The Jornburg City Gym, as expected of a facility of its reputation, was decorated in the spirit of overwhelming excessiveness. Its outer walls were made of coarse, light stone and adorned with ornate carvings, depicting scenes from the Sawra region's legends. Two massive figures kept watch on both sides of the entrance, an Aggron and a Golurk, both holding ends of a chain that met just below the very roof, under a large, faceted jewel that turned the morning sunrays into blue reflections on the sand.

Inside, the entrance hall was just as grand. The glass door opened to a wide corridor lined with slender, stone columns and a floor covered with smooth, white stone. Protruding from the walls, there were long, narrow benches, occasionally divided with rectangular tables, each one housing a metal rack of flyers and a hidden registration screen. Further into the room, there was a tall, heavy desk made of polished sandstone and behind it, an orange-haired woman sat in an office chair, her chin rested on a fist and her blurry eyes fixed on the distant entrance. She was waiting.

She had taken her place behind the information desk an hour ago, after a furious argument in the social room had forced her to flee to the quiet entrance hall. Then she had listened to the shouting voices, carried on an echo between the stone walls until that too had become too much for her and she had resorted to cutting herself off from the world with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. After a few minutes, one of the doors had slammed and Catherine Skola had stormed out of the corridor, red-faced, distraught, and obviously in no state to hold a rational conversation. 'Piss off, Lydia' were the exact words she had used before grabbing her bag from the cloakroom, slamming the door and dashing out onto the street. Shortly after that, there had been a muffled thud of another door slamming somewhere in the building and the argument had been over.

Now, Lydia was staring blindly at the glass door, so deep in thought that she didn't even start when it slid open and Catherine walked back in, less flustered, but not really much calmer, gripping the strap of her bag tight in her hand.

'Lydia,' she said, quickly shooting a glance at the door leading to the social rooms. 'I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was angry and it wasn't your fault, please don't be mad at me.'

'I'm not.'

'If you meet Harry tomorrow, please tell him I didn't want to upset him either, I was just so done with all of this.'

'I will.'

'And um, we have a visitor. I, uh, told everyone I was gonna get her, but maybe you didn't catch it,' Catherine tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 'I'm sorry to spring it on you so suddenly, but, you know, something had to be done, it's getting really strange and, you know.'

'No problem. I figured you'd bring somebody with you.' Lydia brought up a menu on the screen in her desk. 'I'll get them a pass.'

'Thank you so much,' the girl exhaled in relief. 'She said she's gonna be right behind me, she had to drop something off at a letterbox somewhere along the way.'

'She?' Lydia looked up.

The door opened again and an extraordinarily tall, slender woman walked in, dressed in solid black. Only a pink pendant on her neck stood out against her skin beneath the unbuttoned dress shirt. She lifted her head and the shadow cast by her hat lifted as well, revealing the dark colour on her lips.

'Holy shit' Lydia said.

Lexia Green crossed the hall, hands hidden in the pockets of her leather jacket and stopped in front of the desk, towering above the petite Catherine. She tipped up her hat and looked down at Lydia with a small smile.

'Could I bother you for a visitor pass?'

Lydia blinked rapidly and nodded, tapping one last button on her screen, which resulted in a printer under the desk starting up with a whir. She slowly turned her eyes to Catherine.

'I underestimated you,' she said, with some difficulty.

The girl answered with a nervous smile and reached over the desk for the pass, which the printer had just spat out of an opening next to the screen.

'Thanks. I'll sign this.'

Lydia handed her the laminated piece of paper and a marker pen. She glanced at Lexia, who was patiently observing Catherine's fumbling with the clip on the back of the pass. If she had known just how angry the 'little new girl' had been just an hour ago, she wouldn't had even attempted to talk to her. She made a mental note of never again calling her any of the stingy pet names the others had come up with.

Little Catherine Skola was very serious about who she was.