Was working on another story this morning when I got the urge to edit this, so here we are with a new chapter! Sooner than I was expecting lol. Thank you to Guest and FireDragon1619 for reviewing! The answer to your question is in this chapter, Guest. I hope you're all doing well during quarantine! I'd like to think I'm doing pretty okay, between writing and sticking glitter on my face for fun XD Please let me know what you think of this chapter! Chapter song is "The Matriarch" by Unleash the Archers. If you're into power metal I recommend listening to the album this song is on, Apex- it's a great concept one.

I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.

"You're kidding," came Gingka's disbelieving response. "This is unreal."

"How could you keep something like this from us?" Chao Xin asked, hair falling into his eyes as he shook his head.

"It's not that we wanted to," Mei Mei defended, preparing to launch into the speech she and Madoka had constructed. They'd known the guys wouldn't take the news very well and had prepared for that inevitability. Then it clicked. "Wait- you believe us?"

"Do we even have a choice?" Chao Xin challenged. "I'd like to think you wouldn't make something like that up, but now that you've admitted to keeping things from us, I don't know who to trust. If Celestia is evil and what you're saying is true, there's nothing we can do to change that."

"It is true and you can trust us," Madoka cut in quickly. "Look, we've only recently started putting the pieces together ourselves. Up until now, all we've had are bits of information that didn't connect. Some of it still doesn't connect. You have to understand, we're taking a huge risk telling you or anyone else."

"You're saying you don't think we can keep a secret?" Gingka asked, looking a little crestfallen.

"No! We know you can keep a secret. The problem with this secret is speaking it, even in private like this, is dangerous. Celestia has eyes and ears all over the castle. No place is safe here."

"I still don't understand why you kept this from us," Chao Xin crossed his arms.

"The only ones we have seen definitely working with Celestia are wearing black robes with hoods and masks," Mei Mei reminded him. "We don't know who is under those masks. It could be anyone: teachers, people we don't know, or maybe she's even got some of our classmates in on it. There's no way to be sure unless we rip the mask off."

Mei Mei had to laugh inwardly at that. If she was close enough to one of them that ripping off the mask could even be an option, she felt like she'd already be done for.

"Except if we do that and they get away, it's still over. Celestia will know we're on to her," Madoka put in. "We'd have to… get rid of them or something so they couldn't tell anyone what we did and that would only make things worse."

"Celestia might already know you're on to her," Chao Xin said crossly. "After all, it sounds like she's the one who stole the book back from your dorm."

"Regardless, even if she does, this isn't something you go about telling other people lightly. What if we were wrong? We needed to be sure we had all the facts and were confident about it before telling people that our headmistress is a monster that wants to sacrifice us to the freaking stars," Madoka snapped back.

"We still don't fully understand that part," Mei Mei said softly, trying to keep the guys from getting any more agitated. "It's hard to tell other people when you can barely bring yourself to believe it. Obviously it seems to be what's sustaining her, but there's more to it. There has to be."

"Such as?" Gingka raised an eyebrow.

Madoka rolled her eyes. "According to that book, Celestia was being raised as a priestess. Something went wrong during a ceremony, and now she's an immortal being? Tell me that doesn't raise about two hundred questions in your mind. There's more to this than we're seeing, but we don't have the time or resources to get those answers."

"Why are you telling us this now?" Chao Xin asked, exasperated.

"We hoped you might have some insight about Celestia," Mei Mei explained. "We weren't expecting you to know the truth about her, but maybe you'd heard something or had a clue that could help us get away."

"Can't help you there," Gingka shrugged, pulling a cheeseburger out of his bag. The others stared at him. "What?"

Only Gingka could be so nonchalant at a time like this. Madoka resisted the growing desire to facepalm.

"Do you normally carry a second dinner in there?"

"Yup! And a midnight snack, too. They lock up the dining hall tight at night, so I have to make do. I tried sneaking back in there one time, but the door was closed. I heard voices inside, though so someone must've found a way in. I wish they'd told me how they did it."

Madoka and Mei Mei's eyes met each other's with interest. Gingka, with his constant hunger, may have provided them the information they desperately needed. Students may not have had access to the dining hall after hours, but there were others who most definitely would.

Madoka whipped out a notebook, excitedly asking Gingka what he remembered hearing, and what time he had tried to get into the room.

"It was a while ago," Gingka racked his brains. "I think it was before midnight, but I don't remember anything they said. I couldn't really hear anything from outside the door."

"Oh," Madoka deflated. "But that's okay! This might be our chance to get some answers. It had to be Celestia and her cronies in there. If we can get in there and overhear-"

"No way," Chao Xin cut her off. "That's way too dangerous. What if they catch you?"

"It's a chance we have to take. They might say something that could be the answer to us getting out of here!"

Chao Xin shook his head. "I'm not going. If you want to risk your own life, fine. I'll stay behind."

Madoka paused. "Okay. I'm not going to force anyone who doesn't want to go to do this, but we have to take this opportunity and investigate. I'm going. Is anyone else in?"

Gingka nodded enthusiastically. "A chance to get close to the food after hours? Of course I'm in!" His expression turned serious. "Besides, I'm not letting you go alone. You need backup."

Mei Mei was weighing her options when Madoka spoke her name. She tensed, still uncertain if she should go as backup for her friend. Staying behind was in her best interests, but if Madoka needed her Mei Mei wasn't about to abandon her, no matter how high the stakes were.

"It's settled. I want you and Chao Xin to stay here in the room; I'll leave you all my notes. Try to find out anything you can. See if there's something I missed. Gingka and I will get into the dining hall before they lock it up and wait to see if Celestia comes in."

Mei Mei was about to protest, to tell her friend it wasn't worth it after what had happened to her only hours ago in the morning, but Madoka's mind was already set. It was as though she'd forgotten about that near-death experience and was prepared to rush headlong into the next one. She had already pulled on her purple blazer and opened the door, beckoning to Gingka to come with her.

"Be safe," Mei Mei whispered as Gingka and Madoka disappeared from view. She hoped it wouldn't be the last time she would see them.

Mei Mei looked at the mess of papers covering Madoka's bed. Several notebooks were splayed open, others were lying upside down, and single pages had been ripped out of notebooks and even from a few books. Passages from the torn pages had been highlighted in vivid neons. Madoka's cosmology textbook in particular was excessively marked up, sticky notes of varying colors with short scribbles on them peeking out of it. Mei Mei had added her own star chart to the mess when they first started. It felt like years had passed since she'd found it in the tower instead of mere months.

She and Chao Xin had a lot of work ahead of them, but they also had plenty of time. Mei Mei's eyes flickered in the direction of the door. There was no way she was sleeping until she knew the other two returned safely. Until then, she'd do everything she could to unravel the mysteries of Starlight Academy.

Chao Xin frowned. "I really wish you could have told us everything from the start," he reiterated.

"Madoka was attacked this morning. She could have died up on that roof and we'd never have known," Mei Mei sighed, holding in a groan. "This whole situation is incredibly delicate. We truly thought what we were doing was best."

"You could have brought it up when we tried to escape."

Mei Mei shrugged. "Yeah, I guess we could have. There were so many other things to worry about, though. If we had gotten away, it wouldn't have mattered that you didn't know Celestia was involved. We would have been safe."

"You would have been comfortable lying to us like that?"

"Honestly, no, I wouldn't have. But Madoka and I both thought it would keep everyone safer. It's complicated."

"What, did you think we were involved? Madoka mentioned other students could be the ones in hoods."

"Of course not!" Mei Mei cried in shock, horrified the thought had ever crossed his mind. "No way. I swear, we never even considered that. We've barely even had time to think about who our enemies could really be with everything else, but never, ever did we think of you." She wondered if that was the actual source of what was bothering him when the truth finally came out, not that the girls didn't trust them, but that they thought the boys could be a threat. Both realities had to hurt and she hated that she'd been the one to put the thought in his head.

He tried to smile, but it came out forced and broken. Chao Xin picked up Madoka's cosmology book. "Fine. Where do we even start?"

Mei Mei grabbed one of her own notebooks and opened to a fresh page, clicking her pen. "We start by making our own notes and timeline we can understand. I don't have a clue how Madoka's organized any of this."

By the time they had a rough sketch of everything that had happened since the start of the school year, well over an hour had passed.

Mei Mei looked worriedly at the door. It was far too early for Madoka and Gingka to come back, but the stress was eating her alive. She couldn't help it. Losing anyone else would be unbearable with Hikaru and Sophie already long gone.

Our best friends are dead and there's nothing we can do…

Mei Mei wished they still had the book Madoka had swiped. It had really been a major help. She trusted Madoka's translation without question, but that didn't mean there weren't more answers waiting for them in it. Madoka had only gotten through individual parts and very few at that. She tried ignoring the thought that it could've contained the secret to escaping with their lives.

Mei Mei closed up one of Madoka's notebooks, looking for the next one. Judging by the content of them, she'd spent the last few weeks doing zero schoolwork, instead putting her effort into trying to resolve their current predicament.

Her own notebooks were full of half-written notes from class and mindless doodles, most of her time taken up by daydreaming about happier times more than anything else. Mei Mei grimaced. She had nothing useful to add.

Chao Xin kept editing the timeline they were constructing. He'd barely said a word since their mini-argument earlier. She felt awful, but wasn't sure how to say anything without potentially making things worse. There was no denying the silence was uncomfortable. She debated putting on soft music, although she didn't think it'd help.

Mei Mei decided to take a cue from him and keep digging.

Madoka and Gingka crouched in the kitchen, peering through a small opening in the door that led to the dining hall.

Their luck had held when they first made it down. The doors were closed, but fortunately unlocked. From there, it had been easy to get into the kitchen.

Gingka had immediately taken to raiding the kitchen the moment they chose it as a hiding place. There was a second exit inside primarily used by staff, which would provide them with another escape route if necessary. The last thing they needed to do was inadvertently trap themselves. Madoka was counting on not having to use it.

She would have chastised Gingka for snatching all the food, but she didn't have the energy. If it kept him occupied while they waited for Celestia to show up, she was willing to let him have his fun. Both of them needed a distraction. Gingka happily chowed down on an apple he'd taken from the fridge.

Madoka knew if they were caught, it was the end. She wasn't sure if she was prepared to face that reality quite yet, but it was a fact she had to accept. She'd gotten lucky once, but this time fighting back might not be an option.

They'd been in the room for a while, far longer than she'd expected to have to wait considering the time they'd come down, several hours past dinner already, but no one had shown up. She busied herself checking the time. If no one appeared by midnight, they would give it up and head back to the dorm. Getting back so late was pushing boundaries as it was. All the same, she refused to give up on this potential opportunity until she was absolutely certain nothing was going to happen.

Madoka stared up at the ceiling, counting specks in the dark gray stones. Only a few more hours separated her from her bed in the dorm. She blinked rapidly, trying to stay awake.

Even Gingka was beginning to tire of running around the kitchen. He joined Madoka on the floor with a yawn.

His hand found its way to hers, entwining their fingers. Madoka stared down at it, wondering what things could have been like for the two of them if everything hadn't gotten so wildly out of control.

At first, the noise was so quiet, she wasn't certain she heard anything at all. Then, a door suddenly creaked open.

Several of the hooded figures filed into the dining hall, forming an aisle as they stood across from each other. Madoka held her breath as she and Gingka peered out the window that normally students interacted with the kitchen workers through, getting a glimpse.

It was too big though, and too easy to be caught. Anyone could look over at any moment and see them. They ducked down. The large window was designed for passing food to trays; they needed to find something less obvious.

They crept over to the door they'd entered through, then pulled it open the slightest bit so they could hear and see, wishing the door wouldn't creak as they did so. Fortunately, the group seemed more concerned with what they were doing than any lurking spies.

Minutes passed before a few more of them entered the room, continuing to fall into position. Gingka looked at her with growing concern. There had to be almost ten of them in there now.

Madoka tightly gripped the first thing her free hand found- a fallen potato. Her nails dug into it, piercing the soft skin. She prayed they hadn't gotten in over their heads as more of Celestia's followers slipped quietly into the dining hall with barely a sound.

Finally, Celestia herself swept into the room wearing a long black and silver dress with crystals situated along the off-the-shoulder neckline, walking right down the center of the aisle into an ornate chair that had been placed at the end. Madoka recoiled at the beaming smile on her face, completely nauseated.

Gingka cracked the door open marginally more, earning a silent reprimand from Madoka, even if the act had improved their view.

"My friends, it is almost time. The comet of our goddess will be here by the winter solstice, as predicted centuries ago by the heavens. She has granted me boundless power as her priestess, and I aim to please her. On this night, we shall release the sacrifices that have been collected over many long years and shall once again grow young," Celestia stood up as she spoke, raising her arms upward. "The three special sacrifices have all been carefully hand-selected by myself and will greatly please our goddess."

Gingka and Madoka turned to face each other, both with mixed expressions of confusion and concern painted on.

Celestia commanded her audience. Each member stared at her with rapt attention, fully enamored. From where they watched, it was only possible to see the backs of the hoods as Celestia addressed them. Madoka was fairly confident she could have sneezed and no one would notice her, not that she was willing to try. She was almost tempted to open the door a bit more.

Celestia pressed on. "Our plan has been set. The rest of the necessary sacrifices will be gathered by the lake, as is called for in the sacred ritual. It will be no trouble to corral them there. Until then, we must wait.

"However, there is sadness wrapped into this coming blessed event. One of our own was found dead in the snow today, having fallen to their death from the top of my ancestral castle. I suspect a sacrifice was involved, yet no trace of a second body was found. We must keep our eyes open now more than ever. If that sacrifice still lives, we must silence them immediately, before it is too late. We have already caught several meddling; it should not come as a surprise that there may be more."

Madoka felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Her only solace was in knowing that Celestia didn't seem to know it had been her that was responsible.

She shifted to her knees, still holding Gingka's hand as it kept her tethered to reality.

Celestia started leading her followers in what Madoka could only assume was some kind of ancient prayer, proceeding with a ritual she performed so flawlessly one could easily believe she had spent hundreds of years perfecting it.

Three statues had been revealed from behind the table reserved for the teachers. The table had been pushed off to the side out of the way.

All three were of women. Two of the statues held stone plates, upon which Celestia lit two burning fires. Whatever burned must've had some sort of incense, because the scent carried all the way to the kitchen. The smell wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It reflected the ceremony itself, unsettling but paralyzing and impossible to pull away from. Items were placed at the feet of the two feminine statues as offerings by two of the people in hoods. The third statue, which was set slightly back from the others and was carved in a much more elaborate style could only be the goddess Celestia had been referring to.

The silver goddess statue had long curled hair and large, round eyes that stared into a vast emptiness no other could see. Shapes akin to stars appeared to have been carved into her hair. One arm was down while the other reached up open towards the sky. A small, empty altar with wavelike detailing on the sides was set just before the statue. Celestia looked at it reverently as she approached it.

Madoka pursed her lips. All this time the dining hall had been hiding a major secret. It was doubling as a temple, and if Madoka wasn't witnessing as Celestia led the others, she would never have known, let alone thought it possible.

Celestia began speaking in a language Madoka couldn't decipher, though she suspected it was likely the same one that the book had been written in. The language was similar to Latin, but differed enough that she wasn't confident what it was. Maybe it started as a dialect of Latin before breaking off and becoming its own linguistic entity until it was lost to time. Nonetheless, as Celestia spoke it with ease Madoka could still tell it was incredibly ancient.

Madoka turned away, unable to watch any further. Celestia's confident voice continued to fill the hall as she carried out the ritual or ceremony or whatever it was she was doing.

In truth, she was afraid of what she might see. They'd talked a lot about sacrifices, but Madoka didn't know the exact process. For all she knew, they were about to sacrifice someone right now, perhaps even on that tiny altar.

Madoka had heard enough. The sound of Celestia speaking was beginning to be too much to bear. They'd gotten what they had come for and more. She didn't dare stick around to find out what would happen next. They had to make their escape while they had the chance, before the ceremony was over and it was too late. Once the hooded figures were back out roaming the halls at night, safety was far from a guarantee.

Madoka looked over at Gingka. He was in a trance, fear capturing him as he watched the scene before him play out. Madoka touched his shoulder softly.

"We need to go." Her voice was nothing more than a fragile whisper. It was all she could manage.

Gingka nodded, shakily standing to his feet. The moment he was fully upright, Madoka noticed he looked significantly better, much less pale. She turned, only to bump right into a table, sending a large metal spoon that had been balancing precariously on the edge plummeting to the ground.

She could only watch in agonizing horror as Gingka desperately tried to grab for it with no luck, hands only brushing against the utensil.

A steely clang echoed across the floor, carrying out the open kitchen door into the dining hall.

Gingka jumped back, eyes wide, only to knock aside a knife block. The wooden object smacked to the floor with a bang, sending sharpened knives scattering in all directions in a metallic cacophony.

"What was that?" Celestia's harsh voice ripped through what had abruptly become an eerie silence.

Madoka and Gingka didn't waste any time. Racing towards the opposite exit, they tore the door open and fled into the darkness of the surrounding hall, not looking back once.

Madoka thanked whatever powers existed that Celestia and her gruesome creeps were all concentrated in the dining hall presumably headed for the now vacant kitchen rather than out patrolling the halls as they thundered through the corridors hastily making for the dorm at breakneck speed with no one to stop them.

Mei Mei stared at the sheet of paper before her in horror. She couldn't believe she had overlooked it before, but her distractions had been keeping her mind at bay for so long that she couldn't even see what was right in front of her.

Madoka had overheard that Celestia would be done with the school by the winter solstice; obviously, that had meant they'd be dead if they didn't get out in the next week.

Their combined astronomy/astrology class had announced they would be doing another outing soon. Mei Mei had figured it would give them the opportunity to compare the old star map again, if they hadn't escaped by that point, and barely gave the so-called field trip a second thought after that.

Now, feeling light-headed, she looked at the paper that outlined their assignment for their observation of the night sky.

The assignment was to take place near the lake, on the night of the winter solstice. She'd had the answer in front of her ever since the paper had been handed out, and when Madoka had learned about Celestia's plans involving solstice, they should have been able to instantly put it together. However, Mei Mei had been so distracted by everything that schoolwork had taken a total backseat and it'd resulted in her missing out on a huge clue. After being attacked, it was no wonder Madoka hadn't been focused enough to pick up on it either.

Celestia was planning on bringing all the students to that lake so she could finally seal their fates.

She stood up suddenly, blood rushing to her and making her feel woozy as she took a step forward. She tried to talk, but nothing came out. Her foot came in contact with a discarded book causing her to lose her balance, then slipping on pieces of paper that'd been carelessly tossed to the floor during their research. Black spots danced in her vision, and she was vaguely aware of Chao Xin calling out her name as he reached out to catch her before all went dark.