"Almost done," Chandra flopped onto her bed. Lilianna sat calmly and slowly on her own bed across from her, "Almost. Then what though. We do have plans but we don't know if the principal will be going to war. If we continue to comply then the principal won't do anything but relish in his victory."

"But if we make the declaration then things are going to be dicey," Chandra nodded. She started to chew on her thumbnail thoughtfully, "Well...if we start acting up again then nothing new will happen."

Lilianna nodded, "Exactly."

Chandra's eyes narrowed. Security won't lighten up even if we do behave. Maybe if we do something small that sets him off. "Michael and David."

"What?" Lilianna looked at her in surprise, "They've behaved as far as he's concerned."

"Yes and if we push the principal over the edge then we don't have to worry about making the first move."

"How are we going to push him over the edge then and not just get him to stick us into the cafeteria?" Lilianna asked.

"Well...we're going to...um," Chandra growled in frustration. Suddenly she stopped and sat up, "We'll interrupt what happens in the cafeteria. Confuse security. Test their morality. If we start winning security over then he'll get pissed as hell. If we can win Hades over then even better." She grinned.

"Sounds solid enough," Lilianna nodded.

No one slept anymore. Everyone of them could feel the presence of the security guard outside their doors. All that was left to do was the very top floor of each dorm. It had taken them nearly a month. Lilianna was hoping to have the principal gone before December. It was now November and more than halfway through it at that. They'd missed Halloween which had only fueled the student body's anger. The PE course was becoming easier and easier. They'd have to work, even in the snow and the cold, which agitated her. She personally didn't like the overly toned look everyone was building. Melody had collapsed the day before, meaning she'd more than likely be the poor student whose punishment was put on show in the cafeteria. No one intervened. Lilianna hadn't expected as much. The entire city was afraid. Everyone skirted far around the school, glancing at the gate and the dying trees that sat beyond in sympathy but knowing they were unable to do anything. Elspeth and the others watched the school closely but trusted the student body to look after themselves and each other. Everyone could feel the tension. The cloud that had once hung over the school now hung over the entire city. Elendeth was just as prepared for war as the students were. Lotus had already informed the rest of the assassin's guild what their role was in this war. Elspeth and the others waited for their cue. The didn't need to be told what their role was. They already knew.

As Lilianna predicted Melody was in the cafeteria the next day. The poor girl was practically in tears and visibly terrified. Her eyes narrowed. They'd target a normal human girl? I can't believe this. Even I'm sickened by that. Their fight is with us. She shook her head. They already had a plan in place to deal with this. Hades looked sick but did nothing to stop the principal. The steel baton flew towards the girl's head. One hit like that would dent her skull at best. It could kill her. Jace leaped over the railing and grabbed Melody. He rolled under the principal's strike and set Melody on the ground. He hissed at the principal angrily. His ears were flattened and his blue eyes were dark pits of hatred. Hades looked shocked to see him. Lilianna had heard Tessa refer to Jace as the Rogue Experiment. The first one to escape and the only one to escape twice. Apparently he was well known by any and all of the experiments. For some he was an example. Others resented the fact that he had successfully escaped while they were still stuck. Hades' eyes narrowed in recognition. Lilianna instantly assumed that he resented Jace's very existence. Michael and David's bucket of chalk dust dumped the powder on the floor in front of the principal. The resulting cloud kept the principal from seeing Jace as he grabbed Melody's arm and dragged her completely out of the cafeteria. Security shot at him but Ral and Rick intervened, redirecting the bullets easily. Chandra and Caedrus took down the guards by the doors while Claire and her group created an illusions of chaos in the cafeteria to distract the remaining guards from assisting in halting Jace and Melody.

Hades dropped down in front of Jace. The boy's red eyes held no emotion and his voice was flat. "She hasn't been punished-"

"For what?" Jace snapped, "Being asthmatic?"

Hades' fists clenched at his side, "She-"

"Move," Jace insisted. His voice wasn't angry or mean. If anything he understood. There were a lot of things people are willing to do when they're controlled by the fear someone they believe to be above them instilled in them.

Hades shook his head, "No. I can't."

Jace sighed. He let Melody go and looked at Hades, "You can't? Can you punish her then? Will you dish out the punishment that she supposedly deserves?"

Everyone in the student body knew of the plan Chandra had come up with the previous night. It was already being implemented. Lilianna watched Hades hesitate. He continued to hesitate until he gave, "No. I can't."

"Then don't," Jace grabbed Melody and walked past him.

Lilianna shook her head, "Damn." The illusion faded once Jace and Melody were safely out of the building. Lilianna looked around. Everyone dispersed and went back to class. Security escorted them and kept a wary eye out for Jace. Security obviously didn't know who he was. Neither did the principal. Michael and David were in the cafeteria at the end of the day.

"Rules are important!"

Lilianna ignored his speech and watched security carefully. Many of them looked uncomfortable. She shook her head. That idiot's plan might just work. Security doesn't like it any more than we do. However Michael and David are perfectly capable of testing security's moral on their own. No intervention is necessary this time. She noticed Hades' lower lip was bleeding and he appeared to have a bruise on his arm. He covered the majority of the bruise with his hand but it was too large for him to successfully hide completely.

"C'mon!" Michael insisted, "Can you really be angry at us for defending our friend? She was terrified!"

"You could've killed her with that baton!" David added.

"Besides!" Michael looked dead at the principal, "How can you be sure we're the ones that did it? It doesn't take much to fill a bucket with chalk dust and hang it from the ceiling."

"A trip wire's easy to make," David added.

"Did our song play?" Michael asked.

"You know our song always pla-" David was interrupted as he was hit hard with a baton. A white sheen covered his skin, preventing most of the damage that would have been done. Almost instantly a bruise started to form. He shook his head in an effort to clear it.

Lilianna noticed most of security exchanging uneasy glances. She smirked, "They don't know. How can they? Michael and David aren't wrong. Their song always plays when they cause trouble. Every security guard knows that."

Tessa, who stood next to her, nodded, "It's all going according to plan. According to Cain security has already lost a large portion of their belief that we are inhumane monsters."

Lilianna smirked, "So tomorrow should definitely push it to it's limit." The plan for tomorrow was simple. Someone was going to volunteer to be punished in another's place. Lilianna expected the volunteer to be Chandra for two reasons. The first one was, the redhead's anger changed history. She could change the very composition of a person's soul with a few simple words. Lilianna hated her for it but didn't deny it. The second was she was surprisingly good at manipulating people. She often teased her about being unable to manipulate anyone but grudgingly admitted the redhead was just as good at getting what she wanted from a situation as she was. Of course when dealing with Jace and Ral the best way to get those two to do what one wanted was to be subtle and patient about it. She shook her head in amusement. The redhead was contagious. She could clearly remember a time when getting people unnecessarily involved would've just been part of what inevitably happened and whatever happened to them happened. Now the idea made her sick. That was Chandra's fault. However she didn't feel bad about summoning Xerxes in the first place. If Jace or Kurai mentioned that this whole incident was more than likely due to his machinations Chandra would be one step closer to raging. If Xerxes managed to push the redhead into a rage then Lilianna would be able to see if her hypothesis was correct and Chandra could kill a demon. She also wanted to see if putting her faith in Chandra was a wise idea. If the redhead could remove both elder dragons then Lilianna would be one step closer to her freedom. Of course in order to be able to call on the group's assistance again afterwards she'd have to work to keep up her good reputation.

"Michael and David are more than likely going to need medical attention," Tessa noted.

Lilianna rolled her eyes, "Great." I was a healer. Of course I don't remember most of that. She studied the two angels carefully, "Probably." They just took the beating and had been since David got hit.

Hades looked ready to vomit. Eventually he stepped forward, "Don't-Don't you think that's enough. They can't even get up anymore."

The principal rounded on him. Hades stepped back quickly.

Michael crouched on the ground with one eye closed. It would've killed anybody else. The two of them could create barriers around themselves that only allowed minimal damage to their bodies. The student body knew of the plan and had therefore watched in silence.

"Don't blame Hades for your own stupidity and blood lust," David's eyes were narrowed angrily, "He's already in enough pain because of you."

Hades glanced at his arm in shock and took another step back.

The principal snarled, "That's all. To class!"

The student body dispersed. The principal left Michael and David where they were. Hades followed him but glanced over his shoulder multiple times at them.

Lilianna cycled back around and returned to the cafeteria. She helped Alice, Onyx and Yuri essentially carry the twins to the nurse's office.

The nurse just shook her head. Usually she'd be pretty sarcastic about it but ever since the new principal started enacting punishment she was just silently seething. She knew the student body had a plan. They wouldn't have chilled out so significantly if they didn't so she didn't intervene in anyway.

"Will they be alright?" Alice asked fearfully.

Lilianna nodded, "They'll be fine."

Alice nodded and reluctantly followed the other three out of the room. Security ignored them.

Lilianna stopped as she heard a muffled cry of pain. She felt slow anger bud in her stomach. Her anger was not explosive like Chandra's but it was just as deadly. She couldn't remember a time when strangers mattered so much to her but she blamed Chandra. Her first priority was still herself. Thankfully the redhead hadn't managed to snuff that out. Yet. She recognized Hades' voice and shook her head. She resolved to tell Chandra and then let the redhead deal with it. She didn't have nearly as much of a sense of self preservation. Lilianna planned on getting out of this as close to unharmed as she could. She didn't plan on having any scars after this.

"He WHAT?!" Chandra stared at her roommate.

"I have reason to believe that the principal takes his anger and frustration out on Hades," Lilianna shrugged.

Chandra seethed silently for a moment. They had finished for the night. Dawn was still about an hour away. "That's it," she shook her head angrily. She got to her feet, "Tell Claire to make an illusion of me."

Lilianna nodded. Chandra disappeared out the window, heating the air around her to soften her landing. Out maneuvering security was a simple task. All they did was patrol. She could see them questioning themselves and everything they've done under his command. She felt a smirk forming on her face. She slid into the school building from a side door. The principal had replaced all the staff. Zack had managed to find them all and they now met at the warehouse every night to assist him and his friends in getting supplies to them. Only the librarian and the nurse remained. Apparently the second principal as well as the first were also assisting though Chandra hadn't seen them. It wasn't hard to find Hades. He was curled up in the corner of a room looking completely miserable. She crouched in front of him, "C'mon." She held out her hand to him.

"No," he shook his head, "you'll get in trouble for helping me."

"And?"

"I'm not worth the trouble I'll bring to you," he insisted.

"God," Chandra shook her head in amusement, "I could carry you."

"No."

"Then let's go," she moved insistently closer to him.

Hades shook his head, "I can't." He looked at her meaningfully, "I have to know something. The only way to know is to be on his side of the field until I have my answer." He met her gaze darkly, "You may very well be in more danger than you've been in before."

"What do you want an answer to?" Chandra stored his warning away in her mind to reflect upon later.

"The Athena project. It's true you have Athena and the Rogue but there's something more to it. I've learned that it was designed to serve someone. I don't know who but the only way to know is to stay here," Hades shrugged.

Chandra sighed, "Fine. But I won't let you die in order to get your answer. How can you get an answer if you die?"

He nodded reluctantly in agreement.

Chandra rolled her eyes as she silently closed the door. She heard voices nearby and froze. She crept closer and listened carefully.

"I'll need to replace all of security. Only then can these monsters be controlled."

"Don't forget about the Athena Project," Chandra's eyes widened as she recognized Areu by his voice. Does that mean Bolas is behind this?