is dismissed." Waving her hands in a shooing motion, she continues. "Get out of here before I change my mind."
On that note Meredith slings her staff over her shoulder and heads up the winding stairs built into the cliff side. She gives some vague grumble of a "good-bye" as she disappears around the bend.
Myra watches after her and lets out a sigh, "Well, I'm sure Meredith will come around to liking our family eventually..." She says quietly.
In response Felix shrugs, and let out a long yawn. He gives a wave to the rest of the group, "Good job guys, especially on the not dying. I'm gonna go take a nap."

Raven sighed, "Well, it's been fun guys. I'll see y'all later." She gave a small wave of her hand as she started on her way. She glanced over her shoulder as she played with her braid, "I'm glad you are both alright." She wasn't used to saying such things, the blush on her cheeks proved that.

"I'm sure we will be a good family," Derek says to Myra with a smile. He liked that she had so much hope for them. He said his goodbye to Felix but called after Raven as she started leaving, "Hey! Do you mind if I walk with you?" He jogged to catch up to her, not that it took long to do with his long legs. "Bye Myra!" He yelled over his shoulder.

Myra smiled and waved her good-bye to them. She watches as Nazeem and Professor Walker disappear into the classroom, waiting for Nazeem to leave.

(You now have time to do some stuff with your characters for characterization purposes. The magical fun times shall resume shortly).

Raven sighed, "Well, you are already following so how can I refuse you?" She and Derek walked up the stairs in silence until the reached the top where he began to hum. Raven shook her head, "You are a fairly big guy but you seem pretty harmless. If not childish," she stated. He simply smiled, not taking offense at her comment. " And you seem standoffish and a little rude." She laughed at his reply, "Oh really?" He laughed and nodded, "Yes, but you seem nice enough." She gave him a light playful shove and they walked in comfortable silence across the bridge from the academy and into the Merchants District.

ooc: WE time skip.
--

A week passes rather eventually. Professor Walker assigns far more book work over the concepts of magic and physics, likely due to last weeks conundrum. Once again you make your way down the stairs in the cliff side down to the small grey building that is class C-3. And once again you open up the screeching wooden door to the classroom. Most of your classmates are already inside, and Walker must be in her office.
As you enter the doorway Myra and Nazeem both give you a warm welcome, ceasing their conversation for a moment before returning to what ever topic has enthralled them. Felix is no where to be seen, but being the air head he is he may just be running late. Meredith is of course up in the back of the class, her legs propped up on the long desk with she staff sitting next to her.

Raven grumbled a hello to Nazeem and Myra as she passed them to take a seat, she wasn't much of a morning person. She crossed her arms over her desk and rested her head on them as she closed her eyes.

Derek walked through the door a little after Raven did with a frown, "Why didn't you wait for me?" he asked as he found her with her head down. He walked over to her and sat down beside her. He made her look even smaller now that he was so close. He stood at six feet and he didn't think she was more than five foot four inches tall.

On that note your professor makes her way out of her office, walking up to the podium with her eyes sweeping over the class. "Alright, Magisters-to-be, I'm going to take roll-call. Everyone be seated, etc." Walker stated as she picked up her clip-board. In the moments that followed she called out names until she reached Felix Za-adhi.
"Za-adhi? Za-adhi! Felix! Someone check the back of the room to make sure he isn't sleeping or-" Walker is interrupted the entire build shakes followed by a loud rumble.
Noises of concern come from your classmates, only to turn into louder exclamations as a louder, closer boom shudders through the building.
"What is going on out there?!" Walker shouts as she starts towards the door, "Get under your desks!"

Raven was immediately awake as the whole room begins to shake, "What the hell is happening?!" She stands as Professor Walker makes her way to the door. "She said get under the desk!" Derek snapped as he grabbed her arm roughly and forced her down before squatting next to her. Raven stared at him, surprised, he was always so gentle and childish that she forgot that he was older and bigger and could actually shove her around. Derek leaned over her slightly in a protective manner as he looked around the shaking room. What in the world was happening?...

Walker slams the heavy wooden door open, before letting out a string of what you can only assume are curses of one form or another. "Alright class, we're going on a ****ing field trip! Everyone line the **** up, we're leaving now!" Walker bellows.
The other students quickly grab their stuff. Nazeem all but carries Myra out the door, Meredith hauling her staff behind them. "We are leaving now! We must all go!" Echos out a shout from Nazeem towards the class in general.

Derek grabbed Raven's arm and pretty much dragged her towards the door after everyone else. "Slow down! Your legs are like twice the length of mine!" She said as she stumbled along behind Derek. She was almost jogging to keep up with his crazy long stride as he made his way to the line. "You can run or I can carry you," he said simply. Raven shook her head, "I am NOT going to be carried." Derek smiled, "Then move those little legs of yours faster."

Walker has everyone line up at the door before ushering everyone out into the training yard. The first thing that you notice is the smell. Smoke, ashes swirling in the air. The second thing is that the city in the distance is burning. Spells are flashing in the distance. Explosions rumbling, rocks from above falling past your little alcove and falling into the void below.

You can hear Myra's breath catch in her throat as she stares forward. Meredith lets out a small phrase the you assume is "Oh my god." Nazeem stares at the rising smoke for a moment before prying Myra forward.

As this image burns into your mind your attention is turn to a collapsed figure crumpled at the base of the stairs, in a worn tan vest and slightly dusty clothing. Felix. Walker lets out another string of curses before running over to him, checking for vital signs before letting out a sigh of relief. "He's okay, or alive, we need to go. Everyone, up the stairs! GO!"

Raven was frozen in her spot as she stared at the smoke and fire, she had just been there a few minutes ago. What could have happened? She turned her attention to professor Walker and gasped as she looked at Felix lying there, "Oh," was all she could manage. She heard the professor ordering her to go but her legs wouldn't move. Derek kept a straight face as he took it all in but he was hurting on the inside, this was terrible. He held Raven's hand tighter now and pulled her along with him as he followed Walker's order, seeing that she wasn't going to move on her own.

Walker lifts Felix into her arms as she begins up the stairs, barking orders to keep moving. The other students rush up the stairs. Meredith forcing her eyes forward, Myra still gazing at the burning city as she is pulled behind Nazeem.
You're not sure when it happened really, but half way up you hear Walker let out an exclamation followed by a loud boom. The magical energies in the area dispersed outwards, a flurry of dust and debris raining down on you all. Once, twice more the magic returns only to be nulled again with a thundered explosion of dust and smoke.
Walker stands at the highest point of all of you, one arm outstretched towards the source of the debris, growing at an unseen source obscured by smoke and ash.
You watch as Nazeem almost collapses, only to pick himself and Myra up and keep forcing himself up the stairs. Meredith, seemingly unfazed points her staff towards the source as she runs.

Derek couldn't seem to take it all in at once, so much was happening at once. He knew that they all needed to get to safety and that was what he was focusing on. "Raven, come on. Keep moving." Raven was standing still once more as she watched Walker. "Come. On!" Derek snapped and turned to face her. He grabbed the sides of her face and stared into her eyes, once she was focused on him he spoke, "It will all be okay but we have to go now. Okay?" She nodded and this time hurried along with him with no hesitation as he moved forward. Derek kept an eye on Nazeem, he was ready to help if Nazeem couldn't get Myra to safety on his own.

As the dust and debris clear you can see a figure emerges floating lightly in the air between the school and the city. Walker turns her head from it for a moment, her eyes sweeping over you all. She growled again before she continued to run up. She ushered the magisters-to-be to follow her. As you see two shots of what you assume is element magic being hurled at the cliff face above you. The whole structure shudders and rumbles as rocks begin to fall towards the stair way.Luckily no one appears to have been hurt by this. You are now three-fourths of the way up the stairwell.

"Derek? Is that someone up there?" Raven asked as she pointed to a figure floating in the air between the school and city. Derek looks up to see what he assumed to be elemental magic being hurled at them just before the cliff shook. He focused once again on his footing and the stairs. "It looks to be someone as far as i can tell," he replied, "Are we really being attacked?"

"No, they're sending us burning presents..!" You hear Meredith shout from farther up. Another shot, but this time Walker didn't cast fast enough. She throws her hand out only for her spell to be canceled as an orb of sorts punches past her forming null field and in front of Nazeem and Myra. You hear a shriek and a hiss of flames as the stairs are once more engulfed in smoke.
You watch as Myra sinks to her knees and Nazeem disappears into the ash. Frantically she starts feeling for something on the stairs above and below her. "Nazeem... Nazeem!"
Clanging down the stairs towards Derek and Raven's feet falls a red crystal. The same one that was previously in the center of Nazeem's chest.
Walker keeps moving, cursing loudly, as Meredith hurries back down to grab Myra's arm. She screams and drags her feet, and even so Meredith drags her up the stairs without looking back.

Raven yells out in shock as she watches Nazeem disappear and Myra drop to her knees. Derek continues past the crystal, not seeing it but Raven jerks her arm away from him and quickly scoops it up, "Raven, quit screwing around!" She glares at Derek as she follows, "Shut up Derek." She holds onto the crystal tightly as she follows. "Everything is going to ****," she grumbled.

It's here that you reach the top of the stairs, Walker waiting the top to count students as they come up. When Nazeem doesn't come up a flash of something goes across her face, which is quickly replaced by a snarl. She doesn't allow for you to stop, not for a second.
From the Academy behind you an onslaught of magic is being a cast. Both within and hurtling towards it. Air ships surround to island, turning it into a battle field. She motions towards the academy, shouting once more. "Come on, everyone inside. NOW!"
And so she continues to carry Felix as you make your way towards the gates of Lightbream Academy.

Raven looks around at the airships as she follows Derek and the others, Almost there. she repeated over and over in her head. Derek is farther ahead now, his long stride having him caught up with Myra and Meridith. "Short legs Derek!" she yells at him, obviously a "little" irritated. He glances back at her, "Hurry up!"

Walker rushes your class quickly past the gates and into the entrance room of the Academy. You aren't only group there, covered in dust and gasping for air. Several other are huddled in groups speaking in murmurs as they look here and there with the flow of magic and the sounds of explosions.
Professor Walker braces herself against the heavy door, closing it behind your class. She is still clutching to her unconscious student with no clear intention to ever let go at this point. Meredith finally lets go of Myra, who immediately sinks to her knees. It takes her several moments before she can speak. "Nazeem... Did anyone see Nazeem?" She asks her eyes searching for answers from the group.

Raven bends over to rest her hands on her knees, the red crystal still held tightly in her hand as she caught her breath, "Myra," she huffs. She obviously didn't run very often and all of the excitement and explosions and such had made her light headed as well. She slowly sat down on the floor and Derek moved to stand beside her as he looked around at the others who were already there.

Myra started to shake and her breathing becoming uneven, "You... You saw him right?", She starts on the verge of tears, "... Nazeem's still... he's still... right?" She manages to get out as tears began to roll down her face.
Meredith stands next to Myra, and even goes as far as to put her hand on her shoulder. She doesn't say anything however.
Professor Walker finally lays Felix down, taking off her jacket to use as a pillow for him. Underneath, it is obvious that one of her arms is artificial. A magically constructed replacement. She speaks in a low voice. "Nazeem... He was... Did anyone see a focusing crystal? Like the kind you uses for crystalline magic?" Walker asks the group grimly.

Raven still huffing and puffing raises her hand that has the crystal in it, "Myra...I got it." Derek shakes his head with a small smile, "You are so out of shape." Raven glares up at him, "No, I'm just running three times as hard to keep up with you because your legs are so long." She knew she was out of shape but she definitely wasn't going to admit it.

Myra stares at Ravens hand for a second before looking relieved. She didn't stop crying, she just gently took the crystal from Raven and hugged it tightly to her chest. "Thank you... Thank you so much.." She managed between shuddering sobs.
Walker lets out a long sigh of relief followed by a statement under her breath. "Alright, no dead students. That's a win."

"You're welcome," Raven smiled, "Just trying to keep the family together." She looked over to Walker, "Do you know if Felix is going to be okay?" She was worried about everyone honestly, even Meredith. There was no way that this wasn't getting to everyone.

Even though they were inside now Derek couldn't seem to relax, he tried to smile and make it seem like this wasn't bothering him though, "I'm glad everyone is okay- for the most part anyway," he said as he too looked over to Felix.

Professor makes a humming noise before responding, "Well, Za'adhi is pretty thick headed. I'm sure he'll be fine after his nap."
Meredith sits down, placing her staff across her lap. "What do we do now?" The question hangs in the air as the fluctuations in magic pulsate dizzily around you. It's a question that you can tell that Walker isn't prepared to answer.
"One thing at a time." Dodging the question, she turns to Myra."Bearer, let me see Nazeem..." She starts, only for Myra to pull the crystal tighter towards her. Walker pauses, and her expression softens a little. "Come on kid, I know. Just, let me see."

Raven nodded in response to Walkers answer. She hoped that the professor was right. She crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap as she watched Walker try to convince Myra to hand over the crystal.

Derek frowned as Walker avoided actually answering the question Meredith had asked but he let it go since all of this must be some what of a shock to their professor as well. Slowly he sat himself down on the floor with a sigh and leaned back on his hands as he stretched his legs out. He felt sorry for Myra, the sad expression on her face made his chest tighten up a little. She was such a nice and sweet person, to watch her cry was horrible.

After several moments of hesitation Myra slow moved the crystal away from her. Painfully slowly, she held him out in front of Walker. "Thank you, Bearer. You're doing good."
From her pocket she produced a piece of chalk with which she draws a small arcane circle. From the looks of it it's a conjuration spell. The professor brushes the chalk dust off her fingers at motions to the circle.
"Would you put him in the center there? And... if someone is will, place your hands on the circle." Myra hesitates again and Meredith raises an eyebrow at the statement. Walker shakes her head slowly, "I would do it myself, but being a null mage I'd just cancel it out."
With a trembling hand Myra gently places the crystal in the center of the circle.

Raven sat up on her knees, "I'll help if I can." She wasn't exactly sure of how much help she could actually be of but she was willing to give it a shot. She watched Myra finally place the crystal down and Raven crawled over closer. She didn't really know much about this and that made her nervous.

Derek remained quiet as he watched Raven speak up and move closer. He knew he wouldn't be of any help. He sat forward more now though, he wanted to make sure that he was paying attention if Raven was allowed to help.

"Right. Thank you. Okay... Well, you're an Incantation focused elementalist, so this is completely out of your field." Walker started, with as much encouragement as Walker can normally muster, aside from the words just do it. "So, think of it like an Incantation, except the incantation is already complete and you need to spend the magic all at once. In a single burst of sorta instead of a continuous flow." She explains.

Raven nodded slowly as she processed what she was told, "So just put my hands on it and pour in the magic right?" Her hands hovered above the circle as she bit her bottom lip in thought and stared at the chalk for a moment before looking up at Walker. She really didn't want to mess this up somehow.

Walker nods, and a small smile. "That's right. That's all there is to it." She says watching Raven like just about every other conscious person in your class.

Raven slowly placed her hands on the circle. A single burst instead of a continuous flow. She took a deep breath and with her eyes closed she poured her magic into the circle.

Derek had leaned forward even more now as he watched intently and even scooted a little closer to get a better look at it all.

As Raven does so her head begins to swim as her magic leaves her suddenly. But still, the circle lights up and crystal inside of it begins to glow. And after a moment it begins to rattle and shake before it is engulfed in flames. The flames grow and twist and contort until you can make out the outline of a person with unchanging black eyes.
"Nazeem!" You hear Myra shout as she practically lunges at him. Wrapping her arms around the fiery being tightly. She lets out a mixture of laughter and sobs as Nazeem's head turns as if he's trying to take in his bearing. An Echoing, distant and contorted voice comes from his general direction. "Reverted I was why? Unharmed are you all I hope."

Raven removes her hands from the circle and lays down on her back, "I think I'm going to stick with what I know and let someone else do the conjuring from now on," she said as she looked up at Nazeen and Myra who was hugging him. She rubbed her temples for a moment before she smiled. Nazeem was back. she hated to admit it but she had kind of gotten a little attached to everyone here and was glad she could help.

Derek smiled broadly as Nazeem appeared and Myra launched herself forward to hug him. "You alright?" He asked Raven who responded simply with a nod as she still smiled at the fiery being and girl.

"Confused. Disorientated." Nazeem's voice echo, "Otherwise, but alright am I." He turns he head to Myra before letting out what could possibly be a sigh. "Myra, it is okay now. Okay am I."
And Myra lets go of him only to pull far enough back to look him in the eyes. "Don't you ever do that again! I was so worried!"
Professor Walker stands up and looks around the room. "Alright kid, keep an eye on the napper. I'm not going far. I need to see how many people made it inside." She said before making her way towards the other groups of students and teachers.

Raven sighed as she watched Walker leave them, "How do you think this happened?" she asked quietly. She looked up at the ceiling and rested her arm over her eyes. She was tired.

Derek looked around at the the others in the room; he didn't know how to even begin to answer her question. He couldn't even believe himself that this was happening. Even after all they had just been through and with Felix laying on the floor unconscious, he still didn't want to believe it all.

Meredith let out a long sigh, "Other people have always wanted to claim this island from their own. We sit on the largest Arceia crystal that exists in the realms." She begins, crossing her arms with a sort of grimace. "Putting holes in it sees counter intuitive, but who knows... Maybe they just want to sink us all into the void."