Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Episode 4: The Lady in White

[Riin Whitewind]

"It's not gone." Sao, still dizzy, reached out a hand to stop Diana from running off. To no avail, as the now dark-haired girl had sprinted away as if her life depended on it. Chou, beside her, was working industriously to free her from the crystal shackles. "It's still there, Shin, hiding."

Wiping away the blood on her arms, Sao flexed her legs as if she were going to stand. Crinkling like ice, the crystal bowed slightly with the pressure. She felt a little more like herself, now merely confused instead of disoriented. What in the hell happened here? The shimmering glass was reminiscent of the statue Shin had made, before she brought the oni back.

It didn't seem to be too harmful, but she'd prefer being able to stand. "Thank you." Speaking of... Shin's been acting very strangely since I brought her back... Did I screw it up? The professor said I'd get it right, but Shin has been behaving -completely- different from the way she was yesterday and this morning... Breaking off a piece of crystal, Sao surreptitiously examined her 'friend' out of the corner of her eye. Did she always have blue eyes? She frowned. Something wasn't right, here. And Diana...

So much was going wrong! Mouth set in a grim line, Sao shattered another piece of crystal. She had only wanted to help. Was there something wrong with her, for her magic to have botched the mendings this badly? Closing her eyes, the Undine felt despair. If she couldn't heal, what point was there?

[Astral Harmony]

"Not just one student," Astarte finally said something, standing up. "I'd like to get Gorgeous and Vanilla depetrified and help them out of the Field of Honour, too."

"So this is it, right? Using your students and these other people was your way of fighting smarter because you couldn't beat Landry on your own. Didn't seem to accomplish much except endanger the lot of us while you and Landry are still entangled in your endless waltz. We should really start trying to get out of here. I'm sure Linda's coming all the pieces waiting on me."

Astarte exited the pavillion to find that everything had degenerated even more into a clusterfuck. Her body was able to probably do something about it, but her mind just wasn't into it. "Who's that woman?" Astarte asked no one in particular, seeing the Elderly Lady. "Well, whoever she is, if she can get us all out of here safe and sound, I've got a hot water foot rub with her name on it."

[Teal Mage]

Between Chou's careful clubsmanship, and Sao's periodic crystal cracking, the quartz-like bonds holding the Undine's legs down were soon dismembered. Before long, she was free, and, though her legs were slightly numb, they were undamaged – physically. To Sao's eyes, they glowed with faint bruise-coloured light - just like Diana. It appeared that she too had been cursed for her efforts. Hopefully, it wasn’t permanent - or contagious.

During the extraction process, however, the duo heard a great many things. All of them from the East Side of the vine.

First, it was a male voice shouting. The words were insults at Sean and Jack, – for the most part. It took both of them a few moments to recognize Jay. Obviously, he was mad. Not long after it died down, the pair heard the faintest sound of something brittle shattering. Barely an instant later, there was a girl's exclamation of pain, followed by two choked words. "Ow – Fu–!"

Whatever might have come next was drowned out by a high pitched avian shriek. Afterward, everything fell silent.

And the final piece of crystal was broken.

It was hard to be sure which girl had cried out the second time. But, it had been close - which meant it was either Adeline, or Diana.

Probably.

There was only one way to find out!

* * *

"..." Dal broke his eyes contact with Shuyin, abruptly. "Well," The Fae turned on his heel, tousled hair swirling. "I'm going outside. As for you and your terms of surrender?" Shuyin arced a blue eyebrow at that, "I'll leave that to Miss Imirsdotter." The bluenette Professor glanced toward Jo, as Dal departed further ceremony.

The Jos merely nodded quietly. Like mirror images, the pair each had their still human hands on underside of the table before them.

Shuyin shut his eyes with a sigh. He collected his teacup again. "I must admit," the bluenette commented idly, "I will miss Dalbhach's compan -"

In an explosion of motion, the Jotun twins shot to their feet. Hands braced under the table thrust upward, as the pair directed their weight and momentum into the wooden construct before them. Tea cups were thrown into the air, each flying wide of Shuyin, as the Jos flipped the table forward, overturning it. It toppled toward the bluenette on its south-side.

The Professor's palm thrust out -

"Shuyin!" At that moment, the curtain-wall behind the man-in-question was thrust aside. Beyond, Adeline stood with her sword in hand, tensed to leap. "This ends -"

China shattered, as one of the tea-cups nailed her in the face.

"Ow – Fuck – Hot!" Adeline collapsed, vanishing from sight as the curtains closed again.

- brilliant coral light exploded from Shuyin. Graceful wings unfurled and the light took the ghostly form of a crane in flight, overlaying the Professor's body. A piercing avian cry erupted, followed almost simultaneously by a thunderous impact, as the bluenette's palm struck the upended wooden surface before him. Wood bowed as a shallow crack appeared in the middle of the structure. Propelled by the blast, the table rocketed forward and out the North wall of the tent.

Almost simultaneously, Shuyin's other hand flickered.

China shattered again, and one of the Jo's fell into a pile of snow.

Shuyin had fired his tea-cup, with unnerving accuracy, at Jo's double. The cup had caught the Snow Clone full in the face, an instant after the pair had abruptly been deprived of their cover. Neither had had enough time to so much as blink, let alone act. Now, the original Jo stood alone, dark eyes a hint wider than normal, beside a pile of snow.

Golden eyes slid open lazily, regarding the Jotun balefully. His aura flickered, and a new tea cup appeared before him. A brilliant white smile appeared on his lips, as he lifted the vessel upward...

* * *

"There is another one coming if I don't get down from here!" Sean shouted, still struggling with the bonds that held him, a distance away.

Around then, Jay started shouting.

Kohana glared at the Canadian, "Two things, then." He looked away, before beginning to pad toward Hannah. The blond was still on her hands and knees - though her arms now trembled faintly. Her breathing was audible, but she hadn't shown any outward reaction to Sean's words. When Kohana knelt down before her, and offered his hand, the blond looked up. Her frost coated and messy hair fell away from her face, revealing a pair of determined - and mildly angry - green eyes.

"That most people are still willing to take advantage of a native, and opportunity is a bitch." Kohana stated.

Hannah snorted a laugh, looking away. "Get out of my face." She pushed herself to he knees, wincing. Teeth clenched against the pain, she moved to one knee, and braced a hand on it. Blood dripped down her arm and back. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself to her feet - before wobbling unsteadily. She looked pale, but that might have been the frost.

"I'm sorry things came to this," Kohana stated, rising to his own feet. "but you haven't exactly left us much choice." He offered her a wane smile, "But I think there's someone you'd rather talk to." The elderly woman had approached while Hannah had struggled to her feet, and now stood at Kohana's back. Her expression was composed, but did not quite conceal her concern.

Hannah shot him a glare. "You don't understand a thing about me." She snapped, jaw set in a firm line. "Now get out of my way."

Obligingly, Kohana stepped aside.

And before Hannah could so much as breathe, the elderly woman crossed the distance between them, capturing the blond in a tight embrace. "Oh Hannah..." The woman whispered, clutching the girl close. "I'm so sorry."

Eyes wide, Hannah seemed to sway. "I..." She trailed off, and her arms snapped around the slender shoulder of the elderly woman before her. Frost coated and trembling fingers clutched at the old lady's torn shawl, as a choked sob sounded. Hannah seemed to collapse, and was suddenly clinging to the frail woman. The young woman's shoulders began to shake.

She was crying.

* * *

Jo shook herself, recovering from her momentary lapse in action. Astarte, now clad only in her bandage undergarments, still hadn’t moved from her white cushion. The pretty red-head expression looked somewhere between dazed and bored. Beside Jo, steam rose from the pile of snow that had been her clone a moment ago, the top of which was tinted green and littered with broken fragments of bone.

To her left, Shuyin was sipping tea again. He seemed to have dismissed her entirely.

Jo's lips thinned. "Perhaps," The white haired girl began, schooling her expression to dreamy blankness, as she began to lazily cross toward Astarte. "May, somewhat, maybe." A pace or so from Astarte's position, she rounded on Shuyin, black eyes hard and expression coldly furious. "No."

Her aura flickered. Jo's hand snapped toward her head -

Shuyin's expression turned severe. His fingners flicked and the newly summoned tea cup was launched toward the Jotun's mid-section.

- Jo threw herself to the side, plucking a hair from her head in the process. Chartreuse light flared as the girl dropped into a roll, releasing the pale thread from her fingers. Shuyin's tea cup passed a few inches above it. Ice and snow began to crystallize upon the strand, before a pulse of brilliant green-yellow light burst forth, and a new clone appeared, crouched and -

A new tea cup struck the newly formed clone in the face. It disintegrated into a steaming, tea-soaked, pile of snow that was nearly identical to the first one.

Recovering, somewhat shakily, from her roll, Jo firmed her jaw. She was now in front of the still-seated Astarte and a little light headed from magic use. Her latest attempt at cloning herself had pushed her just over the half-way point. Disregarding this momentarily, the Jotun rose to her full height and turned her attention toward Shuyin. The bluenette was watching her carefully - but hadn't pulled another cup out of the air. Perhaps his energy was running down too?

"The time has come to speak in absolutes." Jo stated, firmly. Alone or not, she could not allow any of her own concern at the change in the current situation to show through. "This is my ultimatum, Shuyin." The white haired girl met Shuyin's eyes unflinchingly, "We do not need you. You are not necessary. You are wasting my time. But," She ignored the smile that spread over Shuyin's face. "I will permit you to save yourself and your student." Jo gestured with decisive finality. "Surrender at once."

Shuyin parted his lips -

"Not just one student," Astarte suddenly interjected, pushing herself to her bandage clad feet behind Jo. "I'd like to get Gorgeous and Vanilla depetrified and help them out of the Field of Honour, too." The mummy brushed a hand through her fire-red hair, amber aura appearing momentarily around her shoulders.

Shuyin actually looked surprised! Even Jo's usual mask of incomprehensible composure cracked a little. Had the dead girl blindsided them both!?

"So this is it, right?" Astarte asked, expression hardening as the mummy came up beside Jo. "Using your students and these other people was your way of fighting smarter because you couldn't beat Landry on your own." She crossed her arms. "Didn't seem to accomplish much except endanger the lot of us while you and Landry are still entangled in your endless waltz." A dismissive gesture followed. "We should really start trying to get out of here. I'm sure Linda's coming all the pieces waiting on me."

Shuyin coughed. "Ah, yes. Well." He paused, momentarily. "I'm sure she hasn't missed your presence over much." The bluenette eventually offered, bringing a new tea-cup out of the air before himself. Grasping it delicately, he quickly took a sip of the scalding liquid, smothering what might have been a laugh in the process.

"..."

Astarte promptly exited the tent. Had she been offended?

"...I admit," Shuyin shook his head ruefully, gazing toward the curtain the mummy had exited from. "I was starting to wonder if her mother had removed her tongue when she was mummified." He turned his full gaze back to Jo. "In regards to your offer Ms. Imirsdotter," Shuyin offered a warm smile. "I do not particularly desire to associate with those who stoop to tactics of physical intimidation to get their way. I will request that you kindly remove yourself from my home, as your visage, quite frankly, sickens me."

...that was probably a no.

"And, I will hasten to add," Shuyin went on, swirling his tea, "that you are only one person, no matter how many bodies you control. I strongly recommend that you consider the option of strategic retreat. As, I can assure you," He smiled warmly, "so long as you are in my house, I have an insurmountable advantage."

* * *

Abruptly, the small black pup stopped ripping the vines from Jack's - bleeding - hand. The creature made a face, before spitting out the latest batch of blood soaked vegetables and barking sharply. Without a word of explanation, it wheeled around and charged away, leaving Jack to his own devices - which was apparently summarized by hitting himself. Though his efforts were depleting his power, Hannah's vines were still growing - albeit much slower than before.

"And you! You big, musclebrained, worthless pile of shit! Blasting on Hannah when she finally seems disarmed? What the fuck!? Are you blind!? Bastard! Idiot! Fuck you! You were better as a mute!"

Jay was just shouting at Sean. Not something for Jack to worry about, he had bigger concerns -

"Jack you short-fused ignorant piece of white trash garbage! If you even had a head to think with you would have fucking stopped when I saved your ass, BUT NAH you got to have your ass handed to you by Hannah! And now what?! You're smacking yourself in your chest like you have fucking down syndrome!"

...okay, he still had other things to worry -

Something inside Jack pulsed. The wizard flinched, as his magical power was siphoned away in a sudden surge. Blood spurted from his hands and chest, as the vine growing there suddenly exploded violently, thicker and stronger than before. The green creepers snapped like whips around his limbs, and in moments, he was bound securely. New growths appeared all over his unbroken skin, from his back, chest, legs, arms and neck. Though they shredded his clothes in their explosive births, they didn't hurt, unlike the first batch. The new vines quickly added themselves to the originals, reinforcing Jack's magic-draining prison.

He couldn't move. His magical power was around the twenty-percent mark.

And it was dropping fast.

[SinrXIII]

Koh smiled softly, turning his back to Hannah and her grandmother. He crossed his arms over his chest, holding his ground between his classmates and the pair behind him. His puppy, wagging it's tail, sat down next to his left leg. He lowered his voice, speaking just loud enough for the sound to carry to Hannah.

"I will give you all the time I can. I'm sorry."

He clenched his jaw, and his tail fell still, hanging behind him. His ears pointed forward as he narrowed his eyes.

"If any of you - even you, city-girl, much as I like dancin' with ya' - any of you so much as twitch, I swear on my ancestors and the Abyssal Wolf's spirit that I will rain down on you like a fiery hatred the Great Sun itself would be in awe of. Frankly, none of you are even worth the energy it'd take to spit on you."

He smiled in a nasty, feral sort of way, and held his ground. His legs tensed, and the tip of his tail flickered.

[Steel Shadow]

Di gave Koh a dazzling smile and waved him off politely. "Don't worry Kokoh! I have it all under control over here. You look after those two, right? They look like they've been through a lot." She waved her sword in what could have been some kind of salute, then spun on her heel to examine the poor unfortunates bound up in vines.

"Geeze, guys, what happened to you? That's... Actually kinda cool. I've never seen plants do that in real life!" Di stepped over to Jay and poked at the vines binding him curiously. A few moments of silence passed before she nodded, seemingly satisfied, and walked over to Sean to repeat the process. "Hm... Yeah, I think I can help you out here, but..." She paused, frowning. Sean didn't seem to be listening.

"Hey."

Nothing.

Diana growled and snapped her fingers in his face a few times. "Hey! Listen to me, ok? Hmph." She took a step back and spun on her heel, looking over at where Jack lay and making a face. "Hoo boy."

For a moment she folded her arms and looked between the three, occasionally glancing back to Hannah and Kohana, before releasing a heavy sigh and turning to face the three properly. "Guys, please calm down? You're kinda going crazy here, and it's not helping. At all! A lot of weird things are going on, and I might not know the full situation, but I know something bad is going to happen if we don't put our differences aside and work together! Us loosing control isn't going to help anyone!"

She paused, taking a deep breath and looking up at the cloudy sky. "This place is dangerous. Really, really dangerous. And it's bad enough already without having to worry about the rest of you attacking one another." She gave Jay and Sean a reproachful look. "Or yourselves, at that..." She added, taking time to look confused at Jack. "So here's the deal. I want to let you down, but I need to know I can trust you first. So, I'll free you guys if you'll listen to me and do what I say, ok? I'll trust you at your words. I don't think we have a lot of time for speeches, y'know?"

[Bard The 5th LW]

"Well if we just let her off, then nothing will change! Was i the only one who heard Jack scream? Who says that she and Shuyin and all those of other psychos aren't just going to pull all this shit again come next week!" Sean was pretty self righteous for someone tied up! He seemed completely undaunted by Hannah's tears as well. That's just cold-hearted.

He looked directly at Diana this time, "despite being angry though, I have a sense of priorities! So no, I'm not going to break any bones the moment I get down. So yes, I will please ask that you cut these vines and please don't cut me." Still a pretty indignant tone from him. Its as though he wasn't kicked in the balls at all. What a wonder regeneration was. There wasn't much else he could do at the moment, so he relaxed his muscles slowly as he waited for Diana to cut him down. Once he was on his feet, he'd orientate himself and find a task.

[Girasol of Chaos]

There was a disturbed look in the hazel eyes. Sao assisted in shattering the crystal shackles, but her thoughts were distant and appeared worrisome. "Hey." Chou planted the kanabo firmly with her left hand and stood, smiling in an attempt to diffuse her own worries. "Someone needs help, and I can't heal like you can." The blue-skinned ogre briskly ran to and bounded up the root that separated the now peaceful half of the tower from the other.

Sao's warning echoed in her mind, if that thing wasn't gone, how was it so easily tricking her senses? The girl must have climbed over and was probably attacking someone. Climbing to the top of the fine she surveyed the situation - the tainted Diana wasn't the first thing that caught her eye though.

Slightly to her left a small pavilion had several things going on at once- a girl she didn't know was clad only in...wraps? An extremely pale-looking girl seemed to have a disagreement with the tea-and-fan obsessed adult. The girl in wraps left the far side of the building. There was tea and piles of snow everywhere. What happened?

Apparently plenty in the battle that she missed, but the Bluenette and the bow-wielding girl were now separated, and it seemed rather clear that the older man was stronger. Praying her hastily-drawn conclusion was correct, Chou swallowed hard and jumped off of the root, clinging to a newfound hope.

Break the now hidden fan, go home. That's all she could think of. She didn't question that 'home' was obviously unknown and too far away. Readying her club she approached Shuyin and entered the pavilion.

"You." Her eyes narrowed as she approached the bluenette, "I request that you relinquish the talisman that binds us to this place immediately." She had overhead the man claiming the pale girl should retreat. Chou's Azure eyes were fixed on the sneering, cocky individual. "Else tell me where on the other girl I can find it." Her face was stern, hoping her fear wasn't noticable. Her muscles remained tensed to bring her club to a block, but she wasn't quite ready to engage combat with this man. Her desire to leave this place-preferably with her friend in one piece, was a bit strong right now. It even overrode some deep, unexplainable fear as she stepped over a puddle of cooling tea.

Chou knew she was playing live bait for the coal-eyed girl.

[Overcast]

A single part in Jay was itching, that same thing that unleashed itself earlier. The hate and pain and disappointment. He'd believed in Di, put too much of himself in that, she asked him to be calm when the first thing he'd done when he saw her was admit he'd done wrong and ask if she could help him apologize. What the hell else could he do to show he wasn't a hazard? She aggravated his spirit, his aura flickering lightly in the roots, his arms tensing lightly before being forced back into relaxation. He was having trouble holding himself together, but he still believed in her. He still thought she could help him. He still remembered Landry.

He took in a deep breath, as he let out his last ounce of love to the air,

"Di please don't hesitate, not now. I have been trying to work with everyone for so long and not a single one of them has been cooperative. Everyone keeps ignoring me or doing their own thing. I need you to trust me. You are my last chance in this whole world of actually finding any goodness in this single moment in time. The last teammate I can count on. Don't make me lose hope in you too."

He stared somberly her way, the itch of rage still buried in his gut, a small cinder waiting to catch his body alight. But he could not wait forever.

[Dracorion]

Jack kept punching himself in the chest, watching the blue hole slowly close as he beat himself more frantically, trying to outpace the drain and close the hole before he was all dry. He recognized Jay yelling at him, but barely paid attention. He kinda had bigger problems.

Except he felt a sudden surge as a large amount of his power was drained suddenly, causing him to flinch and let out a grunt. Balls. The vines still on him grew in size and snapped around him and he screamed from the sudden pain of their growth, as even more vines grew from other parts of his body and wrapped around his frame as well.

And like that, he was securely bound in a prison of green creepers, his limp body falling sideways to the ground. He could feel the drain going faster, and there was nothing he could do now to stop it.

The pain of the sudden vine growth numbed a bit, and he realized someone was talking. Looking up, since he had nothing left to do, to see one of his classmates had arrived, holding a mean-looking sword. Was it his classmate? He thought she looked different before. Regardless, she seemed to be telling everyone to calm down. Not important. But the sword was.

"Look, I would, uh... love to do that." He started, a note of desperation evident in his voice. "But right now I'm bound and being... drained. I'd like to be unbound so that I can go back to closing the gaping hole of blue energy in my chest and get rid of this dumb curse. So if you could please use that sword to cut me loose, without chopping me to pieces, I'd appreciate it." He spoke quickly and somewhat rudely, he made a half-hearted attempt to struggle, not really moving at all, as tiredness and pain were already catching up with him.

[Steel Shadow]

"Well if we just let her off, then nothing will change! Was i the only one who heard Jack scream? Who says that she and Shuyin and all those of other psychos aren't just going to pull all this shit again come next week!" Sean seemed pretty adamant.

Diana was not impressed. "So, what, you want to kill her? Is that it?" She glanced over at the bleeding girl currently sobbing in her grandmother's arms, and gave Sean a flat look. "Jack's fine. Ish. A little tied up, but I don't think he's in any life threatening danger. I'll get to him in a sec."

"Despite being angry though, I have a sense of priorities! So no, I'm not going to break any bones the moment I get down. So yes, I will please ask that you cut these vines and please don't cut me."

"Oh good! So you will listen to me, yes? Promise? It's imp-" She started, but then Jay spoke up!

"Di please don't hesitate, not now."

Di blinked, confusion dancing on her face. "I'm not-"

"I have been trying to work with everyone for so long and not a single one of them has been cooperative."

"Well I don't-"

"Everyone keeps ignoring me or doing their own thing."

"If you'd just-" Di tried to cut in once again, but-

"I need you to trust me. You are my last chance in this whole world of actually finding any goodness in this single moment in time."

"What? But I-" The confusion was only growing worse here.

"The last teammate I can count on. Don't make me lose hope in you too." Jay finally finished.

Diana, strangely, looked rather annoyed! "What the hell?!? Where do you get off, Jay? All I asked is you'd agree to listen to me, and instead you go on a rant about how everyone else sucks and ignores you and your fantastic ideas, which seem to have done a great job getting you tied up, by the way... All just so you can say if I don't let you down right this second, I'll be a terrible person for hurting your feelings?! That's just... Argh!"

She stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. Taking a deep breath, she flicked her pitch black hair away and looked at the two bound teens, looking vaugley disappointed.

"Look, guys, this isn't hard. We're in danger, and it's going to get worse very, very soon. I can feel it. When it does, I am going to try to... I don't know, but I want all of us," She waved her swordless hand around to indicate everyone, from Sean to Gran, "to get out of here alive. And as unhurt as possible. So I'll do what I have to to achieve that. And for that, I need to have people with me who will actually listen to others. Whatever grudges, arguments, or martyr fetishes you think you have, all of that can wait until we are out."

For a moment, she stopped and looked behind her. Something was worrying her more than she let on. "Guys, if you can't do that, you're safer where you are. I'm sorry, but it's true. All I asked was that you say you'd listen to me, but none of you paid that any attention, which is... annoyingly ironic, but it does say I can't let you down, y'know? So, here, I'll make it simple. You just have to do one thing."

She took a single step forwards, closer to the two, and raised a closed fist. Her aura seemed to flare, a dark grey, and... "Swear to obey me and I'll cut you loose!"

She stepped back again, content to watch and wait. Any shapes her aura might have taken as she'd made her deceleration were surely just a coincidence. If either Jay or Sean had seen something... else watching them in the pale grey light, well, it was probably just an illusion.

Oh, and... "I'll get to you in a second Jack!" Di called over. His predicament didn't seem that bad to the Director Girl, so it could wait until these two had made their choice, at least. Besides, maybe one of them could handle it better than her.