An Orchestra of Cicadas

It seemed on cue as D'angelo said that. Suddenly, from what seemed to be nowhere, a high-pitched sound screeched over the courtyard. It took Madison by surprise, and she thought she was imagining it, but it entered her head and seemed to rattle her brain. She held her head. "What is that?!" Other people were reacting the same. There was something being blared over the courtyard.

But just like that, it stopped.

"Sorry!" A voice called from the open window of a classroom looking out into the yard, "One of my students slipped up." As he said this, though, the ground became littered with dots, dots that ended up being thousands of tiny shadows. The cicadas had taken flight from the trees. They made clouds in the sky, above the crowd, and began to go haywire, divebombing and buzzing. "Ew!" One girl screamed and began running for the campus, and suddenly, there was a stampede. Madison felt herself get knocked to the floor by the rushing people. The hum of the insects and the screaming of the crowd made it too loud to hear.

The hell?

It was a rather empty and peaceful courtyard for the most part without a thing happening, save for students socializing and mingling to one another. She was even in a rather enjoyable conversation, or seemingly, and everything suddenly changed when there were screeches, blasting at a frequency she almost believed that humans couldn't hear. But when a teacher happened to shout out the window and confirm that it was just a mishap from a gift, Nicola let out a small sigh of relief. People were bound to mess up, and it didn't really seem to do much, from what she could see so far. As if the world wanted to prove her wrong, it turns out those stupid pesky insects had been disturbed from the noise and had decided to riot the school. Seriously? Fucking cicadas of all the bugs they could've been stuck with?

What was worse was that these thing could actually fly at a decent pace and chase them around. At first, she had opted to stand still, but when push came to shove, every other student seemed to be charging around and trying to get away from the mob. The cicadas were more likely to attack them if they kept trying to run off. Jeez, at least they weren't wasps or anything. Grabbing the brim of her hat, Nicola swatted a few a way that got anywhere close to her, and looked around. Hey, where'd Madison go? D'Angelo was tall enough that she could actually spot him, but the other girl was nowhere in sight. Too many people were around. "This was a great day to go outside," she muttered to herself.

A loud screeching sound rung throughout the courtyard. As if the cicadas didn't make an already annoying noise, now there was this. D'angelo covered his ears with his hands, trying to muffle the dreadful high pitch noise. It lasted a good few seconds. This irritated him. He let out a sigh  and was not going to let this get the best of him. Apparently it was some student that had lost a handle on his gift. He supposed that was something common in Beata. He turned back to the two girls and was about to say something until he noticed small black dots forming on the floor. That wasn't the only odd thing going on. The noise of the cicadas grew louder and sounded like it was headed toward them. He turned back around and saw a huge crowd of people rushing in his direction. Just behind them was a swarm of cicadas. "What the hell-" he was cut shortly as students rushed past him and bumped into him. Well this was turning into an interesting event.

The feeling of the cicadas flying past him was very unpleasant. One had decided to land on him as if it was a bird landing atop its perch. No it did not just do that. That was the last straw. He raised his hand slowly and plucked it like a snake grabbing its prey. Without hesitation he threw it randomly with great force. It smacked right into the side of some kid's head. He laughed a little at the sight of that. "Stupid bug." He looked back at Nicola who was swatting away some with her hat. He then looked over the where Madison was.... Or where she used to be. Where did she vanish to? He looked around at the stampede. Luckily he had the height advantage to see over everyone. Eyes scanning the crowd until he spotted some unlucky soul on the floor that looked like they had fallen during the commotion. Was that Madison? He took a closer look. Of course it was her. He teleported right in front of her, shoving people to the side so they wouldn't run over her. God they were like animals. Didn't even try to help her up. This made him even more irritated. He picked her up from the floor as if she was a rag doll and helped her walk back to where they originally were. "Are you alright?"  He asked Madison while swatting away the pesky bugs.

"Yeah!" She shouted over the crowd, getting to her feet as the people swarmed around her like the bugs. Ew, there were so many of them, their wings as loud as jets as they dived around. "We need to get inside." As she said that, though, the entrance to the dorms were crowded and slow moving, cluttered with screaming traffic. This had to happen on the busiest day in the Courtyard. She had to go out on the busiest day in the Courtyard.

It was so freaking crowded. Honestly, the people were more annoying than the bugs, which could at least provide some sort of shade for her albinism. The other students were just scrambling and bustling around like it was the fucking end of the world and meteors were shooting out of the skies instead of insects. Just screams and stupid, idiotic crap. Nicola had to wonder why she bothered trying to be friendly to some of these people when they weren't much better than five year-olds -- and this is coming from the fact that she spent most of her time at the school so far as a child.

Pushing and shoving her way through towards Madison and D'Angelo - who looked like the only people who had any sense in this entire group -, Nicola let out a small sigh of relief when she finally managed to make it through. Minus all the people who nearly trampled her and bashed her head a few times, she wasn't that bad. Honestly... I'd set demons on these guys if I could hurt other students. They were that fucking bad. It was just a bunch of cicadas for the most part.

"All the routes heading inside seem to be quite cramped and a jumbled up mess. I think we're stuck here for awhile."

Well what started off as a nice day turned to crap in just a few minutes. A horde of cicadas running rampant and a stampede of idiotic students. It was one of those days..  "Just imagine how they would react if you let the demons come out." He said while smacking away cicada after cicada. Glancing at where the dorms were. Watching as a crap load of students tried forcing their way in. Now they looked even more like wild animals. Pushing and shoving one another. They probably could have prevented that log jam if they had just went in an orderly fashion. But nah. "Yeah, we're better off here then trying to make our way through that mess." Why was everyone so startled by cicadas. They pose no threat whatsoever. D'angelo stood there scratching his head trying to figure a way to get inside. The noise of the swarm of bugs was annoying. A constant repetitive high pitch buzzing noise. "Well there is one way we can get inside or at least away from here." Of course! He could just use his gift. "I can teleport us out of here. If it's alright with you guys."

Teleport? The word made Madison nervous, she never expected to teleport before. She almost said no, but a cicada landed in her hair, causing her to frantically swipe at her head with a scream. "Yeah, yeah, teleport, teleport!" She agreed with rapid nods, eyes cast permanently and uncomfortably to the sky.

Teleporting always sounded enjoyable and fun, in Nicola's opinion. The ability to jump around everywhere, bouncing back and forth. Definitely fun. As more cicadas seemed to fly about, humming into her ears, she gave a small nod to D'Angelo, placing her cap comfortably back on the top of her head. She gave a thumbs-up signal, and replied, "Whenever you're ready then. The longer she had to stay outside and listen to students who seemed like mindless mobs of zombies trying to reach and grab some brains... or in this case, break the doors open.

Some people were just so goddamn stupid.

"Alright then. Let's get going." He stretched out his arms and let out a long deep breath. This should be a piece of cake. It was only two people he would have to teleport. Thinking of where he should teleport to. The dorms looked as if they would be packed. Not to mention that some cicadas had been let in there by the stupid crowd. The lounge seemed like the best option. A bit further from the dorms. He placed his right hand over Madison's shoulder and his left over Nicola's shoulder. "I should let you know what to expect since it's your first time. From what people have told me: you will see nothing but black for a few seconds. As well as not being able to hear or feel anything. Once we make it to wherever we are going, everything will come back to normal and you may feel a bit dizzy or lightheaded." that's typically what people would tell him. This only happened to first timers. Without any hesitation he blinked his eyes and they had disappeared.

Few Seconds later they would reappear at the lounge. He made sure they were both still there. Which they were. Piece of cake. The lounge had a few students in there. The smarter ones who had acted civilized and knew the best way to get in without letting some of the cicadas in. "Well, here we are. How are you two feeling?"

An astronaut had once visited Madison's elementary school, years ago, when she was small and wondrous and when she smiled a lot, before she had begun to hallucinate. She remembered the question well, from the boy a few seats down, who had raised his hand and hollered: "What's it like floating through space?"
The astronaut smiled and said, "What's it like to swim, young man?"

Madison felt that her experience with teleportation that day may have matched that of space. Before she knew it, she was weightless, her arms and legs practically drifting upwards. There was pressure, rising force along her body, and she closed her eyes against it, pursing her lips. There was sound; it was muffled and distorted, like she was at the bottom of a pool. As the pressure began to rise in the final second, her heart fluttered, but suddenly, it was almost as if she landed. Her feet slammed against the ground and she was somewhere new. She put a hand to her head, the ground a brief wave. "I'm a little dizzy...," she answered quietly, swaying a little, and she sat on a nearby seat. That was cool. She'd do it again.

Once D'Angelo placed his hand on her shoulder, Nicola took a deep breath, listening intently to his description for "first timers". He's done this with a person more than once? Okay, dizziness and possibly lightheadedness. Didn't sound so bad, but that was probably just scratching the surface. The actual experience was far more, for lack of better word, intense.

Within that short span of time that seemed to stretch for eternity, the laws of gravity and physics didn't apply. Nothing held her down to the ground in an almost free-fall state, and her ears felt were going to pop like fireworks from the sudden change in pressure. Nicola kept a hand on her cap, hoping that she could keep a good grip on it, and once they landed, it was like they were bricks that were thrown off the roof and crashed with a sickening thud.

Her vision was disoriented and black spots filled the corners. One hand reached towards the wall for support, and pulling the bill of her hat down, Nicola took a few deep breaths. Rubbing her temples, she blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the lighting. The lounge, huh?

"That was certainly enjoyable. I don't recommend you take our gifts for a spin."

He watched as the two girls stumbled around for a few seconds. The effects of being teleported for the first time were in full effect. That's another reason why he had chosen the lounge. If they felt dizzy or lightheaded, they would have the various seats or the couch to sit on. Also it was a cool and refreshing environment. "Yeah, the first few times are always rough. Eventually you won't feel any effects. It's a smoother process." He let out a yawn, stretching his arms up and then gently putting them down. If you listened closely enough you could hear a muffled buzzing noise. Who knows how long those cicadas would be out there. "Well I'd still like to see one of those demons, but now wouldn't be the time and place for that."

Seeing demons.
The room wasn't necessarily dark, the natural afternoon light filtering through the large windows coating the room comfortably. But the corners, the deepest reaches, festered with shadows. Madison looked too hard into them, but her head spun too much to stand back up. The situation was dire, though. She looked to the boy, who was fairly unaffected.
"D'angelo, can you...turn on the light...?" She swallowed hard. "There's a man in the corner over there. He's got a knife." The illusion danced like scribbles on paper, but did not move from its shadowy corner. He was waiting for the shadows to slowly claim the room.

Nicola wouldn't have minded summoning a demon or two here. She might've screwed up a few students and maybe traumatized someone, but hey. They're not all that had. Devin was an example of that... except during that frontier trip. Not fun at all. "Sure, I don't m---" she started, but was cut off when Madison spoke up. Oh, she didn't like being cut off, but... the light? Why would they need to turn it on? It was bright enough already.

It took her for a few moments but everything coalesced together, and she nodded. Walking over, her hand reached for the switch and flicking it on, the room was filled with white seeping throughout the room.

"The light?" D'angelo was taken back at her request. The lighting was good in the lounge. When she talked about the man in the corner, he remembered about what she had said about her gift. Just as he was about to go and turn it on, Nicola had already beaten him to it. The bright light illuminated the lounge. He looked back at the corner she was talking about. It was no longer dark. "That takes care of that, right?" he asked Madison. Eyes still looking at the corner. That could have taken a dark turn.