Life (Open)

[Robert]

He slowly slid the black glove from his hand, dull eyes looking uncaringly at his fingers. He had no idea what he was doing and why he was doing it. He didn't need energy. Naturally he didn't look to speak to someone. He just, did it.

Robert's hand touched the cool morning breeze as it slipped from it's leather cage. The sensation was rare, but still not overly exciting. The wind had no point in his mind. It could not give him energy, it could not provide him a life, and of course, it could not break him away from the shackalls of the academy. It didn't affect him in anyway. All it did was exist.

His fingers slowly approached the stem, the breeze ceasing it's cool yet slow path, nature waiting for the cursed boy to take another portion of their life. And so he did.

Robert touched the flower, his thoughts breaking into nothing. The flower began to lose it's miniscule amount of energy. Surrender it's soul into Robert's fragile body. The reign of death spread across all plants that surrounded the courtyard. All of the energy rushing into him as he took the lives of the plants. He could feel it. He could sense it's life inside of him. The warm feeling.

He let his hand leave the dead plantation, his cold eyes scanning over the small, lifeless forest. It all seemed to posess no color. Not even black or grey, just nothing. It was... gloomy.

He let himself stand on the ground of the courtyard, his rear leaving the side of the garden. He walked to the center of the area, standing himself infront of a large tree. Around it was a ring of wood. Benches, it seemed. Already dead.

Robert placed his black glove once again on his hand, slipping on as he sat down. The courtyard already seemed to have less life about it. Some of the flowers so dead as to become just dust in the returning breeze, but it didn't matter. Eventually they would grow back.

[Excel Esprit]

Excel's brown eyes stared through the courtyard, her bright eyes lowered in slight uneasyness. She felt quite anxious at the moment, peering through the death she had set foot in. All of it was just sort of creepy really and she was quite unsure why this placed looked like how it did. Lack of a valuable substance plants needed? Maybe...but the place looked fine to her. It was just the lack of colour. She doubted naturally dead plants looked like that.

The young preteen continued to look around, before her eyes settled upon someone. Yes, someone was here, and he was in the center of the area. She supposed that her curiousity about the gloomy appearance of this place had caused her to miss the boy. He was alone? Yes, alone, sitting before a tree.

'Seeing as I know only two people here...I guess I could start trying to meet more people...' Excel thought, standing still and staring at the boy for a moment. She was sure she had seen him around some place, but couldn't quite plce her finger on it. Bah, her memory wasn't the greatest anyway!

With a soft, nervous gulp, she proceeded to walk slowly towards the boy, noticing that he appeared to be about her own years. She usually felt more at ease meeting with people her age, however, something about this boy had her nervous. It didn't matter though, she was walking towards him nonetheless and she wasn't about to chicken out.

Finally she stood before him, not sure if he had already seen her there, or even comming his way. She looked down at him then dropped herself to his level, bending her knees and balancing hersef on the tip on her toes while her arms where placed comfortable on her knees.
"He-hello." she squeaked, smiling awkwardly. "I'm...I'm Excel Esprit. I..I'm pretty new here." she stopped there and took a breath before trying again. "Do...Do you know why this place looks like it does?"

Her head turnd to the side as she took another look around, her hands squeezing her dress a little before he head turned back to look at the boy...hoping for some form of answer? Well, Excel didn't mind any kind of answer, it could be a nod or something. As long as she wasn't ignored.

[Robert]

His orbs rose to look at the approaching girl, his mind already programming itself with the oen option on the rolodex. Just walk away. However, before his legs could comply, his mind switched to another side of the judgement. He had thought it before when he entered the killing class. His rules were to stay out of social situations, and to keep from getting into contact with anyone. However, he was in a social environment. A school, none-the-less. The academy wouldn't mind too much if he talked. At least for a moment. If it got too far into conversation, then he could always walk away. As long as he was not considered a friend, then his life was okay. He had to remained a stranger.

He cluched the edge of the bench tightly, his mind coming to some ease after it had convinced itself that staying at least for a moment would be okay. But then, she asked a question, causing himself to question his mind once again.

As long as I am not considered a friend, I am fine.

He was put back into a comfortable position in his mind when he actually studied the girls words. They were nervous. She was nervous. She was afraid of him. If that remained, then maybe the meeting would not go so bad.

He listened intently to the girl's shaky question. Some may have been annoyed that one would ask such a simple question, but Robert didn't mind. The whole idea of exchanging words was scary, yet still enjoyable, even if the question was a disconcerning and possibly consequential one.

"I..."

He was shaky for a moment. The only words he had spoken since he arrived at the academy were the words of his name. Robert Hiru. This whole speaking thing was harder than it seemed. But, he took in a slow and silent breath, starting his words again.

"It was me. I absorbed their energy."

Yes, quite obviously a harsh response, yet Robert lacked any finesse or grace in his words. In the event he said anything, he said what he meant.

[Excel Esprit]

Excel tilted her head as he began to speak, waiting patiently for the answer to come. It came more harshly then expected, but Excel wasn't offended by it. Stupid question? Yes maybe, but what did she know? She had been living in the middle of no where with the company of only Shaman's like herself, meaning, her mom and dad. She didn't know much about other peoples powers and such.

Her eyes grew wide however, as he spoke of absorbing energy. It truly did facinate her, like most of other peoples abilities. She looked around again, seeing now quite well the connection. She turned back towards Robert and nodded, motioning she understood.

At the oddest moment however, Excel's legs gave out, and her balance was broken, making the girl fall back and land on her behind. The whole situation had caught her off guard, Excel letting out a yelp then a soft groan before smiling awkwardly. She wasn't too sure what to go on from then. The boy didn't look all too talkative, while Excel herself had someone of a motor-mouth at times. What? Should she leave him be? Or...
Well she could just stick around, and if he wished for her to go and leave him be, then Excel supposed he could kindly tell her. Until then, she'd be there.

"That's an interesting power." she said, her soft voice trailing off a little as she nodded. "What else can you do? Or is that all?"

Excel slowly pushed herself up from her sitting position, onto her knees while her hands sat delicately on her lap. She was really curious now about any other powers he may have. It was always so interesting, learning about people and such. Something she had been excited about when she was sent here by her parents. Sure the developement and classes would be fun (She hoped) too, but it was the different people that interested her the most. She had met three people now, three very different people.

[Robert]

Robert didn't move at all as the girl fell, his mind not even questioning whether or not to help her. Maybe he was fast enough, but that wasn't the question of it. Trying to catch her would be getting way too close. It would come to touch, which was by far the ultimate rule in Robert's life. Even with his gloves, getting that close may accidently get his cheek or any other part of his flesh touching the stranger. No. That was always the answer for it. Just, no.

His empty eyes looked at the girl as she hit the ground, Looking at her face and body, coming to the realization that she was like him. Or so he suspected. He had seen himself in a mirror, and the basic things of the age group was similar. Soft features. Larger eyes. Rounder faces. The two seemed fairly equivalent in some senses, yet on opposite ends of the world in others. For instance, their eyes. Her eyes were joyful. Almost fiery. However, Robert's eyes seemed to make everything at least a bit less bright with every blink. Seemed to make the world... unimportant.

He heard her speak again, his words interupting her before she could ask her question. The feeling was hard to describe. It was easily detectable as foreign, but one would call it more intense than anything. Like a heat raching him in the back of his throat.

His words were strangely confident, yet carried a bit of experience and even a slight hint of sorrow in them. It was odd to hear from the small boy.

"It is not a power. Power is controllable. Power is an ability. Mine is a curse."

His mind tried to step in at this point, anticipating the words that were sure to cause trouble. The words that he was never supposed to say, yet he could not stop himself. The words led themselves out.

"I kill with merely a touch. That is not a power."

His eyes widened as he clasped his gloved hands over his mouth. He had let his mouth run away with him. What would be the punishment?

[Excel Esprit]

Her eyes became somewhat larger as he spoke that his power was a curse. A curse? But why? Her much wanted answer came soon after, and Excel's expression changes back to it's placid state.

She frowned softly, however as he covered his mouth, Excel biting her lower lip. "Was this...something you should not of spoken of?" she asked gently. "I-If so, I promise not to tell. I can keep a secret!"

It was odd, she in no way felt anything from what he said. Of course, she understood why he called it a curse, killing with a mere touch. Excel couldn't imagine how horrible it would be to not be able to touch anything living. She was quite an affectionate girl, for sure. And being scared to even hug someone was a nightmare!

Her eyes looked over at his gloved hands however, her left hand coming up to her chin and a single finger tapping it as she thought. "Now, I hope I'm not intruding or anything, but since the 'jig is up'..." her eyes strayed from the gloves and settled upon Robert's eyes. "You wear gloves...since you wouldn't technically be touching anything...would you be able to grasp my hand and not kill me while wearing gloves?"
She smiled softly after speaking, a small glint in her eye. She wanted to know. She needed to know. There had to be some way he could touch without killing...she just drew up some connections as to why he'd be wearing them. Made sense, but then again, maybe it was a fashion statement.

Her hand was brought down onto her lap. She was hoping she hadn’t become too nosy on he topic. It didn’t seem like something he wanted to talk about for some reason, and she knew that putting her nose where it didn't belong. She couldn’t help it though, her sense of wanting to help all the times and her massive curiosity just wouldn’t allow her to let it rest. She wouldn’t start asking thousands of questions of course, maybe only one or two, but not too much to irritate someone. Unless of course one or two questions were one or two too many…

[Robert]

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

He looked at the girl as she spoke, his mind somewhere else for the time. In the future that seemed quite real for him. He wasn't supposed to speak about that or speak like that. He had spoken with too much emotion in his voice, and had spoken about death caused by his powers. Nobody was supposed to suspect anything of something even close to that. What would the punishment be?

He heard her stutter, comforted by the broken words. What she said was of no importance. One already knew the academy would not care if she claimed to keep it a secret or not. There was always that possibility. However, maybe they would let her off. Maybe they would be leanient. He didn't actually speak of her death. It was still possible to avoid the situation.

His eyes widened slightly at the question. No. He had definitely gotten too far. She talked of contact. Of touching him. No, that would be too close. That would mean severe punishment. He might never be aloud to return. Maybe he would have to stay in the basement forever. He had to leave.

"No. No contact."

He stood up suddenly, breaking into a run as soon as he was standing. It was obvious he needed to get away from the girl. It was just the rules. He had to get away from her; otherwise, she may be punished too, and one could not live with that. He had killed one he cared for before. It would not be right to do it again. He could not ttake that against his already fragile mindset.

He continued to charge for the exit of the courtyard, hoping desperately that the stranger did not follow him. She would be doing more harm to herself than good to him.

[Excel Esprit]

As he spoke of no contact at all, she nodded with a small frown. It was too bad. She thought of changing the subject, but, it had been too late. Before she could utter even a word, the boy stood up and dashed away, leaving Excel somewhat shocked.
"Wait!" she called out, turning her upper body in the direction he was going and quickly standing up.

She ran forth a bit, in his direction then stopped with a frown. "You...didn't have to go..." she whispered softly, her tone somewhat sad. Had she...gone too far? Maybe...maybe he didn't like her?
She plopped down on her knees and sighed, closing her eyes softly while her hands layed gently on her lap. She hadn't even learned his name...

Her brown eyes opened up, staying rather low hoever before a small smile appeared on her face.
"Wait! I know!"
She smirked softly, closing her eyes and breathing out lowly, humming a tribal sounding lullaby before her body fell limply on the ground. When her sight was back, she was a mere soul, standing before her empty shell of a body.

She looked back towards where the boy ran and quickly hopped up, her soul taking flight, standinga few inches above the ground and quickly flew into his direction. 'Why don't you just let him go...?' she thought to herself. She didn't know why, but, before she left and was on her way, she at LEAST wanted to see where he was going. She would remain unseen unless of course she desided to make herself visable, her body would be tranparent, but in a soft pastel pink shade.

Flight speed and Running speed were two quite different speeds, so she had easily caught up behind Robert, letting herself fly next to him. If he had any form of "sixth sense" as most magical beings had, he would probably be able to sense her.
"Please stop!" she spoke, her voice voice seeming to belong to two different people talking in sync and echoing somewhat.

Every once and a while, Excel would turn somewhat visable, like when people had ghost sightings. Well, frankly, she WAS a ghost at the moment..."I'm sorry. I'll not bring that up again, okay?"
Her voice was calm and sincere, and she hoped that she would not be blocked out by him. Her ways of comunication in this form was directly through a persons mind, and blocking out her voice was a simple task really.

[Robert]

Robert looked to the elevator along the end of the corridor, seeing it as his escape from the situation. If he got to his dorm without seeing that girl again, then maybe the academy would let the whole thing slide. Oh, how he regretted what he had done. He should have just left like usual. Should have forgotten that he had ever seen the person. But, no. He had to be greedy. Had to have company. Had to break the rules. What had he done?

He huffed with every step, hope clutching him in it's grasp and beging for the escape. Pleading with him to return to his place of solitude. Yet, the stranger could not quit. She had to follow him. Had to do whatever she had done to try and ease his mind. Yet, little did she know, such a thing was impossible. How could one not fear the possibility of returning to the ground. Returning to the lower academy and being caged there like an animal. Like an unneeded beast. Never to feel or even witness life around him. Never see the sky or the clouds or anyone around him who was not taking some sort of statistic or running some sort of test. All he could do was learn. Let any trace of love or compassion or friendship leave his being. How could one not fear returning to that?

Robert's legs pumped themselves toward the elevator, a distant voice sounding in his mind. It was the girls, yet not. He saw her appear next to him for a second, his mind split into two parts of how to feel. The smallest bit was happy and possibly joyful that one would care for him enough to actually follow him. However, like so many of the small emotions in Robert's life, it never reached the surface. What did was the mask of hate and anger, passing into a threat. It was what registered in his mind as a good way to get someone to hate him, and ultimately to get them to leave him alone.

He let his leading foot skid against the ground as he turned his small body around, looking at the almost invisible ghost of the stranger. Without warning, the usual dark aura about Robert intensified greatly as he released a low concentration of energy from his skin, not enough to burn or rip his clothes, yet easily enough to give him a cold and terrible look. For once, his eyes were sharp and almost evil, adding to the dark area around him.

"Leave, or I will kill you!"

[Excel Esprit]

Excel stood there, somewhat suprised at the reaction the boy had had. She stayed perfectly calm however, her eyes looking at him sadly. She wasn't sad herself, she was sad for the boy. Pushing her away was all he could do? It was a pity.

She closed her eyes softly, letting her ghostly feet touch the floor, and colour come to her body so she wouldn't flash invisable to visable at different times. No, no she was completely visable, her her eyes turned serious. She showed no fear. One could not show fear when they were 'dead' per say. She was a wandering soul. A Spirit.
"Kill me?" she asked almost defiantly. "I've given up fearing death upon myself..." Her eyes staring into his, almost in a challenging way. Well that was before she closed them up and sighed softly.

"If...if you want me to leave you, just tell me one thing. One thing that's all I ask, and then I will go. I'll leave you alone like you want."

Her face turned calm again, plastered with a kind smile. No, she didn't take offense to the way he was speaking to her. Excel found it hard to hate anyone for that matter.
She placed her hands on her chest as asked. "Just tell me your name. Anything. A nickname...a last name..."

She sensed her time was comming up however. If she stayed much longer, being killed by this boy was the least of her worries. Being killed by not getting back to her body in time was more of her concern. However she made no moves to leave. Not yet.

[Robert]

His eyes began to dull, the energy dissipating from around him and the spirit. He was not very accustomed to anger, and it was hard to fake for too long. Emotions were just not something he could control as well as others, and his mask was beginning to crack and crumble.

He looked at the floor for a moment, pulling his legs closer together so he was standing regularly. The girl had asked him of his name, yet another question would only result in problems. He could understand that well enough from the past couple minutes. However, a thought did occur. Something terrible, yet hopefully purposeful. But, one had to wonder if it was the right thing to do.

He placed his gloved fingers against the cuff of the other glove, the thoughts still ringing in his head. Some of him was saying to not even think about it. Was saying it was only wrong. However, inside he knew it was the only way, as seen by the slow uncovering of his hand.

"You know..."

His voice was strange as he spoke. It was still soft and quiet, yet something in the tone sounded... scientific. Definitely not the voice of Robert Hiru.

"...numerous tests have found that the soul is merely a large gathering of energy that has taken form. The gathering is so complex and compact, however, that it begins to form intelligence."

He approached ths spirit slowly, his uncovered hand at his side and a tainted look in his eyes.

"In the end, however, it is just energy. Oddly enough, this energy bares a strange resemblance to magical energy, yet seemign to be much more pure. However, with me, this begins to raise many questions. This test proved inconclusive, yet I felt it. The energy as it was absorbed into my being. In a body, I don't feel it like that. The soul or spirit escapes before I steal it, meaning all I get is the magical energy in the body."

He raised his pale hand slowly, making sure not to touch the soul, yet his eyes showing that he would have no problem with doing so.

"If I were to touch the soul in it's raw form as you are in right now, you would not die, per se. You would just become nothing. No energy can be destroyed, it can only change form. Yours would lose all intelligence, and you would just be power for my body. Is that worth fearing?"

[Excel Esprit]

Excel tilted her head as the boy began to speak, however, the way he started didn't suggest too strongly that she was going to get a name. No instead, he was informing her on things. She reamained quite as a mouse as he spoke, her serene expression unchanging as she nodded once in a while to acknowledge he was right.

Her eyes travelled down to his uncovered hand, watching as he came uncomfortably close to her. Even though, she continued to listen, expression unchanging. She knew that it meant bad news to her if he did happen to touch her. She wouldn't be her and yes, in the end she would die. Her soul wouldn't really die, but Excel herself would. Her body would remain souless and be useless. Even if there was a way to bring whatever was left of her, back into her body, Excel would remin unmoving. A lifeless doll. That...that was death.

"Well. I must admit, if I hung onto my life then I would be scared. Heck, I wouldn't be here now." she stopped then and let the words rest for the time being, before starting up again, her hands clasped behind her back. "So no. No I'm not afraid. Because, I don't believe you'd want to. Maybe in a way, I wouldn't be dead. But, in another way I would. Would you really want to destroy me? Make my body lay there lifeless forever until my heart stopped?"

Her hands we pulled away from eachother, being brought forth, sort of like she was holding out her arms for an embrace. "If so...then do it. Take away my energy for yourself. Destroy me."

She watched him silently before her serious gentle tone changed completely. She smiled brightly and giggled a bit after adding childishly. "But only if you can catch me!"

She stuck out her tongue and tilted her head. His reaction to her carefree attitude in this truly dangerous situation intrigued her. He could...not really react at all or react. Either way, Excel wanted to see it. To see how he dealt with people like her. But, at the moment she was extremely aware of her surroundings and cautious. If he WOULD attempt to touch her, she wouldn't surrender something as precious as her life so easily.

[Robert]

Robert smiled at her reaction. It was a strange sight to see, and quite a bit unsettling to see on the boy. It didn't fit him. However, it wasn't just seeing it on him that was the unsettling. It was also the kind of smile. It wasn't a smile of joy or of hapiness. It wasn't a childish smile as the stranger had just put on. It was an almost demonic smile. It didn't even show teeth, yet brought with it a cold feeling of anxiety.

He curled his hand into a loose fist, letting his arm fall to his side again. Basis of his idea had already been confirmed by science, and in some way by the stranger's nods. It seemed she knew what Robert was also aware of, which made the situation that much more secure. The answer to the spirit's game had already been decided, as had her fate.

Energy wrapped itself around Robert's ungloved hand, his plan already put into progress. He looked at the soul of the girl, his hand twitching once and only very slightly, the energy suddenly wrapping around the spirit. There were a few points Robert had secured in his mind, however, before the sudden attack was used.

One. The boy had remembered a few basic things when dealing with these kinds of energy. As said earlier, a soul was merely a large and concentrated source of energy. This energy, naturally, could pass through solids, because it's only energy. However, energy could not pass through another energy, even if similar. This remained true with the cage of magical energy, versus the slightly more pure energy of the soul, making it a viable restraint for the girl.

Two. Energies moved faster than the naked eye could see. That was a biggie. The reason most spells did not infact move this fast was because one did not tend to use the energy in it's purest form, and instead used it as a power source. However, magical energy did, in-fact, move as fast as about light energy, making it a very swift and efficient cage for a soul.

Three. As said only a moment ago, magical energy moved as fast as about light energy, possibly a bit slower, and therefore, a soul had the capacity as well. However, the soul opperated on the limited consciousness of the human mind, meanign that, in-fact, reaction would be about as fast, possibly a bit faster, than the human body. This makes the attack impossible to dodge by the spirit.

With all things considered, it seemed Robert had the spirit caught in the cocoon-like cage of energy, and his body was moving closer. He raised his hand again, walking closer to the spirit, yet still not touching.

"I will tell you again. Leave, or I will kill you. Then again, it's not like I have to. If you stay away from your body too much longer, it's own physical reserves will drop out and you'll merely be my prisoner, won't you?"

[Excel Esprit]

Excel had to admit, she had never really expected a tactic like this one. However, she made no move to escape. There was no poin in the end really, seeing as, as sonn as she'd try to float away, it would be too late anyway. Instead, she stood there unmoving, her eyes shifting and watching as she was surrounded by a magical barrier. Her expression changed to impressed before she looked back towards the boy and closed her eyes, bowing her head a little but a soft smile stil upon her lips.

Again he approached her, Excel refusing to show any fear. Emotions were something she could no feel in this form. She only changed her expression once in a while to seem normal, her mind telling her this was a situation where one would feel like such and such. However, in this situation, Excel supposed she should of showed fear, but she decided that a calm attitude was much more fitting. In a manner of life or dead, one had to remain calm.

"Yes. Yes, I will soon be unable to get back to my body, that is correct." she spoke, looking down at her hands and frowinin softly. The soft pink colour was turning out to look more whitish-grey as time passed by. If she didn't hurry, then she would most likely die. But being his prisoner? Oh my my.
"If you want me to leave, then I don't suggest keeping me as your prisoner, Sparky" she said, giving him a nickname, seeing as she didn't know his real one. "If you let me go, I won't have much choice BUT to leave if I wanna see tomorrow."

Excel spoke with confidance, strangely enough, she didn't mind telling all her weaknesses. Hey, if he had figured it out, she'd let him know he was right. She had nothing to lose really. Well, maybe her life...
"So, if you wouldn't mind..." she trailed off, pointing in a random direction, motioning to the magical barrier that kept her there.

She knew that she should worry now. There was no way out of here that she could see and so if 'Sparky' decided that he didn't feel like letting her go, then she was done for. She brought her left hand up to her cheek in worry, though her expression didn't hint it. 'J'espère qu'il va me laisser aller...si non, bye bye Excel Esprit...' (I hope he'll let me go...if not, bye bye Excel Esprit) she thought with a sigh. She wasn't ready to die yet. Not yet.

[Robert]

Robert eyed her for a moment, already beginning to lose interest. He wasn't THAT kid. Wasn't the kind to torture people for fun, or anything along those lines. However, it was becoming quite the issue, now. Taking the spirit hostage, and ultimately having the ability to absorb her spirit. In some small bit of Robert's mind, the idea was tempting. That much, he had to admit. A soul was quite a power source. Noted, it would only be temporary until he used it for a few spells, but even so, it would be enjoyable for a small while.

A strand of energy left Robert's ungloved hand, connecting itself to the cocoon wrapped around the spirit. He balled his hand into a fist for a moment, almost grabbing the energy as pulled his arm back. He wanted to make sure she would leave him alone. Not worth risking her pushing her luck and still hovering around him for a moment before returning. That would be both risky, as well as annoying.

He opened his hand, thrusting it against the air towards the entrance of the courtyard. In the instant, the trap of energy would fling itself in that direction, dissipating as soon as it reached. Now, Robert was sure she would not come back. Flying to return would be quite the risk and use time one did not posess. She would surely die if she did that, ultimately returning Robert to his basement and in punishment. But, at least he wouldn't be with the annoying stranger.

Adjusting himself, he continued towards the elevator. His original goal. Re-gloving his hand as he walked toward the machine, he quickly tapped the button, his previous look of false confidence returning to his mind. It was replaced, once again, by the dull, lifeless look of Robert Hiru. One of - if not - the youngest student at Arcane Academy.

The doors opened slowly, Robert walkign in with the returned slouch. He gently pushed the button for the second floor, returning back to his dorm without further troubles. Finally, regularity had returned to his life. One could only hope it would remain.