Luciform

by TheRoseShadow21

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

3. 1-2

Delilah couldn't breathe.

Oh, silly Del, of course you can breathe, Eve had told her. If you couldn't, you wouldn't be telling this to me. The only words that Eve had deigned to say to her in the last horrible two days, and with her mask still on too. Even though the two of them, they'd been alone at the time, and Eve never wore her mask when it was just her. Why would she? Weren't they supposed to be friends? Wasn't Delilah meant to be Eve's 'Del', was Eve not meant to be Delilah's 'Evie'? And yet she had been wearing her mask non-stop. She had to bite her lip to stifle the tears at the thought as she scrubbed the board clean, cursing at the chalk dust falling on her clothes. And that just made it worse-having cleaning duty when all of this was happening! How dare they? It wasn't fair, she just wanted to go and cry, and cry, and cry.

"Ah, but rest assured, nobody will catch onto what we're doing. Wouldn't want them to stop the fun, would we?"

Delilah shivered, all too aware of Maria and Abel in different parts of the classroom that served as their tutor room, busily cleaning. They'd barely been able to look at her, or her at them, but it wasn't so bad with them as it was with Eve. Or maybe it was worse, because how could she know if they cared about Eve, if they were the ones who were plotting her downfall, who wanted to ruin her life? She stepped away from the board, grimacing as she dunked the dusty cloth back in the bucket of even dustier water, and then pushed up her sleeve, staring at her wrist. Five days, getting ever closer to four.

"Why, this is a special game, for a very special anniversary. I am simply the…how would you call it? The overseer. You should be pleased that you're the ones who've been picked."

Oura narrowed their eyes for a moment, but then just like that, the innocent smile was back. Holding out their hand, they tossed a chess piece up and down, the shape of it changing each time it landed back in their hands. King then knight, rook then pawn, bishop then queen, and back around again.

"What are the rules of this game, then?" Maria demanded.

"Oh, that's easy!"

Oura's eyes hardened, though the smile remained. King then knight, rook then pawn, bishop then queen. The motion was transfixing, but not enough to distract from the words they spoke.

"Remain the last one standing, and you shall be granted the title of the Grandmaster. Only if you have what it takes, of course."

Picking the cloth back out of the bucket and wringing it, Delilah looked at the last traces of writing on the board, remnants of a freshman lesson. Delilah scrubbed and scrubbed until the board was clean, then dropped the cloth down and sighed. Normally, she would have asked Maria to take the bucket away for her and fluttered her eyelashes to appeal to her, but she wasn't stupid, was she?

"Give up, Delilah."

She stared at Cain, who raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, pointing to her spear, held up, pointing right at his chest. Suddenly, it felt heavy to her and she struggled to remain holding to it, to remain resolute in the face of Cain's frecht, frecht cruelty.

"Did you really think such a straightforward attack would work? I rejected you a long time ago, what made you think I'd be interested in you now?"

"You still find me pretty, don't you?"

Cain tipped his head back and laughed and laughed, turning his back to her and walking away. The laughter rung and rung in her ears, but not loud enough to drown out his words to her:

"Just give up, Delilah. Give up. You're not going to be the winner!"

"Oh, and you will?"

Her grip tightened on her spear, but her fingers shook. Stab him, she told herself. He's walking away, don't let him do that! But her cheeks flamed and her heart stung, and that was more than enough to make him correct.

Turning back around, she realised that both Maria and Abel had left the room. She let out a sigh of relief, shakily taking steps into the middle of the room, looking around. She reached her usual desk, sat right on it instead of pulling out the chair, and took her phone out from her pocket, searching for the screenshot of the flashing message that she'd taken this morning. She wasn't sure how she'd managed it, recalling the panic of poking at the screen and pressing the buttons and realising that nothing was working, that all she could see were the words she was looking at now.

I know what you did I know what you did I know what you did I know what you did I know what you di-

Delilah locked the screen, gripped it tightly. Even though she hadn't done anything bad, not really, nothing truly horrible, she had to wonder what it was that they did know. Anything and everything could be used against her, couldn't it? Even her helping Eve, turning a blind eye to what her lovely Eve did. Even though I just…I just wanted her to be with me, so we could keep having fun together? That's not a bad thing, is it…? Surely everyone wants their friends to be with them all the time? Looking down at the floor, she realised that the hand-written notes she'd been finding everywhere had spilled out of her pocket and fallen there, displaying their horrible words for all to see.

What use are you, when you don't even play chess?

You're useless. They all think it.

Eve is spiralling and you won't be able to do anything about it.

You're nothing.

They're waiting to get rid of you.

You are NOTHING, NOTHING.

She was vaguely aware of the sun setting, of the need to turn on some of the lights, but emotion attacked her body, sucking more of her breath away as she bent over, pressing her hands to her mouth and letting the tears fall. Her phone clattered to the ground, and she allowed herself to cry, and cry, and cry, just as she wanted to.

Oh, I just want this to be over. I don't want it to have happened in the first place? Evie, can't we just go back to our normal days, even all those bits you call boring? Isn't it better than this, Evie? Isn't it?

Delilah sobbed and sniffed, her wrist starting to throb as the tears continued to roll. Oh, how she hated this! Life wasn't meant to be like this. Straightening up only so she could rub her wrist, try to soothe the pain (even though it had not worked the last time), she realised that the point of a sword was pointing at her face.

"I…I…"

"You can't lie anymore, Delilah!" Maria said, her voice shaking as she tipped her head slightly. "I know what you're planning to do to Eve."

"I…what…I'm not…Maria, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie now! At least have the dignity to not lie now!"

"But…Maria….Maria, you know me and Evie, you know…"

"I knew you'd say that."

The sword advanced closer, Maria's cold gaze unflinching. Delilah whimpered and trembled, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Maria, please-"

Her last word gurgled, and instinctively, she unwrapped her arms, putting her hands to her throat, trying but failing to gasp as they came away red and sticky. I can't breathe, I really can't breathe. Sharp pain coursed through her, and she was vaguely aware of the sword being pulled away, of trying to get off the desk, scramble away, of falling, of the sword stabbing her again. Red, more red…and the pain…

She cried, and cried, and now she really couldn't breathe. Eve, Evie, help me, please…She tried to keep her eyes open, but she couldn't see anything, it was dark, but then-

A flicker, a shadow at the door, tall with a swishing tail. Abel? Is that Abel? Hope started to unfurl in Delilah's heart and she tried to reach out, call out. Abel was good, he was kind, he wouldn't be wanting to hurt anyone either. Surely he could…

Abel, hey Abel, can you get Evie for me? Can you make it stop? Please, I want it to sto-

…

Starri startled as Room 777's door abruptly crashed open and Abel stumbled through. The fox-boy stumbled, pausing for a moment but still breathing heavily, fur matted, uniform rumpled and ripped. His mouth was pulled back in a snarl, but not a full snarl, as he looked around the room.

Starri looked over to the others. Will, who had been behind the bar sorting out a drink for Hiraga, put down what he'd been handling and came back around. The twin brothers, Gin and Getsu, came out behind him, watching warily, as was everyone else from their spots in the room.

"Hey, Abel-"

Will's voice had been soft, even for him, but Abel's head jerked up and his hackles rose. Snarling ferociously he charged-and Starri, sitting at a table close to the entrance, was right in his line of sight. She barely had time to react before she was knocked out of her chair and onto the ground. She heard the sound of something clattering, someone screaming as she crashed down, the impact shuddering through her body as Abel fell on top of her. At first, her instinct was to try and hold him away, but even though he snarled and snapped, it became clear that he wasn't aiming at her. He wasn't trying to hurt her. And she'd never been able to read his face, for so many obvious reasons, but there was something about his eyes, a glint in them that made her wonder:

Did something happen?

And with that thought, her next actions were almost instinct. Rather than try to fight back, or at least to escape, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, pinning his arms to his side. Firm, but an embrace all the same.

"Abel, it's me. It's Starri. Do you remember? Me, Starri. And my friends are here. Will and Lidia and Hiraga. Lily and Lucy. Kureha, Tate, Mica, Wren. The twins, Gin and Getsu. It's just them."

Starri murmured this over and over as Abel writhed and snapped, but eventually the effort needed to keep holding on was too much and she fell silent. All she knew was that she had to hold on, even if she didn't know why. Because something had happened, she was sure. Something had happened, because the Abel she remembered wasn't someone to cause mindless destruction. Admittedly, she didn't know him well. But when he'd come here before, he'd snuck in, slowly, head down as if unsure if he was really allowed to be there. Around the school, he was always the quietest, always moving carefully, often shrinking away if anyone stared too long.

Something had happened.

Footsteps scrambled and came towards her, and Starri flinched. She felt someone trying to pull him away and she somehow managed to call out:

"No, it's okay-it's okay!"

"Starri, are you sure, he's still-"

"He's not hurting me! We just need to wait."

Over the pandemonium and her own aching body, it was hard to make herself heard, to keep her grip. But somehow, she managed it. She didn't look at her friends, though she so badly wanted to. Instead she held Abel, as tight as she could.

"A drink….we need…something calming-Lil, you've not touched that, have you?"

"What….hey!"

"Sorry, I'll make another! Ah, Hiraga, get the-"

The spike in activity just made everything louder, but Starri realised what it was they were doing. She adjusted her hold ever so slightly, though without letting go. He was not thrashing so violently now, but all the same, it wasn't over yet. Resolutely, she kept her grip, slowly sitting up so that a pair of hands could carefully prise open Abel's jaws, and another could tip a drink into them. Abel spluttered and coughed, and then swallowed, and Starri waited. The moments ticked, and ticked, and then finally, calm.

Abel fell quiet, and almost on cue the entire room did too. He stilled, and the trembling she'd felt under the thrashing gradually stopped too. His breathing, though still ragged for a few more moments, quietened and became more even, and eventually normal. Starri waited a little longer, suddenly all too aware of her beating heart and then slowly unwrapped her arms and drew back. She looked over at Gin and Getsu's faces as they knelt there, an empty glass in the latter's hands, and then turned to Abel who was looking around him, apparently bewildered. Slowly, he stood up, tried to neaten his clothes.

"Sorry we had to do that, mate," Will called over. "We weren't sure what else to do. You alright now?"

Abel nodded slowly, turning slowly in a circle. Starri followed his gaze to the chair and table that she had been sitting at, upturned, her drink spilled and the glass shattered. Immediately, Abel knelt down, and attempted to scoop it up.

"Hey, don't worry about that," Starri said. "Come…I think we both need a drink."

Abel stared at her, and she shivered before feeling guilty about it. A drink, a drink, that's always our answer now, isn't it? That, too, was a thought worthy of guilt, and she pressed it down while she pulled herself up and ushered Abel to the bar, where Will had already left a pen and pad. Hiraga and Tate stared at them both, with the latter getting up and moving to a stool further away. Abel noticed, and ducked his head slightly before he picked up the pen and clicked its top, working carefully to form the letters. Moments passed, and then another few, and Abel let out a soft noise that sounded like a sigh. He put the pen down, then got up, walking dejectedly to the door.

"Wait a moment, your drink!"

Lidia put down Starri's drink but held onto Abel's, blinking confusedly behind her glasses. Abel paused and turned and shook his head, lifting a paw in what looked like a wave. Wait, is that…. As Starri frowned and tried to discern what she had seen, Abel quickly headed back out of Room 777's door, too fast for anyone to protest over.

"Well." Kureha said after a beat. "That happened."

"Starri, are you alright?" Wren asked. "You took a blow there!"

"Yeah, that was…what the hell was he thinking?" Lily exclaimed.

"I don't think he was trying to hurt her, but yeah, what the hell was that?" Hiraga asked.

"He must have needed this place." Starri said, tiredly.

"Well, I guess, but treating you like that just isn't on!" Lucy said vehemently.

"Thank goodness for the drinks, huh?" Gin remarked wryly.

"Shame they won't help us with the clear-up." Getsu added.

"But yeah, did you notice, his teeth were all red?" Gin asked, his eyes wide. "Right, Getsu?"

"Oh yeah, they were!"

"Starri, did he bite you?" Lily asked.

"What? No. No of course not!"

Starri shook her head vehemently, surprised at how hurt she felt by that accusation. She took a sip of her drink, and then kept sipping, at a loss for what else to say. It wasn't entirely true, after all. Yes, he had not hurt her like that, but no doubt the next morning she'd wake up to the most spectacular bruises. That did not seem such a big deal to her, though. Bruises she could live with. Anguish was another matter though, and though a fox face was not a face that revealed much, she knew that something anguishing had happened, whatever that something was.

There were a few moments of silence as they all gave themselves a few moments to let it all sink in. Lidia passed the drink that was meant for Abel onto Lily, and then fixed a few more for others. Will quietly disappeared into the back and came back with a mop and broom, and Tate went over to help him.

"Well, whatever that was, he had better apologise the next morning! At least to Starri, anyway." Lucy declared eventually.

"I think he already has." Lidia replied.

She held up the pad that Abel had written on.

"What's it say?" Tate asked.

"Let's see….'Thank you, and I'm sorry for everything.'"

Lidia blinked a moment after reading this, and then slowly set the pad down. Starri reached out and snagged it, drawing it towards her, her eyes tracing the messy, earnest loops of Abel's handwriting. Thank you, and I'm sorry for everything.

"Starri, are you sure you're alright?" Lidia asked.

No, no I'm not. How can I be? This isn't something a drink can fix…I say, while sipping one for dear life. Instead, though, she said:

"There was something else, did you notice?"

"Something about Abel. His wrist…"

"What about his wrist?" Tate asked, having straightened the chair.

Starri shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, recalling the thing she had caught a glimpse of.

"A tattoo. He had a tattoo there and…it moved."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Starri knew that this was simply because Hiraga was surprised rather than because he had not heard, so she just nodded. Again, another silence as they let it all sink in until Will broke the silence:

"It's something else, isn't it?"

"Seems like it."

Something happened. Something else happened. Starri shivered, and the others grabbed their drinks and clung to them for dear life as they gulped down. Will and Tate went to do the same once they'd finished with the clear-up. All of them, clinging to a vestige of peace, trying to get back some part of their now-shattered evening.

It was all they could do after all, wasn't it?

…

Rain yawned as she heard the PA crackle into life, and a voice ring out.

"Attention all students, attention all students. Your presence is required at an urgent assembly at 8am sharp this morning. Please head to your year group's respective halls where you will be addressed. Your tutor time sessions will be cancelled today in order to give you enough time for breakfast and attendance taken in your first lesson of the day instead. I repeat, please go to your year group's respective assembly halls for an urgent assembly at 8am sharp, thank you."

Slowly, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, and looked over at Jan, who seemed to have just woken up too, opening the curtains and turning off all the lights as early-morning sunshine streamed into the room.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Jan turned and frowned. "I wonder what's happened. I suppose we should get going then, huh? Think we've got time for breakfast first?"

Rain rubbed her eyes again and looked at the clock on her bedside table.

"Maybe, if we're quick. Mind if I use the bathroom first?"

"Nah, go ahead."

Rain smiled at that and wearily got out of bed. She plucked her school uniform from the hangers on the side of her wardrobe, grabbed clean underwear from her drawers, and then headed into the bathroom. As quickly as possible, she brushed her teeth, cleaned her face and then got changed before coming out of the bathroom and going to sit at her desk to comb her hair and tie it into her favoured style of two plaits, using her table-top mirror to make sure that she hadn't accidentally left out any strands of hair. By the time she'd tied the thin red ribbon in a bow around the bottom of the second plait, Jan had come out, fully dressed and just tying the ribbon of her cloak, her short hair neatly combed with the two small sections that she usually plaited already done.

"Did you notice our bedroom walls are a different colour?" Jan asked.

"What?"

Rain blinked at her and looked around. Sure enough, the walls were a pale watery blue, and now she was thinking about it she was pretty sure they'd been yellow when she'd gone to bed last night. Well then.

"Do you think that's got anything to do with the assembly?" Rain wondered.

"I doubt it, I think it's a ghost-I heard some seniors talking about it the other day, how occasionally they'll just wake up and see random redecorations. Not like the renovations though-those are recent, but apparently for years there've just been weird colour changes, or pattern changes or things like that."

"Oh." Rain blinked. "I never heard anything like that. That's kinda freaky."

"I suppose." Jan's almond eyes blinked, concerned and thoughtful. "But oh well. Shall we go?"

"Sure."

Rain left her hairbrush on the desk, and the two of them left their room, Jan locking it behind them as they joined the stream of people also heading down to assembly. They caught up to their friend Juu at the other end of the corridor, who'd already found their other two friends Hibi and Risu.

"Morning!" Rain said.

"Hey," Hibi greeted. "We were just teasing Juu here about not getting up early to impress her roommate."

"Oh, shaddup," Juu said, though there was no heat in her voice. "I am not trying to impress Kyouki."

"Sure you aren't." Rain said companionably, linking her arm with Juu's. "I'm sure she likes you anyway though, so it's fine!"

Juu blushed slightly, and used her other hand to push back the waves of her long, multi-toned hair.

"Anyway," Risu asked as they walked. "Does anyone have any idea what all of this could be about?"

"Not a clue."

"Nope."

"No idea."

"Well, hopefully it's nothing bad." Risu sighed.

"I mean, does urgent usually mean bad?" Hibi wondered.

"Now there's a question." Juu mused.

With nothing to particularly go on, it didn't take long for the five of them to just start chatting about other things as they headed down to the assembly hall. As they did, though, Rain found herself looking around and wondering if there was anything that had also been redecorated during the night, but came up with nothing that she could recall as having been different. Then again, it was not as if she'd been paying close attention before. She sighed, shaking her head and taking a deep breath when suddenly, a metallic, pungent smell flooded her nostrils and her eyes snapped open.

"Do you guys smell that?" Rain asked, alarmed, interrupting the silly story Jan had been telling.

"Smell what? Floor cleaner?" Juu replied.

"No….like…"

Rain looked around her. They were walking past a number of classrooms, all with their doors open and curtains open, the light streaming in. The floors gleamed, and everything looked pristine and yes, there was the smell of floor-cleaner but that was not what she was smelling but rather…

Blood. That's blood, I'm sure.

She frowned, staring and staring, but all she saw was cleanliness, every inch of her surroundings utterly spotless. No blood to be seen, and yet, she smelled it. She was sure. Aware of concerned looks, she turned to her friends and gave them a rueful smile and shrug.

"Yeah, maybe it's the floor cleaner."

This seemed to convince them, and so Jan resumed her story and the five of them continued walking and talking, Jan's story picking back up again. The further they got from the room and the closer they got to the assembly hall, the smell naturally faded, but now it was embedded in her mind and she couldn't shake it. She was able to smile and nod along to her friends, but not contribute.

"Oh, hey, Kyouki's over there!"

As they entered the hall, Juu pointed to where Kyouki was sitting with a small group of others. Juu unlinked her arm from Rain's and went slightly ahead, and with knowing smiles amongst them the other four caught up and sat in the row in front while Juu went to sit next to Kyouki.

"These are the other members of the Gardening Club," Juu gestured to the others. "Kyouki, you wanna do the honours?"

Kyouki smiled, though her lavender eyes creased in a way that seemed to reflect Rain's own slowly creeping worry. But the girl's tone was light enough as she introduced her friends-Seraph with a red streak in her blue hair; Jenna who wore plaits like Rain's but thicker; Jae who looked like he'd stepped out of a boy band; serene Yara and the kind-eyed Jun.

"Hey, that's a bunch of similar names we've got-Jan, Juu, Jun!" Seraph laughed, making them all laugh for a moment.

"Oh yeah, that is weird." Jan agreed. "Still, there's my middle name too, Erika."

"Jan Erika, huh? That's pretty." Jenna said.

"Thanks, but anyway, does anyone know what's happening?" Jan asked, forehead puckering

To Rain's surprise, all six members of the Gardening Club gave each other worried glances. Eventually, Jae spoke up, leaning forward and lowering his voice.

"This morning…when we were going to the greenhouse there was…"

Jae took a breath, and looked over at Jun sitting next to him, who gave an encouraging nod even as he too had a down-turned mouth and troubled eyes. Jae then continued:

"We saw a trail of blood, coming out from under the door."

Blood. Rain's own ran cold at the thought, and she had to ball her hands in her lap tightly, clutching at the fabric of her school skirts in order to keep herself together. The smell washed over her again, even though they weren't even near that classroom.

"There was a lot," Kyouki agreed. "Like a…river."

Kyouki shuddered, and the others did too.

"Did you…did you see where'd it'd come from?" Rain managed to ask.

Kyouki shook her head, but it was Seraph who answered:

"No, Professor Yanovi sent us away almost as soon as we reached the door. Wouldn't let us see. Honestly, I'm glad that she did…"

"I don't blame you." Hibi said, fiddling with her ornate ring.

Rather than the lights turning deep blue, attention was gained simply by the screech of the microphone and just like that, Rain and her friends turned back around. Headmistress Hades was the one to stand there, looking down at all of them in a jacket of black and a dress of silver and blue. The light caught the pale hue of her eyes and made them seem reflective, like a mirror, but there was no hint of the usual smile Rain had seen her wearing during lessons and in the corridor. When she was satisfied that they were all paying attention, only then she spoke:

"I am saddened to announce that last night three of our second year students, Maria Reubenschilde, Delilah De Callaway and Judas Faroschild, have all died under tragic circumstances."

There was a gasp that reverberated around the hall, and a murmur started to rise, but it was quashed abruptly as Headmistress Hades held a hand up. She waited a moment, and then continued on, voice level but in a way Rain recognised as being carefully so. She could hear the effort being put into each word.

"I can appreciate this is a shock for you all, though it is likely none of you knew the three personally. Please rest assured that these deaths were isolated incidents and that the matter is in hand. While you may seek advice and support from any of the professors if you need to, and from each other, Headmaster Cher and I request that you do not talk about these incidents beyond these walls, or online. Under no circumstances should you tell family, friends, or the world at large. We will even go so far as to say that if you are going to talk about it with each other, do so in person instead of messaging each other.

This is for the sake of both the investigation and the families, and as such we will be making sure that nobody breaches these requirements. If it is found that anyone, and I mean, anyone, breaches this then there will be consequences."

Headmistress Hades' head lifted slightly, the set of her mouth imperious. There was no room to wonder about anything, though questions were clanging around Rain's head, overpowered by the smell still stuck in there.

"We do not want to have to punish you over something so troubling," Headmistress Hades continued. "But for the safety for all of you and our school, this is what is required. Do you all understand?"

"Yes, Headmistress."

Rain chorused this along with everyone else but in truth, she didn't understand at all.

…

When Quiet had first seen Mixed Melee Combat on his timetable, he had imagined that the lesson would include a mixture of methods and in this he supposed he had turned out to be correct. But what had actually made this mixed (because of course, Melee Combat covered a variety too) was the fact that it was not just freshmen in this class, but second years too. At the beginning, Headmaster Cher had explained that there were things that could only be learnt from peers, rather than teachers, and this was simply a way of facilitating that.

The format of the lesson had been fairly simple-a demonstration of a particular tactic, and then the class pairing off into freshman-second year pairs to practise in a timed match, on mats as much for safety as a way of providing a criteria for success: the last one remaining on the mat was the winner. Each time, the pairs were meant to be different, and indeed Quiet had so far paired himself with a variety of different second years.

Most of his small group of new friends had too, but for some reason the small and scrappy Koda, who couldn't yet control one particular magical ability of disappearing and reappearing had been drawn to an equally small and scrappy second-year girl called Niwa, who inexplicably wore a raincoat and boots as her choice of combat clothes. Quiet hadn't been able to read the intent off of them though, and he knew trying to figure out their facial expressions weren't going to do any good, but based on the insults and screeches the two had been hurling across at each other each fight they seemed to veer rapidly between love and hate with nothing in-between. Confusing as it was though, it'd at least been a distraction after the assembly this morning.

"Alright," Headmaster Cher said. "Last spar of the lesson, pair up again!"

Headmaster Cher (and for that matter Headmistress Hades) was another one whose intent Quiet couldn't read, though in this case he suspected that at least it was deliberate. It unsettled him more so now after the assembly, imagining that under that careful blankness was someone constantly spying, ever on guard. Quiet certainly wasn't about to go blabbing anyway, but even so, the feeling wasn't one he could just shake off because of that.

Watching Koda and Niwa pair up yet again, and his other friends heading to different mats, Quiet focused and looked for a second-year who had not yet been paired up with anyone and spotted a tanned boy with deep brown hair that he recognised as being a friend of one of his previous opponents for this lesson, a serious bespectacled girl called Lucy. She had radiated a curious mixture of both annoyance and patience-whatever her thoughts had been, he'd clearly read an inability to focus on the spar and had won because of it. But this boy seemed sparky and alert, and the upward curve of his mouth only matched this sense.

"Hey," the boy said, tilting his head and giving him a look. "I'm Hiraga. You?"

"Quiet."

The intent had flared, slightly, changing and stretching in a way that Quiet couldn't read. He couldn't tell whether it matched the smile or not. To buy him some time, he retied his ponytail so his hair wouldn't get in the way of this spar, observing Hiraga and trying to get a clearer sense of his intent. Yet, all he could discern was something good, but even that was confusing, because he didn't understand what sort of good made him tingle.

"Isn't that crown going to fall off?" Quiet asked eventually.

Hiraga blinked for a moment, and then his smile simply curved wider and he laughed, a raucous sound that sounded almost like a cackle (though even for that, Quiet found himself liking it).

"Only if I'm caught off balance…like on a barstool for example."

Was that a….joke? Laughter like that and the fact barstools had nothing to do with the lesson seemed to make it a joke. But before Quiet could ponder it further, Headmaster Cher sent the first start signal to indicate they should get into position on the mat, and then the signal to indicate that they could begin. Despite his confusing but not wholly unpleasant thoughts, Quiet wasted no time, and Hiraga did not either.

The fight was a challenge, but a steadying one. Quiet had to remain on his toes, and while Hiraga was a great deal more focused than his friend, he didn't fight as dirty as two of his other previous opponents who he knew were affiliated with Niwa (whose incoherent spats with Koda were louder even than the blows they were raining on each other) or even the second-year boy who'd been his first opponent of the lesson. The two of them were evenly matched, with Hiraga's intent remaining sparky, glittering, even slightly bubbling like the sound of laughter whether it was he or Quiet who had the upper hand.

Eventually, it was distracting enough that Quiet lost his footing and stumbled, landing on his back but still on the mat. Hiraga leaned over and held out a hand:

"Here, I'm sorry, kid. Come on, not over till one of us is over the mat. Come."

Quiet frowned, studying Hiraga in a way that he knew looked like he was studying his face, when really it was intent. The mood he read was softer…but underneath, it crackled in a way he recognised. Mischief. It was enough to make Quiet reassess, and wonder if there was a strategy behind this or if Hiraga really was trying to be a helpful senior. Alright, let's try this…

He took a breath and accepted the hand Hiraga was offering, but rather than let himself get pulled up, he instead tugged, sending Hiraga tumbling down, wasting no time in grappling. There was a clatter as Hiraga squawked, surprise zig-zagging, enough for Quiet to get the upper hand and push Hiraga enough off the mat. Still holding Hiraga down, Quiet immediately looked up and around for Headmaster Cher. Seeing the teacher over with a brown-haired first year girl in legwarmers and one of the dirty-fighting girls he'd been paired with earlier he held his hand up and waited. A moment later Headmaster Cher looked over and gave him a nod.

"Alright, we're done."

Quiet let go of Hiraga and stood up, dusting down his clothes. As soon as he did he spotted Hiraga's little crown on its side on the floor. As Hiraga groaned and got himself up too, Quiet quickly went over and picked it up, examining it for scratches before walking over to Hiraga and handing it over.

"I suppose I caught you off balance, then." He asked.

Hiraga frowned, and then tipped his head back and cackled.

"You did, you did!" he said as he grabbed the crown and put it back on. "But how did you know that I was going to trick you that way?"

Quiet stiffened, giving a wary one-shouldered shrug. Hiraga grinned and waggled his eyebrows. Again the intent bubbled and glittered.

"Aha, keeping your secrets, are you? Fair enough kid, fair enough. But anyway, that was a good fight, so thanks for that."

"Um…no problem."

Hiraga held out his hand, and since they were no longer sparring, Quiet smiled and took it, shaking firmly. Hiraga's grip was warm and solid, and Quiet almost regretted it once he let go. The two of them then sat back down on their mat and looked over at the others. Some had also finished, and others were still sparring-including, unsurprisingly, Koda and Niwa. Hiraga looked over at them too, then turned to Quiet.

"The boy's your friend, right?"

"Mmmm."

"Any idea what's up with him?" Hiraga asked.

"In relation to Niwa-sempai, no."

"To be fair, Niwa-sempai and her friends are a bit scary, kind of an exclusive group. Not like Cain's lot but…you know," Hiraga said. "Still tough. But most of them have the family name 'Ward' so I suppose that's explanation enough."

The girls that Hiraga pointed out included the two Quiet had fought with before, whose names he now remembered as Asuka and Sasi. Ward, huh? I suppose that does explains some of it. He sighed, the thought of Wards being too depressing on top of the news of the morning.

"I suppose, yes."

At that moment, Headmaster Cher gave the signal for them to finish, and then ordered them to go and get changed again before reeling off a number of names to stay back and put away the mats. Quiet wasn't amongst them, but Hiraga was.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, or when we have the next mixed class, right?"

"Yeah." Quiet said. "I suppose we will…although, do you play basketball?"

"Why?"

"If you want to come join us-" now, Quiet indicated his friends. "I'd enjoy it if you did."

An impulse offer, and one that made him blush once he had made it, but although the intent Hiraga gave off was layered and baffling, the smile he gave amplified what little bits he could discern, giving him a clear enough answer even before Hiraga answered:

"Sure, then. See you around."

"See you."

And then, pleased with himself, Quiet headed off to join his friends.

…

As the nine non-magical freshman practically stampeded out of the door, Stella took a moment to close her eyes and lean back against the wall. She let her shoulders slump as she took a deep breath before straightening quickly. After all, there were other students still dotted around the classroom they used for their clubroom, happily eating cakes and biscuits and sipping tea. Or as happily they could be under the circumstances.

I can't believe that they're gone…and what their friends must be feeling…Stella sighed and started to clear the table, stacking the trays and plates as expertly as any waitress, wiping down the counters. Delilah had come in here a few times, she remembered, always imperious when rattling off her orders but still remembering thanking them with a sweet smile afterwards. At the end of the year, she'd even given them a thank you card. When Stella glanced over to the pinboard behind the tables they'd set up to be their counter, she spotted it almost straight away. Expensive-looking glitter and foil-print in a tasteful floral pattern. Still, she hadn't known her or the other two that well for the most part, though they'd shared a few classes. The same had applied with the remaining three, but she hadn't seen them around all day. Even as she struggled to hold back a yawn, she wished they'd come here. They needed it too, just as much as everyone else.

Gathering the trays, she left the table and began to weave her way around the others to get to the section they had cordoned off as their kitchen when she noticed that another small group of students from her year group were preparing to leave.

"Everyone alright here? Had enough?"

"Yeah, we're still worried…but we feel a bit calmer, actually. Which is…yeah, hopefully I'll be able to sleep." One of them said.

"I agree. Was it vetiver that you've been putting in the tea?" another asked.

"Yes, that's right, and witch hazel and peppermint-ah, not mint for you, don't worry. I went with oats in your cookies instead."

Stella directed this to one student in particular, then turned to the first who spoke.

"Do you want a little something for sleep?"

"No, no, I know some charms for that, but thanks anyway. We just have to pray that this really is an isolated tragedy."

"We do indeed." Stella said. "Take care of yourselves now."

She watched them leave, then continued on her way to the kitchen space, where Ririsa and Memora were cleaning.

"Got some more for you." She said as cheerfully as possible as she

"Oh, okay!" Ririsa said brightly. "Have Ariadne and her friends gone?"

"Yeah, they had."

"I could tell!" Memora laughed. "It's about ten times quieter back there now!"

"That it is," Ririsa laughed. "Still, it's nice isn't it?"

Memora pulled a face, but Stella nodded in agreement. It was nice. The group had been as jittery as anyone else when they'd come in, yet somehow their colour hadn't dulled. Just looking at them made her think that perhaps things would not be so bad at all. After all, if the darkness was going to return, surely it'd take one look at all of them, so loud and boisterous and different, practically spilling into wherever they went and bringing energy and brightness everywhere and just…leave? They would be no real deterrent, as being non-magical made them even weaker in general than she and her own friends were in combat.

But each of us have to do what we're good at, she said. They're good at livening up the room, and we're good at this-providing comfort.

"Stells, do you need one of us back out there?" Memora asked.

"Huh? Oh, no!"

Almost as if on cue, the bell jangled as the door was pushed open, and Stella gave a smile to them before zipping back around to the main part of the room. Thereafter, the next portion of the evening was taken up with welcoming, taking orders, getting orders, cleaning up, providing consolation or comforting ears, then saying farewell, over and over in a cycle. There was barely a moment for them to pause or take a breath, and apart from last year's school festival she couldn't remember a time that they'd been so busy. At least then, the buzz of activity had been both even and prepared for. Will and his friends had combined their own efforts to help them, too.

But now was different, and not least because they didn't have the extra sets of hands. No doubt, they'd be seeing a few of the more solitary ones in need discovering the door of Room 777. Stella wondered if she'd count as being in enough need to get to it herself, but it was a moot point in the end, really.

Gradually, they started to hit a point where people started to leave, but others did not come in. The sky became dark and their magic-powered lights automatically came on while Tiro flicked on their soothing fairy lights. There was less making and ordering, and more cleaning and tidying as the room emptied. Stella started to stack chairs along the side of the room and put away table décor when suddenly, the bell rang and the door pushed open.

"Oh, hi…oh, god, are we too late?" the two seniors asked, wide eyed and addressing Tiro, who was closer to the door. "We meant to come earlier but we had to tidy up after Mixed Melee Combat and then we had cleaning duty…and…."

"Stells?" Tiro asked, looking over and frowning.

Stella hesitated for a moment, then glanced back over to the kitchen. Ririsa and Memora peered out from around the partition, hair bows askew and eyes heavy. Ririsa nodded and Memora gave a thumbs-up. This is what we're good at, she reminded herself. She scanned the room, and noted with relief that they still had one table set up. Making herself smile, she turned back to the two anxious seniors. This is what we're good at. This is all we can do. So there wasn't really anything she could do apart from smile, and nodded, giving her answer:

"Don't worry about it, come in, come in!"

…

Robyn hadn't expected happiness here.

Of course, it was not as if she'd assumed that her life at Kawaakari would be nothing but misery. It was silly to think such a thing, and she'd not had such a bad life that there was reason to expect that as the default. Still, she hadn't expected this sort of happiness, the type that came from sunshine and clear skies, and the feel of the soil in her hands. The type that came from having friends like Jenna from her tutor group and the rest of Jenna's gardening club, including Jun. Especially Jun. expected the rest.

He had offered her flowers so easily and straightforwardly, and she'd thought it only a kind but empty sentiment at the time, but the next day he'd turned up at the infirmary looking for her, bearing a small round pot filled with magic-infused soil and three violets just starting to bloom. A happiness like that had bought her was definitely one she would never have imagined even if she might have imagined the rest. It felt almost on a different plane to all of the others, something soft and sweet and a little uncertain, but one she wanted more of.

Either way, she hadn't expected any of it and yet here she was, in the early hours of the morning taking a walk with Jun under a sky painted with the sunrise, talking plants and anything else that came to mind.

As Jun came to the end of his ramble about what Professor Yanovi had been doing with the angel tree cuttings, he glanced over at her and blushed slightly. Even as she smiled back she felt her own cheeks do the same, almost in mirror image.

"Has the tree gotten used to it yet? Being cut?" she asked.

"Not really," Jun shook his head. "It still cries, less than before…well, it was less until the day before yesterday. Not even my song helped it then, and we had to stop halfway."

"Do you think the tree knows?" she asked.

Jun tilted his head slightly for a moment, and then nodded.

"Probably. The question is how much it understands. At least it wouldn't have actually seen them die…then again, do you have to have seen something like that to be upset about it?"

As they got closer to the edge of the school grounds, and closer to the forest Jun stopped and stared at the expanse of trees, his dark eyes troubled. Robyn watched him for a moment, wishing she had the right words to say. Moments like this were so new and fragile, she had no right to label such happinesses as being something particular, and yet seeing him upset already made her want to do everything in her power and more besides to erase the frown Jun was now wearing. She wanted to be the happiness too, not just have it.

Quietly, she reached out and slowly put a hand on his shoulder, feather light. Jun blinked and turned his head to her, clearly surprised.

"The staff are all saying not to worry about anything, but there was so much blood…."

He trailed off, and then seemed to notice her hand. She held a breath as he stared for a moment, and then her eyes widened when he carefully removed it-but rather than simply let go, he switched hands and laced his fingers with hers. Loosely, but definitely laced.

"I….uh…."

Ah, Goddess help me! She thought, her mind scrambling to catch up. But Jun was blushing again now too, and shuffling slightly. Before she could let her embarrassment take over and do something she regretted, she squeezed, slightly, so that their hands were just that little bit closer together. Jun watched curiously, and his expression softened.

"Jenna would have a field day if she saw us right about now." He commented.

"She would, wouldn't she?" Robyn chuckled at the thought.

Jun did too, and the two of them beamed softly at each other. With the sky lightening along with Robyn's mood, the two of them resumed their walk along the boundary between the grounds and the forest, their conversation soon resuming and drifting to the topic of different magic-infused soils when suddenly, they heard a sound coming from just inside the forest. Something rustling and shuffling….maybe even digging.

"Maybe it's that panther, or rabbits." Jun whispered. "Honestly I think I'd prefer rabbits."

"So do I." Robyn nodded. "Shall we see…only if it's not too far in, of course."

"Of course."

Letting go of each other to make it easier to creep along, Robyn led the way into the forest, walking slowly and carefully, peering around trees. Birds started singing their morning songs above them and a soft breeze picked up, making the new leaves rustle. But it didn't look as if there was a panther around, or any adorable woodland creatures for them to sight, so she decided to suggest that perhaps they turn back when suddenly, she saw a flash of white and shrunk back behind a tree. Jun did the same next to her, and then they both slowly peered around.

There, they saw the fox student-Abel-standing and kicking dirt and twigs into what looked like the remains of a hastily dug hole before then dusting down his paws and wiping down his snout. He looked around, and Robyn held her breath, sure that with his animal instincts he would sense the two of them. But instead he straightened, squared his shoulders and started to walk out of the forest, going right past them to do so. Not daring to move, they waited there for a good few moments until they could no longer hear the footsteps. Then, Robyn quickly took the few steps back to Jun's side.

"So is that where he's been?" she asked.

"I guess…but then, what about the others?"

"Do you think that we should tell?"

Jun furrowed his brow.

"I don't know, but if he's going back to the school someone'll notice anyway, right?"

Robyn let out a shaky breath that she hadn't realised she was holding and she nodded. Quietly, the two of them turned back, looking around them for any sign of Abel and both almost simultaneously letting out a sigh of relief when they got back out again and didn't see him anywhere.

"Well, that was weird, huh?" Jun said.

"There's a way of putting it."

The sky was fully blue now, and the breeze still persisting quietly, teasing her hair and flapping both their school blazers. And despite the moment that had just passed, and all the uncertainty about both the dead and living of Abel's friends, there it was again. That sense of happiness, right here and now with this one person and Robyn knew. Knew that no matter what happened from this point on, even if it tip further into the type of misery she couldn't even imagine, that as long as she could have this happiness and be it too, she'd be just fine.

She held out her hand again, and this time there was no surprise from Jun as he smiled warmly and took her hand again. Once again, their fingers laced, this time more solid and sure. Then, they continued on their morning walk.

…

A smiled as she climbed up the stairs to the roof, remembering all the instances they had done so the first time around. Often-times, one of them would have finished early and would thus head up there first so that they could find a spot to sit, and that was what A was doing. After all, if there were any other similarities between the first time and now, the roof would be at least a semi-popular place.

I suppose it'll be nice to do something 'normal'. All four of them remembered the Elite Chess Club members from the first time around, but nothing had happened to them. There'd been rumours swirling around about things they may or may not have done, and there'd been an air of celebrity, aided by the fact two were literal celebrities. But nobody had died. Nothing horrible like that had happened.

But still, it's been a couple of days now, and it seems like that's that, so…there was of course the mystery of what was happening with her and her friends, but until then she thought that Theo's and Ezra's idea was a good one-to try and make the most of this extra time to make more memories between them. Smiling at the thought, she finally reached the entrance to the roof and carefully pushed against the door. Just as it had been before, it was a little heavy for her slim frame, but with a little extra effort she managed to get it open, and with both arms she pushed it wide open and-

-there was a monster on the roof.

Backlit by the late afternoon sun, for a moment he was nothing but a silhouette, a curved, spiky shape, the light illuminating strands of white fur and making dark eyes glow as razor-sharp teeth were bared. The monster leant over a figure lying sprawled on the floor trying and failing to get up. A gasped, and stepped back, but when she did so her perspective shifted slightly she realised that the monster was not a monster, but Abel. The figure on the floor was Cain. Both battered and bleeding, Cain's expression more fearful than she'd ever seen it, Abel more animal than she'd ever seen. She put her hands to her mouth, shaking like a leaf, and watched as Abel went in for what she assumed was the final blow, when all of a sudden, he paused, looked down at Cain, who had given up.

"A-Abel…" Cain rasped.

Abel only stared for a moment that felt like forever. A stood there, her hands still over her mouth, expecting either one of them to turn and notice her at any moment when suddenly, Abel reared back, getting to his feet and then abruptly running to the fencing, climbing up over it…and then simply jumping.

The gasp was one she couldn't hold back, but it was drowned out by the screams from down below that managed to filter up anyway. She heard an imperious voice below, shouting what she assumed were orders to step back and leave, but she couldn't hear the words, just the cadence. Her eyes went back to Cain, who was now sitting up, trying to hold his entire weight with shaky arms and just moments from failing again. He gritted his teeth, letting out a hiss as he tried to move himself towards the side that Abel had just thrown himself off of. A lowered her hands, took a shaky step of her own, wondering if she should help. No, maybe I should go, go down, find a teacher to help. Or…

There was also the possibility of calling out to her friends, to try and get them up here faster. At least with the three of them, she wouldn't be alone. But still, she stayed, staring at Cain as he managed to shuffle across the roof in tiny increments, pausing with each one to breathe heavily, to press his fingers against one wound or another. They were absolutely coated in red, which smeared against the tiles, but he no longer seemed to care. A, on the other hand, found herself perversely entranced, as though those horrible, horrible smears were a charm or a spell, locking her in place.

Then the door to the roof's other entrance, opposite to her, slammed, and A bit back a scream as she dove behind the door. Her heart hammered, and she waited, not daring to turn back but not daring to peer out, either. A few seconds later, a laugh rang out, cruel and gleeful.

"Look at you, Cain!" the female voice crowed. "Look at the state of you. I was coming to fight you, but you're in no state for that now, are you?"

"Like….like you care, anymore. If ever any….any of us…."

Cain let out a groan, cutting off his own words, and the laughter bubbled up again.

"You may as well admit it, silly Cain. Admit it, that there's no way you'd hold up in a fight. How about chess? If you can sit up, that is."

"Dammit, Eve."

There were more groans and shuffles, and then there was a moment of quiet. A waited for her heart to stop hammering, or at least quieten down a little, and then she dared to peer slowly around. To her amazement, she saw that Cain was now sitting up, though almost doubled up, and that the girl she knew to be Eve was sitting opposite him with her mask on as always, a chess-board between them. She didn't know where Eve had got it from (whether she'd carried it in with her or not A had no idea) with her were arranging their pieces on the board to begin the game. Then, when Eve inclined her head, the two of them began.

A didn't know a thing about chess beyond the names of the pieces, so she couldn't follow exactly what was happening, let alone who was winning. She couldn't quite follow the conversation either, even though she could hear it fully. Things about Delilah and Maria and Judas and Abel, about the six of them together. And another name, one she didn't recognise at all: Oura. Something about Oura, and countdowns, and a game, though not the game that A was currently watching and struggling to comprehend. A kept watching, despite this, again feeling like she was bound in place by something bigger, miraculously going un-noticed. Briefly, she wondered where Theodore, Haze and Ezrael were, but it was only a brief distraction as she continued to watch Cain and Eve take turns to move pieces across the board.

"Oh!"

A blinked at Eve's exclamation at a move Cain had just made. Slowly, he looked up at her, a broad grin spreading across his bruised face. He remained silent though, simply grinning at Eve's masked face. She grunted, then shook her head.

"I surrender."

A blinked at this. Eve let out a laugh, running her hand through her hair.

"After a move like that, there's no way I can turn things around…of course, that is what you're hoping for. So I'll admit my defeat, and leave it at that. But, Cain, let me tell you something."

Eve got up slowly, and dug in her pocket, still looking right at Cain. All the boy seemed able to do was blink up at her, and A couldn't blame him, standing there as she was peering at it all.

"What…" he rasped. "What is it?"

"None of this is really as it seems."

Though of course A could not see Eve's face, the girl's voice seemed to curve in a way that suggested a smile. Then, in movements so swift that A almost missed them, Eve pulled a small pistol out from a pocket, held it to her head, then pulled the trigger.

This time, A couldn't hold back the shriek.

Realising it almost immediately, she willed herself to move, to turn, but now all she could do was tremble, clapping her hands back over her mouth as Cain looked at her, eyes bleary, only to have his attention turned by a white light, appearing from seemingly nowhere, blinding and bright and competing with the sun for attention. A staggered, shielding her eyes, straining to see what was there or who could have caused the light, seeing only the outline of a figure, a sense of wings. Another shot rang out and she heard one last startled noise from Cain before the same thud against the tiles that Eve's body had made. Starting to cry, A finally, finally managed to get her legs to move and allow her to slowly back away when the light faded, and the features of the slim figure filled in, gained more clarity.

Golden eyes glanced over at her, then held her own unflinchingly as they tossed a chess piece in the air, transforming it with each throw. King then knight, rook then pawn, bishop then queen. King then knight, rook then pawn, bishop then queen. A gasped, backed away a little more, when the figure gave a clear, glassy giggle.

"Oh, it's you! You shouldn't have seen this but…"

The figure tilted their head, and A noticed how their garb seemed to match those of Cain and Eve, though now of course their clothes were ruined while this figure remained pristine, tossing and transforming their chess piece without any cares.

King then knight, rook then pawn, bishop then queen.

King then knight, rook then pawn, bishop then queen.

King then knight, rook then pawn, bishop then queen.

The sequence of throws continued a few more times while the figure continued to regard A, fixing her back in place once again. After the last throw, the piece vanished into the air and the figure put a finger to their lips with another giggle.

"Your thread hasn't run out yet, so I can't do anything! Oh well!"

The door of the roof's other entrance slammed, and the figure startled. A wanted to ask what they meant, but she was now both stuck and struck dumb. The figure gave a shrug and chose that moment to disappear in another blinding flash.

"What are you doing up here?"

H-Headmaster Cher?

A blinked desperately, then looked up at the magnificent figure of Headmaster Cher, who had strode across the roof. He bent down and looked at both Cain and Eve's ruined faces, his own creasing in pain for a moment before becoming smooth again. Remaining kneeling, he looked back up at A.

"What are you doing here?" he repeated. "You saw, all this?"

"I…I…"

Headmaster Cher's eyes narrowed. Muttering something about needing to forget, he pointed at the door behind her.

"You need to leave."

A blinked, and the slight eye narrowing turned into a glare, and when he repeated the command his voice boomed, sounding like thunder and all the worse for it still being sunny.

"Leave."

Finally, A's legs seemed to want to work again, and she spun around, shaking violently all over but suddenly feeling light and blown away as she clattered down the stairs and careened down the corridor, away, away, away. Everything echoed and flashed in her head, and she barely saw when she was going, only replaying everything in an endless, brutal loop with tears obscuring whatever was left of her vision.

"A!"

"Ada!"

She smacked into something soft and she gasped, stumbling back. Steady hands caught her and she wobbled slightly before managing to stand. Blinking, she managed to see Theodore and Ezrael standing in front of her, looking worried. When she turned, she saw it was Haze whose hands had steadied her. Oh they're here, they're here. A tried to catch her breath, but even with the relief she struggled, her legs and her chest aching.

"A…" Theodore asked slowly after a few more moments passed. "A, what happened?"

"We heard you, screaming, in our heads." Haze added behind her.

A stared at them, wondering how it was she could put everything into words. I have to try though. She opened her mouth hesitantly and willed herself to say the words, any words…

…and instead, burst into tears.

…

Cookie's head was starting to tingle as she tried to get some semblance of a timeline together over what had happened the last few days. It didn't help that there was no information around what had happened to Cain and Eve. Though, there's not been as if there's anything to go on, is there? All the staff did was say don't worry, don't worry and though they'd stood in assembly halls and bald-facedly said that they could talk if anything worried them, all that really amounted to was a brushing off. Every time she'd tried she'd been fobbed off, or worse, and it'd made trying to find out what may have happened more of a challenge than she'd expected. There hadn't been any police presence around either, and reasons for that had been evaded too.

"If that doesn't mean they're hiding something major then I don't know what does." Cookie muttered to herself.

Still, she'd managed to piece bits and pieces together from asking some people, and eavesdropping on the rest. Most of it, she was pretty sure, was rumour, but given what little else there was to go on she was inclined to believe that there was something there, in the base of it if not all the extra details. It makes my job that much trickier though…at least, with those missing girls, there's some actual objective information. Still not enough to be above-board but even so…Cookie groaned slightly, remembering she still had to go through everything relating to that case too. Still, if for no other reason than the behaviour of the staff, she was sure that there was a connection, so it was justified enough.

Her head still tingling, she ran her hand through her hair, tried to massage her scalp briefly before taking a look back down at her notes. So, Abel jumped off the roof two days after presumably killing Maria…after all, there aren't any other anthropomorphic students whose form is that of a fox or a similar animal…no, wait, is Rael an actual tiger or does she just dress like one? Tapping her pen and thinking of what she knew of the tiger-hued girl in her year, Cookie eventually decided that the appearance was just a (questionable) stylistic choice and so she crossed out her name quickly before returning to her thoughts. Okay, so not necessarily a student but some kind of beast like the one in….oh, but even if he hadn't, where'd he been for those two days, and what about Cain and Eve? Cookie flipped a page and decided to summarise the information in a timeline instead:

Delilah-stabbed (by Maria, who was apparently in the room too?) Maria-attacked in a way that suggests animal (Abel? Something else-e.g. panther reported to live in Aeternum?) Judas beheaded in the greenhouse (?) Abel, Eve, Cain all disappear (mysterious freshman, too?)/do not attend classes Abel jumps off North Wing roof- gunshots heard- blindin

The door abruptly slammed open and Cookie's pen slid across the page, making a jagged line across her timeline. Blinking, she looked up to see her roommate A stumble in, sniffing and crying with one of the boys she hung out with behind her, watching carefully. Cookie stared at the two of them, reminded that here was another mystery. There was something up with the bespectacled girl and her friends, Cookie just knew it.

"You sure you're going to be alright, A?" the boy asked, staying in the doorway.

"Y-yeah, yeah, I'm sure…" A let out a shaky breath and sighed.

"Alright. Once you've written it down, make sure to try and get some sleep, yeah? We'll all come to get you tomorrow."

At this, A smiled in a watery way and just nodded.

"Thanks, Haze."

Haze nodded, then turned and walked away, softly closing the door behind him. Cookie watched as A stared at the door for a moment, before rubbing her face and then heading to her bedside table. Seemingly oblivious to Cookie's scrutiny, A unlocked it and pulled out the notebook that she often scribbled in from time to time, but rather than go to her desk or sit on her bed as she usually did, she sat right there, leaning against the bedside table as she hunched over and scribbled frenetically with an old biro, the force making her entire body shake. Even from across the room Cookie could see that A's knuckles were going white and that she was practically carving grooves into the pages. But still, she barely stopped, only to turn a page when she got to the end of it. On, and on, and on. And through it, she seemed utterly unaware that she was being watched.

Eventually though, A did stop, the pen rolling out of her hand and onto the floor, stopping under the window. She shook her hand out a few times, as if to ease cramping, then unsteadily got up and wove unsteadily to the bathroom, only to abruptly come out to collect her pyjamas and then return again. Cookie shook her head at the sheer obliviousness, and idly wondered if she should go try and sneak a look at the notebook before deciding against it. Instead, she turned back to her own, noting that her head was no longer tingling, and found herself staring.

What on earth? She frowned at the names and the arrows, then flicked back a few pages. None of it made any sense to her, the names were not ones she had ever heard of. About the only thing she did know for sure was that Aeternum was real and the rumours about the panther were real (as far as rumours could be real), though what that had to do with anything she'd just written she had no idea. Why…why on earth would I write about …? Cookie stared at the words, so unfamiliar despite being her own handwriting, and flicked helplessly between the pages, relieved when she went further and recognised the contents of those. So, it's just these, but…

Her thoughts were interrupted by A coming back out, clad in pyjamas, her hair now freed from her ponytail. Without turning off or changing any of the lights, A practically fell into her bed, turning over to face the wall and seeming to immediately fall asleep. All the same, Cookie waited a good few moments before slowly, slowly getting up from her desk chair and creeping over. She observed that at least lighting was not something she needed to factor into making sure she wasn't caught. And isn't that something to thank Goddess Akari over? It was a thought that led to that childhood feeling of being a misplaced jigsaw piece, sneaking under her bed at night but still not being able to sleep for knowing she had to be out before anyone caught her. A feeling she hated. Cookie shook her head vigorously to get it away while attempting to lift the notebook without A waking up and then taking it back over to her desk.

Since it had been open on the page that A had finished on, Cookie started there…and then stopped dead. The writing was so messy she could barely make head or tail of most of it anyway, many words overlapping over themselves, as if they were all interrupting each other in their eagerness to flow, not realising they were all the same story. Going to the previous pages that had been written in the same sitting, it was all the same. The only full clear sentence came right at the end, a simple, urgent declaration:

None of this happened the first time around!

Whatever that was meant to mean. Cookie turned and looked at A for a moment, side-eyeing her. Yes, there was definitely something up with her and her three friends, something she knew and wasn't saying. And not just because of the statement at the end of her frantic account, but the names that had jumped out. Judas, Delilah, Eve, Maria, Cain, Abel. All of them the names that Cookie had apparently written in her notebook but didn't remember doing. Most of A's account seemed to start from the point Cookie had written Abel jumps off North Wing roof, describing a….a fight? Cookie frowned, picking out the words monster, chess, light, Oura.

"What's an Oura?" she murmured. "Or who?"

There was no answer in the pages, so she continued to frown over them as A slept on, troubled but oblivious. Seeing the words then she shot herself made Cookie pause, and look over at her own notebook, at the timeline which said gunshots heard and then back a few pages where she'd written about the students who'd been walking away from where they'd just seen Abel die become startled by the sound of gunshots in the vicinity.

Frowning, Cookie hesitated a moment before turning A's notebook back to the pages that had been inscribed before the scribbled ones, and was relieved when she saw a few pages of neat handwriting:

This morning there was an urgent assembly, to tell us that three second-year students had died. They were from the Elite Chess Club, and one of them was the one Ezra had a thing for-Judas. The others, Delilah and Maria…

The account went on, wavering but precise, and when Cookie compared it to the words she'd apparently written in her notebook, the information matched, more or less. A had a lot more mentions of things along the lines of 'this didn't happen the first time' or other similar points, and less information overall, as she seemed only to be writing about things her and her friends saw and experienced. With the exception of the messier accounts of the incidents on the roof, A's had less information. But that wasn't really significant. What was significant was that the events that she'd written about were the same that Cookie had been.

Yet, I still don't remember them. Did we even ever have any kind of chess club here, let alone an elite one? Cookie thought not, because she liked chess and probably would have tried to join if there had been. Admittedly she wouldn't have been able to play that often because of the mysteries, but even so. A game every so often would have served as a good break. She sighed loudly, and stretched.

What on earth do I do now?

It was the type of situation another person would pray, or at least vaguely plead towards the heavens. Cookie just frowned, feeling a headache coming on. Once again, she looked over at A. For a moment, she briefly thought about waking the girl up and demanding answers, but then thought against it. She wasn't quite ready to voice her worries and accusations aloud, not again.

Blood, so much blood…

Seeing those words, Cookie made an impulse decision. She stood up, and picked up A's notebook and went over to her own bedside table. Picking up her phone, she quickly opened the camera app and took photographs of each of the pages that she needed before then softly putting the notebook back where she had taken it from. Then, she made sure the photographs were clear and saved to the right folder, adding an extra password just to be on the safe side. Once she had done that, she looked down at herself and wondered whether to change out of her pyjamas or not. Deciding she'd rather not waste time, she instead looked for one of her cardigans with zippered pockets, tucked her phone into one of those pockets and then got her beret down and plonking it squarely on her head.

Then, she found clean socks, and slipped her feet into her sneakers (since they were a great deal quieter than her school shoes) after putting them on. Taking one more careful look over at A, she nodded to herself and left the room.

She did not carry a light with her, but she was confident that here she wouldn't get much censure for that, not when the corridors were well-lit anyway. If and when she did end up somewhere too dark, she could easily form a source of light with her magic.

Keeping her guard up, she made her way down from her dorm, past the South Wing classrooms, then down the Angel Tree before crossing the courtyard and going back up the stairs of the North Wing, trying to remember the quickest way to the roof. It occurred to her that she didn't know which roof entrance that A had used, but she decided it didn't matter as she crept along corridors and up more staircases. When she got to the stair case that led directly to a roof entrance, she slowed down somewhat, and shrunk into what shadows there were to try and keep herself as hidden as possible, imagining herself a cat so that she could step as softly as one.

When she reached the door, she was surprised to see that it wasn't completely closed. Rather, it was very, very slightly ajar. She put a hand out to push it, and stepped forward slightly, when her foot jammed something. Frowning, she looked down and realised that something was blocking the door. Creating a small flare of magic which she set afloat above her like a little gold cloud, Cookie crouched down and studied it. Something small, thick and rectangular was stuck to the door…no, it was almost in the door frame, as if someone had made a hole and tried to hide the item in there. It was covered in something dark and somewhat dried. Cookie patted down her pockets and with some relief realised she did have gloves and a sandwich bag in the pockets of this particular cardigan. Whew.

After making sure to take another photo using her phone she pulled on the gloves, and yanked at the item, realising as she did that it was not one item, but many, all stuck together by the substance she now realised was blood as her efforts to pull it from the gap had released the distinctive tang. Wrinkling her nose slightly, she continued to wriggle and tug at the items before they finally came out. She dropped them into the bag, sealed it, then rolled it up and put it back in a zipped pocket before staring at the gap. Someone had definitely tried to vandalise the door frame in order to use it as a hiding spot.

Huh, that would have been ingenious…if it had worked. But why?

Cookie took a photograph of the gap, before looking around, putting out her light cloud and getting up. She retraced her steps as quietly as she had done before, pausing only to throw her gloves in a bin in the courtyard, holding her breath until finally, she was back in her room. A was still fast asleep, her face looking just a little calmer, and so once Cookie had hung her beret up and taken off her trainers, she sat back at her desk. After pushing away her notebook, she took a sheet of scrap paper and laid it out over the desk. She then turned on her desktop lamp and moved it over, before taking the bag out of her cardigan pocket. Carefully, she unsealed it and turned it upside down, letting the items slide out and land on the paper. She then took a pair of tweezers from her desk tidy and separated each item from the other and laid them out in three rows, two in each.

[ ] Reubenschilde, Cain Karino
Eve Eli[ ]de, Delilah De Callaway
Judas Faroschild, A[ ]

ID cards. They were ID cards. Cookie didn't want to take out her own and have to look at her own real name with all the things it made her think of –we made the wrong choice with you, child, the wrong choice-but she knew the design was exactly the same almost down to the last design detail. Top half yellow and the bottom half white, photograph on the left, name and year of entry in the white portion next to the photograph, school logo above it in the yellow. A barcode at the bottom. Hers would be identical in layout, the only difference being that her year of entry was this year, while as far as she could tell all the IDs had last year on it, thus suggesting they were IDs that belonged to second-year students.

Second year students, just like…

With dread, she put down the tweezers she'd used to prize apart the IDs, and retrieved her notebook from where it was now threatening to fall off her desk. She opened it, raising an eyebrow when it opened to the page she had needed, the very first one with words describing something she didn't recognise. There, she had started with a list headed Elite Chess Club and underneath that, six names. And despite the blood that dotted some and absolutely coated the others, despite how it had obscured some of the names, she knew for sure that they all matched.

Each name she had written down here, that she'd written repeatedly and that A had also noted-they matched these six IDs. IDs that were most definitely not illusory, or a trick of some sort (she charmed herself against that type of thing, after all). She picked up one that didn't have so much blood on it, belonging to Delilah De Callaway and held it under her lamp to be sure. But it didn't flicker or fade, didn't disappear or go up in flames. There was no doubt that however they'd gotten into that door frame gap, they were real. This was proof that somehow, six students had died brutally over just four days. But despite such clear evidence, Cookie was only able to shiver, something churning dark and heavy at the pit of her stomach, unable to let herself celebrate.

Because she still did not remember.

---

Groups first featured this chapter:

béΔèm
Lost&Tired

(in both cases, the name changes are largely a matter of punctuation changes)

A note about family names/eponymics:

In this universe I've decided that the surnames I give characters (which are called family names or eponymics here) roughly follow the same sort of conventions that they do in Iceland, so if you know anything about the Icelandic naming system then you probably have a sense of the structure of names already. But the main difference in this universe is that it's gender neutral, since there's no particular convention on whether the family name comes from the mother or the father-especially as some parents are likely to be non-binary in some way anyway. That's why an alternate term here is eponymic, instead of patronymic or matronymic-although the word eponymic is not typically used in the real world for family names like this, since the word itself does relate to words coined after people I thought that for this purpose it was alright to change the meaning slightly.

In any case, as a result, there are a range of different name affixes used for family names/eponymics. The possible suffixes are child/childe (self-explanatory), ko or no (both ko or no can be Japanese, typically being a given name suffix meaning 'child' and a possessive particle respectively, but 'ko' also appears at the end of various Eastern European surnames also meaning 'child'). The possible prefixes are De, Di or Van (from various places in Central Europe, all meaning 'of'). A choice of prefix or suffix usually remains constant in one family, and at some point in history there were regional differences that don't really appear in a modern, connected era.

So, for example, with Maria, her full name of Maria Reubenschilde indicates that one of her parents is called Reuben, whose full name could be Reuben Rayschilde, meaning that one of his parents was called Ray (whether a full name or a commonly used nickname) and so on and so forth.

Occasionally, there are families who will choose an eponymic of a particular ancestor/relative and carry that down the generations instead of having it change each time, particularly if they are from a well-known or prominent family who wish to have a distinctive family name. Delilah is an example of that, so her family name of De Callaway does not indicate that one of her parents is called Callaway, but rather that an ancestor's parent was, and that person chose to pass on that eponymic instead of using their own name to form one for the next generation. There are also non-eponymic family names, the most notable one being mentioned here as being 'Ward', which is used for orphans/abandoned children etc., which is why it's a particularly notable thing. I can't claim this aspect as an idea of my own, as I originally came across it many years ago in one of Neal Shusterman's YA series. But other non-eponymic family names are usually words relating to light/brightness/faith or nature/geographical features, but they're not that common and are usually favoured by Wards, who are allowed to change their family names once they're of age. Some people may attach a prefix or suffix to one of these family names and use that to pass down the generations if they are able to form a family of their own too.

Anyway, as with Iceland, because the end result is a family having different family names amongst its members, most of the time people are addressed by first names, first-middle name combinations (like Jan Erika) or nicknames, with titles and honorifics as appropriate. But of course, family names will come up from time to time as they do in this chapter, which is why I thought I'd explain it.