The Grand Reopening!

"Welcome, citizens of Rivers Pointe!"

An elderly man wavered in front of the stage mic. Beata Academy loomed behind him, its stately facade now freshly refurbished. Students, teachers, and residents had turned out onto the school lawn to celebrate the special occasion. This day marked over fifteen years since peace had been acquired, and since the city around the academy had begun construction. What had been a rural mountain village had bloomed into a prairie metropolis, hidden from the outside world, where no gifted child had to fear their own abilities.

Today was a new beginning. For the schools, for the city, and for everyone who shared space in their strange otherworld. Beata Academy's new dorm halls could accommodate ten times as many students as before, and even as he stood here, Guardians were traveling every corner of the map in their tireless search for new students. Two sister institutions, Liberi and Benedicite, would open their doors for the first time. Before him, he saw a bright future. His dream, everything he'd worked towards since the days of his youth, had finally come true. Students, their families, young children - all happily living together, free to express who they truly were, safe from the rest of the world. He'd worked tirelessly to keep the peace for so long, and now, it was finally time for him to rest; spend his days with his wife and the rest of his family.
The city lights were flickering on as the sun began to set. Colorful banners fluttered from every street corner. Some students were new faces, still trying to make their way in this weird new place, but others didn't know any other life than the city. He could make his own grandchildren out among the crowd, with a twinge of a wistful smile.

Those that stood behind him; teachers, lead guardians, the head secretary, and his own right hand man - a friend and former student of the school itself - would ultimately be left with responsibility for the school, as well as their entire city. He thought he couldn't possibly leave it in better hands. Over the years, no matter their differing origins, he'd grown to trust all of them with his own life.

And so it was that Nathaniel Wright spoke on his thank yous and heartfelt goodbyes to a hushed crowd.

"So from this day on, your new Headmaster will be our own faithful Leo Herman!" There was a burst of applause that rose into a crescendo as he turned to shake the man's hand, and stepped away. The school that he had helped rebuild was no longer his.

Below, the crowd shifted as students broke rank to mingle and socialize, with the formalities over. Here and there, senior students were leading tours, others coalesced into groups and talking circles, and some preferred to be alone, walking the vast grounds away from all the rabble. Tomorrow morning, a new school day would begin.

The roar of the crowd faded into mutters as Leo stepped up to the podium having just shaken Nate's hand. The blond fidgeted with the index cards in his hands, as voices died down. Below he spotted his son, standing close to his friends with a beaming smile, close by Eve. His entire family had been so supportive of him spending so much time on helping build the city. He wasn't sure what he would have done without them. The blond dipped his head in greeting to the people below, a hesitant smile gracing his face. Of course, Leo was nervous, who wouldn't be?

Gently, the index cards were laid out, and he began his speech. Leo wasn't normally someone who was used to speeches, so he took a few pauses to gauge the crowd before continuing on. One thing that Shepard had told him while he practiced the day before was that he had to have some energy in his voice to even consider holding teenager's attention for very long. So, Leo took that and did his best. The speech did not last very long, only thanks to the people that supported him and hope for the future ahead. "-and with great pleasure, I give you Samuel Digby, our Deputy headmaster! He has been a great help with the construction of River's Pointe. Now, do not forget classes start up once again tomorrow, I expec-" Shouting and screaming interrupted Leo's speech, the blond's head snapping to the side. Who...?

There were voices rising from the fringes, shouts that quickly lifted into a chant, a swelling tide. A handful of figures in blank white masks had amassed outside the gates, fists and signs raised up in the air. Leo's mic more than drowned them out, at least at first. But suddenly speakers came alive with an indistinct voice, simultaneously masculine and feminine, singular and layered, and feathered out with the fuzz of static feedback, clamoring over the new Headmaster out and lending power to the voice of the mob.

"NO GODS! NO KINGS! NO MASTERS!

"NO GODS! NO KINGS! NO MASTERS!

"NO GODS! NO KINGS! NO MASTERS!"

---

---

Esther tugged on her new uniform's collar, craning on tiptoes to get a good look at all the racket. She had been rooted in rapt attention during her grandpapa's farewell speech, even clapping with the rest of them if you could believe it, but her attention had begun to slip the moment Grandpa withdrew from the podium. Not even a few words into Headmaster Herman's welcome address, she was already beginning to zone off, carefully rehearsed and oddly specific fantasies of her first year at Beata Academy winding through her head.

Then things turned... interesting? Imagine that. "What the hell, man?" There was a tweak of irritation in her chest, thinking about some idiots mucking up her poor grandpapa's retirement. He was like, a war hero. So was the other guy on stage, kinda. "This is like the worst time for a flash mob."

Cailin had been sneaking chips into her mouth when the speakers first kicked to life. She choked, startled back to reality, while junk food boxes and candy wrappers began to slip out from her blazer as she jostled around. "Huh? What? What's happening now? Is it over? Can we go home?" Her legs were so sore from standing around so long and she was so frickin' hungry and she just hadn't latched onto most of anything that had happened in the last twenty minutes. Now all she heard was this noise.

Wally, Barry, and Ed were standing amongst the crowd, clapping as Leo was announced as the next Beata headmaster. Both Barry and Ed remembered going to school with him, while Wally had only seen him in passing. The twins were happy for the guy, they knew he'd be great for the job. The three Jacksons were surprised when there was distant chanting that soon became a deafening roar. Barry and Ed looked at each other with an "are you serious?" look. What is that, Dad?" Wally asked, covering his ears to try and drown out the chanting. Barry merely shrugged. "Not sure. Hopefully, someone can stop them, though," he replied.

Stephen stood nearby with Will as the torch was passed from Nate to Will. They were both beaming. The Kennedy's had very fond memories of the new headmaster back in Will and Leo's school days. Leo was the one to help the older Kennedy how to be a dad when Stephen arrived as an infant. Stephen vaguely remembered being in the daycare with Shep and Jo when they were all around 2 years old.

Mikaela had been towards the front of the crowd, to be in full view of Leo. Her smile couldn't have been bested by anyone. She placed her hands on Adam and Eve's shoulders as she watched their father start to (nervously) give his speech. 'You're doing great, dear.' she thought. However, Leo was rudely interrupted by a bunch of chanting, which quickly went from a near whisper to an unignorable chant. What was going on? Why did it have to be during Leo's speech? "Stay here where your father and I can still see you," she whispered to Adam, Eve, and Shep. She stepped up to the podium, careful to keep her mouth away from the microphone, and used her gift to the fullest. She projected her voice. "ENOUGH." she shouted, loud enough to be louder than the chanters, but not enough to shatter any windows or anything. "What is going on here?" she asked, still projecting her voice slightly.

Theodore was content with listening to the speeches, even if they were dull. He was startled to hear the yelling that interrupted the headmaster, and his head snapped up to the source of the sound. The source wasn't in his line of sight, but their yelling was more than enough to nag his sensible hearing. Their smell was indistinct, and he almost jumped when the even louder voice covered them, feeling a slight lurch in his stomach as the tethered and finally regained a sense of clarity. The Summer's hand had shot up to clutch Bianca's shoulder, but he let go as soon as he noticed, shooting her a careful gaze, as if he was staring at a wild animal who'd unexpectedly crossed his path. His yellow-green stare grew hard and it returned to watch the headmaster. "Not supposed to happen, right? I don't remember the 'visit from a cult' part in the schedule. Actually, I think it might be affecting the schedule. Well, this must be mildly inconvenient." he huffed down at his shorter sister, sticking his hands in his pockets. While his expression was languid and unbothered, as if the whole thing was some sort of poorly executed joke, he was even a bit worried.

Rayne, in contrast, had been standing towards the back, but she didn't bat an eye when the mass of people began their chanting. Like a statue. She rolled her shoulders and covered her face more with the hood of the jacket she wore over her uniform. Her fists stayed balled at her side, eyes glued to a distant point over the horizon. Crowds made her jumpy, and more so when unfamiliar, vaguely hostile crowds became involved.

Cai looked towards the new headmaster with a small smile - he'd grown up around this guy, the school was going to be good with him. It was just Leo Herman, currently everybody's dad. He shifted his gaze away and his head went down went the mob's chanting began. He felt the steady hand of Sylvia on his back, patting a circle as if she was soothing a restless dog. She offered him a sisterly look. "Oh, come on. Everything was going perfectly." she made a face and earned her brother's reluctant chuckle. "Yeah, well, when does anything do perfectly around here?" the Spring retorted.

Absently shifting his weight from heel to heel in a bid to chase away the tendrils of drowsiness that crept down his legs, Elijah watched the formal proceedings with a dismal expression. Could they have made this entire event any more boring? It felt almost as though he could fall asleep listening to everyone yammer on and on about whatever it was that they were currently speaking about. Pinching his neatly pressed shirt collar between an index finger and thumb, he carelessly wrinkled and twisted the flimsy material in an ill-fated attempt to preoccupy his wandering mind. However, thankfully Elijah's internalized prayers were answered in the form of raucous shouting towards the very edge of the loosely bunched together crowd. Features quirking slightly in a display of half-hearted interest, his free hand quickly prodded its way between his sister's ribs in a vying attempt for her attention before murmuring, "At least it's worth paying attention to now."


Unlike Elijah, Laurel didn't mind simply standing idle and listening to various people speak. At least that way people were more interested in the ceremonial proceedings than they were in friendly introductions. Now she didn't have to worry about the meticulous act of trying to be sociable. Fingers apprehensively twisting together as the shouting arose from the odd little mass of strangers, her features twisted downward into a slight frown as she listened to Elijah's words. Although her older brother seemed completely at ease with the strange happenings that were transpiring, Laurel couldn't help but wish she had decided to stay away from the stuffy event all together.

Georgia's long brown hair was tied up into a knot on the top of her head, keeping any unmanageable strands from flying into her face every few seconds. Her keen blue eyes were trained on the nedmaster, only shifting to the deputy headmaster when his name was mentioned. Her thin fingers aimlessly tugged at the buttons of her cardigan, both arms folded in front of her. She was more or less ready for all of the long, boring speeches to be over so that she could finally get around to meeting some of her fellow students. Her attention was quickly redirected to the shouting and caterwauling behind her, surely this wasn't normal, right? Her eyes flickered to the woman at the podium, and her eyes grew wide as spoke, louder than the mob at the gates. She shook her head, turning to look the other way. Her eyes narrowed to a squint, trying to find the source of the noise coming behind her, but to no avail. All she could see was the back of other peoples heads, her short stature working against her yet again.

Even in spite of her wishes to stay tucked away in her dorm, Austin found herself standing in the midst of the Beata crowd as the new headmaster gave his speech. The Summer found herself swaying back and forth, her weight shifting as she stared ahead blankly, only somewhat listening to the speech given Leo was giving. She was intent on getting back to her dorm as soon as she could, ready to begin organizing her things for the next day. It was something she had been putting off, but she'd begun this morning and was ready to get back to it. Her dorm was something she took pride in, the small space decorated beautifully with the trinkets that she'd collected over the years, and several small items that she treasur- She was getting lost in her own head again, but that problem was soon solved by the ruckus coming from outside of the gates. "Oh, come on..." Her hands found their way to her ears, covering them in an attempt to deflect both the shouting and Mikaela's projection.

Carolina stood alone among the crowd of students, her hands stuffed deep into her coat pockets. There was a sense of awe that washed over her as her eyes flickered between the hundred of students that filled the courtyard that the opening ceremony was settled in. It wasn’t the amount of people - her old school had hundreds...More than it probably should have had but it was that almost everybody put...Well together. She stood out in her ratty clothes, her patchy backpack thrown over her shoulder. She shook her head, her eyes glancing up at the elderly speaker as he finished talking and allowed a younger man - Leo if she had heard right - take center stage...But already people were starting to disperse around the courtyard.

She half-listened to what the Headmaster was saying as she fished out the key to her apartment from her pocket, staring at it. It seemed almost surreal, having a room for herself. Not that she didn’t have one at home, but this was just...Different. It had been a miracle that she had heard about the different schools, her father living in the shadows...Quiet literally, she supposed. But her uncle, even as astrainted as he was from the family, mentioned the time he had there and how it would be a good place for Carolina to go. She had begged her parents to let her go for months, and honestly she still wasn’t completely sure how she had gotten them to agree when they had so little money but...Here she was.

Carolina stuffed the piece of key back into her pocket, shifting her backpack’s strap on her shoulder. She honestly didn’t need to be here, she wasn’t going to the academy and instead the Benedicite Indituent. She had managed to get an apartment in the nearby Hidden Creek Apartment Complex. It was a bit of a walk to and from the academy but it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to. She had already taken the time to get settled in, dropped off Death and most of her stuff but it just felt weird not to have her backpack on her...Her thoughts were interrupted by the Headmaster’s voice being drowned out by shouting, causing her eyes to snap in the direction of it.

As the words washed over her, she shifted nervously. That...Didn’t sound good. Hell, it sounded like something her father would spout out in a drunk rant - he had always hated rules. Never liked being told what to do, claimed that he knew what was best for him...Which honestly, it was amazed he never got caught for all the stuff he would use his power to get away with. It caused a shiver to run down her spine, only to wince as a new voice, a distinct female one, boomed, overpowered the shouting. Her eyes shifted back to the center stage, trying to make out who was the source but it was hard when she was lost in the crowd. She stood there, uncertain of what to do as the crowd started to murmer among themselves.



Morgan wasn’t sure he had ever been more torn in his life than in this moment. His eyes flickered around the people that crowded around him, his body curled in to take as little space as possible. It was a relief that almost nobody was focusing on him, most seemed to be chatting to friends or maybe even strangers and others were listening to the speaker. Morgan was...A little terrified to be doing that. His parents had spoken about their time at the academy a lot when he was growing up, it was where they had met and fallen in love. It had always been a dream of his to go when they thought he was old enough to be on his own but...Well, he didn’t do so well with crowds. Or people in general to be honest.

Strangers were...Terrifying. He never knew what they would want from him. Would they know about his parents, his mother’s business? Would they want something from him or just see somebody they could push around? On one hand, he knew it was silly to be scared of everybody he would ever and could ever meet but...Well, the thoughts were still there and he was still terrified. It had been hard to make the choice to go to Beata when he wouldn’t know anybody there but yet...He had wanted to go. Was it some sort of growth on his part? He wasn’t sure - he certainly felt as terrified as he imagined he would be as he stood lost among the crowd.

With all of his fear, and the struggle to keep it from manifesting as a panicked puffs of flame from his mouth, he was barely listening to what the speaker was saying...In fact he realized with a start that somebody new had taken the stage. He straightened up slightly, making out the words only to realize that he was catching the very end of it. Wincing at how distracted he had gotten, he was very unprepared for the startling scream that echoed through the air, causing him to jump and for a flicker of blue flame to leave his mouth before he caught himself.

He swallowed nervously, biting his tongue as he tried to make sense of what was going on. He couldn’t quite see what was happening, but he heard the voices loud and clear. It was...Unnerving as he allowed him to shrink back further into the crowd. His parents had never mentioned anything like this...Sure, they mentioned a few troubles they had heard about that had happened after they had left the academy but...He flinched, another puff of flame leaving his mouth, as another voice echoed, startling him but yet calming him. Students started to whisper among themselves in the silence that started to follow, saying nothing as he squared his shoulder as her nervously glanced around, wondering what exactly was going on.

Evander knew to keep his hands to himself in this family, but he still offered his brother a disarming grin. He flicked his hair back with a sharp nod toward the strangers in white masks. His yellow eyes reflected a muted interest. Cultists seemed like the right word for it. Who were they? What did they even want? Fingers slipped into the inside of his blazer, curling over the pommel of a concealed dagger. "Keep it muzzled, Theo. If we're lucky, they'll let us go early." Someone had to keep their head cold, between the ten of them.

"Just trust in Father." Their clan had a proud warrior heritage, and Montare Lupo was the hero of their clan, so who better than him to personally guard the Headmaster? His hand tightened around the hilt. Don't embarrass us, Father.

Having been standing in the front of the school for what seemed like hours, Ellie Baxter shifted her weight back and forth, from her toes to her heels, and so on. The fair skinned girl's long black hair was ruffled by a faint breeze and her hands were clasped neatly together behind her back as she rocked again and again. So far, she hated this school and everyone in it.

Everyone was either a complete idiot or a total try-hard, and she couldn't stand to be around such incompetence. Similar to her mother before her, who admittedly wasn't the best person to look up to, Ellie had a difficult time making friends, for she usually found them to be a complete and utter waste of an investment of time. But, while she disliked the commitment of friends, she was a master at making alliances, which also meant there would be some enemies along the way... but she didn't mind. Like her mother once told her, it was a dog eat dog world out there, which meant every girl for herself.

Letting out a sigh and drowning out the words of the headmaster, Ellie every so slightly turned to her left and rolled her scarlet eyes in annoyance. 'Jesus, he's really going to have to step it up this year if he wants to make it out alive.' Her brother was such a nerd, always wanting to figure things out and be a detective. If it had been up to her, she'd have raised him more strict instead of letting him do what he wanted with his ideas.

Noticing that he'd given her a bit of sass back, a smirk overtook her once annoyed appearance. Bringing an arm out from next to her side, she used all of her force and swung it towards his stomach. With a soft yet audible thud, the impact was solid and a sense of joy flooded the girl as she looked back towards the stage, a smirk on her lips. That'd teach him not to be a smart-ass with her.

~~~~~

Next to Ellie was Eli, her twin brother. While they were practically identical twins, the boy was noticeably taller than his sister and their personalities were nothing alike, thank God.

Unlike her, he was at least somewhat fascinated by everything in sight, though he wasn't going to show it. From the moment they'd put on their itchy uniforms, to when they stepped out of the limo and onto the school grounds, he'd said not a single word and showed not a single emotion on his blank face. Most would think that there was something wrong with him, seeing as though he was so reserved, but he himself didn't believe that. Yeah, he was a bit odd of the fact that he was constantly maintaining a calm and collected composure, but that didn't mean that there was a problem with him, he just didn't like human interaction. It was a perfectly logical reason for his quietness.

Feeling a looming presence, Eli turned his head to catch Ellie staring at him with a look of disapproval. With a furrowed brow, he stuck his tongue out at his sibling, squinting his eyes together in a taunting way. While it was practically instinct to do so, he should've remembered that she didn't play games and quickly realized he'd made a mistake.

Letting out a stifled hiss of pain, the top of his body buckled over down towards the ground as the wind was knocked out of him. Ellie, not having taken his little tease very lightly, swung her arm perfectly sideways and straight into his gut, before turning back to zone off staring at the headmaster. "D-damn... no fun," he huffed sarcastically, every part of his face scrunched together as he caught his breath. After a few moments of struggling to breath and feeling as though he was going to vomit, the tall student slowly rolled his body up and stared back at Leo, with his previous bored looking expression resting on his once pain stricken face. In that moment, he vowed to himself that he'd get Ellie back for that, so she had better watch her back from now on.

~~~~~

"No Gods! No Kings! No Masters!" Hearing the voices yell from somewhere in the mass of students, Ellie and Eli turned towards the strange voices to see just as strange people wearing white masks just outside the gates. Where the hell did they come from? Well, whoever they were, both twins could care less and with a simple shrug, they turned back towards the adults on stage.

He really didn't want to be here but his position meant he had to be. Mason stood silently behind Nate, and Leo as the two changed spots. The guardian did his best to remain professional even if listening to speeches weren't his thing, though he was thankful that Leo kept his speech shorter. The black haired guardian's attention turned away from the crowd and the new Headmaster to what he could only assume was a cult looking group. Mason moved to do something about the group, but Mikaela had beaten him to it. He knew his half sister could handle the situation so he stood by silently, ready to step in just in case.


Ace stood in the back of the crowd where he could have some space for himself. He didn't like all of these people, especially all of the noise, but thanks to his dad he was able to deal with it better. After all he was here because of his dad. While Mason wasn't doing anything important, it was a good idea to be there to support him. The silent teen didn't pay any mind to the out break of noise from the group shouting a random statement. Asher let out a small sigh. Of course there had to be drama today of all days.. Attention is what the group wanted, it was better not to pay them any mind.


Cody stood closer to the front, he knew that Asher was standing further in the back. Thanks to his gift he was able to use his hearing to keep track of his younger brother. Well half brother. Though cause of his gift it was kind of tough to be standing close to loud noises. Though when the other group spoke up interrupting Leo's speech, Cody couldn't help but turn his attention to them. What did they want? What were they hoping to accomplish? The brown haired boy couldn't quite understand. Hopefully Mikaela would get the situation taken care of soon. He didn't like the situation this could create.. He wanted today to be as drama free as possible.

A two-headed beast stood among the students and parents of Beata Academy with a poor, trapped girl forced to follow along in its wake. It stood well over seven feet, looming over the crowd like a dark pillar.

Nah, just kidding. It was just a young man with a little girl, a spitting image of himself, sitting on his shoulders. He looked far happier than when he'd been a student at this school; things were calm and not all that bad now, since paying rent wasn't exactly as gut-wrenching as fighting for your life. He came here with his oldest daughter, a little brunette of fourteen, who would be attending the school this very semester. "You've grown up on me, Brianne," he said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. Though, there was some truth in it, he hated to see his daughter leave Liberi Academy. He wouldn't get to see her all day anymore.

"Shut up, Dad." Brianne pushed his arm with her left hand jokingly. "You're embarrassing." She was smiling anyway. Half of her was sad to leave her old school for Beata, away from a few of the younger friends she'd made, but at least she wouldn't have her own dad as her teacher anymore! She'd had enough with some of the other kids saying he gave her better grades, if anything, he was all the tougher on her. Her soft brown eyes moved up to her younger sister, Dakota. An unexpected twinge of jealousy hit her. 'I wish I could still do that.' Realization made her visibly move a hand in front of her face, as if her thoughts were a cloud of dust. 'No, I'm supposed to be a teenager now. I can't want to do kid stuff.'

"You alright there? Bug in your face?"

"Yeah. The mosquitos are still hanging around, I guess."

Heron looked out above the crowd towards the podium, listening to his old headmaster say goodbye to the school he'd run for so long. 'I hope he gets a good, quiet retirement, then.' He needed it. Then upon seeing a familiar face be elevated to the headmaster of Beata, he looked up to Dakota. "I went to school with him, yo-" the sudden voices from the gates surprised him enough to stop talking and face the strange, white-masked people gathered outside the school. His cheerful mood faded, and he felt himself tense up slightly. 'Who are they?' He'd be fine if he could tell what they wanted, but the faces were completely covered. 'They better leave what they're doing to just chanting.' If they meant to do something to the students, faculty, or the school, he'd have to put his daughter down for a few minutes.

Brianne jumped when a woman yelled at the gatherers, though she couldn't see them around the other people in the crowd.

Everyone's attention was so scattered in the clearing as the new Headmaster spoke on, it became a challenge trying to weave his way through the crowd and keep his plate balanced in the palm of his hand, held up high enough to avoid the food brushing up against any unsavory strangers. It'd taken some time, but he'd finally made his way back to Cailin's side with the meatiest, greasy, most heart-stopping food he could find. "Hey, Pichu. I grabbed some of your favorite." Preston brought the plate down to her grasp, triumphant, all too late in noticing the creepy ass chanting growing behind them. He paused, lost. "What the fuck did I miss?"

---

"You don't think this is part of the ceremony, do you?" Elia sighed, leaning back against whatever table was closest to her. Her Grandpapa did have a flare for dramatics, sometimes. Maybe this was another one of those stupid school drills. Getting a head start on them before they swung open the doors, Maybe? She didn't know. The Herman's were close to their Grandpapa and their aunt, but who knew? Maybe this Leo guy was a total weirdo too... not that Grandpapa was a weirdo, just that the school did some weird stuff sometimes.

---

Tch.

In the midst of the crowd, some figure, with their hood pulled over their eyes, had slipped a sleek white mask out of their pocket; sliding it over their face with one slick movement. With their hands shoved in their pocket, they began to shove their way through the crowd, past some rigid blue hair girl and some weird couplenof kids who smelled like dogs. Their hand clenched the piece in their pocket, pain shooting through their wrist.

"NO GODS!" They shrieked. The figure whipped out their gun, firing several shots at the new Headmaster. One. Two. Three bullets. They screamed through the muffled mask, before shoving the gun back into their pocket and turning tail, making a break for it through the frenzied crowd.

"Headmaster!"

Montare kept a closer and closer eye on the situation as things seemed to escalate, and his worries about the figure making their way through the crowd peaked when he saw a mask come out, followed by a gun. Montare ran from where he was standing over to Leo, tackling him to the ground as gunshots rang out and bullets flew over the two. A moment later a crossbow bolt flew through the air towards the cultist as they ran, piercing the muscle of their thigh when it hit. Montare pushed himself up to his feet and helped Leo back up as a pair of owls flew down towards the stage only to turn into a pair of hooded guardsmen with bows and daggers. Immediately they drew their bows and a single arrow and looked out towards the crowd, ready to take aim if they saw another gun get pulled. Montare started waving those who were on the stage off of it, his voice calm but stern as he shouted to be heard over the commotion."Go!" A few taps on his unity link later, and more animals and figures dressed in green and grey started to arrive, weapons drawn. The last thing he was going to let happen was let anyone present get hurt by these damn maniacs. He drew the shortswords that were at his hip, and took off running in the direction of the gunman.

Keir watched the scene unfold before him, wincing and covering his ears when gunfire rang out. The relatively standard ceremony had turned into a chaotic mess that grew violent when bullets and arrows and bolts started flying through the air.

Contrary to what Theodore would've thought, Bianca's eyes were shining, an ecstatic chill rushing down her spine. White ears twitching, she was almost disappointed when his hand left her shoulder as soon as it made contact. Keyword being almost. The cult crashed in as a roaring wave, and with it, her leg kept bouncing and bouncing as the young Lupo found it practically impossible to sit still. She wasn't exactly sure what a cult was (she was certain she heard some of the River Pointes locals call their clan a cult before, so it couldn't be that bad, surely), but the moment Evander piped in, Bianca visibly deflated. Trust in Father? Yes, of course, father was more than capable and prepared to handle these random goons--

Her body reeled back as a masked person shoved by them, a hiss seeping through sharp clenched teeth. An unmistakable tang of metal filled her nostrils, and before anyone could do anything about it, the new headmaster was shoved to the ground, the bullets narrowly missing his figure. She toyed with the knives strapped beneath her sleeves, never missing the whistle in the dark. Father called in their fellow kin, azure gaze trained on the blank-faced figure as they attempted to make a break for it.

Adrenaline flared through each nook and cranny of her veins, her body popping up like a fire rocket as she zoomed to join in with the rest of their clan, seemingly pulling her own hood and cloak out of thin air. Just as quickly as she bounced, one of the older members halted her in her path, pulling her shoulder and bending down to her level.

"Stay here," they said. "It's not safe for you," they warned. "Leave it to the adults. You can't help right now," they urged, giving her a pat on the head before rushing to join the circus.

And just like that, Bianca dragged her feet across the floor without protest, large eyes drooping from atop her head. Lips puckered and face contorted into a pout, she pulled out one of her knives. "I can too," she huffed, playing with the blade as if it were a fiddle and took her place back where she belonged.

There had been silence for all of about 20 seconds before a single protester rose up from the crowd, donning a white mask. 'Coward,' she thought. Hiding behind a mask was a copout which made her think the criminal wasn't proud of their actions. But a gun changed things. It turned from a non-violent protest into something lethal. A few shots rang out and instinctively she put up a vibrational wave outwards to deflect anything coming towards her. It did not, however, protect anyone from stray bullets. She didn't have a fast enough reaction time for that.

The Lupo cast a sharp glance towards his brother, stern but underlined with a sort of hopefulness. This was just a mild inconvenience, a group of idiots who wished to ruin their big day. A sharp tsk escaped his lips, and he was about to follow up with another, witty comment, but his voice died in his throat as he felt the shift of the crowd, pushing them aside. His ears rang at the sound of gunshots, and Theodore flinched with a stiffled whine, raising his head only to see the disappearing figure of Bianca, racing for the stage. He was about to lunge after her, sweeping his tongue over his teeth to feel the sharpening of his canines, but reeled back as he saw the shorter stalk away in disappointment. White hair whipped around as he turned to Evander, mouth gaping.

"A gun? That's what their plan was? Scandalous attempt, but still." the muscle of his jaw tensed as he paused to regain his composure. "A gun." The Summer repeated under his breath. His eyes searched his father's face but he couldn't discern everything aside from every inch of the fighter he was raised to look up to, and even though he could feel relief bubbling inside him, or maybe just the euphory of having just watched a cult member attempt to shoot the headmaster on the first day of school, he was tense - his gift ready to spring up on him. One hell of a first day.

---

Sylvia's nostrils flared at the scent of gunpowder and she could see the same shadow of dread crawling itself unto Cai's face, his large and droopy eyes turning to look at her. She swallowed and her expression only hardened when the shots were fired, hearing her brother whimper. His sister pushed him back with a reassuring, but forced smile, before she turned her attention to the crowd. Trained senses made her aware of the arrow, mixed with the chilling holler of pain when it presumably hit its target.

"Stand back." she ordered the younger and didn't give him time to protest. The Guardian felt a sense of freedom and a rush of even more complex scents as her vision blurred to black and white and her nose remained trained on the smell of gunpowder that still clung to the shooter like a trail of blood, the scent that came soon after. He was wounded. Good. The wolf, red-brown, with the same, slight cut on its lower muzzle, released a loud bark, pushing its way through the crowd as it followed. It heard somebody call its name, and its head only jolted to signal that it had heard. But ignored.

Olive's hand gripped to Iris's as the mother and daughter made their way through the crowd. They had barely made it to Barry and Wally before the first shots sounded. The shells of ammo pierced the air above their heads aimed towards the front of the stage. Olive's image flickered in and out of existence as her invisibility triggered, the loud bangs frightening the mother. Iris loosened from her mothers grip, her hands now wrapped around Wally's arm, What's going on?!"

---

Sketch had been towards the back of the crowd. Where the speakers failed to project the headmaster's voice clearly. A tattered sketchbook clenched in his left hand, the uncapped pen in his right. Ink was painted onto the page in beautiful designs. The pen tapped his lips as he pondered the next move, the tip touching the page once again as he began to sketch the image in his head. A shoulder shoved into him causing his arm to shoot up the page and interrupt the drawing that had been. "Who the fu-" The artists voice cut short, the white mask blurring his vision as the figure pushed his way through the crowd.

---

Seth had been running his fingers through his messy blonde hair when the bullets whizzed past the crowd. His throat let out a small squeak. A chuckle formed a smirk on his face from embarrassment, the fear of the others not hinting to the student the seriousness of the situation.

Scarlett had been standing next to the chuckling blonde, a look of confusion spreading over her face. 'Is this kid chuckling in this kind of situation?' The fox-girl kneeled to the ground, her hands covering her ears. Where was Gaius when she needed him??

He didn't think that the attack would come from the crowd. In fact, he didn't think he was going to be attacked at all. Leo did, in fact, have a lot of trust in the city, possibly wrongly placed as the bullets hurtled toward him. It was only the well-timed tackle from Montare that stopped him from taking multiple bullets to the chest. His eyes opened to the head of security helped him stand back up, the blond rubbed his head and placed a hand on Mikaela's back. His first thought was of her."Are you okay?" He asked softly, blue eyes flickered toward the figure breaking away from the crowd, Leo's eyes caught on a similar head of hair to his own, following closely behind. "Wait, Shepard!"

---

"Oh hell no."He didn't check to see if his father was okay, his eyes had already been on the figure with the gun. He couldn't get away. He couldn't let them. Ignoring the shout from Eve, Shepard broke away from his friends and siblings and shoved his way through the crowd. There was no time to offer 'excuse me' to everyone he ran into. With a blast of solar light, Shepard propelled himself over a group of occupied benches at the back of the crowd, the heat radiating for a lingering moment before vanishing in the cooling soon to be autumn air.

The masked villain could not go very far with an arrow in his leg, and Shepard caught up to the bleeding man eyes narrowed. "Who the hell are you? Why did you shoot at my dad?" He demanded, edging closer to the man. He didn't have a weapon on him, but Shepard would not let this man go without a fight

She'd never felt the air so tense, so quickly before. Not during any crammed tests or any high prpfile arena matches. There was a real sense of panic in the air. Joanna pushed herself further to the stage, enough to be able to tell for sure if Mr. Herman and her parents made it out okay, and even in the midst of it all - it was impossible not to notice her favorite angel take flight after their assailant.

Her eyes grew wide. Shep, he has a gun, she silently screamed at him. What are you doing?!

---

It was impossible not to feel like the pack was at their heel. They knew the clanmates would be after them, but they didn't expect them to react so fast. The masked one let out a muffled yelp as they felt a piercing pain split into their thigh and they could see a dim shadow coming over then through the crowd, like a hawk. A quick glance towards the back of the party told them their fellow friends and white had already scattered. They need only get away now.

And so they felt their teeth and broke off the arrows hilt from their leg, ignoring the pain and pushing through the last of the crowd. In haste, he turned a corner past some food stands, slipping towards the back alleys.

Some stupid kid had still insisted on following him, the new Headmaster's boy. "Shut the fuck up!" They screamed, twisting and near falling back on their was, they pulled out the gun again and fired yet another bullet with Shepard's name on it.

Magic was quick to get off the stage. Mikaela and Monty had taken of the initial threat against the Headmaster but that didn't mean the threat wasn't gone. The guardian started moving to capture the gun man, but Shep took off after the man. "I've got him!" Mason said quickly to Leo before taking off after the boy. The man's gift helping to accelerate his speed as she pushed hurriedly through the panicked crowd.

The guardian caught up with the the two in no time just to hear a bullet being fired. Instantly the guardian used some sound waves to stop the bullet just as Mikaela had done for the others. The tall Guardian stepped forward placing himself between Shep and the guns man. Mason's gift at the ready to stop the threat again if needed, and to stop the person if they tried to run. He didn't bother to speak as he started to close the gap between him and the person with the gun.

The echo of gunfire. A chorus of screams, gasps, panic. He could taste it in the air, a static field that seemed to rise up from the crowd like steam. Evander's eyes flashed wide open, but he didn't so much as twitch. Poised and tight-lipped, and with all eyes pointed toward their Father as he pursued the gunman, he turned back to Theodore. "A gun," he repeated, turning the word over in his mouth. An actual fucking gun. They just watched an assassination attempt. "Why?"

Fresh blood. The thick vinous aroma seemed to flood his nostrils, saturate his senses, until it was all he could scent or taste or think about.

---

---

Esther wasn't ashamed to say she shrieked with the rest of them, leaping to wrap her arms around her sister. "Holy—..."

---

---

"—...shit!!" Cailin gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth and flinging the food out from dad's hands. Stirring forward, she pushed through the panicked crowd, toward the stage. There was a flicker of electricity around her fingertips, sparks igniting from her nails. A pulse of energy seemed to draw back into her hand, pulling taut like a bowstring as she planted her palm against the wood platform. Light vibrations soaked through the construct, and she could feel the metal pieces inside, almost see inside.

She twitched her fingers, and the buried bullet sucked in through the wood with a sharp magnetic pull, slapping gently against the skin of her palm. Cailin let it roll around in her cupped hand. "Dad! Check this out!"

Talk about a souvenir.

For a second, it looked like everything was calming down...And then the gunshot rang out. Carolina's eyes snapped up toward the podium, a gasp leaving her as the crowd was thrown into a panicked frenzy. She stood there, rooted to the spot as she tried to make out what was going on among the screams, people pushing through the crowd to either get to the front or chase after the gunman. For the most part, Carolina wasn't frazzled by it...Her neighborhood had been far from ideal and it wasn't her first time hearing guns but so close this time. She shook her head, glancing around at the crowd as she struggled to figure out what to do.

-

The moment the loud bang echoed along the clearing and the screaming started, Morgan dropped into a panic crouch as he threw his hands over his head. His whole body shook in sudden surprise and fear, his eyes scanning the people that stood around him as tiny puffs of flames left his mouth with every ragged, terrified breath. Shouting, movement...But no other gunshots rang out right away. Slowly, Morgan started to push himself to his feet, his arms wrapping around himself as he tried to wrap his head around everything that had just happened. His parents had mentioned some dangerous situations they had been put in before but...This was just...! It wasn't even the first day!

It was...His eyes flickered down, toward the flickering light of his flames. H-He was panicking, he couldn't stop himself, he felt like he could barely breath. With a fumbling hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth which he used to cover his mouth. It was a flame-retardant fabric his father had gotten for him, a small gift before he had been sent off to Beata to make sure his flames didn't get out of control when he was panicking. He held it there, keeping the flames out of the crowded air as he fought to calm himself down. It didn't help that another gunshot rang out again, causing him to flinch but it was further away and behind them...His eyes nervously flickered back toward that way, hoping that everybody was alright.

The red-brown wolf reached Shepard and Mason soon after the two had confronted the man, hackles raised and brandishing an impressive set of teeth. It growled, clawing the ground near the man threateningly and fixing him with an unrelenting and feral glare. If this would've happen a couple of years before, it would've undoubtedly torn the man to pieces. But Sylvia had it under control. They were no longer separate being. A whole entity, the brain, and the body, obeying its commands.

She shifted back into a human, her brown hair ruffled, locks breaking free from her pony-tail. "Speak or I'll lose my patience. But he might do it faster, and I'm pretty sure he's the one you should worry about." Sylvia warned, a hint of the same, wolfish growl, still left in her voice. She acknowledged Shepard with a tilt of her chin, lips pulling into the classic 'I'm disappointed in you but pretty sure I would've done the same', sisterly look she regarded most of her old friends with.

---

He'd drawn closer, protectively, and his eyes searched the immense mass of faces and names and scents for his siblings. But all his senses were assaulted, his ears filled with the buzz of panic and talking, his nose stuffed with the scent of fear. He tethered on his feet uneasily, before planting them firmly into the ground. "No more gods. No more kings. No more masters. He said it himself." Theodore tilted his chin down.

"I don't know what he meant. Or maybe I don't want to know. I'm not sure."

With watchful eyes the father noticed someone moving towards the front of the crowd. They could've been someone wanting to see better, but something was off. Then there was a glint of metal. With barely any time to think as the shots rang out and the sounds hit his ears, Heron instinctively yanked Brianne to his side and ducked, transforming into a brass metal dome encasing them and Dakota. It was honestly almost too fast to be good for his health. A few moments passed and with no other shots other than one farther away being fired, he returned to a human form, but he was no less on-guard.

The masked crowd had dispersed, though that didn't mean that they still weren't in danger. Moving young Dakota to his chest and holding her tight, he peered over the panicked kids and adults towards the stage. From what he could see, there wasn't any blood, and Herman and Lupos had gotten back to their feet. "They're alright," he sighed. His gaze moved to a kid near them, a boy who looked as if he was about to have a heart attack. Everyone would feel safer once they were in the building, including him. He didn't speak loud enough to be heard throughout the crowd, but just enough to put the idea out in the air, "We should head inside." He put a hand on the back of his youngest daughter's head. "We don't know if they've really gone for sure yet."


The sound hadn't quite reached her, when she spotted a masked person running from the crowd, with a student on their heels. Brianne covered her ears at the noise when it did hit her, though, eyes still open as her father's transformation shrouded them in faint orange light. When he returned, there wasn't any screaming, at least. Her father said that they were okay. Out of the corner or her eye she spotted a wolf running down into an alley after one of the Guardians. 'Is that where the gunman went?' She eyed her father and backed out of his field of vision, brown eyes locked on the back of his head before she turned and ran in the same direction. They had to know everyone was alright. They couldn't do anything rash before they could interrogate the would-be assassin to find what their motives were.

"Brianne!"

She wasn't sure if her father's voice or the second shot were what made her run a bit faster. Brianne was a bit out of breath once she reached the alley, to say the least. Her legs stretched out behind her a bit too far to be normal, but she took a few deep breaths as she slowed down and reached the rather... intimidating group. In any other situation she would've wondered if this really was such a good idea. "Everyone seems alright. Don't think any of them got hit." She was still a little winded. From around the other three she could see the still-masked assailant bleeding from the wound in their leg had to look away from it. 'Jesus...'