[O] Enjoying Time Away

[Marshell Artyn]

Marshell jumped up and down as the boy agreed and on her third hop she turned to hear Llyr remark in surprise on what this teenager said. Marshell had done good. She had done very good. Not only did she recruit yet another student to help with the recent monster attacks, she impressed Llyr, which was unanimously hard to do. He hopped back around towards the boy and grabbed his hands. "Oh, you've just made my whole day! You hear that Llyr? He wants to join the Sanctuary! Such a good day indeed!" She let go of the boys hands and turned back to Llyr.

His eyes were focused on her in amazement. She was at the zenith of her day. Bright smile, a new student, impressing Llyr, it was all just so perfect. After she looked at him for a few moments, she nodded, smiled again and turned back to the new student. There was nothing to do and she seemed blank at first only showing a smile before she snapped and decided to forcefully invite him to their table, despite what Llyr would think. SHe knew he would be uncomfortable, but that is just has to be set aside. Surely he has a newfound view on the boy since he wants to join the Sanctuary. She held his hand again and brought him to sit down with Llyr and herself at their table. Pulling up a third chair, she didn't let go of his hand until he was seated then took her own seat.

Excitedly she switched her gaze between the eccentric kid and the astonished Muse. It was surreal to her. She made a new friend and she couldn't get over the fact that she had impressed Llyr. It was going to go down as a most momentous occasion in her life forever more. After a few moments of her bouncing in her chair switching between looking at the boy and Llyr, she finally interrupted the silence saying "Well, we'll get you started up right away. If you need anything just ask for Marshell. You should take up with administration soon and see about acquiring a dorm, since you HAVE to live on campus the first year, then you can go back to your apartment. Oh, you'll absolutely love it!" Once again, bursting at her seams with a bright smile, she looked at Llyr, the boy, Llyr again, the boy again... Then realized she had no idea what his name was. "Oh I need to ask. What's your name? That way I can keep an eye out for you!" She leaned in to assure she could hear well over the noises of the Motif. Before he answered she, again, looked at Llyr, flashed a smile of pride and joy, then trailed back to the boy waiting for his answer.

[Neku Sakuraba]

The blue haired guy seemed surprise Neku simply looked at him with a look of curiosity. What was this guy's deal? It was like he had him pinned out to simply decline what she was going to offer. Many didn't get Neku. He did things for a reason. He simply wasn't spontanteous, he was well organized and had a strong sense of what he wanted.

"Yep. I'm doing it."

The woman though that had convinced him went....well crazy. Neku nearly flipped when she grabbed his hands telling him how much he had made his day.

Is this lady for real?

She let go seeming to be extremely elated for several seconds before grabbing his hand and pulling up a third seat and insisted he sit there. Neku was rather surprised and wide eyed from Ms. Martyn's forward approach but he kept himself quiet and respectful.

She looked excitedly back and forth at both Neku and Llyr and then began talking about how he would be started up immediately and started discussing how he would have to get a dorm he remained quiet staring off out the window, listening to what she was saying completely but was also thinking on his own about things..what he was doing...home...how much this lady talked...the weird way the blue haired guy looked at him...and finally that his apartment would be empty for awhile.

Her question refering to his name was immediately answered. He looked up at her smile and tried to put on a happy tone which was pretty convincing. He had to afterall put on appearances of being 'excited' to be going.

"My name is Neku Sakuraba, Musician."

Oh lord shes going to be creeping on me? Great.

His attention once again turned to the blue haired guy.

This Llyr guy...theres something odd about him.

[Llyr Lunette]

With a slight frown, Llyr looked down and began to think. He had never before had to transfer a deserter back into the school before, but he couldn't imagine it being very difficult. It made Llyr wonder what exactly they'd be required to do in such a situation. Subtly the muse took in the boy, trying to dig into his psyche to understand what was even going on. 'There is something of him that is leaving me so unsettled. Is it me? No that boy has something about him that proclaims him different than others.' Llyr pulled himself from his thoughts when he heard the response from the boy. Yes. He intended to really go through with it. After he said as much though it seemed that Marshell got a little over-excited.

Llyr sort of expected as much from her. When Marshell did something right everyone about her would know. Not only did her smile grow impossibly bright she began to bounce around like a little kid on sugar for the first time. Marshell was just like that though. She had a kind heart and wanted the best for the students and the city as a whole but goodness if she wasn't so forward about it. Llyr smiled a little at the sight of it actually. It eased him to relax a bit to see that she was just as spazzy as ever. The term spaz was usually one that Llyr reserved for Theo though which made him think of what it would be like if they were in the same room. It was a cataclysmic enough thought to keep Llyr's mind off the matters at hand for a while.

"Neku Sakuraba," Llyr repeated, taking it in fully. He pondered for a moment as he thought of what to start with. Marshell had made a good point though. Neku would be required to move into the dorms, thus dropping his career as a musician until he went up a rank within the school. Llyr wondered if that would keep the young man from wanting to join the school. "It is as Marshell says, Sakuraba. You will be required to move onto the campus and drop your musician work until you move up from Freshman to Tier 7." To Llyr it seemed like that might be something to change the young man's mind.

Then again, if the boy had decided to join the school of his own free will he might not change his mind after all. It was still a surreal concept for Llyr, but he would put back on his strong face to properly handle the situation. "If you're serious about it we can go speak with the headmaster as Marshell said. That would be the way to get you a dorm as well. I wonder if there is anything special you might be required to do though..." Llyr's voice trailed off as he thought about it. Astraea would be a good one to go to as well. She held power above that of even the headmaster and often took care of matters at the Sanctuary. "Marshell we should schedule a meeting with Miss Selah," the muse said, turning his attention to his coworker.

[Marshell Artyn]

"Neku? Well it's very nice to meet you, Neku," Marshell stated with an enlightened smile. She turned again to Llyr who was looking down and frowning. Something was up with him, he was thinking, but on what? Marshell took the events up to this moment as warning and settled on the fact that maybe she shouldn't try to learn about Llyr. All of these instances stopping her or breaking her train of thought are warning enough. Let sleeping dogs lay. Er... Thinking Llyrs think. When she came back to Neku, he was focused on Llyr. Maybe... This wasn't a good idea...

[/color]

Llyr broke the short silence with near exactly what Marshell said. He repeated his name and further remarked about the process of getting Neku into the Sanctuary. Marshell listened intently and thought that the process was a little sharp for the poor freshman. Dropping your job and leaving home to go somewhere completely new was probably not in anyone's immediate agenda. Especially if they had already settled in on a lifestyle and found some sort of root at home.

Llyr spoke of the Headmaster who she had not seen in what seems like forever. It was almost as if there had never been one to her. She wondered where he must be and why. If he was still working at the Sanctuary, then why was he not more popular or visible? If he was gone then... why was he gone? To Marshell, Astraea Selah was her headmaster. The Lead Elegy, Lady Grim. Marshell was never too fond of nicknames, as hers was "The Ritz Ditz" and that each nickname given was a silly tag or fad that shouldn't be thought up in the first place. Especially with Astraea. Lady Grim is a highly denoting name when all she has ever done is look out for Symphony. They just don't understand. This same reason was why Marshell ignored when people called her by her nickname. It was all so silly. So she ignored them.

Lo and behold, Llyr turned to her and said that they should meet up with the Lead Elegy herself. Immediately, Marshell perked up as if Astraea was in the room. Marshell felt that Astraea was at such a higher position then her, and in fact was, therefore should be treated with respect. She was this way once to Llyr, however that seems to have died out somewhere in the past. "Miss Selah? Oh goodness. It's been so long. I have nothing to report to her. I've had no students. I've had no progress made. I don't know if I should make an appearance in such a state." There went bubbly Marshell and her natural born String side came out. Formalities of the conversation were now placed at the top of her priorities. The thought of not having anything to present to Astraea frightened Marshell. She did not want to look like a failure to anyone, especially not Astraea. "I would like to see that Neku here gets into the school, but I am a little intimidated by Astraea. I mean. I haven't gotten to know her as well as you, but I fear that my presence would not make as much of an impact on her decision than if you brought Neku to her." Marshell finally calmed down after letting the last breath release and realize that Astraea was not around. However, she did feel some remorse for realizing that she had made hardly any progress in doing what Astraea had asked of the Muses.

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[Neku Sakuraba]

They both had their own reactions once he had given his name. Llyr simply restating his name and then resuming a thoughtful look, and Marshell politely saying nice to meet you. Llyr still kept persisting, it seemed to try to sway his mind by reinforcing the fact that he would have to give up his job and apartment. Really, Neku still didn't care. He simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm okay with living in a dorm."

Llyr then went on to say that they would have to make an appointment with the Headmaster. Which Neku simply didn't care about either. What did catch his ear, was on if he had to do anything special. It made him worry a little bit. Neku really had very little skills. He was athletic sure, and he was smart definately. All he had were some pins...but would they work in this world? How could he impress the Headmaster? However Neku remained relatively calm, hiding his uncertainty with a nod toward Llyr. Ms. Artyn was slightly less calm.

She seemed extremely worried. Almost acting on if this Ms. Selah was extremely frightening. Of course, he could only expect she was her boss so, of course she was probably fretting on making a good impression. This only made Neku a little more worried about meeting this Headmaster. What if she was a cranky old crow? That was certainly the image in Neku's head at the moment. He looked off into the distance again as he allowed Ms. Artyn to sort of look cowardly at the mentioning of the Headmaster, making excuses. He looked at her. she seemed really intense, only allowing herself a breath after stating that Llyr would likely have a better result of Neku being accepted than herself. But Llyr seemed surprised when he agreed to go earlier and just now seemed to be trying to change his mind. Did he not want him to go? That was what Neku could tell. But then again it may have not been. In anycase Neku would have to keep himself respecatble to gain his favor.

Great. She wants the guy that DOESN'T want me to go to this school to take me to the Headmaster. THIS should be interesting.

[Seion]

Outside there was a misplaced cry. Far off the shouts multiplied until there were many people running. The square right outside of the Motif broke out into a noisy panic, people running in whichever direction they could. The source of the madness couldn't be seen at first except from a few small patches of blue in what seemed like a sea of rushing running citizens. A musician tried desperately to stop whatever was going on, but he was suddenly tossed out of the way. The musician collapsed from the impact, his foe an odd squirrel-looking creature still rampaging about the square.

Were it only one it may have been an easy task for some of the more skilled men or women of the district, but it wasn't just a single enemy that was overtaking the square, it was a pack of six. The blue furry creatures darted every which way, attacking anyone or anything in their path. Each creature, known as a Mu, focused on whatever caught their attention first. It didn't matter if it was a person they were batting around or a street sign, the monsters were content with whatever they could get their paws on.

Two of the Mus broke away together and began to run towards a building. It wasn't just any building though, but rather the Motif. One Mu busted right through the front door while the other began to bat at the front windows. If the creature exerted the right amount of force it could easily break the window but it seemed to just start with a bit of a game. The Mu that charged inside was much more blunt though, taking out the first person that crossed its path.

[Llyr Lunette]

Marshell's reaction to bringing up Astraea concerned Llyr. She almost seemed fearful and slipped into formalities that were entirely unneeded in such a situation. Llyr couldn't allow her to pull back like that though. Marshell would need to make sure she grew used to dealing with Astraea. Sure the Elegy could have been intimidating, bet she was a normal woman with wishes you would expect of a woman her age. Llyr had spent some time trying to understand her and he learned quickly how pressured she was. To a certain extent he could relate considering how people viewed him and his high position in the muses, but Llyr knew that Astraea's pains and stresses were far worse than his. It even hurt Llyr to hear when she was referred to as a monster.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with me. I have made no more progress than you so you'll just have to deal with it for now. Astraea will understand, Marshell," Llyr said softly. He didn't want to seem harsh, but Llyr simply couldn't let Marshell go on in such a manor. The muse furrowed his brow slightly and continued to think. If Marshell could see Astraea in a different light then perhaps she would be able see the flawed human that she really was. Just like everyone else. Hurting like everyone else. It was hard to drop the thought, but Llyr knew he had to focus on Neku and matters at hand, not the ones he would face soon. Thus far he had clearly made the wrong impression on Neku and should consider changing it before they took him to Astraea.

At least he had intentions of turning his attention back to the matter when something more pressing came up. Even before the blue creatures broke into sight, Llyr was on his feet with his fists balled up tightly at his sides. It had been a while since the last attack. Such a pleasantly long time in fact that Llyr almost forgot how easily the city could fall into chaos. The creatures came into sight and Llyr's tenseness seemed to double, even though it seemed impossible to make him any tenser. The muse remained silent as he tried to count off how many enemies there were. It seemed to be six, all the same breed of monster, but he wasn't entirely positive.

One of the creatures threw a musician around the square and Llyr knew he and Marshell would have to act. Perhaps the boy could assist in the effort, but it would be difficult to take down the enemies with forbidden magic if they continued to be spread out. A massive problem with forbidden magic was the fact that it was chaotic and could go in any which direction if not controlled properly. That meant that Llyr could just as easily take down some of the innocent Tones if he wasn't careful. Even if he was really careful though he could still hit them due to the nature of some of the larger scale spells he knew. "Marshell!" Llyr started sternly, "We have to take care of this now. Before anyone else is hurt!" Llyr regretted more than ever forgetting his Lyre in his office.

"I have to borrow this!" Llyr barked as he rushed over and swiped the guitar Neku was borrowing earlier. At least he knew the guitar as well as he knew the Lyre, if not better. Once the instrument was in his hands on of the creatures bursted through the door and into the establishment. Another of the creatures was just outside the window, seemingly about to break in. "Have to hurry," Llyr muttered as he began to strum away on the guitar. One of his weakest spells was the only thing he could think to use within the building, but it should work well enough against the creature. After only a few moments his attack was ready and the Cavatina Shot was sent flying after the monster that had busted into the motif.

[Marshell Artyn]

Llyr was as calm as ever when he stated that Marshell would have to visit Astraea anyways. His voice was sweet and stable as usual and she calmed down somewhat when he spoke. Something about how he talked calmed Marshell down only a little bit. She relaxed some and gave a look to Neku that most would translate as "I'm sorry you had to see that." but when she looked back to Llyr he had stood on his feet and a very determined and somewhat worried expression on his face. Marshell became confused at why he would be standing up, when she saw his fist, shaking with tension. "[color-cc0033]Wha--

[/color]" Marshell was cut off and screamed a very loud scream when one of the little monsters had attacked the window behind her. She jumped up as well and turned to find a Mu attacking the same window she had run into, and another one already in the cafe.

Llyr was already in action, and it wasn't until after he had attacked that Marshell took her advance. Thankfully, she had her castanets and was somewhat prepared for a fight, unlike Llyr. She reached for them, but forgot completely about Neku. She turned to him giving him a very stern expression. "Stay put. If you can't stay still then protect the citizens, leave the Mus to us. Anything more and you're in trouble." Marshell turned quick while reaching for only one of her castanets. She took for the door and passed Llyr on her way out. "If you've got the one in here, I'll start out side! See you in a bit!" Marshell was purely confident in Llyr's power against only one Mu. That fight would be over soon, so she took her position outside where the others were. Not before exiting, though, she clacked her castanets together readying a Rasch. In one fluent motion she spun and flicked the spell at LLyr, hastening him, then continued to spin back around and with her free hand, threw open the door to face the other Mus outside.

The first thing she did when she emerged outside was bolt directly to the harmed citizens that she could tend to. She helped as many as she could by getting them up against the wall and standing between them and the Mus. If she could keep them on the other side and act as a wall until Llyr came out then everything would be fine. Once Llyr had more space to work with, the Mus would be no more. The deal being that the Mu attacking the window was troublesome. It was her first target. Marshell quickly recollected herself while grasping for her other castanet, mentally scavenging through her spells. Which one would work right now? She had to think fast. Any moment that Mu could break through and two of them inside may inhibit a problem for Llyr.

She decided to go on instinct. She clapped her instrument together repeatedly while gracefully dancing in one spot before sending a Digression spell at the furry thing. Digression would help immensely, as it slows the target's movement and reactions down. Once slowed Marshell would make another move, this time actually harming it, but she was only a step ahead of herself. She still had no idea if the Digression had any impact on the Mu.

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[Neku Sakuraba]

Neku let Llyr and Marshell continue to discuss about him. He looked out the window and sighed slightly bored. About that time there were screams and all sort of chaos running amok. And this chaos had blue fur and fluffy tails. Neku let out a gasp as one completely crushed a fellow musician of his. More people were being stampeded over as these creatures made their way through the plaza near the Motif. Unfortunately for the Motif, two of these odd mutant squirrels were heading their way.

One busted through the door causing even more chaos and screaming through the cafe. Neku fell backward surprised. Llyr had grabbed the guiter he was playing earlier. Neku watched surprised as Llyr played a simple melody and blast shot out at the mutant squirrel. Marshell grabbed what seemed to be two castanets and turned to go deal with the others outside. Before she did though she turned to Neku and told him to stay put.

Are you SERIOUS!? You won't go talk to a lady because your unconfident but you'll go out an fight MUTANT SQUIRRELS?! That woman needs to get her priorities straight!

He pulled out the pins in his pocket and looked down at them.

Well...whatever I refuse to just sit here and do nothing.

He instantly went to what Ms. Marshell said.

Protect the citizens...

He focused on the the giant blue squirrel that Llyr shot at and then began to focus his mind into the pins he had with him.

"Mr. Lunette! I got this!"

Neku acted quickly tossing up a gray pin in the air.

Please work...please work!

It worked as it was supposed to! it glowed in mid-air and formed into a golden colored energy blade. Neku smiled slightly from behind his tall collared hoodie as he slashed at the squirrel multiple times getting in close. He then followed up immediately with a back flip pulling out another pin which seemed to have a moving bullet on it. Neku stuck out his hand and immediately focused sending out multiple energy bullets at the creature. He hoped this would deal some real damage, but there was no way to no for sure. However there was one reassuring thought. He wasn't defensless. His pins worked here. Which meant he could definately handle the dangerous things this world threw at him.

He took a moment to look at the citizens in the Motif. They were smart sticking behind the counter where the employees worked. He quickly pointed to the door heading into the kitchen and shouted at the waitress serving them earlier.

"Take them to the kitchens! It'll be safer in there!"

He then turned immediately to the Mu and readied himself.

[Seion]

The Mu that had charged into the Motif looked around with a dark eyed-stare, looking for possible targets. The creature watched and readied it's claws for any human foolish enough to get in his way. It didn't take long for everyone inside to react to his entrance and the Mu continued to stare, taking deep breaths and letting them out in harsh puffs. His dark beady eyes followed the blue-haired man's reaction. Speedy. The woman reacted fast too, though she didn't seem a large concern of the beast. What was a problem was the fact that she seemed to enchant the man, making him faster.

Then came the music. The creature was enchanted for a moment before feeling the energy disturbance behind it. Perhaps a little too late, the Mu tried to dive to miss the attack, though couldn't entirely avoid it. The scorch mark ran all the way down his side, but his tail took the real brunt of the attack. It hung limply as stung harshly enough to cause the beast to scream out in pain. Pain and fury that was. Just as the beast was preparing for a counter strike he had another pest to worry about though, and this one attacked with light and bullets. The first barrage of attacks was easier to skip around, as Mus were very agile creatures, but the bullets caught him mid-prance as the other strike had. Another direct hit to the tail. The Mu cried out again and didn't wait to attack, brining up claws as if dashed out towards the blue-haired man. Considering it's tail attack was entirely out of commission it would have to rely solely on it's claws.

The second Mu that was attacking the window didn't even notice when it was being attacked though. He was so concerned with busting his way into the building that he was rather perplexed when he felt himself slowing dramatically. Confused, the Mu turned his head at a reduced rate only to see that the one attacking him was the lady who was originally inside the building he was struggling so hard to get into. He struggled to force his body into an attack formation, but he couldn't manage as much with such a lag.

The other creatures however were not lagged. Two amused themselves by rampaging endlessly, but the last two had stopped what they were doing just to look at Marshell in wonderment. A spell caster meant bad things for them, so the beasts silently agreed they would attack her next. The first decided to use his stone attack, throwing a collection of rocks at her while the second went for a dead charge.

[Llyr Lunette]

The creature's cry was enough to cause Llyr to cringe. He thought he should have been able to fully strike the monster, but it appeared he did nothing more than a bit of damage along it's side. Or at least it didn't do damage where it really mattered, Llyr thought as his eyes ran along the Mu's battered tail. Facing life with a straight face seemed easy enough, and Llyr did it well for the most part, but he still had a hard time when it came to fighting. He never did want to hurt anyone and it became somewhat harder to injure creatures who couldn't taint their person with foul words. But that wouldn't stop the man from defending his people and his friends.

It didn't take long at all for the Mu to make a retaliation strike, which Llyr was only somewhat ready for. The man caught the enraged creature diving at him and let his body move as it must so that he didn't get hit. The fluid jump over the charging creature was graceful and he quickly found his footing to pull up the guitar again. Hands wrapped gingerly about the instrument as if it was a beauty to be treasured, Llyr began to play once more. The tune was lilting and tragic, the tune that Llyr rarely used. The Grave Waltz. Once a student had called it Flare.

Even if it was one of his more base forbidden magic spells, Llyr still remained weary when using such things. There wasn't a spell he would cast without feeling it was needed. It would do him no good to throw around his magic, especially considering the reputation he got with those outside of the school. Something about him being too powerful, possibly dangerous. His soft blue eyes were stormed over with worry and a slight tenseness he wouldn't express anywhere else.

"Neku! I have to go help Marshell. You be careful and protect these people. If you can do that you can consider yourself a student!" Llyr shouted. The elder didn't like the concept of leaving Neku to fend for himself, but the child did seem capable and Marshell would need help with all of the other creatures outside. With a nod to the boy, Llyr ran out of the Motif as fast as he could with the guitar in hand. Under haste he felt like he was flying. "I'll help you Marshell!"

And the help seemed to come just in time. One of the Mu's began to throw stones while another began a dead charge, both intending to take down Marshell. As much as Llyr wanted to rush over to take down the Mu that was attacking the Motif, protecting Marshell was more important. The first thing he did was jump out in front of his fellow muse, taking the rocks in her stead. It was nothing that was really very painful, but he still didn't like the thought of her getting hit.

The rocks hit, one sharp enough to cause a bit of a cut, but generally bounced off. That meant Llyr could focus on the charging Mu. The muse looked around just enough to make sure his spell wouldn't harm anyone before he began to strum. This spell was one he could only cast outside and only when he had enough room. "Meteor Medley," Llyr muttered to himself. As soon as the words were uttered the disastrous spell was let lose.

The large flaming meteors began falling like rain, hitting all about the square. Llyr hoped they'd act as a wall between he and the Mu's, but just in case they wouldn't he held up the guitar like a bat. If the Mu got too close he'd end up having to buy that guy a new instrument, which was a better plan than trying to fist-fight with a beast.

[Neku Sakuraba]

[OOC: I know Cal is gone, but I've been waiting forever to finish this thread. So what I'm trying to say is...can we please move on with this without him...or would that be wrong?]