Marked Ones: Origins [IC | Urban Fantasy]

[Forest State]

Mors Desuper
✬✬✬
ii. envy

January 3rd, 2025

Everything hurt. That was how it felt when you had just been shocked from head to toe with magical lightning, after being knocked off your feet by it and having all of the wind knocked out of your chest too. It was the position that Alyxandra Gray was in right now. On the ground, bleeding out of a couple of wounds, and just about unable to move from the pain and the shock of getting hit with more energy than she ever had in her life. It wasn’t pleasant, to say the least. But that wasn’t where the real pain was coming from. No, the real pain was because of the figure that was standing over Alyx, the one with the dark armor and black helmet.

That armor was shining in the moonlight right now, even if the profile of it blended in somewhat with the surroundings because of the low light. Things like this, they tended to happen at night rather than during broad daylight. If it was broad daylight, Alyx wouldn’t be in this spot right now. Someone would have stepped in and broken it up, maybe not as soon as the fight had started but definitely before it could get to this point. But here she was anyway, on the ground and at the mercy of the person standing over her in the armor, the person that she hated. She hated that person so goddamn much.

“I could finish you off here,” said the superior mage who was standing over her, or at least, the superior mage based on the results of tonight’s fight. This wouldn’t have happened every time, if they had fought more than once. Alyx would bet her life that she would win more of their battles if they had fought more, but when the fight had actually happened, it had turned out to be a bad night for her. The figure in the armor pointed her sword at Alyx, who was still struggling to breathe on the ground. “But I’m going to be the bigger person here. Something that you’ve never been.”

She sheathed her sword before taking off the helmet to get a look at her downed enemy. When the helmet came off, her brown hair spilled out from underneath, and her piercing green eyes became visible. It was very similar, ironically, to the appearance of the one on the ground. They may not like each other, but one thing neither one of them could get rid of was their appearance as sisters. That was obvious to anyone who looked at them standing side by side, and Alyx hated it. She didn’t know what she’d ever done to deserve being tied to a sister like this by genetics.

“Work on your jealousy, Alyx. At some point, it’s going to destroy you,” said her sister, staring down at her in contempt. Alyx didn’t blink and she stared back even though she couldn’t get up yet, and she didn’t accept her sister’s hand to help her get up. No, she just stared at it as she extended her hand and offered advice that was a thinly veiled insult, and then she spit in her sister’s general direction. It didn’t go far enough to reach her, but the sentiment was clear enough.

“Easy for the person that’s never had to chase after anything to say. You’ve always had things handed to you, I’ve worked for what I have. We might have shared blood but we’re nothing alike, and if I destroy myself I’m going to make sure that I drag you down with me,” replied Alyx, shooting daggers with her eyes. “Not today. Not this month. Maybe not even this year. But eventually, at some point, I will do it. I don’t care if I have to take a mortal injury to do it, or something. When we’re both dying, I’m going to be the one with a smile.”

“And you prove my point already,” said the girl in the armor, pulling her hand back but still looking down at Alyx. “Pretty funny because I’ve never done anything to you. Other than being born first, I suppose. Not something that was in my hands, and I can’t help it if other people didn’t pay as much attention to you. Sort that stuff out with other people, doing something to me isn’t going to make you feel better.

“Don’t tell me how to feel,” growled Alyx, pushing herself up and off the ground and surprising her sister as she rushed towards her before falling to the ground again after her target took two steps backwards, throwing Alyx’s poorly timed lunge off balance. Her legs still weren’t quite working right, causing her to crash to the ground with a thud after trying to close on her enemy. Embarrassing. But you missed every shot you didn’t take. “I will destroy you, some time or another, Emily. Might be soon, might not be. But you and everyone that thinks you’re better than me is going to pay. You think that just because you won today, you’re better than me. You’ve always thought that you’re better than me and that just because you were born before me, you’re more deserving of everything. But you’re damn wrong, Em. And I’m going to prove it-”

“Look at yourself, and then tell me whether or not you think you can do that or not. Just give it up, Alyx. There’s no need to humiliate yourself by trying again. I decided to be the better person and not finish you this time. Maybe you won’t be that lucky next time. So if I were you, I wouldn’t try it,” said Emily, turning around and starting to walk back towards the large house that was just in the distance. She stopped, however, to say one last parting sentence. “And by the way, if this is how you act, you were never fit to be the head of a mage family in the first place.”

---

Alyx woke up in a cold sweat once again. The damned moment kept replaying for her, it had been happening for years at this point. She could remember as vividly as if it was happening right now, being on the ground and not being able to breathe before arguing with her sister and promising that she would prove her wrong at all costs, even if she ended up taking both of them down. She had spoken mostly in the heat of the moment, and she hadn’t been sure what she had meant when she’d spoken, or how far she was willing to go. Now, she was sure that her own words had been referring to murder, and she was perfectly okay with that interpretation.

Only thing is, Emily was the heir to a mage family that was not only large, but had the title of the watchers of one of the most important countries for magic. It wouldn’t be an easy task, and it wasn’t one that Alyx could achieve in her current state, so she had opted for separation. Had only been home one or two times in a number of years, in fact. She had attended high school in Kaliningrad, and had never bothered going back home at any point during her one year of college in London before she dropped out. After that, it had been St. Petersburg that served as her main center for training.

Her mind flashed back to her teacher. No, not just her teacher. Reinhild had been more of a mother for her than her actual mother. And now, she was off doing what the fuck ever in the far east, Nepal specifically. Something about helping out the Marked, the Marked that hadn’t even done their job during the last generation that they had appeared. Reinhild herself had witnessed that and yet she was flying out to help them anyway, and she had no idea when she would see Alyx once again. It sent an anger through Alyx’s body every time she thought about it, so she tried not to think about it. She didn’t want to hate her teacher, but she knew she would if she thought about it too much. After all, she felt like she had been abandoned here in Russia by the one person she truly trusted.

She felt a fire rising in her body but she stopped herself from letting it spread, reaching over to her nightstand and drinking some water. Somehow, it helped her even though the fire wasn’t a literal one. But there was something else to take her attention before she would turn completely to her anger. Today was the day that she was headed to Italy, or more specifically, to Church City, which wasn’t really part of Italy at all. Her flight was later in the evening, but she still had some things to prepare before she could leave, and so she rolled out of bed and started her morning routine. It seemed that she would be working with the Holy Inquisition for now, under the recommendation of the closest thing she had to a family where she actually fit in, House Kvasov.

She picked up her saber last after getting dressed, and slid it carefully back into its sheath after examining it and making sure she was satisfied with the results. And then, she stepped out of the small apartment and started towards the parking lot. If that was the fate that she was stuck with, she would go with it. Even if she couldn’t help but feel she was only here because she had been betrayed by the one person that she never thought was going to betray her. Typical, really. That was the kind of luck that she had, especially ever since her teenage years.

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

So, cowardice it was. That was fine in Sahara's eyes; she didn't consider herself a brave person by any stretch of the term, and cowardice tended to be much, much more conducive to survival than bravery was.

She didn't turn and run; there was cowardice, and then there was stupidity. For all she knew they weren't just being watched, but there were more... Things out there that wished to tear her limb from limb. She stepped backwards slowly, keeping her eyes on the treeline, occasionally glancing behind her before she was finally in front of the portal and she stepped through, emerging at the front gates they'd left only a few minutes ago.

She didn't allow herself to relax however, keeping her Calico up and readied, stepping forwards away from the portal and watching the mountainside, still tense and twitchy.

---

Gabriella Sara Bianchi-Costa de Inferenza

Gabriella allowed herself a sigh of relief as she heard the mention of the portal; as the team's main source of light now that they'd lost the flashlight, she was more than a bit nervous about making her way up the mountain considering she'd no doubt be an obvious target given how she was their main light source.

She stepped forwards quickly, barely hiding her panic as she stepped through, glancing around. Everything... Seemed fine at the gatehouse as she moved her ball of light with her, moving away from the portal to head back inside the monastery but with slow, measured steps. It didn't sit well with her, knowing that there was a village full of people that they might have just abandoned to their deaths, but she took a deep breath, relaxing herself. It wasn't an Inquisitor's job to save people, Chelsea had always said; it was their job to hunt that which killed. There was a difference there, but until today, she... Hadn't really seen it in action. They were going to be hunting something; it was why they'd been Marked. It was just the same, in the end. Hunters, not saviors.

[Lessoni]

Jack

Jack didn't much mind Mr. Mandel telling them to go to the monastery instead of the village. If anything, he was relieved. He was doubly relieved when he saw the portal, meaning they wouldn't have to leg it back through the jungle. Powering down his electricity, he walked through the portal and waiting for everyone else to come through. He wished he could've done something for Sam, but it had been a lost cause. What a training excercise this had turned out to be.

[Union Princes]

When Mr. Mandel ordered to go back to the monastery, Sienna wasted no time to run through the portal as if literal hell was chasing her. Her heart finally relaxed when she got to the other side alive with the others. Poor Sam. Sienna thought, Poor Sam. She hesitated, doubted herself. She should've summon her constructs to save him. Sienna sadly shook her head at herself, "It's too late. It was already too late."

[Nu-Amerika]

---

Adam O'Connor

---

Adam felt like he might have, to some degree, been lied to. By omission, at least. When he had been sought out at the gym in Memphis, there were a few words tossed around a little too casually in his opinion. Words like special, academy, and heroes. He was pretty much at the top of his game fighting in the Red Parade, and truth be told there probably wasn't much more left to learn there. And with the sudden appearance of the mark on his hand, he'd known they would come for him. But this dump in Nepal? All he saw were a mismatched group of misfits, bookworms, and failed heroes.

Lynwood looked like it hadn't been used in decades. He guessed that made sense, given what had happened with the last group of the Marked. Adam didn't really feel like playing hero, either, but he'd been chosen, and he guessed that these so-called "instructors" weren't exactly gonna let him back out at this point. In any case, he hadn't had much time to consider his feelings about the whole situation. He, like the rest of the students, had been put to work repairing the monastery immediately. Between that and training, he was exhausted. Maybe there was something to learn here, so for the first week he put his head down and tried to keep an open mind.

Then comes their first field trip. Adam wasn't any stranger to harsh physical training or early hours. But 4:00 AM? 4:00? Bleary eyed and mumbling, he had roused himself from a comfortable snooze to file into the courtyard with the rest of the Marked, dressed in a pair of jeans, hiking boots, a t-shirt, and a light jacket, once again regretting his decision to come here.

After they got moving Adam actually started to enjoy himself. The darkness of the jungle was spooky, but there was something peaceful about it too. Mystic, even. A welcome and rather drastic change from Memphis, and a far cry from the comparatively tame hills he'd grown up in. He was just getting into the groove of moving with the group, preferring to keep his eyes on the treeline rather than chat with anyone, when they come upon her.

That girl. That fucking girl. It didn't make any sense. She was too clean, for one, and anyone who lays naked in the middle of a Nepalese jungle has at least a few bug bites to show for it. He'd smelled the trap, and was going to say something before that damned fool-- what was his name again? He couldn't remember-- had gone and waltzed right up to her. Promptly swallowed by the earth. He'd heard his ankles snap. That brought a shudder to his spine. Breaking bones was a sound he was used to... but not like that.

Adam muttered a few words and cracked his knuckles, feeling a familiar tingle pass along his scalp as his heart began to beat at an unnaturally accelerated rate, and was preparing to go after the kid when he noticed everyone else was quickly falling back. "We're... you just gonna fuckin' leave him?" Nobody paid him any attention. Adam looked to the new instructor, Mandel, and saw him giving the order to head home. Another mage went a step further and conjured a portal, presumably back to the monastery. He turned his gaze back to where the kid had been sucked into the ground and saw only his forearms were still in sight. The hands were limp.

Even if the guy had been an idiot, he didn't deserve... that. Nobody deserved to go like that. Angry, disgusted, Adam turned his back on the jungle and passed through the portal without looking anyone in the eye.

[Theyra]

Ikram el-Amara

A retreat, that is what everyone was ordered by Mr. Mandel. While it did bring him relief that they do not have to backtrack to the monastery with possibly Sam's killer watching them as they do so. Less chance of more deaths and leaving Sam's body in the jungle. Never even given his remains a proper burial despite them being in the ground. Guess it is better to run away then to stay and fight with something unknown and has the advantage of being hidden in the jungle.

Ikram took a deep breath and instead of turning around and running into the portal. He spoke quietly, "May you find peace Sam" and then slowly walked backwards into the portal. Still having a firm grip on his scimitar and quarterstaff. Using the light from his quarterstaff to scan the darkness for movement. Stepping through the portal at last and despite being home in the safety of the monastery. Ikram did not feel safe if they can not even venture out of the monastery to train without a chance of death from who or whatever was out there. What place are they truly safe and it may not be here.

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

Sahara took a few more steps forwards away from the portal, still warily eyeing the treeline, occasionally glancing backwards as the others made their way through the portal before it finally shut as Mandel came through, the last of them. She could've gone back into the monastery, tried to get some more sleep, but her neck itched, her skin crawled, her gut was tense... And she'd long since learned to trust her instincts.

So even as everyone else went off to... Do whatever at this early hour, Sahara remained standing in front of the gate, staring out into the darkness. A minute passed. One, two... But the sensation didn't leave. She sat down on the ground, the night silent but for the whistle of the wind and the occasional sounds of life from the monastery behind her.

But still the sensation didn't leave her. Three minutes passed.

"Fuck it." She swore to herself as she stood up, brushing dirt off of herself before she walked forwards further, a challenge almost to anything out in the darkness.

Four minutes passed. Sahara glared out into the darkness. Nothing. Still. Nothing.

But her instincts didn't lie. They never did. She remained there, silent, watching, waiting.

But nothing came.

Five minutes passed. Nothing. She turned on one heel, kicking at the dirt as she did so, walking back up towards the monastery but aiming to walk around the base of the walls, just... Just to make sure. Some would call it paranoia. She called it preparedness. As she turned, she heard wood crunch under something behind her, off to her left. She grinned. Knew it.

She turned quickly, raising her Calico up as a thing burst from the darkness, howling. She didn't really get a good look at what it was; it looked like a person, but the howling noise it made was most certainly not human, nor was the speed at which it covered the ground between it and her, being halfway to tearing her throat out, hands raised as if they were claws-

And then she pulled the trigger and her Calico purred as the sound of gunfire split the silence of the night and bullets tore through the thing before it dropped to the ground, seemingly lifeless.

Another burst of gunfire as she fired two rounds into the thing's head. Just to make sure. No doubt the others had heard the gunfire. This night wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. She began to step backwards, keeping her Calico readied as she slowly fell back towards the monastery. If those things rushed her more than one at a time she'd be done for.

[Lessoni]

Jack

Jack had been sitting on his bed, meditating, when he heard gunfire coming from outside. Still on edge from the jungle, he grabbed his weapons and ran to the source of the sound, strapping on his sword and putting on his knuckles as he went. When he got there, he found Sahara moving away from a dead... was that a person?

"Sahara! What the hell happened? And what is that thing? Is that a person?", questioned Jack.

Praying that whatever that thing was was alone, Jack charged electricity under his skin and in his sword. He was too tired for this shit, but if he had to fight he would. He just wished he had a bigger gun.

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

"Dunno." Sahara shrugged, not turning around as she continued moving back slowly. "Fucker tried to rush me, so I put some lead in him. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd say whoever did that vine landmine trick on the road-"

Something howled off in the distance.

"Isn't too happy with us being us." She finished. "That thing was fast, but it's not that tough and I don't think they're that smart either." She flicked her eyes to her Calico. "Hopefully the others show up soon enough, I think that one was a scout or something." She could hear the rustle of movement in the distance, carried by the wind and the silence of the night. "More are coming. Hopefully the others show up soon."

[Theyra]

Ikram el-Amara

After coming back from the portal, Ikram went to practice with his weapons alone in the gym. First practicing his quarterstaff in both offensive and defenses stances. This has always helped him get his mind off the stressful moments in his life. "Ah", he groaned with anger as he messed up a move. "Again", he said to himself in a low tone. Ikram was no stranger to death, surviving being attacked several times by mercs does that. Though he had never had to witness the death of someone he knew. "There were close calls, yes nothing that grave of a wound. He did not know of Sam much, but dying on a training mission to an unknown threat. That was a fate he did not deserve. With his death, this place does not feel safe if death is just outside of the gates. Another swing and as he was finishing a strike against his training target. He heard gunshots and froze in place.

"Shots and those sounded close, Ikram thought and quickly gathered his weapons and made his way to where he heard the shots. He spotted two people, Jack and Sahrara and rushed to them. "What happened and....", he sees the body, "what is that? Ikram pulled out his quarterstaff, expanded it and had the top end lit on fire. Using it once again using it as a makeshift torch, he moved the quarterstaff to get a better look at the dead corpse. "He studied the body in the light, "Oh..... I know what this is and this means the night is not over yet, not by a long shot". Ikram readied himself for a fight, getting his quarterstaff in an attack stance. He never faced against this before, but there is a first time for everything.

[Forest State]

Reinhild

The glass of whiskey was empty once again. She’d told herself that she wouldn’t drink this much, not tonight when the students had first arrived here and when she had things to do tomorrow, but talking had a way of doing this. Of making her drink more than she would when she was just sitting alone. And now she was reaching for the bottle and pouring more of it into her glass as if she hadn’t already had enough. “It’s a little complicated, really,” she said, telling the story of how she had come to end up in Russia while Niki was with Ander in a remote part of Canada.

“I was busy doing mercenary work at that point, after we had… Well, the Marked had already failed and I had parted ways with Ander at that point, for the most part. I was preparing to head to Chechnya for work, but I was staying in Greece with him for a bit and he had this idea. He wanted a kid, didn’t want all the strings attached. But you know, he wanted the kid to be a mage and to have good genes for it. His own genes. Didn’t want to adopt someone and take the chance of them having little or no magical ability. After all, the closest person to a leader for the Marked would be good at magic, and Ander wanted to pass that on,” she continued, taking a sip from the glass before setting it down again and looking off into the distance. “Specifically, he wanted to pass it on through me. There wouldn’t be strings attached. I’d go through the pregnancy and then I’d be free to go off and do whatever, without being obligated to stay.”

“That’s what happened. I ended up with Niki. I returned to Chechnya, and I eventually end up working for the Kvasovs and getting set up with a nice place in St. Petersburg, the kind of place where you can settle down and think about a family. It wasn’t that I never tried to bring Ander and Niki there, but Ander never wanted it. After everything that happened in the fight against Autarch, he just wanted to settle down somewhere away from the world. Not near one of the great houses and not in a major city. Niki ended up coming and staying for periods, sometimes for months at a time, but she never stayed permanently. She couldn’t leave behind life on that farm, I guess. Maybe it was you that she couldn’t leave behind,” Reinhild shrugged, getting lost in thought as she spoke before finding her train of thought again and continuing. “I don’t have that many disagreements with Ander, but staying on the farm and not coming to my place where we could have had something like a family? That’s one of them.”

She stopped herself. “But I suppose I’ve said enough about myself,” she said, glancing at Aria across the desk as she sat back in her chair and put her feet up on it, stretching. “I’d rather hear about you. You remind me a bit of myself in the old days, in the same way that my last student before coming here did. Even though, interestingly enough, she was a bit higher up in terms of rank than you are. Tied to one of the great houses, I met her at their school in Kaliningrad where they trained some of the best mages in the area. Last time I talked to her, she was headed to Church City to wok with the Inquisition under their recommendation. Like I said, though, enough about me.”

---

Reinhild was pulled out of her thoughts of that first night at the academy by the sound of gunfire. Great, what was happening now? They had only recently filled her in on what happened during the trip out into the jungle and something else was already happening, causing her to groan and grab her twin blades before running out of the main building and into the courtyard to investigate. The sound had come from around Sahara and Ikram, so they were the ones that she approached, with Ander following not far behind her after exiting the main building, moving at a bit of a slower pace but still fast nonetheless.

“The hell is going on?” Reinhid asked, an edge in her voice present that wasn’t usually there. The result of more trouble after they hadn’t even figured out the troubles from before. Didn’t know who had killed Sam, and they were already being attacked by something else. At least, that was what was likely happening if this wasn’t a simple accident where someone had discharged a gun at the wrong time and created a panic. “If this isn’t serious, you have some explaining to do. Because right now, we don’t need to hear more gunshots.”

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

"I think getting rushed by a vampire-zombie thing is serious enough." Sahara said in response, barely able to bite down on her internal instinct to snark out. It wasn't really the time for that, not at all. She waved her Calico off into the darkness in the vague direction from where the thing had come from. "Didn't really get a good look, was too busy shooting it, but it was human or at least looked like one, fast and tried to claw my throat out." She didn't exactly know much about magical lore, so she didn't exactly know what the thing that'd rushed her was; hence, calling it a vampire-zombie thing.

"No idea if there's more of those things out there or not." She shrugged. "But I don't see why there wouldn't be." Her instincts hadn't lied after all, and they didn't think this was over. Not by a long shot.

[Durmatagno]

Aria Liva

Aria wasted no time on getting Kana back n her wheelchair after they got to the monastery. There was still an active threat and Aria didn't want to leave herself vulnerable transferring Kana back into her wheelchair. Instead see had eased up on the magic flow, and waited to see, hoping Kana wasn't to uncomfortable. Fairly quickly she was rewarded for maintaining...paranoia, when she heard gunshots, and she set her mana flowing once more, in a more total enhancement, for the time being anyway. After that, she took off in the direction of the gunshots, her glaive at the ready, and her mind ready to cast as needed. She arrived to late to here what Sahara said about what had attacked her, but Aria could see it plainly enough for herself. She couldn't help but smile, vampires were tougher than most things she fought, this might quite fun after all. Kana on her back did slow her down a little, but not to much, not with her magic and heritage reinforcing her, infact she was still probably faster than most of the others here, except maybe Aureo or the instructors.

[Forest State]

Reinhild

“Damn it,” said Reinhild, pausing before shoving her twin blades back in their sheathes. No point having them out if she was about to turn around and sound the alarm that would tell everyone that they were indeed in the middle of another fight, and that this was more than someone just discharging their gun at the wrong time. “What you saw was definitely a vampire. I don’t sense them in the way that I usually would, but whatever you all saw back there wasn’t recognized by anyone. So that makes some kind of sense. What it means exactly, we’ll have to figure out another time.”

She turned around and started to run past the main building, running opposite of Ander who set up position near the main gate and waited for the enemy to show up. She threw the doors open with force and moved to the building that controlled the sound systems, and she pressed a few buttons and confirmed it before a klaxon-like sound started to play across the entire school, one that everyone would hear, as well as everyone in the surrounding area. Pretty obnoxious, but that was the point. It was impossible to sleep through or miss, so it did its job.

“Attention, everyone,” she growled into the microphone as her voice was broadcast across the monastery. “We’re under attack. Seems like the enemy is vampires this time, they should go down in a few hits but I can’t say their capabilities for sure because I haven’t seen them yet. Something strange is going on and they could be stronger, or they could have support, so watch your backs, everyone. Anyone who can help defend the campus, that’s what you should be doing. I’ll be with you shortly, Reinhild out.”

The broadcast went silent but the sirens still blasted at full volume, making sure that anyone that somehow hadn’t paid attention would still hear them.

Niki Laskaris

Niki moved before Reinhild even left, and she found herself following Aria out of instinct as she reached for the long dagger that was at her side, in addition to a poison arrowhead that she held in the other hand. It could be thrown if she ended up in a fight, and she had the feeling that would be soon. There had already been one gunshot and apparently, it hadn’t been for no reason. She stood next to Aria with resolve in her eyes, looking forward as she focused on her magic to cut through the darkness. One of the perks of serving the god of night.

“If you’re going to fight, you already know that I’m going to have your back,” she said, speaking up in a tone that was slightly louder than her normal public one, which was pretty quiet really. She meant those words, too. There was no way she was letting Aria do this on her own, not in the first real fight since they had arrived here.

[Nu-Amerika]

---

Adam O'Connor
Lynwood Academy

---

After returning from the hike into the jungle, Adam had gone into the garden to be alone. He was angry, and more than a little disturbed. Sam's death had brought to light a few realizations for him. The first was that they were in far more danger than anyone had let on. Although he couldn't be sure, they couldn't have been more than a few miles away from the monastery, but they'd been attacked and someone had died just like that. What else was lurking in the jungle? The second was that he was surrounded by sociopaths. Not a single person had shown one ounce of emotion at the sudden, violent death of the dark mage. It made him wonder where he stood in the grand scheme of this operation. Did he really owe it to these people to put his own life on the line if they weren't willing to do the same for each other? Was he expendable like Sam?

The sound of gunshots jerked him from his thoughts. He moved towards the entrance, gazing out into the darkness towards the direction they had come from. He saw a few people gathered near the gate. He started forward, then hesitated. Am I expandable? For the first time since arriving, fear worked it's way into Adam's gut. Shame came next. He stood frozen, doubting, and watched as Reinhild broke away from the group. The sudden ringing of the alarm got him moving, and he sprinted to join the others at the main gate.

[Vanquaria]

Sun Yi Jong

So the Monastery was under attack.

Sun tried to roll over into his blanket, let the "super heroes" outside take care of it he thought dismissively. Then the microphone burst into life and hit his eardrums.

"Ugh fuck what the hell man!" he twisted his blanket around his ears as Reinhilds voice came.

So, it was vampires this time. They were easy for him to deal with. Anyone who could defend the campus should be defending the campus? Well, Sun felt like he couldn't put his life on the line for this shitty place so he concluded it would best if he tried to get some shuteye.

Unfortunately, the Korean struggled to sleep knowing creepy things were out there. He moaned in frustration, irritated. Getting out of his bed, he walked over to his fridge to grab some cereal and milk.

He finished his early breakfast quickly then hopped on some nice, expensive clothes. Of course, he had to present an image of selflessness and caring to the other Marked yes, otherwise they would not aid him if something happened to him.

Sun glanced at the kitchen, his kitchen knife was there. He shook his head, he could not be assed to spend mana on the things outside regardless. So instead, he grabbed some garlic to ward off the vampires and walked out of his room to join up with the majority of "super heroes" outside.

[Union Princes]

Just when things started to calm down, Sienna heard a gunshot followed by a announcement stating that the base was under attack. She groaned in futility as she was already walking towards her dorm. Turning around, Sienna went back to the gate with her M1911 drawn after she grabbed a bagel to eat for breakfast. There's no way she's fighting on an empty stomach.

She summoned her four constructs when she arrived at the gate with each one taking their own pistol from Sienna's holsters. WIth each construct being the same height as she, the grouped together with their pistols aimed in various directions. Through the hivemind with her constructs, she would able to see multiple engagements at once."Let's get this thing over with." Sienna muttered under her breath.

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

"And there you are." Sahara found herself grinning as she heard the rustle of leaves and the crunching of fallen branches underfoot, the sounds loud, too loud as the wind carried them. She couldn't tell how many of the vampires there were, not in the darkness with only the light of the gate and the moon by which to see, but from the amount of noise they were making, well, there had to be quite a few.

And then they burst out of the trees, a howling, scrambling tide of grey decayed flesh and bone. She held her fire, at least initially; she couldn't afford to waste her ammo, not without reloads, so she needed to make every shot count. And in the distance she could see more shadowy, dark figures, making their way closer.

Group 1:
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9-
10-

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Gabriella Sara Bianchi-Costa de Inferenza

She wasn't a fighter. Not by any stretch of anyone's imagination. Her shields were barely passible, and her healing was decent, but neither of those was exactly suited for combat. She couldn't actually hit back, as it were, and when one couldn't really hit back, well. The fight was already lost, it was just a matter of when, not if, one lost.

So when the announcement came for people to defend, she wanted to, but... She knew she couldn't. She'd just be a target and get in the way. So, instead, she just withdrew up to her and Aureo's room and waited for it to be over.

[Lessoni]

Jack

Jack's first thought when he saw the vamps burst out of the trees was "Oh dear, that's quite a few of them". His second was relief that he had his gun. He was definitely gonna be low on mana at the end of this.

Seeing that they'd all bunched up, Jack took the most of the opportunity and sent waves of lightning through them, knowing he wouldn't kill them all but also knowing he'd at least injure quite a few of them. He really hoped no one tried to get too close to them for the next few seconds.

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Nev Hurn

Nev was quick to make his way through the portal, ready to get out of that deathtrap of a jungle. Though it seems that the group got flung from the frying pan into the fire, with Nev hearing reports of vampires assaulting the monastery. Now, Nev was rather read up on vampires from what information he could find in his books, that they were humans that gave themselves to Nox to become true children of the dark, and that they had higher strength and durability than most humans.

The first part brought conflict to Nev, as they were Nox worshippers like Nev was, but they were also trying to feed, and depending on how hungry they were, that could be a disaster. Nev shook his head and decided that he shouldn't take the risk, using his cane to get to the gym roof. His chosen purpose was quite simple: use his night vision and long range attacks to provide overwatch for the rest of the Marked, while also trying to take out some of the vampires at a distance.

"Everyone, keep your distance! Closer you get to them, the quicker they can kill!" Nev shouted to the people below, taking a quick potshot at the group of vampires that Jack was projecting lightning at. The red flash from the magic shot would shed some light on the vamps for others to see, but Nev could see them quite clearly.

[Theyra]

Ikram el-Amara

Vampires, Ikram had read some about the undead fiends while he was growing up at the family estate. Never had he faced one let alone a group of them. "There they are" Ikram said in a focused tone as he summons a rune in front of him. Seeing that the vampires were close together and Jack unleashing bolts of lightning at them. Another area of effect attack could kill some of them if not wound them even more after what Jack did. "Tiamat!" He yelled and a storm of magical energy was unleashed upon the group of vampires that Jack has just electrocuted. The rune disappearing as the attack commenced. IF one did get close enough, the reach that his staff has should keep them at bay while the fire damage burns thems alive.

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

Sahara watched in silence as magic lanced out, bringing her own shields back up, a crackling black-purple haze over her skin almost invisible in the night as she held her Calico ready but didn't open fire. There were but ten of them, after all, and she was confident enough that her current comrades could thin down the advancing horde enough so that she could make her bullets count. Her shields were only defenses after all.

Lighting lanced out, arcing over them vampires, dancing between them in a small tornado of arcing electricity as she heard a shot ring out from above and behind her, but she didn't turn to see who it was.

Vampires stumbled and fell, electricity stunning them, slowing them, injuring them, causing the chaotic charge to fall into disarray before a storm of magic finally tore through them, but even as they fell more vampires poured out of the dark woods, screaming and howling, using their falling brethren as cover as they fanned out, forming into a disorganised semi-circle in contrast to the previous group's mad rush. Sahara could see a third group, barely visible, break from the woods after the second group, far smaller and more tightly clustered, moving off in the distance. She lost sight of them soon enough as she was forced to turn back to the main group, raising her Calico which buzzed loudly as she pulled the trigger, one vampire dropping as she was forced to swap out for her other Calico even as the horde drew closer.

Group 1:
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Group Two:
11-
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Group Three:
???

[Lessoni]

Jack

Jack watched in exhilaration as the first horde of vampires fell, seemingly dead. That feeling quickly faded when he saw more behind them, rushing forward in a screeching horde. They were gonna have their work cut out for them on this one.

He weighed his options carefully. He could probably give one more blast like that one and still keep his shield up... but he needed to save his mana. If he let loose another blast like that and there were more he would be pretty much shot offensively. He settled with letting loose enough lightning to disable maybe 3 or 4 of them if he was lucky, and picked a new target, unloading at it with his revolver. Then he realized he hadn't brought spare bullets. Cursing his lack of foresight he pulled his sword and started charging it with electricity. He hoped the other Marked would take care of enough that he wouldn't need it, but always better safe than sorry.

[Forest State]

???

The battle going on between the Marked and the vampires was intense already. Not just because the attack was happening by surprise at a time when hardly anything could be seen outside of the lit area at the front gates, but because these numbers would be more than the Marked had faced before in a fight. It wasn’t like they had trained much. It was really the opposite, they had hardly been trained at all and now they were being thrown into a fight against what seemed like a horde, where one downed enemy was just replaced by more. It was enough that they couldn’t do it alone.

Mandel stepped into the scene by the gate after the first wave had went down, reaching for a machine pistol that had been hidden away underneath his coat. It would be possible to use the gauntlet here, yes, but the more powerful attacks with that would require space. Space was something they didn’t have in this fight by the gates, where holding one point was possibly their best chance at keeping the monastery from falling. And so, Mandel stood with the others and unloaded the magazine into the second wave of vampires as they came. It wouldn’t do enough on its own, but it was something.

“I’m headed to cover the back,” stated Ander, turning and moving in the other direction and leaving just Mandel and the students to deal with the front of the academy. But it was possible the move had been a miscalculation. Something seemed to come out of nowhere not long after the second wave started and Ander was gone to cover the back. Not out of nowhere, in reality, but from over the wall. The wall was a decent height but the figure that was standing on top of it, wearing a cloak and holding a sword in hand, had scaled it with no problem. Suddenly, the cloaked figure moved. The figure had speed that just wasn’t natural, and had no problems sticking the landing roll and bouncing back to the ground before spinning around to face the group of students.

The sword in the hand of the figure started to glow, and it seemed like the air around it was being displaced as if the thing was emitting enough energy to change the patterns of the wind around it. It was leveled at the group before anyone would have time to reach it and stop the person that was holding it, and it seemed like something bad was about to happen until-

The cloaked figure spun around and used the sword to block a blow from a smaller and shorter blade, one that was wielded by Reinhild, who had just returned from sounding the alarm within the main building. She was strong, Reinhild would admit that. The figure pushed her back even as she brought her second blade up to keep the sword from being pushed into her face, but Reinhild ducked out of the spot she was in and took one low swing at her opponent’s legs, which was easily parried by the glowing sword.

“You’re a bit of a problem, aren’t you?” asked the cloaked figure. Right before pointing the tip directly at Reinhild as a massive amount of energy was released from it, blowing away a large chunk of the wall of the nearest building across the courtyard, the dorms. Smoke settled. It was as if an artillery blast had hit that part of the wall, and the booming sound hadn’t been much different than if that had really happened. The amount of smoke added to that effect further. However, when the smoke was cleared enough, a shelter made of rock and metal could be seen in the middle of the path the blast had taken. Damaged, and chipped, but it hadn’t been broken.

Suddenly, the small mound of rocks and metal opened up, and the person that had been taking cover within it sprung out of it to once again lock blades with the swordswoman, pushing her back and taking advantage of the fact that she had just expended much of her mana and was now a more vulnerable target. It seemed that a new fight had just appeared.

[Union Princes]

The appearance of the vampires were a sight of sore eyes. When the first wave appeared, Sienna nearly fainted when she saw their pale slick skin, their oversized fangs, and the general look of being undead. But she held firm. Sienna made up her mind not to be torn apart while her constructs are still active and armed. Their work was cut out for them since the vampires were the ones attacking headlong into Sienna's line of sight. Taking a deep breath, she opened fired at the monsters.

All five pistols unloaded their ammunition their onto the vampires trying to get a clean headshot on those hideous faces as the bruneete and her constructs stayed close together to unleash a volley. "Come closer and I'll get you a makeover with my Colt." Sienna cursed under her breath while she tried to maintain a steady aim. She may not know how many more that needs killing but she doe know that ammunition is low. By the time the 2nd wave, Sienna and her constructs used up half of their magazines. The explosion forced her to look out of the corner of her eye when a stranger arrived on the battlefield.