Battle Hymn of the Republic

As Johann made his exit Vrey made no motion - not even a twitch - in response to her classmate's outburst. Only when the necromancer was out of sight did the bald teen let her shoulders droop slightly out of line from her normal stiff posture. Locking her grey eyes onto Manon Vrey's entire body seemed to flicker as if the light was rippling wrongly against her. From Manon's perspective the other student never broke eye contact but from one moment to the next Vrey had stood in front of her with no shoes and with some manga and a flashlight in her hand to the odd teen now wearing tennis shoes and having two sheets of stiff looking parchment in her hand.

"Here." Vrey's eyes flashed green as she slipped a pen out of her pajama pockets and place it on top of one of the pieces of parchment - which itself was now suspended in the open air in front of Manon by writhing strings of energy. "We are writing apologies."

Without waiting for a response the bald teen pulled out another pen and, in an extremely normal gesture, pressed her piece of paper against the nearby wall as she began to write.

A yellow rose sits. Bound,
By petunia's snarling roots.
I'm sorry.
Fear bites cross my goals,
Only most mistakenly.

Frowning at the lines of ink in front of her Vrey quietly folded her parchment into neatly pressed lines. Her gloved fingers maintaining the lightest grip possible against the fragile sheet of paper as she dropped her hands back to her sides. The bald teen turned her attention back to Manon once again and at first simply blinked through a slow regular pattern as she dealt with her thoughts.

"Is it your want to also track him?"

"Hoshiko. She's a dear friend, but she doesn't like Drysi, so keep that in mind," warned Chinami before Kat could make it out the door. Eryk followed in behind Katerina wordlessly, giving a passing glance at the shugenja as the two went down the hall, the cacophony on the floor starting die down as everyone began to get the excess energy out of their systems.

"Do you know where your friend would go?" asked Eryk.

----

Johann's outburst caused some stares from down the hall. There had already been some onlookers for Manon's habits, but some of them quickly turned back into their rooms as the show stopped rather suddenly. Manon for her part, seemed a bit stunned. Her wide eyes seemed to show that she hadn't expected him to yell. An unsure smile finally settled on her face, as if she were an actor who just got slapped with ad-libbing on a practiced scene on set.

Then her grin came up mostly full again, "Mon cheri, that wasn't the laugh I was expe--..."

"Ggg... GGAH! CLOWN!"

"-- okay you're displeased. That's fair. I feel I've been a little off mar--..."

She watched him stomp off, but she still stood in her door-way, looking as though she was trying think of a cure to cancer. When he came back by, she was still there, and she raised her hand and took a sharp breath to speak, before finally seeing his tears. Her voice crumbled in her throat, and instead she bit her lip as he walked the other way to reconnoiter with the rest of the group.

As Vrey materialized up, she found Manon had begun fiddling with a rubber duck. The squeaking duck looked rather guilty, but it wasn't so interesting that the Clown could ignore the ethereal girl.

"Here." Vrey's eyes flashed green as she slipped a pen out of her pajama pockets and place it on top of one of the pieces of parchment - which itself was now suspended in the open air in front of Manon by writhing strings of energy. "We are writing apologies."

The girl took the paper and the pen, with much more placidity than most, and seemed to think on it for a moment before writing something down. She struck the medium in a furious sweep, as opposed to Vrey's flowing buzz. Having committed something to paper, Manon looked a little rejuvenated, and was coming to smiling again as Vrey spoke.

"Is it your want to also track him?"

Manon gasped, slammed the door in Vrey's face, before immediately ripping it open, dressed in full clown attire. She wore silly multi-color boots, with striped stockings that ran all the way up to mid-thigh that ended in some garish, puffy pantaloons. The rest of her was bedecked with colors, ribbons, and puffy sleeves. The ensemble was complete with a painted face that acted as a mantle for a jingly fool's hat.

"Yes."

----

Mr. Casson, likely a French name by any means, stared balefully down at Willow, as the French do. There was an eerie energy that ran behind his eyes, almost enough to be felt. He tilted his head, and that odd stare seemed to measure the girl, and her excuse, for their worth.

"So that's what this was. I see. It was by the fountain outside. Here."

At that, Casson unfurled his arm, extending the book that he had been holding. It was, in fact, a notebook of fine make that had been soiled by dirt and water. There was a little D pressed into the leather binding. The man gave it a shake, opening the article fully to reveal one of the marked pages before pressing it into her hands. The manic scribblings were marred by the water damage, but some of it was still legible.







When Willow looked up from her study of the material, Mr. Casson was gone. It was then that Katerina and Johann had managed to catch up with her, coming down to the lobby as well.

Johann's arrival was heralded by a soft sniffling and the gentle clacking of Chuffy's nails on the floor. He said nothing, but stood at Willow's elbow. After a brief study of the notebook, he glanced up at Willow with a red face and concerned frown. If one didn't know any better- which Willow did not- it would appear the young mage had or would soon cry over Drysi.

Willow felt pale, and whatever she had planned for dealing with the teacher became moot; both because the man was no longer present in his own rather spooky manner, and because after seeing the book she couldn't recall what she was going to do anyway. She snapped back at the sound of Chuffy and realized Johann was at her side. Forcing a smile on to her face, Willow snapped the book closed and flashed Johann a grin. She was willing to be the Tommy Pickles for the group, but that involved keeping a brave face.

"Let's get to the fountain, group up, and get looking; shall we?" Willow said, her tone strained but chipper as she toted the notebook. "Chuffy had some practice using his nose back during Mr. Flynn's class, right? We'll find her in no time, isn't that right Chuff?"

With her free hand, Willow pat the dog on the head before making her way the rest of the way down the stairs, and outside.

"Thank you for coming with me, Hoshiko" Kat said to the fox spirit, before Eryk asked her about where Drysi might go. "I honestly don't know, aside from the dorms, classrooms, or library, she seemed rather loath to be anywhere, and something tells me she wouldn't have gone to the classrooms or library at this hour, though I suppose we can't rule them out-"

Katerina stopped as they made their way closest to the exit, just behind Willow, whom seemed to currently be in the middle of an interrogation, by none other than the RA.

"Well, shoot..." she muttered, unsure of what to do at the moment, waiting on the verdict from those ahead of her. Which, she didn't have to wait long, as the matter seemed to solve itself within the moment she had arrived. The blonde Japanese girl couldn't do much but follow those what had already arrived.

It was a blustery night, the trees on the property swayed to and fro, as if unsettled by the night's events. A fountain sat at its lonesome at the front of the building, bubbling water throughout the day and night. Gentle, glowing light emitted from the rippling base, offering more sight to the area besides what was given by some of the dim lamps. A new, recent edition of a marble shield at the crown of the water feature reflected light with an eerie warmth.

The front yard of the complex was deathly quiet, save for the sounds of running water, and the distant night life of Osaka. There were no chittering bugs, hooting birds, or even unpermitted spirits lingering at the edge of the land. It was a lack of life that would feel a bit alarming for a druid, especially one that was in-tune with surrounding spirits, but it was not unnoticeable for the rest of the students.

Eryk sniffed the air as they came out. "So, the library or the classrooms are unlikely options. I don't know Drysi all that well so I can't really offer any background information. We know she took off running and it's not the first time she's done this, is that right? Any weird habits in the last few days? Any signs of where she went?"

The young man looked at Willow and Johann, realizing he was just speaking without introducing himself. "Oh. Hey. I'm Eryk."

Kat drew her jacket closed, and zipped up the front of it as the wind blustered a bit more than she had thought it would, taking in everyone whom had showed up so far. Aside from the wind and the few students gathered, she could tell it was unusually quiet about the area, and that combined with the wind unnerved the blonde a bit, before she noticed something that distracted her a bit from it.

"What's that paper say, Willow?" she asked of the druid in training whom had essentially raised the alarm on Drysi's disappearance, after Eryk had asked a few questions of his own.

Once outside, Willow began to slow burn her tin, enhancing her senses. Still not used to the sensation entirely, she couldn't notice the lack of bugs even if she wanted to over it feeling like Eryk had just shouted in her ear. She eased up on the burn more, and thankfully when Kat spoke it didn't startle her as much. Looking around the yard, she could she just fine between the light from the building and the light pollution from the nearby city.

Pondering the questions, Willow chewed her lip. "I'm not entirely sure anywhere is off limits," Willow responded. "She has been acting strangely recently. Her academics were slipping, staying out all night, in general a bit of a mess. As for the paper... well, it just enforces that she needs our help. Fan out and see if you can find anything else that would hint at where she got off too. Johann, do you think Chuffy can try and find a trail?"

Willow pulled a sock out of her pocket. It was the first piece of clothing Willow had thought to grab on her way out of the dorm, she just hoped that saving her roommate would excuse the oddity that was pocketing her sock.

The smell on the sock was well enough to pull up a trail, Drysi didn't wash clothes until Monday, a ritual she had claimed was best for cleansing the worst day of the week. Dead as he was, Chuffy could sense that the triclops had indeed left the dormitory property, her scent seemed to linger heavily at the fountain. Then, it stretched out to the street that lead to the school, a smell of cortisol and sweating, tearful triclops that seemed to lead back towards the school gates.

Amplified as Willow was, she could pick up on this as well, her friend's scent more familiar than it had ever been before. The one thing she couldn't pick up on was the lingering trails of death-magic that followed the trail.

Only Johann could sense such dark energies with any familiarity. The strange, abridged teachings of his father couldn't adequately explain, as their purpose were far above his current level in the art.

Whereas the only thing Katarina could feel was the flare of elemental fire coming from the direction of the gates of the school. It was a vibrant heat that made her heart flutter.

Kat's eyes flashed in the dark, or rather, they seemed to, as she sensed the flow of mana in the form of fire coming from up ahead of them, though it was too far to see and she couldn't quite pinpoint the exact spot, just, toward the school gates was the most she could gather. it felt rather like the eerie feeling one had when they knew they were being watched, but a bit warmer as her own elemental abilities made it possible for her to discern the type of magic.

"I think she might be that way!" the blonde girl announced, pointing toward the grounds of Safeholme academy and taking off at a brisk pace- Not quite a run, but not just a jog, either.