Serene's mouth was dry and she felt like death in History class the next morning.

"Oh my God is she still talking?" She muttered, her hand on her forehead and staring down at the blank notebook in front of her.

"I'm starting to think finishing off all the alcohol in one night might not have been the best idea," Maizie agreed lowly, her head resting on her arms, folded on the desk.

"Oh gee, if only someone had told you that." Jazz whispered sarcastically, studiously taking notes.

Serene gave her a bleary glare, straightening up and trying to focus on the lesson. She'd already memorised this part of the textbook.

The bell rang and Serene jumped. Maizie might have died.

"We got combat training after lunch." Nyla said, grabbing a small fruit salad and putting it on her tray in the lunch line, "You guys might want to sober up." "I'm fine now," Serene said, grabbing an apple.

"I'm not." Maizie moaned. "I think I'm gonna be sick." "How much did you drink?" Jazz asked in bewilderment. She'd outdrunk all of them at the party.

"It's not that." Maizie shook her head. "My chest hurts." "You should go to the infirmary," Nyla said, worry all over her face.

"I'll go with you," Serene said, having nothing on her tray but a piece of pie and having lied about how good she felt. Her head hurt and there were too many people breathing too loudly in the hall. "Okay," Serene walked with Maizie to the medical building and sat on a stool, spinning around as the nurse checked over Maizie. She gave her a few pills and the ache eased after an hour.

"We should probably just skip Grimm studies," Maizie said as they strolled out into the courtyard, "ya know, for my health." Serene scoffed, but smiled. "You want me to carry you too?" "You're a peach," Serene rolled her eyes and they headed back to their dorm. They played video games until Jazz and Nyla showed up.

"How are you feeling?" Nyla asked, sitting down beside her partner. "Smashing," Maizie gave her a half smile.

"Did you know what was wrong?" "Probably just too much alcohol," Serene said, walking over to her desk and sitting down. Jazz gave them the homework.

Nyla fussed over her partner while the others did their homework. Serene stepped out for a few hours to get high and snuck back in when the others were getting into bed.

"You're back," Jazz said, pulling the blankets over herself.

"Yep." Serene kicked her boot off and pushed them under her bed. "Where'd you go?" Serene shrugged. "Just for a walk."

Jazz didn't push, but neither had to point out that she didn't believe her.

Serene woke up to someone shaking her shoulder hard. She lashed out and would have punched Nyla in the throat if they hadn't jerked back at the last second.

"What?" She demanded, sitting up.

"Maizie can't breathe, get up," Serene blinked rapidly, adjusting to the light in the room. Jazz was sitting with Maizie on her bed, helping her seat up.

"Shit," Serene threw her blankets off, moving over to Maizie's bed diagonal to hers. "What's going on?" "We're not sure." Jazz frowned. "I'm gonna get the nurse; you two stay with her." Serene nodded and Jazz grabbed a jacket and her scroll, slipping out of the room into the dark. Serene saw the clock read 1:54 am.

"Here, lay down on your side," Nyla said, and she and Serene helped Maizie get comfortable. "This will make it bit easier to breath." "It hurts," Maizie gasped out.

"I know, but you need to stay calm okay. Try to take a deep breath," Nyla breathing slowly and Maizie trying to copy her pace, "and let it out slowly,"

"Should we give her something?" Serene asked, looking around for Jazz's extensive first aid kit.

"No we should wait for the nurse," Nyla said, rubbing her partner's shoulders.

Serene got up and went to the door, looking out into the courtyard. The half-moon was the only source of light and she could see Jazz and the nurse approaching.

"Okay they're almost here." Serene said in an attempt at assurance.

The nurse arrived and assessed Maizie, the other girls standing around nervously.

"Okay, help me get her to the Infirmary." The nurse said in a curt voice, packing away her medical bag. Serene and Jazz went to either side, helping Maizie stand up. "You okay?" Jazz asked, securing Maizie's arm around her. She was shorter than Maizie, but Serene was taller so she had to crouch slightly.

They made their way to the infirmary, bare foot and cold and Maizie in a lot of pain. Serene felt bad for her, which was an uncomfortable realisation.

Serene, Nyla, and Jazz sat outside the infirmary in their pyjama's all night, waiting as the nurses helped their friend. Serene was trying not to fall asleep, but the call of not dwelling on her shitty situation had a strong pull.

If Maizie died, would she care? She'd panicked when Nyla had awoken her, and it had only been a few months. That wasn't good. Raven wouldn't be happy.

The thought of a pissed off Raven wasn't something she could deal with while exhausted, so she pushed it from her mind, resting her head against the wall and closing her eyes.

An indeterminate amount of time later, Nyla once again shook her awake.

"Hey, Maizie's gonna be okay so we're gonna go back to the dorm," She said gently. Serene rubbed her eyes, surprised to see the sun had risen and several students were shuffling around to the hall and showers.

"What time is it?" "Almost seven. Me and Jazz are gonna get some sleep until morning break; Ms Garish is going to write us all a slip."

"Sounds good," She said, stretching. The three stumbled back to their room, probably looking like zombies, and fell into their beds. Something felt off, and Serene realised it was the absence of Maizie's snoring.

Oh no.

Suddenly wide awake – it wasn't like she hadn't pulled an all-nighter, or multiple consecutively, before – she threw off the covers and grabbed the first jeans and jacket she had lying around, getting dressed and slipping out the window.

Her eyes burned as she quickly walked to the entrance of the school, pulling out her scroll. She didn't have any messages from Raven, which was a relief in the wake of her unfortunate realisation.

She wanted to hide away in her cave, but it had terrible reception, so she just walked to the empty balcony above the waterfall.

The reddish-brown dirt was uneven and lumpy, Serene's exhausted state making her trip and stumble over the dips and bumps. Tough and patchy grass was growing at the edges, vines crawling up and around the cracked pillars.

"Shit," She muttered, practically collapsing against the cool flat top of the railing. She sat in the dirt, leaning back against the column and pulling out her scroll, wandering who to call. Ansa didn't have a scroll, neither did Heidi. Jaron had one to track attack reports, but she wasn't consulting him with her dilemma.

Then it hit her.

What was she thinking? She couldn't call them. She couldn't call anyone. They'd all either rat her out to Raven or give totally useless advice. Then rat her out to Raven.

Bitches.

Letting the scroll fall out of her hand, she dropped her head back, rubbing her face with her hands. They were cold and it felt nice. She wasn't sure how long she sat there rubbing her face before loud sounds in the marketplace above her snapped her back to reality.

She landed back in reality with a sudden exhaustion fuelled determination.

Fuck them. She barely knew them. They weren't herteam; they were a bunch of girls she had to put up with while she did her job. They could die in a hospital or on a job and it didn't matter.

Her life would be easier without them.

Grabbing the scroll, she left a message for Raven and, knowing her mother would check it until that night, she climbed up behind the cave and fell asleep against a lumpy rock.

Serene was, for the third time in less than twenty four hours, woken suddenly by someone shaking her. When she came to it turned out Raven had actually just kicked her shoulder.

"You said it was important." Raven said pointedly, folding her arms and looking down at her dishevelled offspring.

"Right, yep," Serene scrambled to her feet, suddenly very alert. "I wanted to talk about the Vytal festival." Raven's unimpressed expression changed to one of annoyance and anger. "You called me for that? You'renotcompeting," She said sharply. "I-"

"I know. I don't want to compete. I wanted to go to Vale. Now." Raven looked at her suspiciously. "Why?" Serene shrugged. "Why not? It'll probably be my only chance to scope out the other academies huntsmen without my team hanging off me." She tried to sound annoyed, but she wasn't sure how successful she was. It was always harder lying to Raven; it was like she could see into her soul.

Raven evaluated her suspiciously for a minute before crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine." "Really?" She'd expected her to need more convincing.

"It'll be easier for you to move around without your team questioning everything. But keep to yourself," Her voice became stern, warning dripping from every word. "You're not here to make friends; you're here to learn how to kill them." "I know." Serene nodded. "I know."

"Good. I don't need to tell you what will happen if you blow this," Serene's blood ran cold, but she managed a nod, unable to meet Raven's eye.

Raven opened a portal with the quick swing of her sword, walking through without a second word. It closed, but Serene felt no relief, standing in place until her legs gave out and she fell to the cold dirt, her back hitting the wall and her lungs burning for air.

'I don't need to tell you what will happen if you blow this.'