And so begins the slow trek upwards into 'normal' again. I don't plan on Skuld recovering easily- she'll still be physically and mentally weak well into the summer chapters. Ephemer will also remain shell shocked for quite awhile too.

Thank you for reading.

The tension in the auditorium could almost be cut with a knife. Everyone shifted slightly in their seats, as if they all expected to be called out for some atrocious act that they had been a part of. In a way, it might not have been far from the truth.

Anora had come alone, not truly bothering to find the rest of her study group to sit with them. Everything felt so weird and so wrong. She decided to take a seat toward the back, hoping for a spot near the aisle for sort of assurance that she could leave whenever she wanted to. Turns out she and Ephemer had the same line of thought- she found him sitting in the very last row, right next to the aisle. He didn't even acknowledge her at first before she started to carefully shimmy her way around him to sit on the other side of him.

The two gave each other a brief glance before turning their attention to the stage. Like at the last assembly, the five headmasters took their places on stage. It was in a dim thought that Anroa realized they were in the exact same position too. Ira was in the middle, with Aced to his left and Invi on his right. Gula stood at the end next to Invi, while Ava stood at the other end next to Aced. Because of this, Anora had thought that Ira was going to lead the assembly again, but it was Gula who stepped forward.

"Many of you know why we are assembled here today." he started. His voice was cold, reprimanding. It made a lot of kids hide further into their seats. "I'm sure you were also all aware that the school wide play was originally scheduled for June sixth. However, it had come to our attention far too late that not everyone who volunteered to help had shown up. This mistake nearly cost the life of a single student who had, up until that point, had done everything in her department alone. The student in question will recover and will be returning to classes within the next week. As for those who did not help when they said they could..."

Gula's gaze was sharp as he looked at the students. It was a fury unlike anything Anora had seen before- it could almost rival the anger Aced was said to have.

"Those slacking students have been severely reprimanded. They will now be working for the role they had volunteered for, and they will do everything in their power to do what one student had accomplished over the past several weeks." Gula turned to look at a particular row of students with enough contempt to kill. Anora wondered if that was where the slackers were told to sit. "Of course," Gula went on, addressing the rest of the students again, "This change is not without its incidents as well. To give those slackers some mild leeway, we have decided to push back to school play to June thirteenth- exactly a week from its original debut."

At this announcement, the auditorium filled into an even deeper, more tense, silence.

Ephemer did not look well at all; his face paler than a sheet, his breathing slow but heavy, and he was gripping the seat's armrests for dear life. Anora looked at him for a moment before placing a gentle hand on his. The boy jumped, turning to Anora with concern. Making a decision, Anora took Ephemer's hand and -without caring who saw them- she led the two of them out of the auditorium. She carefully guided them to the dressing rooms, finding the one Ephemer was using, and brought them both inside. When Anora finally let go of his hand, Ephemer absentmindedly went to the dressing room chair and sat down. Anora, meanwhile, was looking around the dressing room for the pack of plastic water bottles.

She gave a little sound of happy discovery before pulling one of the water bottles out. The girl then went to her friend and offered the bottle to him. For a moment, Ephemer just stared at it. He looked up at her, meeting her encouraging gaze, before slowly taking the bottle from her. But he didn't open it. Instead, Ephemer rolled the bottle in his hands, his eyes focusing on the ground.

Anora remained a respectful distance away from him. She sat on an extra stool as she carefully paid attention to his body language. She was no expert on the subject, mind you, but she did her best to understand regardless. What she was coming to understand caused a small pang of jealousy in her heart.

"You really care for her..." she murmured, not meaning to have said it out loud.

"You don't even know the half of it." he softly admitted. "I met Skuld at First Year student orientation. Hers, not mine. I still had another year to go. But I snuck in to watch the ceremony because I was that excited about starting the next year. She was the only one to notice that I probably wasn't meant to be there. She called me out for it. She threatened to tell the headmasters or a teacher that I was trespassing on private property. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I was Ava's son. I still laugh just thinking about it."

He reclined a bit as he closed his eyes, obviously trying to remember the happier time.

"She was my first friend outside of Ava, and Gula, and the rest of them. We got to know each other really well that first year. She helped me with schoolwork, and kept her from getting swamped in it."

Ephemer then held the water bottle tighter. The plastic from the bottle crunched under his grip.

"For awhile, I… I thought I had fallen in love her. So last year, I insisted that we start dating." He gave a small, bitter half smile to himself before adding, "And three months later, I told her I wasn't interested anymore."

Anora gave him a small look, burying her hands in her lap. In a still voice, she asked, "Why?"

For this, the boy found he didn't have an answer.

"I guess…" he tried to say, "I guess I was just so happy that I could click with someone outside the headmasters, that I just… I just didn't want her to leave. She made me happy. I made her happy. But we were just friends- romantic stuff just never happened between us."

Something in the boy seemed to click, and he looked at Anora with wide, horrified eyes. "Now I'm doing the same to you." Letting out a low groan, Ephemer hid his face in his hands. "I'm a shitty friend," he murmured under his breath. After a while he looked back up at Anora.

"It's not your birthday, is it?"

At the girl's confused expression and curious tilt of her head, Ephemer explained.

"With all the… fun we've had over the past few days, I wanted to make sure it wasn't someone's birthday. Because, A- I never like forgetting people's birthdays. And B- going through… what happened to Skuld, it would be a bad present. No one deserves a surprise like that."

Admittedly, Anora was still confused. Ephemer let out an exasperated sigh.

"Just tell me the day." he insisted. "Please."

"The twenty-fifth."

"Of June?"

"May."

Ephemer's face fell, but this time it was from disappointment. Anora found herself amused for a moment- the Ephemer she had come to know came shining back in that moment.

"I missed it." he pouted. "Next year I'll take you some place special."

Anora gave him a light smile as she said, "I'd like that."

Ephemer look at her and couldn't resist the urge to smile back at her. It was a short lived one at best.

"I… I'm skipping out on classes today." he admitted, despite not needing to. "And practice. Ava's already told all my teachers about it. Sorry."

Anora shook her head- meaning for him to not take it personally. But that was the thing; it was personal, and now he was facing the consequences. His face was ambiguous at best as he then told her;

"You didn't have to come to every rehearsal, you know. I would have understood."

His friend lulled her head a bit in thought. In a small voice she admitted, "I know."

"So why did you?"

"Because I like you." she replied, almost instantly. But after a short pause she added, "Because we're friends."

"Friends..." the boy repeated. He gave a bitter snort at the idea. "Just friends..."