Soul Academy (Chapter 2)

Jason was really considering telling the archangel all he knew. Heck, if the freaking general thought he had a hand in Gabriels death, it was in his best interest to be open, now. "Archangel I.......a while back, before I came to the academy, I killed someone the same day I got my soul, it was in self-defense, after they cornered me in an alley and my soul appeared as I lashed out in fear. They had friends, friends who when I went back to Lamorak with my friends to hunt a demon, they threatened to kill my family and my own friends, if I didn't do something for them. Take a jump drive to Gabriel's computer, and it did something. But I swear that is all I know."

"I see." He said, looking down at the desk. He wasn't quite frowning, but it was close to it. "Jason, what you did is serious enough that it might actually be treason." He stood up from his chair, and being much taller than Jason, he was looking down to talk to him. "Take the combat test," He said, "That might dispell some of the General's suspicions that you're a Fallen Angel." He went quiet for almost a full minute before he spoke again. "If you pass the test, then you'll be sent to find out what was on that drive."

Blinking Jason looked up, surprised. "Uh.....well, since I'm still being honest, I was planning on it. I planned to leave for Lamorak and find those guys. Make them tell me what they know."

"Did you really think that through?" He asked, "If they're involved with Sariel, you might be walking to your death. If you sign up, you'll at least have help."

"I thought some of it through," Jason said. "I can partially remember where they are. As for certain death......I betrayed my teacher. Figured I could make up for it with either a success, or my death."

"And what does dying achieve?" Micheal replied, "If you die, you've done nothing to attone, have you? And going there alone is almost certain to get you killed. Join, and you can do that, and help where we need you the most."

Thinking on it, Jason sighed and said "Well I guess I don't have much choice. Just.....answer me this: how were Gabriel, Sariel, and Azazel able to move that fast? Is it skill that built up over training, or is that another perk of being an angel?"

"I can only speak for Gabriel because I know that that was his soul's power. Azazel and Sariel probably built it through skill." He said, "Good luck on your test." He added, showing that the meeting was over.

Nodding, Jason calmly walked out of the office, continued walking down the hall until he had turned the second corner......and promptly collapsed against the wall, sagging to the floor as he nearly browned his pants. Treason? Holy hell, this is bad. No choice for it......and I'm no traitor. If doing a simple test helps show what's true, then I'll take it. the sound of footsteps distracted him from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Rin standing over him,worry evident on her face. "Shit, what happened Jason?" she asked.

Oh, you know. Accused of treason, forced into a combat test to show otherwise and then sent to hunt down a cute fallen angel stalker. Just the usual stuff. None of it sounded right, even if it was true. But he found a way to break it down to her without revealing too much. At the end of it, she was sitting down next to him, looking a little shocked, but touched his shouldered said "Then I'll take it with you. Someone's gotta watch your back."

Miku had already signed up to join the war. She'd have to apologise to Jason, but this way she'd probably get to fight the Fallen Angel's sooner. The tests started in an hour. Walls had been put up in the main hall so that the tests would be private, and some students had already started them, while some hadn't even signed up yet.

Lily was one the students who hadn't signed up yet, having been near the back of the line. She thought about her family, what they might say if they knew she was putting her life at risk like this. They'd probably expect it though.

With that said and done, both Jason and Rin headed for the main hall to take the test. They found Lily, at the back of the line, and stood next to her. "Hey Lily," Jason murmured. "Taking the test?"

Lily nodded to Jason,
"What about you?"

"Uh.....well......I'm here to take the test as well," he said, then, he quietly added "To avoid treason, and please don't shout it out."

"Treason?" Lily repeated quietly as the line moved forwards, "Why?"

"That fallen angel, Sariel.......when she said my name, talked to me and stuff, it raised some suspicion. Some people think I'm a traitor and if I want to avoid treason,mind have to prove myself here." Sighing, Jason looked down the line, and mumbled "Looks like either way.....I'm a dead man."

"So, looks like we're all taking the test."
Rei had finally found them. She looked a bit off...because she was. Her True Aura ability was a bit messed up right now. It had been very stressfull few days."

Lily didn't speak, she trusted Rei, but it wasn't her choice to bring up the treason charge Jason was facing with her. She nodded to answer Rei. "It's almost our turn." She said, stepping to the edge of the line to see the number of people ahead of them.

"So uh.....is this a written exam or are we fighting someone?" Jason asked, hoping someone knew.

"It's a combat test," Lily said, "I think that it'd have to be practical."

"Well! good thing I brought my soul," Jason said plainly. He just hoped he'd pass.

"We might have to use training weapons," Lily said, thinking about her own soul, which she had left in her room. She stepped up to the desk, where a woman was taking down the names of students signing up. "Lily Itou." She said when she was asked.
"Room three." The woman said, and Lily entered room three.

Inside there was an angel holding a longsword.
"Drop any weapons you have," He ordered, "Then attempt to disarm me without being dealt a lethal blow." Lily paused, this was the combat test? It seemed unfair, but it did make sense. If you could win a fight against an Angel while unarmed, you had at least some chance of doing the same against a Fallen Angel. She nodded, bending her knees.

Doing the same as Lily, Jason gave his name and entered a room to get the same treatment. There was someone inside, holding a sword and they wanted him too disarm them unhanded. That would be.....well, somewhat easy, if his practice with Rin helped in any way.

Lily prepared to attack the angel, deciding that going for his arms would be her best choice. She just needed to loosen his grip, then she could hit the weapon away. Behind the room, on the other side of the curtain, she could see an Angel being walked away by a Security Force medic. A Student had apparently broken their arm. Lily shook her head, focussing back on the angel in front of her, and charged forwards.

Rin went into her own room, facing the same challenge. Leaving her weapons on the ground, she advanced on her opponent, making the first move and dropping to the ground to dodge his attack, and followed with a sweeping kick to their legs to send them down.

Jason's fight wasn't going quite so smoothly, since for the moment he and his tester were walking in a circle, opposite each other like predators looking for a chance to attack. Then his opponent came at him with a lunge, Jason sidestepping while darting forward. One hand clamped onto one of the man's wrists, his other arm elbowing the guy in the nose. Something broke, his elbow or the man's nose he wasn't sure, but he didn't care since the guy reeled back. But Jason still had his wrist secured, and didn't let the guy get far as he twisted the arm he had up at an odd angle and brought himself and the arm around behind his opponent, and the pain it caused him was enough to make the guy drop the sword.

Lily went straight for the Angel's weapon hand, keeping it off balance. Her other hand was stopping the angel's other hand being used to throw her off, so she couldn't try to get the weapon away like she'd hoped. Instead, she smashed her forehead into the Angel's mouth. One of his teeth cut her head, but there was more of his blood than hers. He recoiled, his arms moving away from her. She got her foot behind him, sending him onto his back, and kicked his arm, sending the sword along the floor. Standing up, he walked through the back curtain, nodding at her to follow.

When the sword was dropped, Jason let go, since he did after all complete the desired task. The man moved away, turning to look at him before nodding and said "Follow me." He started walking through a curtain in the back, and Jason grabbed his soul first before following him.

Rin had knocked the guy down, and then kicked the sword out of his hand. He tapped the ground, the usual sign for a surrender and she backed off as he stood up. Gesturing for her to follow, she grabbed her soul and followed him through a curtain.

Rei was called. She entered.
"Drop all your weapons."

Five minutes later, Rei had dropped her War Naginata, the two katanas, two wakizashis, and apparently a few knives she had kept somewhere. The instructor blinked.
"...have enough?"
"I tried fitting collapsible baton. But I forgot it was there and snapped it in two.

The instructor looked a bit annoyed. He hefted the longsword. "Disarm me without being dealt a lethal blow."
She nodded. She entered...a more prayer like stance, eyes closed. She felt his aura shift and move, bunching where he put his strength. She felt it suddenly trail and go towards her, and she moved quickly, sliding out of the way. She opened her eye, the man a bit confused. "hearing..." he muttered. How wrong. He came out her, and she easily evaded his attacks. She waited for an opening, sensing the aura bunch and move. And, at a particular strong attack, she slid under his defenses and quickly struck at pressure points. he faltered, and she gripped his arm. Twisting the longsword, she disarmed and brought the blade against his back, the flat of the blade throwing him forward.
He stood, rubbing the spot. He motioned her to follow, and she replaced all her weapons before jogging after him.

Nick sat across from the Angel he was to fight. To test combatively. Nick let his twin blades dangle from his belt. He did not move, he just watched the Angel. She looked him up and down, assessing him. As she watched him, he watched her. She drew her sword and approached him, but he did not move. He was still, he was patient. He had wisdom in this fight. As so many third years had fought with him, challenged him in the combat training class, so he had learned. But this would be different, he was not fighting those considered equal to him, he was fighting an Angel, a graduate, as it were. She would be on a whole other level from the people he was used to fighting. The question now, in this fight, was how good had he become from all the practice and experience he had.

Everything began to break down in his head. First, every scenario started with a hypothesis. What would happen if the Angel did this? If she moved this way, then he would move that way. If she does the same move, he will do the same move. For every question she deliberately or inadvertently asked, he would answer. For every cue, a response. The fight played out like a chess game. Both opponents anticipated the other's move, and prepared a counter, but for each counter, there was an anticipation. So they fought within their minds, until the Angel, her patience waned so thin it finally broke, attacked first. In her first movement her attack missed, and Nick did not move, her blade went by him, and she ended up closer to him. She was to close to strike him with the blade itself, he was within her personal space, and yet outside her range of attack. She asked a question in this way, and he answered by head-butting her, knocking her back. In this, he asked a question, and she responded, bringing the hilt of the sword back around driving it into his back. But she lingered, and thus asked a question. So he moved, twisting in place, sliding his leg behind and underneath hers while guarding her blade arm, throwing her to the ground, he quickly skipped back to a zone of sanctuary. As quixkly as he threw her down, she was up, and she attacked again, the next flurry of blows moved quickly, so fast that an observer might note that it looked practiced. Each movement, a counter movement, and in each counter, another counter, and so on. It became a battle of endurance, who could outlast the other, as they could clearly not hit the other.

For each overhead strike, there was a strike below the belt, for each diagonal slash, there was a bladed parry, for each horizontal, there was a duck. They moved quickly and without stop. It was a waltz of bladed revelry. Sharpened edges came within millimeters of flesh, moving with force and speed that would kill. It was not, until the Angel left an unintentional opening that Nick struck true. She stepped and lost balance and as she lost balance her focus shifted, and she blinked, in the split second that she blinked, her mind distracted, unaware, he hit her square on the jaw. She went into a sprawl along the floor and did not get up. She was not dead, his strike was non-lethal, she was, however, unconscious for the moment. Both he and the Angel were drenched in sweat. The fight had taken a long time. More than ten minutes, more than 20 minutes, the Fight was nearly an hour long.

After a quick medical exam to check she wasn't injured, Lily was lead to a tent that had been set up on one of the fields. Inside were soldiers armed with assault rifles, several angels, and the students who had passed their tests.

Jason had the medical exam, band thankfully there were no injuries. After being led to a large tent, he saw Rin and Lily there....along with a lot of armed guards and angels. Them, and a few other students. "Rin, Lily!" Jason said as he walked over.

Ashari had taken the exams and passed so she decided to just hang out at the large tent just waiting for something to happen.

Lily turned to Jason as he walked over.
"You passed then?" She asked, "I think we-" She was cut off by a fake cough through a microphone. The General was standing at the far side of the tent.
"First of all," He said, "I'd like to say well done on making it this far, but I also need to tell you that this is not going to be a pleasant experience. You all saw or have heard of what happened to Archangel Gabriel. All of you are expected to kill without hesitation. I assure you, they will do exactly the same to you."

"Now," He continued, "I think it's about time we assign you partners. You will each be partnered with an angel, who is in a squad of four other angels. They are in charge of you. If they want you to do something, you do it. Any insubordination will be punished."

He introduced the angels one by one, as a list of all of the students who had passed reached him. He read out two names at a time, and then the name of the angel in charge of them. Lily was partnered with an Angel from Lamorak, hefting a morning star on his back, and and Jason. The two other angels in their group were partnered with Miku and Rei, Rin and Ashari, and Nick and a boy named Artorias.

It wasn't really the people he wanted to be partnered with (Ashari and this Nick and Aaron) but he couldn't argue if he wanted to go on the mission. So with a sigh, Jason traded a look with Lily and said "So.....go team?"

Nick looked over at Artorias. A greatsword, so he's from Lamorak. This seems to be a decent set-up, him, with the twin dagger-souls for up close combat and Artorias to take all the shots by virtue of having a bigger weapon. Should they ever be split into smaller groups, that is. From a tactical standpoint, Nick wasn't sure how these groups would function. What sort of tactics did the Fallen use? Was it gorilla warfare? Would they attack key locations? look for knowledge lost before the last demon war? Or looking for demon lairs?

Nick cracked his neck and his fingers. Hopefully fighting the Fallen will get him closer to Sariel. Closer to learning the arcane secrets she has. Like that magic she uses. Or perhaps, someone like her. Someone who knew the darker secrets of the world. Perhaps it was the idea he sought, not the actuality. He sighed, time will tell.

Rei looked a bit downcast at her not being partnered with Lily.
But fate never was nice. So she walked over to the Angel, and slid over to Miku.
"Hey."

"Woo," Lily said with mock-enthusiasm, smiling at Jason.

"Hi," Miku said to Rei, "I guess we're partners. How good are you at fighting?"

"So, do we meet up with him now, or take time to gaher our stuff?" Jason asked.

Rin was a little crestfallen, not being with her friends. She had no idea who Ashari was.

Artorias had passed the exams with flying colors and maybe left an angel with a broken hand, maybe. He saw people that he noticed all the time, talking with each other, Artorias didn't have anyone to talk to really and the angel he was put under along with others were unknown to him but he didn't care, he was just happy that this happened, he never knew the archangel much so he didn't lose anyone that day but the fallen were right there and he didn't attack. Maybe a good thing, that kid didn't stand much of a chance so what did I have, well I had more training than before and I wouldn't be madly rushing like last time.

"We'll move out later today," The Angel in charge of Miku and Rei said, sliding a scimitar into a scabbard on his waist. "I'm Li. That's Samuel," He said, pointing to the angel with the morning star, "That's Marcus," he pointed to the angel standing behind Nick and Aaron, "And the pretty one's called Amber." He said finally, nodding at the woman armed with a spear standing near to Rin.
"You should all go and get your souls. There's some new clothes waiting in your rooms, too. Armour, actually. Put it on, and meet us on the far shore of the lake."
"You've got twenty minutes." Li addded.

With the addition of a time limit, Jason and Rin nearly ran for their respective rooms. When Jason entered his own, he saw the armor, waiting on his bed. It certainly was.......new, for him at least. He was used to regular clothing, not this stuff. It was styled after the armor Lamorak soldiers wore in old times, like a medieval knight, but instead of metal it was fabric and dense padding. Light, but it gave him a sense of extra security.

For Rin, her armor made her feel like a samurai, though with none of the added bulk. She still felt just as flexible and for that she was glad.

Artorias had jogged to his room, finding the amour he felt it. not too heavy yet able to protect but is it going to be any use when a soul lands a hit on it. he was not going to let them. He grabbed Sif and started to head to the lake. hmm, this may be a good bonding experience for me, meeting other people and meeting fallen. he thought to himself with a grin

Both Jason and Rin, now armed and armored, returned to their squad leaders, waiting for their partners then to arrive. Despite his previous zeal, Jason did not have the confidence to talk to Samuel.

Lily arrived back at the lake after about fifteen minutes, wearing samurai armour similar to Rin's, only hers was painted blue, and her soul was strapped to her left hip. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the others to arrive.

Miku's armour was much less... armoured than the other's from Koga. Her's only had plates on the forearms, shoulders and chest. Her soul was in her hand as she walked over to Jason, a question on her mind.
"Do you think you'd be able to kill Sariel, given the chance?"

The senior angels heard Miku's question and looked over, as did Lily.

Jason took a moment to consider the question, thinking over everything he knew about Sariel. He was an observer by nature, a trait he used plenty of times as the social outcast and ghost in the school before Sanctum. He had watched her during the fight, remembered her power against the demon. He didn't believe he was a match for her, but then.....that wasn't the question, was it? Could he kill her? "I already killed someone once and didn't have the stomach for it.....doubt I'd be able to bring myself to ever kill another person, even her."

Demons were one thing. People were another.

Rin arrived after he had finished speaking, not hearing what he said.

"Then why are you here? This is a war against the Fallen. If you don't kill them, they'll kill you." Miku said, her voice tethering on sounding angry.

Miku's question and Jason's answer had made Lily think about whether she could kill another person. If they were going to kill her or her friends, she thought she would be able to.

Artorias had arrived in his amour which was a nice shade of black, he liked it. Heading to if he remembered, Marcus he walked towards him and then inspected a few others. we got two samurais and another knight, fun.  

"If it came down to a fight for our lives then you're damn right I'd kill someone," Jason almost snarled. "But you're asking if I'd just kill. I can never kill in cold blood. Not like them."

Rin blinked at his snarl, and walked over to place a hand on his shoulder. "Easy Jason," she said.

"Then do you think you could kill her in a fight?" Miku said, her voice unchanged from before, "Because if you do, you're only going to die faster."

Am I really ready, will these fallen try to kill us or just laugh, will I see the one with a scar on his face again because If I do, I think I might just go crazy. Artorias thought to himself as he rested Sif on his shoulder and let his left hand adjust the amour a little.

"No," Jason said firmly. "I don't think I could kill her in a fight, only because she'd kill me first. There's no illusion in my head, that I'm a better fighter than her. But that doesn't mean I won't fight. Hell if she trips and I get a shot.....then yes, I'll kill her." Rin, startled by the venom in Jason's words, removed her hand, stepping back a little.