Jericho lies on his bed, unmoving, staring at the wall to his bed's side. He planned to sleep, to save his energy before the big moment, but even as the time of action comes near, he hasn't got a blink of sleep at all. He was too excited, and too scared to miss this night.

Now the time is too near to remain here. He pushes himself to the edge of his bed. His movement quick, impatient. Despite his lack of sleep, he feels a surge of constant energy running his nerves.

He chews his lip as he stands up, bracing for the inevitable nausea. A moment of vertigo, but he doesn't let it deter him.

He feels his way to his wardrobe and takes out his uniform. He pauses just as he's about to take his clothes off. He realizes he's already wearing a uniform. He just remembered now. He planned to sleep with his uniform on so he won't waste time changing. His uniform is wrinkled because of this, but it doesn't matter. No one's going to see him anyway. If he's quick enough, that is.

Without wait, the wizard leaves his room. This late, only a handful of security and night watches patrol the school, and given how large the school and understaffed it's been lately (the reason more student night watches enrol), he'd run into patrols rarely, and when he does, they're mostly tired from all the walking and are less perceptive.

Through the dark hallways the wizard creeps, not a map in his hand or light from his wand, but his gait shows nothing but confidence.

Normally, his head wouldn't be clear at a moment like this. It would be filled with so many what ifs: what if someone found him? What if they got the wrong idea? Or worse, what if they got the right idea?

But there's nothing normal about now. Now his mind is clear and sharper than it's been lately. Now he has a goal to help with that.

Only once does he stop in his journey, only once does he show hesitation. It was when he passes by a window and looks up to the night sky where a blue moon sits, softly shining pale blue. It gives him an equal sense of awe and discomfort.

Suddenly, another patrol comes around the corner. The light of their lantern or wands give them away too easily—their greatest weakness. Jericho fastens his walk. He comes to a pillar and hides behind it and waits.

His heart beats faster when the patrol comes close but take a different turn away from him at the last minute. This becomes a routine soon enough. The patrols would come, he'd hide and wait, they'd nearly come to him but then take another turn, and he continues on. He can't suppress the tension that makes his heart bang against his chest, but he can't lie that it feels… actually good. The feeling of doing something wrong then taking the right actions and getting away with it... it's liberating. He wonders if this is what Amanda always feels when she's up to no good.

'I wonder how good of a delinquent I'd be if I ever decide to be one. I'd probably be better than Amanda.' He smirks. 'I'm miles smarter than her, after all'

Another patrol passes by. Once they're gone, Jericho takes a quick breather in before exitting a pillar he used to hide. He stops when he feels something tugging his clothes from behind. He tries to move, but it won't go. He's gotten his vest stuck to something. Without turning, he tries to unhook whatever hooked him. That's when he realizes his hand feels nothing cold and solid like a piece of furniture, but warm and soft like a hand.

His head swivels back and he finds a face of a person staring back at him, hidden by the shadow. His heart leapt out his chest. He's just about to scream when the person quickly moves its finger up to where he believes is its lips.

"Dude, shut up!" the person half shouts half whispers.

The boy promptly stops. He squints his eyes. He cannot make out the figure hidden in the dark, but he recognized that voice

"Amanda?" He mutters. And so, the shock returns to him all the same. "What are you doing here?!"

"I was hiding!" the girl replies in hushed shouts.

In her defence, this was a good hiding spot from the patrol.

"I was here before you!" She says.

"How did I not notice?"

"A testament to my camouflage", the girl replies. Despite the shadow that hides her face, the wizard is sure she's smiling cockily at him. "Also, you got your back turned on me when you backed away behind this pillar, so also because of that".

The boy leans his back on the pillar and sighs deeply. "You scared me there".

"You gave me a good scare too", Amanda admits, chuckling dryly. "I did saw you earlier, but I thought you're one of the patrols. It fits you more than this, after all. That's why I didn't announce my presence until I'm sure".

"That so?" he says. 'How terrifying. I was just thinking about her and now she's here'. He peeks out the hallway."I need to go somewhere".

"Same". A moment of silence passes between the two. "Cafeteria?" Amanda asks with a bemused smirk.

"Is that yours?" the boy turns to her, a brow raised, before peeking back out the pillar. "I mean, it's an interesting offer, but no, it's not the cafeteria".

"Jas got her snack confiscated earlier today, again. She was eating in class, again", Amanda winces. "It was her favourite. They kept it at the cafeteria's fridge. I was out here to break in and make her wake up to her favourite snack in the morning".

"That's kind of her", he thought in amusement. "Still a wrong thing to do, but also kind".

"You drive a hard bargain, bringing Jasminka in", he shakes his head. "But I have somewhere else more dire to visit".

A smug smile crosses her lips. Amanda reaches behind her and lifts up a backpack and shakes it. The tell-tale sound of snacks rustling comes from inside it. "Who said I hadn't done it already?"

Footsteps echo down the hallway, far behind them. The two cut their conversation short and creep forward, leaving the pillar. They have to move forward to a more hidden position. They only dare to talk again after a good minute of more evading.

Eventually, Amanda whispers, "So where are you headed?"

"The chapel", he answers. "At the base of the new moon tower".

"The chapel? Why?"

He pauses. What should he do with Amanda? Is it wise to make her go away? Or is it wiser to invite her in. having her around risks her asking unnecessary questions. Questions that he's not yet ready to answer to anyone. He'd look like a lunatic.

But Amanda might be advantageous to have. Breaking rules is her thing. Making her go away would be like declining an offer from Diana to help with your homework. He should call it lucky he ran into Amanda. Including her is a good idea as long as he can keep his mouth shut and or to mislead her so she stays in the dark. Not a hard thing to do, as long as he keeps a cool head.

He looks at her and calmly answers, "I need to go to the chapel. To break into, if need be. I'm bound to and willing to break some rules doing this. As to what I'm going to do you'll see when we get there". A smirk grows on his lips, one that he believes mirror's Amanda's usual cockiness. "Let's just say I'm up to no good".

Amanda thought what she heard didn't feel like it came from Jericho, the indecisive, shy wizard. The Jericho she knew wouldn't do anything remotely rule-breaking as this. It felt to her like she's talking to someone she didn't know. That stutter-less response, his deep dark eyes that didn't try to look away when she stares at them directly, and that calm determination in those eyes… they're all foreign in the boy. He feels cooler somehow, so suddenly.

Slowly, a toothy grin begins to grow on Amanda. She chuckles. "Hoh oh, didn't know you had it in you!"

The boy cocks his head. He tenses up when he feels Amanda's arm slung across his shoulders and her pulling him close. She says, "I like this! You know what? It's your lucky day: I'll help you get there".

"I already know the way…" he argues irritably. "But you can come if you want to".

Amanda nods rapidly. There's an excited glee in Amanda's eyes that he can't miss.

The boy gulps. 'Is she… is she thinking I'm going to do more of this in the future?'

The boy fears that he'd planted some wild ideas and expectations in her, things he can't deliver.

'Have she thought she's found a partner in crime?!' he thought in horror.

In a month he'd given two people two different expectations of himself that he won't really fulfil. He's on a roll. And like the first, it's beneficial for him to roll with it now.

He wanted to argue, but something stops him. Amanda still has her hand around him. She's holding him tight and firmly, no sign of letting go. The surprise has made him unaware. Routinely, his cheeks start to burn. His previously built up cool and determined composure is gone.

A party of one becomes a two. The wizard and the witch remains silent for most of the journey due to safety reasons, but when they're outside and closing in on the new moon tower, it's inevitable that Amanda will want to talk. It's mostly mundane, if not idiotic stuffs she talks about—nothing out of the ordinary. But that's bound to change.

"How did my talk with Akko go?" the wizard echoes Amanda's question cautiously, a frown creasing his brows. He'd stopped walking, forcing Amanda to do the same.

Amanda nods. "Yeah. You know, the talk she wanted once she knew you…"

"…didn't come from a witch family?" he finishes her sentence. 'That's like a week ago. Before I agreed to go to Professor's extra classes', the boy thought.

Amanda scratches the back of her head. She looks more conscious now. "Right. Anyway, I can tell she wanted to talk about something important since she kept pestering me about making the two of you meet up…"

'No wait, had it been a week ago, or longer? I can't recall. I didn't try to think much of our talk. It wasn't bad, but just unpleasant'.

Amanda's voice fades away to the back of his mind. To him, it felt like how he'd lower a car's radio's volume.

'It was unpleasant… why was it unpleasant? I don't know. I just didn't like talking about that'.

He pauses when the silence dawns on him. Amanda had stopped talking. He scratches the back of his neck absently. "Well it goes as well as any other conversation", he says.

The wizard grows conscious of his entire body suddenly, from head to toe. He tries his best to keep a straight face and not look away when Amanda does look and not make any unnecessary gestures.

"She's just shocked that we both didn't come from a witch family. And she's even more shocked when she realizes I knew since the beginning about her but didn't try to approach her".

"You did, didn't you? Why?"

"I see no reason". The wizard's answer was short and sure. Perhaps Amanda expected more, judging from her curious eyes. But he decides to move on. "Anyway, now we attend Professor Ursula's extra classes together. She's been a great help, the professor. I suppose I should thank Akko for inviting me".

Soon they arrive in front of the New Moon Tower. It was a great timing for him. They cease talking.

The door is still heavy like he remembered, but at least it opens. Lucky. He pushes slowly so it won't make a sound. The chapel is as dark as the rest of the school this late. Only the ends of the room has light, faint from the blue moon outside. The statues were beautiful, but they're now ominous in the dark of night. They stand at the corner of the room below the circular window like silent watchmen watching over the room even long after their own times.

'Time to get back on track'.

Amanda is surprised when Jericho suddenly takes the lead. Entering the room, his eyes fixed at one part of the room, his gait showing no doubt.

Amanda was curious, but she didn't ask how this change in him came to be. Once again, the wizard felt… different tonight. The way he carries himself is new to her.

The wizard stops in front of the statues. He's still silent. Amanda had no choice but to stop as well.

"What's up?" she asks. The new moon tower's chapel is abandoned enough that she doesn't bother hiding her voice.

Silence. He doesn't take his eyes off the moon outside.

Amanda's eyes shift between him and the moon, and the room around. She wonders if she's missing something important.

Seconds pass, still silence.

"Um… dude? What are we doing?"

Amanda was quickly surprised when the wizard, instead of answering, drops to his knees and begin to feel the stone paved floor below him with his hands. He moves his hands around swiftly to scrutinize the floor around him closely, brick by boring brick.

Amanda was too confused, too scared, to even ask.

Seconds pass, and his movements become quicker and more erratic. He's panicking, as if he dropped a million dollar note somewhere on the stone's seams. Only after more seconds pass does he push up and say, still looking around.

The boy mutters, "It's not… why isn't?" His face is unreadable.

Amanda imagines her jaw is still unhinged. She doesn't bother to lie and hide her surprise. "What are you doing?"

Still on the floor, Jericho turns to her, but his eyes kept scanning the room, never finding rest. "It's supposed to be here".

"What's supposed to be there?"

"Stairs!" He stares at her with wide eyes. "I saw it and there's supposed to be some stairs here, leading to…."

The boy trails off, his eyes cast towards the large window, the moon overshadowing outside, nearly placed at the centre of the window's perfect circle.

'It's a blue moon. It's a blue moon. Why is the floor still a floor?'

"This doesn't make any sense…"

Behind him, Amanda shifts awkwardly. "Yes… stairs", she mutters. Then, she asks "Are you alright?"

The boy turns to her with an annoyed scowl. "I'm fine, Amanda".

He turns to the statue again. In front of the statues are the three stone pedestals, wide and long. They almost look like coffins.

'This doesn't make any sense…'

Tired from this initial defeat, the boy sighs and sits on one of the coffin-like pedestals. He silently prays it's not an actual coffin that could get offended. Honestly, he doesn't need a vengeful ghost cursing him to add to the pile of problems he has right now.

He wouldn't allow despair to take hold of him this early. He must've missed something. He takes out his notebook and skims through. Even with the distance between them, Amanda could hear him muttering as he flips through the pages.

The odd situation left Amanda confused more than anything. With the boy consumed in thought and showing no intention to leave the room anytime soon, he couldn't think of anything to do other than to just wait. There's no harm for her to get comfortable as she waits.

The irritating sound of plastic being ripped echoes throughout the room. It irritated the boy out of his train of thought, so he once again scowls at the girl.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"You don't seem like you're going to leave this place for a bit, so a bit of snacking won't hurt", Amanda responds. She's in the middle of trying to tear a bag open, much to her difficulty. "So… you like these sorts of treasure hunting things? I can show you forbidden places in the school I found, they're so much better than a dead end in a chapel".

"No I'm not, no thanks, and finally this isn't a dead end" . He folds his arms in front his chest. "I just know there's something under this place"

He'd rather not get distracted any further and resume thinking to himself. But the loud crunching of potato chips pulls his attention towards Amanda once again. This time he realizes something unsettling.

"Wait, I thought they're Jasminka's", the boy asks, a slight edge to his voice.

"I'm not a monster, I'm only eating the ones that aren't hers". Amanda rolls her eyes. "Besides, you look like you need a few bites. Hungry people tend to be angry, or hangry, I call them".

She raises the bag of chips towards him, but he doesn't move.

"Hangry", the boy echoes her words in bemusement. He doesn't try to take the bag or try anything, his frown only deepens. "You took them from the cafeteria? They're not yours".

Amanda cocks her head. "Yes, and?"

'There's no guilt in her'.

His brows furrow and he looks away from her. He knows this is the part where they won't agree with one another. This is the part where their friendship isn't based on. It's the part that, if they aren't already friends, he would've hated it.

Now he knows Amanda won't listen to his morals, but at least he can rationalize with her, right?

Still facing away, he says, "If you take that many, won't you just make it too obvious that something is missing? Would've been safer to just take Jasminka's".

"You worry too much", she says, still nonchalant. "What are they going to do if they found out, expel me?"

The boy winces. He finally faces Amanda again. "Don't say that".

Finally, that nonchalant look in Amanda fades slightly. "What? Just saying the truth", she shrugs.

"Really? You mean that?"

"Don't be a worrywart", Amanda says, chuckling. "Listen, schools are just schools, I've been in and out of a lot and let me tell you, they're not that different from one another".

The wizard grimaces. 'What is she trying to say? Does she mean what she said or is she just bluffing so she doesn't look scared?'

Truth be told, he can never be sure with Amanda; there's this barrier that Amanda always has up—her always confident eyes or clever responses—that it's impossible to tell what she truly means. She has that barrier put up for everyone, even her closer friends to some degree.

'Everyone has a barrier. Everyone has a limit to what they show to others'. He soon understood this. 'No need to be alarmed that your friend has one for you as well'.

It's not his business to pry that barrier open if Amanda doesn't want to. If Amanda wants him to not know what she meant or not meant, then so be it. With a sigh, he mentally lists this in the growing pile of times Amanda has left him clueless.

"As long as you don't drag me into your crimes, I suppose I can tolerate you".

"But aren't you the one that's dragging me into yours?" Amanda asks with a punchable smirk. Again, another clever response. The wizard snorts at that.

"Right". He rises up and decides to get back on track. He doesn't have unlimited time, he must remind himself of this. It's best not to think of anything else other than this room.

"I must've missed something". The wizard walks to the statue. He feels the rough stone with his hand.

Amanda watches the confused boy with indifference. She's already decided to not waste her energy trying to figure out what the hell he's trying to do. She'd rather enjoy her snack in peace. Plus, now that he's busy with himself, she won't feel his moral pressure at every bite of chips she takes.

The wizard kept pacing back and forth around the room, mumbling to himself and sighing or groaning occasionally—his habit when he's thinking, as Amanda have noted.

'But what did I miss?' He chews at his thumb nail. 'Try to remember. Try to remember how it opened. Did it open automatically in the dream? Or did something need to happen first? A secret code or a key perhaps?'

But he got nothing. He's on a dead end. Was Amanda correct all along? That this is a dead end? Tired and frustrated, the boy sits down and leans his back on the stone statue's feet. They're cold and hard, uncomfortable to his back, but there's no other place to lean his back onto.

He covers his mouth as he yawns. Why does his eyes feel heavy suddenly? It's like iron anchors are pulling down his eyelids, begging him to close his eyes. Was he so tired that an uncomfortable place like this was good enough for him? The lack of sleep is catching up to him.

He still doesn't want to be idle. He's not much time. He's running out of time. The blue moonlight will pass eventually. 'Key or secret code. Key or secret code'. He thought endlessly. 'Key or secret code… a spell...?'

It took Amanda a few minutes to notice the silence. Jericho had stopped mumbling or pacing around for a while now. Turns out the boy wasn't deep in thought, he actually fell asleep leaning on the statue's feet.

"Seriously?" she says. But then, a smirk begins to grow on her. For a moment, Amanda thought of leaving him here and get back to her room. It would be pretty funny…

But then, Jericho's eyes snap wide open and he lifts his head and looks directly towards Amanda. Amanda jolts up in surprise. It looks as if he heard what she was thinking.

Just before Amanda could speak, the wizard hastily rises from his resting place. The act made him dizzy and wobbly, but he doesn't stay still. He immediately walks unsteadily away from the statue. Then he turns around to face it, his back now turned towards Amanda. The entire time he doesn't speak a thing or look at Amanda, his eyes were wide the entire time like he's not in the room. He looked like a zombie.

To say that Amanda is confused is an understatement. Her hands have stopped reaching for the chips long ago.

He says something. It was quieter than a whisper. Amanda couldn't possibly hear it.

She cocks her head. "What did you say?"

Silence. The boy doesn't reply nor make any move, his eyes is transfixed to the floor in front of him.

Suddenly, the very ground moves. The room rumbles loudly as the entire floor shakes.

"What?!" Amanda cries. Jericho feels the same reaction when he saw the dust falling off the ceiling like waterfalls.

Amanda's chips fly to the air and into the floor, the girl having recoiled so hard she squeezed on her bag so hard she spilled them. Jericho could only look in stunned silence as the floor in front of him begins to gradually collapse the exact way in his dreams. And just like his dreams, it reveals a set of stairs and a very familiar darkness.

"Holy shit", he mouths, and his hand moves to his mouth to cover his gaping mouth.

The floor stops shaking once the stairs are fully formed. A final deep resounding drop can be heard as the last of the step settles. Finally, the room is silent as a grave after all that rumbling. Only now in this silence does he realize how hard his heart had been beating. In fact, it's just now he realizes how excited his whole body is.

But Amanda's voice breaks him of this excited trance. "What the hell did you do?! Are you trying to wake the whole school up?!" She cries in hushed voice from behind him. She too stares at the revealed stairs, but she suppresses any sense of awe.

The boy turns to her, face full of shock and delight. 'Delight?' Amanda thought.

"Amanda! I did that! I did this". His hand is clasped together like a delighted kid. This makes Amanda even more confused.

"Yes, I see that, good job", Amanda says. Without giving him the chance to protest, she pulls him away from the stairs. She lets him go only so she can grab her snacks and shove them into her bag. "Now help me gather these and get ready to run, I don't think we have much time left before the patrols arrive".

Once she's done leaving no traces behind, she pulls him by his arm again, this time towards the door. She freezes when she hears a voice outside. Multiple voices. Someone has heard the commotion and they're coming this way.

"Shit".

Amanda pulls him into a corner of the room, far away from the door. The two hides behind one of the thick square pillars, this one well hidden in the dark.

They hid just in time for the door to suddenly open. The two could hear multiple footsteps. A patrol group. Amanda doesn't bother trying to find out who. No matter the person, being found would mean they're dead.

Amanda glances at Jericho. 'I'd be fine', she thought. 'But I don't know how he'll fare if he's found out.

Amanda's eyes quickly scan their surroundings for any way out.

"There!" She found it. Without warning, she pulls him again. He doesn't protest, not when she's definitely in her element right now.

The two arrives below a small window, just slightly away from their reach, at the end of the room. Luckily, outside the blue moon is covered in thick clouds, so no light is coming through this window. They're lucky.

"Here!" she turns to him, a determined look on her face. "We have to get in one by one. I'll go first, you boost me. I'll wait and help you from the other side once I'm through". She looks outside again. "I'll, like, give you something to hold on to".

The boy nods. He's secretly impressed by how quick and clever she is at times like this.

Amanda goes through the window without difficulty and safely lands outside. The warmth of the room made her forget how cold the forest outside is. She quickly undo her sash and tugs at it first, testing its strength. Sure it's enough, she holds one end of the sash and throws the other through the window.

But it bounces off.

She thought she'd missed and hit the wall, but no, the window was just closed. There's a resounding click at the other end of the window as it's locked from inside. Amanda's stomach drops.

Jericho tucks his wand back into his belt. He breathes out deeply as he backs away from the window.

'I owe her an explanation tomorrow.'

He returns his attention to the centre of the room, where the patrol group have just arrived. They consist of one teacher and a few fairies. He can't tell who that teacher is, not this far and with this lack of light. No sign of the goblin that talked to him.

He clenches his fists. 'It's now or never. This isn't the time to run away.'

Jericho creeps closer towards the stairway to the cave, moving from one pillar to another, hoping to find a window of opportunity where he can make a run for it under the patrol's notice.

He has to stop when the patrol group finally notices the stairway. The group slows to a stop, quiet whispers thrown to one another. Their full attention is on the mysterious stairway. Jericho can tell most of them have never seen that entrance before.

He grimaced as they approach and surround the entrance. An inexplicable jealousy stirs deep inside him. It begs at his body to break into action and stop them, to push them away from the entrance, from his discovery.

He curses under his breath. He takes a deep breath as his hand reaches to his chest.

'Don't be a fool, Jericho. Remain calm. Be patient. You've been patient for this night, it would be foolish to throw everything you've worked for by being impatient. I have to focus on what's important.'

He'd become too excited because of his exciting discovery and had lost his cool, but now is the moment he needs to be calm the most. He has to assess the situation thoroughly. His eyes scan the room, trying to find a way to enter the cave without being seen.

For now, there's no sign the patrol will take their eyes off or even leave this new mysterious site. Approaching directly is definitely no option. He bites the nail of his thumb.

'Think. How can I do this without getting caught? Think, think. What would Amanda do?'

His thought stops abruptly when one of the patrols, the teacher, turns to his direction. He quickly retreats behind the pillar.

But then he hear footsteps. Someone is separating herself from the group. The footsteps grow louder with each step.

He tenses up and shrinks himself further behind the pillar. He's not hearing wrong. Someone is walking towards his pillar. He dares not to take a peek. Before he knew it, his heart begins to beat quickly in his chest, and sweat begins to trickle down the nape of his neck. He covers his mouth with both hands to hide his breathing that he fears is growing louder.

Suddenly all the calm and idea he's building is thrown out the window. He can't think of anything. In such a crucial moment, his head suddenly went blank.

'Why, why? Why can't I think of anything?'

Everything he's achieved tonight will be destroyed if he's caught. It won't be him that will go through that dark cave. The thought breaks him from inside.

The steps go closer and closer—louder and louder. The steps grow so near, and soon it moves to his side—she's rounding the pillar.

Then a deafening noise, like a window being broken, shatters the tense silence. It was from outside the chapel. It came from the direction of the school. All eyes turn to that direction save for his.

The steps stop. The person that nearly discovered him has stopped. Jericho dares not to move.

Then, one of the fairies shouts something to another and one by one they storm out the building, their lanterns guiding the way outside.

Then the person that nearly discovered him moves as well. He can't believe his ears when he hears the steps are moving awayfrom him. She, whoever that was, was last to leave.

The wizard finally releases a breath he's held so painfully. It felt like his chest was caged in chains. He feels safe enough to peek out the pillar, just in time to witness all the patrol rushing out, none looking back.

Instincts quickly take him. He cares not what that sound was and how was he saved and rushes to the cave's stairway. His heart is lifted with every step he takes. His hope lies just a few steps away from him, so close for him to reach, growing ever closer with each step.

Just when he nears it, he catches a glimpse of someone watching him from outside the building. The wizard stops in his track and stares at the hint of red hair sticking out of a thick bush, revealing herself slightly just so he could see her.

It's Amanda. She keeps waving her hand over and calling for him quietly.

His eyes went wide seeing her, and even more when he realizes what had happened.

He'd like to be able to say his gratitude right now, but he can't. He won't. Without saying or gesturing a thing, he steps back, descending a step down the stairway. He can't miss the confused look Amanda has, even this far away. It soon turns to concern.

"Thank you", he mouths, though he doubts she could ever catch that.

Without delay, he turns around and rushes down the stairs. Amanda watches wordlessly as his figure disappears into the darkness. She doesn't have the time to think of what happened.

She ducks into hiding again when one of the patrols come too close around her.

She has to get out of here. Thinking comes later.

Jericho rushes down the stairs, and eventually stone gives way to natural rocks.

His dreams are true. It led him to this place. His heart beats loudly. His grin was uncontrollable. Something great is bound to happen.