Fun fact, this story started on a Wednesday, and I don't mean when I started writing, but when the story is set.

It was Saturday morning, and that meant the laundry had been delivered. Storm retrieved the bundle of clothes tied up in string from next to the door outside, and closed the door behind him. It was mostly uniforms and some other clothes, but there was also Azura's duster. She would be happy to see that.

He set the bundle down on Azura's bed, since it was near the middle of the room. "Azura, you're duster's back," Storm called out, since she was in the bathroom.

It wasn't long before Azura came out, zipping up her flak jacket. Her azure hair—which she was probably named for—was still wet from the shower. She undid the string, and picked the duster out of the other laundry. She immediately put it on.

The brown leather jacket was cleaner than he'd ever seen it. It was still a few sizes too big for her, and was not in the best condition, the laundry staff couldn't have done anything about that. It looked good on her, though she probably didn't wear it for reasons like fashion.

Azura breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to Faye, who was sitting on her bed reading. "Don't ask me to do this again," Azura said to her and Storm.

"I do not think I will," Faye said nervously. Obviously Faye didn't mean to cause any bad feelings, even though it didn't turn out that way.

"I won't make any promises, but I don't think I will," Storm said. He tried not to use absolutes, as those could so often be proven untrue. "Of course, I might if you get more blood stains on it."

Azura gave Storm a look that made him feel uncomfortable. "It'd better be my blood then." He wasn't completely sure what she meant by that, but he assumed that her getting wounded and thus incapacitated was the only way they would get her jacket away from her. That was fair enough, though he could have done without the look.

Changing the subject, Storm asked everyone, "So, who's going to the dance tonight?"

"I would not mind going with you," Faye said. "Though I should tell you that I do not dance."

"Well, neither do I, so…"

Rusti then spoke up. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet until now, so Storm had almost forgotten he was there. "I won't be going. Believe me, I'd like to go, but the chances of running into Fuchsia are too high."

Remembering something, Storm asked, "Hey, how'd it go between Fuchsia and Cirocco anyway?"

Rusti shrugged. "Well, I guess. I think they're just friends though, so I'm still at it." Faye and Azura looked at Rusti oddly—not knowing what he meant by that—but didn't ask him, which was good all things considered. "And Fuchsia actually doesn't want to hurt me—it's just what she says. I just don't want to see her again."

"Okay." Storm turned to Azura. "What about you?"

"No," Azura said simply, and that was all Storm needed.

He then wondered who on team CCRE was going. He knew that probably Rayne and Ember would go, since Rayne actually danced and who knows how Ember would react to that. He wasn't sure about Crystal, though the way Jasper talked to him yesterday, it seemed like she was going with him. And then there was Cirocco. He had no idea if Cirocco would go or not, but he didn't think the odds were favoring him going. He could be wrong, as that tended to happen, but he'd wait and see.

Crystal entered the cafeteria. It was being used for the dance that night, though she had no idea why they weren't using the ballroom. Most of the tables that usually occupied the cafeteria were gone, except for a few around the walls that were mostly covered with food and punch. The room was lit by multi-colored lights, but other than that it was dark. Loud music with a strange beat played over speakers. This was not the same sort of dance that she was familiar with, but it would at least be a good distraction from all the conspiracy that was going on.

Looking around, she felt overdressed. Most of the students there were in seemingly casual clothes, though they were on the formal side of casual. Crystal had decided to wear an elegant, sleeveless green dress that, while unsuited for a ballroom, she felt was not appropriate there either. She wanted to go back to her room and change, but that seemed extreme. As her mother said once, "A noble is never overdressed; they just get to be fancy whenever they like."

She fought to make this remembrance a good one. Her mother, a noble by marriage, was full of sayings like that, which Crystal now realized that she had to learn herself. She taught some things before her death that Crystal still remembered. She was a wonderful person that Crystal wished wasn't gone.

She searched with her True Sight to find Jasper or one of her friends. While she didn't find Jasper, she did find Storm and Faye. She went over to them, standing far from the edge of the dance floor. "Hello, Storm. Hello, Faye," she said, almost yelling over the music. "How are you two?"

"I think we're okay," Storm said. Faye nodded. "Yeah, we're okay. How are you?"

"Good."

"What?" He must not have heard her over the music. She gave a thumbs-up. "Oh. Great."

"Why aren't you two dancing?" she asked.

"Neither of us dance," Storm said. While some may have had trouble hearing over the music, which she did, her skill to read lips helped negate that somewhat. "So, do you have a date?"

"Yes, but he doesn't seem to be here." She looked around again, and didn't find him. Where was he?

"Well, I hope he shows up."

Looking at the dance floor, she could see a lot of people she recognized. Rayne and Ember were dancing together, as were Gaia and Netia—oddly enough. Netia was shorter than a lot of people at Haven, and Gaia was very tall, which made the two of them together an odd sight to begin with, but she never thought of them as partners—other than in the sense of being partners on a team. In addition to those four, there were quite a few others, and plenty she didn't know.

She saw Sakura dancing on her own, which she found more than a little strange, so she went over to her. "Hello, Sakura," Crystal said.

"Oh. Hey, Crystal," Sakura said, still dancing. "This is great music!"

She thought on her answer for a moment, and said, "I suppose it does have something that someone would like about it."

"Oh, you're just saying that." In a place like this, people only heard what they wanted to hear, she supposed.

Changing the subject, she asked, "Where's Jasper?"

Sakura stopped dancing. "He's at the dorm with Peri. She's been really testy lately, and I don't know why. I don't think it's… you know."

Crystal nodded. "What can you tell me about her?"

"Not much. She's usually really energetic and fun to be around, but I don't know much about her. She really likes gloves for some reason, and that really ugly shade of yellow-green she always wears." She didn't think that color was that bad. "That's really all I know. That and she's incredibly stubborn, and she kicked Rowan and I out of the dorm room. She let us in there to sleep, but she's been hogging the room all day. You'd think she was royalty or something. No offense."

Crystal shrugged. "So she's been there all day."

"Yep."

"How has she been getting meals?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen Jasper much either. He's the only one she'll let in. I don't even know why."

Crystal decided something then. "I'll go and see what I can do."

"I doubt she'll let you in."

"If she doesn't, then I will have at least tried." Besides, she was curious as to why Peri was so antisocial.

Crystal left the dance, and went to dorm 27B—she had gotten the number from Sakura before she left—which was team JSPR's room. She knocked on the door and Jasper opened it. "Crystal, what are you doing here?" Jasper asked.

Thinking it was better to test Jasper, Crystal said, "I thought we were going to the dance together."

"Well, something's come up. I can't go." Jasper seemed nervous almost. "Could you leave?"

That was rude. "What's going on, Jasper?"

"Jasper." Peri's voice came from behind him. "Let her in. She probably sees it anyway." Jasper let Crystal in, and she saw that Peri was sitting up in what looked like her pajamas with a blanket over the right side of her body from the shoulder down. "So can you see my arm?"

"No," Crystal said. "I can only see things if there's enough light and if there isn't something obstructing it."

Peri sighed. "Well you might as well know anyway." She jerked her head at Jasper, and he closed the door. She then removed the blanket from her side, revealing her arm. Her right arm was quite obviously mechanical.

Crystal was shocked, but retained her composure. "How did this happen?" she asked calmly.

Peri hesitated before answering. "It was during my days at Sanctum. I was testing my weapon for the first time when… It didn't hurt as much as you'd think, or maybe it did. All I remember is I was pulling the trigger and then I was in the hospital."

Crystal put a hand on Peri's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Spare me your false sympathy," Peri spat at her as she pushed away the hand. "After all this time, I'm tired of false sympathy. I'm tired of people treating me different because of my arm." Peri stood up, grabbed her mechanical shoulder, and pressed something that made a clicking sound. "And I'm tired of this!" She pulled the metal arm off, and threw it onto a bed.

Crystal gaze Peri an intense look. They shared that look for a long time, until finally Crystal said, "If you hate it so much, why keep going? Why not just quit being a Huntress so that you don't need that arm?"

Peri sneered at her. "Don't ask me that. My reasons are my own, but I will never give up the fight—not when I haven't even gotten into it."
Crystal crossed her arms, satisfied. "Then there's your answer. You'll just have to bare the arm a bit longer."

"But it hurts!" Peri gripped where the arm connected with her torso. A metal rim surrounded the tissue. "I've been growing more lately, and it's been pressing against this. I'll have to get it adjusted, and that means missing out on school."

Crystal shook her head. "There aren't classes right now. You should be fine."

"But… I don't want to be away from my friends."

Jasper interjected. "We'll be fine without you. It's not like we're going into battle any time soon. And don't worry; I'll make sure to write you about what everyone's doing while you're gone." Peri nodded, smiling. "How long do you think it'll be before you're back?"

"It could be a few days or a few months; I don't know." Peri sighed. "But I will be back—you can count on that!"

Jasper grinned. "I'll look forward to it."

Peri turned back to Crystal. "Now that you've convinced me, get out."

Crystal was confused. "What?"

"Get out," Peri said, not particularly angrily or forcefully. "If you want, take Jasper with you. But for now, get out of my room."

"Alright then." Crystal walked to the door. "Jasper?"

"I'll catch up with you," he replied. Crystal nodded.

As she walked out the door and down the hall, she thought about Peri. It felt good to have helped someone else, though at the same time she felt as if Peri didn't need her help. Someone else could have probably done what she did, but she was the one who did it, so that was that.

Though one question stuck in her mind. Clove—Cirocco's older sister—had prosthetics that looked reasonably like flesh on the outside. Why was it that Clove stuff that looked like flesh and Peri didn't? Perhaps Peri wanted it to look metal, or something to that effect, but she would have to ask to know.

With that, she returned to the dance, and was once again assaulted by the music and lights.

Something I learned about this: I don't particularly like longer chapters, but you folks might.