Eclaire knew what the nurse was going to ask. "His body isn't the best for a shinigami like him, but it was the best one I could find." She nodded to herself, but glared at the nurse,"This doesn't mean you should pity us! We don't need it!" She laid Ivan down on the bed and stretched.

Tatum wanted to know what all of the commotion was about, she'd felt bad about ignoring the teacher that had talked to her earlier because she was so engrossed in telling the crow just exactly how she felt about all of the avians that were crowding around her, but she wanted to make up for her rudeness by seeing if she could help with whatever it was that was going on. As she stood, the birds scattered, all except for the crow, whom had made himself a roost on Tatum's shoulder. The bird irritated her, but she supposed that it wasn't bothering anyone, so she let him be.

As she made it to where the gathering was, she saw it begin to move inside towards the nurse's office. She wanted to ask one of the onlookers what had happened, but as she got closer she began to feel more and more dizzy. She placed a palm on her forehead, and without realizing it, began to whisper

"Those that crowd, be warned; For the hammer god approaches to watch over those on the cusp of death. Though the bodies are strong, the end of Charun's weapon can crush a man's spirit, that which cannot be mended in the physical realm, to release them of their hold, and the guardian Vanth will lead them to their fates."

The crow began to 'caw' loudly, snapping Tatum out of her temporary trance. She blinked a few times, and shook her head, then returned to the marble table to retrieve her books and head back to her room. She figured that all of the energy she'd wasted trying to concentrate on learning about her father, while an annoying crow stared at her curiously must have made her delirious.

Kathrin sighed when she heard Eclaire, she hated it when people said that but she didnt say anything, she didnt want to make her mad or anything. She wet a paper towel and wiped the blood off Ivan's mouth "He'll be fine....he just needs some rest. You can take him back to his room or leave him here just as long as he gets lots of rest. I would like to check up on him daily to see how hes doing though." She said, she honestly didnt know what to do, she could have healed him but she didnt know where to start

Aleister Galbraith, Light Mage and Instructor of English Literature and Drama strode through the halls of the school. Dressed all in black, he cut an impressive figure, almost taking on a green glow, especially around his eyes. It was all for show, of course--the man was a peacock, a flashy-minded playboy who lived to impress, and the students made a good audience.

He saw Tatum as she walked to her room, and offered the girl a light smile. "You seem worried about something." His voice was soft, gentle, and he dropped the unnatural glow about him.

Tatum turned and glanced at the flashy man. Her shoulder companion let loose a loud 'caw,' which seemed to be directed at the man specifically, then began to puff out its chest and ruffle its feathers as its wings spread out slightly. "I'm not worried, not really. I just had a bit of a 'silent episode' out in the courtyard as they carried away that man's body to the nurse's office. Something about the hammer god, and how he was going to be watching over those near death. I'm not sure what it means, but it was probably just something my mind spit out from what I've been reading." She patted the volumes, and a bit of dust flew into the air. "Thank you for your concern though."

"Traditionally, the Hammer God is Thor--Norse thundergod, killer of giants, firey-haired warrior. Though I suppose Hephaestus also could have that epithet." He looked thoughtful. "Oracles tend to connect to Greek gods more, and this is the School of Aphrodite."

Tatum laughed a little, and held up the volume that was on the top of the stack in her hands. "The Hammer god I was talking about is Charun, an Etruscan demon of the dead, he is sometimes referred to as a god, and also happens to be my father. His double hammer is used to remove the soul from a dying body, then again in the part of the underworld for those who led evil lives, to torture them." She paused for a bit, satisfied that she had actually learned something today and had not been reading in vain. "He does have a Greek counterpart that is sometimes depicted the same way, Charon, the ferryman of the river styx." Her brow furrowed a bit as she thought harder, "Though I've read about Charun's companion Vanth, she seems to be the only Etruscan deity that doesn't have a Greek counterpart." Then Tatum shrugged, dismissing the thought completely.

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Arely Pinned back her long black hair, the texture of it making it extremely difficult to keep held in any sort of up-do, but she tried nonetheless. When she'd finally managed to pull it back into a temporary hold, keeping the loose strands out of her face, she began to float through the halls noiselessly, preparing in her head what she would say during the meeting she had with the new headmaster concerning the YPC. She'd wanted to reinstate it as an optional after school activity. Although the turnout last year wasn't so great, three, maybe four members, she still wanted to leave it open for those that really needed it. Needed her.

"Fascinating." He grinned at her. "I'll admit, my Etruscan lore is somewhat lacking. Tell me a little more about Vanth, if you'd be so kind." His eyes gleamed as he spoke, his natural curiosity coming to the fore.

"Well, these books in particular mainly focus on Charun, but what I've read in little snippets that do mention her say that she was a feather-winged demon, often portrayed wearing the clothing of a huntress, and clutching either a a torch, key, scroll, or sword that relate to her role as a guide in the underworld." Tatum bit her lip a bit, trying to remember more of what she'd read, "She is sometimes compared to the Greek Furies, but because she is benevolent that really isn't an accurate comparison. She is seen as young and beautiful, but is ultimately associated with death and the journey of the dead to the underworld." She let out a breath, "and that's all I really know about her."

Eclaire huffed and swiftly walked out of the office, saying,"He may not wake up for a bit, tell him that he has to teach when he wakes up." With that she went towards the gym, where she was supposed to teach her first Fighting 101 class. Mumbling a few words under her breath, she summoned Piere, who gratefully bowed at her,"What is your command, mistress?"
The girl looked around the large gym,"Make sure no students skip. You are my assistant for this class at the time being."

"Very interesting, indeed. Perhaps I should look into including Etruscan lore in the Literature curriculum, what do you think?" His demeanor was almost playful and light-hearted as he looked at Tatum, but there was still an undercurrent of concern.

"It would definitely be an interesting and not very common subject. I love Greek mythology dearly, but it is famous worldwide, and drowns out the smaller ones like Etruscan." She smiled, "And who knows, maybe I could learn something from you that I couldn't find on my own."

~~~~~~~~~~~~


Arely wandered until she found the new headmaster, a kitsune, in the custody of one of the other teachers, she thought she remembered hearing that her name was Shilo. "Ah excuse me, could I have just a moment? I need to speak to you about one of the after school programs." She said, trying to get the man's attention before he completely shut her out and headed into his room. She waved hello to Shilo as she did so, passing her as she walked away from the headmasters room.

{{ For future reference on Etruscan Mythology, here's a useful site I found =3 Etruscan mythology }}

((Cool, thank you very much!))

"I do have a few extra sources for research. The magi have libraries that I can access if I must, and this is worth the research to me." He nods firmly. "As for you--have you eaten dinner yet? They're still serving it, and if you've been hitting the books all day, a good meal might be exactly what you need."

Mary yawned loudly as she walked, her ears drooped and her tail dragging behind her. Another long day. She really liked her classes so far.. but she was most interested in the headmaster's class. It intrigued her.. that and she was the teachers pet..She walked by the teachers quarters and wondered if Gary was in there.. and also if there was a sushi place on the island.

Kathrin nooded and sat down at her desk "I'll be sure to do that, have a nice day, Eclaire" she said waving good-bye to her. She grabbed a book off the top of her desk and started reading it, she read this book about seven times but it was way better then doing nothing all day. She wanted to walk around the school but she would have to wait for Ivan to wake up.

When Shilo saw Arely wave at her, she smiled and gave an obvious wave back. She was headed for the dining hall to open the doors and announce dinner was ready.

Arriving at the dining hall, Shilo smiled and pushed open the huge oak doors. She pulled at a tannoy system that lay next to the door on the inside and said "Dinner is served!" and then put it back and looked around to make sure that everything was neat and percetly laid out. The students and teachers alike in the School of Aphrodite were more like family than just people who lived together, so dinner was always a lovely time. The tables were all close together and the cuttlery and crockery was laid out on beautiful Ivory table cloths. Every knife, fork and spoon was the finest silver, and the plates and bowls were a beautiful china. Every other section of table had a crystal vase on it which held at least 15 perfect red and pink and white roses. The benches that ran along the tables; more like picknik benches than dinner tables, Shilo had always though, had soft cushions placed on them so that they were comfortable to sit on.

Shilo stood and waited for the usual crowd of hungry students to show up for their dinner.

Tatum shook her head, "No, I haven't eaten yet, but once I drop these off in my room, I'll head down to the dining hall." She adjusted the books a bit in her arms, she noticed that she'd been talking with Aleister for much longer than she'd originally thought, and the pages and bindings had left deep red marks on her arms. She smiled at the teacher as she began to walk away, but then suddenly remembered, "You wouldn't happen to know the phase of the moon tonight, would you?" She fully adjusted the weight of the books onto one hip and looked at the teacher for an answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Arely noticed the Neko girl that seemed to be hovering around the door to the headmaster's office, "Excuse me, miss, I desperately need to get the headmaster's attention. You see, this is a matter of life or death, figuratively speaking of course. You wouldn't happen to know how I could get him to speak to me would you?"

Sighing from the classes she had today she heard the announcement, and dashed for the kitchen before any of the students could. "Thank god, food!" Piere was riding on her back like a backpack. Once the smell of food hit his nose, he started drooling. Eclaire stood at the front of the Dining room, she stood there for a full minute just smelling the varied scents throughout the kitchen.

As she walked by, she noticed the dining hall open and lit up... and then a waft of warm, yummy smelling air hit her face..oh.. she wanted to go.. she started to walk over when she was startled out of her skin and onto her button the ground by a... very pretty woman.. long black hair and dark eyes. She stood up some and smiled, ears drooped. "Well.. I haven't seen him outside of class yet.. he's been very busy.. "

"Tonight?" He pulled a notepad from his pocket, flitting through it to get to today's date. "Crescent moon in Leo, Venus in Cancer, Mars in Scorpio."

[ah wait....bleeding who are you talking to?]

Arely blew loose strands of hair from her face, she'd felt them slowly start to move out of the pins she'd put them in and now they were going completely limp. "Well, I suppose I could find him during dinner, I am a bit hungry myself, perhaps a nice hot meal before I try to convince him to help bring the YPC back from the dead would be good. Would you like to accompany me to the dining hall?" she smiled at the neko.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tatum let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding back, "I really need to keep a chart of this stuff," she pushed her hair out of her face. " It really comes in handy in conditions like mine."

She smiled sweetly to the woman and nodded, her ears flicking, "Heheh.. I'd love to. My name's Mary." she started to walk with her toward the dining hall, purring slightly to herself in excitement for the meal. "So whats the YPC?"

Eclair looked around, and soon spotted a teacher that she saw earlier [Shilo]. She jogged over to her, calling out,"Hey! Where do you go to buy the food around here?" She was hungry, and she had to buy some for Ivan as well. She should ask if they sell Russian food there. She looked at Shilo curiously,"How do I get the food?" She looked at her, her eyes were clouded with the hunger for food.

Arely smiled at the girl, "I'm Eloise Arely, I teach math and science." Her smile widened a bit at the question, "The YPC stands for the Young Psychics committee. It's an association I founded a few years ago, but recently the number of psychicly gifted students that attend the scool has diminished to catastrophic levels, causing the board to terminate the program as of last year. I figured since we had a new headmaster coming to the school that he might have mercy on me and help to bring it back."