The Salem headquarters was one of the three Arcane Circle HQs that had been built with an academy for educating young and amateur mages. The headquarters itself was hidden from the world by an extremely complex multilayered spell that drew from the principles of the fairly common Variant Magic: Reality Displacement. The only difference was that where the latter created a vacant space by forcefully expanding the space within an object that already had some amount of interior vacancy within, the magic used to conceal the headquarters was designed to the space in the entire area with the landscape of the HQ itself. That had been implemented as a safety measure back when the Hunters were still viciously fervent in their eradication of witchkind. With that kind of magical set up, it had become possible, in the event of such a catastrophic level of danger, to straight up teleport the entire headquarters to an completely new location. Of course such a thing could only be done by the most p
Time: Midnight Location:??? A landscape that was dimly illuminated by a cloudy sky that had no sun. The trees grew in unbridled abundance, filling the hilly terrain as well as the grassy plains. There were rivers that ran in patterns through the forests and down away from the hills. Throughout the whole land, there were no animals, or birds or even an insect. No single sign of intelligent life, save for the massive castle that sat on the plateau of the tallest hill. Surrounded by an ever present cover of ash colored fog, the castle extended to cover over half the length of the natural structure itself. With its tall walls and mode of construction, it was less a castle and more like a fortress. There was no sign of human activity around the structure. Flags flew from the parapets, bearing the symbol of a pentagram encircled by a magic circle with an hourglass within. In one of the corridors that overlooked the interior of the castle, a bluish white portal appeared and a brunett
"What is that supposed to mean?" The alpha frowned questioningly. "Vastly improved physical capabilities, peak supernatural sensory enhancements, a very powerful healing factor, immunity to illusions and all forms of mine control, preternatural precognition and hypnosis, literally any power up you can give a mortal," Vincent explained. "Even till date, there hadn't been a specific list of all the abilities of the Celestial Eyes. But what is perhaps its most impressive advantage is the fact that it allows whomever possesses it to learn, master and perform with ease, any and all forms of magic, no matter how complicated it may be." Jade's sharp inhale drew attention to her as she looked down at the laptop with a disbelieving impression. "Impossible..." "Why do you think it was given the title, the Eyes of The Creator? For all intents and purposes, given enough time to master their abilities, there is virtually nothing impossible for one with such eyes," Diana said with absolute
On Friday the ninth of September, a seventh grader Anna Marino received a week's suspension after she had injured a fellow student. The 12 year old had zoned out during fifth period and the boy had approached her hoping to surprise her. From an outside perspective it seemed like a pretty harmless prank. Hence why it seemed so bizarre that the supposedly harmless joke had ended up provoking a highly violent reaction from the normally cheerful if a bit reserved girl. In the end, her father had come personally to take his daughter home in silence that remained unbroken throughout the whole ride. Antonio Marino had seen many things in blood and sweat filled journey to the top of the mafia world. He had seen full grown men brought to the lowest points in their lives by impossible trials. He had experienced fear, had seen the extents fear could drive wholesome individuals to. And last month he had been forced to experience the worst fear a father could imagine.
Anna giggled again with glee as she watched the snake move its head around in a circular motion, in sync with her own hand's movements. The snake was an Australian Diamond back rattlesnake, as indicated by the sign nearby the glass cage. Unlike most children her age, Anna had no deeply rooted fear of serpents. She had always found the creatures strangely fascinating, from the way they moved and behaved right down to their varied feeding methods. Which was why she had only spent a few minutes with the other reptiles before focusing all her attention on this one. At first the rattlesnake had paid her little attention, obviously used to being stared at by visitors to the reserve. Then she managed to make eye contact with it, or at least she thought she did. Those slitted glassy amber eyes were a different kind of weird even for her. That was when things got strange. When she had attempted to move to another snake, the diamond patterned creature had
"No." "Why?" "Because I don't believe that any one is ever truly born evil." Her answer hit him with the force of a sledgehammer to the gut. Was this it? The question that had plagued him for so long, had it really possessed such a simple answer? He remembered the last person he had asked that question and what had been her answer. Back then, his soul had rejected it firmly and so had he. But now, deep within him he could feel this little girl's words resonating with his soul. There was no mistaking it. Her answer was the one he had been searching for... but still... No. That couldn't be everything. He would have to hear her out more. To satisfy his own curiosity if nothing else. "And what do you mean by that?" Arthur asked, his face set in a thoughtful expression. "Do you mean to say that all the criminals and evil doers in this world are not to blame?" "No that's not what I mean," Anna shook her head
After last week's game, school had been abuzz with various comments and thoughts on the event. Students discussed the game's statistics in groups and cliques in the hallways and courtyards, with the more knowledgeable ones offering their take on the matter. As had been expected, the Starlight Comets had trumped the visitors to take the first win of the new season. The whole team had spent the first few periods of the past few days stampeding through the school hallways in loud cheer. As the rowdy bunch crashed their way through the second hallway of the Department of Theater and Arts, the students parted to make way for the team with some of them even joining momentarily in the cheer. One of the students, a slightly tall girl with a slender build and dull red hair leaned into the white wall to avoid the crowds. Dressed in a form fitting dark blue blouse and pants combo, she looked just as desirable as any of the top diva
'Hey witch girl,' the monster called at her, turning his blood splattered face to give her the cruelest smile she had ever seen. 'Do you know any spells for reading this guy's mind?' His right hand dragged up the brutalized lump of breathing flesh that was the Rougarou, without a single care for the disgusting squelch it made nor the agonized wheezes that came from the creature. Even from where she stood, she could see where its slashed abdomen struggled to hold back its innards from spilling out all over the ground. It took a conscious effort on her part to avoid throwing up the contents of her stomach at the sight. Her ears picked up the inhumane laughter of the monster as he mocked her. Did he think she was like him? That she was as evil as that? The scene changed. She didn't know how but she was aware of what had happened. The iron tight grip around her