(I don't think I'll need one, and we already have one or two others on a waiting list for this thread if I'm not mistaken. Sorry)

(No apologies needed, dear Linnis. I should be apologizing to you, anyways. Guess I'll find elsewhere to hunt.)

Mercy shouldn't have been surprised when one of the girls came to investigate the noise she had made. But even so, when she looked up to see Diana inches from her, she let out a quiet yelp. Figures suddenly coming into view in this school was never a good thing, and Mercy was half-tempted to turn tail and flee.

Instead, her curiosity got the better of her and she decided it would most likely be a lot more interesting to stay.

"I'm sorry!" She said, trying to stop her heart from hammering so hard in her chest. "It's just, I couldn't sleep. And then I heard voices. SO I thought I'd come take a look and... well..." She trailed off, waving her hands in a 'And here we are' gesture. "I'm Mercy." She said, smiling, extending her hand.

"Mercy, meet Grace." From the place where Daina and Saira once stood, with a light emitting from my skin. My wings extended to their full wingspan and I wore a see-through white slip, with nothing underneath. I spoke in a voice, a song almost, gentle and beautiful. "Come to me, my children. You were brought together for a reason this night, to become Disciples of the Scripture of Altima... to usher in a new faith to save the girls of this school... and to reform the dark creatures who stand to harm and oppose you all."

((Sorry about the wait!))

Diana turned to the sudden eruption of light in the place where she had stood moments ago. She turned her entire body towards the light, the bright rays easily piercing her nighty. She gazed at the light, stunned by its radiance and beauty. The words that trailed from what seemed to be the source of the light, a woman of divine beauty, tickled at the edges of Diana's mind and teased her very soul. She felt drawn to the woman, drawn to believe this scripture of her's. Long ago had Diana given up on the notion of hope, understanding the state of life she was forced into. The simple fact that she was to be raped and molested and there was no escape. But this scripture...

This promise of hope and safety overwhelmed all of her doubts. Diana took a shaky step forwards, then another and finally she began to walk in a full stride. She stopped just a few feet away from the angel-like being. Then a slight resemblance of curiosity piqued her mind. "But... What is the Scripture of Altima?"

Saira turned her head at the unfamiliar voice and... was left slack-jawed. What... was... was this an angel? She mouthed wordless gapes of surprise for a moment, unable to believe her eyes. This island was full of monsters, right? And angels weren't monsters...

...Right?

But yet there was something that seemed to scare her, even if only on a primal level. This... seemed confusing. Strange. What was this scripture, what did she mean by reforming the monsters? Was she really what she said she was? Saira hadn't met any of the monsters that disguised themselves, but she knew a creature like Antipode could make 'projections'. What if one projected an angelic body? It'd be a rather cunning ploy, and Saira was shaking slightly in paranoia of that possibility.

Yet...

She stepped forward a bit, coming up at a bit farther than Diana was, albeit on the other side of the angelic figure. Something was strangely comforting about this. She couldn't put her finger on what, though. Was it hope? Was it something that wasn't clearly ready to rape her and violate her? Saira pursed her lips, and opened them again to speak.

But nothing came out. She couldn't figure out anything to say. What DO you say to an angel? And she looked back, back at some of these new faces. She worried for a second, and glanced closely at Tian. Saira wasn't that much of a fighter, but she had a hope that if this angel was a lie, that she'd be ready.

Tian was in shock, she saw the other two girls walk towards the bright light, but she could tell, she knew that this was too good to be true. It was a trap and she had to save the others. First, she walked up to Saira, the closest to her and turned her away from the bright light. "Saira, please, tell me that you don't really believe this! You have no idea who this creature is, and my gut is telling me that she isn't here to take us away from this godforsaken island. She isn't the first false hope, and she won't be the last. You have to fight it!"

She turned away from the Egyptian girl and towards Diana. She walked over to her, avoiding eye contact with the angel. "She's lying, Diana! She is a false prophet! This scripture is nothing but a false hope that this school can crush underneath its iron heel!" Tian spoke with a passion she did not know existed, forming deep inside of her. Tian looked pleadingly up at Mercy, almost begging her to understand what Tian had said.

Mercy had no idea what to say to Tian. She had been shocked into a state of bewliderment by the appearance of this angelic being. She had seen various monsters on the island, and had heard stories about countless others, but this odd being seemed different. There was a definite femininity to it's body and features that almost made it appear human, but then that illusion was offset by the glowing light and the wings.

The french girl opened her mouth to say something, but found that she was simply incapable of expressing any sentiment, her eyes staying on the angel before her. Mercy was not a religious girl, but even she was captured by the awe that Altima had instilled.

Lamely, all that she could squeak out in her confusion was "An Angel?"

((Le Bump))