Episode 2
Kanya caught a cherry blossom petal as it floated by in the wind. Spring. Her favorite season, when the snow thawed and fragrant flowers grew from the green grass. Kanya Kiri, age 15, was a thin girl, average height and build. A small red dot on her forehead marked her as a Hindu. Her hair was long and raven black, and her eyes were chocolate brown.
"Kanya."
She dropped the petal and it floated down as if it dreaded touching the ground, slowly turning her head to Mattieu Nicolas. "Um, yes?"
"Something wrong?" Mattieu raised a quizzitive eyebrow.
"Oh, no. Nothing." Kanya smiled an awkward smile. "Um, I better get going. Can't be late to class, and all." She turned and hurried across the school grounds, aware of Mattieu's eyes following her.
"Something's definitely wrong... " Mattieu muttered to himself, as he turned and walked to one of the buildings, meeting up with a few friends.
Kanya turned the corner of a building, and leaned back against it. She looked up at the cherry blossom trees, so beautiful this time of year. She wished she could be like them, not having to be involved in a stupid war that had been raging for a thousand years. She wished she could just... be.
Kanya sighed. Soon this city would be in the middle of the fighting, and she'd be part of it. Involuntarily fighting against the people she didn't want to fight. She just wanted peace. The ARD, or Army of Rightful Domination, wanted this city as theirs, and, unfortunately, Kanya was forced to fight with them.
Every humanoid, elf, daemon, and youma was enlisted at the age of 12. If they didn't fight, they were killed. Kanya never wanted to fight, but she had to to keep her life.
She slowly walked to the door, and entered the building. The bell rang soon after.
Griffin Kelley and Antony Carter sat at the top of the gym bleachers. "Dude, look at those girls hanging all over the new coach like he's a god."
Antony chuckled. "Jealous?"
Griffin frowned. "Nah, man. But those chicks should be swarming me, not Coach Salvador. I swear he must be gay. I mean, look at him."
Adrian, Coach Salvador, was standing in the middle of the gym. The girls' gym class hovered around him as he explained rules and such. Those love struck girls just watched him, googly-eyed. God, he had such a sexy voice.
"Eh, don't worry. He's new. In a few days, he'll be old news and they'll be back to flocking around you 24-7."
"Hey, man, is that a new girl?" Griffin nodded towards Lydie, who had just walked in.
"Nah, man, she just got switched to this gym class." Antony leaned back against the wall behind the bleachers. "That's Lydie Renaud, she's in Bio. with me and Lee."
Griffin eyed her, looking her over. Heh, good body. Wouldn't hurt to lose the glasses. He wondered if she was his type. Nah, she most likely wouldn't give him a chance, knowing his reputation. Or would she?
"Mr. Kelly!"
Griffin looked over at Coach Salvador. "Yeah?"
"They want you in the office."
Griffin stood and climbed down the bleachers. "Any idea why?"
"Not a clue." Coach handed him a pass, and Griffin left the gym.
Lydie stood against the wall, watching Griffin walk out. "Not my type," she muttered under her breath, "Cute though." She rubbed her arm and pushed off of the wall. She flipped her hair with her hand as she walked into the locker room to change.
"Yeah. I understand." A pause. "Ok, babe. Sure thing. I'll see you later. Bye." Natalie, Ms. White, hung up the phone, looking to the door as Griffin stepped in.
"You wanted to see me?" Griffin took a seat in one of the big black chairs in front of her desk.
"Yes, I did." Ms. White shuffled some papers on her desk.
Griffin looked her over. Hey, he had nothing against older women. Especially when they're this hot, even if they are myran. "So, what's your name?" He grinned.
"Mr. Kelley, I'm Ms. White." She was well aware of the attempt to hit on her, and deftly avoided it. "I assume you are aware of the war."
Griffin nodded. So, she was into the war. His kind of chick, definitely. He wondered if she was single. "How would I not?! It's common knowledge."
Ms. White stood and walked to the door, then closed it. She came back and layed her hands on the desk, leaning towards Griffen, and smiled. "My boy, how would you like to be part of it?"
"Dammit!" General Tobie McLanen slammed the phone. Her ears twitched with agitation. "That's not possible!" She rubbed her head in her hands and sighed.
"General?" Major Brice Devon poked his head inside the office. "Something wrong? I heard you from the hallway."
"Yes, something's wrong! I'll tell you what's wrong! Those bastard IBD are recruiting RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES!"
Brice stodd solomney, his eyes on Tobie. "General, is there anything you want us to do?"
General turned on Brice and narrowed her eyes. She hissed, "Yeah! You can leave me alone!"
Brice quickly shut the door, barely avoiding the phone that came flying at the door.
"The General in one of her moods?" a voice from behind started Brice.
Brice turned to see Lieutenant Devlin Farrell. "Yeah, man. IBD's recruiting new agents."
"Shit. Well, we can still take Styx." Devlin grinned, confident in that.
"Yeah. Styx will be ours. Then we can move on to bigger and better things." Brice walked away, whistling a happy little tune.
It was the last class of the day. Lydie brushed her hair from her eyes. Only an hour left of school. She sighed, trying to look like she was listening, even though she wasn't. History was just so incredibly boring. She wondered how she had never fallen asleep in this class.
The old teacher, grey and wrinkled, stood at the front of the room. "Now, Abraham Lincoln..."
He was cut of by the sudden abscence of light. It was like someone had just turned of the light in the whole school. Some students cheered and clapped, obviously happy by the blackout.
The old teacher sighed. rummaged though his desk, and pulled out a flashlight. "Miss Renaud, could you please go to the office and see what the problem is?" He held the flashlight out to her.
Sure. Why not? It would get her out of class. What better than to go walking through the dark school halls? She took the flashlight, clicked it on, and walked out into the hall.
Man, it's so different in the dark, she thought. If she ducked out of class, nobody would know. They'd just think she got lost and turned around and didn't know how to get back to her class. At least, until the end of the day, when they go looking or something, and find her back at her dorm.
She shrugged. Oh well. She turned a corner, as the flashlight flickered out. "Oh, man.." she muttered. It was pitch black. Then she thought she heard footsteps behind her. she turned, walking slowly backwards, trying to see if there was someone there.
A hand touched her arm, then something backed up against her back. She nearly screamed, jumped slightly. "What the...?!" She turned, though obviously not able to see what it was.
"Oh, sorry. I couldn't see you." It was a deep, soothing male voice.
Lydie blinked, glad it was pitch, or else he would have seen the blush, creeping up on her cheeks."Um, that's ok."
Then the lights suddenly came on. Lydie was momentarily blinded. "Ah, geez. You'd think they'd warn us..."
The man standing in front of her chuckled. "Yeah."
Lydie looked at him, taller than she. He was toned, long black hair and green eyes. Cute. Very cute.
He grinned, leaning closer to her. "Hey, you're kinda cute. May I ask your name?"
"Lydie... Lydie Renaud."
"Well, Lydie." He took her hand, lightly kissing the knuckles. "I am Devlin Farrell. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Lydie blushed, grinning slightly.
He put an arm around her shoulders. "May I walk you back to your class?" He didn't wait for an answer, as he walked with her down the wall, turning a corner.
A tall woman stood watching the popular teenage hangout, "River Styx", from afar. She was oddly dressed in a long and black, hooded cloak, and stood about 5'10". A gust of wind blew from behind, signaling the arrival of someone else; it also blew her dark, curly mahoeongy hair from the hood. She raised a hand and pulled it back, and turned.
As she faced the young man in front of her, her face shadowed by the hood with the exception of her deep-red lips and the pale brown skin that surrounded them, she smirked. Saying only, "Private Martin."
Erik Martin stared at her indifferently. "Private Yo," he said softly, "The others will be here soon." Apparently he had walked from his home. His pointed ears twitced slightly, while his hazel eyes remained solemn. Shaggy red hair flowed against his alabaster skin.
Within seconds, a motorcycle came up to them, from seemingly nowhere. In the darkness it was hard to make out the faces of the two on it. They got off and walked next to Erik, wearing similar outfits.
"Alright!" Yo said, turning. She led the three young men towards the RiverStyx. She stopped before they could be seen from the hangout. "Looks like this warehouse was built before the last major battle; back then they all had the same layout. There's a back entrance."
The four made their way around to the back. "Lieutenant Ona gave us order to secure this building," Yo said as she faced the others. She reached for the door.
"How are we going to do that?" one of the men asked in a deep voice, with a sexy French accent. He put his hand on her arm, prompted her to release the knob. In the darkness, his dark eyes seemed to flash green. He was only an inch shy of Yo, with black hair and a well-shaven goatee. He was a daemon, his boney wings folded behind his back.
Yo hinted a smile, lifting at the corner. "Nice question," she said as she touched his face and caressed it suductively, "A soldier should never run into a situation without a plan. So, What do you think we should do, Loverboy?" She laughed. "Er, Private Nicolas."
"Well," Mattieu Nicolas said slowly. "I guess we could kill the manager--no, we can use him. We need to announce a change of managment. To "keep trouble down", we act as floor walkers, chosing those who would make good soldiers. " he smiled, recieving one from Yo in reply.
"That would work, and just what I had in mind too." Her smile faded. "Come on." She turned the doorknob and it slid open slowly with red light streaming outward, interupting the dark. Her face was still hidden.
The music suddenly seemed louder as soon as they walked in. Yo came to a second door. "This is must be."
She opened it to an older man, who came straight at them. "Get out of here, children! You cannot get past paying admission."
"But we're not here to hangout!" Mattieu smiled devilishly. This got an odd look from the man, the manager who was a white kanid. Mattieu reached out, and before the manager could react, he grabed his neck. He pulled him close to covered his mouth. "What do you think, Private Vincent?" he asked the other man with them.
Thierry Vincent crossed his arms and narrowed his pitch-black eyes; he laughed. " No way, dude. He's too old." With a single emotionless movement, he made a line past his neck. The manager's eyes widened.
Mattieu twisted his hold on the man untill there was a snapping sound. He let go, the manager falling limply to the ground. "I know that was simple and not my usuall artfullnes. But it works."
"This is war," Thierry said simply. He smiled, though you could barely notice.
Yo walked past the boys, towards a huge desk pilled with a bunch of electrical equipment. She was uterly confused. "Erik," she said.
"Hhmm?" Erik asked from where he had been sitting and not paying attention.
Yo gestured around. "Do you know how to work this equipment system?"
"I can figure it out, I'm sure," he said as he stood. He made his to the desk. "There's the mic, make an announcement as soon as I turn offf the music." He looked the system over, flipping a switch that shut the music completely off. He turned his head towards her and smiled, looking like he was thinking, "Ah--I'm so good."
Yo nodded. "Good." She reached for the mic and lifted it to her face. After turning it on, she called, "Attention! We've had a change of management tonight. You'll see us soon enough." She unplugged it and sat it down. "Erik, turn the music back on--and keep it going."
She motioned for the others to follow her. Erik laughed after they left. "You would think that Yo would be more than a lowly soldier. She definitly has control issues!"