Windsong Academy

As Alison predicted, there were a mass of papparazzi to follow them out the doors of the hotel. Their questions were asked and left unanswered as Alison and Kross promptly ignored them. They went to the store and got her some new pants and some bigger shirts. Alison was right when she said that it wouldn't be long before she would be big and round. She was already showing and to Kross, that was dangerous. He wanted his precious family to stay a secret as long as possible. He had a feeling that there was something still amiss and he didn't like it. When they were done shopping Alison got some food. After Kross ate his last human meal he felt sluggish and sick and he didn't care to feel that way again.

Once back at the hotel they unpacked the bags and Kross kept commenting about how this and that looked good, making his woman blush all the more. He loved the way she looked and the way he could make her feel. Kross could hear her heart race, hear her blood vessels pump with blood. It meant she was alive. Then he recalled their previous conversation about school. Kross knew they had to go back and knew that it was imperative that she pass. Although he knew he could take care of all of them with the money he made over the years, he knew that she wanted to feel accomplished. Kross didn't want to take anything away from her.

When they finally sat down he began the long awaited conversation he wanted to avoid. "About returning to school. It is true that Mistress Anne will have to be talked to and we'll do that together. But there is also no reason not to go into the cabin together. Like I said before, you're mine and if Mistress Anne has an issue with it then there are other schools out there. I will not have my woman away from me when I know our little ones are on their way. Do you understand me Alison? I know you don't like questions, but I need to know that we're on the same page. You're mine and no one else can have you or take you away from me. You're my everything. So as far as I'm concerned there is nothing that can change my mind in this," Kross simply stated.

Kross knew he was stubborn and showed it in the way he talked and percieved himself. He was straight forward and didn't want anything to get in the way of what he knew was happiness. Kross held Alison protectively close to him as he said this.

Levi didn't know how much he could go without taking it further. He stopped himself and pulled from Angel. He licked his lips and panted, wanting more. Levi knew that he still wanted Ayame and he knew he could never have her. It made him want to cry over it, but knew he was to man to do it; especially in front of Angel. He stepped back and looked to the side, "Thanks Angel, but I gotta go. I'm sorry..." Levi pushed past her and looked over his shoulder. "I'll see you later. And thank you for helping me." He tried to keep an upbeat attitude as he left her. He wanted to show that nothing could faze him.

That night he stayed awake in his bed and wondered about so many things. He thought about what Miss Carter said, about how Angel helped him, and how he could ever face Aiden and Ayame again. He was just so screwed up in the head that he didn't know how he could get through it all. If he looked at it, he still didn't have any friends, except the elusive Angel. He didn't even know her real name. Then there was his stalker Dezmin, the woman he could never have; Ayame, and his brother Aiden. Not a large group of people and all problems. He gave a belated sigh when he finally turned on his side and forced sleep to take him. It wasn't until hours later that he finally went to sleep and had nightmares.

Morning came and went and the afternoon followed. So far there was no sign of anyone he knew and realized that half the time he was alone, with no one to share anything with. When he thought all was safe he saw his enemy too late. Levi didn't have time to shape shift into anything and his other option was to run, but he wasn't about to become a coward at this point. Dezmin came up to him, looking more upkept than usual. "Did ya think about what I said?" Dezmin asked in a polite tone. Levi didn't trust it for one moment and kept his distance.

Levi was taking his time answering. "Well?" Dezmin pressured. "Why not choose someone else to harass?" Levi finally said. Dezmin chuckled, "Is that what you think I'm doing? I like you, simple. I want you, even simpler. Now what do you say? Give me a chance punk and I might be a little nicer to you." Levi knew this wasn't going to end well. "Just lay off Dezmin. I already thought about it and I said no, as in hell no. I don't swing that way and I meant it."

Dezmin growled and flung his arms up in the arm, "Come on! I'm being patient here. I even had something special planned if you said yes." "And what could you possibly impress me with?" Levi inquired. Dezmin made his handsome quarky smile," Come with me..." Dezmin grabbed Levi's hand and dragged him behind him. Levi couldn't get out of Dezmin's grasp as he was being pulled to somewhere he didn't want to be. Dezmin was jabbering on, "I'm not the sappy type, but I thought you might like this since you're always alone." Levi was actually surprised that Dezmin even saw that. Dezmin must have been stalking him like no other. "I realized that you like certain things and here we go!" Dezmin said almost happily. Levi was about to shut his eyes on what would happen next, but then he realized where they were. He smelled the bleach and heard the water. They were at the pool.

Dezmin released him. "I saw you with Miss Carter and you looked like you were enjoying the pool, so I thought you might like a swimming partner," Dezmin mentioned. Levi looked from Dezmin to the pool to Dezmin again. "Wanna swim or what?" Dezmin motioned to the pool. Levi was hesitant in trusting Dezmin, "You won't try anything will you?" Dezmin shook his head, "I can't promise nothing, but at least you'll be able to swim." Levi gave Dezmin a look. "Alright I won't touch you," Dezmin finally gave in. Apparently he was trying really hard to make Levi like him. Levi finally gave in and said, "Alright."

When he saw that smile on Dezmin, he knew that maybe that guys feelings were genuine.

It didn't take long for word to get out around school about the Ayame girl. Aiden happened to hear her name buzzing around the cafeteria as he ate his meal. He hadn't seen her all day and that is what worried him the most, but now he heard something about her transforming; someone getting hurt... then the rest was in a blur. Aiden was up and out of his chair in mere seconds as he ran out the doors. He had to find her. He ran across the school yard and the word that stuck with him was, 'the infirmary'. When he got there it was empty, except for the nurse.

Aiden went up to her and asked, "Did a woman named Ayame come in here?" Aiden didn't want to sound hysterical, but he was worried and knew something was wrong. The nurse nodded, "Oh yes, she just left to Mistress Anne's office." Aiden paled, "Is she in trouble?" "young man, I can't talk to you about other students. If you wish to find her then go to the main office."

Aiden didn't wait as he made his way there, hoping that he would run into her.

The plane finally landed and Xander was glad to have his feet planted firmly on the ground. He crooked his neck and made a sigh as they got into the taxi. It was only another twenty minutes before they would pull into the school. "I'm so glad we're getting home. I'm tired of feeling this way. I just want to be in my own bed, "Xander mentioned. Lilith nodded, "I have to agree. This was just one long trip."

"Yeah, and we were cold the whole summer. I found that this was a waste," Xander said this as he checked out the camera footage once more. "It doesn't look like it has any connection to what happened here." Just when they pulled into the driveway of the school Lilith's phone rang. Her tired face lit up when she saw that it was her mom calling. She smiled and flipped the phone open, "Hello Mom!" She beamed. Xander smiled with her, glad that her mom finally reached her. Then her face fell, her complextion growing paler and paler as each second ticked by.

"This isn't your mother wench. You took my love away and you had to pay. I killed her and I'll ruin you further, by taking everything you hold dear. Xander will be next if you interfere again..." the phone went dead as the voice trailed off.

Misha cradled demon-boy against her chest. She stepped off the edge of the pit, her wings folding out to lower them slowly. “Glum! Get out here now!”

Glum came running out and laid himself out prone to her on his stomach. She ignored him and laid Crocell down carefully, “Water from your spring now.”

Glum didn’t say anything, with a grunt he was off. Misha pulled out what looked like a medical kit and started to work on the reopened wounds. She had a schedule and once again it was being interrupted by Overlords and demons. Soon school would factor in, but she’d spring that on him later. For now, she had to make sure he didn’t bleed out.

“This will hurt a lot initially, but it will feel more like a dull sensation. You will be able to feel the pressure and see what I am doing, but nothing else.” Misha explained seconds before she injected an anesthetic directly into the wound area. It hurt a lot, but as she stated it stopped.

Glum returned with the water and set it next to her. Misha pulled out several flasks and started opening them, “Glum tie my hair back and then get you and your family hidden. I will be using Hellfire soon.”

“As you say,” Glum replied before he did as he was bade.

Misha set herself to her work. Her wings spread up and out over the both of them and a small red fireball floating between the points. It was about the size of a golf ball, but as bright as a normal light. Misha cleaned each wound carefully and sutured them up from the inside out. Hours upon hours passed with Crocell going in and out for a good portion of it.

Misha was knelt down sitting back on her feet several feet away, almost in a mediation state as several small imps were carefully bathing her down with cloths. Her weapons laid in front of her side by side, her armor to the side and her hair covering her otherwise nakedness. She stared ahead, not at him but past him as if into some distant place only she could see.

Glum carefully stepped forward and set a tray down. The bowl had a broth in it and the cup next to it had water. Glum didn’t say anything before he left to watch over his implings.

Ayame entered the office, greeting the headmistress softly as she did. It was always startling to see the headmistress, the stark contrast between her hair and her skin and the color of her eyes served as a constant reminder that she was so much more than human.

Headmistress Anastasia was sitting behind her desk looking over the assortment of papers there, her small reading glasses had slid down her nose so that when she looked up at Ayame the glasses looked like the prop that they were. Sitting quietly in the office beside her was a man from the guard who stood as Ayame entered. He looked nervous and Ayame couldn't help but wonder why.

"Miss Ayame, I am glad to see you are awake, how are you feeling?" Anastasia asked, her voice filled with the echoes of song. Ayame clutched the bottle of medicine in her hand as she spoke, falling back on old ways of speaking. "I am doing much better than before, Headmistress, but I would like nothing more than a meal and my bed."

A soft smile crossed the older woman's face, one that was almost pitying. "Of course, dear, I understand, but there are matters that we must discuss before you reenter the grounds. Please take a seat, Ayame, or else I am afraid that our friend here will remain standing as well."

When everyone was seated the headmistress spoke again. "I am afraid a few problems have risen from your recent loss of control, Ayame." Ayame started to interrupt but Anastasia shook her head, "It would seem that the public nature of the event, despite the best intentions of our guards, has been pinned to you. We had hoped that we could keep your identity secret, tell the others it was a just dumb luck that a jaguar had wandered into the campus. Regretfully, it seems as though someone recognised you and the word has quickly spread through the campus."

The guard started speaking then, "Miss, we had hoped to keep the incident quiet, but now that word has spread through the students it would seem that this is impossible. We felt that you should be made aware of the students's possible reactions to the incident so that you may be prepared before you go back out there." He shifted uncomfortably before he continued. "As Anna has said, the word has spread quickly through the campus, but what she did not say is that you should be prepared to face many types of reactions from the other students. Some students will talk about this for a few days, the excitement that it caused, but will otherwise discard the incident as something that just happens at a school such as this, others will think you did this for attention and won't be so kind. Some may feel that you are weak due to your lack of control, others may fear you for it and both of these things may cause them to lash out at you. So until things have settled down and we have been able to judge student response to the incident we are recommending that you be put under guard protection." He sat back, obviously done speaking and waiting to hear agreement from the two women.

Ayame sat back in her chair, watching the headmistress's reaction but her face stayed unchanged at the announcement. "I understand," Ayame began, "but I do not believe that guard protection is the best solution."

"Don't be silly Miss," The guard interrupted, "We will have to be there to protect you from possible student attacks and out presence may put others at ease around you!"

'So that's it,' Ayame thought, 'they are scared that I will lose control and hurt someone else, not that someone will hurt me.' "Is that why you're here now?" She asked the guard bitingly, "To prevent me from attacking the headmistress? Do you think I have that little control?" The man flushed deeply and Ayame knew she had guessed correctly. "I was attacked by students, before that I had been perfectly in control, perfectly fine as I have always been in any form that I am in. What you should really be worried about it further attacks TOWARDS me." Her words toward the guard were biting and harsh, but she would not back down when they were so obviously mistrustful of her. She turned away from the guard, facing the Headmistress as she began to speak again, more calmly than she had to the guard.

"Headmistress, I would like to pose a counter offer to the guard's recommendation. Even if the guard meant only to protect me from other students, it would only cause the others to see me as weak, as needing of that protection. Once the guard decided it was safe again, the danger would only return in the students wanting to test themselves against me. I am known by the fighting instructors on the grounds as one of the best fighters in the school, as you know I have been sent in past summers out to train with willing martial arts instructors at summer gathering seminars. At these seminars I have trained with many skilled martial artists and been awarded more than one black belt." Anastasia nodded her head, agreeing for the time being. "I would like to pose this, I will have no guard escort, no guard contact outside of the protection which every student receives, BUT I would like to be allowed to fight to defend myself against those who would try to cause me harm without receiving marks against my behavior."

Ayame paused again and when she was not immediately shot down, she continued. "I am not asking anything except that U be allowed to defend myself. I do not start fights, and I will not seek out students with any ill intent, but I would ask that if someone decides I am, because of my lapse of control, weak and a target, that I be allowed to defend myself and show them that they are wrong. I believe that if I can do this, than the problems will cease to exist sooner rather than later."

The guard had quite bit to say about her idea, exploding with an argument of how she was a danger to herself and others and that guard protection was the only way to prevent more harm to students, but Anastasia took no heed, merely waited for him to run out of steam before speaking to Ayame once again. "What you are asking is against school rules. Fighting outside of class in not tolerated, and fighting in class is closely monitored for unsportsmanlike behavior." The guard beside her looked triumphant... until she started speaking again, "However I will agree to your plan with a few additions of my own. You will be safe from further marks against your record as long as you cause no permanent harm to others and you do not use your claws to harm them. Starting fights will not be tolerated and if you are able, it is always preferred that you seek an instructor should someone threaten you." Now Ayame looked triumphant, but her smile faltered at the headmistresses next words. "These are the terms of our agreement, however our agreement will not hold unless you start attending your weekly counseling sessions with our school counselor." Ayame sighed heavily but nodded her head.

"Thank you, Headmistress. You have been very kind today." Ayame stood and the guard jumped to his feet as if he still believed she could attack at any moment. As the office door closed behind her, Ayame heard as the guard started a tirade about the 'dangers of letting a student like that' be 'unchecked around the other students'. Ayame couldn't help but to grin, aside from the counseling, this couldn't have gone better. She was still grinning when Aiden came racing around the corner towards her.

"Ayame! I was so worried about you!" His excited words were filled with his love and concern for her, said quietly as he wrapped his arms around her. "Ahm, Aiden, I'm really glad you're here, but um you're hurting me." He loosened his hold around her but she moved into his embrace resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. She took a deep breath, taking in his scent and squeezing him a little tighter before letting him go. "We need to talk." she told him as she took his hand in her empty one and began to walk. She explained to him the situation and what had caused it, and then told him what they had decided in her meeting. She stopped walking and turned to face him. "You didn't get this exception, so you have to trust that I can take care of myself and not get yourself into trouble trying to defend me. I need you here, and if you get into trouble then you'll be shipped off to the men's school, then where would I be?"