<div></div><br> <br>A warm, clear morning, the sun shining down upon the streets of Firmament. Unfortunately, none of the beings present are out in the open to enjoy it - instead, they've been packed into one of the Academy's grander auditoriums, big enough to comfortably accommodate most of the beings present. The front third of the hall has been reserved for academics and clergy alike, with the remaining two-thirds being open to the public. Seats have been arranged in a semicircle about the stage, with free seating allowed to beings - within their respective stations, of course.<br> <br>Expecting the same kind of entertainments so common of Academy demonstrations, beings have piled into the hall from off the street. Those who can sit do so, those who can't stand, and white-robed heavy-clanned priests keep watch over the gathered masses, a number of them forming a solid barrier between stage and seats. These are no simple clergy, either - the bumps and creases of their heavy white robes belie concealed weapons and plate armour. Are they expecting trouble at what's supposed to be a simple demonstration of the sort the Academy is famous for? True, trouble's not unknown within the Academy halls, but to be expecting it...is that caution or foresight on the Academy's part?<br> <br>Selena makes her way along the auditorium's seating, glancing around to find a reasonable place to sit before she opts to linger by one of the doors and review some of her own notes before the demonstration begins. Occasionally, a wave is offered to a familiar being in the crowd though there's little other action from her for the time being. Having a cohort of priests in attendance doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest, as long as they don't pester her.<br> <br>What poor souls who have to experience the lion's unwashed body. Arriving rather late, Dio strolls into the public seating and pushes his way through various beings. Though, that isn't much a task considering very few wish inhale... That... Finding a lovely seat to accommodate his rear, he sits down upon it and crosses his legs, observing the armored individuals. Curious, that. However, there is sure to be exciting things to be revealed! No need to worry about stuff like that.<br> <br>Ictus arrives on the scene! He looks around quietly at the crowd and blinks at the priest-guards, he shrugs though as he wonders what about this demonstration is s dangerous but takes a seat near the middle if possible<br> <br>Kialla manages to wander in, looking rather curiously at the gathered people, seeing some people she already knows as she just lets her arms hang idle, just her white fingertips able to be seen.<br> <br>Arimia pushes her way into the auditorium, and looks around. She gives a small smile and makes her way over to where Selena is, ignoring any complaints about it, then flops herself into the wolf's lap with a comfortable familarity. She shifts about a bit to get in a comfortable position where she can see what's going on and says, "So. What's supposed to be going on here?" After a couple moments she seems to remember something, and fishes about in her cloak pockets until she pulls out a thin golden necklace, with a gold and silver pendant, one stylized to look like the moon before it was shattered. "An' I got this from... Ah... I got this for you."<br> <br>At length, everyone's seated, the crowd is calmed, and a clever-clanned goat takes to the stage, clearing his throat as he comes to a stop at the lectern. "Good morning, priests, fellow academicians, ladies, gentlemen," he says, projecting his voice with a little air mathemagic so everyone in the auditorium can hear him clearly. "Creators bless this very fine morning. I am Assistant Professor Dawson, and today we are proud to present the public unveiling of an important development in our studies regarding sacred families. This has been some time in the making, and represents a three-way joint effort between the Church, the Academy, and last but not least, the Artisan School. Without further ado, let us commence with a practical demonstration of what we have uncovered. Please, no questions at this juncture - we will field them from the public after the demonstration is over."<br> <br>Selena shifts a little and moves her papers aside as the raccoon settles down in her lap, planting a kiss on her head. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, love." She chuckles quietly, putting her work back in her bag. The necklace presented to her is examined closely, though she accepts it with a warm smile and a slightly tighter hug than usual, murmuring something to her as she does. "...Though as for here, I think the goat explained that. Supposedly there was some research going on behind the scenes."<br> <br>Dio was nearly about to stand up in his chair and shout "WHAT IS IT," from the anticipation. However, the lion manages to calm himself down before that point, luckily for everyone else. Though, it might've made a good show. Being the good lion that he is, he quietly crosses his legs and leans back into his seat, occasionally smiling and noticing various familiar faces as they go by.<br> <br>Ictus looks over to Kia and gently waves her over to him before the demonstration starts. He hmms? as he spots the two lovers and chuckles before he looks to the fidgety Dio, he shrugs at the lion and looks up to the stage curiously<br> <br>Kialla moves over to Ictus, smiling to him as she coos quietly, standing out a little, being so tall. But she otherwise settles in quietly, listening to what's going on on stage, a bit more comforted by someone she knows.<br> <br>Arimia smiles at Selena and says, "Listen to the town criers. Oh... Ah... An' don' go wearin' it about in public too much for a while." Before she can be pressed to explain that she turns and points to the goat. "Oh look. A convenient distraction."<br> <br>The goat frowns at Dio's question, working the mathemagic a little to project his voice in the Lion's direction. "Well, I could certainly tell you, but then it would ruin the surprise, and hence be somewhat less memorable than it could have been. Let's begin, then." What a ego this guy has. A priest steps onto the stage and hands the goat a small velvet pouch, from which he pulls out a small glass orb about the size of a golf ball. The glass is unique in itself, catching the light of the auditorium and breaking it into a multicoloured sheen across its surface. But what's more interesting is the liquid held within the orb - viscous and coloured a deep shade of amber-red, it swirls as the goat shakes the orb in his palm, glowing with an inner light.<br> <br>"The glass is nigh-unbreakable, being tempered with lunar dust," the goat explains. "an example of the coordination between all three institutions, with the Church being our fount of the Creators' wisdom and knowledge, the Academy's inspiration, and the Artisan School excellence at fabrication. But enough talk for now." He claps his hands, and a small-clanned, simply-dressed dove steps onto the stage from the left side. From the right side, another avian, a hood over their head, thick leather padding and a cloak concealing most of their features and body shape, with only their hands and feet exposed. Grim indeed.<br> <br>"What you are about to see is going to be disturbing," the goat continues. "I will urge you, please remain calm."<br> <br>Selena clicks her tongue and messes up Arimia's hair for a moment before stowing the necklace in a pocket. "Ari..." She chides, though the display certainly does attract her attention, facing the display with more curiousity than anything else. Though the lull in speech prompts her to nudge the raccoon and murmur agan.<br> <br>The anticipation! If Dio actually had his knife, which unfortuantly broke long ago, he'd nearly be able to cut the thick air of excitement beaming off of his body. His large leonine feet bounce up and down in their place, making various and more than likely annoying tapping sounds upon the floor as he crosses his arms and eagerly observes the dove waltzing across the stage. With a deep breath, the cub-like lion steels himself and mananges to stop jittering about, realzing that finally, his curiosity shall be answered.<br> <br>Ictus smiles at Kia and whispers to her a bit before he peers at the orb curiously. He hmms? glowing and tilts his head at the Avian types. He looks over the crowd in front of him curiously as watches the display<br> <br>Kialla leans down a bit to listen to the fox... just keeping her eyes upon the stage though, curiously peering between the pair who apepar next...<br> <br>Arimia flicks an ear then leans up to whisper to Selena, before turning her attention back to the stage. As the grimly clad avian steps out onto the stage the 'coon says flatly, "I find myself wonderin' if they're bein' a little bit overdramatic here."<br> <br>At a gesture from the goat, the hooded avian steps forward and receives the glass orb from him, secreting it away in their clothing. With that, they steps back to the dove, who looks a little nervous. A few hand gestures, a whispered word, and then the dove tilts his head back and bares his neck. With a single, smooth motion, the hooded avian draws a wickedly sharp carving knife, grasps the dove's chin with one hand and slits the dove's throat with the other. Arterial blood spurts forth, staining the dove's white breast crimson. The hooded avian steps back and watches dispassionately as froth begins to bubble out of the wound, followed by the dove collpasing in a pool of his lifeblood, twitching.<br> <br>The crowd immediately breaks out into an uproar. "What on Promise...?" "Murder! Murder!" "Someone save him!" Some more concerned beings run down the aisles in a bid to help. Yet the priests refuse to let anyone near the stage, closing ranks with their bodies - they draw their weapons but hold them low, as if to say they could use them but don't want to have to, instead choosing to hold back the crowd with their selves. Just what is going on here?<br> <br>Selena blinks a little at the raccoon's whisper, smirking a little and nipping her ear softly as the proceedings go on, flinching back noticably. "...Why would they stage a suicide?" She groans, looking aside a little - after all, the dove HAD followed along willingly in a crowded place with a guard at hand. Her ears tilt back nevertheless as she eyes the spectacle a little grimly. "Well, Ari. I suppose that wasn't as overdramatic as we were expecting. Not even in a medicine lecture either; it would be more appropriate there, if... This could be considered appropriate."<br> <br>Dio leans forward in his seat, even stumbling slightly and recapturing his balance after nearly falling off his chair. Recapturing his balance, his eyes are met with a wonderful spilling of lovely life blood upon the stage and the person itself. "Whoa whoa there lads," he shouts, immediately popping out of his chair and waving his arms. Peering at the guards, he knew that he probably wouldn't get passed them. The lion was split between two minds, one to rush on stage, the other to recognize that perhaps this is all indeed part of the demonstration and maybe she'll be alright. The latter, he decided. For now.<br> <br>Ictus hmms? at the 'demonstration' and growls as he stand, but... He shakes his head and sighs, "No way to save him myself..." he mumbles before eyeing the priests curiously, he just stands where he is though<br> <br>Kialla moves a paw softly to rest on Ictus' shoulder. "They wouldn't do that without a reason. Perhaps the bauble, watch closely." she coos to Ictus as she nudges him softly, "Have a little faith." she gives with a smile, watchign for what is next...<br> <br>Arimia looks about to say more before she's distracted by the killing on the stage. She stands up on Selena's lap and one of her hands disappears under her cloak, only to emerge again holding a bow of carved bone. Her other hand moves to grab an arrow, which she places against string and draws back, pointing her bow at the cloaked and hooded avian. <br> <br>Without warning, a single arrow whistles out of the crowd and towards the stage! Someone in the audience lets out a cry of alarm, but it's too late - the arrow nocks the avian's hood, causing them to look up in alarm, quickly, they kneel by the dying dove and lay their hands upon the dove's chest. Light flashes from beneath the folds of their heavy clothing for a brief moment, and erupts into a vortex of swirling flame.<br> <br>"Stop! Stop! No one is going to come to any harm!" The goat yells, but even the air mathemagic is insufficient to drown out the noise coming from the audience. "Perhaps we overdid it..." Immediately, priests to either side of the stage work air magics to pull apart the vortex partially, allowing the audience a clear view of what's going on within. Flesh knits and tissue heals with a faint sizzling sound, and the light coming from within the hooded avian's clothing is now intense, enough to highlight the seams in their clothing.<br> <br>Slowly, painfully, the dove's eyes flick open. He coughs, once, twice, and then pushes himself upright, rubbing his neck - where there was once a gaping wound, there is now a faint scar. Upon seeing that everything is all right, the crowd's panic subsides, to be replaced with a mood of general inquisitiveness. Those who had thrown themselves against the priests' wall of bodies are firmly led back to their seats, and the priests begin fanning out amongst the audience, searching for the mystery archer.<br> <br>"And so we conclude the practical part of this demonstration," the goat says, his voice shaking, as the hooded avian helps the dove off the stage before more arrows are aimed their way, and yet more priests hurry in to clean up the blood before it can stain the wood too badly. "Those possessed of sacred families have already received the blessing of the Creators, but like the kitsune, those of the sacred family of the phoenix have received a double blessing. With this new gift of their tears for the fallen, more lives than their own now depend on their abilities. Those interested may inquire further at the Lunars Exchange, for the price of some lunar dust to cover the material cost, and a small additional fee, of course. We will be fielding questions from the audience now."<br> <br>Selena looks a little startled as Arimia pulls herself up and fires off an arrow from her lap, quickly reaching up to ideally move her back onto her lap. "Ari..." She sighs concernedly, though as the dove is brought back to life she double-takes, putting a little pressure onto the raccoon to ease her back down into her lap, opting not to call out over the din - simply too loud. "I'm... Skeptical about this one, I think." She comments to the raccoon uneasily. "But if it works...<br> <br>"<br> <br>Like the rest of the audience, Dio finally decides to make his way with the crowd and down the isles to get a better look, pushing people aside but staying away from the guard's pointy ends. And he even managed to see a little in-fighting! Certainly an exciting demonstration, as predicted. However, he quickly calms down, looking in awe as the wounds heal away, magically! "So ya can really just bring people back like that? Quite a potent ability on the battlefield..."<br> <br>Ictus blinks Kia and sighs as he nods, "Very well..." he hmms? at the display and tilts his head in confusion but blinks as the dove gets up, "Okay then... That was a bit overdone." he shakes his head and frowns, though he glances to Ari and Selena curiously<br> <br>Kialla just smiles, staying calm and quiet as she gently coos. She looked around, to mostly see who would be asking questions, listening for any of them as well.<br> <br>At length, one of the priests steps onto the stage and whispers something to the goat, who them clears his throat once more. "Yes, we are quite sorry. We had hoped to make an impression today and remind all good beings of the Creators' power and potential within us, but things got...carried away. After explosions and elementals at public displays, we had expected a calmer audience at one of our demonstrations. Certainly, we did not intend to put anyone in harm's way, and should have given more warning as to what would happen. Once again, my apologies." The goat then addresses Dio. "Yes, we could bring them back 'just like that', although some things do need to be clarified in this regard. What we are bringing them back from are mortal wounds, not death, and the one bearing the sacred family requires a long rest period between each revival. It would not be possible to, say, keep an entire battlefield's worth of soldiers up and fighting constantly - there probably isn't enough lunar dust on Promise for that. Are there any further questions?"<br> <br>Selena picks up her bag, silently ushering Arimia to an exit without causing any further disorder before returning to her seat and rubbing her forehead for a moment, reclining lightly and sighing as she listens in on the others for their questions, clearing her head as the crowd's indgnation subsides.<br> <br>"You've had explosions here," Dio exclaims, now looking quite excited once more. "Perhaps I should've strolled into town a lot earlier..." The lion rubs at his fuzzy chin and thinks for a bit, wondering if he could come up with any more questions. "I suppose bringin' back someone from near death would be quite the drain on yer energy. But still, it's quite an amazin' advancement! Save a poor lad from bleedin' out on the floor, and all that wonderful stuff. Though I must imagine, do ya have a name fer this?"<br> <br>Ictus looks to Kia as she looks around and hmms a bit. He looks to the goat though and nods before finally retaking his seat. He mumbles to himself as he looks to Dio at the question and chuckles, "Yes, what do you call this exactly?"<br> <br>Kialla gives a soft  giggle at her cousin's posed question, smirking as she was still quite relaxed, looking to him with a smile.<br> <br>Sieve and search! Perhaps it's Arimia's small stature, or perhaps it's just the chaos, but Selena manages to lead the pink 'coon to the door without being stopped by any of the priests. Once she's seated again, the goat continues his speech.<br> <br>"Of course. I must have forgotten in the rush. The Creator Church and Academy have agreed on calling them Phoenix tears for now. Simple and descriptive." Seeing no other questions from the audience, the goat gives a small bow, although shakily. "Thank you for coming to today's demonstration. It is hoped by all parties involved that this new discovery of the Creators' blessings will lead to less wasteful loss of life not just in Sweetwater, but all around Promise. Refreshments will be served outside the hall, for those who still have the appetite for such. With that, I bid you all good day."