For a plan that stole voices from beloved friends and pushed Rose's already exhausted body into worse burnout, everything was going fine.

"So that's basically how I use my ability!" Jade finished. "I don't teach as well as CC does, but this is what she told me, and it's what I'm telling you! And thanks, Nanna, for helping me demonstrate." Nanna nodded and smiled, leaving the feeling jam room.

"Mm-hm," Rose responded. Maybe years ago watching her friend supernaturally take and return voices would have piqued her interest, but now? The very idea just brought her grief. This was the proof that Jade could no longer go back to just having the life force she was born with. Not that she could, regardless.

Jade put down her victory arms. "Is everything all right, Rose? You don't seem focused today. Rose? Rose?"

"Yes, Jade?"

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, Jade. Really. It's just that, when I said I wanted some 'ability talk', I wasn't thinking about control courses. I was thinking about our snakes."

"Oh…Rose. That is a really touchy subject for me, but if it's weighing you down so much, of course we can talk about snakes!"

"Thank you, Jade. You know, I'm not using hyperbole when I say that really relieves me." Rose relaxed her shoulders, taking a breath of air. That had to be the first relaxed puff she'd taken since she entered the house. Turning her thoughts into sounds now, Rose began to tell Jade everything she had discovered up until her time in this room. She mentioned Ayaka's journal, the scribbles in her own notebook, the little things that the snakes said about their own natures. Her speech was as stoppable as a school lecture: inaccessible, dripping with information and ever so slightly monotone. But unlike school lectures, as Rose spoke a worried frown grew on Jade's face. The more factoids she dropped, the more anxious she seemed to look. It was something of a relief that the speech had to die off, allowing the gardener to put in a word of her own.

"Rose, was that…Was that what you were working on for so long? You haven't been answering me, Dave or John for weeks now. Rose, I'm scared for you! We have all lost our guardians and we've all had a rougher time around people because of our powers, but…You realise we can all talk to each other about this! You don't need to be hiding yourself."

"But Jade, I have been responding to you, haven't I? You know. I talked to you on Pesterchum two days ago."

"That only worried me more! You're beginning to sound more and more distant whenever I contact you. That's what John and Dave are telling me too. But I'm glad now that you told me what you were doing all this time! How about we go get some snacks now? Nanna baked chocolate chip cookies!" Jade pops up from her seat.

"No, Jade. No, I'm sorry. The point of me coming here was…It was to make one final step in my investigation. Jade, I need to speak with your snake, the Snake of Stunning Eyes, one last time. I know it hurts you. I know you don't like it. But I'll only use it for three minutes, and on low intensity. I've been speaking with CC, and I believe I can allow you to still have a voice, albeit one that isn't predominant." Rose broke eye contact. The wave of dread in her stomach had overtaken her head to toe.

"Rose, that's…That still scares me. I didn't like that last time! But if it makes you feel any better, then I'll do it! One last time."

The wave receded. Rose fully relaxed her shoulders, looked into Jade's sharp green eyes. She shut her eyes and once again, plunged her focus into the place where monsters spoke.