finished my finals & am happy to go back to this story! this chapter has been on my mind for days (in addition to ayato and the 2.6 livestream ofc), so im excited to finally have it done :)

The first thought that came to mind as I futilely struggled to break through the block of ice around my legs was that I probably should have told Xiangling where I was going. Signora did an excellent job of luring me to a remote location, but if at least one person had an idea of the general area I went to, there might have been a chance that they would look for me here. Alas, my secrecy worked a little too well.

"You have to congratulate my clever technique," Signora smirked. "Who would have guessed that a simple note, signed off with a mere 'K', would have you run straight into my trap? Me. I would have guessed. I'm not sorry to say that Kaeya will not be meeting you—he never was. I'm sure the dutiful student council member is sleeping away, unaware of his little girlfriend's predicament."

"I'm not his girlfriend."

Of course, there were more pressing matters at hand, but that was the first detail I decided to call out. The feeling in my legs was beginning to fade as the merciless cold seeped in, and I strained my neck to keep away from the deadly icicle aimed at me. Wearing a jacket to stay warm in these conditions was like throwing a pebble at a lawachurl.

Signora rolled her eyes. "So you say. I was suspicious at first—I always am. You and Alberich haven't been making your meetings very secret, you know. At first, I thought the two of you were conspiring against me. Especially after that run-in, well, let's just say I couldn't afford to wait around for the two of you to hatch some devious plan. The last thing I need is for some faculty member to catch on."

I bit the inside of my cheek. That's exactly what Kaeya and I planned to do. Before the monster raid, restrictive Sakoku Order, and the turmoil of midterms, Kaeya had mentioned wanting to set up Signora to be exposed. Once there was clear evidence of her sinister actions against weaker students, she would finally be punished. We got distracted, and Signora got one step ahead.

"There," her eyes narrowed. "That look on your face proves it. Well, you can believe that I'll never fall for such a scheme. What do you have to say for yourself? Go on, speak."

"The Academy has been so worried about keeping monsters away from campus," I grimaced. "They never would have expected that the ugliest monster was standing in front of me right now."

Signora's eyes darkened at that. I probably should have held my tongue and tried to ease the situation, but her pretentiousness was getting to me. Ice climbed higher up my body, wrapping around my waist and dropping several more degrees. She smoothed her displeased expression to look unbothered, but the increase in her power just now revealed her annoyance.

"You're confident. Far too confident for a Visionless student. I know you're hiding something."

"If you know so much, then why haven't you figured it out?" I managed to say. "Assuming you're right."

"I'm always right." She flicked a lock of hair from her shoulder. "Tell me what it is, and I might just let you go with only a few scratches. If you continue to be so stubborn, I suppose an extra dose of convincing is in order." The icicle pressed into my neck once more, causing pain to flare up. I felt something warm trickle down to my collarbone. "Careful now. If you test my patience too much, I might just forget myself and end this interrogation along with your life."

"You wouldn't kill me."

She said nothing to that, simply staring at me with an amused smile. Somehow, I managed to sweat amidst the ice that surrounded me. While I was well aware Signora was powerful in terms of her influence and Vision, I hadn't considered the strength of her desire to get what she wanted. She might actually kill me. Should I stall for help to arrive?

"We have all night," she hummed. "Trust me, this is just as painful for me—spending this much time with the likes of you. Why don't you be an obedient brat and spit it out already?"

My heart rate picked up as I began to realize the quickest way to make it out of this situation would be to tell Signora about my Anemo power. Kaeya and I thought we needed to worry about the Abyss Order targeting me and the Academy finding out, but it might be even worse for Signora to know. There was no doubt in my mind that she would use this information to blackmail me, threatening to tell everyone. Would she make me be one of her lackeys? No. I couldn't tell her, and for that same reason, I couldn't use Anemo to break out of this either. The risk was too high, and a small part of me believed that murder wasn't on her to-do list tonight.

"Don't tell me…did Childe give you a Delusion? Is that what's going on here? You wanted a taste of real power and seduced him into pulling a Delusion from our keep."

Not this again. "I didn't seduce him."

"Then, you had the nerve to order him to shut down my followers." Her brows knitted together. "Kerry and Karen have been avoiding me. When I finally caught those two, they disgustingly broke into tears spouting nonsense about not wanting to take advantage of others anymore."

"Cici and Cicin," I corrected her. "You don't even know the names of your own subordinates? No wonder they don't want to—" The ice spread further, so I shut my mouth.

"I thought about disposing of them, but there's no way those two could grow a proper backbone on their own. After a bit of convincing, of course it was Childe behind this headache. You pretend to be such a righteous, impeccable student, but you're just as conniving as me."

I was nothing like her, but I'd learned to stay silent. What I needed to figure out next was how to swing this in a direction where I had some pull. At this point, stalling for help would do me no good. No one knew where I was, and I needed to make it out on my own.

Her eye twitched. "A student council member and one of the most feared in the Academy. They're under your thumb, it seems. That's an awful lot of power for a little first-year."

Power—something Signora obviously cared about more than anything else, and she thought I had what she wanted. Was she jealous? If so…I knew what I could do with this.

"You're right," I said with a fake grin. "And if I'm being honest, it's gotten quite boring."

"Boring?"

"What's the point of having so much influence over them when there's no one to scheme with? Just like Cici and Cicin, Kaeya and Childe are pawns to me. It was all too easy to…" I forced myself to maintain character. "Seduce them. But now what? I find myself at a loss for how to make use of all this power. I got Childe to whittle down the Twin Mages because it bothered me to see someone else with such loyal followers, but now I'm bored."

A flash of curiosity crossed Signora's face as she eyed me. The threatening icicle melted away. Good. Now, all I had to do was continue this act and convince her that teaming up together would be her idea. Just the thought of partnering with Signora made me sick, but if things went my way, I'd only have to put up this front for a little longer.

She crossed her arms. "I wouldn't describe being in a position of power as boring. Perhaps it's because I have a clearer vision of what I want to build for myself in the future. I do admit that it gets rather cumbersome, being surrounded by clueless dolts. After learning of your motives, there may be an opportunity."

I plastered on a hopeful expression. "An opportunity?"

"Yes," Signora chuckled darkly. "I'm willing to consider a partnership—no—an apprenticeship. I will guide you, help you tighten your hold on these men, and many more. In return, you will work with me to establish full control over the student body. With a council member under us, this would be quite simple."

I licked my lips, trying to think of a convincing reaction. "That's an attractive offer. Quite brilliant, really."

She preened. "Of course."

"I guess I can look past this." I gestured to the remaining ice that trapped me. "And we can overcome our differences to work together. I accept your offer. I'll be your apprentice."

"Will you, now?"

I nodded. "Now that we're on the same page, it's unnecessary to hold me captive."

Signora walked up to me and waved a hand in the air. Her catalyst materialized as the block of ice cracked apart and shattered. Finally free, I didn't expect my legs to collapse, dropping me to the ground. After being frozen for so long, they had become numb, and the first tingles of sensation were beginning to reach my toes.

"This is a nice view," Signora said. "On the ground. In the dirt where you belong."

I looked up at her, tense. "We had a deal."

"Did we?" Her catalyst whirred in the air. "I never said I would take you in. I merely suggested it. You were the one who jumped at the offer."

"I thought you wanted this."

"No, you tried to trick me. As I said before, I'll never fall for such a scheme."

Just when I was able to properly move my legs again, Signora looked down at me as she conjured a circle of Cryo daggers aimed at my head. My face paled as I realized there was no rationalizing with her. She couldn't be convinced. I had failed.

With a snap of her fingers, they shot forward.

I felt a pulse of something from deep within me, but before I could examine it, a flash of blue blocked out everything around me.

"Get away from her," a low voice spoke.

Drops of water splashed onto the ground that was now littered with broken fragments of Signora's Cryo daggers. I looked up in surprise to see Childe standing over me, gripping two Hydro blades. He looked over his shoulder to where I shakily stood.

"Are you hurt?"

Dazedly, I shook my head. His eyes scanned my body, beginning with my quivering legs and trailing upwards. He halted before reaching my eyes, and I instinctively reached for the wound on my neck where the icicle had cut me. Childe's expression tightened, and he spun back around to face Signora.

"Look who it is," she sniffed with derision. "You're interrupting a private meeting, Childe."

"You have thirty seconds, Signora," he spoke with barely-contained rage. "Thirty seconds to convince me why I shouldn't remove your head from your shoulders right now."

She laughed. "My, my, are you seriously that upset? How many times have I told you to stop letting that one affect you? You're better than this."

"Better than what? Picking on students who don't bend over backward to appease you? Better than coercing the Visionless to drop out before they're even given a chance to grow?"

"I do this to better my reputation." Signora's face grew stony. "To better your reputation. Celestia Academy will lose its status if we continue to let these doormats become alumni."

"Twenty seconds."

"Does it not bother you?" she spat. "How these people think they can just go around and have fun in a place meant for rigor? They are not built for this. I cut them down to make room for actual warriors. I weed out the frail and am not ashamed of it. I don't care if you stand in my way. I will make sure that she," Signora lashed a finger out at me. "Doesn't make it to see the end of her first semester."

Childe took a single step toward her. "Ten seconds."

"You don't scare me. There's nothing you could do or say to stop me. You're too soft, Childe. I have no doubt that you're more afraid of your precious printsessa seeing you like this. Do you really think she'd want to be with someone like you? I'm sure she'd rather die."

"Five seconds."

She cast one final look at me. "And I'd be happy to do the honors."

Childe twirled his Hydro weapons in the air, fusing them together to make one long polearm. Advancing on Signora, he swung at her neck and I watched in horror as she made no move to step back. Signora's smug grin remained as the tip of his weapon graced the air just a hair's length away from her skin.

"No remorse till the very end." He stabbed the Hydro weapon into the ground, and it puddled into the grass.

"This is just the beginning."

"Is it?" Childe tilted his head to the side before facing the trees. "What do you guys think?"

Confused, I turned to look into the trees that Childe spoke to. They were just as still and empty as when I got here, but then I caught movement in the branches. After a moment, Kaeya emerged.

"I'd say we've seen enough." Kaeya's usual smirk was missing. "Those weren't very nice things for you to say, Signora."

She chuckled. "What's this? Your presence means nothing to me. You may be on the student council, but you're still just a student. The Academy won't believe anything you say unless they see it for themselves."

The tree branches shuffled once more, and a guard stepped out. And another. More guards emerged from the trees all around us, advancing forward until Signora was completely surrounded. Her eyes flicked from left to right, but she stood still.

"This evidence is satisfactory," someone new spoke.

It was a voice I'd never heard before. Elegant and firm, a tall woman stepped out from the trees. She wore a long, thick braid that contained deep violet hair. The woman commanded respect, and all of the guards faced her with their full attention. While she dressed similarly to the task force, her uniform was fitted with badges.

"Who are you?" Signora demanded with less confidence.

"I am the commander-in-chief of the Celestia Academy Task Force," the woman stated. "You may address me as the Raiden Shogun. I am well aware of who you are. Rosalyne-Kruzchka Lohefalter, you've admitted to actions and intentions that go against what Celestia Academy stands for."

"I would never," Signora gasped. "You don't know that I—"

"As a key witness to your violations," the Raiden Shogun interrupted. "I can affirm that you will not go unpunished."

"What do you—"

"This is grounds for expulsion."

killed—or worse, expelled