Xia nodded her head. "Understood." She said, as she got up from her chair, and left the nurses office in search of Dominic.

******

Tea couldn't sleep. She just stared at the ceiling laying in her bed.

Alec and saske heard everything trevor had said as they walked into the nurses office.
"Battlefront and Legion in the same room together? normally I'd question the idea but seeing how our little nightmare is becoming real it makes sense." Alec still had his cigarette. He was still ticked off about the whole idea and the current situation. He really hated the fact that there was going to be a joint meeting with Legion. but really what other choices where they left with

"It's good to see that your doing alright Trevor. So the rumors are true then? Omicida really has returned to this place?" He looked around as he saw sinkra in the room as well. Really glad that we're not the only battlefront members here.

Kris blushed a looked away at what Alice said. "Oh uh... sorry to hear about that." With his eyes adverted away from Alice he asked her "So... any reason why you followed them?"

"Well..." Alice started, her face turning red as her mind realized what she had just said. "I was following them since I figured that Dyse would rather not be told she was naked by a guy. But, I don't think it's really important right now." Looking around at the glowing 'trees' she saw a lone figure slowly making it s way towards them.

Hana nodded to Sasuke and Alec as she stood up. "I'll see that it gets done. I'll leave Senka here with you. You'll stay here, right?"
Senka nodded an affirmative.
"Thanks." Rushing out of the room Hana set off to complete her task.

Dominic strolled casually through the Crystal Forest wandering gaze taking in the intricate sculpting of the trees. Heading down the slow incline he noticed Kris and Alice near the bottom of the hill. Raising a hand in greeting he made a bee line for them.
As he got closer he noticed Alice's face was red and her posture was, odd. Kris seemed to be avoiding looking at her directly.
"How's it going you two? What brings both of you out here?"

"I was going to try and stop you from telling her," Alice pointed to his face and the faint red hand print that was still visible, "But I was too late." She stood up slowly noticing with embarrassment that the back her her skirt clung to her body damply.

Vector's expression turned amused for an instant before settling back into neutral carelessness. "So you assume I'm the one who concocted your vacation from this stage? I may have had a hand in it as a suggestive force. But it was your 'friends' machinations that resulted in your 'Sealing' as you refer to it."
An assigning of blame to a third party was easy enough. The truth was always the easiest explanation. Her 'friends' had in fact come to a room much like this one years ago in a different location to ask for a method of removing their problem. And being the obliging sort, Vector had offered a few theories. Nothing more. To take responsibility for the whole would be rude to the other players.
"As for my 'Bear-Trap' imprisonment. Why am I immediately the guilty party?" The waves she was making in the static had changed so suddenly, the pitch raising several decibels but underneath it, the aura of the girl's soul remained the same. "This mild schizophrenia you seem to have picked up since last I laid eyes on you. Your apparent inability to keep yourself out of the routine of the Drones. Must this be blamed on another? I think the culprit for this, truly, is yourself. You, while you are against being forcibly imprisoned, enjoyed being a Drone. And now that you're 'True Self' has reemerged, have of you wants to go back to the routine while the other half thinks the first half is useless. Reflect on your own conscious before blaming others. This predicament is your own doing."

When Xia stepped outside, she was surprised to see a crystallized forest. "Where did this come from?" She said to herself, as she walked towards the forest, then saw Shu standing on the perimeter of the crystal forest. "What are you doing here?" She demanded.
Shu turned and looked at Xia, with little to no expression on his face. "Why do you care?"
Xia didn't respond to Shu, as she walked by him, and into the crystal forest. She stopped, and looked over her shoulder to Shu. "Have you seen Dominic?" She asked him, with the same serious expression on her face.
"He's in the forest." Shu replied, still with no expression on his face. He didn't much care for the reason why she was looking for Dominic either.
"You're not going to ask why I'm looking for him?" Xia asked, as she turned slightly.
"Nope." Shu said, then headed back into the building.
Xia growled lowly, as she turned, and walked into the crystal forest. "Dominic!" She called out, hoping that he'd hear her.

Kris looked at Dominic as he started to talk. "I just followed Alice. Just wanted to make sure she'd be safe." Kris's face flushed a darker red. Shit. Saying that was more awkward then I though.


Claire couldn't sleep and decided to get out of bed and walk around outside. She noticed the strange crystallized forest and walked to it. As she got closer she noticed Dominic and two of the new people. Claire walked up to the three of them. "Hey Dom! What's going on here? I decided not to show up to the group thing you guys did and this happens."

Trevor looked at Senka.
"Thank you. I could use the company. We're going to the underground tunnels at the Academy's basement. Lets go."
He was stopped by Saske as he was stepping out. He spoke to Trevor.
"Yeah, she's back alright. I've seen her. You can catch up to Hana or wait in the auditorium, I have to do something first."
Trevor walked by him with Senka carefully keeping up.

Omicida tried to grab Vector's collar through the door crack, but was too slow. As she tried, a gust of wind thrusted itself inside the room and made the electricity sparking inside have a violent fit. The light caused by the electricity's disturbance made a silhouette of Vector's body and shine brightly through the door cracks and into the hallway. Omicida wasn't flustered by this. Her expression was disgusted and wild.
"Is this place not a reward for our troubles in life?"
She spoke with her teeth clenched.
"By what right do others have to keep me from enjoying said reward? If they can't take me on then they should know to either try to surpass me or move on. I don't want to be a prisoner anymore. I want to be out there - playing like a kid during recess. If you refuse to remove this spell from me, then I won't hesitate to burst open this door and mince you to pieces."

"Thoughtful of you." Dominic said to Kris. In the distance he heard someone shouting what sounded like his name. Turning his head he saw Claire walking towards him. He spun his head around staring at the 'trees' around him. "Yeah, well we wanted to do something interesting and new. We voted on this. I think it was a good idea." A wry grin on his face he looked at Claire.

Alice blushed a little at what Kris had said. He wanted to protect me? She became even more aware of the dampness of her skirt and the ammonia smell in the air that seemed to cling around her.

"Yes...It is necessary...Just make sure they fill up the left side seating of the auditorium. I don't care what time of night it is! Right... I'll see you there." Hana ended the call and let the cell phone dissolve into dust. Stifling a yawn she headed for the girls dorm to help wake up the legion members and get them to the auditorium.

The underground tunnels? What are we going down there for? Senka wondered as she stood up to follow Trevor.

The temperature seemed to drop and the static turned into crackling electricity. Vector's gaze smoldered through the crack in the door. "You'll tear my door down?" Vector growled. The door banged open fully and Vector was out in the hall in an instant. Gathering the energy of the area, of which there was a limitless supply, the spell came easily. Wires and thick sparking cables broke through the cement floor and ensnared Omicida, forcing her arms to her sides making her legs closed and the wires and cables slowly made their way across her body until she was completely coiled. The pressure was that of a boa constrictor and the air seemed to be forced out of her lungs. Cartilage in her joints cracked and popped under the pressure. "Do you know what happens when you're crushed completely?""

Dyse sat on the dirt road looking out over a field of rice paddies. Her feet dangled in the cool brackish water that felt good against her sore ankles. Her clothing had holes in it and the color had faded but none the less she loved the way it felt to wear the old rags. Sighing she looked up at the sky, white clouds gently drifted across Amaterasu's domain some briefly obscuring the sun goddess's shine. So peaceful here, she never noticed the bandits slipping quietly out of the forest. They approached her slowly and had her surrounded before one of them fired an arrow into the dirt near her. Jumping up she drew the small tanto from her obi and held it out in front of her uncertainly. She had been trained of course, knew how to fight but not against hardened bandits.
It went exactly as she had thought, laying on the dirt road next to her rice paddies, blood soaking into the hard earth and draining into the water of the paddy. She coughed and felt the liquid filling her throat and lungs, knew she would be dead soon. Turning her head she thought she could see a fox walking across the water towards her. As her vision faded the fox drew close enough and gently brushed her shoulder with its muzzle. It made a barking call and smaller foxes joined it. They gathered around her body and as her life faded she watched them.
"I-I-Inari..... Sama..." She gurgled through the blood filling up her throat and mouth. The first fox stepped over her, straddling her body. Lowering its head it encircled her throat with its jaws. One quick bite, the snapping of her neck, Dyse died and the foxes had their feast.
She sat bolt upright, sweat covering her body. Panting hard she looked around. The dark room of her Shrine dwelling greeted her sight. A sigh of relief from her throat. "It was just a nightmare."
She got out of bed, and began walking through the small shrine. The building was in disrepair and she didn't understand how. All this happened in one night? It didn't make sense. It seemed as though at least a century had passed due to the thick layer of dust covering everything. With an irritated sigh, and a mental note to reprimand Conner and his friends for their mischief later she set about cleaning the shrine to her goddess.

"Ah I see, I see. I probably would have gone with something a little less flashy but oh well." She laughed a bit after saying that and looked at the two new people. "Anyway I'm Claire. It's nice to meet you two." Claire looked back at Dominic. "Anyway there seems to be another new member. I didn't catch her name and it... happened again. I might have scared her off. Sorry."

"well Alec, I'd love to be with you tonight, but I'd rather go with hana. I really think they shouldn't go into the tunnels alone."
Saske smiled as he went running backwards towards Hana and Senkra.
"I know you can handle yourself with your super strength or whatever it is that you have...."
Saske stopped talking and dodged a trash can that Alec had thrown at him.

"Shut the hell up saske! I am not in the mood to be messed with tonight. It's just been one thing after another...."
He looked at Saske from behind his glasses, ready to throw whatever was handy at him next.
" I'll just go find the new guy who seems to be a hot head himself. Just go and do whatever the hell you want."
"Alec started began to walk off and started to look for Kris. To his amazement, Dominic had already beat him to it.

Tea, still unable to sleep, got up from her bed, and quietly left the room, not wanting to wake Chelsea. She decided that exploring the school would be a good idea.

******

Xia finally spotted Dominic. "DOMINIC!" She shouted from where she was standing, a gentle breeze making her pink hair dance around her.

Dominic raised a hand in greeting when he saw Alec approaching him. "Another new student?" Dominic asked Claire incredulously. "We have the largest group of new students any of us have ever seen, then some girl comes walking up to us asking about something called the Regret Resolution Committee, whatever the hell that is. And I also learned that Vector isn't just a rumor. That Committee girl made this forest."
He turned when Xia shouted his name. Boy am i popular tonight... he thought to himself with a mental sigh. And all I wanted was to take a late night stroll.
"Hey Xia, what's up?" He asked as she ran up to him panting, her breath steaming in the cool air.

Dyse quickly fell into the routine of cleaning. It was so thoughtless to her at this point that she seemed to do all the tasks involuntarily, giving her mind freedom to think clearly. Her memories seemed to be jumbled. An endless repeat of a single semester of High School, whatever that was. Now the knowledge that Dimitry and everyone else she had known was either trapped as a Drone like she had been or went on without her. But Vector is still here though. She thought to herself. An image popped into her mind of the little scientist's smug grin. Hatred filled her body and she threw the mop and bucket she was using at the wall where they shattered into a thousand shards of glass. Cleaning could wait. She could always finish up after she had reduced Vector to a pile of small quivering chunks of meat. Determination fueling her she flung open the main door to the shrine and stormed off through her Crystal Forest.

Alice felt her apprehension grow as more people gathered around her. Oh God, I hope they don't notice the smell. She prayed silently, her face growing redder.

Hana gave Sasuke a surprised look when he rounded the corner and the two almost ran into one another. "Hey, what are you doing? You almost knocked me over. Running around like that is bound to get someone hurt. I mean it's just foolish. Not to mention you were running backwards!"

"Alright, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid or run into the wrong people..... whoa!"
Saske almost ran into Hana as she rounded the corner, causing him to jump sideways into a spin to avoid anything.
"hey there Hana. I know, I know, but I was just talking to Alec... and dodging flying trash cans."

He smiled as he walked up to Hana.
"So what are are you plans for handling our returning alumni?"

Joy more people. Kris thought. "Well if my work is done here I think I'll be leaving..." Saying that Kris took out a cigarette, lit it and left the group.

Claire noticed Alec and Xia had joined them. "If I knew this was gonna be a party I probably wouldn't have come." She said letting out an awkward laugh. "Well anyway if no one minds I'll saw the new kid to the dorm."

Xia looked up at Dominic, with a serious expression on her face. "I'm sure you know what's going on." She said, as she caught her breath. "I have a message from Trevor...he says to gather everyone in Battlefront at the auditorium. Battlefront will sit at the right half and the Legion will sit on the left. This will happen in about two hours. You should bring the new students too."

Trevor and Senka stood in front of a large, steel, vault door in a large underground tunnel. There seemed to be no way of opening it a all. Nothing to turn it open, no number pad, nothing.
"I've seen you around, but I guess you're not affiliated with anyone."
He spoke to Senka while staring at the large door.
"So I think I can trust you where my elite forces train. I am their leader after all."
He knocked on the large door, making a loud *ting!* *ting* sound that echoed in the tunnel. After a few seconds, the vault opened away from Trevor and Senka. A person with a futuristic gas mask and night vision goggles peeked through the crack.

"Boss - good to see ya."

"Likewise."
He stepped in the vault, ushering Senka to follow.
As Senka entered the large door, she saw groups of people like her greeter - dressed in thin black suits and with the same masks. They were practicing martial arts and some were homing in their magic. It was like a large underground boiler room filled with terrorists preparing to strike.
"I hope this isn't too daunting for you."
Trevor said to Senka.

Omicida slowly breathed in through her nose trying to let air in. At the same time, the wind was slowly trying to push away the cords. She managed to get them pushed away enough to start breathing again, and when she did, her force of the wind sped up faster. Eventually, the wind around her made a barrier because the wind was moving so fast - it was making violent sounds similar to a hurricane storm. The cords around her tried to constrict her again, but the winds were too fast to allow it. It was eating up her concentration though, and she knew she lost her chance.
"V-Vector-senpai..."
Her words whistled through the fast winds.
"...Fine! Don't help me! I know when I'm defeated!"
The fast winds threw her zipping across the hallway and she pushed the wind to use it's force to push her back and break the hallway window and out the building. Her body was crippled and she didn't manage to break her binds. If she was going to begin her times of fun again, she would have to hide to let her body heal, while also staying awake to push back the bindings that keep trying to consume her again. Time was not a luxury to her at this point. She had to find a good hiding spot and stay awake. She was in a crystal forest right now, which doesn't help her hide at all. It didn't even occur to her how strange this forest was - she just wanted to find a place to hide - and wait.

Alec heard what Kris had to say and grabbed him.
"Just where the hell do you think your heading? did you hear whats been said? we're meeting up in the auditorium and your coming with me whether you like it or not. There's a maniac roaming around that would just love to tear a new kid like you to shreds."
Alec pushed his sunglasses up as he kept a hold of him.
"This meeting just might save your *** from being tortured. Plus it's good to be with someone else, just in case."

Dominic nodded. "I see. Well we should all get the news passed on then." He looked at Alice. "Mind coming with me? Like Alec said, it's safer to be with someone else."

Alice nodded mutely. Following Dominic through the crystal forest they headed back to the cafeteria, to inform anyone who had stuck around there.

Senka stared around the room in surprise. How had she never found this place before? She'd seen the people of course, knew who they were. She waved to a couple of the boys and several girls around the room who all waved back. But they'd never said anything at all about this training room. Her nervousness at lying about being The Reaper forgotten, she pulled out her pda. "How long have they been here?" She asked Trevor.

Vector laughed, a light, melodic sound and closed the door and locked the numerous locks.

Dyse walked among the softly glowing crystal trunks, mind distracted as she tried to home in on the static that gave away Vector's hiding spot. So consumed in her search she didn't see the girl until they had almost walked into one another. Jumping to the side at the last moment Dyse apologized. "Do you need help with anything?" She asked the girl.

Since she had no other orders, Xia headed to the auditorium.

As Tea wondered the halls of the main building, she bumped into Shu. "I'm sorry." Tea said to Shu.
"It's okay." Shu replied, and looked at Tea. "You know, it's not really wise to be wondering the halls alone, at night." He said to her in a kind tone.
Tea folded her arms. "I'm not afraid." She said flatly.
"I believe it...but since you're still a new student, some in the legion can take advantage of that fact." Shu explained.
"I'm not afraid." Tea repeated.
Shu tilted his head slightly, as he folded his arms. "You couldn't sleep; could you?" He asked.
Tea looked away from Shu. "Not really. No." She replied.
"It's okay. I couldn't sleep for the first few days when I first arrived here." Shu replied.

Alec had a good grip on Kirs's arm as they where heading towards the auditorium. You could tell that he was very annoyed by what was happening.
"okay, I'm gonna give you a choice here. we could go strait to the huge meeting and wait for over an hour, or we could go find other members to bring along with us to the meeting, killing time."
They stopped and looked him square in the eye.
"I would like an answer within the next 15 seconds..."

Kris glared a little at Alec but it subsided. "There's no need to be so forceful. Uh... yeah we could go look for some more people."

Claire followed behind Alice and Dominic.

Omi tried to keep her balance, but her body felt like it was put under a crusher. As she wobbled, she spoke to Dyse in a confused manner .
"Wh-what is this place? Why am I hurt? D-do you know where the dorm rooms are...?"

Trevor looked at the PDA.
"A mute, huh? Well, anyway, it varies. Some have been here for as long as I have, but our...quote on quote..."
He made a quote signal with both his hands.
"'Youngest' elite soldier is about six months in the afterlife. They're divided up into squads and each squad comes in once a week to brush up on their technique. We have people coming in every day, however, because of this crisis, I ordered all of my elite troops to report to duty."
Trevor took out a small PDA from his pocket.
"I used this to signal the emergency, so, as you can see, now all of the elite forces are present."
He continues to walk ahead, motioning Senka to follow.
"It's time we briefed them, mystery girl. Once that's finished, we go on ahead to the meeting and brief everyone else there."

Dyse stared at the girl, nodded once then looked off in the distance, her expression thoughtful. "I believe so... However they might have moved on me. But I do know a place where you can stay for the night." She smiled at Omicida, the rage that had previously been there replaced by compassion. Leading the girl Dyse took her to the shrine. "You can stay here for the night if you want. I'm sorry for the mess. I've been away for it for some time."

Senka nodded, following Trevor into the middle of the room. His Elite Forces circled around the two of them.It made her nervous to be in front of this many people at once. Instinctively she let her power cut in to make herself less noticeable. Anyone who looked at her, their gaze would simply slip off and focus in on Trevor. They knew she was there, yet they wouldn't notice her.

Alice walked alongside Dominic as they crossed the campus to go back to the cafeteria. Neither of them said a word as they went, minds to full of whatever had them preoccupied.

Dominic opened the door to the cafeteria and let Alice duck inside first. "Hey Isaac, you still in here?" He called out. He noticed that the glass wall to the kitchen had repaired itself in his absence.

Hana moved through the campus, puffing on a cigarette as she went. The Legion HQ had been empty, meaning she now had to either track down every single member by herself, or she could simply use the PA. It went into the dorms too. Really it would be much easier this way. Going into the AV Club room she sat down at the small desk and keyed the mic. "Attention, would all members of Battlefront and Legion please report to the auditorium in two hours. Legion members please take the seats on the left half of the auditorium and Battlefront members please take the seats on the right. This meeting is mandatory. Again, at the auditorium in two hours, Legion sits on the left and Battlefront sits on the right. Thank You."

Alec smiled as he heard Kirs's answer. Finally looks like He's gaining a level head now.
"Good, I'm glad to hear that answer from you. it's already bad enough that I'll have to be in the same room with the MOrons and bullies of legion."
He lit a cigerette as he started to head off to the university part of campus.
"And I hate that we have to be civil during the meeting as well.... Come on, we need to stop by some of the clubs up at the university and gather members from there."

Saske was leaning up against the wall as Hana made the announcment over the PA system.
"You know it this wasn't an emergancy situation Trevor would be here right now to kill you personally after hearing you use the school's PA" He tried to laugh a little to lighten up the whole situation.
"man this is one messed up situation. Why would Omicida appear after so long... I thought she was obliterated years ago." Saske thought out loud as he thought out the situation.
unless, if there was something that they didn't know about this place. but who would be the one to ask....
he looked up as a thought came to him.
Victor... he's basicly a legend here, might even have some power over the place. he might know something.