Luciform

by TheRoseShadow21

This is a year that, for Kawaakari Academy, should be brighter than most. But the threads of change have been woven in the background for a long time, and the tapestry is almost complete. Here is the story of some of the students caught up in it, and how they face the resulting darkness. Fic combining various KACB entries. AU, rated M for difficult themes. Cross-posted to AO3.

17. 2-7

Trigger warnings apply to this. If you want to know the specific potential triggers, please scroll down to the author's note at the bottom.

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As they slowly made their way down the mountain, Cain wondered just how it was that someone like Ariadne had even managed to make this journey herself. Someone like her, pretty in a breathless, spun-sugar way…people like that weren't supposed to be able to scale mountains and stand up to fearsome deities. When people like that cried, it was supposed to be because they were hurt and they wanted to lick their wounds and give up. They were supposed to flutter and simper and never settle on any resolution. That's how they were supposed to be, how things were supposed to work. They certainly weren't supposed to be willing to sacrifice themselves no matter what, for people that they didn't love, but could have, clear-eyed about the risks but choosing that path anyway. They weren't supposed to be exactly what that girl had ended up being. Nothing was how he had understood it to be.

It was things like this that he thought about as the six of them descended down the mountain, and as he thought them, he was filled with rage. Not the incandescent, burning kind that had made him snatch Eve's gun away and resolve to keep on living, but a bewildered kind, sticky and pathetic, rendering him helpless. Beyond checking directions on the map and making sure they stayed together and uninjured, none of them spoke and this suited him just fine. Thanks to this strange rage, he wasn't sure he had anything he particularly wanted to say to them and he didn't want to hear what they had to say to him.

He could read it in their eyes, in the twist of Eve's mouth (he almost wished she'd kept her damn mask, now). Even in the sideways glances that Abel kept giving them. But at least none of them spoke, not even to complain about the strain of the descent, the way he would have expected Delilah and Eve to do in all their spoiled-child glory. It didn't help, but at least the silence kept things from becoming worse.

Maria led the way to a small ledge and crouched down to consider it before sitting down with her legs swinging over and then jumping down. Cain peered over and saw that she'd landed in a crouch and so as she got up and dusted her knees off he followed suit, as did the others. The drop was small, so none of them had problems. Well, almost none of them. Delilah, of course, would be the one to land unsteadily, letting out a shriek as she did so.

"Delilah!" Maria called out. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Delilah frowned, tentatively prodding her leg. "It doesn't hurt, but…"

Pulling a face, she yanked off her shoe and held it aloft. It took Cain more than a few seconds to work out that the heel of the shoe had broken off.

"Well, that's a problem. We don't have any spare shoes, do we?" Judas asked.

"Why would we? It's not like we planned to be mountaineering at any point." Eve snapped back.

"Look, we haven't stopped for a while anyway," Maria said. "Let's just sit down; drink something-it's fairly clear here. Then once we've got something in us we can carry on…"

"I….yes, sure. I'm actually hungry now." Delilah said, almost wonderingly.

"I am, too." Abel said.

"Cain, what about you?"

He simply shrugged, and Maria rolled her eyes at him before turning to Delilah, only to stare:

"Delilah, what are you doing?"

Delilah had pulled off her other shoe, and was now holding the broken shoe again, sawing at the part-broken heel with a knife. She stared at them all as if they were all particularly stupid, and the look made Cain want to find words to cut her back down to size. Or rather, just for something to make sense again.

"It's not like I'm going to be able to walk like this, am I?"

"B-but you like those shoes." Maria stammered.

"I know that! But when I get back, I can just get someone to fix them."

There was another long pause before Eve sighed and came to sit down next to Delilah, taking off her own boots and finding a knife of her own.

"Much as it pains me to do this, I think you're onto something."

With that, the rest of them sat down, Cain making a point of sitting a little further away from everyone. Maria handed out a few snacks and a couple pouches of some awful energy drink (not that Cain could be too precious about that-after all, suddenly remembering what it felt like to be hungry wasn't fun at all) and a few moments went by as they ate and drank quietly. And then:

"Do you think this map is even accurate?" Judas asked.

"Well, I mean, the girl was able to use it well enough." Eve said.

"Oh, I'm not doubting that," Judas replied. "Just that…this is Kouki-san. No matter how carefully she may have looked into it, how did this help?"

"Because she kept going."

They all gawped at Abel, who just stared back. After a few moments, Cain got frustrated and glowered at him:

"Care to elaborate any time soon?"

"I think what he means is that whatever more…tangible resources she used to get here, a lot of it was more her own determination than anything." Maria said.

"That's…" Judas frowned.

"There is a school of thought," Abel piped up. "That it is not quite accurate to call those without powers 'non-magical' as such."

"Oh?" Eve tilted her head, clearly interested.

"Oh yeah, I've heard that," Maria exclaimed. "It's the idea that because we're all descended from the humans that either the Goddess or the Lesser Gods created, we are by nature magic regardless of what power we have. But we were all created with different mixtures of ingredients so some get more magic in their veins through that ancestry, while others have little beyond their latent magic. Or the latent magic is all they have. Of course, that does not translate into abilities, and it is not always so straightforward within family bloodlines-the level of power fluctuates."

"That wouldn't really explain how she managed it though, right?" Judas pointed out.

"No, but I guess-"

"I'm sure that's all very interesting, but how does that help? All Ariadne used what 'latent magic' or whatever she may have had for is to get herself sealed away in a mountain shrine. It's still completely useless either way."

"Cain!" Delilah scolded.

"What?"

"Don't say it like that! It's…that was…that poor girl. Magic or no magic, that was brave of her to do."

"It was rather." Eve remarked. "I mean, I don't know whether that's courage or just a sign she's got rocks in her head but yeah. We can't deny that it benefitted us…but anyway, Cain, what the hell was that?"

"What was what?"

"Oh, don't act all cute! You know what I'm talking about-kissing her like that! There really is actually something wrong with you! I mean, would flirting like you usually do not be enough for you or something?"

"Yes, what was that about?" Maria wanted to know.

"Goddess, you're acting like there were tongues involved." He said, rolling his eyes.

Delilah coughed violently at this and then stared at him, bug-eyed. Now there was a look that was more in line with what usually made sense in the world. Not that it made being on the receiving end of such a look any less irritating.

"Cain! She's not one of your conquests!" Delilah eventually spluttered.

"That isn't the point." Judas said slowly. "That's just…not cool to do. And you know better. Or I thought you did. So why?"

Cain glared at them stonily. Asking why as if that was such an easy question to answer! How was he supposed to know that? Oh sure, he could list off so many reasons, a veritable essay of reasons. Goddess knew that this mountain trek had given him more than enough time to form the reasons into words inside his head. So many things he could tell them if he really wanted to:

He could say that it was because he needed to be sure that he would remember, and that more than that he wanted to be remembered and this ensured that both those things would happen. And there was no better way of being remembered than a last kiss.

He could say that he did think that she was pretty, though not in a special way, not more than any other person and so perhaps it was some attempt at charm. That even though his usual style was to flirt from a distance, circling but never touching, all of this had left him unsure of who he was anymore and so what did it matter if he did something different?

He could say it was because he'd wanted to snatch back just a little power, a little shine, because his shiny surfaces had all been scratched away and he knew to polish those scratches away would only erode him more. That she didn't have a single shiny surface on her but she still glowed brighter than he'd ever seen and it knocked him off what little platform he still had, because girls like that weren't supposed to be like her. Yet there she'd been, glowing brighter than anything and showing them the path to freedom.

He could have said that he'd started to think that if he hadn't kissed her, he would have cried instead and given those choices he knew which one was better. Because grand gestures deserved to be met in kind with other grand gestures.

All those things, he knew they were reasons. Any one of them he could lay out here and now for the five of them to pick over. He didn't care if they didn't understand, that wasn't his problem. But the problem was that he didn't understand why any of those things mattered enough to him that they had driven his actions. He could say that they were all his reasons, but he didn't understand why any of those things were his reasons.

He didn't understand any of it.

Aware that the other five had continued asking him variations of the same question during the time he'd taken to think about all this, he glared at them. That sticky, helpless rage still swirled and it threatened to drown him as he murmured:

"Shut up."

"Cain, you can't just-"

"Shut up. Shut up, I said."

This time he hissed the words, and Maria blinked, startled. The others also all looked a little shell-shocked, and then Eve laughed unkindly.

"Feeling a bit sorry for yourself, are we?"

Yes, I am actually.

"That's a bit rich of you, don't you think?" Eve went on. "As if somehow you're more a victim than we are?"

"Oh, as if you haven't been elevating yourself above us all this time as well?"

"You're right about that," Eve said, startling him. "The difference is that I'm now fully aware that I'm in the wrong and I'm not expecting forgiveness-yes, Del, I know you do but that's you and that's different. I'm saying that what happened, happened and I'm not expecting any sympathy for my role in it. I'm not sorry about it, but I don't think that I should just be given any more kindness on a plate, not after Del and Ariadne already gave us that much. "

Cain had nothing to say to that.

"I don't know about forgiveness either…" Maria said wistfully. "I mean, I can't forgive myself for what I've done. I'm sorry for that, by the way. To all of you. I'm sorry."

There was something so painfully searing about the way she looked at them that Cain had to look away. He heard Delilah, Judas and Abel readily accept the apology and only looked back when Maria started to speak again:

"But still, even with that, I'm not sure I can forgive any of you and I wouldn't expect you to either. As I said, I can't forgive myself. Yet at the same time…I want to think that I am more than the worst things I've ever done. And if that's true of me, then it has to be true of the rest of you, too. Right?"

"Aren't those two ideas the same thing?" Judas asked, brow furrowed.

"I don't think so…?" Maria frowned back, and then sighed. "They feel different to me."

"It's a step." Abel said. "A step worth taking towards whatever our lives look like from now."

Ah yes, life. Just how are we going to live now? Surviving is one thing, but what about this? Sensing Abel looking at him, Cain stared back and wondered what it was that Abel thought about all this. He seemed the type to be on board with forgiveness and all that, he had been that type of person back when they were children. But how could any of them possibly still be the people they were, with all their flaws out on display? With all the shine scratched away and nothing to hide behind anymore? He could not see how he was supposed to live like that.

He sensed Abel looking at him and glared back, knowing that whatever it was Abel was seeing, it was something he didn't want him seeing. He forgot sometimes that knowing someone since childhood worked both ways, even if that someone was usually as maddeningly oblivious as Abel generally was-when he wasn't being annoyingly profound, that was. He hated it. He hated it.

"Are we just going to sit here spilling our guts like we're some sort of support group, or are we actually going to get going now?" he asked, roughly.

Maria sighed at him and shook her head, as if he was a small child and he'd disappointed her in some way. It did nothing for the rage, but he held back on making any retort. Suddenly, he was too tired for all of this. He just wanted to get back to school, to his dorm room with the insipid, uninteresting roommate and just sleep and sleep and sleep.

"Yes, I suppose we should get going-are you two finished now?"

"Yup!"

It was Delilah who had spoken, but both she and Eve smiled at them. Eve's smile unsettled him until he realised it had the same easy openness that Delilah's did. If anything though, that somehow made it worse. Forget the world being turned on its head, it felt more like someone had spilled everything out on the floor, kicked it around, then buggered off and told him to do the tidying. He curled his lip in disgust and looked away as they gathered up their belongings and continued their journey. Eve and Delilah linking arms and leading the way this time around, their newly damaged shoes apparently somehow easier to walk in. Nobody attempted any other conversation, and soon Cain was able to concentrate fully on the trials of climbing down a mountain, tabling the rage for the time being.

Some time went by, the cloudy sky darkened and, assuming it was night, they found a cave in which to sleep. Not that Cain slept at all, instead sneaking out after a moment and going to sit with Abel (who always kept watch whenever they stopped to sleep). Abel thankfully chose to not exercise his newly-found chatty streak (well, chatty for Abel, anyway), recognising that Cain needed the silence. Knowing that Abel understood this too wasn't entirely comforting, but it was easier to take when the others were asleep and he just focused on attempting to see the stars. Of course, up here, seeing the stars was a failed endeavour, but nonetheless it was the only thing that held the rage at bay.

As time went on and they repeated the cycle of long stretches of times climbing, followed by short stretches to eat and drink and other bodily functions and then eventually time spent sleeping, there was an odd sense of comfort he was able to gain from that futile task. Even despite the lack of sleep, whenever they stopped for a night he much preferred to sit silently next to Abel and just stare at the sky. It was pointless, but sleep seemed even more pointless and so this was what he chose to do, night after night after night.

And then one day (if it was even day), when they started to feel weary and Eve decided that now it was their night time, they came to a clearing that had a few more straggly plants around than they'd seen for days, and there was someone there.

A boy with a muscular build like Judas's, deep purple hair in a thin ponytail like Cain's, carrying a brown backpack and a dusty, worn out green travelling cloak worn over clothes that looked equally as dirty. It made Cain realise that his own clothes must have been in a similarly pitiful state, but he wasn't sure if he cared. The boy appeared to be approaching the clearing from a different section of the mountain and when he spotted them he froze, staring like an owl in the daylight.

"Keep it," Maria said, a little roughly. "Ariadne-kouhai, is there anything we can do for you in exchange for this?"

"Howl. You have to find Howl on your way back. He came with me to try and help me, but he didn't give himself up so he shouldn't stay lost. I don't want him to be lost here forever, too. And he also has friends who love him so…"

"What does he look like?" Maria asked.

"He's kind of big, strong like you, Judas-sempai. And his hair is in a long, thin, low ponytail like yours, Cain-sempai. But it's purple, and shaggier. He's got a resting annoyed face, and he thinks that me and my friends are weird, but he's kind really. And he's got a brown backpack and a dark green travelling cloak and…he knows what you all look like, from me. So he'll recognise you. I…can I ask you for two more things?"

Eve stepped forward confidently, as if taking back her old role of leader, speaking for all of them:

"Are you Howl?"

"I am," the boy's voice said, deep and slightly gruff. "Are you…are you the Elite Chess Club?"

"Yes, we are." Eve said directly. "I take it you know who each of us are individually."

Howl studied all of them carefully for a moment, then looked behind and around them, though it was obvious what it was he was seeking. After a few moments, he started to frown:

"I do, yes. And that you're here…did Ariadne find you?"

Eve did not answer this time, and instead looked to the others with an oddly ravaged look. This one, Cain could read-it was a plea for one of them to step in with the right words. But there was yet another thing that had been lost when his life had been upended: all the words, the smooth, pretty, perfect words that he'd always been able to weave together for the right effect. He could speak, sure, but no longer could he charm. No longer did he have the exact thing needed to sway someone to his side. So he stared back at her, tilting his head slightly in a taunt: why are you asking me? Luckily for him though, Maria, in all her eagerness to be a helpful person, stepped forward.

"She did manage to find us, and in fact she asked us to find you…I really don't know how to break this to you but the spirit of the mountain…well, they may be the spirit of the mountain, or something else completely, but Oura-san demanded something in return for our freedom…"

"So, she's dead?" Howl asked.

"No, she is not. She is alive. But…she gave her freedom to us, and took our place."

Maria gulped visibly and gazed sadly at Howl, whose reaction was immediate. His face contorted in grief and he let out a wordless roar, turning and kicking a tree a few times in frustration before leaning against it, face obscured as his shoulders heaved and he breathed heavily. It was unclear whether he was actually sobbing or not, but when he did straighten and look at them, his eyes were ringed with red.

"I'm so sorry," Maria said. "She said….she said that she was sorry, too. Indeed, she asked us to look for you so that you'd get to get home safely too-"

"Don't, just don't."

Howl put a hand up to stop her, his face twisting with a whole flurry of emotions. Cain sincerely hoped that he was not going to start bawling or kicking trees again, but instead he turned and put down his things. Clearly, he too had been looking for a place to call it a night. The others warily began to follow suit, and then Howl said:

"You'd better be worth it."

And that was all he said after that, and none of them tried to push him to say more. They did not even try to explain everything that had happened, and Cain felt that sticky helplessness rise back up again, stronger than ever before. Not even when he took up his silent post next to Abel did it even slightly abate, as Howl also opted to not sleep and Cain could not help but stare at him and wonder at the new wound that was undoubtedly expanding inside of him with the truth they'd given him. And thinking of that, he could not imagine how things would ever become right for any of them.

But when he next looked up at the sky, he could actually see the stars.

…

Watching from the tree, Tricker watched as the girl with the blank face continued on her purposeful stride, then looked over to the other side, where Aeternum's trees were bordered by a different set of trees, as if once another forest had stood there. There, he saw someone he thought looked a lot like Julka heading in. This explained why Cookie had been standing by one of those different trees for about twenty minutes already, he supposed. Regardless of the reasons, both the girls completely oblivious to the impending danger coming from a different direction. And that third girl was danger, he was sure of it. He didn't know who she was, exactly, but knew that he'd seen her in the school before. There was something about her.

Of course, the fact that she was carrying a knife close to her side didn't exactly make her seem less dangerous. One didn't hold a knife the way this girl did if it was for protection, the way he and Sasi had their matching swords. No, the way she held it signalled much darker intentions.

He watched a few moments more, as the blank-faced girl travelled a circuitous route. She went far enough that she disappeared out of his line of sight before reappearing, having apparently circled back to follow Julka. The bespectacled girl, clearly all decked out for the festival, was oblivious as she kept trudging. The blank-faced girl kept going and then paused, looking up. Tricker flinched, but he realised quickly that he and Sasi's tree was out of her line of sight. However, he could still see that her eyes at changed colour. No longer were they the dark (possibly blue, possibly black) shade he'd noticed in other brief brushes in school corridors, but they were silver-blue.

Mourning silver-blue.

And even though he of all people knew that it was unfair to damn based on the colour of a body part, added with all the other things both named and un-named that he sensed about this girl, this felt like the final nail in the coffin. Whose, he didn't know, but someone's coffin for sure. He twisted around to look at Sasi, sitting in a branch just above him.

"Go that way," he murmured, pointing. "Get someone. Anyone."

"But-"

"We need help, but if we both go we won't be back quick enough to stop anything happening in the meantime. Go."

"I-"

"Go," he repeated. "And then come back for me."

In truth, what he wanted to say was go, go, go and don't come back. Just get help, then stay away. But she trusted him. To look out for her, yes, but also to respect the person she was. A person, and not some breakable object. Or any kind of object. She trusted him, and that was important to keep ahold of, even now. After all, that was what the aquamarine stone on the clasp of the cloak he'd gotten her stood for, what the beads at the end of his scarf stood for, what the swords they carried stood for. Trust, above all else. At least in the time that she was gone, he could try and assess the situation, even manage it. And then when she arrived back, there would be extra safety in numbers. It was the only reasonable compromise he could think of even if deep down he wanted her away from whatever was going to happen.

The way she looked at him, he knew that she had an idea of what he was thinking. So although she still didn't seem entirely happy with going, she nodded before shimmying down the tree and running in the direction of the festivities, the celebrations they were supposed to be attending with their own groups of friends. They had been on their way to do just that (even though they'd been taking a route that could only have been described as scenic) when they'd spotted Cookie and the other girl and sensed that something was going on.

Speaking of which…

Looking over, he could see that Julka had now finally approached Cookie, and the third girl was getting ever closer.

Then, he jumped out of the tree and began his own silent pursuit.

…

Julka could have been a better friend.

In the end, that was what so much of what had happened over the past year came down to. The fact that as a friend, she'd been found wanting. Not just to Lunar and Amuri, the most obvious victims of her failings but to Mist, too. Even though she had Mist's friendship once again, the fact that she had lost it at all was testament to the fact that she had not been good enough. Even if there was no way she could have prevented any of the past year and a bit from happening, the fact remained that as a friend she'd been found wanting. She was trying to change that though, she really was.

Which was why she wasn't best pleased that Cookie had decided to summon her out here out of the blue.

On a normal night this would have been an absolutely Goddess-awful time to attempt sneaking here, but with the festival on it was both easier and worse. She hadn't been planning on going to the festival at first, but once again she'd been found by Lidia and Starri and invited to join them. It was a little different this time, for although they were reaching out to her, she sensed that this time they needed her as much as they thought she needed them. Whether it was her, specifically, that they needed or the distraction, it didn't much matter to her. In a manner of speaking they were all friends too, and so she could try and be a better friend to them as well. Or she would have been if Cookie hadn't worn her down with her repeated insistence that they meet on their own, out of the way, because she apparently had something urgent to say that couldn't be said anywhere else in the school.

This part of the forest, it wasn't even technically Aeternum from what she knew. It was clusters of trees, sure, but it was basically the border of Aeternum (the plants were all different, though Julka couldn't have said how they were different) and apparently a different place as a result. But whether it was part of Aeternum or not, it was incredibly cold, and she grimaced, rubbing her arms and readjusting her shawl as she trudged on. Hopefully whatever it was that Cookie wanted to say wouldn't be too long, and then she could get back. It wasn't that much warmer by the river, but they'd be dancing, or huddled together, and it was miles better than a creepy isolated part of a forest. Julka sighed and kept going, looking around for the tell-tale flash of the red beret, and soon she found it and approached.

"It's me." She called out as she got closer and realised that Cookie was looking out in a different direction.

Cookie whipped around and Julka was taken aback by how terrible she looked. Julka had known that she was pulling all-nighters or close to it (they all were, despite only Robyn and Mist being on Night Patrol) but this wasn't tiredness. This was something beyond that, something that turned her hazy and blurry. Julka had to actually take off her glasses, wipe them on her shawl and then put them back on just to be sure it was not her own eyes playing up. But no, Cookie looked terrible.

"Hey," she started. "What did you call me out here for?"

"You're alone?"

"Y-yes? It's just me here, isn't it?"

"Nobody followed you?"

"No…why would anybody follow me?"

Julka looked at Cookie, really looked at her and took in her terrible state with a sinking feeling. Cookie's eyes were sunken and far too large for her head, the shadows beneath them a rainbow compromised entirely of purple shades. Her beret was askew and her hair messy. She clutched her pretty skirt tightly, fingers scrabbling against the fabric and she didn't immediately respond, biting her lip. Her shoulders were tense, far too tense and Julka realised that here was yet another someone she needed to be a better friend to. It didn't matter that Cookie wouldn't want to call what they had a friendship. She clearly needed it, and had needed it for a while.

"Cookie, I know."

Cookie stared almost vacantly. Julka could almost see through her throat. Why didn't I notice? Julka scolded herself. I should have noticed.

"Mist told me," she powered on. "What you asked Asuka and the others the other day, and that she thought you meant that you'd found out that you'd been a twin, but that you were the one chosen to keep. When did you find out?"

Cookie kept staring, but her shoulders shuddered slightly as she gave out a sigh. Her mouth twisted slightly, the way most people's did if they were about to cry. Except that Cookie was not one given to tears, not even when she'd been in kindergarten, and maybe even before that. And sure enough, despite the expression on her face, Cookie did not cry.

"I…I'm sorry, you know. I just…I can't imagine."

Before the scene in the canteen, Julka had to admit that she probably would not have understood why someone may have been hurt by such a revelation. She knew that the old practises of infanticide were barbaric and horrible, she'd never wish that, but adoption was humane and if the alternative was a repeat of the destruction and tragedy then surely it was the price to pay. At least this way, both children were able to live and be loved. That was what she'd thought, when she'd thought about it at all-and she hadn't that much.

But hearing Ruby and Aerin and Ani and Samu up on the table with all their other friends around them, using resonant storyteller voices to take lifetimes of hurt and turn them out into the audience, that had changed things. She'd started to see things differently. And as soon as Mist had told her what Cookie had said, and how she'd stumbled out of the meeting as though she'd been struck, Julka should have done something with that knowledge and understanding. She should have been a better friend and done something. But she hadn't, telling herself that this was Cookie, Cookie was irrepressible and they both had more pressing matters. Thoughtless, as she always had been.

But I'm here now. I'm here now, aren't I? Surely this, too, counts.

"I am sorry, Cookie."

She reached out to take Cookie's hands, flinched at how cold they were. Briefly, she attempted to rub them between hers, gratified when the motion sparked something in Cookie's eyes, provoked another twist of the mouth, this one faintly baffled. As an owl hooted overhead though, Julka remembered what it was they were there for and let go of Cookie's hands, stepping back.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Cookie's eyes flashed again, thankfully becoming more alert as they began to flit back and forth. She still looked incredibly haggard and sad-I swear, I'll look after you after this whether you like it or not-but now her fingers tapped against her skirt rather than grab at it and she started to look a little more like herself. More classically-restless-Cookie rather than spinning-out-of-orbit Cookie, though the line between the two was still clearly fragile.

"Something's wrong with her, Julks."

"With who?" Julka asked. "You're gonna have to be more specific."

"Isn't it obvious?" Cookie shot back. "Frost."

"Frost? Like, our Frost?"

"No, I mean the dozens of other Frosts we're both so well-acquainted with." Cookie rolled her eyes. "Yes, 'our' Frost."

Julka took a deep breath and reminded herself that it would not be fair to dismiss Cookie on the grounds of snarkiness, not without hearing the whole reason for her distrust. That, and surely it had to be a good sign if Cookie was being snarky. Right?

"Okay, but why?"

"Okay so first thing- when she first joined us, it wasn't even that known in the school that we were investigating. And now we've been finding out about the girls from other students, nothing about Frost has come up when we've talked about Mona. Nothing she told us about Mona is new or more complex, not compared to the bigger picture we've built around the others."

"That could be explained by the way Mona was more generally though. Even Frost is that sort of a person-you know that not all friendships climb to the level of love, or even anything that comes close to that. I just assumed that it was more of a working friendship."

"Yeah, you assumed." Cookie rolled her eyes again. "But okay, I'll sorta give you that one. But how she even managed to find out? At that time? Isn't that even a little suspicious?"

"You're suspicious of everyone."

And she always has been. Still, with parents like Carrick and Dorotea, I can't blame her, can I? Reminding herself that that side of things could and should wait, Julka made herself focus as Cookie snorted derisively.

"Okay. Fine. Maybe I'll give you that one too. Point still stands though."

"Was that it? Couldn't it have waited until after the festival?"

"Did you miss the part where I said first?"

Julka sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"What else is there…?"

Immediately, Cookie started to fidget uncomfortably, averting her gaze.

"Cookie?"

"Look, I…remember back when Lunar was first found, and you'd met Robyn properly and we all met while I was trying to divine from Milo? I cast Sense Emotion."

"You did what?"

"I know, I know-though I don't see what the big deal is when there are plenty of students whose magic enables them to automatically sense people's feelings anyway. But spare me the lecture for now, okay? I've been having suspicions-"

"Which you should've aired out in the open with us like you've literally been doing all the time, not cast spells on friends behind their backs! We're meant to be a team, and what's the point in that if you're just going to be sneaky-"

"Just listen, Julka!"

The crack in Cookie's voice had Julka step back, horrified. It sounded almost as pained as Cookie looked and she forced herself to take a breath and calm down before she snapped at her again. Cookie could be unpredictable and stubborn, utterly maddening and completely unrepentant about it, no patience for social norms whatsoever. But she didn't do things that were wrong for the sake of it, she didn't get anything near to this worked up without a good reason. It was possible that maybe the clouds were re-surging again, which may have explained the extreme state she was in, but regardless of that it meant that whatever was wrong, Cookie believed in it ardently and it had been weighing on her, hurting her. However annoyed Julka was by Cookie's decisions, she couldn't do anything that would make it worse, she just couldn't.

"Okay," Julka eventually murmured after taking another deep breath. "Okay, Cookie, I'm listening."

"So, when I cast it, there were the feelings you'd expect, right? Fear and worry and nerves, generally out of whack. Though Robyn had a little lovey-dovey fuzz to her since her plant boy had been hanging around."

Cookie paused to roll her eyes at that, and Julka internally smiled, glad that Cookie had enough in her to find herself annoyed at such a thing.

"Anyway," Cookie said. "The point is all of that, even the lovey-dovey nonsense, that was what you'd expect in the situation, but with Frost….she was calm, like completely calm. As if nothing was wrong-it was like I was staring at a brick wall."

"That's just how Frost is though, right?"

"There's a difference between being a calm person and having no feelings!" Cookie snapped. "It wasn't just calm-it was eerie calm. No feelings. Inhuman."

"I-inhuman?"

"Yeah, inhuman. I'll get to that. Anyway, I also cast a spell on Yew when I went to interview her with Mist and Frost-and guess what? She'd been enchanted, and something far beyond like, a calming spell or whatever. That, and she mentioned thinking that Lunar's cuts had been paper cuts. I don't think that's it though-I think they're cuts from thorns. Rose thorns. Blue rose thorns. And who amongst us is the one that uses blue roses specifically in their magic?"

Cookie paused only to catch breath, and then she charged on, eyeing Julka as if anticipating another objection:

"She's been loitering around and popping up in random places, even when I've been investigating other stuff like the Elite Chess Club, asking questions about my beliefs and taunting me-and no, it's not just the usual stupid-crap questions I get because people can't wrap their brains around the idea the Goddesses may not exist but that isn't the bloody point. Anyway, I have seen her hovering around the shed and greenhouse-there haven't been any reports of break-ins but I'm pretty sure she's tried to borrow some compost and stuff. And she was hanging around the offices just before that hullabaloo in the cafeteria. Admittedly, I have no idea why she would do that because just, why, but I'm pretty sure that she had a hand in the break-in in the school offices and the distribution of those girls' school records. And…."

Cookie paused. Her fingers stopped scrambling and returned to tightly clenching her skirt.

"And…"

Her breath hitched, and some of the haziness started to creep back in. Julka wondered if she should attempt to coax Cookie to the infirmary. Or at least as far as the festival, where others would surely notice her state and then do a better job of getting Cookie help. But then, the smaller girl let out another shaky breath and continued:

"There's…there's something else nobody else knows, and that's…that is…I know what happened to the five freshmen girls who went missing, and where four of them are."

"I…what's that got to do with Frost? And four of them? Not all five?"

Again, Cookie seemed to need to pause and take a breath before she went on, but just as she prepared to explain, a singing voice broke through the pause, the musical equivalent of sunlight poking through clouds.

"The dark will be meek,

for it is the light that they seek."

Julka stiffened, and then spun around, looking for where the voice could be coming from and finding nothing. Looking beyond the trees they were surrounded by, to where this stretch of land bordered Aeternum proper, it seemed as though the sound was mostly coming from somewhere in that direction. But beyond that…if she didn't know any better, then she'd assume that it was the forest itself singing. Both Aeternum and this one.

"As bright as the day,

deceived by the one I would never betray."

Orbs of light floated, casting new shadows against the trees, giving them sharper angles and making them seem dangerous, as if they were creatures coiled and ready to spring. The lights tangled within the branches, floating with a steady motion as though they were strung along an invisible thread. As they settled, Julka noticed the shadows from the tree branches flickering over Cookie while the lights gave parts of her an even unhealthier glow. The combination of the lights and shadows emphasised her hollowness, the rainbow of purple beneath her pained and haunted eyes. There was something perversely enchanting about it all, and Julka watched as the lights kept floating in, multiplying and getting brighter with every moment and making the darkness around them seem even darker.

"In the darkness,

where there is clarity."

A strange sensation started to rise in her chest, cloying, hot, squeezing her breath. Suddenly it felt as if her ribcage was on fire, even as she continued to shiver. Feelings simmered at the center of the heat-fear and anger, resentment and above all the very specific pain of betrayal. Not her feelings, though, but somebody else's feelings. And as the orbs started to brighten, she realised that there was something about the singing voice, something familiar. Who is it, that voice? I know it. I'm sure I know it-

"I ascend with the moon and stars behind me.

Waiting patiently for the end of this blasphemy."

She heard Cookie's breath hitch and saw that the smaller girl's shoulders had tightened, that see-through, seeing-nothing gaze staring right through the lights, impervious to how blinding-bright they had become, swaying slightly. At the sight, a sharp slash of Julka's own anger cut through the other person's emotions that still bubbled and burned within her. Whoever the owner of the voice was, whether Julka knew them or not, didn't they know? Didn't they know that Cookie was having her own feelings to deal with, that she was teetering at the edge of them? She didn't need to have other people's pain piled on top of that, didn't they know? How dare they?

"Okay, that's enough, come on-"

It all happened at once. Julka reached out to grab Cookie's wrist, beginning to drag her away, not knowing if Cookie protested but not caring-enough was enough, if she wanted to be a better friend then she had to start by getting her out of there. But the orbs of light pulsed, becoming brighter, their whiteness the same shade as Cookie's skin. Her head began to spin even as the answer to the question of who this was slipped in quietly amongst the chaos in her mind and then, a different voice. Deeper, different:

"Sleep, now."

A curtain, pulled around it all. She was out before she even hit the ground.

…

One minute, Robyn had been going with Yara to get some snacks and meeting Will on the way and the next, Sasi had hurtled out of nowhere, words clattering out of her, abrupt and harsh but desperate, streams of words, something about Tricker and an expressionless girl and suspicions and danger, and Julka and Cookie too, none of it making sense but all of it so very, very desperate. And whatever it was about, Sasi was not taking no for an answer. So Robyn, Will and Yara had had no choice but to follow, with Ruby and Aerin being swept along and soon they'd been running along the riverbank, away from the cheerful buzz of the festival, heading towards a cluster of trees near to Aeternum . The remains of a different forest, if Robyn remembered correctly. As they charged through the trees, white light orbs flew out of trees and disappeared like angry birds who had been disturbed in rest.

As they got closer, they heard threads of conversation. Both of the voices were low in volume, with one level and taunting while the other was angry and spiky. Cookie and Frost, Robyn realised immediately. The wind whistled slightly, distorting the shapes of the sounds so that the words could not be heard, but as they went forward a few bits and pieces stood out, stark against the whistling.

"-darkness will-"

"-who are you working-"

"-none of your concern-no use-send-spiralling-in on it-"

"So what, then?-"

"—commend you-peace of-"

"-ending the world."

"-not ending it. Rebirthing-"

"You'll-we'll stop you."

"No, you won't. We can't-for what it's worth-"

And then, abruptly, a scream and then a rustling, the sound of someone being knocked into the ground.

Barely pausing to give each other looks of horror, the group arrived at the source of the sound just in time to see Tricker with a sword out, attempting to get at Frost, who was holding him at bay with a short, unassuming looking knife. She feinted and dodged each strike with a surprising level of expertise, looking utterly unruffled, but what was more horrifying than that was the blood that already soaked the blade. The source of the blood laid a short distance away-Cookie, lying on the ground, wounded in the chest. Nearby, Julka also lay on the ground, hair escaping from her plait and glasses askew, but she didn't seem to have been wounded.

Robyn couldn't believe her eyes. For a moment, she couldn't move, could only watch as Sasi rushed to presumably aid Tricker, while Aerin strode over and dropped to her knees by Julka's side, checking her for signs of life:

"Julka's alive! She's breathing!"

This was enough to shake Robyn out of her state and she immediately went to kneel by Cookie, firstly laying her out so she was no longer so uncomfortably sprawled out. Lacking scissors to cut away her clothes, Robyn simply hooked her fingers in the small hole that Frost's knife had created and ripped to give her better access. She sincerely hoped that Cookie hadn't liked this dress, but suspected that if all turned out well she wouldn't mind it so much. She concentrated and let the magic flow to her fingertips as she attempted to stop the bleeding and inspect the wound. The best she could tell after a few moments was that the knife had not struck deep enough to hit anything vital, but enough to cause significant bleeding, particularly as it had been pulled out without any care. If they'd gotten there later, it would have been fatal but since she was here, Cookie had a real chance of surviving, if she could heal the wound.

Okay, so stop the bleeding, then pull the wound back together…but first…

Keeping the magic in one hand over the wound, focusing on slowing the bleeding, she dug in her belt pouch for one of her vials of vetiver. Cookie may not have been conscious enough to communicate in any way but she was still breathing and there was some indication she was aware enough for distress to display itself on her face. Haphazardly, Robyn spilled the oil onto Cookie's forehead, then rubbed it in gently, scooping up a few smears for her eyelids too.

"It's okay, Cookie. You'll be alright, okay? Don't worry, I'll be doing my best and you'll be alright…" she murmured, trying to not let the panic drift into her voice.

When she was done, she returned her focus to the bleeding. Although she was no hemomancy specialist like Yoyo, she knew enough of slowing blood flow that the process was automatic, and she was able to look up to see what was happening.

Tricker and Sasi stood next to each other, each holding a sword in front of them, facing down Frost who was staring at them almost disinterestedly but clearly comfortable in a defensive stance that indicated she knew how to fight-a surprise to Robyn, since she'd heard that combat wasn't one of Frost's stronger subjects. Clearly if she's just attempted to murder Cookie that has to be a lie. Ruby and Aerin stood either side of Frost, with Will and Yara just slightly behind them, creating an almost part-circle around her with Tricker and Sasi and they had their claws out. They all already looked a bit scuffed, breathing heavily as if they were all recovering and considering their next moves. It seemed like that once they got going, it should be an easy fight-two students skilled in combat, two more who were known for their poised and fearless fearsomeness, Will and Yara as backup. Frost wouldn't stand a chance, they'd surely be able to subdue her and then get adult help. Yet she also knew that when things got going, it was possible that it wouldn't really turn out like that for one very good reason.

"Be careful!" she called out. "She's an enchanter."

Frost turned abruptly and Robyn froze in fear. She realised that Frost's eyes had changed colour, from their usual dark shade to silvery-blue, complimenting her pale hair. She looked almost like an embodiment of light, but for the first time such an association seemed a terrifying thing.

"Please, I'm just…I'm not going to challenge you. I just want to save Cookie!"

Even as she said it, Robyn didn't think that the plea would do very much at all. But to her surprise, Frost's usual expressionlessness shifted as her mouth stretched into a smile. Oh wow, Cookie's voice echoed unexpectedly in her head (because her sarcasm really was contagious), so you do actually know how emotions work? But even with that thought, Robyn was still petrified.

"A noble endeavour. Luckily, not one that poses much threat to me…"

"What's that meant to mean?" Sasi demanded.

"Well, it depends on how much you all know and have heard, too. Dear departed Cookie knew far too much, and therefore was a threat. Julka and Robyn may have been working with her, but they do not have the same unique mind that Cookie did, and so they do not know nearly as much. They are not threats. And despite you crashing in here so valiantly to save the day, I doubt you can really be threats-"

Frost cut herself off abruptly and turned to stare at Aerin, who had very deliberately and carefully reached out and scratched Frost's face with one of her vividly-painted claws.

"How's that for a threat?" she asked, fangs glistening.

Frost blinked, face blank again as she carefully reached to touch the scratch and the other three took this as an opportunity to jump in and ambush Frost.

"Will, Yara," Ruby yelled above the noise of the resulting brawl. "Go and keep guard over Julka and Robyn!"

Robyn gave Yara a quick, reassuring smile as she came to crouch down nearby her. Judging that Cookie's wound's bleeding had slowed, she began the process of trying to heal the wound itself and thus only half paid attention to the brawl. She let the deep-grey mists of magic swirl around her hand and she pressed them over the wound, concentrating, imagining the muscles and the tissues and connecting veins all weaving and connecting back together, willing tendrils of the magic to push them back to each other, to seal the ends. It was so easy to imagine, a procedure she had done before. On smaller, less potentially-fatal wounds, sure, but she had done it over and over. It was not a difficult feat to generalise the spell on a larger scale, and after a few moments of effort she should have seen progress.

But she did not.

Whatever she did, nothing moved together as it should have. It would only inch forward a little, then actively resist the push to go closer. Indeed, when Robyn upped the amount of magic flowing, the wound seemed to actively push back at that instead, straining in the efforts to resist, but resisting nonetheless. She kept trying and trying, but nothing happened and eventually, the wound started to bleed again. No, oh no, no, no, Robyn thought as she attempted to stem the flow once again, still also trying to knot the wound together. From time to time, she looked at Cookie's face, noting that she was still unconscious and still bleeding, but rapidly losing her colour-which was saying something, considering how pale she'd been in recent weeks.

Goddess, she's so still. Robyn couldn't reconcile this prone form with the Cookie she had come to know. The Cookie whose fingers always scrabbled and fiddled and twisted, who dashed pell-mell around the school, spinning around and scooping up the cat and poking at things in annoyance. The Cookie whose facial expressions were always so expressive, whose eyes were constantly dancing, flashing, lighting up. That whip-smart wit and tongue. Cookie was meant to be as vivid as life itself, Robyn couldn't bear to see her so still. Please, please, let me heal her.

Managing to get the bleeding under control once again, Robyn took the risk of deciding to draw back and try and find something in her belt pouch that could supplement her efforts-she'd taken to carrying around a smaller version of a first-aid kit with bandages, potions and other such items. As she did so, she caught the smell of fennel and sage, and looked over to see that Yara was quietly scattering seeds, each one hitting the soil with a pinprick-sized purple glow and growing into a small plant, creating a small carpet of sage and fennel around them. Seeming to sense she was stared at, Yara looked over her shoulder.

"It's the first time I've tried this." Yara whispered. "It should help them-enchanters are vulnerable to fennel and sage, right?"

"Yes, that's right. That was a good idea."

Robyn's eyes flickered towards the fight briefly, and kept doing so as she dug out a small healing poultice and some un-mixed dried plants, and began to use those on the wound before resuming another attempt at healing magic. She couldn't tell how it was going, not exactly, but it did seem like Frost was starting to grow weary, or at least wary. There was something in the way she seemed to be trying to avoid their blows and stay far away rather than inflict any herself, despite the knife she still had clutched tightly in her hands. A few time Frost did attempt to slash them with the weapon (why only slash, Robyn wondered when she realised it was indeed that motion rather than simply stabbing) but all four fended off the blows, Tricker in particular at an advantage because of his arms-he didn't have to worry about injury there and could be bolder in his defense. Or at least, that was what Robyn managed to glean from her repeated glances.

More attempts to heal the wound followed, some headway made with the bleeding only for the wound to resist being put together, even with the aid of herbs and bandages. No matter what she did with what she had, it didn't help, even though the wound was practically textbook. Over and over, she'd get somewhere only for something about the wound to push back against her magic. It was almost as if there was some kind of magic in the wound itself, working against her. She'd never heard of anything like that though. Magic to make wound more severe, for a weapon to drive deeper, to allow poison to spread, all those things she had heard of and knew what to look for, but she didn't see any of those things.

Frustrated, she decided to attempt to give Cookie some pain relief, since she couldn't tell how long it had been. She could smell the vetiver, still, but didn't know if it was still working. She knew that Cookie would be feeling it though, the repeated knotting and unknotting.

"You'll be alright, Cookie. This is just a little different than I was expecting, that's all, but you'll be fine, okay? Hang on for me, okay? Then you can chew Frost out later-I feel like you'd like to do that, right? Scold her properly? But to do that you have to hang on, okay. Just hang on, it will be alright."

Robyn kept rambling as she continued trying things, trying and failing and trying and failing over and over until all of a sudden, she heard a loud clatter and a gasp and looked up to see Frost stumble back and stare at her empty hand, her eyes turning back to their normal colour as she wildly looked around. Ruby took advantage of Frost's surprise to grab her arms and pull them back behind her while Tricker watched warily and Sasi knelt down amongst the bushes and the newly sprung sage and fennel plants to try and find the knife, sending a few light orbs floating ahead of her to try and aid the search. Frost struggled for a moment, and then paused, head hanging down and her hair obscuring her face, breathing heavily as if exhausted.

"Aerin, come and help me a moment, I'm going to try and-"

Ruby was cut off with a shriek as abruptly, everything went dark. A thick, heavy darkness, it swallowed Sasi's light orbs with it and she swore loudly, before saying:

"I can't make any light!"

"One of you guys sitting there, you try!" Aerin commanded. "And everyone stay where you are-"

"I can't do it, either." Will's voice called out. "Everyone, stay still-"

"I can't get light either, what is-"

"No, don't you dare don't you dare-oh crap, crap!"

"Ruby, are you alright?" Aerin called out.

"Yeah, she slipped away, crap I…"

"Stop yelling," Sasi clicked her tongue irritably. "Then we can listen."

They all immediately fell silent, straining their ears. Robyn kept her hands over Cookie, not daring to do anything else when she couldn't see. Even when she breathed, she could taste the darkness, soft and squidgy but choking too, so she held her breath. The seconds ticked by and then suddenly, a rustling as three sets of footsteps clomped towards them. Robyn heard a couple of the others grab up weapons, as well as some other thuds and the sounds of heavy breathing.

"Ariadne?" a voice called out after a few moments.

"Oh crap, what the hell are they doing here?" Aerin whispered before yelling. "No, she isn't here, so go away!"

"B-but…."

"Char-kouhai, get back, it's dangerous!" Will called out. "You and whoever's with you, you need to turn back and go right now and you need to get help. Get a professor, faculty, anyone!"

"Why are you guys in darkness though?" Sera's voice called out. "I…do you need light?"

"We can't make it ourselves, the darkness is preventing it," Will said, sounding impressively calm. "Please, just go and get us help."

"Wait, we can do it!" came a voice that sounded like Wendy's.

Sure enough, three blobs of light-one slightly green, another peach-coloured and the other neon yellow started to appear at the edge of darkness, illuminating Char's, Wendy's and Sera's baffled faces as they concentrated hard. The blobs of light wavered and travelled forward, getting slightly larger and splitting off as the girls tried their hardest to make more and direct them to different places as they saw each face. And to their credit, despite their eyes widening and the danger of the situation clearly dawning on them the girls huddled closer together, taking a step back but still working hard to maintain the lights using the little power that they had. Robyn smiled at them too in encouragement, and Sera directed some green light to her, making it hover over Cookie.

"Can you get it a little lower down?" Robyn asked. "So I can see her wound a little better?"

"I…yeah, I can…what's...I mean…what's-"

Char's stammering was cut off as an unholy, blood-curdling scream rose up. Robyn gasped and turned around to see that Sasi was lunging manically at Frost, who stood there deadly calm, only side-stepping the strikes without faltering, seeming utterly bored as Sasi worked herself up into a frenzy, the emotions on her face more pronounced as the orbs floated unsteadily around her, illuminating some of her surroundings and casting darker shadows elsewhere. What is this darkness, it's…it's like a fog? Blinking and foolishly hoping that would help, as Wendy, Char and Sera strained to send another few orbs in that direction, Robyn saw Frost's festival clothes were drenched with more blood than they had been before the darkness had fallen.

More drenched with blood…and her reaction like that…oh no.

"Robyn, look." Yara whispered.

The realisation hit her as suddenly and horrified, Robyn looked wildly around to see that Tricker was sitting slumped by a tree, hands pressing against a wound that seemed longer and possibly deeper than the one that had been inflicted on Cookie. She wouldn't be able to tell unless she went over and examined it herself-and she had to do that. But she couldn't leave Cookie either, for her wound was still resisting any attempts to fully healing, though her repeated attempts had finally had some longer-lasting effects.

"Yara, do you think you can help me carry her over?" Robyn murmured.

"I…I think so?"

"Okay, then, carry her over to me? Carefully, though-don't jolt her."

Yara nodded, and Robyn left them to rush over to Tricker, attempting to create light herself but still unable to in the foggy darkness. The light orbs that the three non-magical girls were offering up were wavering, and she didn't know how long they'd last. So I need to be quick, make the most of it.

"Let me have a look…can you lie down?" she asked.

Tricker stared at her, for a moment not seeming to understand but then he nodded and attempted to lie down. He winced, and had to stop to cough, the motion bringing up more blood, but then eventually he managed it. His eyes remained on her, and she tried to keep calm, act as if this was just another situation in the infirmary where she had to be reassuring and comforting.

But Goddess, it's worse than it looks, isn't it?

"It's alright…" she murmured. "It's alright, hold on."

As she had with Cookie, the first thing she did was find something for the pain, administered that. Then, with what little light there was, she examined him and realised that there were other injuries surrounding the smaller ones. Some were just scratches, scuffs and bruises but others seemed like they had been actual blows.

What happened? Could it have been before those three got here? It had to have been, but we would have heard something, surely…?

Robyn realised she needed bandages, and clumsily tried to tear the trailing sleeves of her festival dress, bringing her wrist up to her mouth so she could tear it off with her teeth, but the material was thick and she was using her other hand to focus magic over Cookie's wounds. She struggled for a few moments longer, then suddenly something white floated in her direction. Yara caught it and started to rip it into strips, and Robyn looked up briefly to see that Will was buttoning up his jacket, but no longer had his shirt on.

"Here, I'll help."

Yara started to take the strips and bandage the smaller injuries, and Robyn concentrated on using magic on the much, much larger injury. This time, she didn't even look over to see how Ruby and Aerin and Sasi were managing, instead focussing fully on attempting to heal two different injuries at the same time. But in the same way that Cookie's injury resisted full healing, so too did this large injury, and she noticed that some of the smaller wounds had bled through the shirt bandages Yara had been trying to tie around them.

"There's something wrong," Yara said. "They just keep going-the bleeding, I mean."

"I…you know what mixtures to get from my pack, yes? Can you try those?"

"I already took them…but it's not…"

Robyn hadn't even noticed the smells, let alone that Yara had taken anything from her but now that it had been mentioned, she saw and smelt them, and her gaze flicked up to meet Yara's gaze, wide-eyed and horrified.

"And there's something about the fight, too…" she said. "I'm not sure my seed packet is working, and I've not got enough."

"It's possible that she's strong enough that the effect isn't as bad for her, but it will be having some effect, which is why she hasn't managed to hurt the other three yet, I'd assume. Just…can you make sure Cookie is comfortable, as much as we can make her?"

She was starting to fear that was all that she could do, because Cookie was somehow stiller than she had been at the start, which should have been impossible. She was not dead, Robyn would sense it beyond a doubt if she was dead but she was getting there. She could feel how her efforts would pull Cookie back a little closer to life, only for whatever it was about the wound that resisted healing to drag her away again. The same was happening with Tricker, too, except that he was consciously attempting to resist, his eyes fluttering but still staring at her.

"It's going to be alright. You're going to be alright." She murmured to him. "I'm doing what I can."

His mouth opened slightly.

"No, no, don't talk. Keep your energy."

Robyn started to feel as if she shouldn't talk either, as if her energy was flowing out along with the magic, tiring her, making her hands shake. But she used all the effort she had to keep it going, keep over the wounds, attempting to slowly, slowly knot things back together. Tricker's eyes paused their fluttering for a moment, narrowed as they stared at her.

"Keep fighting it, okay? Just hang on, I'm sure you'll be fine."

Tricker attempted to speak again, and coughed, face creasing. His eyes flittered away from her, searching, and then she realised.

"Oh. Oh, is it Sasi-sempai you're wanting?"

Tricker looked at her, holding her gaze for a moment before his eyelids fluttered again and the wound once again began to resist her efforts. Come on, come on. Footsteps came towards her, and she heard Sasi kneel beside her. Robyn didn't question how it was that she had heard, just glad that she had.

"Talk to him for me," Robyn murmured. "Keep him calm. Yara, do the same for Cookie."

Sasi leaned over Tricker, stroking his hair and murmuring words that made Robyn's heart ache. These were not words she should have ever been privy to, not such tender, personal words and she tried to block out the content. On her other side, Yara was dutifully prattling on about her hedgehog, which would have made Robyn smile if not for the situation. But with those two there, attempting to keep both Cookie and Tricker in the here-and-now, Robyn could conserve what little energy that she had and focus it fully on the two of them. Give them all she had.

Please, she prayed, please, please let something work. Come on, come on. It all seemed to swirl and spin around her-Sasi's murmuring, Yara's babbling, the battle beyond her, the wind, the fear. Her chest hurt, her tongue was dry, her head pounded. And still she kept going, and kept trying, but nothing changed. Every time she thought she'd managed to help one of them, the wound resisted the efforts, the bleeding would start again.

And the darkness was still there.

Until suddenly, it wasn't.

Startled, she looked up and noticed that the dark fog was starting to condense into clouds, that the sights of the forest were becoming clearer, while the light orbs were starting to fade.

"Grab the knife, grab the knife-no, not by the blade!" Aerin yelled.

The sound of metal hitting metal, and then something clattering. She heard footsteps rushing to try and grab it and then another cry of surprise. Robyn looked over her shoulder briefly to see that Frost's knife was floating in the air. The girl was staring at it even as she struggled in Ruby's grip, but her eyes were midnight blue once again, so it didn't seem like she was the one making it float. Aerin didn't seem to think so, slapping Frost around the face and making her turn her head away before realising the knife was still floating. Aerin gritted her teeth and went to grab the knife, only for what was unmistakably a small containment barrier- a silvery orb-formed around the knife and it continued floating.

"W-what the…."

They all stared as the knife continued to float towards a particularly dense knot of trees and a figure stepped out, hand out-stretched. The figure's hand came to rest over the orb, patting it lightly as they considered it.

"Ahhh, so you have access to that kind of power now, do you?" Headmistress Hades asked as she stepped fully out of the shadows, hand still hovering over the knife in the orb.

Frost stilled for a moment and gazed at the Headmistress, who stared right back. Her hand tapped the orb, and just like that it and the knife within it disappeared. Frost's mouth opened slightly and her flashed-mourning-midnight-mourning before they settled back into their normal colour and her usual blank expression returned.

"I am surprised you have chosen to come here." Frost said.

She said it so calmly, as if she wasn't drenched in two people's blood, as if she wasn't bruised and battered and being restrained, as if a single bright scratch had not been slashed across her cheek.

"What is it you think you are doing?" Headmistress Hades intoned. "And who are you doing it with?"

"You would like to know that, wouldn't you? Because you think you can still control this. Still conceal the truth."

"You do not know what it is you talk of."

"I would not be so sure of this."

This, too, was said calmly, as if she was commenting on something as mundane as the cafeteria's menu. Robyn shivered, then realised her magic had lapsed slightly and turned back to focus. Yara and Sasi still talked, but even though Yara was still somehow able to find new things to say, Sasi had started to falter. Her hand had stilled in Tricker's hair and there was a new horror in her eyes.

"It…it applies to you, too, doesn't it? The so-called omen….? It…."

Tricker's eyes were still part-open, but vacant with it. Still, they looked at Sasi and Robyn could feel it, the feeling she didn't want to feel from either of them. He was fading, slipping away.

"This is….this…"

Sasi gulped, and then something hardened in her expression. She leaned in closer, murmured something like it's okay, rest now and then straightened and looked right at Robyn.

"He's not going to make it."

Yara abruptly stopped prattling, and Robyn shook her head:

"No, Sasi-sempai, I can sa-"

"He's not going to make it. He's not, no matter how much I wish it or you try it or-"

"Let's have a look then."

So surprised she was, Robyn's hand jerked away from Tricker's wound when Professor Kenta also seemed to appear out of nowhere. The magic cutting off made her hand sting, but she immediately transferred it back over to Cookie, not wanting to waste another moment. He knelt down, utterly matter of fact in the way he studied Cookie and then Tricker before looking over his shoulder.

"Hades, Cher!"

Professor Kenta then went on to say something in a language that Robyn did not know, but immediately recognised as one of the Ancient Languages. She recognised common words, filler words and articles that appeared in some of the lines of prayers and incantations for the dead, but this was a conversation, and being able to understand words like if, so, lost and the were not particularly useful. The voice that replied back in the same language was unmistakably Headmaster Cher's but…with a strange quality overlaid over it, something that she could not quite decipher. Indeed, when she attempted to look over her shoulder to see where the headmaster was, she did not see him. What she did see, however, was Frost manage to catch Ruby unawares and wriggle out of her grasp once again, running deep into Aeternum.

"Headmistress, she's getting away!" Aerin said.

"Leave her be," Headmistress Hades commanded. "She will be found. "

"But Headmistress-"

Aerin cut herself off as the headmistress walked right past her and over to Professor Kenta. She did not kneel down, instead looking down at them with an impassive expression. Professor Kenta looked up.

"Well?" Headmistress Hades asked him in Kataru.

"I suppose you can see as well as I can." Professor Kenta replied. "The girl is right."

He inclined his head slightly towards Sasi and Robyn gasped. Professor Kenta turned to her and said:

"I'm sure you can feel it, though you have been trying not to. You can feel what I hear as the death knell."

Robyn bit her lip and then concentrated, calling up the deeper parts of her power, casting it out into the immediate surroundings. A radar for death, or impending deaths. And sure enough, she felt it, the sense of a breath being held, almost ready to be released.

"I'm sorry." She murmured, though she didn't know who it was for, not really.

"Do not apologise," Professor Kenta told her. "You know how it is."

Robyn couldn't respond, did not want to respond, almost all her senses focused on that held breath, that life getting ready to leave. Not for the first time in her life, she wondered what was on the Other Side, exactly. She knew that such things were not anyone to know, not even for people like her and Professor Kenta. That the lack of knowing was how the line between life and death remained drawn in the sand. She wrapped her arms around herself shivering violently and then she watched as the headmistress knelt down by Cookie, her expression morphing from blank to something that she didn't recognise. Carefully, Headmistress Hades cradled Cookie's prone form in her arms and stood up. Looking down at them, she said something again in the same Ancient Language, and Professor Kenta responded in kind before the headmistress set off walking, holding onto Cookie carefully.

As she did, a golden glow came both from her, and from somewhere ahead. In the middle of the glow for a moment, Robyn saw the unmistakable silhouette of Headmaster Cher, but only for a brief moment as the two golden glows became brighter and melded together, one huge blinding light. For a moment, all Robyn could see was that bright light, but then it faded gradually and as she blinked, trying to readjust to the gloominess of the night she realised that the breath had been let out. There was one less life in the proximity than there had been before.

That Tricker had died.

"Right, then…you, you're Plant and Earth, aren't you…Yara, is it? Do you think you can soften the earth for me? Maybe around-"

"Wait, what do you mean, soften the earth?" Ruby demanded.

"What do you think, Ruby?"

"We're leaving him here? We're not…sending him home? To his family?" Aerin demanded.

Sasi snorted derisively at this, but didn't turn to look at them. Her hair was undone and fell over her face, obscuring her expression. Professor Kenta gave her a curious look, then returned his attention to Ruby and Aerin.

"No, we shall do it here. It will only be a…temporary measure, if you will. Enough to send him over safely but just a stop-gap until the situation is dealt with and we can indeed send him home. There are rituals, done in times of war-I will enact one of those now. "

War? Robyn couldn't stop the gasp, and Professor Kenta glanced at her and then over at the rest of the gathered students.

"It is not quite war yet, in all fairness. But there is a similar level of urgency, we must hurry. So, Yara?"

"Let me do it."

Professor Kenta looked at Sasi.

"The two of us, as necromancers, are bound by duty to oversee the sending over of the dead."

This was true. No matter what specialism a necromancer may choose, all were required to know at least the most basic of the funeral rites and to carry them out should the situation call for it. This did not seem like something Sasi cared about though. Pushing her hair back, she hissed:

"I said, let me do it."

Professor Kenta's eyes narrowed, but he didn't seem angry as far as Robyn could tell. Indeed, after a moment, his expression became almost wistful and he reached out to put a hand on Sasi's shoulder. The girl flinched and then glared at him again.

"Where do you think? Here, or move him?"

"Beneath the tree." Sasi answered immediately, though she still looked a little suspicious. "He'd prefer that anyway. Becoming part of the earth, part of the tree."

Robyn glanced at the tree, and noticed that it was an elm. Professor Kenta noticed her noticing and gave her a smile. Well, that's at least something. That will help you stay safe in your journey to the Other Side, Tricker. Can you hear me? Are you somewhere watching, or are you just waiting? If there's any last message you need to give, tell me, alright? I swear, this time I'll be of help.

"Ah, I see, I see. Now…I have to confess, I was summoned here quite unexpectedly, but I wonder if there's any chance any of you have any potents on you, or even some of the Portal's water?"

Robyn's first immediate thought as she accepted the squares of gauze that Professor Kenta apparently did have was of Will, and then she felt guilty for thinking the worst. But sure enough, when she briefly looked over her shoulder, he had come over with his hip flask, which he handed to Robyn before quickly turning away, averting his eyes and quickly walking back-before then pausing and bending down to pick something up, letting out a little relieved sigh before putting it back in his pocket. Robyn couldn't tell what the object was, beyond the fact that it looked like something papery, but her attention was taken by Professor Kenta prompting her to soak the gauze squares.

To her surprise, the flask was completely full and she felt another stab of guilt, but pushed it down as she knew she needed to concentrate. She soaked her squares, then passed the bottle over and the three of them cleaned his body. Robyn unwrapped the bloodied, useless makeshift bandages and dropped them in a pile before then cleaning the wounds. Professor Kenta made sure that Tricker's eyes remained shut, but allowed Sasi to tidy his hair and clean his face, only murmuring occasional instructions to be sure that she completed the cleaning properly. In the meantime, by the elm tree that Sasi had pointed out, Yara softened the earth and then began to shape a hole, her magic making her hands glow purple as she worked. With her back turned to all of them, Robyn couldn't tell what Yara might have been feeling, but she worked solidly and hard and she felt an odd stab of pride whenever she glanced at her.

Eventually, Tricker was cleaned, his hands folded across his chest in the customary manner and Professor Kenta examined him, making sure everything was as it should be, occasionally pointing out to Robyn the things that he was looking for as though this was another lesson. But what a way to learn such a lesson-

Robyn's musing screeched to a halt as Sasi then did something completely unexpected-leaning over and kissing Tricker on the lips, quiet but hard. Almost more of an imprint. Sera (or possibly Char or Wendy) spluttered in astonishment, as did either Ruby or Aerin but Sasi seemed not to notice as she then stood up, walked a few steps away, crouched down to pick something up and then returned. In her hands, she had Tricker's sword, the funny one with the multi-coloured blade, and after wiping it down in a patch of grass, she slipped it back into the sheath on his belt.

"Well," Professor Kenta remarked. "I suppose in this case that makes a good alternative to the Last Taste."

Sasi had absolutely no reaction to this, and Professor Kenta continued on:

You'll need to make sure you're carrying some honey water with you at all times in the future now though, Robyn. I'll make sure to arrange a time to teach you the exact procedures around that once we are done here. But for now we need something to wrap him in."

"Have my shawl. I flung it up in the tree earlier so it wouldn't get in the way, so it's not stained or anything." Ruby called.

After some rustling, a sapphire coloured shawl floated over to them, and Robyn remembered her own scarf, but when she took it off she noticed that the ends were stained. She grabbed her knife and sawed off those ends, throwing them onto the bandage pile, before offering the scarf and helping the professor to wrap Tricker's body up. Then, Professor Kenta carried it over to the hole that Yara had finished digging. Sasi went straight over, but Robyn had a sudden brainwave and went over to Julka. Studiously avoiding looking at Will, she picked the two red spider lilies that she could see in Julka's loosened plait. One was silk and she pinned it back in her hair but the other was real. When she lifted Julka's hair to find any that had fallen off she found two more real ones and took those. Then, she scurried back to the hole and presented the flowers to Professor Kenta.

"Ah," he said, his eyes lighting up with recognition. "Sharp thinking. Those will help a lot."

He took the flowers from her and tore them apart, scattering them in the hole around the body. He pushed them around, making sure that there was a full circle of petals and then he leaned back and looked at Sasi.

"This part, you are going to have to leave to us, alright?"

Sasi looked up and glared, but Professor Kenta continued to speak before she could get any protest in:

"I understand, more than you'd expect. But this part is not for you, not while we are here. Keep vigil, that's all you must do now."

Sasi's lip curled, but she settled herself down by the hole, leaning against to the tree immediately next to it. Professor Kenta nodded at her, and then turned to Robyn.

"When we're putting the dirt in, we need to make sure that we form a mound. Otherwise, the form of burial is usual…if a little faster. We do need to hurry though."

He looked up at the sky, but when Robyn followed his gaze she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, a chill went through her, but she pulled herself together and did what he asked, helping him to put the soil back in, piling it up and saying the prayers, listening out to see where his spirit went, imagining a border and watching him get closer to it.

As the hole filled, and started to become a mound, she found herself picturing the border as a line of trees in a field, the sky blurry but blue and clear. The trees were all yew and elm, much as she would expect for the border between life and death but one of them in the middle was a myrtle tree. Part of her was still in the forest, pressing earth on the burial mound, pouring what remained of the contents of Will's flask around and on the mound and not being able to identify the smell in any form at all, saying the final prayers.

But another part of her was standing in the picture in her mind, in that field with the trees, gazing up at the anomalous myrtle tree, knowing without really understanding how she knew that Tricker was up there. But sure enough, he was and he looked down at her silently and unreadably, apparently comfortable in the tree despite the injuries across his torso. She hesitated, unsure of what to say, the realisation that she hadn't known him in life that well hitting her. This fellow freshman, who she'd shared Night Patrols and a couple classes with, someone who seemed self-contained but a good person at the core, she didn't know him at all.

"A-are you at peace?" she asked.

"I've been put through the motions."

"I am sorry. Apparently a proper send-off has to wait."

"I know. It is not as if there is any great mystery to how I died."

"No, there isn't. Is there a message you want to pass onto Sasi-sempai?"

"Nothing that I wouldn't rather be able to tell her myself."

There was no point in explaining that he couldn't. They both knew it, after all. She wanted to apologise, but there was no point in that either. She suspected that was something that he knew too.

"It's duty, right? For all necromancers to oversee the journey of the dead to the Other Side. Or the border of it?"

Robyn nodded cautiously.

"Then this much is fine. I'm not between worlds anymore, so I'm alright now. But I will wait here, until it is time."

"Time?"

He tipped his head slightly, and as he did the shadows over him shifted, making his hair look a slightly different colour. No longer pure white, but mourning silver-blue, though only for a brief moment before he shifted again and the shadows did too.

Ah. Is that what Sasi-sempai saw? Robyn wondered. Did she see such a change, and understand what it meant?

"Time to go there for good," Tricker said, gesturing somewhere behind him. "To whatever lies beyond. I'm on the Other Side, yes, but I will not be a part of it yet."

"No, you wouldn't be. "

Something tugged at her, and she looked over her shoulder, seeing nothing but haziness before turning back again.

"I must go. But you're safe now even if you're…"

"Lost to you all?"

"Mhm."

"I know."

She wanted to remind him that if he changed his mind and had something that he did need to pass on, that she would be able to hear him, but already the scenery was fading away and the rest of reality seeping back in. She gasped for breath, feeling her stomach lurch and knot and trying to make herself settle. She was vaguely aware of Professor Kenta watching her carefully and Yara staring at her with wide-eyed concern.

"I…" she whispered hoarsely. "I'm alright."

She stopped, cleared her throat, then started again:

"I'm fine. He is, too. Waiting in a tree."

This, she directed at Sasi, who stared straight ahead almost woodenly. One of her hands rested against a sheathed sword that had been stuck into the mound as if to mark its place, and if that hand had not twitched then Robyn wouldn't even have been sure that she'd heard. But then, Sasi asked:

"Myrtle?"

"Yes."

Sasi nodded, but did not give any indication as to what she thought of this.

"Alright, then it is all done." Professor Kenta said, all business like as he got up. "I must leave now."

"Are you going to explain what happened?" Ruby demanded. "What all of that was about and why you came? And why he had to be buried here, why he can't be sent off properly?"

"Soon, not now. But I have to go and you have to, too."

"Why?"

"An eclipse is nearing."

The urgency of the words made them heavier and Robyn flinched at them as though they were a physical force, without really understanding why.

"It will not remain safe here for much longer, not now they're gone. You must go. "

It did not particularly surprise her when, with this pronouncement, Professor Kenta disappeared swiftly, with no fanfare whatsoever. A silence settled in his wake, and those left behind just looked at each other. Despite the urgency in Professor Kenta's voice, none of them seemed quite able to move. Yara crossed her legs and took out her phone, and Sasi moved her hand from the sword and let it fall by her side as she continued to stare into the distance. Robyn tried to make herself stand up, but she felt heavy and wobbly, and there was nothing to steady herself with. After a moment of stillness, however, Aerin cleared her throat and said:

"Ahem…don't mind me while I just go and throw up."

And true to her word, she broke away from Ruby and went to a bush, crouching and pushing her hair back while she retched and gagged. Robyn tried to get up again, to go to her, but her head spun and so she had to kneel back down again. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Will also attempt to go and help, only for Ruby to hold out a hand as if to stop him, expression grim enough to make him sit back down next to still-sleeping Julka. They all waited, unsure of what else to do or say.

Aerin emerged a few moments later, looking pale under her smeared make-up, her scales and fangs retreated. Wordlessly, Ruby dug into the pockets of her gown and found a small water bottle, which she handed to Aerin. When she grabbed it, Robyn noticed vivid smudges of lipstick and other make-up on the back of her hand. Aerin glugged down the water and then shoved the bottle back at Ruby.

"Where's Samu?"

"You what?"

Ruby blinked a few times, and then she gave a slight smile.

"Rest easy, Mama VYPER, your baby's safe. He wasn't even anywhere near here."

Aerin snorted and rolled her eyes, but then gave a single resolute nod:

"Good."

"Okay, now we've settled that-are you going to throw up again?" Ruby asked. "If not, then we gotta get out of here like the Professor said. I dunno what he meant about an eclipse but I can feel something around."

Robyn hadn't been aware there was any other something, not underneath or mixed in with everything else that had been happening but now that Ruby had mentioned it, she could feel it too. Shoring up her energy, Robyn tried again to get up, this time managing it.

"Yeah, I feel it." Aerin said.

Robyn and most of the others all chimed in with agreement. Sasi, on the other hand, got up to join them, but did not give any indicator as to what she was thinking or feeling. There was something terrifying about the sight of her, the blood all over her, her hair and cloak whipping around in the wind that had started to pick up. Robyn wondered if this was what people imagined when they believed in the destruction that mirror sisters that were supposed to bring to the world, a sight like this. It was shaming to realise that perhaps if she had seen this without knowing anything of what had happened, of who Sasi was, that she would have been properly afraid.

"Do you really still want her to come back?"

Sasi stared dry-eyed over Robyn's shoulders, but her voice was thick with tears. Unsteadily, Robyn looked over to see Char, Sera and Wendy, blinking and confused.

"I…what do you mean?" Char asked.

"After all this, you still want her to come back?"

There was something of a challenge in the question, though her voice wavered towards the end, as if the tears were straining to escape. But Sasi didn't seem able to let them, with her tense posture, the way she grabbed her cloak and wrapped it tightly around her, knuckles almost white from the strain of it. Her glare was vicious, even more so than it usually was when she perceived that something had crossed her.

"Well?" she demanded. "Do you?"

"Ari-Ariadne? Of course we want-what are you talking about?" Char demanded, voice wavery. "You're not making any-"

"Come on, we have to go! Yara," Ruby demanded. "What are you doing still down there?"

"There's a gag spell about this, too."

Robyn turned back around and looked at Yara, still kneeling on the ground, her phone in her hands casting a ghostly glow against her face. She was concentrating intently but did not seem vacant, and Robyn wondered at that, that she hadn't seemed to have any of her funny moments, had seemed focused and present even as the horrors of the night had just kept piling. Robyn herself felt as if she was going to slip away, crumble to pieces. It was all she could do to stay standing. None of the blood that stained her own clothes was hers, but it may as well have been for how drained she felt.

"And that's meant to mean what, exactly?" Ruby huffed.

At this, Yara looked up. She blinked a couple of times and then answered as she got up, dusting dirt off her tights:

"What Cookie said happened with Ariadne's disappearance, when her friends tried to contact her mother…we can't reach anyone from the outside world. But our friends…I've messaged some of them, they know that something terrible has happened but-"

"Ohhh, you mean a Silencer!" Will exclaimed.

"His friends," Sasi asked woodenly, expression less challenging but still contorted with barely-held-together pain. "You have told them?"

Yara paused her dusting, studied Sasi. Then she nodded slowly:

"I reached Quiet, yeah."

"Right, that makes sense, that's good to know-but that's also more reason that we need to bloody go." Aerin said.

"Right, right, of course." Will said. "Give me a moment to pick Julka up and-"

At the sound of Julka stirring, Will rushed back to her side, carefully helping her to sit up, picking leaves out of her hair and helping to readjust her glasses as she blinked, putting her hand to her head and groaning slightly.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Will asked gently.

"I….my head hurts. I…what's happened?"

Julka's eyes widened as she looked all around her, taking in Ruby and Aerin's torn clothes and smeared make-up, Will without his shirt; the blood all over Robyn and Sasi; Char, Wendy and Sera standing together huddled and bewildered and Yara still clinging to her phone for dear life. She didn't miss the burial mound either, gazing at that for a long, long moment.

"Where's Cookie?" she asked in a half-whisper.

"I…well…that's…" Will stammered.

"We need to go." Aerin repeated, angrier now. "We will explain but right now we need to go!"

"B-but…"

Julka's eyes darted around and then settled on something hiding behind a small clump of the sage and fennel. Robyn couldn't see what it was until Julka reached out and dragged it to her, picking it up with both hands and holding it in front of her. Cookie's red beret. Will gave her a brief one-armed hug before getting up and extending a hand to her.

"Come, Julka. We'll explain when we're back inside, alright?"

Julka stared at Will, then again at all of them, biting her lip. Then she drew the beret to her, hugging it tightly to her with one hand while accepting Will's own outstretched hand with her other. He pulled her up and then began to lead them out.

…

As they came out of the forest, all Char could think was that she hadn't realised just how much blood a human being contained. She'd never seen so much blood, not even that time when they had all been nine and Kay had fallen off the very top of the climbing frame. Back then, even with the swiftness of adult help and the efficiency of the hospital and all the healing spells, she'd never been so scared. But it had been dealt with, it had happened and then it was over, and Kay had been alright. They had all been alright, and afterwards she had thought that that was it, that'd be the scariest thing that had ever happened to them and their lives afterwards would be…well, ordinary. Even the hinkiness of somehow ending up in Kawaakari and not being able to go back to the school they were all supposed to be going to had seemed to turn out okay, at first. Hinky for sure, but it had eventually become an odd type of normal. They'd even started thinking it'd be cool to stay for the rest of their high school days, since they had carved a fun space out for themselves with a whole bunch of fun people. But everything had just kept on happening, and it had kept happening and happening and happening.

And now this had happened.

The worst thing is that we were the liability. Char wanted to fold up and fade away at her embarrassment over thinking that she and Wendy and Sera could just charge in without issues. She hadn't been planning to save the day or anything like that, she wasn't stupid but all the same…they'd seen the group going in, and knowing that they were all part of Night Patrol had made them wonder if it was something to do with Ariadne. Of course it wouldn't be that simple, of course it wouldn't. It wasn't a comfort that the only person who had been more of a liability during that whole thing had been Julka, considering she'd actually been unconscious for most of it. It wasn't a comfort that they'd been able to actually use their limited magical abilities to provide light during that weird fog that the expressionless girl had made.

Nothing was a comfort.

She, like everyone, walked in silence in their loose procession, none of them really able to look at each other. Looking around her instead, she noticed that the sky had lightened somewhat-though it wasn't near enough to truly call it day-and that everyone had apparently retreated from the riverbank. She was surprised nobody else had noticed or heard anything amiss, but she knew that thanks to Yara people would be looking for them, so as they headed across the grounds and closer to the building she looked for them. For anyone at all.

As they passed part of the school gardens, she heard a thump and a small shriek, a gasp of shock. Spinning around, she saw that Robyn had fallen to her knees, arms shaking as she steadied herself. She concentrated on trying to get up but couldn't quite manage it and ended up sprawled on the ground again, more haphazardly this time. If Char hadn't been there to see what had happened before with her own two eyes and she'd come across Robyn like this, so clearly drained of energy and her clothes covered in blood she would be convinced that the girl had been hurt herself. In a way, this was worse.

With Julka crouching and attempting to steady her just a little bit, Robyn managed a weak smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm…."

"Come, come on."

Will breezed over and knelt down by her, smile still easy.

"Grab on, I'll carry you there."

"I…" Robyn gave him an odd look, but then closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank you."

Looking washed-out and shattered, Robyn just about managed to put her arms around Will's neck before he got a grip on her legs and got up himself. For a moment, it looked like he would buckle but the moment passed and he straightened. Julka took step beside him, and they continued on.

Now, Sasi seemed to be the one leading the way, though she'd barely looked at them. The wind picked up again and made her cloak billow out behind her, almost catching Char in the face. Rather than bat it away, Char simply took a couple extra steps backwards and kept her pace there as they continued on.

Eventually they encountered people approaching from the direction of the school building-Mist, Jun, Lidia, Lucy, Ani, Quiet and Asuka. When this group spotted them, they immediately picked up the pace, running over. Will let Robyn off of his back, and she leaned heavily against Jun, managing to remain on her feet. Mist swept Julka up in a hug that almost knocked off her glasses. Lidia and Lucy went to Will, and then Quiet regarded Sasi for a moment before asking:

"Tricker, he….?" Quiet paused, again looking her up and down. "He's…"

"Yes." Sasi said.

For whatever reason, she didn't elaborate but for whatever reason, Quiet didn't seem to need her to. Char wondered at this-surely Yara wouldn't have told him the exact details through a text message?

"Wait, what? What is it that happened?" Lidia demanded.

The others also turned to Quiet and Sasi, the latter of whom seemed to shrink. Although her expression remained stony, Char got the impression of a snarling, wounded animal. But Quiet simply murmured that Tricker had died, and then Will attempted to try and explain what happened, not minding the constant stream of questions that interrupted nor the way Ruby or Aerin also jumped in to explain. This left the three of them standing off to the side, awkward and un-noticed.

Sighing, Char turned away and turned her face to the sky, noticing that it had started to snow. She wrinkled her nose as a snowflake hit her nose and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out to taste the next falling flakes.

"Char. Char, look."

Char and Wendy spun around unsteadily to see what Sera had noticed. There, coming from across the other side of the grounds, was a tall figure in a tunic, thin messy ponytail whipping around in the persistent early morning breeze.

"HOWL!"

They took off across the grass and careened over to him. Char immediately launched herself at him and gave him a hug, deliberately squeezing just to hear him tell her to quit it, or to complain generally or make some comment about her being as idiotic or more idiotic than Kura, or anything along those lines.

Except that he didn't.

"Howl..?"

She let go and stepped back, taken aback at the look on his face, splotchy and red, eyes just as red to match. He looked at the two of them, but said nothing.

"Howl, what's wrong? Where's Ariadne?" Wendy asked.

"She was with you, right?" Sera added. "Right?"

Again, nothing.

"Howl, she was with you, right? Ariadne was with you?" Sera asked again, her voice starting to rise.

Still, he didn't say anything, and Char's stomach started to churn. But before she could say or do anything about it, Sera let out a wail and launched herself at him the way Char had just a few seconds ago, but not to hug him. Instead she started hammering at his chest, furious and practically spitting.

"Where is she? Where's Ariadne, Howl? Where is she?"

Vaguely aware of the others joining them and seeing what was going on, Char quickly wrapped her arms around Sera and pulled her back-no mean feat, as Sera was raging, the emotion having apparently given her a new burst of energy. Even with Wendy's help, Char struggled to keep her from bursting free and going for Howl again but after a few minutes of this Sera sagged, though she was still practically vibrating. Throughout all this, Howl hadn't made a move to defend himself, nor had he said anything. Instead he just kept looking at them and there was something about the look of him, the fact he had so clearly been clearly crying that made Char's own eyes fill up, fat tears quickly spilling.

"Howl…she was with you, wasn't she?" Char asked again, her voice barely a whisper.

"What's going on?" she heard Lidia ask. "Why are…and who are they?"

"Shhhh."

The breeze continued blowing, the snowflakes whirling in earnest now, some starting to collide with her glasses. Not wanting to let go of Sera, still furiously vibrating, Char could only squint as Howl kept looking at her. A moment passed, and then another before…

"Ask them. "

Howl's voice cracked as he pointed behind him. Without turning to look at whatever it was he'd pointed at he stepped aside, and through her tear-and-snow-hazed vision, Char saw a sight that took her breath away. There, standing in the snow looking like something that had stepped out of a story were six people approaching and coming to stand before them in a line. Even without the very familiar, distinctive outfits they were wearing, Char would have recognised them immediately.

After all, she was someone who remembered them. And since Ariadne had disappeared their faces had been haunting her dreams.

"Char," Sera whispered, going abruptly still. "Is that…"

"It is."

Char let go of Sera and Wendy did too, though she kept her arm around the furious girl. Then, they looked over to the others.

"Hold on a damn minute, those are the outfits! Aerin, you recognise those, don't you?" Ruby demanded.

"Funnily enough, I think I do." Aerin said grimly.

"Wait, what do you mean, the outfits?" Julka asked, still looking a bit sleep-dazed.

"Do you remember what Cookie told us, about the people that Ariadne was looking for?" Mist asked quickly.

She paused, only long enough for Julka to nod briefly before continuing:

"Ruby-sempai designed the clothes that they wore; the ones that made Ariadne call them the 'black and gold people'…those clothes. Which means, that this is them. Right-Char, Sera, Wendy?"

Startled by being addressed directly, all Char could do was nod before looking back at the six, her eyes roving up and down the row, hoping against hope for a seventh figure to appear next to them or at least catch up them. But none ever came. It was just the six of them, and Howl, snow now starting to settle on the ground beside them while they met the surprised stares they were receiving head on, all expressions but Howl's unreadable.

Then, one of them stepped forward and though she did not have the mask that Char remembered her with most clearly, she knew from the fact that other girl had a short cloak and short hair and that the third had long pink hair and a short skirt that the speaker must be none other than Eve.

"Are you people actually going to tell us who you actually are?" Asuka demanded. "Whether you're those or someone else because if you aren't then I swear-"

"Ah, it's good to see some things haven't changed." Eve laughed, bitterly. "And we certainly do not know nearly enough about what's been happening here…but, Mist is right."

"You know me? Specifically?" Mist asked.

"We were in the same tutor group last year-you, me, Evie. All together."

This came from Delilah, who now offered them up a smile as some of the others started to exchange glances, unsure and confused. Asuka tensed and Sasi started to move for one of her remaining weapons. But Char remained motionless, and so did Sera and Wendy, unable to quite believe what they were looking at.

"But of course, you don't remember, do you?" Eve said. "Still, I can tell that you know who we are anyway."

Eve smirked and gave a short, bitter laugh, taking them all in before she stepped forward and gestured to the other five before continuing:

"So, there is nothing else to say really other than-we're back."

---

The trigger warnings relate to violence and violent character death, occurring pretty much across the entirety of the scene that's in Robyn's POV. Since I did rate this story 'M' and there's been a lot of difficult themes explored already, I did wonder whether to specifically apply a trigger warning but this chapter feels the most harrowing of them all so far, so I decided it was better to be on the safe side. It's likely the story will continue taking a darker turn in some aspects over the course of part 3 even if I don't know exactly how yet , so I'd say keep that in mind generally. I'll decide whether to apply specific warnings in the relevant chapters on a case-by-case basis when the time comes.

But anyway, this chapter marks the end of Part 2! I will have an interlude/prelude chapter (3-0) out pretty soon-I'm hoping this weekend-and I've also been thinking about some world-building related stuff for this and compiling some of it into an infographic (yes, another one XD) which I am also hoping to share soon-ish. But in the meantime-I hope you've been enjoying the story! I'd love to know what you'd think about it. And of course, thank you for sticking around so far, and I hope that you'll also be looking forward to the rest of the story.

:)