The Catalyst

"A-Are you sure you don't want to secure the book before you kill me? S-someone could come out of nowhere and steal it after all." questioned Fay hoping that he would pick up the book.

"Oh hon, you're so cute, begging for your life like that," said the man walking up to Fay slowly. He place the frozen claw on her cheek. "You know what, hon, I'm feeling nice today so I'll kill you nice and quickly so you want feel a thing. How does that sound?"

"Ahahaha" Fay let out a nervous sarcastic laughter and then turns to making a dash for the exit.

The man sighed and snapped his fingers on his unfrozen hand. Suddenly, a giant wall of ice rose up from the ground blocking Fay's exit. "Now, now hon. You don't want to run from me it'll just make me angry. In fact hon, now I'm going to kill you nice and slowly," said the man, approaching the trapped Fay. "But how? Oh I know, I'll tear out your organs one by one starting with the ones that you don't need like the kidneys." The man placed a frozen finger on fay near where he knew the left kidney to be and slowly pushed down. He was about to break the skin when a bright light began shining from the book causing the man to look back.

"I knew it, hon," said the man with a smirk, pulling away from Fay. "Your friend looked into the book didn't he? I imagine one of the things sealed in there killed him, hon. Now it's probably returning his empty shell to us." Noir's silhouette materialized inside the bright light right before it vanished a few seconds later leaving Noir there. He was staring directly into the ground and not moving, his eyes were closed as though he were sleeping. The man laughed as he left Fay to examine Noir. "This is what he gets for looking into the book, hon. To have your soul eaten alive but whatever demons are living inside of you. It must've been more painful then what I was about to do to you, hon." The man placed his frozen hand on Noir's cheek. "Hey, you in there, hon? Of course you're-" There was a snap as in a swift movement Noir broke the arm of the man who was touching. For the first few seconds, the man stood paralyzed in shock. Then he let out a blood curdling scream and fell to his knees, grasping at his broken arm with his other arm as the ice around the broken arm melted away. "Impossible..." muttered the man as he looked up at Noir who looked back at him with amber demon like eyes.

Black feathered wings pushed themselves out of Noir's back and a black mist began to pour out of his body. As soon as the mist touched the man, dark images began to force themselves into the man's head. Bad memories all of a sudden resurfaced with a force that caused the man to let out another continuous scream. Images of the man's own death also invaded his thoughts. He could not only see his death but he could also feel the pain of death, over and over again. Whenever the man tried to look up at Noir, his figure would shift from being human like, to that of a gigantic raven, then back to a human.

A black talon shot out of the mist and grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him up. "Drown in your own despair," ordered Noir as the images and the pain the man was feeling intensified ten-fold. The man all of a sudden stopped scream and began laughing very demented like as what was left of his sanity drained away. Six more talon shot out of the black mist and pierced the man's body for a second before Noir pulled them away. The man immediately stopped laughing and his body wilted before Noir dropped him back into the dark mist that covered his body for a few seconds. When the mist receded back into Noir all that was left of the man was his bloody bones. The wings on Noir's back exploded in a burst of black feathers that vanished when they hit the ground.

The boy shook his head and blinked, his yellow eyes returning back to their natural color. When he saw the bones lying several feet in front of him, he staggered backwards and fell on his butt. "W- What the hell!?" asked Noir, finally returning to his normal self. He winced as there was a sudden pain in his hand. Looking down, he saw a little black raven head being etched into his left hand. "W- What is this!?" asked Noir in a panic. Then he looked at the bones again, and then looked at Fay. "What the hell did I do!?"

Fay watched the events unfold with unbelieving eyes and then wondered how she could reply to Noir's question. "Well first you were like 'Caw!' and then "Aw..." and then "Caw!" she explained while replicating bird wings using her arms during the caw and then drooping arms for the aw. "And then he was going 'Aaaah' while your eyes were glowing and then there was this 'woosh' while he was foaming from his mouth" explained Fay while trying to replicate the scene with her arm movements.

Along the way, Fay realized that since Noir was asking her what happened, she could exaggerate a bit. "Then you were like 'Drown in your own despair!' before you did your evil laugh of 'Mwahahahahaha!" Fay exaggerated acting like an evil dictator.

"Then he turned into that." Fay then directed Noir's attention towards the corpse on the ground.

Noir stared at Fay as she retold the story. At the end, he started laughing at her retelling, slowly at first and then he began laughing so hard it almost made him cry. "I must've looked like a real freak!" he exclaimed, wiping a tear from his eye. The way Fay retold it almost made it seem like it was a comedy bit. "Anyways," he said as he got to his feet. "He didn't hurt you did he?" asked Noir as he picked up the book from the ground and walked over to Fay. He had noticed that there was a slight tear in her clothing right under one of her breasts.

Fay crossed her arms to cover the tear and then said "Not really, you came just in time to stop him. But there's something more important, what are we going to do about the book and..." she paused for a moment before nudging her head towards the man's corpse. "...That guy." she continued.

"I think I'll keep the book, if the principle is really behind this putting it in the vault won't keep him from it, it's the least I can do," said Noir. "As for him," Noir gestured to the skeleton. "I say we leave him." A red glow started coming from the ice as it's rate of melting increased dramatically. A few seconds later the giant wall of ice behind Fay was reduced to a large puddle on the ground.

"You two? How?" started Anka, surprised to see them alive. Noir was equally surprised to see him alive, after all he'd watch the man puncture a hole through his chest and yet the hole had vanished and his clothing was repaired. It was like it'd never even happened. Anka peered over Noir's shoulder at the bones on the floor and then to the book in Noir's hands. "You looked inside the book didn't you?" he asked.

Noir nodded. "Yea, so?"

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be alive right now?" asked Anka. "You could've became dinner to whatever spirit you met in there!"

"Ew..." Noir said, thinking about the Raven eating him alive.

"And since you're still alive I'm assuming you made a deal with that spirit and now it's living in side of you. Is that correct?"

Noir nodded again.

Anka rubbed his temples. "You have absolutely no idea what you've done to yourself. Mark my words, one day you're going to regret not being killed by it."

Noir had no idea how to respond to that promise. What could make him wish that he wasn't alive?

"So what was the deal you made?" questioned Fay as she wonders what he agreed with the mark to do.

"I guess I asked to borrow his power for a little bit, he said he could stop the man who was chasing us and he did," answered Noir as he looked downward at his hands. "Was the deal I made really that bad?"

"Of course it was!" shouted Anka. "Whatever is inside of you is just going to keep growing in power, changing you from the inside until you become like it, a monster. Look at what it did to that man, soon you'll be devouring the people you love and care about."

When Noir had met the Raven, he didn't think he was that bad of a spirit. There is the possibility that it could've been a facade but then again, there was no proof that the prince was telling the truth. Then again, he seemed like he was talking from experience.

"What did your spirit gain from the deal?" questioned Fay. "He couldn't have just decided to stop him for nothing."

"A host," answered Anka. "Without a human host, a spirit can't exercise and grow its power. Now let's go take the book somewhere else, it's obviously not safe down here."

"What's the point?" asked Noir, holding out the book towards Anka who quickly grabbed it and tucked it under his arm. "If I've already unsealed whatever was in there then why would people still come after the book?"

"There's more then one spirit sealed in there, there are hundreds of them, all varying in power from those with the power of a generic spirit to those rivaling the power of the Sages. If any of those spirits fall into the wrong hands the result could be disastrous," answered Anka, turning around and walking in the direction of a staircase that led up to the surface. "No more questions for now, I have to find somewhere to hide the book."

"What do I do now?" asked Noir as Anka turned the corner into another corridor and disappeared. When he realized Anka wasn't coming back he sighed. He had no idea how he should deal with this problem. Did he tell his parents? His parents knew a lot of things, but he doubted they could help him. Obviously he wouldn't be able to hide his mark forever but was he supposed to try to live a normal life regardless? If the prince wasn't lying to him then that would be impossible, eventually the mark would consume him. It was a terrifying thought.

Fay thought for a moment about what they should do. Upon thinking, she wondered why she was here with them. Then she remembered that she still had to attend class. But with them running around so much, she was not sure how much time has passed by already. "Wait, what time is it? We still have to attend class!" Fay noted.

Noir laughed. "We almost died today and you still want to go to class?"

"We can't really do anything else so why not? And this will put an cut mark on our record since the principal saw us today..." Fay began to worry about what else could happen if they decide to cut the rest of the day. "But in any case, there's really nothing else we can do except go back to class!" Fay argued.

Noir sighed. "I suppose you're right," admitted Noir. If his parents figured out that he was still cutting class sort of, then they would kill him. It would also give him some time to think about what his next move should be. "Fine, I'll be going then," said Noir as he walked away from Fay. "See ya later."

"Wait! Are we really just going to let Prince Seoul take care of the book on his own!?" asked Fay reaching her hands out towards Noir. "He could suddenly get ambushed and it will be the end of the world as we know it!"

"I think we've done enough," stated Noir, stopping for a second. "Besides, it's not my problem." Then, he resumed walking through the corridors, leaving Fay alone in the dungeon. By the time he got to the surface the rain had stopped and the sun was shining brightly as it had been earlier. There was no evidence on the ground that anything had ever happened and the door to the main building was completely unfrozen. Before Noir entered the building, he jammed his marked hand into his cloak pocket and flipped the hood over his head.

Fay stood there awhile watching Noir leave her behind but decided not to say anything as it wasn't her problem either. After awhile, she found herself alone... in the dark dungeon... that is possibly filled with spiders. She then immediately began to run and soon finding herself outside once again. Wondering what she should do, she decides to head back to class so she began to head towards the class that she was suppose to be having.

In class, Elgar Speikern found himself bored, while sitting in his wooden desk with his book closed. Today, a teacher whose name he never bother to memorize was suppose to talk more about science. However, teacher has yet to arrive, allowing students have little extra to do their thing with half of them just talking to each other. Elgar mentally sneered as he found them annoying. As with the teacher, he never bother with his fellow classmates' name. He was about to take nap when a door opened. The class got silent, quickly move toward their desks, making themselves presentable. A dirty blonde girl with light blue eyes walked in, closing the door behind her. The class including Elgar sighed as a girl moved toward her desk and sat down on it.

Noir walked through the main school building and to the administration building. Before he went back to class Noir had one more thing he had to do. He walked up to the principal's door and opened it slowly. The principal was sitting behind his desk filing paperwork. When he heard Noir walk in, he raised his head and stared into Noir's eyes.

"You! You're alive! B- But Verdandi!" said the Principal hopping out of his chair.

Noir smirked at the principal as the same force as earlier began to take control of his body. His eyes changed to an amber color. "Just as I thought, you were behind this," said Noir as darkness began pouring out of his body.

"How did you... It can't be, why are you here!" shouted the principal as he backed up to the window. The darkness crept it's way towards the principal slowly.

"I just got back from a long nap," said Noir as he approached the principal. "and I don't appreciate it when people try to kill my master."

The principal was backed into a corner, he knew he stood no chance against the Raven. The only thing he could do now was flee. A sudden gust of wind shattered the window and picked up the principal.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Noir as he extended a hand. Several talons shot from the darkness towards the principal but before the claws reached him he vanished. The talons crashed into part of the wall, puncturing several holes. "Che," said Noir as the darkness around him vanished and his eyes returned to their normal color. He then turned around and headed back to class.

***

The wind carried the principal across the town and into an abandoned building in the forest in the southern part of town. Milord, I have failed you. Verdandi is dead, the Seoul prince still has the book, and a boy has obtained the mark of the Raven, said the principal in his head.

Do not worry, Manduk. I anticipated your failure and have sent reinforcements to the island, they should arrive in a few days. Book or no book, the catalyst has been added and the chain reaction is beginning. Soon chaos will ensnare the world, responded a voice in the principal's head.

What should I do?

Stand by for now and wait for further orders.

Yes milord...

As Fay waited in class, she wondered as to what she would do about everything that just happened. Should she ignore it or should she try to do something. Due to all her worrying, the history class ended quickly before she even noticed it. It was then that the next class, physics, started.

As the history teacher was leaving, he encountered Kuro Harukaze who was entering the classroom. She was wearing her usual frilly coat but with her random nature, the clothes underneath this time is a tan vest over a white collared button-down shirt. He then looked back him at the chalkboard and then back down at Kuro. "Ah, do you need me to clean the board for you?" asked the history teacher noticing he might have wrote too high for her to reach.

Kuro walked passed him and placed several books, such as her teaching planner, text book, and attendance list, on the teacher's desk. She then looked back at the history professor. "That won't be necessary," Kuro replied with her right hand raised as if asking him to stop. "Being able to clean the board is half the fun of being a teacher." replied Kuro as she picked up the eraser. She then began to walk to the right side and began to start erasing the bottom of the board.

The history professor then looked at the students and then back down at Kuro before replying "Okay, I'm sure the students will be able to help if you need it," and then he left the room.

Kuro glanced over to check if he was really gone. After her contamination, she began to step on the tips of her toes to begin to erase the writing at the top of the board. She begins to grunts as she could not reach it. "I-I can't reach..." she mumbled.

"Is this room 4-B?" asked Anka Seoul. He had given the book to his butler for temporary safe keeping so he could attend school which was his second mission. The prince wasn't exactly sure if he was in the right room though considering that there was what looked like an elementary school girl trying to clean of the black board.

"Stay back!" Kuro exclaimed placing her left hand to halt Anka's entry. "This is my fight... and my fight alone!"

Elgar was amused as he and the class watch physic teacher groaning as she attempted to clean a chalkboard. In his far right corner of eye, he could see one of his classmates named Boot (or something, Elgar couldn't remember) staring at short teacher's rear (which Elgar personally thought it is too small). Elgar mentally snorted and thought that Boot must be desperate bloke with poor taste in women. Seeing Boot still staring at teacher's rear, a girl next to him slapped his shoulder with a book. Boot nearly jump off but regained his position. Girl glared at him, preventing him from saying anything.
Indeed, Elgar was amused. Until a 6 feet tall boy with neatly combed dark brown hair appeared with dumb looking face (in his opinion) asked a dumb question (again, in his opinion).