Soul Academy (Chapter 2)

Koga
Sariel stood in silence as she watched the Angel hit the wall, blood streaming from his face. He looked like he was going to cry; it was almost sad. So Sariel stepped into the open, letting the demon notice her. It turned slowly, it's red eyes locked on her violet. She grinned, her soul in her right hand, as the demon charged her. She sidestepped and swung, cutting a bloody path across the demon's chest. It roared again, this time in pain, before she silenced it with a shard of ice through its head.

"Tell Archangel Gabriel that the war ended a long time ago," She ordered the wounded Angel "And if another fallen so much as gets a scratch from an Angel, there's going to be hell. Make sure to remind them that Sariel sent you,"


Three days later
Lily had chosen a simple, light blue dress to wear to the ball. It was light, and most of all comfortable, stopping at about her knees. She'd agreed with Jason and Rei that she would meet with them before hand, but they were running a little late, or she had arrived too early.

Miku had already taken a seat on the train to New Peragus, where the ball was going to be held. She looked around the train, there were some first years, obviously wanting to see what the ball was like, all of the third years some, like her, only there because they had to be. The second years were scarce, a lot of them had seen it last year. She closed her eyes and sighed as she sat there.

Jason could only stand there and grimace as the noose was firmly tied around his neck, the hands making the knot only tighter and tighter before they let up. "Do I really have to wear a tie?" he asked Rin, since she was the one tying it up for him. "Well it's a formal event Jason," she responded, taking a step back to admire her handiwork. "Ties are kind of a must. And hey, at least you're not wearing a bow-tie." Sighing, Jason turned to look himself in the mirror, dressed in a matte black tuxedo, white undershirt with a black tie. He had a haircut recently to shorten it down so now people could see his eyes again and a little more sleep so the circles making him look like a raccoon were gone. "You look great," Rin said with a small smile. "Now how do I look?" she asked, only for her friend to chuckle and say "Like I said five minutes ago, you look amazing."

Turning to look at Rin again, Jason took in the sights: her hair was still in a ponytail like before, though she also had two strands of hair that came down from the side of her temples. Rin wore a formal dress of dark brown, which started at her chest and ended down at her feet, held up by two thick shoulder straps. She didn't have much in the way of makeup, save some lipstick and a barely detectable blush product. To her friend, she did look amazing though she knew that there were going to be other girls who were bound to be going out of their way to look like goddesses. "So.....we should get going now," Rin said. "Kinda need to get to Lily or she'll probably talk our ears off." Nodding, Jason walked with Rin out of his room, regretting the fact he didn't have his soul with him. Or rather, couldn't bring it with him due to the rules.

But security was supposed to be tight, so there shouldn't be any need for one. The two of them headed for the meeting point with Lily, and while they had both expressed some minor amount of excitement over attending the dance, neither was truly thrilled. Jason for having to wear the tuxedo which was starting to itch a bit, and Rin because she wasn't one for dressing up like a princess. At the very least though, if they were going to suffer they were suffering together, especially since it wasn't a date. Just two friends going together.

=was currently on the train heading to the ball wearing a simple candy apple red dress sitting in car alone thinking to herself=

wonder when we'll get there

The two of them, Jason and Rin, arrived at the train stop, finding Lily there waiting for them. "Hey Lily," Jason said. "You look great."

Now was the time. Now would be the time to ask about what really happened between the Fallen and Angels. Nick could take it no more, he wanted to catch the teacher by surprise with this question. He wanted, no, he needed to know, he was burning to know the truth. What really happened.

Rei was sitting in her underwear. She couldnt decide on a dress, and honestly was unsure. The sexy one...no...no.
She was too scared to ask Lily...so no...
She picked up her kimono. It was dark blue, and had a line of sakura and lilies down the righ side, starting at the shoulder. She fixed it, and finally Rei picked up her lily hair clip. Fixing her hair, Rei clipped her hair back, and picked up one last thing.

Stashing her wakizashi somewhere, she headed out, and started to walk to the train station. She was a bit behind but she wouldn't miss the train.

Lily looked over at Rei as she approached. She smiled at her friend,
"Hello Rei," she said, before she turned back to Jason and Rin, "We're all here, shall we go find seats?"

"Absolutely," Jason said. "How long is the ride supposed to be?" he asked as he walked to the train door.

Rei moved closer to Lily.
"I hate not being allowed weapons..." she grumbled. "I feel naked without them." She fixed her kimono. "So...Lily...do you like my kimono?"

"It's nice," Lily answered as she sat down, "It suits you,". She looked around the train, taking note of the students who were attending. Obviously none of them had their souls with them, it was formal dress after all.

Jason felt a little annoyed at being ignored. Granted he was used to it before, being invisible but now....now among friends at least, it sucked. "Lily," he said again, this time with emphasis on her name to get her attention. "How long is the ride supposed to be?"

Rei's cheeks turned pink. Lily liked it.
Seeing no one else armed made her very aware of the wakizashi strapped to a secret place. They wouldn't search them. Totally not. Like a kid could honestly bring their Soul in without detection.

"It should take an hour at the most," Lily answered Jason, before she turned her head to look out of the window. "I think we get back her at about 2am," she added.

"Wow, talk about a late night dance," Rin said. "So....think this train will have snacks?" Jason asked, settling in as he waited for the hour to pass by.

"I think there's going to be food there," Lily replied, watching the last few students trickle onto the train. "We should be setting off soon."

One hour, thirty minutes later.

The train had arrived in the capital, New Peragus, and the students had been taken to cars taking them to the venue, a buidling owned by the Security Forces General. It was an important event, and the general mostly wanted to look good in the publics eyes, so that he might keep his position for a few more years. Now they were waiting outside in a queue, being allowed to enter only after being searched for any weapons. The 'Angel's Civil War' as some people were already starting to call it, had started escalating as soon as the assassin Sariel was convicted of murdering a Malakhim; a student at the academy. Some angels had launched a counter-attack while hunting a demon, and killed a group of Fallen, which had again caused another attack. It was slowly becoming a war.

The guards were a mix of angels and members of the Security Forces, armed with their souls and automatic rifles respectively. It would have been near-impossible to get in without an invitation. Most of the students had already gotten in, after neing searched.
"I think we're just supposed to enjoy ourselves until the Archangel and the general give speaches." Lily said to her friends as they walked into the main room; a spacious, well lit room with a stage on one side, tables on the other and seperated by an empty space of wooden floor. "Shall we find a table?"

"Sounds good," Jason said. He looked around though, his head moving around as he took in the sights. Run did the same, in awe as she saw the capital city.

Lily managed to find an empty table for them and sat down, like the majority of students were doing. Some were standing, mostly the ones in pairs, and talking. On a balcony, the Archangel, followed by two other angels, was talking to the General, also with two guards.
"Do you really think that there's that much of a threat?" Lily asked, referring to the amount of security.

"Well, there's that whole 'Angel Civil War' thing going on," Jason said quietly. "Plus the extra demon attacks.....guess they're worried."

"Do you really think it's as bad as a war though?" Lily asked, "It's terrible that there's so much bloodshed, but it's not a war."

"It's not as bad.....but we've been in peace for a while now, right? Or at least, relative peace," Jason said. "People always get scared when their world, what they're used to and comfortable with, gets threatened. Makes hem overreact."

Rei dropped ino the seat beside Lily, looking pissed.
"I got yelled at by three teachers." She reported. "They found my wakizashi tucked up against my spine." She put her forehead to the table. "What idiot decided to tell students they couldn't bring weapons, even their souls, to a massive gathering?" She complained. "And without my blades I'm useless..."

Rin did her best not to chuckle as she said "But don't you have any hand to hand combat skills? Your body is still a weapon Rei, swords or no." Nodding in agreement, Jason said "Rin's right. Heck, we've been training every week, getting my own skills better and I'm starting to turn into a decent challenge for her." Smirking, Rin said "Only because I go easy on ya tough guy."

"Yeah, well. You two can use your abilities. You can make your hand to hand combat extremely deadly. Me? I can telegraph moves. I'm not that strong." She sighs softly. "I hate being unarmed. Last time I was, a demon tried to kill me."

"It's not just students who get searched, Rei," Lily said, looking at her friend across the table, "Everyone who isn't a guard or the Archangel has been searched.

After getting searched and let inside Ashari decided to just go sit down at an empty table and wait."wonder when the event gets started, i'm bored"

"And besides," Jason said. "This is a party, right? I may not be good at social gatherings and all.....but hey even I'll try having a good time."

Lily looked around the room, there were quite a few non-students here as well, mostly officers in the Security Force and their families. There was music playing now, and a few people were already dancing. As the group sat there, a girl with lilac hair approached from behind Jason, and put her hands over his eyes.
"Guess who?" She said, laughing.

"I know..." the pink-haired sword fanatic grumbled. "Doesn't mean i have to like it.

As the music started, Rei stood and turned to face Lily. She blushed nervously.
"Lily? M...m...may I have this dance?" She asked timidly, extending her hand.

The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. All the same, he nearly panicked but went for a small smile as he said "Uh.....someone friendly?" He turned around, and saw a cute girl with hair the color of light purple flowers. "You seem.....familiar. Have we met before, because I know we have."

Rin watched Rei's request to Lily with a measure of interest, attempting to look bored as she awaited Lilly's response.

"You should never forget a girl's name, Jason!" The girl half-shouted at him, though she was still smiling, "It's me, Izumi!"

Lily sighed and stood up,
"All right," She said, pushing her chair back under the table.

Rei's sme was bright. It was like she sun decided to inhabit her. Taking Lily's hand, she led her onto the dance floor. A bit awkward though, she put her hand on Lily's waist, the other still holding Lily's hand. "T...this is the right way, right?"
No amount of happyness could keep the girl from being nervous. That, and she had pink cheeks now.
Someone was a storm of emotions inside.

Recognition dawned on him, and he grinned a little saying "Oh right, Izumi! I remember you from Lamorak, how've ya been?"

Rin smiled faintly, seeing Rei happy, then went back to observing the exchange between Jason and Izumi.

Ashari heard the music start but decided to just sit and wait while thinking out loud"wonder when they're gonna serve the food"

"Oh so now you remember me?" Izumi said sarcastically, "I've been okay, ups and downs but that's life." She looked over her shoulder at the dance floor, which was now starting to fill up with people. "Come on," Izumi ordered, "You owe me a dance for forgetting my name."

His smile faltered a little, and he said "Wait, what?" Rin nearly burst out laughing at his response from where she sat.

"Come on," Izumi repeated, grabbing Jason by the arm and dragging him away, "You don't just get away with forgetting my name, you know."

He could have resisted, but why fight the inevitable? So he followed her on to the dance floor, and said "Your funeral......I can't really dance."

"I'll teach you," Izumi said, "You put your hand here-" She placed one of Jason's hands on her waist, "-And the other one here-" She said, taking his free hand in her own. "Unless you wanna stand closer, then you put that one on my waist too."

He blushed a bit at the......somewhat intimate contact he now had with Izumi, but was successful in not letting it prevent him from sticking to her. "Okay, and do I step with my right foot first, or no?" he asked her.

"Just follow my lead," Izumi said, stepping with her right foot "And try not to trip up, you'll end up bringing both of us down." She added, sticking out her tongue.

Doing his best to follow--and not trip up--James slowly began to dance with Izumi as the music played. "So, if forgetting your name means I owe you a dance....what would have happened if I remembered your name?" he asked,

"I'll let you decide that," Izumi answered, smirking and continuing to dance until the end of the song. "I need to go check on something, we'll dance to the next song," She said, stepping away from Jason, "Don't go finding another dance to replace me." She added in mock-warning.

"Doubt I'll be brave enough to talk to anyone else!" he shouted back as he left. He felt....a slight buzz in his chest, from the dance, the contact. It was a pleasant feeling to say the least, and he returned to the table doing his best not to grin. Rin noticed, and said "Well, someone's got an extra spring in their step." Chuckling, James said nothing and simply washed down his smile with some punch.

Lily had walked away from the dance floor after the first song, telling Rei that she was thirsty, but she had agreed to dance again later.
"Who were you dancing with, Jason?" She asked, sitting down and putting her drink on the table.

"Oh uh.....a girl I met back at Lamorak during our trip. Her name's Izumi....and she's a better dancer than me."

Lily was about to respond, but she was cut off by shouting outside. The voices were too muffled to make out because of the door, but it was definitely aggressive. The room went quiet as everyone paused to listen. A few minutes later one of the guards approached the General, who announced:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the disturbance was nothing more than a drunk who wanted to get in to this party, please, carry on."
Pretty soon, the talking was back to full volume, though Lily had forgotten what she was going to say.

"How was your dance with Rei?" Jason asked Lily. He was a bit curious about the drunken disturbance......and more curious about where Izumi had run off to.

"It was-" Lily started, before she trailed off, looking down at her drink. "What do you think happened outside?" She said, quickly changing the subject.

"Well, either someone had too much punch and was asked to leave, someone tried gate crashing, or there was a random drunk," Jason said, not prying into her dance. "So.....is this it? We just sit around, dance a bit then head back?"

"Until the speech from the Archangel and the general," Lily said, "I think that should start soon." As if on cue, the song ended, and the next song didn't play, instead, the lights were dimmed around the room, only slightly, while the lights on the stage were brightened, highlighting it. A few minutes passed without anything, until the Archangel walked onto the stage.
"It seems our host is presently indisposed, so I'd like to say a few words of my own in his absence." He said into a microphone, he opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by a gunshot, followed by some plaster from the ceiling falling down.

"I guess you'll have to wait a bit longer, Gabriel." A voice said from the balcony the General and the Archangel had been sat on, and someone in a black cloak, the hood pulled low over her face, was sat with her legs dangled over the edge, her black saya and katana in one hand, a pistol in the other and next to her, with the muzzle of the handgun aimed squarely on his temple, was the General, a pair of black-clad men holding his arms. "Now, we can do this the nice, easy way where almost everyone survives, and you all drop your weapons in a nice pile on the dance floor, or I can blow the Generals brains out, and then kill the rest of you."

"Everyone," Said the Archangel from the stage, his eyes fixed to Sariel, "Drop your weapons onto the dance floor. Souls as well." The Archangel himself left his own soul, a slender rapier, strapped to his waist. "Sariel," He said, "Is this what you meant by there being hell?" He asked, his tone was joking, but his face was serious.
"It is. Your friends carried on ordering attacks against us, so I'm here to kill an Archangel."