Eve wasn't sure what she would have expected from when she stepped back into the world, especially a world in which her existence had been erased, but she was fairly sure that it was not this. Without her mask, she felt far too weak as the small clustered group of students stared at her, all their expressions varying.
"When is it, anyway?" she asked. "How long has it been since we've been gone?"
"The Dance of the Water Nymphs has just ended."
Eve knew most of these faces, and the ones she didn't know at all she could reasonably assume that they were freshmen. She remembered facing off with Asuka, seeing Mist in her tutor group the year before. Nonetheless, it took her a moment to place the speaker (blond-haired, round glasses, low-cut off-the-shoulder garment) as Lidia. And now she'd been told that, she could see that most of the gathered students were dressed fairly fancily, even if a number of them had ruined those clothes.
"I see." Eve nodded.
"What happened?" Maria spoke up. "Did someone get hurt tonight?"
She gestured over to Sasi and another girl, both of them covered in blood. Eve couldn't tell if either of them were actually injured, but Sasi looked wild, ready to strike while the other seemed exhausted as she stood between a boy and another girl who looked weary too, though not nearly as much as the girl she was supporting. A number of the others had similar looks to them, a few with scratches and scuffs here and there as though they'd been in a scuffle, their clothes and hair a mess.
Ruby was one of these others, and she was the one who answered Maria's question:
"Yes, something did happen but we probably need to know what happened to you, too. And more importantly, what happened to the girl. I presume she was with you. And they need to know."
Ruby gestured to the three girls who had launched themselves at Howl and now huddled together, one of them angry and breathing heavily while the other two held her. Eve stared at them, and she felt that strange sensation, that tugging at the spot underneath her heart.
"It was Ariadne who found us, but she stayed behind in order to allow us to go free."
Best to keep it simple, she thought. No use adding frills to the situation. It was not as if softening the words would make the situation any better. As the gathered group gasped, she wondered if the opposite applied too-that the frills wouldn't make things worse either.
She wasn't going to be the one to do any softening, though. She couldn't.
"She was trying to bargain with Oura….Oura-san, the one who kept us there and that was the only thing that they accepted." Maria explained. "But she was working under the assumption that they were the spirit of the mountain, and she had a lot of shiny things to offer…it just didn't work, so she offered herself and that worked. So, she stayed, and we promised that we would make sure that she knew that she loved you and that she was sorry, and we came. "
"And you didn't…didn't try to find another way?" the angry friend asked.
"We didn't have the chance!" Maria exclaimed. "And we…we were free, I mean, that is…"
She trailed off, making a beseeching gesture with her hands.
"Is this Oura the spirit of the mountain, then?" Aerin demanded.
"No idea." Judas spoke up.
"So she sacrificed herself, then?"
This question came from one of the boys she didn't know, the one who'd briefly talked to Sasi but now stood apart, his expression thoughtful. There was something about the way he'd been watching everything that made her think of Abel, though she couldn't quite explain why to herself. She nodded at him.
"Yes."
"I don't think she's dead though!" Maria chimed in. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that Oura-san wants to keep her rather than…ah, that's not much better, is it?"
"No," Cain said acidly. "it isn't."
Eve happened to agree with him, but for the principle of it she gave him a skewering glare.
"Well, it's good to see that at least you're all well," Will said quickly. "Especially as we've just lost two people, though that's really the most recent thing that's happened since you've gone. It's been an intense year so far-"
"Maybe we should talk about this later?"
Will turned to look at the person who had interrupted him, the girl who was accompanying the exhausted, bloodstained one. Taking a closer look at her, Eve realised that despite the weather she was barefoot, and didn't seem like this bothered her at all. Then again, everybody else seemed oblivious to the gentle but relentless drifting of the snow.
"I don't think Robyn can manage standing here any longer." The barefoot girl said, sounding almost apologetic.
Clearly, Robyn was the name of this other blood-stained girl, and she did look as if she was only barely managing to stay upright. The barefoot girl and the boy were more or less propping her up, the boy holding onto her particularly protectively. Will's eyes widened as he took in the three of them properly and shook his head.
"Yes, of course, you're right. Sorry, sorry, you go on, Yara!"
Yara-the barefoot girl-nodded at this.
"Thanks, sempai," the boy said to Will before focusing on Robyn again. "Let's go and get you sorted then, yeah?"
"Mhm."
They all watched for a moment as the three walked across the grounds back to the school building, but after a few moments Asuka turned to Sasi:
"If we're just going to wait until later, then maybe we should get you cleaned up as well, yeah?"
"No!"
Asuka looked utterly bewildered as Sasi flinched violently, stepping away from her grasp. Eve narrowed her eyes at this, wondering what was causing this type of reaction. That it was violent and outsized wasn't so unexpected, considering who she was. But to look like this…
Maybe it's one of the other girls? Then, why is it only Sasi who looks like she's been in a war? Why does Asuka look so out of her depth?
"What…what do you mean, no?"
Asuka reached out, but Sasi side-stepped, pulling herself in even more than Eve thought possible. The cloak she was wearing whipped around her, and Sasi grabbed it, wrapping it ever tighter. Asuka opened and closed her mouth a few times before eventually stammering out:
"B-but, you've got blood all over you-"
"It's not mine!"
"I know it's not yours-"
"I said," Sasi said, almost hissing now. "It's not mine. It's not mine."
Sasi stepped back a bit more, closer to the direction Eve assumed they had come from, still wrapping the cloak tightly around herself. Eve realised that it wasn't just the usual sort of anger that was contorting the girl's face, but pure distress. Even as she looked ready to attack, she rocked very slightly as if she was self-soothing.
Just typical that we come back and walk into something else. Just bloody typical.
"The clothes can be kept."
Asuka whirled round and gave Abel a suspicious look, but Sasi barely reacted beyond glancing over at him.
"There is no reason why, if you put them away in a bag, that you can't keep the clothes as is. Your skin…you have to wash it off your skin, at least. But you don't have to lose anything else."
"You've just come back here, who do you think you are telling us what to do?" Asuka snapped.
"It is something, at least, right?"
The boy who'd asked if Ariadne had sacrificed herself came forward. Asuka glared at him, but not nearly as fiercely as she had to Abel. He gave her a nod and a brief, small smile before turning to Sasi.
"Sasi-sempai," the boy said. "You know he wouldn't want you to stay like this."
"Don't tell me that."
But even as she had hissed this, Sasi's shoulders had relaxed slightly, though she still held the cloak around her. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and then abruptly turned and walked away, Asuka spluttered, and then ran after her. The boy looked at them, but then turned back to the group.
"Perhaps we should all just go as well…" Julka suggested, gesturing in the direction the others had gone. "And meet up to…..um, later today?"
"Yes, yes, that's right, though where to put you…do any of you remember who your roommates were? Because if they were one of our core group, then it will be fairly easy to let you stay with them again." Will said.
Eve did not feel like pointing out that neither she nor the other five could have any reasonable understanding of what the 'core group' was in this context. Delilah, however, decided to answer the questions, unexpectedly wrapping her arms around Eve as she did so:
"I was with Evie! I can't remember who Cain was with, but I am sure that Abel and Judas had your friends as roommates. Um…who was it again? Judas, I'm sure you had one of the twins, right?"
"Yes, I did," Judas said. "I don't remember which one, though. Abel, you were with Tate."
"Yes, yes, that's it!" Delilah exclaimed, her voice giddy and excited. "And Maria….you had a few roommate changes, right?"
"That was in the first year, though. I do not remember who I started out with in the second year. I'm sorry."
"Awwww."
Eve found herself overtaken by a sudden odd fondness, so she reached up and patted Delilah's shoulder and was rewarded by Delilah leaning in closer. She was heavy against Eve's shoulder, but the weight felt grounding. But that was before she noticed the grim looks on Will's, Lidia's and Lucy's faces. The boy, still looking thoughtful, studied them for a moment and then said:
"Let's not worry about that for now…are there any spare rooms around, or something like that?"
"I don't…I don't think so?" Lidia frowned.
"Yes, there are!"
This came from Ani, who had been surprisingly silent throughout all this. When everyone looked over at her, she grinned, pulling the hood of her vivid cloak up.
"There are two rooms right at the end of the corridor I'm on-just after my own room. I assume that it's because our year group didn't reach full capacity in the first place, not specifically because you lot were missing."
"That would work, I can see if Haze is awake, then he can pick the locks."
"What, with that screwdriver of his?" one of Ariadne's friends asked.
"Yeah." The boy said.
The girl who had spoken nodded, and after exchanging a few looks with each other, Will, Lidia and Lucy nodded.
"Two rooms should be fine-one for girls, one for boys. We can pool together some things for you to make you comfortable and…..yeah. Shall we go on?"
Well, what else can we do?
But all Eve could do was nod, and then allow herself to be led back across with the others.
…
Jun took Robyn's key and opened the door, before then switching on the electric lights, and then after a moment of thought the magical powered ones as well. Once Yara and Robyn had followed, he carefully closed the door behind them.
As Yara came over to stand by Jun, Robyn looked around her, blinking blearily. Her gaze came to rest on the other side of the room, where Ariadne's things were everywhere. Neat and tidy, but absolutely everywhere.
"Oh, you poor, brave thing." Robyn murmured absently, before yawning.
She stared at Ariadne's bed and the assortment of plushies for a moment longer, then turned and opened her wardrobe, retrieving a pair of pyjamas.
"Do you um…do you need any help?" Yara asked her earnestly.
"No, but," Robyn bit her lip. "Could you stay? Just for a bit."
"Of course." Jun answered for the both of them.
Robyn nodded, not smiling, before then walking slowly to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Jun took off his jacket and draped it over Robyn's desk chair, and then a few more moments went by before they could both hear the shower finally running. Yara sighed and stretched and then went over to Robyn's bed and sat down on the edge of it, folding her hands in her lap carefully as she stared into the distance. Jun noticed something faraway in her look, and went to go and sit beside her and make sure she was alright too when suddenly, through the running shower, he heard the distinct sound of sobbing that gradually rose in volume.
"I'll go."
Yara sprung up from the bed and rushed into the bathroom. Jun wandered a little closer to the door, trying to listen when Yara opened it.
"I think she needs you." she whispered. "She's really, really upset."
"About what? Specifically, I mean?"
Jun knew that he was stalling, but he already felt himself going red at the thought of going into the bathroom, while Robyn was-
"I'm not sure, but she needs you."
Jun swallowed. Okay, if you need to be embarrassed, do it later, he scolded himself.
"Alright," he said. "Okay."
Yara nodded and stepped aside so he could go in. Tentatively, he entered the bathroom and then pulled aside the shower curtain. He saw that Robyn was sitting in the bathtub, curled up small and crying while the water was still going, splashing over her. He went to kneel down by the side of the tub, then reached over to turn the water down. Immediately, Robyn lifted her head and looked at him, the tears immediately distinguishable from the shower water by how steadily they flowed.
"Hey," he said gently. "What's wrong?"
"I…I can't look at it!" she wailed.
"Can't look at what?"
"The blood….." Robyn struggled to explain. "Not because it's blood, but because…because...because…."
Suddenly, she sat up, flinging her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder as she sobbed.
"I tried, I really, really tried and I couldn't do anything, Jun. I couldn't do anything. All of their blood, all over me and I couldn't do anything, I-"
The emotions of it seemed to overwhelm her, rendering her incapable of forming words as she continued to cry. Flustered, Jun froze for a moment but then slowly embraced her, patting her hair gently and waiting it out. He was all too aware of how she felt in his arms, the warmth of her, but he also wanted nothing more than to absorb her sadness, bear it for her so that she'd be able to rest easier.
So Jun waited it out and eventually, her sobbing eased into little snuffles, and he felt her trying to sit up again. He let go of her and she lifted her head, meeting his eyes. There was a moment's pause, and then almost as if on cue, Robyn went red and averted her eyes, while he also quickly looked away and felt his own cheeks heat up.
"Sorry, sorry…." He apologised.
"No, it's….I mean, you can look. If you want to." Robyn mumbled.
"I, no I don't…well, I mean I do, just…"
Jun stammered, trying to think of the right way to say what he wanted to say. He did not dare to see what her reaction was, not until he'd at least tried to explain himself. So after a moment to collect himself, he continued:
"I mean, I'm here because you're upset and I want to help, not to look or…anything else, even if I want to do that, too. I can't help but see, obviously, considering. But seeing doesn't mean that I have to look, especially not when you're exhausted and stressed and you've just seen Tricker and…"
Jun abruptly ground to a halt as he realised that he actually didn't really know what had happened earlier at all. Just that it had been something horrible, that Robyn had near enough completely drained herself in an attempt to save lives.
"Cookie." Robyn murmured. "It was Cookie."
Huh? What? Cookie was there as well? He supposed that that, too, was something else he'd just have to find out later.
"Cookie, right," he went on with a calmness he didn't really have. "You've just seen them die and so, I dunno, it's not right, is it? You need me to be here not to…um….you know. Right?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Anyway, if we keep sitting here, you're going to freeze and that's not going to help things, is it?"
Jun made himself look over, and saw that although Robyn was still a little pink-cheeked, her expression was gentle. She mustered up a smile and he smiled back, then considered what to do. Looking in the bathtub, he could see red swirls of water, and his own stomach churned at the sight even though he'd been nowhere near to the events that had led up to them.
"Why don't I stay here and wash you until the water's not red anymore, then I can leave you to it?"
"Mmmm. That sounds good."
So that was exactly what he did, and once Robyn had taken over again and the shower curtain was pulled again, he went to gather up her clothes. He was no expert, but the clothes were clearly beyond repair, so he bundled them up and put them in the bathroom bin, pulling out the bag and tying it up before taking it out and leaving it by the bedroom door. Then, he picked up her flower crown from where it was sitting by the sink with her other jewellery and took it back out to put on her bedside table by the two small pots of flowers that she had there. He studied those flowers for a moment, then brushed his hand over the top of the petals gently, casting a minor spell that made the flowers seem brighter, a little taller.
He then realised that his clothes, at least the top half of them, were soaking wet. But, I can't really go and…the thought trailed off as his eyes fell on his jacket, still draped across Robyn's chair and he went to get it, taking off his shirt and waistcoat and then putting the jacket on. Just as he had finished buttoning it up, Robyn came out of the bathroom, all pyjama-ed up with her hair wrapped in a white towel. Going to her wardrobe, she poked around for a few moments before finding a handheld hairdryer and turning to Jun. He smiled at her as she then put the hairdryer on her desk and started to unwrap the towel.
"You alright?"
"Mmm, yeah. Still tired."
"I get that. Want me to do that for you? Your hair, I mean."
Robyn paused, considering this for a moment before nodding.
"Sure. You can plug it in by the desk."
After briefly going back into the bathroom to hang the towel, Robyn came back and sat on the chair. Jun dried her hair for her carefully, and ended up brushing it for her too. If not for the circumstances, he couldn't help but feel it would have been a nice moment. Once he was done, he pulled back the covers so that Robyn could get into bed, and then tucked her in.
"Hey, Jun?" Robyn asked sleepily as she closed her eyes.
"Mmmmmm?"
"One day we should go away somewhere, just us."
"Yeah, we should. Anywhere in particular?"
"I don't know. Somewhere pretty?"
"With flowers?"
"Always with flowers."
"Sounds good to me." Jun said. "Now, get some sleep, alright?"
"Mmmm. Thanks, Jun. I love you."
In the few seconds it took him to process those words, Robyn had fallen fast asleep. He watched her for a few moments, caught between worry and wonder. But just for a moment, the wonder won out and he leaned over to kiss her forehead gently.
"I love you too." He whispered.
After that, he gathered up the bin-bag of ruined clothes and his own wet ones before slipping quietly out of the door. He almost startled when he realised that at some point, Yara had also left, and was now waiting by the door. She looked up from her phone, and her gaze was so perfectly blank that Jun thought she was about to have one of her stranger moments. But then her gaze cleared, and she asked:
"Is she alright?"
"She's sleeping now, so she will be. I hope."
"That's good," Yara said. "I'm glad. She….well, she was trying so hard. I tried to help, too, but in the end all I could do was help dig for the burial mound."
"That's…Yara, what actually happened?"
Yara shivered.
"Jenna and the others want to know, too. Can we…can we gather together? I don't want to have to keep repeating it."
Jun nodded slowly at this.
"We can meet in my room."
Yara tapped a message into her phone, and they left the building and headed into the one where Jun and Jae's room was. When they got there, Seraph and Jenna were arriving from the other end, and soon after Kyouki joined them. Jun sat on his bed, and Jae on his own, while the girls took positions either on the desk chairs or on the floor.
And then, Yara explained.
…
When Haze had been messaged by Quiet, he'd assumed that all he'd have to do was pick locks and then leave them to it, but it had turned out that the rooms, although furnished, were also filled with boxes. Piles and piles of boxes. Luckily, there was a store cupboard across from the rooms, and Haze had been able to pick that lock and shove some of the boxes there, too. But others had been labelled with chess-piece stickers and had turned out to contain some of the things that had belonged to the six members of the Elite Chess Club. Thus, Haze had ended up helping Will, Lidia and Lucy divide boxes between the room for the girls and the room for the boys, only to have been left with the boys while Will and Lucy had gone to find spare clothes and essentials-since it would take too long to go through all the boxes properly.
In this time, they had sat in silence. Judas seemed happy occupying himself with going through boxes, pulling out various cute looking items and lining them up on one of the desks or the bedside table while Abel arranged blankets and pillows on the floor between the beds. Cain, for his part, had just stood by the window, gazing out broodily while Haze hovered by the door, staring at them and trying hard to not get caught staring. They looked exactly how one would expect people to look after having trekked down perilous mountains for Goddess-knew-how-long, and yet even with that weariness taking them down a notch or two, they still had that very distinct something that they had in his memories. A something that made him shiver, remembering how they were linked to Oura, and making him wonder if the being had lied about their paths no longer crossing. After all, nobody had actually told him how it was that they'd managed to come back, just that they had.
All of this meant it was a relief when Will finally came back, weighed down with an assortment of items that must have come from a wide variety of people.
"Thanks a bunch, Haze-kouhai. We'll be fine from here, so you can go if you'd like."
"Ah, sure. No problem."
Haze turned away quickly before he could feel even vaguely bad about leaving Will to settle in the boys alone. He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth as he headed back to his room. It was a good thing that today was a free day and that he could sleep it away if he so wished. He'd barely gotten into bed when he'd been called with the request to pick locks to house the six returnees, long enough to see that Will and a bunch of the others had looked as if they'd been in a fight. There would no doubt be a meeting of some sort involving the group that had once been the Night Patrol, and if he didn't get any sleep he was not going to have the brain to deal with it.
As he got to the door that would take him out of the building, something flickered in the corner of his eye. Startled, he turned, but didn't see anything, so he chose to ignore it and pushed through, beginning his walk through the ground. More snow had fallen, beginning to soak his slippers, and so he sped up, trying to get to his building's entrance as fast as he could when he saw it again. Another flicker, and then another, and then another.
"Looking for me?"
His voice, but also not his voice. Lower, rumbling, darker. When Haze turned to see it, a familiar shape with less-defined edges formed between the cluster of trees. Black, curling in and out of itself. A shadow.
A doppelganger.
"You're gone," Haze muttered. "You're gone, you're gone."
"Are you sure?"
Haze gritted his teeth, murmured the incantations he and the others had been taught when they'd gone to Professor Void. Repeated them over and over as he sped up, kept walking, but the shadows pursued, whispering indistinctly in his ear, weaving in front of him and making him stumble.
No, no, no. You're supposed to be gone. You're supposed to be…it's over! It's meant to be over! Am I losing control? I can't be…I just….I can't be.
He kept trudging forward, kept murmuring the incantations, all the way until he got to the building. Turning around, he saw the shadow form, but nobody else behind him, so he ran the final few steps, flung himself through the door and then slammed it behind him. Doors did nothing to deter doppels, he knew that, but for whatever reason, this one paused before laughing silently and then dissipating. Haze stared through the glass panel of the door for a good few moments, breathing heavy and hands trembling.
I need them. I really, really need them.
Fighting hard to keep mental shields around his thoughts, he kept going. Thinking of them was the only thing that kept him going. He needed them, more than anything, even if he knew that he could not yet tell them that maybe the doppelgangers were back. After all, he was sure none of them had had the problem, only him. Only him.
His legs started to ache, and he slowed down only to realise he was not in the corridor where his dorm was, but where Theodore and Ezrael's was. And he was not the only one who was joining them-A was coming from the other corridor, clutching a small cloth overnight bag to her chest.
"Oh, I'm glad you're here too!" A said. "I was wanting to be close to you all."
Ada, our A. My A. The relief of it almost made his knees go weak, but somehow he managed to stay steady and upright as he said:
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."
A beamed, and then in her mind informed Theo and Ezra of their arrival. Almost immediately, Ezra opened the door, and beckoned them in with his usual dramatic gestures. Haze rolled his eyes, because at this point it was almost obligatory to roll his eyes at Ezra's antics, but nonetheless his heart swelled at the sight of them.
"Haze!" Theo exclaimed immediately. "Your feet are soaked!"
"Yeah, they are. It's snowing quite a bit out there." Haze said as he took his slippers off.
"Isn't it early for that?" A asked, her forehead puckering slightly.
"I mean, it's the latter half of the month now, pretty much." Theo pointed out.
Haze took his soaked slippers over to one of the warming stones against the wall, and then asked:
"So, anyway, what are we doing for sleeping arrangements?"
Theodore opened his mouth to answer, and then abruptly closed it again as he looked at first his bed, and then Ezra's.
"Um…."
"I don't mind sleeping on the floor!" A offered.
"Why don't we all sleep on the floor?" Ezra exclaimed before either Theo or Haze could protest. "We can make, like, a nest and all curl up in it together!"
"What are we, five?" Haze snorted.
"I quite like that, actually." Theodore said thoughtfully.
Haze did too, as it happened, but rather than outright admit it he looked over to A. She shrugged and smiled back at him. This was enough encouragement for Ezra, who immediately went over to his bed and started stripping it of sheets and pillows before doing the same for Theo's. A gathered the duvets while Theo found spare cushions and pillows, and a couple of cosy jumpers which could easily be rolled up. Then, all four of them arranged their 'nest' in the middle of the room.
Once it was all done, Theo was the first to lie down, and almost immediately Ezra flopped down dramatically on top of him.
"Oooof! Ezra!" Theo protested, laughing.
"Sorry, sorry! Am I too heavy?" Ezra asked, without sounding particularly sorry at all.
"I….no. No, you're fine."
"Oh good. Because you're soft."
Haze raised an eyebrow as Theo blushed and Ezra grinned, but then the need for them, the desire to be near them overwhelmed in and he knelt down, wondering where to lie down. The way Ezra was lying, he and Theo formed an odd sort of T-shape, and so Haze couldn't properly lie down to the left of Theo. He eventually curled up as close as he could get to the two of them. A lay down on Theo's right, and reached out across him to rest her hands against Haze's arm. After a bit more shuffling and getting comfortable, one way or another they all touched each other. They all held onto each other. It was a strange formation, and uncomfortable too, but Haze wouldn't have it any other way.
He couldn't have it any other way.
=Are you okay, Haze? = A's voice asked sleepily in his head.
=Why'd you ask? = Haze replied immediately, hoping that none of his fear had managed to leak out.
=I don't know. You just seem troubled. =
=Yeah, you do, buddy. = Ezra agreed.
=It's just the second-years who have come back, and the fact something happened in the forest, right? = Theo asked.
=Yeah, just that, = Haze said, grateful to Theo for suggesting it. = That's all. But it doesn't matter anyway. Nothing matters really, not as long as we're together. =
=Hear, hear! We'll always be fine while we have each other! =
Theo and A chimed in with similar agreement, and then the conversation drifted off, and Haze sensed the three of them gradually fall asleep. He savoured the gentle sounds of their breathing, watched the gentle rise and fall of their chests (well, of those he could see from this angle). But he stayed awake, with only one thought in his head repeating over and over and over:
Nothing else matters as long as we're together. Nothing.
…
Though it was a winter sun, the rays that filtered through the window and woke Abel up felt particularly warm. It was not a particularly comforting type of warmth, though, and as he woke up properly he found himself curling up tighter in his mound of blankets. Rubbing his eyes, he wondered whether to sit up or to keep lying there. He didn't feel like doing either, if he was honest with himself. It had been so long since he had been around other people, he wasn't sure if he knew how to be around other people. At the best of times, understanding them was tricky, even if he watched carefully and gained moments of insight as a result. And since he'd become a fox, he'd always been stared at. It was understandable, utterly unavoidable, but he hated it. Hated how ill-fitting his body had become to him, even though it came with some advantages too. Hated being seen as less than human, even though he was nothing but human, right down to the core.
But, I'm back here now. And little Ariadne…wouldn't I be doing her a disservice if I just stayed here instead of facing the world?
It was this thought that had him reluctantly sitting up and then getting up, but as he did so he realised that something was different. The way he'd gotten up felt different, his legs and arms felt different. Confused, he moved them experimentally, and then tried his tail-
-except he could not move it, because it wasn't there.
Could it be? He looked down at his feet, peering out from the folds of the too-long pyjamas he had been loaned and realised that they were not the hybrid foot-paw disasters he'd had for the better part of the year, but his own feet, small and neat. He held his hands out and saw that they, too, were fully human, round nails cut extra-short so he couldn't bite them, the fingers delicate. Cautiously, not daring to believe it, he padded over to the wardrobe and stared at his reflection, seeing his human face staring out at him.
I…what? When, how? He reached up and poked his cheek, watching his reflection doing the same before reaching out and touching the mirror. He pulled faces, twisted and turned to regard himself from all angles and then finally he stood there, just staring.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Abel turned in the direction of Cain's voice and watched as his eyes widened, flicking up and down to fully take him in. Slowly, he got up from the bed and walked right over to Abel, eyes never leaving him.
"It's been a long time since I have seen you like this."
"Mhm."
Cain got closer, and leaned in, For one weird moment, Abel thought Cain was going to kiss him, the way that he had done with Ariadne, but instead he lifted a hand and placed it tentatively against his face. Abel felt his breath and heart stop, closed his eyes as Cain's fingers followed the shape of his eyebrows, brushed against his eyelids, nose, cheeks, jawline. When Cain's hand stopped, cupping his face, Abel opened his eyes again.
"You loved me once."
Abel blinked, not sure whether this was a question or not, let alone why this was how Cain reacted. Cain himself did not seem to indicate either way, just staring at him, fathomless as the night sky itself. But somehow, he knew what sort of love it was Cain was talking about, and so he answered as if it was a question:
"Yes."
"But not anymore."
"No."
Cain bit his lip momentarily, his eyes still not moving. Abel swallowed-Cain's hand was cold, but not in a bad way. Just shocking against his skin, now that it was truly skin and not fur. He covered Cain's hand with his own, spreading his fingers out to match the placement of Cain's own. This human shape, all the sensations that came with it, they felt stronger than Abel had ever remembered them. Yet here and now, the smooth cold feeling of Cain's fingers and their steady motions made him want to weep.
"You did too, right?" Abel asked softly.
"Mhm."
"Once, though. Not anymore."
"No. Not anymore."
And then, finally, Cain averted his eyes, mouth twisting. All the things they had shared sat between them, not just the time spent under Oura's spells, but all of it. Abel wasn't sure what it was that Cain was trying to tell him, if he was trying to tell him anything at all. Certainly, there was no going back to those old days, not anymore, not ever again. Their time together had not ended, strictly speaking, but at the same time it had. Their lives together were now histories.
This much, Abel knew.
So perhaps this is his version of a goodbye?
"I'm sorry." He murmured.
Cain snorted and abruptly let go. Abel startled and stumbled slightly, before reaching up to touch where Cain had touched him.
"This isn't the sort of thing you're supposed to apologise for."
"It's not an apology." Abel said. "I think?"
"Then what?"
Abel shrugged. Even he wasn't sure. Cain shook his head and snorted again before turning away, presumably to go to the bathroom. But at that moment, a stirring came from the other bed and Judas sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"What are you two nattering on a-who the hell are you?"
Startled, Judas pointed right at Abel, who could only gawp. Cain sighed heavily behind him.
"Use your head, Judas. Who do you think?"
Judas rubbed his eyes again, blinked rapidly before his jaw dropped open.
"Abel?!"
"Yes?" Abel said, as though he wasn't quite sure himself.
(Which, in all fairness, he really wasn't.)
"I…." Judas shook his head. "When did this…I mean?"
"While we were sleeping, I guess?"
"So does that mean that it was Oura who turned you into a fox?" Judas asked.
Though he didn't actually know this for sure, Abel just nodded, and Judas frowned thoughtfully.
"Huh."
Judas scrutinised Abel for a few more moments, then shrugged heavily and started to get out of bed. But just as his feet had touched the carpet, the PA system made a familiar crackling sound, and Professor Arianna's voice came on:
"Attention all students, attention all students. Due to unforeseen events, the Headmaster and Headmistress are currently unable to report for their duties. We, the Faculty, have decided to take the matter into our own hands. There will be a total solar eclipse occurring tomorrow, and for that reason the school will be entering a Stage 2 lockdown from 5pm today. A full breakdown of the procedures around each stage of lockdown can be found on the school website, however the main point you need to be aware of is that nobody will be allowed to leave their designated dorm building until the lockdown is lifted or the stages are changed.
The last total solar eclipse occurred around five hundred years ago, and though such events typically only last a few minutes it may extend up to an hour or more. During this time, the already delicate balance between nature and magic is likely to fluctuate further. Supplies will be delivered to each building by staff and we will assign students to collect them at designated points, but until the all-clear is given we ask that nobody exit their building unless the danger of remaining inside is greater than that of venturing outside. Lessons will be cancelled, but activities will be uploaded to the school website for you to complete at your own pace.
The wider situation is one that is constantly changing and evolving, and this may not be the last of it. However, we will ensure that you remain updated. Please take care and stay safe."
When the announcement ended, they all looked at each other. None of them said anything.
After all, what could be said to something like that?
…
Stella put the final box down, and then with Tiro's help quickly locked the door behind the professors, who had disappeared in a blink almost soon as they'd arrived.
"Small Hall, wasn't it?" Tiro asked her.
"Yes, that's right."
"It's going to be a lot of trips…"
He frowned at the boxes, and considering them, she knew that he was right. Of course, they didn't know precisely what was in the box but it did seem like it was a lot for what was going to amount to no more than about two days. Still…
"We'll just have to manage it. How many do you think you can carry in one go? Or…hold on, is that cupboard locked?"
Having a sudden flash of memory, Stella jogged down the corridor and tried the handle of the cupboard, pleased when she entered. The trolley she had thought of was right there in the middle of the cupboard, taking up most of the space and she hauled it out and dragged it back to Tiro, who simply grinned in delight and begun to stack boxes on it. When he was done, he piled four of the smaller boxes up and carried them himself while Stella pushed the trolley.
Presumably because of the announcement, they did not see anybody as they made their way along, but as they got closer to the Small Hall, they heard two voices.
"Ohhh, it's the one where people did plays and things!"
"Del, we know all this…"
"I know, but it feels new again to me. Doesn't it all seem different to you too, Evie? Now that you're back?"
"…well, it is not as if there is anything better to do than to explore."
"Then! Let's go in!"
Turning the corner, Stella and Tiro saw two girls about to push open the door to the Small Hall. The taller one gave them a cool, assessing stare but the slightly shorter one blinked in confusion, going slightly pink before suddenly, her eyes widened.
"Stella, Tiro!" she exclaimed.
The girl's voice was light and fluttery, fitting the delicate prettiness that Stella could see beneath the dark circles under her eyes and the lack of colour in her complexion. But even if she had not been wearing a sleeveless polka-dotted pink dress that had belonged to Ririsa over a cream jumper that presumably belonged to someone else, Stella would have known who she and the other girl (in a black shirt and slim-fitting indigo trousers) were from the whispers that had gradually reached them.
"You two must be Delilah and Eve."
"I…you don't remember us, though. Right?"
Even as she said this, Delilah looked so hopeful that it was painful to have to confirm this, but there was no real use lying:
"Yes, but we knew about you thanks to Ariadne-kouhai and besides, we heard that you came back."
Her voice hitched slightly on Ariadne's name-despite not having been told exactly what the circumstances were, she knew that the younger girl had not made it back with her rescues.
"Yes, we have." Eve said simply.
"Are Ririsa and Memora around?"
"They're in the West Building, sadly." Tiro explained.
"Oh," Delilah sagged. "I was…I was looking forward to meeting you all again."
"You were?"
Stella and Tiro both gave Delilah quizzical looks, and even Eve seemed somewhat curious.
"I was," Delilah said. "You were…you were always so nice and we ate a lot of your things. I wanted to try and get to know you all better, this time around. Be friends with you too."
Stella wasn't sure what to say to those words, much less to the beseeching look that Delilah now had on her face.
"We still have your thank-you card from last year, you know."
"Y-you do?"
"We had it on our pinboard, but didn't even realise it meant anything until Ariadne-kouhai spotted it. We're still not really sure how it was she remembered you, but I'm sure that card served as validation for her. Proof that she wasn't making you all up. It must be why she was so excited about it…"
Stella trailed off, suddenly realising that perhaps admitting that they'd only given Ariadne the card for craft purposes probably wouldn't be the best move. Delilah didn't seem to notice, as she blushed again and then gave a slight smile:
"I…you really kept it?"
"Yeah, we had it."
"That's…"
"We'd be starting from scratch, of course, but Stella and I, we'd like to get to know you better and I'm sure once this lockdown is over Riri and Mem would like to meet you too. You can come to the café, too!"
"I…yes, yes please! Evie, we have to do that, okay?"
"Sure, sure." Eve said, sounding slightly flustered but smiling at Delilah all the same.
"Good, now that's settled, we just need to take these boxes in-"
"Oh, have you got quite a lot more?" Delilah interrupted Stella.
"You're suggesting we help them, right?" Eve asked.
"Yeah!"
Eve nodded, and then looked at Stella and Tiro with a raised eyebrow, silently indicating: well? Stella glanced at Tiro, and then turned to the two girls:
"Well then, we'd be happy to have your help!"
…
Will could not sleep.
For all of this day so far, he had been able to keep himself busy, first with making sure the Elite Chess Club six were settled in and supplied with spare things until their own could be found and then making sure that the supplies were sorted out for the solar eclipse lockdown. But now it was night time, and everything felt empty. He felt empty.
Empty and yet at the same time over-full, too.
He had tried to sleep, he really had, but no matter what he tried it just didn't work-and he'd tried everything. Well, almost everything. There was one thing he hadn't tried, but that was because he was trying not to do that one thing. He was trying.
But, he couldn't sleep.
Hiraga was asleep though, having made it back to the building just minutes before the lockdown had started as he'd stopped to visit their comatose friends on the way back from seeing Quiet. Aware of what had happened, and with the full weight of what was to come, Will knew that his sleep was not a peaceful one. It wouldn't be fair to wake him, and even if it was, he didn't know what it was he needed to help him through this. Distraction so that he drifted off? To be sung lullabies or told stories? To have company in the wakefulness? He didn't know, but he just wanted to sleep.
He sighed and pushed himself up into a sitting position, then looked out of the window. The night looked normal now, the dark blue sky obscured by clouds, but he couldn't imagine what it would be like during the eclipse-though of course he wouldn't be able to look, anyway. Not just because of the risk to his eyes, but because that scared him too. He was only barely able to tolerate storms now, what would he do with something like an eclipse?
I need to pull myself together, he scolded himself. Now more than ever I need to…
He sighed, and rubbed his face, waiting only a moment so he could tell himself that at least he'd held back before quietly climbing out of bed and padding to the hook on the wardrobe where he had hung his jacket, remembering that he'd left it there to empty the pockets before putting it in laundry. The first thing he pulled out was the poultice, and as he held it to his face to breathe in the scents he felt a wave of guilt. Robyn was right, he knew. He should admit to his friends that he was scared and spiralling, he knew all the reasons that he should.
It still felt like he would fail them if he did, though.
Just one, he thought as he put the poultice down, just one sip. Then I'll stop even if it doesn't help. But it will help. It has to.
But when he took the flask out and unscrewed it, it was empty. He stared down into it, confused, until he remembered lending it to aid with the burial process. He barely remembered which drinks he'd mixed together, but he was glad that it at least helped, even if it left him bereft. Briefly, he wondered if Hiraga's stash was around but he immediately drew a line under that thought. No matter how desperate he was, he would never resort to that sort of thing, never.
But then, what do I do?
Although he was pretty sure there was nothing else in there, he reached into the pocket again, only to be surprised when he felt something papery. Confused, he pulled it out and then just stared at the crumpled origami crane.
"Hey there, Lunar, mind if I sit there?"
Lunar startled and looked up at him, wide-eyed as her fingers stilled. Will smiled at her.
"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to distract you. Free period?"
Lunar ducked her head slightly and then looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes before nodding warily.
"I'm waiting for Julka and Amuri." She whispered.
"Ah, I see. Looks like you're keeping yourself occupied, right?" he asked as he sat down opposite her.
Lunar looked at the sheets of scrap paper cut into squares, the linked chain of cranes and the few solitary ones all strewn across the table before then looking at him again.
"Yeah."
"They look nice."
"Th-thanks."
"Ah, don't worry, I won't disturb you."
As if to prove it, Will took a book out from his bag and waved it at her. He would have liked to talk more with her, but he decided that it'd probably be better to wait and see if she decided to start a conversation. Let her be in control. And sure enough, Lunar gave him a small smile and went right back to making cranes. Will concentrated on his book for the most part, but occasionally he looked up to see her pick up a new sheet of paper, or connect another completed crane to the chain that she appeared to be making. Once or twice, she caught his eyes and blushed furiously, bright enough to show against the tone of her skin. He just smiled as reassuringly as he could and returned to his book.
After about half an hour or so, he heard footsteps and some muffled giggling before a pair of small hands covered his eyes.
"Guess who?" Amuri sing-songed.
"Hello, Amuri."
"Awwwww."
Amuri removed her hands, and when Will turned she was pouting impressively.
"Wiiiillllll you gotta play along! It's no fun otherwise!"
"Sorry, sorry! I promise I will next time."
Amuri pouted again before then pulling a silly face and giggling, and Will chuckled before nodding at Julka.
"Hi."
"Hiya," she said. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I am. You?"
"I'm good, thanks. Lunar, you ready?"
Lunar looked up and smiled.
"Yeah, I'm almost done…hey, Will?"
"Yeah?"
"There's…there's twelve of you, right? Your group?"
"Yes, that's right? Why?"
Lunar didn't immediately respond, instead looking down at what she had in her hands. Will realised that the chain of origami cranes had become a circle. She appeared to be counting the cranes in the circle and when she had done, her eyes lit up as she looked up again and held out the circle of cranes to him. Amuri cackled, only to squawk when Julka elbowed her. Mercifully, Lunar didn't seem to notice, as her usual small, hesitant smile bloomed into something that was much more freely delighted before she said:
"Here, for you. It's a circle of friends!"
He didn't know if this crane was from that circle, or if it was just another one. She'd not given him any others specifically that he could remember, but it was entirely possible he'd come across one accidentally left behind in a classroom or the library. But where did we put it? Where'd we put the circle of friends? They'd hung it up in Room 777 for a little while soon after getting it, and then it had been put away when they'd done some cleaning a while later, but it had to be somewhere, didn't it? It had to be, it just had to be. It seemed suddenly horribly, hideously unfair that not only was Lunar herself gone, but that evidence of who she was should be gone too.
Will barely realised that he'd left the room and made his way up to where Room 777 was usually hidden until he was approaching the wall in question and then he ground to a halt. It was the middle of the night, completely the wrong time of day to be able to see the room.
But despite that, he could see the door.
It was faint, the glittering of it somehow seeming more vehement, but all the same it was there. When he reached out for the door handle, it was solid in his hand and when he pressed down on it, the door opened. Stepping in, he turned on the electric lights and then looked around. The first thing to catch his eye was the rows and rows of bottles behind the counter and before he could reason with himself he found himself heading straight for behind the counter, picking up a bottle at random (at this point, what he took didn't matter, because surely anything, anything would help) and opening it.
He tried to tell himself just a sip, the way he had when he'd assumed there would be something left in his flask, but even as he told himself this other thoughts took over.
He thought of watching classmates bury another, of watching Robyn pushing herself to the limit, of all that blood.
He thought of the six who had returned from a horrific ordeal, and what it had cost for them to be back.
He thought, also, of little Ariadne, and wondered if anything would have been different if someone had gone after her that day and properly listened to what she'd thought.
He thought of the friends and others still in the infirmary, still unresponsive with no real hope and no real reason.
He thought of the five who had disappeared together, the three from the year before who were still lost. And of Lunar.
Especially Lunar, once he'd turned to get another bottle and realised he'd dropped the little origami crane on the floor. Still holding the bottle, he knelt down to pick it up but then he stumbled, and the bottle slipped out of his hand and crashed, sending glass and liquid everywhere. With shaking hands, he retrieved the crane and then reached up to settle it clumsily on the counter before attempting to scoop up the glass. But his hands trembled and trembled, and he kept thinking of the crane, lonely without its circle of friends.
Where did we put it? Where did we put it?
Stumbling again, he managed to get up and started to pull open drawers, first simply rootling through the contents and then as he moved on he began taking them out, dumping them on the counter. He couldn't even explain to himself why all of a sudden it mattered so much, but he had to find it. He had to. Unsteadily, he made his way around the room, looking in every cupboard, every corner but still, he did not find it. Desperately, he made it back to the counter, reaching out for the crane sitting there, looking forlorn and all alone. But as he did, he lost his footing again and stumbled, causing some of the empty bottles to fall to the floor. He turned and stared at them, suddenly entranced by the light reflecting off of the shards and making them look like diamonds.
What…what am I doing here? He wondered suddenly. I…I need to clean this up, quickly…
He knelt down, and began to attempt to clear up the glass shards when suddenly, a wave of nausea hit him. Unable to get up in time, all he could do was let the remains of his dinner come back up, splashing over his clothes and in front of him.
Then, all of a sudden, the sound of the door opening and people bursting through, footsteps clattering and shouts floating towards him.
"What are you doing?" Lucy said. "You can't clean up glass with your hands!"
"I…"
"Come on," Starri said. "Come on."
She helped him stand up and step carefully over the glass as Lidia and Lily came back with dustpans, brushes and other cleaning supplies. They started to tidy up while Lucy looked around her, frowning deeply and wrinkling her nose.
"What on earth…was all of this you?"
"Have you been here all this time?" Hiraga asked.
"I….yes?" Will managed.
"Bloody hell," Hiraga said empathetically. "Putting aside the question of why we can even get in there at this time of night, we've been looking for you!"
"You have?"
"Um….yes?"
"Hira woke up and realised that you'd left without your slippers or anything and he called us, and we've been looking around the building for you. Luckily, we managed to not wake anybody else up…"
Starri trailed off and bit her lip, and something occurred to Will.
"You're out of your building." He said to Lucy and the other girls.
"Yes, we are," Lucy rolled her eyes and huffed. "We're out of our building because we thought you'd gone missing too!"
"You couldn't have told me you were going here? Left a note?" Hiraga demanded.
Will blinked and swayed slightly.
"I didn't want to wake you up."
"You didn't want to wake us up!" Hiraga threw his hands up in the air out of frustration. "You didn't want to…Will, what were you thinking?"
"The circle of friends."
"I…you what now?"
Hiraga gawped at him, and Will sighed. Suddenly, it felt like something heavy was pressing down on him, trying to push him right on the floor. He was vaguely aware that Lucy and Hiraga still had more questions for him, angry and relentless, but he could not process the words he was hearing, let alone figure out how to form the words he needed to answer them.
"Hiraga, Lucy, don't!" Starri exclaimed eventually.
The stream of questions stopped, and both of them turned to stare at Starri, who just shook her head. Lucy sighed and then looked back at Will. She rubbed her face for a moment before saying.
"You really are in a state, aren't you? Okay, we're saving the bollocking for later. And believe me, you will get one."
"I know." Will managed. "I deserve it."
The heaviness continued to press down on him, but at the same time it felt like a fog had lifted from his eyes and suddenly he could see what it was he had done. So much for pulling myself together, huh?
"Too right you do, but we're not doing that now. Right now, we're just going to be here, alright? We'll be here."
Lucy pursed her lips, and with horror Will realised that she was trying not to cry. I'm supposed to be trying to protect you all, not make you all worry about me. He wanted to hug her, but realised that bleeding hands and clothes covered in vomit made that a terrible idea.
"I'll get the first aid kit for your hands and feet." Starri said, dashing off to do just that.
Hiraga led him to a bar stool and made him sit down.
"You wait there 'til Starri gets back. I'll find a change of clothes for you-but once you're patched up you can bloody well clean yourself up. Yeah?"
Will managed to smile weakly at that:
"Yeah, I can handle that."
…
When he came back out, cleaned and bandaged, Lucy led him to a table where a bowl of soup and a buttered bread roll waited for him. She sat quietly opposite him while he ate, and then took the bowl and spoon and plate away. She clearly didn't wash them though as she reappeared a few seconds later and beckoned him to one of the corners, where the others had laid out sleeping bags and an assortments of blankets.
"Yours is in the middle." Lucy told him, her voice a little softer this time.
Will studied the arrangement, and saw that there was indeed one that could be described as being in the middle, the others forming a circle around them. Almost out of habit, he started to say that they shouldn't have but then he stopped and looked at them, really looked at them. Remembered that it wasn't just that he loved them, but that they loved him too. And wasn't this what he had needed, really? With that in his mind, he chose instead to muster up the best smile he could manage and then go over to the sleeping bag in the middle while everyone else arranged themselves around him.
Lying on his back, he looked to one side and saw Starri curled up on her side, facing him. She gave a gentle smile when she saw him looking at her.
"You know, Will," she said. "It's not a hero we need, it's you. Just you."
"Starri, I…."
"Shhhhhh," she said, patting his cheek softly. "Shhhhh. It's alright. We love you."
"Yes, even when you're being a complete blockhead." Hiraga said on his other side.
"Hira," Starri protested. "I thought we were saving that for the morning."
"Don't worry, Starri-star, I understand, really."
Will tried to smile, and Starri smiled back, although her eyes were now wet.
"Oh, Will."
"Alright, let's go to sleep now, alright?" Lily said. "It's getting late, or close enough to it. And I think we're all tired."
"Too right about that. Well, goodnight." Lidia said.
"Night."
"Goodnight, guys."
"Night-night."
"Goodnight."
And with his beloved friends all around him, he finally fell asleep.
…
The girl who was once known as Cookie but now called herself Elly landed in the forest with an inelegant thud, but barely allowed herself the time to recover as she scrambled up, her legs still feeling wobbly. It looked as if she was in Aeternum proper, but just a little further away she was able to see some of the old forest trees, and so she lurched forward.
As she did, she noticed that there was a chill in the air that was strange, even for this time of the year and that she couldn't hear any of the usual sounds of the forest. The light filtering through the trees seemed weaker and diminished, but it was only when she began to notice bands of shadow on the ground that she realised what was going on.
An eclipse.
Huh? When was the last time one of those happened? Certainly not in my lifetime…Many more questions swirled around in her head, but she knew that what she had to do was keep her head down and get inside as fast as she could. So wrapping the cloak she'd been given more tightly around her, she kept going…
…and then, suddenly, she was thrown backwards.
Hitting the ground, a sensation like an electric shock coursed through her and she screamed before lying there for a moment, closing her eyes tightly. Then when the sensation had subsided she carefully got up and opened her eyes to see that there was a large containment barrier between Aeternum and part of the old forest. Or, not all of it. Rather than going in a smooth line, to the left of her the barrier curved slightly to accommodate a slightly raised hill of dirt with what looked like a sheathed sword stuck into it. Unsteadily, she walked over to it and frowned. She examined it from all angles, and then looked up at the tree that the mound was in front of and then realised.
"Who's buried here? Is it one of the girls?" she wondered aloud. "But why would Frost do…"
Her chest clenched, as if reminding her of the wound that was still there. She assumed that even if her skin was stitched back together again thanks to the magic that had bought her time, the wound itself was still essentially there. And speaking of that:
"Headmistress, could you not have, oh, I don't know, made sure I landed outside the barrier?" she yelled in frustration. "How exactly am I meant to figure things out from here?"
She stamped her foot, but the only response she got back was the unnatural hushed silence of the eclipse. Dammit, what do I do? Going back to the barrier, careful to not touch it again, she looked up at it and noted that some of the trees went taller than the barrier. But even if she had the strength to climb a tree, she would hardly be able to swing across to the next one.
Then….
She thought for a moment, looked around her for any answers and then found herself looking at the burial mound again. She studied the sword and the carved tree on the sheath and remembered that Mona had been a diligent kendo student. Yet, this did not look anything like that type of sword, and right now she couldn't remember if any of the other missing girls were particularly proficient in bladed combat. More to the point, she wondered who it was who'd decided to bury them here, clearly following the proper procedures to make sure they were sent to the Other Side, or at least the borderlines of the Other Side. That didn't chime in with Frost's methods-after all, Lunar had just been dumped.
Wait a minute. Burial. Digging.
She turned and stared at the barrier again, then tiptoed to it before kneeling down. All she had were her hands, but if the barrier didn't even go as high as some of the trees, then it was unlikely that it went deep underground, either. It was a long shot, but there was nothing else for her to do. So after taking a breath to steady herself, she begun to dig at the earth.
…
The moment the eclipse was over and the lockdown was lifted 'for a brief moment while the situation is monitored', Sasi only had one destination in mind. She did not tell any of her friends, didn't even phone them. Once the announcement had gone, she had simply got up (for she hadn't even gone to bed, not since it'd happened), smoothed out her cloak, made sure she had a weapon with her and then headed out.
The grounds were completely empty, and this suited her just fine. She didn't want people looking at her, fussing over her, trying to press her grief down to size. She was being turned inside out by it, had spent most of the past day squished into the corner of her bed, keeping the cloak on tightly around as if to actively restrain herself, stop all her seams from unravelling undoing her completely. The pain of it felt like it was eating her alive, and she didn't want to feel like this. She didn't want to let the grief pull her under. Everything ended, one way or another, and they'd promised that if their ending was one that tore them apart that the other would go on and continue living. But she wasn't ready to stop hurting, not yet.
Not when it felt like the hurt was one of the few things she had left.
She glanced up at the sky briefly as a few drops of cold rain splattered down, noticing that although it was as light as one would expect in the early afternoon, the sky was completely black. Not the off-black of night that was often threaded through with blue, or the type of black that was actually dark grey, multi-textured and patchy with storm clouds. No, this was a pure black, if ever there was such a thing as a black that could be pure. It didn't much look like an 'all-clear' situation to her, but she wasn't sure she cared as she continued on, thinking only of sitting by the burial mound.
Getting to the forest outskirts, she tensed and put her hand to her blade, listening out for signs of movement as she slowly made her way in, looking all around her and up into the branches for any sign of the person who had torn her world apart for reasons she simply did not comprehend. So intense was her concentration, she almost tripped over something on the ground.
Regaining her footing, she made to pull her blade on whatever it was that had caused her to stumble, but it clattered out of her hand as she saw the containment barrier that went right around the burial mound. Rage rose up in her and she bent to pick up her blade and charge right at the barrier when she noticed that something had dug underneath it. The anger stilled, replaced by curiosity, and as she straightened she looked around.
And that was when she saw the girl lying on the ground, her hands caked in dirt.