Forum Thread

"Mattie, are you listening? Mr. Alberty said we are supposed to draw that fountain over there, the one with the swan, then compare with our partner."

Jora looked up, and her face flushed cherry red. The grass around her seemed to rejoice at the extra energy this provided, tangling around her ankles. She payed the plants no mind. "Erm, yes actually." She said quietly as he sat down next to her, as Mr. Alberty explained the lesson.

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(Wait, are you guys are in art class?)

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Mattie's face was drained out of blood in a flash. "I have no idea how to draw. That fountain will probably end up looking like a birdfeeder," She confessed dejectedly.

Cam listened attentively to Mr. Alberty, trying to forget who he was sitting next to. He'd had a flair for art since he was a child, and he had finished sketching the base of the fountain in the next second. He risked a quick glance at Mattie, who was biting her lip and saying something to Bellatrix.
"You need not worry. My sister's kind of art includes bloodshed, war, and violence," Theseus tried to assure him.
"This isn't a contest, Theseus," Cam thought tiredly.
"Life is a contest itself! Theseus insisted.
Quickly shaking off Theseus' remarks to the back of his mind, Cam concentrated on his sketch.

[Yeah, art and mythology class.]

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(Oh...)

Shade looked blankly around. she had no partner. "Mr. Alberty, i don't have a partner." She called out.

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"LET ME TEACH YOUUUUUU" Bellatrix said to Mattie, leaning so far forwards that their faces could nearly touch.

Jora took one glance at the fountain and began drawing the fountain, only taking a couple of minutes to finish. The result was nearly a mirror image. She opened her eyes to see the finished result, comparing it to the real thing. "I'm done, how far are you?" She asked, turning to Cam.

Mr. Alberty looked up. "I can be your partner, just one second." He said as he went to sit by Shade, beginning to sketch the fountain.

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SShade nodded her thanks and looked at the fountain, the image burning into her memory. Looking down at her notebook, she traced the outline of the fountain, imprinted there by her memory.

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[I sweeeeeear Bellatrix is hyper o-o Who gave her chocolate?!]

Mattie leaned away as quickly as she could and exhaled deeply. "O-okay."

Cam nearly jumped out of his shoes when Jora spoke again. Sheesh, he could've sworn she was a ninja. He glanced down at his sketch, which he had just finished a few seconds ago. He could have probably done better with watercolors, but all he had was his pencil. "Um, done," He said hesitantly.

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"Wow, that's really good! You missed that flower carving on the fountain base though. How's mine?" Jora held out her sketchpad.

Bellatrix gave Mattie a little tutorial on how to not horribly fail at drawing.

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Cam had to admit it: he was impressed. The detail was just exquisite, and every curve perfectly formed. "That's pretty good. Do you take art lessons?" He admitted.

~~~

Meanwhile Mattie practiced drawing basic shapes as Bellatrix - rather hilariously - taught her how not to mess up so badly. Eventually, she had a crude drawing of the fountain. The swan looked more like a flamingo, but otherwise it was pretty okay for someone who'd only drawn stick figures their entire life.

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Shade finished before Mr. Alberty did and tucked the book away.

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"No, actually. Drawing's just something that I do in my free time I guess." Jora admitted.

Bellatrix looked over Mattie's shoulder. "Here, try imagining it this way. Every line is the stroke of the sword, and the more precise you are, the faster your enemy goes down. That should put it in simpler terms for Metis."

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Mattie nodded slowly and waited for Metis to react. Something slammed against her mental shield so hard, she nearly collapsed into unconsciousness.
"M-metis?" Mattie groaned as her shields cracked.
"Do not fight it! Metis shouted.
"W-w-wha-"

But she was cut off, and she hurtled into darkness. It seemed like eternity before she opened her eyes. But Mattie was no longer in the beautiful garden with her classmates. Bellatrix was nowhere to be seen. Her vision adjusted, and Mattie stifled a scream.

Fires burned everywhere, and the ground was as black as charcoal. Dilapidated huts housed screaming mortals as they tried to escape, but some invisible force struck them dead one by one. One moment they were running, the next they lay dead on the ground. Lightning flickered through the dark sky, and thunder rumbled loudly afterwards.

"This is where it happened," Metis murmured quietly.
"What do you me-" Mattie's question died in her throat as it was answered.

A blue-haired woman had materialized from thin air, right in front of her. She was dressed in the cliche black garments of witches, but a crown decorated richly with glowing black diamonds sat atop her electric blue hair. The woman observed the destruction calmly, as if it were an interesting specimen she just dissected. She turned and her eyes widened when she saw Mattie. Their stormy blue eyes locked.

"Metis?" Mattie was almost afraid.
There was a cruel glint in those eyes. Eyes that looked just like Mattie's. Metis smiled, her mouth curving cruelly.
"You must be my second life. Do tell me. Do I cause as much destruction there?"
"I won't let you," the words spilled out of Mattie's mouth before she could stop them.
Metis raised her eyebrows. "You cannot stop yourself, my dear. I am you. Though I do suspect...with those clothes and that lack of cruelty in your eyes...Yes. You are mortal?"
Before Mattie could reply, Metis answered her own question. "Oh, but of course. Even now puny humans threaten to cast us out of this world. Us magical beings...we're extinct in your time, aren't we? Except for that occasional genetic mutation, when a mortal gains a portion of our magic."
Metis smiled that cruel smile. "They will probably kill my foolish brother as well. But what I do wonder is...why are you here?"
"This is you?" Mattie found herself thinking.
"It was me, before I died. I personally think that I am a much better person dead. Not to be biased or anything, but she was a little too violent for my liking," Metis said.
Past Metis' eyes widened. "So I am stuck as a parasite on a host of my second life? Who could ha- Yes, only my brother could have caused that."

A lightning bolt struck Past Metis' back and she flew right though Mattie's spirit. With a howl of outrage, she splayed her hands and shot lightning of her own at the unseen attacker's direction. The lightning halted mid-air, and was squashed into sparks. The attacker stepped into the light, and Past Metis growled.
Past Theseus stared back defiantly, his silver knight armor glinting along with those unusually cold silver eyes.
"You have caused enough direction, witch," he stated calmly.
"Oh, is it "witch" now, big brother?" Past Metis cooed. "Are you forgetting we have the same mother?"
"You are no sister of mine," Past Theseus said, angrily gathering moisture in the air and firing it as a blast of water at Past Metis.
Past Metis waved her hand, making the water dissolve back into air. Her eyes turned serious. "You could never beat me, brother."
"I cannot take you by force," Past Theseus said, making Past Metis smile. "But I can curse you."
"Ah, our sibling squabbles," Present Metis murmured wistfully.
Past Metis' eyes widened in horror as she took a step back. "No curse works on me, except-"
"Except the ones in one certain spellbook," Past Theseus continued. "We did wonder why you destroyed that island. Our seers managed to salvage the Cross Spellbook."
Past Metis began to dissolve into air, but Past Theseus intercepted the air currents, stopping her teleportation.
"This is the most painful part. We should leave," Present Metis said sadly.
The scene began to dissolve, but Mattie hung on. "Why?"
"Why what?" Metis said impatiently.
"Why did you cause so much destruction? So much that it compelled your brother to turn against you?" Mattie asked softly.
Metis was silent for a moment before answering. "You want the truth, Matilda? I think I became insane and bloodthirsty after my pacifist mother was hung by the mortals."
Mattie wanted to ask one more question, but she hurtled back into the darkness. She inhaled deeply as she shot up from the grass, her doodle pad having fallen from her lap as she was unconscious. She glanced at it carelessly, and picked up her pencil. She understood how to draw now. As she began to correct her sloppy drawing, she realized she understood more than just the simple lines as the strokes of the sword. She understood the destruction one death could cause.

~~~

Cam nodded uncertainly, and with a quick glance at the fountain, he corrected the missing flower carving. He heard a sharp gasp, and turned his head to see Mattie close her eyes and drop her pencil.

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"Hey, are you alright?" Bellatrix asked Mattie.

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Mattie nodded uncertainly, then glancing over to her drawing. It was hands down better than before, and the swan actually looked like a swan now.

~~~

Cam felt like Theseus was being a little too quiet. Risking a glance, he saw that Mattie was sitting upright again. She seemed to be a little distracted, however.

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"Much better now, see? And by the way, what happened that caused you to knock yourself out like that?"

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Jora looked up as Cam glanced at another girl. She felt a sharp pang of jealousy, but just bit her lip, waiting for Mr. Alberty to give more directions.

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"Is everyone finished with their drawings? Yes? Good. Miss Haywire, you look a little pale," Mr. Alberty announced.
Mattie's face considerably darkened at this comment, and he quickly looked away and cleared his throat. "Does anyone know how this fountain is related to mythology? And what kind of mythology, particularly?"

Cam furrowed his brow at Mr. Alberty's comment. Mattie did look a little pale. He wondered why he was so concerned about her; she hosted Metis after all.
"Sibling overprotectiveness. You and her are me and my sister's supposed second lives. It's not unusual for that trait to be passed on," Theseus answered.
"I don't even know her," Cam argued, but knew it was true.

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"Why yes, actually. There is a small legend about the greek goddess Eris and the greek god Apollo. It is rumored that they had a terrible battle here, and many lives were lost. The legend is that Apollo cast a spell, locking Eris away, but the spell sealed him away as well." Mr. Alberty said.
"The swan is supposed to represent Apollo, and the Thorny roses are meant to represent Eris, as the swan is driving the thorns away."

---

Mattie absorbed the information with an odd fascination. Mythology had always intrigued her. She and Metis shared an odd interest in it, which was pretty weird, as they were mostly complete opposites.
Mr. Alberty clasped his hands together. "Class dismissed, and do put your drawings over there by that rock. Tomorrow's assignment will involve a lot of water, so feel free to bring extra clothing."
Mattie didn't know if he was joking or not, so she decided to just go with the flow. Pun not intended. She placed her drawing by the rock, and waited for Bellatrix.
"Oh, by the way, your next class in like, an hour. Should be fun," Metis said with much amusement.
"How would it be fun?" Mattie demanded suspiciously.
"We get to demonstrate our powers," Metis laughed.

Cam placed his drawing by the rock, then settled into a heated argument with Theseus on whether or not to wait for Jora. After a fierce mental battle, Theseus came out victorious and with much regret, Cam waited.

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Bellatrix dumped her sketch by the others and raced up to Mattie. "So, how do you feel about libraries?"

Jora set her sketch by the others and walked towards the door. She noticed Cam standing there, and she began to walk with him down the hallway. "So, if you don't mind me asking, but why do you have two energy signatures? That other girl who collapsed had two as well."

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Shade glumly walked out of class without handing in her drawing. Personally, she thought that it was crappy. She'd hand in a better one latter. Spotting two new kids chatting, she felt something inside her sink. Shade trudged on, unsure of what class to go to next since she hasen't read the schedule.

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