After Crystal completed her match against Athena Polias, Mrs. Sapphire told her to stay in the arena, and called the other three finalists of the tournament to stand with her. There was Taline Ironskin of course, Gaia Katsaros, and Sun Wukong. Crystal wondered what this was about. She would know soon enough.

Mrs. Sapphire put her hands behind her back, grinning. "You four are the final combatants, though you already know that," Sapphire said. "But what you don't know is that it doesn't matter who wins these next few fights. You've all passed, and so did the four you fought." That was comforting, though she would still try her best to win. "You've done your teams proud to get this far."

"Can we get on with this?" Wukong said impatiently. "I've got places to be."

Sapphire sighed. "Mr. Wukong, I will dismiss you when I want to, and you will wait for that time, even if it's tomorrow."

Wukong scoffed. Did he have any respect for anyone? If only she could teach him respect, but that seemed an unlikely possibility.

Sapphire continued. "I think I should tell you what the next two matches are going to be, students. These are without preference, and your skill sets should give you near equal opportunities for victory. Sun Wukong, you'll be going up against Crystal Taryn. This means that, Taline Ironskin and Gaia Katsaros, you'll be going up against each other. I hope you find these satisfactory, because I'm not changing it."

There was a general hum of agreement, except for Taline. "I look forward to fighting Katsaros and whoever wins between Wukong and Taryn," Taline said excitedly. "It will be a great test of my strength."

"I suppose," Sapphire said. "Now, all of you are dismissed." She turned around to the students watching. "And that goes for you too." Crystal walked out of the arena, through the bleachers, and out to the hall.

As she entered the hall, she found Sakura talking to Storm and Rayne. Crystal went to watch, since she found it interesting how Sakura interacted with others. "So you really are twins?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Storm said. "Why?"

"Then you can read each other's thoughts."

Storm suddenly looked angry as Rayne laughed. "We can't read each other's thoughts!" Storm corrected viciously. "Despite the stereotype, I have no clue what he thinks about outside the obvious."

Rayne, suddenly not laughing, turned to Storm. "What's obvious?"

Storm seemed uncomfortable. "Well, you probably think about home a lot, and about other people, events of the day. You know, what everyone probably thinks about here, with your own Rayne flavor."

Sakura interjected. "You know what, Rayne, you hold up an amount of fingers behind your back, and Storm, you have to guess."

"This is ridiculous," Storm announced. "Can't you just take our word for it that we're not telepathic?"

"Oh, fine," Sakura relented. "But one day I'll prove it."

"I doubt that," Storm replied as Sakura walked away. He glanced over at Crystal and asked, "Oh, hello."

"Hi, Storm," Crystal replied. "Hi, Rayne."

Rayne waved, and walked off. Storm shrugged and said, "Sometimes, Rayne is so confusing."

Crystal nodded in agreement as they started to walk in a certain direction. "As are all of the people we're closest to. My father can be so perplexing sometimes."

"If you're looking close enough at anything, you'll see less," Storm said as if it was a quote.

"Now who said that?"

Storm grinned. "Me, a few seconds ago."

Crystal was impressed. That sounded a proverb from the old days when the Taryns were kings. "Well, it's true. Jasper drives me crazy sometimes."

"Faye confuses me to no end," Storm noted. "If I could understand her, I would. Rayne's the same way sometimes. I understand him better than anybody else, but that understanding's been getting worse lately."

Crystal sighed. "You're not alone there. At first I thought my father would disapprove of my relationship with Jasper, but he's been very supportive. I suppose you can never really know someone."

"I guess not," Storm said. He glanced at her. "But you can still try."

Crystal smiled. "Of course."

They were walking past one of the larger balconies, and Crystal saw what had been a sight of some sadness for her and her fellow students all day. Construction workers setting up huge cannons like the ones they used to put on battleships. This was part of the rearmament for Mistral, as Haven was right next to a sea they knew to have aquatic Grimm such as Poseidons and Karkinoi. It was a good idea, but it was still a little jarring to see them there.

Her father was behind this. He called for rearmament, knowing that they'd want to rearm Haven. While he may not have intended harm by this, this was just the first step to shutting down the school. It was unlikely they would want to have a school and a military base in the same place, so they'd have to choose one or the other. While it was possible for them to coexist, it was unlikely.

She wondered where Haven could end up if they decided to move the school. There were places across the kingdom they could build another school, but the construction would take time out of studies, so they'd have to use something else. Perhaps one of the nobles' estates would do, but where would they find someone willing to give theirs up? She remembered seeing something about an old castle in the south that seemed like a good place, but she didn't know much about it. Finding a new place for Haven would be tough if it came to that.

"I wonder what kind of Dust they use in those cannons," Storm said contemplatively as they walked past the balcony. "Fire would be pretty nasty above water, but useless underneath. Lightning would be effective, but if it hit the water the nearby sea life would take a pounding—of course that's inevitable, but I think they'd want to prevent damage…" He glanced at Crystal—who didn't appreciate if speculation in the slightest—and said, "Sorry. I'm just curious."

After a pause, Crystal noted, "They're probably going to use shells since they won't dissipate upon impact with the water like Dust blasters will."

Storm nodded. "That would help against stuff like swordfish things—what were they called?"

"Duelists I think," Crystal said.

Storm frowned. "Not the most creative name, but I suppose I don't get to name them do I?"

Crystal nodded in agreement. "If you did, what would you name them?"

Storm shrugged. "No idea."

Suddenly, her father—Lord Dustin Taryn—rounded the corner, and came straight for her. They stopped when he got to them. "Ah, Crystal," he said. "I'm glad I found you. I wanted to make sure you got to see this next Council meeting."

Storm cocked an eyebrow. "How many meetings does the Council have in a week?"

Her father shook his head. "Usually there's one every two weeks, unless it's an emergency meeting." He eyed Storm. "So, is this that boy you were telling me about?" Crystal was shocked that her father thought that Storm was Jasper. "Odd how he doesn't have an accent."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Composing herself, she gestured to Storm. "This is Storm Sapphire, a trusted friend." She then gestured to her father. "Storm, this is my father, Lord Dustin Taryn."

Storm looked surprised and bowed. It wasn't a very deep bow, but she was surprised to see him bow to anyone. "Lord Taryn," Storm simply said.

"Well, whoever this is he has better manners than half the people I've met here," her father said. "Did you know that someone actually jumped over my head?" That sounded like Sakura. Fortunately, the way he said it made it seem like he was amused by it. At least he wasn't angry.

"He actually told us of the matter with Headmaster Forester," Crystal noted.

Her father looked surprised and nodded. "So how did you come across this information, Storm?" he asked.

For a moment, Storm looked hesitant and panicky. Fortunately, he answered quickly enough. "Sir, that's not something I should talk about. In fact, you shouldn't talk about it either—they're everywhere."

Dad put his hands on his hips. "A bit paranoid, isn't he?" he said to Crystal.

"It's not paranoia, sir. It's practicality. In fact, you've made a few impractical mistakes already, that need to be corrected," Storm said like he was keeping back anger. Then suddenly Crystal realized it wasn't anger but frustration; frustration like when a child makes an obvious mistake. It shocked Crystal that Storm, who was usually respectful to other people, talk to her father like this.

Her father frowned, and looked from Storm to Crystal and then back to Storm. "Let's talk, Storm." As he led Storm away, he gestured for Crystal to stay where she was. Her father led Storm to a balcony where they weren't installing a cannon yet.

While she couldn't hear them, and she didn't care try to read their lips, she knew what he was in for. Her father could be very brutal sometimes with his speeches, and had made her develop a fear of him. At the same time, she wanted to please him, as she did have her obligations as a Taryn. "The unfortunate thing about being nobility is that it's a family business," her mother once said. Though she wished he wasn't so angry sometimes.

That's when she started to wonder: how did Storm know of the Order? It was a question that her father asked, and she started to ask to. How did Storm, a student younger than she was, discover a massive conspiracy like that? Who told him?

It was a painful time before Storm and her father came back. Storm seemed a little shaken, but triumphant almost. Her father looked at her and said, "Come with me."
As they started walking, Crystal asked, "So, what did you talk about?"

Dustin sighed and said, "You'll learn soon enough."

Crystal was scared by that answer. What did he mean by that?

So, do you hate me yet? I hope not.