You are my Angel (A Not-a-Diary)

[rocoboq]

hello there! now that the not-a-diary trend is beginning to rise back from the ashes, i have decided to try and dip my toes back into the water and write another not-a-diary! i won't be providing a link to my previous one, but this is based on that, the book series "the shadowhunter chronicles" by cassandra clare, and kind of "the summoner series" by taran matharu. i mostly borrow concepts from them, but never copy major plot events (unless they're common cliches). if you really want to find my diary, good luck digging it up from like three years ago.
also, this will be following a bit of a different format than other not-a-diaries and will be more story-like than diary-like. enjoy!

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Entry #1: Ilsyfa and the Crew
Entry #2: The First Day
Entry #3: What's Happening? - new!
Entry #4:
Entry #5:
Entry #6:
Entry #7:
Entry #8:

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Ilsyfa Alderwine: #3D0709
Cormac Highwood: #1E3C67
Horsyn Greycross: #9D4572
Sorem Heronwell: #4B306D
Riley Ashfree: #6D6978
Principal Youngdale: #A0522D
Rose Gladstone: #D5696E
please notify me if they're hard to read

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Welcome to my Angel, where I will be recording my adventures with my friends. You could call this an introductory post, so it doesn't really count as an entry. If you must, you may call it Entry #0. We all go to Micheal's Academy for the Young and Elite (abbreviated to MAYE), but we don't really do many typical classroom activities there. Instead, it is a school where special people like us are able to learn how to harness our individual abilities to fight in The War, which is a battle between those with unique gifts and Ilsyti, the leader of a rebellion who has a seriously powerful gift. There are also demons that lurk around the world that people like us have to take care of. Read on to find out exactly how we manage to learn more about ourselves while managing to quite possibly save the world.

These are my friends:




This is Cormac Highwood with his familiar Fangs, who is a little gremlin bat.
Cormac's unique gift is his ram's horns on his head. Because he has no other
buffs or powers, he trains almost constantly to become stronger and quite
the powerhouse among his peers. Aside from that, though, he's my best
friend and we have all of our classes together (which is also because all of
us have classes together because it's a small school). His bravery and ability
to always manage to get us into trouble is truly inspiring and I hope to have
those traits myself one day. Fangs likes to get into trouble, too, but he's
more troublesome and very tricky to deal with. For some reason he really
likes Cormac, but refuses to even be touched by anyone else. Can't say I
enjoy his presence, anyways.


















Sorem Heronwell is one of the kindest people I know. And though she is
technically part of the more popular crowd, she does hang around with
us less popular kids. Then again, there really aren't any cliques here...
it's mostly just kids hanging out and training with others that have similar
gifts. Speaking of gifts, her unique gift is wings, which she can use to fly
and generally get around faster. She has practiced with them a lot, so
students usually see her flying around safely between classes so she isn't
late. Sorem's familiar is a could bunny named Bunzy, who can also fly.
Bunzy is really kind and can be shy, but she will not hesitate to try and
fight anyone who looks at Sorem the wrong way. I don't get to talk to
Sorem too much because she's usually helping to train the other students
with wings, but when we do get to talk, she's always a great listener and
we usually have a good laugh. Bunzy is also pretty good friends with my
familiar, so even if we don't see each other much, they can fill us in.





















Super powerful, Riley Ashfree is definitely not someone you want
to mess with. Her unique gift is black magic, which is horribly
misunderstood. Black magic is traditionally seen as evil and meant
for bad people, which results in a lot of bullying, but it's actually
super awesome and super strong. I know a lot of people who
wouldn't even consider challenging her to a gifted duel out of
fear they would get absolutely demolished. Her familiar is a cait
sidhe named Thorsyc, and he's pretty cool. Thorsyc can use a bit
of magic, too, but his main purpose is for Riley to see through his
eyes during battle or when infiltrating. Personality-wise, Riley
can be a bit closed-off and insecure mostly because of how she
is treated because of her gift. When you get to know her, though,
you'll find a fierce soul with a desire to protect her friends no
matter the cost. Thorsyc is much the same way with Riley.





















Horsyn Greycross is easily one of the most colorful people... ever. His
unique gift is the ability to instantly teleport himself within a set
distance. Currently his range is that of a football field, but he trains
hard every day to increase it. Oh, and if he's holding something or
touching someone, they will teleport with him. He cannot teleport
anything else, though, with the exception of his familiar Gussy, a
pink flurffle. Horsyn is a little eccentric, but in a really fun and
not at all creepy way, usually. He dyes his hair roughly twice a month
just to keep it that color, so it's not quite natural, but it sure feels
that way. Nonetheless, Horsyn is one of the smartest people I know
and will probably end up graduating at the top of our class; he aces
every test and has memorized anything and everything there is to
know about familiars and their abilities. Gussy is your average dork
and likes to dink around a bit, though his intelligence is also unrivaled.
When those two put their heads to something, there's no stopping them.




















Though we don't always get along and sometimes have problems with communication and whatnot, the five of us are inseparable and make the perfect team. Oh, wait, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm really bad at those things because I'm always busy worrying about everyone else rather than myself.




My name is Ilsyfa Alderwine, and next to me is my familiar. His name is Batty because, well, he's a bat and I'm not exactly one of the most creative people in the world. My unique gift is my moth antennae on top of my head. They really suck sometimes because they seriously enhance my sense of smell (hence the scarf), but, for some reason, some of my other senses are also improved. I have really good eyes and my hearing is almost too good. My friends usually describe me as selfless and focused on others, which is probably true. I don't tend to focus on myself much unless my state of being directly affect that of those around me. Batty is mostly just a bat, but what makes him special is that his saliva has healing powers. This is particularly useful for me because my keen sense of smell combined with my hearing can detect when people within a half-mile radius are injured.

Well, I would say that was a sufficient introductory post. Now you, dear reader, know more about my friends, my school, and myself. I might edit this little "Entry #0" from time-to-time as things change, but please expect it to be pretty consistent.

[rocoboq]

This is the first day of my second year (we have four total) at Micheal's Academy for the Young and Elite (students like to abbreviate it to "MAYE") and things seem to be pretty average so far. You know, as average as a school full of teenagers with what are essentially superpowers. I'll leave the creativity there for you, my friend. Anyways, I've pasted a picture of myself and Batty down here:




We aren't exactly the most unique people or familiars, but I manage to pass my classes and Batty manages to not get eaten by any of the bigger familiars.

We were just summoned to the academy's gym for a beginning-of-the-year assembly by the principal, so we have to head over there quick before getting our first class of the day over with. Oh, by the way, the principal's unique gift is the ability to send messages to a number of people in their heads, so that's how we are told class is over instead of the traditional bells. Ah, there's Cormac and Horsyn! They must have already moved into their dorm room... I haven't had the time yet since I just arrived. Here's their pictures, first Cormac with his familiar Fangs, then Horsyn with Gussy:



To help keep who's talking when straight, I'll use different colors of ink for different people. Maybe I'll put a key in Entry #0, we'll see.

Cormac: Ilsyfa, hey! Good to see you again, we missed you over the annual break.

As a reference, the "annual break" would be equivalent to a normal student's "summer vacation," only theirs is far longer. We only get just over a month because we have so much learning to do. Some students don't even get that much time because they have to continue training at the school lest their gifts grow weaker.

Me: Hey Cormac, hey Horsyn! I got pretty busy with training; there's this summer camp my parents sent me to in order to improve my gift.

Horsyn: To improve your gift, huh? How'd that go, then? I was able to improve my teleportation range by almost a foot.

I responded with mixed emotions because I was really happy that Horsyn was able to make his gift better, but I was also upset with my parents.

Me: Nice... but I wasn't able to meet my parents' standards. What they wanted was basically for me to manifest another, and I quote, "more useful" gift while I was there. Clearly that didn't happen, but I am better able to identify the type of wound an individual may have from a good distance.

They patted me on the shoulder in sympathy while also congratulating me on my accomplishment. I didn't really know how they would respond, so I was pretty happy when they responded at all. Anyways, we're in the gym now and have to find our-

Sorem: Everyone! Hey, guys! We saved a spot for you up here!

What I was going to say was that we needed to find our spots, but looks like Sorem took care of that with... I think that's Riley with her? Yep, that's definitely Riley. I can smell the afgano nasomatto cologne she loves so much; part of me thinks she likes it because it's pretty sensitive to my antennae's ability to smell. Before I forget about it, here's a picture of Sorem with Bunzy and Riley with Thorsyc:




We climbed up the bleachers and sat next to our friends.

Riley: Horsyn, Cormac, Ilsyfa, it's good to see you again.

Thorsyc nodded in agreement as he and Bunzy greeted the other familiars. Just like how we are all friends, our familiars like to get to know each other, too. Besides, it can help in battle because if they didn't know each other very well or didn't get along, they would not be able to work as a team.

Me: It's good to see you, too, Riley. Did you learn any new spells over the annual break?

At that, Riley formed a great big smile. She doesn't smile like that often, so she must be really excited for this.

Riley: Kind of. You know how near the end of the last year I was trying to figure out how to make spells more efficient to cast? We all nod. Well, I able to get my parents' consent to tattoo some runes and other markings on my body, particularly my paws. It's a special ink that I can use like a stamp on any surface I desire.

Sorem: We were actually able to meet up last week before the annual break ended and she showed it off to me. It's super cool! Can you show them how it works?

Riley blushed.

Riley: I don't want to get in trouble for vandalism, so I'll do a small one.

She closed her eyes and pressed her paw firmly onto her seat. When she opened her eyes they were black (they usually are when she casts a spell) and she gasped for air before raising her paw. Where her paw used to be then laid a small rune; it looked like one of the runes she used for summoning spells.

Horsyn: That is fascinating! How did you get the idea for that?

Cormac nodded in agreement, but before Riley could respond, our principal came walking in and waved for us to be quiet. I don't have a picture for him yet, so I'll just describe him: he's an older guy, but not grandpa old, who wears sweater vests and khaki dress pants. Don't be fooled by his appearance, though, because his unique gift is very strong. Like I said before, he can send messages to masses of people through their minds, but he can also influence their thoughts and has mild telekinesis.

Principal Youngdale: Hello students, my name is Principal Youngdale, and welcome to Micheal's Academy for the Young and Elite. Tomorrow will be The First Day, which is a time for your instructors to gauge how good you are with your gifts and how you will need to improve to graduate. For returning students, we will compare scores from before the annual break to your new scores today to see if you need any extra help. Throughout the year we also have The Second Day before our winter break and The Final Day at the end of the year. Instructors have the right to assess you at any other point during the year as well, but those are our primary assessment days.

I tried to zone out a bit while Principal Youngdale was talking. I'd already heard all of this stuff the previous year, so I figured there was no point in listening to it all again, right? Yeah, that's what I thought, too, until Youngdale mentioned something rather interesting.

Principal Youngdale: There will be one major change from previous years that many may find to be controversial, but it is the faculty's belief that this will be in the best interest of you students. Starting this year, students will be eligible to graduate at any time considering they meet the following requirements: you must pass a gift-based aptitude test, which will be individually designed for your specific gift, you must test out of all classes that you would have to take for the remainder of your time at this school, and you must fight in The War for three years. Now, this...

I stopped paying too much attention after that and instead nudged my friends. I gave them a look asking them if they knew anything about this, but all four seemed just as shocked as I was. If this sort of drafting process was going on, then we must be desperate for soldiers to fight.

You don't know anything about The War, do you? Allow me to explain. Our kind have been at war with Ilsyti, a dictator rebel with an insanely powerful gift. He has the ability to animate non-living objects such as scarecrows, mannequins, and, most terrifyingly, the dead. From the information our scouts have gathered, though, raising the dead seems to require a lot of energy and Ilsyti is growing weak. A rumor is spreading that he will perish soon due to gift exhaustion and grave illness, but another rumor has it that his right-hand man, Regulan, was born to take on his gift and continue Ilsyti's reign. We don't know if such a thing is possible, but what we do know is that these rumors may have some merit to them, considering Regulan does not seem to have a gift of his own.

When Youngdale finally released us, he gave us the schedule for the remainder of the day today: the first half would be for settling in, then we would have our lunch, then a get-to-know-each other or ice-breaker activity would be held in the courtyard. Since all four of my friends had already gotten a chance to finish moving their things into their dorms, I went ahead and invited them to help me finish moving in.

I unlocked my door and opened it, unaware of the pink that was literally... everywhere until my eyes finally caught on.




Me: Rose, I'm glad I'm rooming with you. Again.

We were roommates our first year, too. The two of us got along well enough, but I wouldn't exactly call us friends. Rose and I were very different people who lived in a very confined space together, but we made it work. I guess we'll just have to do it again. By the way, her familiar's name is Eve, whose special power is the ability to create a sort of infatuation among two people, but it doesn't last long and is easily broken if a person realizes they are under her spell. Rose's gift is the ability to grow her hair to whatever length she wants and control it, so she would be good for capture/retrieval missions.

Rose: Oh, it's Ilsyfa and the crew! I'm super happy to be rooming with you, too! Last year was so much that I think we should try and be even better friends this year!

Clearly she remembers things differently.

Cormac: Hey, Rose! Yeah, that's us, but we're just helping Ilsyfa move in right now and will be doing more boring stuff, so you could probably hang out with other friends until lunch? It's going to get pretty noisy, too, so you'lll probably get a headache if you stay.

Cormac is definitely the persuasive talker of the group, which he just proved once more. Rose agreed to head out for a couple hours, but promised that she would fill the five of us in on every. Single. Thing. That she did over the annual break. At least it got her out of the dorm room for a few minutes, right?

The five of us and our familiars were able to get everything in pretty quickly, especially because Riley was able to use her magic to help make things lighter and float a few small things into the room. Once that was done, then, we began talking as we did a bit of re-arranging and put my things where they belonged.

Sorem: Do you guys think you're going to go for the early graduation? I mean, we still have three years of classes left, so I doubt any of us would pass, except maybe Horsyn.

Horsyn: While I may be capable of passing the test, I do not think I will be taking it. Besides, didn't any of you see what was going on with Principal Youngdale?

Cormac, Sorem, and I all looked a little confused for a moment, but Riley nodded without hesitation.

Riley: I thought I noticed something was off, so I put my Sight into Thorsyc and sent him down the bleachers to get a closer look. He was sweating quite a bit and his eyes seemed to be twitching.

Sorem: No way...

Cormac: You're not suggesting..?

Me: Are you sure? I mean I thought I smelled something, but it couldn't have been...

Riley: Yes, I'm sure. Principal Youngdale was being influenced by some kind of outside force.

There's no way this could be true! Youngdale seemed to be acting fine and could even use his gift! Nobody during the time these gifts have existed has ever been able to remotely control someone and be able to use their gift. It's just not something that's possible; then again, I read once that people used to say the same about the very existence of our unique gifts.

We are going to have to discuss this further. I will fill you in later, my angel.

Next >

[PrizmPaws]

wow, this is amazing! i cant wait to see how this progesses. im so glad to see this trend making a comeback (and i think i might have started it back up??)
anyway, i cant wait to see this story develop!

[rocoboq]

ahh thank you for the feedback! i think bringing back this trend was a wonderful idea... we just need to get more people in on it! and i don't think it was quite your idea to start this back up, but you definitely took the initiative and i probably wouldn't have started my angel if you hadn't continued your noodle.

for those who are tracking this, i'll get another post up sometime next week; i already know what's going to happen, so it's just a matter of actually writing it *sunglasses appear on my face from nowhere then immediately fall off* skillz. ALSO i changed the introductory post because i decided to change up a bit of lore on the fly and i completely forgot about the whole demons thing but that's okay so it's more accurate now. i'm really excited to see where this story goes and how our protagonists grow!

[namjoon.]

aaaa this is so well written?? im so excited to see the next posts from this not-a-diary and others too!! keep up the great work!! mark :]

[rocoboq]

Ilsyfa here... sorry for the delay, lunch took a while and our afternoon icebreaker session has been going on for what feels like a week. I'm hoping we can get back to our rooms soon and the five of us can finish discussing our plan. We still can't believe that something is up with Principle Youngdale, but we already have a pretty comprehensive plan figured out. All we need are the final details, then we can get started. Also, Sorem mentioned that one of our instructors looks a lot like me, which is kind of weird. I hope I don't have him for a class, or people might think we're actually related.
Anyways, I'll see if I can't finish the entry I'm currently working on by the end of the day tomorrow. It'll be The First Day, so it should be fairly interesting and entertaining to read. I will see you soon.

[rocoboq]

I think I'll paste a picture of myself up here at the beginning of each entry. It will be a great way to track my progress and see how things have changed throughout time.




I don't think I ever explained why I call you my angel, did I? Well, there are a god number of reasons, the first being how you protect me, in a sense. I am able to write everything that happens to me in you, which protects my mental health. Not to mention, if anything were to happen to me, someone else could read you and better understand what was going on. Another reason is that it makes it easier to bring you up in conversation; I can simply claim I was talking to my guardian angel, which is you. My third and final reason is because I go to a school that basically preaches about angels, so it seemed fitting

Yeah, I'll admit, that little explanation was partially me trying to put off discussing what we talked about last night. We all agreed that something was definitely wrong with Principal Youngdale, but we are pretty divided when it comes to whether he was possessed or not. Nonetheless, we made a plan: Riley would put her Sight into Thorsyc to monitor Youngdale when she wasn't busy and I would keep an eye on her with my enhanced senses. Horsyn would focus on strategy and keeping everyone safe, then Sorem and Cormac would be our backup/alibis is anything went wrong.

Attention all students: please make your way to your first class. Welcome to The First Day.

That was Youngdale summoning us to start our day... I don't think I'll ever get used to it, especially now that there might be something going on.

I ran into the crew (Sorem, Riley, Cormac, and Horsyn) on the way to our first class, which would be comparable to a normal school's advisory. We call the teacher for our first class our Primary instead of our advisor. It's a good thing we're all together for this, at least, since we can meet at the beginning of the day and discuss important stuff such as Youngdale and whatever other bad stuff is going on. Here comes our teacher... he looks pretty normal.





Mr. Feathersend: Good morning class. We all say good morning as we take our seats. My name is Mr. Feathersend and I will be your Primary. I know you're all second-years, so I'll cut to the chase. This is The First Day and you will all be completing tests so we better understand your unique gifts. Any questions?

Nobody raised their hand, so I decided to ask him an easy question... I was curious, anyways, since he didn't tell us much about himself. He called on me after I raised my hand.

Me: Mr. Feathersend, what's your unique gift?

He lowered his head and remained quiet for a moment before responding. Part of me wondered why this was such a difficult question for him to answer, but I didn't push.

Mr. Feathersend: my unique gift is not one that many people possess... in fact, as far as I know, I am the only living being with such a gift. My gift is the ability to suck the life out of any living creature (including plants) and use that energy to give myself a sort of "boost." I always feel cold because of it, so that's why you'll never see me out of my coat. He sighed. Any other questions?

Nobody responded. I think they were all shocked by Feathersend's response; I know I was, at least.

Mr. Feathersend: Good, then let's get started. We won't be doing anything too intense, so there should be no need to change your clothes to use your gifts. If you are wearing something unreasonable, however, I have spare clothing for you to utilize.

He raised what looked like a ratty basketball jersey that someone from a regular school would probably wear. I'm not too picky about what I wear, but yuck. There's no way I would ever wear something like that. Ever. It's a good thing nobody came forward to borrow some clothes or I don't think I would ever look at them the same way again.

Mr. Feathersend then ordered everyone to stand and took us to some training ground outside. It was nothing special, but it was definitely different from last year. Cormac raised his hand and waited for our instructor to call on him.

Cormac: Mr. Feathersend, why does the training ground look so different from last year?

Riley: I agree, it's definitely quite different...

Rose: Yeah, this looks a lot more intense.

Mr. Feathersend: You're all right, but I would appreciate it if you could all wait to talk until I have called on you. This training area is more intense because you are all now second-years and we have higher expectations. It is also because of the new graduation opportunity.

Feathersend then went on to explain the first test we had to complete: a simple race in which we had to run half of a mile as fast as we could. We aren't competing against each other, though we will be ranked on our scores. First place gets one point, second gets two, etc., meaning the person with the fewest points is at the top of the class. People have been running in groups of three, and it looks like it's my turn. Wish me luck...

Well that wasn't too bad. I know I didn't do the best out of the class, but I also didn't do too bad. I'm about in the middle of the pack. Some people with gifts related to their legs or speed got extraordinary times (so did Sorem with her wings), but I wasn't too worried about the big gap. I was third out of the people who didn't have those kinds of abilities. Cormac placed just above me, Riley was a couple below me, then Horsyn placed third-to-last. Running was never his specialty, especially since he wasn't allowed to teleport for this one.

The next test was simple enough: holding our breath underwater. For this Mr. Feathersend brought in someone with a water gift to put water around our heads. He would do this until we gave a specific hand signal that said we dropped out or until we passed out from lack of oxygen. The best part was that, somehow, the water wouldn't actually get us wet. I'm not sure how, but I definitely won't question it. I figured I would do pretty good, but I was a bit worried about my antennae and how they would react to something like this.

It turns out I could be the next Micheal Phelps because I was able to hold my breath the longest (aside from the one classmate with gills, that lucky bastard). My moth antennae didn't really react (maybe because they didn't get wet?), which definitely helped. They usually feel a little weird when they get wet during the rain or when it's misty, but since they didn't get wet, they were fine. Horsyn did pretty well, somehow, placing somewhere in the middle. Riley used her magic, which could have won it for her, but she was too tired from using her magic to help her run for it to last long enough. Water breathing was complicated magic. Cormac and Sorem were two of the first to drop out.

Our last outdoors test was a combination of a strength and endurance test. We had to pull this giant boulder (which weighed 150 lbs) as far as we could around a track. At least I have a pretty fair shot at this one; there's nobody in our class that has any kind of strength-related gift. Well, there's Cormac, but he's only super strong because he trains so much.

I. Am. So. Tired. I was able to pull it around the track almost twice (the track is a quarter-mile long), which landed me in the top half. Cormac is pretty well known for his strength, so he went last and... didn't stop. Mr. Feathersend let him go around the track six times before saying it was good enough, he'd already surpassed Riley in first (she used temporary magic to make the boulder lighter) by three laps in less time. Sorem used her wings to pull the boulder pretty far, getting just a bit further than me. Horsyn got last (he's only strong in the sense that he has a mean right hook).

It looks like we're almost done with the gift assessments. Because I did so good with the breath-holding portion, I'm sitting pretty good, but not great. Our final test we get to go inside for, which is good; we got to shower, too, since we had to do a lot of hard work. It was a pen-and-paper test meant to test our IQ, which I knew Horsyn would ace.

I haven't introduced my whole class yet, but here's the standings after the IQ test:
#1: Sorem Heronwell - wings
#2: Geram Goldmarrow - yo-yo (push and pull)
#3: Cormac Highwood - ram's horns
#4: Founa Hoodstar - plant control
#5: Ilsyfa Alderwine - moth
#6: Jackine Penjade - healing
#7: Merdic Starklight - invulnerability
#8: Riley Ashfree - black magic
#9: Horsyn Greycross - teleportation
#10: Algin Leathergin - porcupine
#11: Libe Appleway - limited precognition
#12: Yalnid Bluefeather - wall crawling

The rankings for the other class were posted, too... looks like Rose did good. Actually, she did really good. Interesting. Oh, they were posted in here, too, because both classes (there are only two second-year classes) took the IQ test in the same room.

Sorem: Hey Ilsyfa, you see that other instructor over next to Mr. Feathersend? I nodded as the others gathered around our desks. Sorem and I were sitting next to each other. Well that's the other instructor I said looks like you!

Here's his picture.




Cormac made a sound in agreement. I can see the resemblance, too, which is kind of not cool.

Horsyn: That's Artuoro, the other class' instructor. And before you ask, I already did some digging. Either he doesn't want anyone knowing his last name, or he doesn't have one, which is odd.

I didn't think he could hear our conversation, but he looked over in our direction and had an odd expression on his face. I couldn't tell what it was because he immediately caught himself and wiped his face of any expression. His wings had tensed, though, and I heard a sharp inhale, so he was definitely surprised somehow.

Mr. Feathersend waved to silence us.

Mr. Feathersend: Good job, everyone; you all did better than expected. Those who did not perform well on individual tests may have to stay after school to work my myself and/or Artuoro on those skills.

Artuoro: Mr. Feathersend is right, you all did great. We need you to keep improving, though, because if your scores do not go up on The Final Day, you will have to stay over summer until they do go up. We have to be making progress.

Once we all agreed to their terms, we were allowed to leave the classroom and head back to our dorms. From the way they were talking, this may have been all the instructors had planned for us today. With that, I'll wrap up today's entry.

If anything else happens, I'll let you know.

< Previous / Next >

[rocoboq]

The rest of the night was easy... we still don't have any homework to complete, meaning the five of us had plenty of time to discuss the plan with Principle Youngdale and talk about how things are going so far. We've been able to spy on him once in the past couple of days, which is actually pretty good, considering how little class time we have actually had. Nothing came up, though; he just filled out some paperwork and drank some coffee.

More to come later. I'm currently in bed and Rose is already asleep, so there's not much left to go over. Sweet dreams, my angel. I will have more information soon. Promise.

Oh, you poor little thing...

[rocoboq]

I... I don't know what's happening.

Wait, here's my picture quick:




Something is incredibly wrong.

I can't smell any of my friends. It's like Cormac, Riley, Sorem, and Horsyn just up and disappeared. Usually, I am able to focus in on their scents and see if they're still on campus.

But I can't smell them. Not even a whiff.

I took a deep breath before getting up and out of my bed. It was still really early in the morning, meaning it was dark out and I had to use my moth vision to see what all was going on. Everything seemed pretty normal in my room: my clothes were still hung on my closet, Rose's pink stuff is still where it always has been, and the door is closed. I also couldn't smell demons or any sign of a possession. That's good. Very good. Except for one thing.

Rose is missing, too.

I used my antennae to locate her, but I couldn't catch her scent at all, only the faint traces that one would expect since she lives here. In my panic, I could only think of one thing to do. One person who could still help me.

I changed into my regular clothes before leaving my dorm room and walking down the hall a bit. I tried to act normally so nobody would stop and talk to me for a while. There were way more important issues at hand than whether or not your boyfriend is about to break up with you.

Finally, I arrived at my destination. I took a deep breath before knocking on the door, praying to some angel that she would answer.

The door opened.





Founa: Ilsyfa, is that you?

She sounded tired, but I knew I had no other choice. If you ever read, this, I'm sorry for waking you up, but I'm not sorry that it was to potentially save my friends.

For those who don't remember, Founa is the plant-user who placed fourth in our class on The First Day. She's incredibly strong and, even though, we're not good friends, I know that I can rely on her in a pinch. Founa also has this intense sense of loyalty for her friends and classmates, so she'll definitely lend a hand.

Me: Founa, listen... I can't smell my friends. Any of them. Sorem, Cormac, Horsyn, Riley... they're all gone. Rose disappeared, too, for whatever reason.

Founa's eyes widened before a serious expression took over her face. What was up with that? Before I could ask her about it out loud, though, she quietly ushered me from her doorway and into the hall. Then, she closed the door to her room with a near-silent click and turned to face me.

Founa: Sorry, my roommate's a first-year who knows nothing about privacy and I don't want to wake her. Now, what do you mean you can't smell them? They're gone?

I nodded my head, looking to the side so Founa couldn't see the tears that were just waiting to spill. We haven't even been here for a week and I let something like this happen to them. Would they be able to forgive me? I doubt I will be able to forgive myself.

Founa: Since you didn't say anything about demons, I'll guess there weren't any? I shook my head no. Okay, then that's a good thing and a bad thing. Let me take you somewhere safe, Ilsyfa. We can make a plan there.

The fact that there were no demons involved was good because it meant we didn't have to deal with demons at all. It was also bad because demons are way easier to deal with than some unknown entity that we don't even know the identity of. If I had to choose between the two situations, I would definitely choose demons.

She lead me down the hall, up and down some stairs, and through some passageways I was almost sure didn't exist until we seemed to have reached our destination. It was this old wooden door with intricate carvings and some fading colors.

Me: Founa, where are we?

Instead of answering me, she knocked a swift pattern on the door. Then, for some inexplicable reason, it opened all by itself. Alright, what the hell is going on? She lead me once more into the room, which was surprisingly large with what appeared to be hundreds of scrolls, a small armory, and some hair peeking over a chair.

The chair spun around like in some cheesy play to reveal... Artouro?





Artouro: Founa, what did I tell you? Nobody is supposed to bring anyone to this room who is not approved, let alone her.

Let alone me?

Founa: Artouro, it's an emergency. She nudged me. Go on, tell him.

I took a deep breath before saying anything.

Me: They're missing, all of them. He gave me an expression asking "who?" My friends, their names are Cormac, Sorem, Horsyn, and Riley, and they're all missing. My roommate Rose is, too. Usually I can smell them if they're anywhere on campus, but there's nothing.

Artouro lowered his head with a sigh, then gestured for his familiar to come to him.

Artouro: Greylik, I need you to find any and all information on the whereabouts of those five kids. They could be anywhere.

His bat, Greylik, nodded with a little squeak and flew off into the ceiling. Either he has teleportation powers or there was some sort of passageway because he just seemed to have disappeared.

Artouro: Founa, we will discuss this later. In the meantime, though, let's go find your friends.

I have so many questions that I really want to ask, but I also know that I need to focus on finding my friends. If anything happened to them and I was distracted with something else, I would never forgive myself. Never. I would go and find them, even if it meant working with this instructor that looks oddly like me and is acting a little weird. Someone like him wouldn't be compromised.

Maybe.

I'll have to keep an eye on him, but if Founa of all people trusts him, then there's no reason as of yet to challenge him.

By the way, if my angel is empty after this entry, then assume the worst. Do not send help; we probably got killed by whomever seems to be possessing Principle Youngdale. These events seem to be connected, especially since we had our first spy mission yesterday after The First Day. Then again, maybe they all snuck out and didn't want or need to involve me. I'm really not sure.

There is one thing I am sure of, though.

Me: I'll do anything to find them.

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