The Awakener's mask looks blankly at Lumina's fox, then back to Athena. As Asch states her theory, the Awakener stares into Athena's soul, its hollow, eyeless gaze piercing through the graft and surveying the damage.

[Arrange] Sense Weakness.

"So you are sundered. Damaged, with a life ready to end, yet you flee from the inevitable. Do you fear your end so much that you would beg another to repair your tattered soul? Or did another choose to keep you from finality against your will? Even a Goddess fears the end. How curious. But of no relevance today. For today, what matters is that I have seen your weakness - and through it, the end of today's battle." The Final Rune then flares into being in miniature, within the Awakener's mask. The left hole now has a tiny copy of the rune super-imposed within it, like an inhuman eye peering out from the void. As it focuses on Athena, the Awakener channels the full power of the rune into following the trail of her soul - the bleed of her energy, the movements of her flesh and body, even the displacement of the air around her. Her every action leads inexorably to a conclusion - and the Awakener can now see the final Conclusion that every action creates.

[Final Rune - Support] Conclusion - <Revealed the Conclusion>

"It will end in your defeat." The Awakener then moves forward at frightening speed, thrusting the point of its blade into the weakest part of Athena's body, where the tattered soul has left her most vulnerable to its attack.

[Aggress] Impale Athena's weak spot

Serpico spots, or probably smells, Ashe up to something major and decides to hold back a moment. Lumina however begins to recharge her Ether, she then charges forward, taking her time to aim a proper swing at the fog swirling around Athena's ankles... she comes in low, using the fog as a cover and tries to hamstring Athena. The Goddess spots her opponent at the last moment and brings the tip of her blade down just in time to stop the damage and turns away back into the fog.

Meanwhile Chandi takes a stance near Serpico and charges up.

Alexis concentrates and lets the Ether flow back into him for a moment, then he turns his attention to Asch who seems to be preparing something. A silent dark comfort comes over her, like a peaceful bedroom, and her wounds close.

Athena smiles in response to Asch, "And just what do you think you have there young lady?" Asch is able to pinpoint exactly where Athena is standing from the reply. She begins to speak in blue, Etherial words flowing into her shift. And as she speaks, Athena's face falls from a smile to a look of shock. With a blue blade burning through the mists, Asch takes off for Athena's left flank - Athena stabs at her and seems to run her through, only to have the form fade and Asch swing from Athena's right - the sword slams into Athena and pushes her back... then shatters.

Asch's Sword is now burning bright red

For a moment, the fire of the blade reveals everything. Athena stands there, her scars now glowing... thousands of nearly microscopic razor thin cuts everywhere on her body, glowing through her long robes. The majority of them are on her torso, but the thin cuts cover her entire being... the only reason they are not visible normally is because they are so very thin.

Athena stands, bleeding from the gash the blade left in her. "Close... so incredibly close Asch. I did indeed nearly Unravel... but it wasn't due to a collapsed Leyline. Makosan, Tiranade and Eevee were my first students. And I loved them so very dearly... I still do. I could feel Mako and his brother at battle... and so I transported myself to the world they were wrecking in their fury. 50 years ago I got between the two... and I stopped them."

She looks around, eerie in the red light and fog, "They loved me as well... they heard reason in their teacher's words and ceased fighting... that is... until the planet Eevee was on collapsed and she unraveled. Makosan went insane... he launched his strongest attack at his brother, who pushed me out of harms way... Mako's attack... was comprised of thousands of microscopic blades of wind, honed to nearly atomic levels of thinness by electricity. At his full fury, Tiranade would have not only died, but would have his soul torn apart as well."

Her jaw sets, "I already lost one student that day... I wasn't about to do it again. I dove into the way and used a pressure wave to send Tiranade flying... the wave stopped my momentum and suddenly I was the one who was about to be erased. My actions caught Makosan's attention and his fury broke, he tried... he tried so very hard to steer the attack away from me... and he nearly succeeded. What you see now... is what happened to me when I was barely clipped by that powerful technique."

As I fell, bleeding, my very soul began to seep out of my wounds, shredded... Tiranade loved Eevee as well, and myself... he dove at his brother, summoning up his most powerful attack as Makosan turned the blast he created again at Tiranade... the moment before they collided they both looked towards me... snapped their fingers... and activated my Emergency Soul Recall, something you will all be outfitted with before you leave."

"I landed in the meeting room of the Great Elders... most of whom were in session at the time, much to my... well... I just witnessed all three of my most precious children die, never to return. I did not wish to live. The Elder's had other plans. Elder Yasuhiro slowed the movement of my body and soul to a crawl, Riordan began to heal my body and stabilize me... Elder Viata dove into my Unraveling soul and began to sew into the brace Asch has noticed, stopping me from exploding. Meanwhile Elders Aurora and Solarus took the massive amount of energy pouring from my body, captured it so I wouldn't be weakened, and forged it into the sword I am using today."

"It doesn't transform... but in a way it's a second Shift... it's a part of my soul and it does have great power." She holds the blade up and steps backwards, away from Asch and into the mists. "By the time I woke, Makosan and Tiranade were already gone, the planet they were battling on was destroyed as well... there was nothing left of any of them... save me. And thus, here I stand... scarred, revealed, and exposed.."

She listens to Serpico's rant, her face hidden by the mists. "Yes, Serpico... I am broken..." Chandi launches an cutting vortex at Athena, there's a sickening splattering sound followed shortly by the sound of a body hitting the floor. The smell of fresh blood tinges the air.

Meanwhile Harmony attunes herself strongly to the threads of life in the room that, despite the dark topics, are shining brightly. She begins to play an old song from a forgotten era, inspiring her allies and focusing them together - Even the Awakener can feel it's effects.

The Awakener then says it's peace to Athena down on the floor. "Broken... and yes I should have died Awakener... I should have...." The armor of Ending focuses in, but cannot seem to get a lock on Athena. "However." He thrusts at Athena, to find nothing but the ground where she was laying.

"I am not a FAKE."

Blinding light fills the mists in the room, the center of the glow appears to be coming from Athena's book which floats, hands free, in front of her face. "I am A Goddess. My scars I bear proudly. If it is to be the end of my career than so be it! TELL THE WORLD IF YOU WILL! SINGLE SHIFT!!!" And her book opens wide, burning brightly - you all feel as if the entire world can see you each for exactly what you are, your secrets laid bare.

"I am Athena."

"I am your Teacher."

"And I am done playing games."

She smiles, clearly visible in the fog. "Congratulations. You are the second class to ever force me to open my Shift. Thus I will be teaching you all something special in return when this battle ends... Techniques. To keep it short... they are a way of taking 2 to 3 actions and compressing them into a single, trainable action. Special attacks if you will. A demonstration."

<Technique - Fire Fang>

She's off in a flash, Serpico doesn't even have time to blink before her sword has slipped between his ribs, into his heart, and out the other side of his chest. She leans in close, whispers something to him, and a moment later Serpico's torso bulges as an explosion contained inside his heart goes off and sends blood flying out of his wounds. He slumps to the ground, bleeding, unconscious and barley clinging to life.

"Normally that would have taken two actions... but I did it with 1." She turns towards the others, "And the effects can be trained. Here is an example of a three action Technique." She swings her blade wide, and suddenly the fog begins to clear... it condenses into small floating spikes of ice, the insides of which burn small flames. There's 200 of them floating around the room.

<Technique - Ice Minefield>

"Mind your movements! These all go off at the slightest touch... and by the way, they cannot touch me." She then brings her book to her forearm, it floats in front. She shuts her eyes and concentrates:

<Ice Shield - Shift>
<Fire Core - Shift>
<Recover Runex2 - Shield Barrier>
<Recover Rune - Regeneration>

A swirl of fire surrounds her book, followed shortly by a thick blue barrier around that fire that solidifies into a thick barrier of ice with a firey core. She then waves her hand around the shield and a green paper thin shimmer adheres to it and fades into the new shield. She then waves her hand again, a green recovery rune melts into her forehead.

"Now." She takes a defensive stance. "Let's see how long you all can last."

—————————————>
[Athena – Level ???]
Health – [45/75]
Ether – [15/150]
Speed – [12(8)]
Regen – [2 (4) HP/R]
Recharge – [10 EP/C]
Perception – [7]
APT – [7]
[Status]
<[Single Shift – Tome Of Wisdom: +2 All Rolls, +2 APT, Techniques Unlocked]>
[Regeneration - +2 Regen, 3 Turns]
[Explosive Shield Shift - +3 All Defense Rolls, Full Counter Attacks on Successful Defenses>
[Shield Barrier – Shield gains an additional +2 Defense Rolls against effects targeting itself>
[Ice Minefield – 200 Mines Present, all actions must roll against Athena’s Keen to evade]
[Misread Intentions - -1 All Defense Rolls against Serpico]
[Red Truth Revealed - -2 All Rolls against Asch]
<Slip Edge> Use Beat for Physical Defense
<Fencer’s Pride> Use Keen for Physical Attack
<Walk The Wind> +4 Speed
<—————————————
[Race / Anima] – Wisdom Goddess; 1 Turn Res Wait, 10% EP Cost (Costs Double Per Death)
[Stats]
Edge – 4
Flux – 3
Keen – 7
Beat – 8
Rune – 7
Will – 7
Soul – 4
Alignment – Balanced

[Single Shift] – Tomb Of Wisdom – Able to read all stats/powers+2, All Rolls, +2 APT, Techniques Unlocked
[Techniques]
<Fire Fang> 10 EP: +2 Stab with internal explosion effect, double damage
<Ice Minefield> 25 EP: Requires Fog to be present first, d100 roll x2 decides the mine amount. Each time an opponent takes an action, they must roll against Athena’s Keen to evade the mines. For each point, a mine explodes and deals 1 damage.
[Runes] – <Fire> <Ice> <Recover>


—————————————>
[Serpico]
Health – [-4/12]
Ether – [7/34 (Base 24)]
Ink – [5/20][Orange Ink]
Speed – [10]
Regen – [1(3) HP/R] (Per Round Of Combat)
Recharge – [8 EP/C] (Per Action Used To Charge)
Perception – [8]
[Intentions] <Athena – “I am broken… but I am not fake.”>

[Status]
[Stunned – Cannot Act Till Revived]
[Ice Minefield – 200 Mines vs Athena’s Keen]
[Refrain – Circle Of Life; +2 Regen, +1 Attack Rolls]
[Swift Blade - +1 To All Physical Attack Rolls, 3 Turns]
[Heightened Synapses - +1 To All Defense Rolls, 1 Turns]
[Drawn Weapon (M); Flaming Crossbow, +2 Damage on impact, 5/5 Bolts Remaining]
[Drawn Weapon (M); Poisoned Estoc, +1 HP P/R Damage Per Strike (5 Max)]
[Orange Ink – Fire Charged Effects]
<Misread Intentions> - Good RP causes big drop in defense roll, then less for the rest of battle.
<Speed Strikes> Swap Keen for Edge when physically attacking
<Dodge Or Break> All Defense Rolls come from Beat
<Ether Booster> +10 EP
<—————————————
—————————————>
[Lumina]
Health – [(33)18/(33)18 (Base 12)]
Ether – [24/48]
Speed – [9]
Regen – [(5)1 HP/R] (Per Round Of Combat)
Recharge – [8 EP/C] (Per Action Used To Charge)
Perception – [7]

[Status]
[Refrain – Circle Of Life; +2 Regen, +1 Attack Rolls]
[Ice Minefield – 200 Mines vs Athena’s Keen]
<Transformation> - Active; +15 HP, +2 HP/R
<Health Booster> +6 HP
<Speed Strikes> Swap Keen for Edge when physically attacking
<Skilled Evasion> Physical Defense rolls come from Beat, not Flux
<—————————————
—————————————>
[Chandi]
Health – [12/15]
Ether – [10/40]
Speed – [8]
Regen – [2 (4)HP/R] (Per Round Of Combat)
Recharge – [5 EP/C] (Per Action Used To Charge)
Perception – [6]
Bracelet Current Form – [Axe - +1 Physical Damage]


[Status]
[Refrain – Circle Of Life; +2 Regen, +1 Attack Rolls]
[Ice Minefield – 200 Mines vs Athena’s Keen
[Sap Pit] – Chandi has made a pit of sap in the middle of the Hardwood floor of the class room
<Unstable Soul> - Random Effects, None Currently Known
<Deft Deflection> - When wielding a defensive weapon, you get +1 to your physical defense rolls
<Mad Movements> - +1 defense roll against Target attacks
<Expecting Ether> - When wielding a focus or magical weapon, you get +1 to you Runic defense rolls
<—————————————
—————————————>
[Alexis]
Health – [14/14]
Ether – [21/52]
Speed – [7]
Regen – [(4)1 HP/R] (Per Round Of Combat)
Recharge – [7 EP/C] (Per Action Used To Charge)
Perception – [10]

[Status]
[Refrain – Circle Of Life; +2 Regen, +1 Attack Rolls]
[Ice Minefield – 200 Mines vs Athena’s Keen]
<Precise Strikes> - Allows you to physically attack with your Keen Stat instead of Edge
<Light Body, Sharp Mind> - Retain 1 HP on Stun/Death, 3 Turn Cooldown
<Pulse Beat> - +1 HP Regenerated Per Round
<—————————————
—————————————>
[Asch]
Health – [18/18]
Ether – [22/52]
Speed – [6]
Regen – [2 (4)HP/R] (Per Round Of Combat)
Recharge – [4(5) EP/C] (Per Action Used To Charge)
Perception – [10]

[Status]
[Ice Minefield – 200 Mines vs Athena’s Keen]
[Refrain – Circle Of Life; +2 Regen, +1 Attack Rolls]
[Red Blade Of Truth – Cannot be effected by Athena’s debuffs, +3 All Rolls against her]
<Perfect Eye> - On room entry or speech with character, free perception roll
<Master Storyteller> All Traps and Illusions have a permanent +2 roll
<A Moment’s Glance> Free action per round to use a Perception Roll
<Deep Focus> Gain +1 EP per Charge
<—————————————
—————————————>
[Harmony]
Health – [30/30]
Ether – [45/60]
Speed – [5]
Regen – [1(3) HP/R] (Per Round Of Combat)
Recharge – [1(5) EP/C] (Per Action Used To Charge)
Perception – [8]
1st Score – [Life]
2nd Score –[Life]
3rd Score – []
Glitch Chance –[10%]

[Status]
[Playing Refrain – Circle Of Life; +2 Regen, +1 Attack Rolls To All]
[Ice Minefield – 200 Mines vs Athena’s Keen]
<Counter Break/Blast> - Counter Attack with Flux/Will on 5+ Defense Rolls
<Perfect Mind> - +4 EP Regen, +1 Runic Damage Reduction
<—————————————
—————————————>
[Awakener]
Health – [26/26]
Ether – [33/56]
Speed – [4]
Regen – [3 (2)HP/R] (Per Round Of Combat)
Recharge – [1 EP/C] (Per Action Used To Charge)
Perception – [7]
[Spiral Nemesis – Locked Down]

[Status]
[Ice Minefield – 200 Mines vs Athena’s Keen]
[Refrain – Circle Of Life; +2 Regen, +1 Attack Rolls]
[Ice Lock – Spiral Nemesis Cannot Spin for 3 Turns]
<Full Metal Jacket> - +1 resistance all damage, cannot be stunned. He is weakened under 1 HP, but can still fight all the way down to -10. 0 Regen.
<Built Like An Armored Truck> - +1 Physical Attack Rolls, +1 Physical Damage
<Detect Weakness> - Support Action to Detect Weaknesses, Perception Roll
<Runic Absorption> - Absorb Half Ether Cost of Hostile Runes
<—————————————

Lying on the ground, unable to move, body shattered by the impossible explosion, Serpico twitches. His expression is a frozen smile, apparently unable to move with his involuntary twitching.

And yet, his voice can be heard, his soul being just a bit visible within his body, pulsing to the sound. But all that can be heard is laughter. Ranging from cheerful to just a bit mad, it echoes in everyone's mind.

Alexis steps back, shocked at the ferocity of Athena's Fire Gang technique. "But - I thought - if you opened your shift -"

It's at this point that an ice mine hits him on the back of his head, shattering. Alexis screeches in pain, and the shadows that encased him seem to wrap more tightly and protectively, but the ice mine does return his attention to the situation at hand. Serpico is first - he may be unpleasant, but he is a member of the team. Alexis concentrates the restful aspect of his Dark Rune into healing the downed Serpico.

[Ultrasonic Scream]
[Cloak of Darkness: Body wrap: Tight (Damage reduction 3, -3 all attack rolls)]
[Dark Rune: Rest (Serpico)]

###########

Cthulhu fthagn!

[...What?]

What a wonderful phrase.

[... wat.]

Cthulhu fthagn. Say it and you're crazed!

[Oh no.]

It means "Cthulhu,
Rising out of the haze!"

[I never should have let you talk to that Old One...]

It's a prophecy,
We'll all soon see,
Cthulhu fthagn!

[Stop singing that! You want to get its attention?]

Cthulhu doesn't exist!

[...]

Right?!

[...]

Right?...

[Let's just say I hope no Hounds heard that... I managed to deal with them the last time they hunted me, but it was close. Couldn't go near a corner for a week.]

###########

Meanwhile, Harmony is now completely entranced by the music of Life, focusing on transmitting it to herself and her comrades. The song builds, and builds, and builds...

And the little ball of light is back, with small tentacles weaving back and forth to the music...

1. Tune to Life
2. Crescendo - Charge Harmony Rune
3. Crescendo - Charge Harmony Rune

The fighting is rather intense and Lumina is starting to feel drained. She takes a moment to relax her mind and recharge her Ether.

[Recharge Ether]

While she relaxes her thoughts, Lumina starts paying closer attention to the uplifting melody that is boosting the collective spirit of her and her comrades. Huh. I wonder if there's something I can add to this? Focusing more intently on the song than before, she delves her consciousness on in and speaks words of Surety and Confidence.

[Support Rune; Confidence x2; Target Harmony's Song]

Her blade now a bright red, though not perfectly so, Asch nods as Athena recounts her story. "Makes sense... I'm very sorry for misinterpretting." is all she can say.

Then Athena mentions Techniques, and Asch snaps to attention. She was always very diligent in class.

[Free Perception Action - Discern method of action compression]

Asch pays close attention to how the techniques are performed, Fire Fang in particular. "Interesting... may I try?"

With that she readies The Red Blade of Truth, and starts working through the ice mine field towards Athena. Once she makes it, she swings the blade three times, each time uttering a mystery rune chant... "Submitted for evidence! Submitted for evidence! Submitted for evidence!"

[Aggress x 3 - Attempt Technique, Deduction Blade, mimicking Fire Fang but with Evidence Rune; strike adds new evidence to Red Blade of Truth to strengthen it]

Chandi thumbs the missing portion of her nose and spits, flecks of blood mixed in with the saliva, a remnant of the wounds caused by the ice shards a few moments ago. She listens quietly to Athena's story, the expression on her face stern and cold. She does not react to the success of Serpico's and her's successful attack. She merely waits out the speech, hand gripping her ax tightly, until the knuckles begin to turn white. The opening of Athena's Shift doesn't seem to phase Chandi, who merely closes her eyes until the blinding light disappears. Chandi takes a deep breath, and then releases it, shaking slightly with rage.

[Recharge EP]

The attack to Serpico finishes before Chandi can even open her eyes. A few drops of blood land on her feet, managing to hit her from the distance between her and the downed artist. The mines come next, and Chandi halts her movements, examining the situation. Her expression has changed to cold fury, and it seems like she's trying very hard to hold herself back.

"You bear your scars proudly." She says, her voice ringing hollow. "It must be so easy to be proud of those scars. You can barely even see them. I'll bet that some days, you can look at yourself, and nearly forget what happened. What a nice luxury that must be. To forget." Chandi's eyes wander the battlefield, taking in the clusters, thinking carefully about what Athena said.

"Tin ma-, I'm sorry. Awakener. Whatever keeps her from touching the mines must work both ways, right? Focus that rune of yours on her. See if you can't end whatever keeps her from touching those mines. I'll fix it from there."

[Support - Link with Awakener]

Chandi throws her ax into the ground at her feet, the blade wedging deeply into the hardwood, and raises her arm, palm flat aimed at Athena. "You're right about one thing, teach. We aren't playing a game anymore."

[Setup Rune - Modification: Athena-Mine Resonance (Attraction)]

The Awakener's face is, as always, a silent mask. But this time no words accompany it - if it has reacted at all to what Athena has said, it is impossible to tell. Instead, it simply nods and focuses its magic, sending a wave of power into Athena to End her control over the mines. It ties this power with Chandi's, so that the End leads to a new Beginning - in this case, the reversal of the mine's attraction.

[Support - Link with Chandi]
[Final Rune - Support x2] End Rune - End Athena's control over the Athena-Mine Resonance

Serpico makes a charming laughing corpse. With Harmony's song playing, however, he weakly regains consciousness as his bleeding lessens. He can't move yet, but he's awake.

Lumina takes a moment to gather her power, opening her eyes again to unleash a potent rune of confidence and lay it over Harmony's song - It's a bit discordant, but Harmony adjusts the pitch a bit and her song gets a little stronger. There's a tremor, and a cluster of Ice Mines comes hurtling at Lumina, reacting to her Rune... 10 mines slam into her and explode, rapid fire, leaving her with multiple burns and cuts. "Be wary..." Athena grins, "Those mines react to just about anything..."

Chandi stops for a moment, observing and recharging. Athena looks directly into her eyes and responds, "I never forget, Chandi. To forget such important events... such defining moments, even for ill, would doom us to repeat those same mistakes. I was a flawed Goddess back then... and I can promise you on these scars I'll never make the same mistakes again." Chandi waits for The Awakener...

Athena turns her attention to Alexis next, "Alexis... to avoid battle is a wonderful thing. But when it's come this far, don't think that a small victory will ever end it." Alexis steps back and bumps into a mine, it bursts and cuts into him, forcing a high powered scream out; the shockwave rockets towards Athena, who curls behind her shield and deflects it. Unfortunately the scream attracts more mines towards Alexis, this time 7 of them slam into him and shred his skin. In response, Alexis wraps his regenerated cloak around himself tightly... the motion sends more mines his way... 9 of them slam into him almost all at once... his cloak is able to absorb any lethal damage, but the concussions of the blast knock him out cold. He hits the ground face first, unconscious.

Athena blinks at Acsh, "May you... try?" Asch rockets off for Athena again, mines trailing in her wake. "Heh, overachiever!" Athena calls out fondly, before taking a defensive stance - Athena side steps the first blade, bringing the hilt of her sword to Asch's temple and slamming her a step sideways into some mines... Asch is quick to recover, however, and turns mid-step swinging her red blade and slashing 3 mines out of the air. The detective closes again, this time her attack is right on the mark...

Something interesting happens. The Red Blade, charged with Asch's Evidence Rune, passes through Athena without harming her... a red surge of Ether pours out of Athena's body, tugged by Asch's blade - this Ether quickly forms into a red-shaded scene...

Athena lands hard on a table, bleeding from thousands of nearly invisible wounds, her very Soul seeping from her body and rocketing like fire into the air. 5 faceless figures stand at once around her, "ATHENA!"

The scene disappears like smoke a moment later, Athena herself is completely taken aback, "Was that... my memory?!" The moment is interrupted as more mines catch up with Asch, once again the woman is in her stride and slashes 4 mines out of the air in a single swipe, taking no damage from them. She uses the moment to attack Athena once more, she swings wide and Athena drops into a crouch, slamming her shield into Asch's chest and trying to shove her back into more mines... once again Asch spins, slashes, and three more mines explode harmlessly. "You, my Dear, are amazing."

Harmony takes a moment to tune her third Score to Life and begins to charge up her Harmony runes... Harmony herself begins to glow as mines rocket towards her... there's a surge from Harmony, a vibration in the air that sets one of the mines off and sends the others scattering through the room. Athena turns her attention to Harmony, "Oh Dear..."

And that's when Chandi and Awakener spring into action.

The Awakener swings his arms wide and the air around Athena begins to shimmer, Chandi focuses her power as well and the air around Athena seems to turn into a glass... Athena pushes with her own Ether to support the glass and resist the spell, and she's about to shatter the Runes when...

Chandi's Third Scarred Eye Flies Open.

Running... a gap... blood... Chandi's hands... empty space... a scream cuts through the air...

A white, twisting scarred aura rips open around Chandi, the ground beneath her feet cracks and shatters in time with the glass around Athena - the ice around The Awakener's Shift - and Athena's Shield...

"Wha... What..."

All 163 remaining mines floating around the room begin to slowly roll towards Athena, attracted to her like gravity...

"Wait a minute..."

Chandi's Third Eye shuts as the mines pick up speed, spinning fast directly at Athena who takes a step back realizing she's quite surrounded by them. "Oh shi... SECOND SHIF~*"

One hundred sixty three mines slam into Athena.

One hundred sixty three mines explode in rapid fire succession, sounding like sickening fire crackers going off against her flesh.

One hundred sixty three flashes later and Athena lies on the ground in a smoldering heap, not an ounce of skin un-charred, not a single centimeter of skin, robe, hair and bone undamaged, smokey blood pools under twisted form.

Athena is quite dead.

Both Serpico and Alexis wake up, injured but alive.

Silence fills the room... all except the slight sound of sizzling.

Athena's Shift lay upon the ground, open, the book has fallen open to a bookmarked page labeled with today's date - and in flowery handwriting reads "Student's Final Test TODAY!!"

The page is dotted with smiley faces and doodles of flowers.

Serpico wakes up, and for some reason, makes a big motion of yawning. "What'd I miss?"

He looks over the carnage. "Huh. Tin head and the grouch, is it? Good trick."

He takes his pen, shakes it for a moment, and pulls his sketchpad out for a moment. He touches the pen to the paper, unsure of what to do, but after a moment of random scribbling, rips out the sheet and crumples it up.

Then, looking dissatisfied even through the smile, as if he couldn't decide on something, he gets up, walks over, and crouches in front of Athena's body, over her shift. Examining her. "You know, I really don't think I expected that."

"This is wrong." says Alexis, after he wakes up, looking at the sizzling corpse of Athena.

Action: Recover EP

"This is all wrong." He steps forward, closer to Athena's burnt body, and reaches out to touch her.

Action: Spend 25 EP to revive Athena

Immediately (and hopefully before Athena can react), though, Alexis' cloak leaps from about his body, and forms itself into a hard, black sphere surrounding - and imprisoning - Athena. Her shift is still outside the bubble, though.

Cloak of Shadows: Blackout Bubble (containing Athena only)

"Harmony, do you think you could shut down any magic that she might try? And could anyone help keep my energy up? I can only maintain this as long as I have energy..."

Chandi shudders, and takes in a deep breath of air as her third eye closes, bringing her hand up to it quickly in confusion. She shakes for a few moments, and holds back the urge to puke onto the newly cracked floor. Once she calms herself down, she reaches down and picks up the ax, the golden weapon already shifting and twisting around her wrist as it forms back into the bracelet she wears every day. Slowly, she turns her attention over towards the mangled body, and the Shift laying near it. She lets out a sigh, and recharges her ether, as she approaches the body.

"We got lucky." She says, practically spitting venom when she says the last word. "As far as I'm concerned, this wasn't a victory." Chandi stands behind Serpico, an empty expression on her face. "Now please, if you would be ever so kind," She raises her right leg to the side, and brings it in close, "Get out of my way." Chandi kicks the crouching figure of Serpico on the side of his head, attempting to knock him out of the way with sheer brute force. Just before she can return her attention to the body, a darkness consumes the area in front of Chandi. She turns her head to Alexis.

"Hey bat-brains. What's this for? She died. She's not a psychopath. She's not going to come screaming out of death with blade held high to slaughter us. She's slightly better than most teachers." She turns back to the sphere. "So drop it." Her voice gets cold. "If you don't, I will break it. And then I will make it my goal over the next twenty four hours to break you."

"She'll heal faster in there." points out Alexis. "I could just dump her out on the floor, but I think I'd rather hear what she'd like to say, first. She might still think it's important for us all to be killed first or something, and I don't want us to be killed."

"Heh. I was pretty sure we could win, but I didn't think the result would be quite this one-sided," Lumina laughs. While Alexis is doing his thing, Lumina starts concentrating to get back her Ether while her spirit fox runs around reversing the injuries of everyone who needs it, starting with Alexis if he'll let it. "Glad most of us didn't have to die, though. I did that once already. It was more than enough."