Tonight was the eclipse. She knew it, and she had sent out the fliers already. She even talked about it on her show last week when she found out. Thinking back to that moment...

"And just so you all know, there's a Blood Moon Eclipse this Sunday. I'm gonna be holding a little get together in the woods that night. We're gonna rock the night away under the disappearing Blood Moon. Spooky huh? See you there!

She hadn't been very descriptive of where in the woods exactly. But that was for a reason; the whole of the woods closest to Spican grounds had hidden speakers playing her music through them. She had donned her same attire from the Ball, despite the weather. After all, winter wasn't that cold if you were moving so much that you generated your own furnace. Her dancing would do just that. As well as her singing, for she had decided that tonight was the night she would begin doing that. She had rehearsed for so long, every move and every note, just to give this illusion of a musical android.

And tonight, she would make everything known. All her hard work was coming to the surface. Tapping the headset on her ear to 'on' as she grinned, she stepped forward on the small platform she had given herself. Interestingly enough, tonight she didn't have the bird mask on. She replaced it with a purple scouter looking device, and kept her purple contacts on, but instead wore a gas mask over her nose and mouth. Those eyes wouldn't be recognized with glowing purple contacts in after all.

The bell will ring at midnight
But I can't hear it no more
A dream has now lost it's sight, behind the door
No slippers made of glass right?
So now it's time to wake up
My dreams are swept away beyond the sea shore

Everyday goes around, just like a loop it twists and turns
How can I get out of this spiral staircase
Can't stay here no more
Such an urge, want to let go

Her voice echoed against the leaveless trees into every corner of the forest, beckoning students to dance into the new moon with her.

 A blood moon. Now that was something Kagari wouldn't want to miss. Not only that, but news of a little get-together in the Spica forest underneath its scarlet gaze. She didn't necessarily like people, but the whole event had intrigued her. And since she hadn't gone out in a long while, what would be the harm? It was time for the dubbed "Grim Reaper" to poison the forest with her presence. Or perhaps grace the night. 

 She looked like the grim reaper, and the odd color of the moon only exaggerated the pale corpse-like pallidness of her skin. The ends of a long black cloak between a wide high-collared apocalypse coat and a vampire hunter's attire fluttered behind her. A skirt fanned out that was just visible through a natural sliver in the open bottom, trailing down to a pair of black stockings and old combat boots. A black finger less glove veiled one hand from view while the other remained open to the chilly air. Around her neck, veiled by the high collar, hung a set of black and white headphones adorned by black skull decals. One did not simply waltz around in a dark forest in the eye of a blood colored moon in anything less. Especially not her. Every once in a while a lock of jet black hair - she had pulled them into her signature pigtails - would flick up into the air, flashing with a selective color of the rainbow. She had dyed the tips recently out of a random whim. Yet with nothing but her own sore eyes to gaze upon them, why not allow them to grace the moon?  
 
A voice suddenly poured through the trees - twisting and spiraling through the exposed gnarled branches and evaporating into the cool night like a phantom. It was hypnotizing almost. While the spacious layout of the forest had caused all sound to echo, the voice beckoned, and Kagari let her feet shuffle naturally in its calling direction. She soon came to a platform on which a girl was perched. A girl that appeared like someone out of an apocalypse, she would have to admit. Clothed in an eccentric outfit and a gas mask that only accented her apocalypse appearance. And those glowing contacts. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of person lay behind their ghostly glow. She approved of her outfit with a small upturn of a corner of her pale lips - although slightly hidden by her billowing collar - and a nod of her head. Rainbow tips flared out dangerously around the collar.

Stepping back, she analyzed the girl, listening to her song and cataloging her motions. This event could be interesting. Scarlet orbs flashed up briefly to the moon before resettling on the girl. A spooky night indeed.  

"C'mon you guys!" whined a certain fired up redhead, "Let's gooooo! DJ Rctic is my girl! I gotta go jam with her, you guys should come!"

"Like you 'jammed' with her at the ball? Please Konosuke, you're just like a lovesick puppy!"

"Puh-leasssssseee???"

"Ugh, what do you think guys? Shall we let our captain go by herself?" asked one of her team mates.

"I guess we can't do that to her, so, who wants to go dancing?" said another.

"Yes!" Konosuke bolted to get changed. She chose a pair of torn black skinny jeans and a low v-neck band tee. The outfit was completed with knee high combat-type boots, and some punk jewlry. She lost her team mates on the way to the forest, they were coming, surely they were, though the only one she cared about was the mysterious DJ. Hands in her pockets it took all she had not to jog toward the sound, but she was distracted by the moon. It was pretty cool, but kinda dark. When she heard her voice, she couldn't help the grin and she sped up her pace. She came to find her and another girl listening. A few students were pouring into the small clearing. Hearing her sing, seeing her sing, Kono stopped in her tracks totally stunned. This girl just got more and more amazing. She wondered when the DJ would notice her, what her expression would be like under that mask. Would she be as excited to see her as she was?

"Hey puppy," said one of her swimteam friends slapping her on the back,

"Ah, you guys!" she said.

"Go on, dance for her. That's your thing right?"

"Ah, but she's..." said Konosuke. She didn't want to take the spotlight from her, not yet.

But it wasn't long, noticed or not, she walked, placing her steps to the beat and moving her body slowly until she was greeting the DJ's notes with her movements, accenting them, letting them move her. She looked at her with admiration, seeing her in her element like this really made her shine. Konosuke couldn't help but be impressed, so she tried to impress in turn. Her face said 'nice to see you again' but her lips only curved in a grin. What did Shoka say? Eye contact? Smile? Easy enough, she held out her hand to invite the DJ into a simple spin.

It was hard to identify tidy exactly who was coming in, since everything was distorted by the lacking moonlight and more for show than function light sources. That aside, she did notice one girl come into view quietly. She was dressed the part Alright, definitely someone she expected to see out here. At her arrival, Arceia halted her dance and song, and bowed.

"Another comes to appease the moon." she giggled from behind her mask. "Then, let us welcome the new moon together."

At that, she remained silent while the music she had playing took a slightly slower pace, as if to match a mood. It wasn't long before she saw more faces coming to view either. At the sight of them, however, she did get slightly nervous.

The team?... The whole team? Surely she was physically hidden enough, but vocally? Would they be able to pick up on her? She didn't have much choice now but to roll with it though. After all, halting the show to hide would be even more suspicious. Instead, she decided she would sing for the entire time. Her singing voice did sound different than her speaking voice after all, as did most singing voices.

Before she began, she raised her arms and beckoned the group to come closer, then began her next song. While she sang, she took note of her... What was she at this point? More than a friend but not quite far enough for another title. At noticing her, she winked and began to match her movements to those she observed from Kono. After this song was the intermission, during which she would be lighting a bonfire to dance around in praise of the moon. At that point, she would talk to everyone here.

Kagari's wine colored orbs crinkled slightly in amusement when the girl terminated her dancing and performed a greeting bow. She mirrored it with a sweeping bow of her own.

"Let's." She offered vocally in return. It had been a while since she had last spoke, and while just uttering that single word had caused her throat to dry, she didn't necessarily find it uncomfortable. It was about time she got out and about anyways.

As the number of moonlit faces continued to augment the event, Kagari had glided to the sidelines to observe. A rather large group soon appeared, which seemed to make the host on the platform a little apprehensive. She wondered perhaps why, yet continued to watch in curteous silence. Then a boyish girl doning a punk style attire approached the stage to offer a physical invitation of what she assumed as a dance. Now this could be interesting. Kagari leaned against a nearby tree to observe the event comfortably. What would happen? It had piqued her interest.

Thrilled, she spun the girl, she couldn't help being so excited, it made it hard to dance seriously to the ominous tune of he song. Eventually, she eased off, and the others were beckoned closer. Kono had to wonder if this was a good idea, what if someone recognized her? Well, she decided, if they did, she'd make suer so none would tell. This was Arceia's thing, and if Kono could keep a secret, so could her team mates, they'd have the team spirit for that, surely they would support her!

With the slightest nod, she watched the others carefully ad they got nearer, but no one seemed to act any different. They all seemed amused, some even danced together among themselves, but no one seemed to notice who she was. Konosuke was relieved, she danced, but not in a way to take the spotlight away, instead she watched her closely, admiring her under the blood red moon.

Man, she was just too cool. Something deeper in the pit of the red head's belly fluttered, sure she had a crush, she knew that, even confessed it without any hesitation or unease, but this was serious. Konosuke decided she wouldn't give up, one day she'd make this DJ her girlfriend and no one, not even Shoka-sama could stop her!

It didn't take long for her song to conclude. She had plenty of time to think during it about the best possible way to remain concealed in plain sight anyway. Her main thought was to produce a decent enough misdirection in attitude that none would connect the two. Not too hard, but she wasn't an actress exactly, so she would probably still have difficulty masking her lingo precisely.

Ah, but enough of that. Intermission was now present, and that meant it was time to light the bonfire. She reached down under the stage via a small open plank, and pulled out what appeared to be a decorative wooden blade. It had a design akin to an English longsword, with a crest of the sun at the pommel. She made her way off the stage, gripping it, and made not sound nor silence as she approached a clearly indicated rock circle, no greater in diameter than a garbage can. A ringing came from the sudden halt in music, much like the deafening silence after a concert.

"To the moon we grant our light, and with it, our safety. We are a species of light, and light cannot exist without dark. Let this fire pay respect to the needed horrors of the dark, so that we may never forget what it means to desire," she echoed into the darkness, as if nothing else could be said. The context of her speech would be irrelevant to most, but to some who understood, it could mean a great deal. Life requires balance, and everybody must experience the sensation of being away from their comfort zone at least once to truly appreciate that comfort. Late night, alone in the woods, the moon barely visible due to the eclipse? Pretty uncomfortable for most people.

At the conclusion of the little speech, she lit a match and cast it into the rock circle. It caught what appeared to be paper kindling with some names written on it - perhaps names of students? - and there it stayed for a spell. In another instance, she stirred the flame with her wooden blade before jamming it directly into the center, which caused a small eruption of greater brightness. Apparently, she had hidden some lighter fluid in a sealed container under the ground, and stabbing through it caused everything in the bonfire circle to ignite at once in a flashy way. The flame crawled up the blade and she stood back, silently, before turning and bowing to the crowd.

"Now... Let us discuss our topics and have our fun as we do. Thank you all for coming."

Wine colored irises flickered from face to face, analyzing the crowd as they danced and interacted. They lingered on the boyish girl for a while, watching her interact with whom she confidently assumed by now to be the host. The way she moved and admired the girl on the platform - why, to Kagari, it seemed as if that girl had a bit of crush on the other one. That could be interesting to watch. She observed them for a little longer, batting a bothersome blue tipped strand of hair from the corner of her face. The event was short-lived, it appeared, as the one girl had ceased dancing to admire the other who had discreetly paused herself to retrieve something out from under the small platform. Was that a blade? Not a metal one, but wooden, adorned beautifully with a solar crest.

Now this had certainly captured her interest. The "reaper" abandoned her resting post beside the tree and glided a slight step towards the spectacle, keeping her distance as to not lump herself with the crowd. People weren't really a top fondness of hers, but it had been the moon, not precisely the company or a bout of uncanny loneliness, that had lured her out like a decaying moth to a bloody red flame to the event. On the topic of flames... Kagari's eyes glinted with a spark of intrigue as the blade wielder began to speak. Over the deaf ringing of the terminated music, her voice resonated out into the shivering silence. A fire? Like a bonfire?

A lit match was tossed into a circle of rocks. Then the wooden blade was stabbed directly into the small blaze that had been kindled, and all of a sudden the contained fire sparked to life. She was awe-struck for a moment by the almost enchanting scene; puzzled, almost, by the means of how it had all happened. There was obviously something more than just the match, she figured, but didn't wish to question it in the meantime. The flames then seemed to proceed up the wielder's blade like fiery serpents, and to finish it all off, a simple bow was executed along with a phrase of gratitude for all whom attended. Kagari nodded in satisfactory acknowledgment, illuminated scarlet eyes pursuing every vibrant flicker of evaporating flame that lapped up at the monument in the sky. It had been quite an intriguing show, indeed. She could say that it had been a pleasant decision to partake in the event that night. Not disappointing in the slightest. Or at least so far, it hadn't been disappointing.

Skirting around the crowd to the other side of the fire, she continued to observe from a bit closer distance, yet not close enough as to be considered part of the mass of people. She wouldn't allow herself to get that close. Not yet, at least. So she analyzed, cataloged, and perhaps every now and then even met the gaze of a few random students among the crowd, captivated by the event. All the while concealing a ghost of a contented smirk behind her coat's purposely high collar.   

So the flames rose up, climbing the wooden blade like magic and the intro was over. Well, Kono want about to let everything settle into a boring stupor while the attendees awkwardly looked around for dance partners. Instead, she got an idea.

"Oooooooooooy!" She said to draw the attention of the crowd, she raised her arms and the rest of the swim team jostled around with muted amusement she even waved over the dark haired girl in the shadows before continuing. "Stories eh?" She winked, "I have one..." She smiled mischievously and placed a finger over her lips to look even more cheeky. "Long ago there was a beautiful girl who lived on this very campus before the schools were built, she was given so many gifts and so many offers from wealthy families wanting her hand in marriage that the other women in the village became jealous." She walked slowly around the crowd, dramatically weaving her tale, "They were so jealous they killed her!" She emphasized the word 'killed' by raising her arms and jumping at the nearest girl who sqealed and grabbed her friend. "But not before they ruined her beauty forever.with a crude blade, they cut her..." She drew a line with her finger from the corner of her mouth to her ear on both sides, eyes glittering. "They say on the night of the blood moon, the slit mouthed woman returns from the grave to seek revenge on those who mutilated her, she will corner you alone in the forest wearing a veil over her kimono. She will ask 'Am I pretty?' And if you say no, she'll stab you with the very blade that killed her! Or if you say yes, then she will show you her horrible bloody smile!!" She paused and turned to the DJ, "Am I pretty? She will ask again. And as you look at her, and say no, she'll kill you and drag you to hell, but if you say yes, then she will cut you and give you the same bloody smile."

She quickly spun around and crouched lowering her voice, "The only hope of escape when you meet her, is to ask her if she thinks you're pretty instead, it will confuse her long enough for you to run away...."

She let the story fade into dramatic silence that suddenly broke with a loud crack from the fire that made a few girls shriek and cling to one another. Kono stupid straight and laughed, "on that note, let's party! Whatdya say?" She turned back and held out her hand to the DJ.

Ah, yes, stories. A fitting endeavor for the moment. As she listened, she held back a smile without need. The mask would do plenty to cover that. It was amusing to listen to her more-than-friend try to rile up the crowd. Her job was mostly done, as the rest of the Eclipse until the moon came back into full view would be met with the idle chat that she had hoped to spawn. The story over, and the fire seeming to spark in joy, she couldn't help but giggle. A trait that her persona shouldn't ever do. Time to mask it!

As if set on a timer, a small, enchanting violin and piano mix came on the speakers. Nothing original, just enough to set a peaceful atmosphere.

"So... " she began, trailing off to whomever was in front of her(at that moment, Kono and a few from the team) ,"Here we are, a group of lost lambs in the dark, eerie forest all by ourselves."

A glance drifted to the outer space of the forest around them. Nothing around for as far as the night would let them see. No classrooms to hold their attention. No teachers to scold their imagination.

"Why not make some bonds in the dark?"

Her words trailed as did her eyes toward the rest of the group, and found themselves on the darkly dressed woman as well. Everyone was to be equal tonight. Any special treatment would spoil her identity.

A story, huh? Kagari pretended not to heed the girl whom had seemed to wave her over, but the prospect of a frightening story gravitated her a little closer. As the story began to unfold, she listened, washing her gaze over each anticipated face. Some where frightened, others trying to mask it behind stone faces, which she found all the more amusing. A slit-mouthed woman? She had heard a story like that before, yet humored this telling and kept her focus on it. By mere coincidence, her coat's collar was high enough to conceal her mouth from view, similar to the girl's veil in the story. Not that she would intend to scare anyone tonight after that story. Well, maybe, if the desire became strong enough, but that hadn't been the reason why she had selected this attire. Not all people looked angelic when they smiled.

A few girls seemed to jump in fright in various points of the story, and at the end, too, which was only accented by the perfectly timed crackle of the flames. This made Kagari chuckle - a low, eerie sound that was muffled by the high wall of her collar. It was quite intriguing to her how some girls could get so scared over the slightest things. Though she couldn't blame them. Being in a spooky forest on the eve of a bloody red moon was enough to put anyone on edge. Even if just a little. Though, she had yet to feel the effects of this claim. The night had been her sanctuary. Was her sanctuary. She thrived in it and it was in the dark were she became most alive. Like a phantom powered by the hypnotic rays of the moon. Ah, what she wouldn't give to cause a little trouble in its dark haven again. Though, she assumed, there weren't too many troublemakers plaguing Astrea. Or if there were, she hadn't come into contact with any just yet. But such was a phantom's isolated way.

As soon as the story ended, Kagari took a step back once again, chuckling at a few of the quivering girls amongst the crowd. The host had mentioned something about making bonds in the dark. She wasn't the most social demon in the dark, so she had retreated once more to grant the crowd full interaction amongst themselves, keen on watching. One would be surprised - shocked, almost - on how much they could learn from watching the actions and verbal conversations of another. You could learn so many things that appear hidden to someone else. And that wasn't always too savory to be at Kagari's ominous disposal. But she was feeling a bit less than malicious tonight, and decided not to later manipulate anything she happened to hear or observe. Certainly not on a night like tonight.