So… Echoes. The perplex beings of time. Echoes, as foretold by many, are ancient beings. These ancient beings all have their own treacherous tales of woe. But after these experiences, they unlocked godly abilities. One day, however, all 8 Echoes just disappeared. After years of searching, people started questioning whether these god-like figures in time ever existed. After so long, people dismissed them as ‘myths’, or ‘legends’, having no real evidence to support their existence.But no more. These ancient beings have used their power to enchant artifacts that have been lost for ages, never to be found unless their great powers were needed again. Creatures were happy at the time, since the artifacts disappearance meant times of peace and prosperity…
Now, unfortunately, is no longer the time for peace. A strange darkness will soon fall upon us all, and we need to be ready. The Echoes are stirring, signaling a time of great change. A large amount of people have no idea whats in store for them, and so they have turned the most prestigious magic academy of all time to seek guidance.
Thing is, you’re but a humble school student, just wishing to hone your magical abilities. Are you up to the task of wielding such power and responsibility? Probably not…
ANIMAL, HEART, STAR, SPIRIT, MIND, CURSE, HOLY AND CHAOS
These are the 8 that were allowed to ascend to Echoes. Now, they have passed their powers on to you. With their help, hopefully we shall defeat this time of darkness…
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Animal
An Animal’s abilities include anything animal-like or related to animals in some way. This can include animal-morphing, animal communication, etc. Though, their powers are wild and unpredictable, possibly causing problems. Especially when you want to become a horse or something, and then you become a mouse…
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Heart
The Heart uses their or others emotions to draw strength from, normally to strengthen either healing or empathetic abilities. Their mental state and emotional state can be altered by other emotions, but as time goes on they might be able to control that more. The more dark and gloomy the emotions, the less effective their abilities become…
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Star
Well, this one is up to the imagination. Quite literally, as Stars can have almost any power they can think up. This is only temporary, and if used longer can have adverse affects on the Star. Say the Star tries to shoot stars from their hands, the stars will eventually start to explode closer and closer to their user. And, this happens incredibly fast, so best be careful…
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Spirit
The Spirit can use apparitions for different tasks, such as combat, house-cleaning, and possessing objects. They might even be able to escape their own body. Though, the Spirit has to be careful. The ghosts that serve them are tricky, and if not held under a tight leash might wreak havoc…
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Mind
Allows the use of the mind’s full potential, whether that be manipulation, communication, movement, or just smarts is up to The Mind who wields this power. The Mind’s physical body is, however, weaker than most…
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Curse
This is exactly as you’d expect. The Curse allows the user to enchant or curse certain things, though the opposite will happen to the Curse. If they enchant something, they themselves will get cursed in some way. The same with cursing, as if they curse others it is to the benefit of themselves…
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Holy
Able to manipulate light or protect those in need, the Holy is more of a guardian angel than anything. They can use the light to provide different protecting effects, or to vanquish those trying to attack those in need. However, in the face of darkness, they themselves cannot do much except shine light to attract its attention…
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Chaos
The Chaos is… Well, quirky. They are allowed to manipulate different illusions, perspectives, and sometimes even the physical plane itself. Though, this power does come with some strange after effects, if The Chaos is skilled enough they can amplify those weird effects or minimize them. It rather random, and can have many varying results.
This Academy is known by its colors of black, purple, and gold, one of the most Elite academies on the continent of Gaze. In response to the strange events that have started happening, this school has started accepting almost anyone. But if you don’t pass the entrance ‘test’, you aren’t going anywhere.
Secretly, the school is trying to protect as much youth as they can by keeping them there. However, if you do pass the exam on a whim, you will be shown the Echoes to see if you are worthy. The only way to pass the Exam is to show you are apart of the 9% of the populous that has a Signature. And it seems you have passed. Congrats on that, by the way. You will be training with the others, put on missions, then allowed a few days of rest in your Dorms. Dorms will be 4 people each. Have fun.
~Mrs. Haven

Welcome to Hydra!

“Tch. How pleasant this school is…” A raven haired teen muttered as she got up from her bus seat. Wow. This window view. The academy seemed pretty large… For very unusual, not normal, freaks who attended here. She was one of those freaks today. Her dull expression never changed as she took a step towards the crowd exiting the big yellow vehicle that held them in seats before. A sigh was about to be released until someone decided to take a look at her. Huh. He looked uneasy. Well, it was normal for students to have that anxiety on their first day, especially ‘normal’ ones. She stared back at him, with bored eyes until he decided to turn away and look at the other students surrounding them. So, he wanted to observe them… Just like what her Beast-like master told her to do… Observe. Blah.She stepped out onto the pavement and gazed at the school. Huge, bigger than she had imagined. Masterman did say it was large, but damn. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get lost or tick the so-called Wyvern headmistress off. Ugh, she didn’t like this. She stood out, or she thought she did. They were freaks like her, but she was more of a freak than them. Nobody wants to be here…. She didn’t want to be here… The teen continued her walk until she came across the boy who took a glance at her. She leaned close to his ear and whispered in a monotonous voice, “Why did you look at me?” Now, she had to sit back and interact with that person, because it was on one of the to-do-lists she came up with while waiting on the bus. One person you befriend can help you learn more about this academy. Otherwise more. She needed more… Nah. Too many people that have her attention could trigger something unpleasant in her mind.*

Clarendon was finishing up his journal entry for the day as the others were getting off and going towards the gate. He packed away his belongings and journal into a sash pouch specifically designed to carry his book. He looked around and the different characters to take note of them. He knew everyone had their own reason for being at this place, and that he should not get side tracked from learning all he could about the Echoes and everything surrounding the myths. Throughout his travels, he learned little about them but much about the world. All answers seemed to point to this place, and he would not spurn the opportunity.
As he glanced around, he noticed that one girl ((SKYE ERSTAIN)) who did not seem to enjoy the ride and perhaps was not feeling well because of it. He approached her slowly to the side. Clarendon took out an unused bottle of water and offered it to her. ” May this refresh you. You did not seem comfortable during the ride.” he said to her. He paused a bit just before giving his name. He wondered whether to do so at all or just make up another name. His name had been a point of mocking from some, due to a shortened version of it being ‘Claire’. ” I am Clarendon by the way. Oh yes it is not open.” he said referring to the water bottle.
*
Skye Erstain
A good man approached her and offered her a bottle of water. She nods and quickly accepted the bottle. She opened it quickly and took a sip before letting out a loud sigh as she feel a lot better now. She smiled at the person who just introduced himself as Clarendon.
“That’s an unusual name. Any nickname? Or shortened version? Like how Michael are called Mike or something.” Skye asked, and then remembered that she haven’t introduced herself. “My name is Skye. Skye Erstain. But if you ever call me ‘Stain’, i’m going to punch you in the face.”
She laughed, and then abruptly stops. “No, for real..”
*
Magi was one of the last ones to get off of the bus. She was a bit pale from the overexposure on the bus. Sure, there were plenty of excited and hopeful feelings. But the bad ones – anxiety, fear, dread – mixed with her own anticipation and settled in the pit of her stomach. She parted herself from the throng of people finding their way to the gates. While she was excited to meet new magic-users and potential friends, she needed a little time to adjust to the amount of people. It was certainly not Gramma’s little dryad cottage in the woods anymore. She idly noticed a girl in a hoodie talking to herself before starting. A small seed that had clung to her clothes had sprouted, making a baby flower on her dress. Right now, it looked wilted. All of the anticipation and worry must have been amplified over the past few days, causing it to grow.
Hoping nobody saw it, she brushed it off and re-evaluated herself. She looked over her off-the-shoulder, flowy, light pink dress with 3/4 sleeves that ended at her lower thighs. Her white socks that ended above the knee had slipped a little, so she pulled them up. The last thing to do was to re-tie one of her brown boots and she was good to go. The leaf shaped ring, bracelets, and necklace she wore had luckily stayed tidy. Glancing around, she pulled out her smartphone out of her bag and checked her appearance in the screen. Winged eyeliner, blush, and pink tinted lips were also in place. She gave a sigh of relief. Some would call her vain, but she only worried because of her habit. Too many times she had rubbed her eyes and become a panda.
She remembered how her Gramma had always told her that. Worried, she threw her a few texts, then played a phone game to look like she was occupied.
*
As the students finally all get there and congregate, awaiting for the gates to open, a strange noise could be heard from not too far away. It turned out, a silhouette was circling the school. It neared the ground, and its features became discernible. A white dragon-like figure appeared out of the sky, then landed neatly directly in front of the gates. It closed its wings, icy blue eyes scanning her surrounding. Before any panic occurred, she opened her mouth to speak.
“Welcome… To Hydra.” The dragon’s feminine voice boomed, her eyes gazing at everyone in the cluster. “I’d like to personally thank you all for coming. Now, before I allow entrance to any of you, an Entrance test must be taken to see where we shall… Put you.” She chose those last words carefully, eyeing the students’ reaction. Some sighed, some go furious, and some were convinced they’d get in. Hmph. Well, at least some of them aren’t taking this horribly. She’d hoped for better, but what could she do… She placed her foot on the ground, in a battle stance.
Clarendon Adanaque
” Unusual, yes. I like to think it is somewhat unique.” he added. The dreaded nickname question. Well it is not as if he needed to tell her, but he was compelled to give her the benefit of the doubt. ” Well people have said ‘Claire’ would be the nickname.” he mentioned in a lower tone. Before he could speak further, a dragon dropped from the sky and welcomed everyone. Clarendon believed this being to be someone of importance at this Hydra.
” Lesson she says… more like a test perhaps?” he asked Skye. ” There are none I know who have ever done in a dragon…. however well if it is to get in.” Clarendon waved at Skye as he put some distance between them. The young man noticed someone was already trying. Judging by what they were trying, attacking the chest would seem like a good plan with fire elements, but he decided to try for a rather vulnerable spot, at least for most creatures.
He pulled his arm back and then released it forward towards the Dragons head. The stream was quite wide, about 3-5 feet, however it would do little than to wash the face. Therefore, he narrowed the stream to about 3-5 inches, increasing the overall pressure. His target was the eye. He hoped it would do more than just make the Dragon blink. The Erosion Cannon was mainly used to cut through solid objects or push them away.
*
‘Whoa, is that… a dragon?’ Magi thought, looking up from her phone at the sound of the voice. ‘No… It’s too small. Some people said the Headmaster was a Wyvern…’ It took a bit of time to prepare her Signature due to its nature; when the creature first spoke she had paused and started to concentrate. Earth particles began to clump together as she stood still. Her magic molded the earth into three cylindrical rods. With a burst of energy, they bolted out of the ground towards the Headmaster. Two were aimed for either wing and one was aimed for the creature’s lower torso. They flew in a triangular formation. Small particles of softer earth flaked off as they went airborne.
At the time, her main rationale was that she wanted to try to impair its flying in some way. The rod to the torso was really supposed to aim for the diaphragm, but since she didn’t know Wyvern anatomy she had to guesstimate. It would literally knock the wind out her (she assumed it was a her from the feminine voice, but with magical creatures she was never so sure) – if it actually ever hit that was. Which wasn’t likely, but the other students were already aiming for other various parts, so she couldn’t be too choosy. She bent over slightly and held her knees. Molding earth was easy enough, but having enough energy to send the mass speeding skyward was a whole other story.
*
The Wyvern watched as all of these attacks came by. Impressive. It seemed there were some minors spells people were throwing at her, but the more powerful ones were her interest. As a simultaneous barrage of attacks rained down on her, she flew up into the air further. There, she was followed by some of the spells, one being a Phoenix and a butterfly horde made of fire. Her eyes watched the dancing flames near, then was caught off guard by the bolt of negative energy struck one of her wings. It had made her falter in the air, causing her to flap a few times to keep herself steady.
“Whoa…” she breathed out, looking at the intense barrage of magic. It was like fireworks. She hadn’t really seen if her attacks had hit through the other, more vibrant ones, but she noticed the earth that clung to the creature. She secretly wished she had hid some seeds in the earth to act as a surprise trap, as she was much more skilled with plant manipulation. Her hand absentmindedly hovered over one of the seed pouches hidden in her clothes. Either way, there were clearly some extremely good magic users in the bunch. Come to think of it, she did see that a few of the bright colors had distinctly streaked across the creature’s scales. Thinking about it made her shudder.
Just who were these people, anyway? Clearly they had training of some kind – but again, it was so different than what she was taught… Her thoughts were interrupted when the creature spoke. Since she was more towards the back and was shorter than the people in front, she subtly shifted the dirt underneath her feet to make her bit taller. Hope pounded in her heart as she raised her hand.
*
She nodded in confusion, though she didn’t really show it. This guy was too cautious….Who was going to attack him on the first day of school? And why? Pft. It’s not like the apocalypse swarmed in, right? Or maybe… Did he get mixed up with a few serial killers or was some kind of paranoia virus eating up his wits? Hm. What a strange guy. Well, at least he wasn’t as strange as her, or her master. So, eh. He wasn’t a threat. Hopefully.And then, blasts of fire, rocks, and all those things that can hurt, no kill, a man started to fly towards the Wyvern after her speech. The teen frowned inside as she silently cut open a thin thread of blood before she was able to get a shot too. Of course, she wasn’t gonna use Squish… Ha… No. Never. She’ll use Stained Blade. Yes. That’s right. She’ll throw it at the creature like everybody else… Or maybe it was too late. Oh. Oh. Oh…. It was too late wasn’t it? The Wyvern already asked for the magic wielders to raise their hands. If she didn’t get into this school and observe for Him… There goes her pathetic little life… Ha. Well, she could always lie… To that Wyvern, otherwise catch her off guard. Yes, that sounded reasonable. So, the blood that dribbled down her hands transformed into a small crimson axe, perfect for throwing at a short ranged target. And she threw, aiming for the torso so she wouldn’t kill it….The teen turned back to look at the person she had interacted with before. He asked for a favor. Sure. Gaining allies in this freak infested place was wise, so she formed a dagger and lazily threw it at him. Wait. What if… He didn’t block or cancel it? What if he was too slow? …..Oh……. Oops. Haha, that would be his fault.
*