Here's the promised chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own HoA.

An awful silence racked the house, and Mara and Jerome noticed right away when they came in and sat down for dinner. Mick was eating nervously, Alfie wasn't eating at all, and everyone else-Fabian and the girls-just stared at their food. But everyone directed their attention to Mara and Jerome when they came in.

"Hey babe," Mick smiled in relief as he stood up and gave Mara a peck on the cheek. "How was, your um, walk?" Mick looked at Mara nervously, waiting for an answer.

"Oh, um, great," Mara gave a tight lipped smile and looked around. "What happened?" she whispered. "Why is everyone so-so-sad?"

"I don't know, but it's making me nervous. I'm going to go take a cold shower. Want to join me?" Mick paused, realizing what he just said. "N-no, I mean," Mick stuttered nervously, "I mean leave! Leave the room. Not join me and-I-I-"

Mara smiled softly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll stop by, as soon as I've had dinner. Bye, Mick," Mara lightly kissed him then pulled out her chair and sat down. Jerome scoffed and sat next to her.

"So why's everyone so nervous all of a sudden, hmm?" Jerome finally asked, breaking the silence. "This tension is so thick, you could cut it with a knife!"

Mara and a few of the others laughed, but it was short. "We'll tell you later," Fabian replied. "Right now, let's just focus on dinner."

"Focus on dinner? You're not even eating!" Jerome protested. "Anyway, you're acting so weird, I'm not hungry at all. How about you, Mara?" Jerome turned to face her. "Are you hungry?"

Mara smiled gently. "Not anymore, thanks. I think I'll go take a shower," standing up, she headed upstairs to her room. As she gathered her things, she realized she should probably tell Mick. I don't want him to go looking for me, Mara thought as she walked downstairs. As she passed the table, she noticed everyone was gone, and the house was quiet. Mara paused for a moment, but shrugged and continued.

A minute later Mara stood outside Mick's door, ready to knock, when she heard some hushed voices. Curious, she followed the sound to Jerome's room. Knowing she shouldn't, Mara put her ear on the door to hear further.

"Rufus? What about him?" Mara heard Jerome ask, to who she presumed was Alfie. "He's gone, I thought. Finished."

"Well apparently he's not, so listen up," Patricia could be heard snapping back. Why is Patricia in Jerome's room with the door closed? Mara felt herself begin to get angry, though she didn't know why.

"Thank you, Patricia," Fabian! Mara gasped. "Now, Nina, would you care to explain?"

Nina? "Of course, Fabian. Anyway, you see, on the walk back from school, I noticed a shadow standing far off in the woods. I was curious, so I gathered the other Sibuna members, (besides you, you were strangely absent) and we went to investigate.

As we snuck through, we noticed the form was a man. As we got closer, we began to notice more of his features-his back was to us, though, so we didn't know yet.

We walked further, and by accident Alfie stumbled on a twig. It cracked, and the man turned around, revealing Rufus; muffling our gasp, we quickly turned and ran away. Then we came back to the house, and we've been deciding what to do ever since." Nina explained, while Mara thought, Rufus? The woods? Sibuna?

"Did he have warts on his face?" Jerome asked excitedly. "Please say yes. It'll make me feel better."

Nina sighed. "Sorry, Jerome."

Mara could just hear Jerome's frown as he said, "Oh."

"But anyway, we need to get back to the point. What do you think he wanted?"

"Maybe he was looking for the cup?" Amber! Why are you of all people-? Oh, please don't tell me they have Mick!

"Good idea, Amber. Probably," Fabian agreed. "Nina, speaking of the cup, have you gotten anymore messages from Sarah?"

Nina sighed. "No. Do you have any more of the decoy elixir?" Nina asked hopefully.

"Sorry, no. So far, no one is going to be able to live forever."

Mara furrowed her brow. Sibuna? Rufus? Elixir? Sarah? What's going on?

Frowing, Mara twisted the knob and opened the door.

XD

~Dragonclaw11