Forum Thread

While on his way to Dovah's office, Sidon heard some teachers discussing something in a room that was locked, probably an out of bounds area. He decided to listen to see what the conversation was about.

"Something must've been trying to shatter the crystal." A voice, which Sidon immediately recognised as Tren's spoke. "If it wasn't for the protection spells we've been putting on this, we might be dead already."
"But the spells aren't enough to stop whatever that was..." Another voice spoke. "Did you see the damage it managed to do to the crystal before the spell repelled it?"
"I'll speak to Dovah about what to do." Tren spoke, and Sidon knew he needed to leave. "We have to keep this conversation confidential. Students cannot know this..."

---

Mimi had managed to wake up, and had just kind of stared at the teacher when they had come in and said there was nothing to worry about. Yumi hadn't moved in a long time, but at least she wasn't bleeding. Which Mimi was. She could taste it in her mouth, but if her powers weren't working, there wasn't a lot she could do. But at the moment she needed to focus on staying conscious. If their dormmates came back and saw the twins still sleeping in the same position, they would be suspicious. If they came closer, they might see the blood. And that would raise alarm. Even if they were currently dying, Mimi did not want anybody finding out this sort of thing happened from time-to-time. She sighed. Thinking was taking to much effort. She shifted her focus to hiding Yumi's head with her body, in case anybody entered the dorm.

Solstice looked at Estelle, her eyes flickering with hope. It was fleeting, but the smallest blink of light could be seen on her markings. Solstice didn't notice, but perhaps her magic was not all gone after all. They managed a smile, though in the dim light it was hard to make out. "I know... I have been researching healing herbs recently, I suppose I could do that without my magic. Thank you." Her smile widened. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking.

The gem... the gem! Of course! "You're right!" she exclaimed, a little louder than she had intended. It provoked a few glares from other dragons in the dorm, but she was too excited to notice or really care. "The gem. Something must have gotten to the gem." They began to think. What could it have possibly been, though? Maybe a dragon had gone and tried to destroy it... but something that important couldn't just be left unguarded, could it? "We should go check on it. Just in case. We might be able to find something. I mean... if you want to come, of course. I'm sorry for dragging you into my mess." Solstice apologized sheepishly. She did feel bad about these dragons having to watch her cry, but they felt better now. Good enough to even go where they weren't permitted for the chance of an explanation or their powers back. Despite how good they were feeling, though, she suddenly felt incredibly drained. The thought of roaming the halls in the dark, without her light to guide her, ignited fear deep within her. Her energy was waning... maybe it wasn't the best idea to go on an adventure this late at night.

"I mean... no, never mind. We shouldn't go around looking for trouble." Solstice laid their head down on their forearms, their tail hanging off the bed. She looked dejected, but she was really just tired. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to rest her eyes... just for a moment...

---

Lifei began worrying slightly about Estelle. Granted, she seemed the type to be like her, completely unbothered, fine, mostly unbothered by the breaking crystal, but she couldn’t be too sure could she? She went looking for Estelle, eventually finding her in her Dorms, with Halu. “Estelle? Did you notice our magic is gone? The crystal must be in danger. Oh and who are you?” She asks. “A little bit ironic, don’t you think? Straight after the warning by Tren, the crystal suddenly plunges into danger?”

---

•---•» ꜰʀᴏꜱᴛ «•---•
꒷꒦✧꒷︶︶︶꒷︶︶꒷︶✧︶꒷꒦

"Honestly, that's a good point. I did think about if before, but since I'm not used to the technique yet, I needed time to power up and all. So if I were to do that move I'd have to..." she started, and continues on and on, muttering words to herself.

✦ ✧ ✧ Estelle ✧ ✧ ✦
୨୧ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ୨୧

Estelle was never happy to see another dragon before. Her wings fluttered slightly as a 'hello' to Lifei.
"Yeah, it can't be a mere coincidence," she agreed. "And what's worst, they're probably hiding this from us," she sighed. While she wasn't bothered too much, she knew some dragons literally depended on their powers to live. She could sense Solstice getting really tired. She wondered it was related to the plants.

She tried increasing her energy input into Solstice's plants to see whether it would have any effect on her. She could feel herself get drained quicker than before.

---

“Estelle, are those your friends?” Flamesurfer asked.

Sidon returned to Amber dorm and immediately spread the news about what he overheard just now. That info soon spread to other dorms, and pretty quickly every student knew about the dark force that tried to shatter the crystal.

Sidon assumed Tren or someone managed to repair whatever damage the dark force managed to do, cause he could now control water perfectly fine again

---

Lifei’s lips curve into a more sinister, threatening growl as she saw Flamesurfer, and electricity once more arched across her back. As the news spreads though, she calms down. “Looks like Sir Tren tried and failed to keep the news from spreading. I knew it. A dark force is trying to destroy the crystal.” Seeing Estelle’s tired look, she brushes her wing gently against Estelle, boosting her strength with mental energy of her own. She tried making ice sculptures, finding that she was able to do so with relative ease. Delighted, she tells Estelle, and the dragon she presumed was Halu “Our powers are back. They’re fine now.”

The very second she receives news of the powers returning to normal, Aether sprints to Pitaya’s dorm to check on her friend. Despite Emily’s protest to not go, she soon finds Pitaya’s dorm. “Pitaya, are you alright? The magic is back, we should be fine now” She tells him, wings fluttering comfortingly as her windchime noises expresses her happiness at her power returning

---

•---•» ꜰʀᴏꜱᴛ «•---•
꒷꒦✧꒷︶︶︶꒷︶︶꒷︶✧︶꒷꒦

Frost's mutterings were put to a halt as she heard the faint buzz of lightning. Looking down at the wing that was carrying her, she could see Lyn's scales crackling again. Unprotected she immediately jumped out of her seat so she wouldn't get zapped.

Until she felt the typical cool air against her scales. She looked around her and could see thin wisps of mist starting to envelop her just as they used to be. She even felt stronger as the cold gave her energy. Oh, how she dearly missed her powers, and they weren't even gone for that long.

"Lyn! I think they fixed the gems," she whisper cheered in glee. It was short-lived though, as she remembered where they were.

If they had gone to fix the gems, then...

"That means they are probably nearby, right?" she asked.

✦ ✧ ✧ Estelle ✧ ✧ ✦
୨୧ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ୨୧

Estelle nodded towards Flamesurfer. She could see her candles flicker brightly and Solstice's plants were blooming again. She smiled.

"Look, they are healthy again," she hummed in delight. The news being passed around didn't surprise her since she knew it already, in fact it added to her discontent.

"Just because they manage to fix it now, doesn't mean they should take it easy and expect us to forget about this. I'm sure many are still worried about this," she mumbled to herself. She also wondered that if the force right now was able to overcome the security of the gems, they could grow stronger while they dilly-dally and think that everything is going to be alright. What would happen then?

She really wished they would tell her what's going on. She probably won't be able to sleep in peace again for a while.

"I think I might continue to rest, we do have classes tomorrow, right?" she said, accompanied with a tired yawn.

---

Mimi felt it. At first it was just a strange feeling in the back of her mind, but it spread quickly. She was able to think clearly again. She glanced over at Yumi, who's breathing was back to normal. Mimi quickly hopped out of bed, stretching her cramped limbs before ducking under the bed and grabbing and empty glass vile attached to a string loop. She managed to gather a little of both her and Yumi's blood before the bleeding stopped completely. Mimi put the lid on and shook the small tube vigourously before looping the string around her neck, crawling back next to Yumi, and falling asleep.

“They will expect us to forget it. Leave it to the adults to handle this situations. They’ll claim the everything is fine, even if it’s obvious that it’s not. I, for one, would love to assess the damage done to the crystal. But yes, we really should head to bed. We need to be well rested for tomorrow’s lessons. Do you think I could rest here for the night? I wish not return to my dormitories, and I have things to study. So why not do it in company, however silent and dark it seems? The presence of other dragons makes me feel better…and less alone. My studies won’t affect your rest, I can assure you of that.” Lifei answers, head tilting as she looks at Estelle and solstice

---

Itsu stopped in her tracks as Vix slid to a halt, turning around to look at her master. She heard pawsteps behind her, as Domino's weight suddenly pushed into her back, and Eclipse was weaving underpaw. Was the magic back? If that were the case, Itsu should probably turn back. A puff of smoke came from her nostrils. In any case, this wasn't over yet. If the crystal was in danger, someone was getting clawed...or scorched. Certainly bitten.

Itsu turned around, sliding on her heels, yet making sure to avoid the grey fox underneath her. Her trio of companions followed her swiftly out of the forbidden zone. They shouldn't get in trouble if the staff happened to be nearby. She passed a familiar smelling black dragon on her way back, and absentmindedly informed him. "The magic is back, don't worry about it." For now. She added silently. She certainly wasn't going to forget this. Whatever had attacked the crystal probably wouldn't give up after one failed attempt. They were dealing with a malicious entity, she was sure of it. She just couldn't for the life of her understand their motives.

She was soon back in her dorm. She said nothing to any dragons she saw, simply curling up on her bed. It seemed at least she was safe for now.

---

Illusionist soon saw the dragon he was chasing was nothing more than another student. She must have had the same concerns as she was, as she informed him the magic had returned. He attempted melting into the shadows to test. Yup, seemed to be so. He began to trail her on the way back, breaking off as she headed for the female dorms. He still had his keycard, as he hadn't forgotten to take it with him...or perhaps he'd fallen asleep with it on? Oh well. He headed back to his bed and curled up, though he didn't know if he expected to sleep.

---

●∘◦❀ Pitaya ❀◦∘●
It was nice, being alone in the dark. Pitaya had fumbled his way back to his nest, curling up and letting the soothing emptiness slowly lull him to sleep but he was roughly shaken out of it when Aether burst into his dorm. The sudden vibrations of heavy footsteps had him reeling back in blind panic as shaking images flashed before his eyes. Aether's arrival was heralded with a bang, quite literally as Pitaya once again had flinched so violently, he fell out of the nest. Blinking at where Aether was, he could hear Mother Earth wrapping him up in her warm embrace once again, whispering comfort into his scales as he nodded slowly. "Oh... I see... Well not literally, but you get the idea. What happened?"

---

❅───✧❅ Lyn ❅✧───❅
Wrinkling his nose, Lyn was suddenly assaulted by frantic whispers as his his legs began to smoke with writhing spirits. Hide they cried Hide and we shall guide you. Hesitating, Lyn nodded in response. "Well, we have two options. Either we go further or we turn back. It depends on how much you want to explore. We can always come back another night too."

---

•---•» ꜰʀᴏꜱᴛ «•---•
꒷꒦✧꒷︶︶︶꒷︶︶꒷︶✧︶꒷꒦

Frost took her sweet time considering their decision. If they were to go now, which is what her heart is telling her to do, she knew that the teachers possibly nearby would meet up with them soon and they would have very little chance of even getting close to the room. Her head was ranting at her to go back for a number of reasons. Sure, expulsion wouldn't seem like much of a deal, but that'd mean a broken promise and a bunch of other problems. Besides, as Lyn suggested, they could come again when the teachers aren't within the forbidden room, when they have a higher chance of getting through.

"I guess we should do it another time," she said, slightly disappointed. She started for the exit before looking at Lyn with her usual playful look. Without a word, because she assumed that Lyn knew what that meant, she zoomed through the tunnels, retracing their steps with the claw marks Lyn left on the wall.

✦ ✧ ✧ Estelle ✧ ✧ ✦
୨୧ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ୨୧

Estelle nodded. "Feel free to do so, I'm pretty sure hearing you read geography would help me fall asleep," she said with a small laugh that sounded like the tinkle of wind chimes.

With that, she made her way to her nest and curled up in a comfortable position, trying her best to sleep, even with her whispering train of thoughts.

---

❅───✧❅ Lyn ❅✧───❅
Lyn's jaw dropped but he quickly picked it back up and sprinted to catch up. He was definitely at a disadvantage, his larger body making navigating the cramped tunnels much more difficult. The spectres, much more active at night when the storms brew, screeched and cackled as they point out different passages to take and shortcuts. But even with supernatural aide, the sheer difference of size could t be overcome and Frost was the first one to escape the winding caverns, beating Lyn by a good few wingbeats

---

•---•» ꜰʀᴏꜱᴛ «•---•
꒷꒦✧꒷︶︶︶꒷︶︶꒷︶✧︶꒷꒦

Even if Frost was out of the cave first, she wasn't all that happy about it. It was unfair and she had the advantage in small spaces compared to Lyn so it didn't feel like a great achievement. She bet all Lyn would need was a bigger space to outrun her, again.

She let out a yawn and her sleepiness started to return, which wasn't a surprise after a whole day of racing her wings off.

"Maybe we should get some shut eye, we do have class tomorrow," Frost suggested as she said goodbye to Lyn and returned to her own dorms. Things seemed to settle down already and she curled into her nest, surprisingly sleeping well even with the night's events.

---

Solstice could feel her energy returning, her eyes brightening along with it. She nodded, letting out a delighted purr. “Oh! Of course you can stay! I’m sure it’s not against the rules… but I suppose we can’t worry about that. It is quite troubling to know that something is trying to get at the crystal, though.” Solstice shuddered. Fear crawled like icicles down her spine as she lay in her nest, trying not to think about how helpless she had felt. If that happened for good… they weren’t sure if they could take it. “You’re probably right, though,” she said to Lifei, “it’s best if we sleep for now.”

Solstice didn’t know how she would ever be able to sleep anymore with all of the thoughts beginning to cloud her head, but the sight of her plants regaining their life and the feeling of her feathers’ light returning gave her comfort in the dimly lit room. It felt good to know that her company could help others, and she didn’t like to be alone in the dark either. She was glad she could share this experience with someone, at least, even if she felt really bad for them seeing her cry like that. Hopefully they couldn’t tell how heavily she relied on her powers… if they found out how fragile she really felt, they’d never take her seriously. Sighing, they rested their head on their nest in hopes to catch a few winks of sleep before morning, silently hoping that all of that never happened again.

---

Tesona was unaware of most events, having fallen unconscious at the start of the night. During the element outage, her hybrid powers were too weak to control each part of the body, instead the plant matter only able to control the moss and the electric barely able to move some joints. Brought back to bed by an unknown helper, Tesona spent the entire night awake, trying to stay in control.

With morning slowly arriving and powers seemingly reinstated, Tesona was happy to finally hear more than one voice in her mind, before dragging herself into the mirror, seeing the moss returning to a lively green and the scales slightly moving. She gave a weak smile, before dragging herself out of the dorm, looking out.
"The elements are going down the drain... we need to act, before we are done for. Got me?"
Tesona gave herself a nod, before looking up at the sky. Her face shows worry...

“It’s good that the bad events are over.” Flamesurfer said to herself, and curled to a circle and slept.

The next day during breakfast, students were talking about the crystal. However the teachers came prepared to deal with this.

"Silence! I want not a sound about the crystal!" One of the teachers, specifically the scary geography teacher yelled at a group of students "if I hear anything about, I'll start banning any words associated with it!"

---

Araceli arrived at the cafeteria when the teachers were telling off students.

Sidon was glad he reported his fellow Amber dorm members about what he overheard last night. Otherwise he would've gotten an easy detention.

---