Hey guys. I wanted to get this next update out as soon as possible, it's pretty much a part two to the last chapter, since I left it off kind of unfinished. Enjoy and review please!

Explosive Dawn, Ominous Dusk

*48 MINUTES EARLIER*

Hino, Jeff, Kheika and Cleotra kept jogging down the hallway, nearing the lobby of the school. Hino clung onto Jeff's hand as they neared the exit, the need for safety filling her thoughts up.

The four rounded a corner to come face to face with Zebel blowing up an entire classroom with a large disc shaped projectile of energy. Zebel laughed as the room combusted before noticing the group of four staring at him.

"Hello there," Zebel monotonously greeted as he prepared another disc to launch at them.

Jeff created a shield by using his psychic powers to lift a large boulder and move it in front of the four students, which blocked Zebel's attack. The boulder exploded, and pieces of it hit Jeff and Hino, knocking them back, away from Kheika, Cleotra and each other.

Zebel turned on Jeff, approaching him with a plain, possessed look on his face that would send shivers down anyone's spine. Kheika shot a sphere of fire in Zebel's direction, which singed his hair as he dodged the attack just in time. Zebel straightened up and faced Kheika and Cleotra, preparing another energy disc. The two girls ran off back the way they came, turning the corner before Zebel's disc could hit them. Zebel turned back to Jeff, who had just gotten back on his feet.

"Ganseki… We meet again…" Zebel muttered in slight annoyance.

Jeff frowned, "Ganseki? Zebel it's me; Jeff."

"Enough. You cannot confuse me with your pointless tricks. I'm no longer the fool you once knew. I've returned, much stronger and much cleverer than you ever thought I could be. Prepare to fall prey to my new found power," Zebel retorted as he shot a small disc at Jeff. The disc caught Jeff's shoulder, slicing the fabric of his hoodie and part of his arm open.

Jeff hissed in pain before launching a rock at Zebel.

"Run Hino!" Jeff called as he continued to fight off Zebel.

Hino watched from the other side of the hall as she struggled to free her hand that was stuck under a piece of the exploded boulder. She kept tugging as she watched disc after disc and rock after rock flung almost carelessly around the hall.

"Hino!" Jeff called again, becoming worried with each passing second she was still in the battle zone.

"I'm stuck!" She shouted as she gave a large yank, freeing her palm but causing her fingers more pain.

Jeff's brow became sweaty as he kept dodging and firing attacks, glancing over at Hino whenever he could. He landed a blow to Zebel's knee, making him crouch over in pain. Jeff took the opportunity to go over to Hino and free the rest of her hand.

"Get out of here, now," he instructed her as he helped her up to her feet.

Hino looked confusedly into Jeff's eyes, "What about you?"

Jeff put his hands on her shoulders, "Don't worry about me, and just get out of here! Find Takeshi and Alexianna, stay with them until this blows over. I'll find you, I promise."

Hino took a few shaky breathes before she finally nodded. Jeff eased up slightly at Hino's compliance and took a deep breathe to calm himself further. He brought her into a tight hug, burying his face into her shoulder and neck area. She hugged back just as intensely before pulling away and taking off. Jeff watched her leave until she exited the hallway and turned into the lobby.

"Is it love, Ganseki?" Zebel taunted, firmly planting his feet on the ground.

Jeff turned on Zebel, preparing to resume their battle, "You wouldn't understand love if it was injected into your blood flow." Jeff gave a perplexed twitch, frowning at his own words.

Zebel hissed at him and chucked a disc his way, "You'll pay, Ganseki! You will pay!"

*PRESENT*

Ryuusei tugged Setsuka along as they ran about the perimeter of the school. They both observed the damage done to the fresh building, frowning slightly at the massacre of the beautiful architecture.

"Mom…" Ryuusei mumbled under his breath as the two Sages made their way off the premises to safety.

"We should head to the hospital, they wouldn't dare attack a place so public and monitored," Setsuka suggested as the two slowed down to a walk.

Ryuusei nodded, dismissing the sympathy that had risen in his chest for his mother's proud establishment.

They made their way along the sidewalk of a busy street that lead to the hospital. Ryuusei removed his dirty, torn blazer and tossed it, "I got my mark last night." Ryuusei unbuttoned the top two buttons of his white dress shirt and pulled the light fabric back to reveal his green mark in the shape of a triangle with a vine-like symbol inside of it under his collar bone.

"Did it hurt?" Setsuka questioned.

Ryuusei released the fabric, "Extremely. I didn't get any sleep."

Setsuka nodded, "That'll teach you to tease me."

Ryuusei gave a light smirk, appreciating her small attempt at lightening the mood, "Do you think we'll be able to gather together? The Sages?"

Setsuka sighed, "We have to. However, they've taken down the Sage of Light – Akeno – already. He or she is most likely still in the school."

Ryuusei was taken aback by the new information, "How could they have taken down the Light Sage already? Aren't they supposed to be one of the strongest Sages?"

Setsuka nodded, "Exactly."

They both continued to walk in silence, dreading what was to come.

/

Xerxes groaned as she came to, pain knocking her thoughts around inside her head as she sat up. She remembered her fight with Grace and her group of minions, realizing she was still in the middle of the destroyed cafeteria.

"Jesus Christ…" She muttered, rubbing her head and scanning the area. Rubble was piled everywhere, sunlight spilled in through holes in the ceiling, and the wind blew through the emptied window frames to brush against Xerxes' skin and hair.

She slowly got to her feet, feeling wobbliness in her knees and ankles. She used the broken table next to her to steady herself before attempting to take a step.

"I'm gonna kill Hino," she muttered as she slowly made her way out of the building. Pain seeped into her limbs with each tiny movement she made, making her clench her teeth.

"Xerxes!"

Xerxes looked up to see Kheika and Cleotra running over to her. In her whole month at that school, she had never been so happy to see those two girls.

"Thank the fucking heavens…" Xerxes uttered as she let herself collapse.

Kheika and Cleotra rushed over to her as they watched her form fall to the floor. Each girl took an arm and hoisted the bluenette up, walking her out of the building.

"We need to get her to the hospital," Kheika stated.

Cleotra nodded as they brought Xerxes out of the building and started heading towards the hospital.

/

Jeff clumsily made his way through the halls of the hospital, searching the building for any of the other students from Arcadia Academy.

He kept stumbling along, "Where would Alexianna and Takeshi be…"

He rounded a corner, running into a woman as he did. He fell back into the wall, hissing at the new abundance of pain.

"Sorry ma'am," he groaned out as he attempted to stand up.

The woman helped him up, her slender, white fingers lacing around his wrist. He felt a flash in his head; similar to the one he felt when he made contact with Hino.

"That's alright," a cold, elegant voice responded as he was steadied by another set of hands.

"Steady there," a warm, masculine voice echoed as Jeff started seeing patches of black.

Jeff fell back against the wall again, falling unconscious.

Setsuka rolled her eyes, "Perfect. He's out."

Ryuusei put one of Jeff's arms around his neck and walked him along as he and Setsuka headed towards the Post-Emergency wing.

"So that's six out of nine Sages," Ryuusei stated as he lugged Jeff's body towards Takeshi and Alexianna's room.

Setsuka nodded as she opened the door to the room, holding it open for Ryuusei. The Earth Sage put Jeff's form on the empty bed, sitting down on the edge of the mattress to regain his composure.

Hino's eyes widened when she saw Jeff. She went to his side, placing a hand on his cheek as she observed his unconscious state, "I knew I shouldn't have left him…"

A grave air swept through the room as Hino took a deep breath. Hino turned to the rest of the group, "What the hell is going on?"

Setsuka took a small step forward, bringing the room's attention to her, "A long time ago, there were nine Sages that looked over this city. They kept everything peaceful here. The most powerful of them was the Spirit Child, who fell into a trap and was split into six pieces. She herself became one piece, but the other five became new people, evil people. They destroyed the city and killed many people. The Sages stopped them by sacrificing themselves."

"We think that Grace and the other four with her are the five evil soul pieces. We," Ryuusei continued for Setsuka and gestured around the room, "Are six of the nine Sages."

They all looked around at each other, not wanting to believe the nonsensical story, but realizing that it was true. All of their marks started to glow, and a force rose within the room that pulled Alexianna to her feet. The French girl unwittingly drew her arm forward, and the light from all of the marks started to draw to her arm. Three streaks of light came through the walls and landed on Alexianna's wrist along with the other five from the people already in the room. A violet mark in the shape of a circle layered overtop of a triangle formed itself out of the streaks of light on Alexianna's forearm.

"So it is her," Setsuka thought aloud as the streaks of light disappeared.

Alexianna looked to Setsuka, fear evident in her eyes, "What's me?"

Setsuka hesitated before she replied, "You're the Spirit Child."

Alexianna's eyes widened as she looked back at her mark. She traced the odd marking with her other hand, fascinated and afraid of it at the same time.

"What does that mean?" Hino asked.

Ryuusei spoke up, "It means she's the most powerful of us, and the most fragile."

"We need to keep her safe," Setsuka ordered as she went to open the door to the hallway.

"I think we're all safe enough here," Takeshi opinionated, halting Setsuka.

Ryuusei shook his head, "They'll expect us to stay here. We need to find a safe place to stay while we figure out a plan to get rid of those kids."

"What about the others?" Alexianna asked.

Hino remembered the scene in the cafeteria then, recalling what happened when Jeff came.

"Xerxes…"

Setsuka shifted her focus to Hino, "What happened to her?"

Hino was shaken out of her memories by the Water Sage and met her gaze, "She and I made somewhat of a stand against Grace when she first started attacking the school in the cafeteria. After a while, Jeff came and pulled me out of there. Xerxes started following us, but…" She trailed off.

Jeff, now awake, sat up, "She never made it out." He finished for Hino, who smothered him in an embrace.

"Akeno."

"Sorry?" Alexianna directed to Setsuka.

"That's the name of the Light Sage," Ryuusei answered.

Setsuka looked to Hino, "One of the Soul Pieces, Vanitas, said that Akeno fell in the first battle today."

Hino inhaled sharply, "Xerxes is Akeno?"

Setsuka nodded.

Hino lost all strength and feeling in her legs and fell into Jeff, who barely supported her. Her physical and now emotional exhaustion hit her and she broke down in front of everyone, not caring how uncomfortable or sad she made them feel. Jeff pulled her onto the bed with him and cradled her shaking form in his arms.

Setsuka and Alexianna kept their eyes on the sobbing girl as Takeshi and Ryuusei looked away from the sorry sight.

"Over here!" A feminine voice called outside the room.

The door to the room opened, revealing Kheika, Cleotra and an unconscious Xerxes. Hino leapt up and ran to take Xerxes' body from the two girls and brought her over to the bed her and Jeff had shared a moment ago.

Cleotra gave a small, polite smile everyone as she closed the door, and Kheika tackled Alexianna, who reciprocated the action.

"Thank God you're okay!" Alexianna and Kheika cried at the same time, clinging to each other like the other might die if they let go.

Hino laid Xerxes across the bed, and stood by her side, stroking her hair as she did.

"It seems we've all been gathered then," Ryuusei stated to Setsuka.

The ice woman smirked, "I told you we had to gather. There was simply no other option."

They both looked approvingly upon the others, a small victory for the day being won in that room. The dread of tomorrow, however, floated at the back of everyone's head.

The war had just begun.

END

Double update! Don't you love me now? I hope this makes up for lost time during the holidays and stuff, I might even update again tomorrow! We'll see. Anyways, please review!