Alitia: Welcome to Millenia

XLVI: Retreat

Altina's foot made contact with the door to Minerva's office much louder than Luce expected it to. The sound echoed throughout the hallway, and Carys cringed. However, the girls didn't stop Altina from lashing out once again, and a second kick had the door caving fully, splintering to a mess of abandoned wood on the floor.

However, nobody was paying attention to the remnants of the door, as the contents of the room were much more interesting.

Inside, Iago was sitting at Minerva's desk, his feet kicked up to sit on the table. He had a glass in one hand, and he took a sip from it as the girls entered. He didn't seem bothered at all by the arrival of the girls, instead choosing to shrug. "What are you brats doing here?" he asked. His words slurred together slightly, showing that the drink of unknown origin was alcoholic. Somehow, Luce wasn't surprised.

"You took over the school. I feel like it would be a better question to ask why you're here," Altina told him, hands tightening their grip on the swords she held. "However, I feel like I already know the answer. You're here because you think Sacred Heart is the best place for your base to be."

Iago chugged the remainder of the drink before setting the glass down on the table, the force of the movement making the desk tremble. He pulled his feet away from the desk and went into a proper standing position, somehow not stumbling. "I really do find it to be odd that you would storm all the way here... I would have expected you to stay in Alitia with the rest of your kind... And it seems I've neglected to mention the elephant in the room. Altina Latheia... Why the hell are you alive? I thought I made a building collapse on you," he remarked.

Altina shrugged loosely. "You're not very good at assassinations, Thanatos. If you knew how this worked, you would be fully aware that if a body was never found, the person could be alive. Painfully amateur oversight on your part," she remarked.

"Amateur?!" Iago shouted, his hand lashing out against the glass on the desk next to him. The cup was sent flying, shattering as soon as it slammed into the nearby wall. Fragments of glass remained on the floor, and Iago didn't bother to pick up the remains from his brief tantrum.

Altina shrugged. "I'm merely speaking my mind, though it doesn't look like you're taking it very well... Anything I can do to calm you down, baby boy?" she asked. Her words were overflowing with sarcasm, but her tone never changed from that of even neutrality.

Iago released a blast of energy at Altina, roaring with anger in response. Altina moved her blades to block the attack, reflecting the magic back at Iago. However, the attack didn't hit him directly, instead being aimed at the area just over his shoulder. The wall groaned and complained at the sudden damage.

"Are we going to start attacking now?" Carys asked Altina.

Altina nodded as Iago lunged towards her. The headmistress of Acadia pulled her leg in close to her chest before lashing out at Iago's stomach, sending him whining and falling to the ground. If he was going to approach her with hopes of going into a physical fight, then she was just going to have to show him how much more experience she had than him.

Iago rolled over, one hand still clutching at his stomach. He shoved his other arm forward, creating a blast of deep purple magic once again. This time, the blow was targeted not at Altina, but instead at Helena, who couldn't get out of the way in time. Even so, Helena didn't let herself get hit, throwing up a last-minute shield of fire to deflect the spell. Most of the attack was absorbed by the shield, but the remains of it were sent flying every which way in the room, one particularly pesky piece clipping Iago in the shoulder.

Iago held his shoulder, creating tendrils of darkness to cover up his injury. After he had sufficiently tended to it, Iago stomped one foot against the ground, creating more snake-like threads of shadowy magic from where his sole made contact. The thin pieces of darkness spiraled through the air, looking for any target within reach to strike and ultimately harass, eventually deciding that S.M. was the best target, though Luce didn't understand the reasoning.