FINAL CHAPTER - REVELATION

"Our melodies melt together…" "Into a symphony."

"When we're together, our singing hearts become wings. Flying higher, even higher than the sun!"

Emma and Morgan held the last note of their duet as Elliot played the final chords on the piano. Crow stood to the side, keeping his face as impassive and impartial as possible.

"Aaand that's the end of the song," Elliot said. "What do you think, Crow?"

"What do I think?" Crow's face broke into a grin as he started clapping his hands together. "That's really good! I love it a lot more than what we have right now!"

Elliot, Morgan, and Emma all breathed a collective sigh of relief. With Crow's seal of approval, the fine-tuning of their performance could finally begin in earnest, starting with…

"Next up, choreography!" Crow snapped his fingers and pointed at Morgan. "So? What do you think, Morgs? Got any ideas?"

"Eh?" Emma stared at Morgan with a surprised expression. "Morgan, you're doing the choreography?"

"I never said that outright," Morgan refuted. "But I do have that background, so that role ended up landing in my lap by default. It's just…"

"Just what?" Emma asked.

Morgan gave her head a small shake. "My dancing style doesn't really fit the kind of aesthetic we're employing for our concert."

"And what's wrong with that?" Crow immediately cut in. "We're amateurs, remember? It's not like we're making some major production. So what if it looks a little weird? At least you'll stand out in a memorable way."

"I'm gonna have to agree with Crow here," Elliot concurred. "I want us to make the best musical performance we can, but when it comes to show business, there are always corners that are going to be cut. But you know, I wouldn't have been able to make it this far if you hadn't stepped forward, Morgan. So I say we try it out! I'm curious to see what your dancing looks like, too."

"Elliot…"

With a response as earnest as the one Elliot had just given, how could she refuse?

"The song is all about wings, right?" Morgan muttered to herself. "In that case…"

10/21

"Fie, get livelier! Throw a smile for the audience!"

"J-Ja!"

"Millium, don't get so excited that you forget the next step!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Oops! I'm sorry, Morgan! I messed up!"

"Don't mind, Emma! Just keep going!"

Morgan continued clapping her hands to the beat of the music, which was being played from an orbal device that could record sound. Elliot had been kind enough to play through the entire song while George recorded the audio. The trio of girls standing atop the stage in the Old Schoolhouse reached the climax of the song, and Morgan couldn't help but move along to the beat with them as the piece came to a close.

"Great job getting through it all, everyone," Morgan congratulated her three classmates. "But there's always room for improvement. I counted about…fourteen things to look out for?"

"And I thought Elliot was strict…" Fie muttered under her breath.

"Is it…really necessary for me…to practice without my glasses?" Emma asked in between gasps for air, her earlier stumble during practice having resulted from her not being able to see clearly.

"If we really want to sell the vision Elliot, Crow, and the others have, then you're going to need to get used to it," Morgan replied. "But don't worry! When we're doing it for real, I'll be right there alongside you, so just follow my lead!"

"Whew! Dancing's a lot harder than I thought!" Millium said. "I dunno if I'll be able to remember everything!"

"It's all about practicing until you have the muscle memory down." Morgan walked closer to the stage. "I don't expect us to nail every single step perfectly, but remember that if you do mess up one of your steps, then it's your responsibility to smile and keep pressing on. The audience won't know that you made a mistake unless you make it obvious. With that said, everything is still a work in progress, so if you want to suggest a change that can make the routine easier for you, then by all means we can do that. Let's leave things here for now and we can pick things up again for the dress rehearsal tonight. Sound good?"

"Yeah!" "Sure." "Okay!"

"Great. See you all later. Again, great work today!"

Morgan flashed her co-singer and two backup dancers a thumbs-up and a smile. It had only been a couple of weeks since they began rehearsal, and they had already made so much progress. It was…rewarding, seeing others act out the routine that she helped choreograph. Because of the song's strong wing imagery, Morgan emphasized the importance of arm motions, keeping them in motion and at an elevated position to give the image of wings fluttering in the wind. As for footwork, Fie and Millium would be responsible for carrying the bulk of the dancing, since Morgan and Emma also had to provide vocals.

"It's great that we were able to get permission to use the old schoolhouse for rehearsal," Morgan said. "We can be as loud and as bombastic as we want and no one will be around to complain!"

A high-pitched mew came from the far end of the room as a black cat with a ribbon and glasses in its mouth walked into view.

"Oh, Celine!" Emma said. "Thanks for looking after my glasses."

Millium knelt down and clapped her hands together, beckoning Celine to come closer. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty…"

The black cat growled and walked away.

"Aw, I wanted to pet her…"

Emma put a hand on Millium's shoulder. "Don't think too hard about it. She'll warm up to you eventually!"

Fie leaned over to Morgan's ear and whispered, "I'm guessing Celine is still sore from getting squeezed that first time…"

Morgan snickered. It didn't matter if you were human or animal; Millium's hugs knew no boundaries.

"How's rehearsal coming along, Morgan?"

"Great, George! Thanks again for helping us with the recording."

"Don't mention it, haha!" the engineer responded. "Compared to building the orbal bike, this is nothing."

Morgan's eyes wandered to the side of the Engineering Building where the orbal bike and sidecar were currently parked.

"I performed maintenance on it earlier this morning," George added. "Let me know when you want to take it out for a drive. It's all yours, after all."

"Yeah…" Morgan's voice drifted off when she remembered the former owner of the bike. "It still doesn't feel real, you know? Knowing that Angie won't be around anymore."

"There's a big Angelica-shaped hole in all of our hearts," George concurred. "Even Crow looks like he misses her on occasion. All we can do now is look after her stuff like it's our own."

Suddenly, the door to the building opened and a student wearing a Class II uniform entered. "Pardon me, is George present at the moment?"

"That's me," George said to the newcomer, raising his hand. "Is something the matter?"

"The machine for our Stella Garten isn't working as intended," the Class II student explained. "Do you think you can come fix it?"

"Are…you talking about the light globe? Which part broke down? Is it the switch or the main chamber?"

"Um…" The other student faltered, not used to the technical terms that George employed. In the end, the most he could make out was a nod of his head and a succinct, "Yes?"

George looked like he was very tempted to place his palm to his face. "Okay. No problem. Although, I did promise Class V to help with setting up Mishy Panic, so if this isn't urgent, could you maybe sit tight until after I've finished with that?"

"Of course. I understand that you're a busy person. I'll be sure to let the rest of my class know."

The Class II student bowed before taking his leave.

"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me this afternoon…" George muttered, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "I'll see you later, Morgan. Remember to stop by if you need anything."

"Actually, George…" Morgan said. "If you don't mind, maybe I could try seeing what's wrong with it?"

The engineer raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure, Morgan? Have you done maintenance before?"

"Well, I've changed a few orbal lights before in the past, so I think I've got the basics down…" Morgan replied. "It looks like you're going to be really busy these next few days, so since I hang around here most of the time, I figured maybe I could help you lessen the load."

George took a moment to consider Morgan's offer. "Now that you mention it, I AM short on hands now that Angie isn't here…" After a few more seconds of deliberation, George gave a nod of affirmation. "Okay. If you're willing and able, then I'd greatly appreciate the help. Let me give you a brief rundown on the device they're using, then you can go over and fix it on your own. Don't worry if you can't solve it; just call me and we can work on it together."

"Got it. Thanks, George!"

George rummaged through some of his belongings and eventually brought out the schematics for the device, briefly explaining how it was put together and how it was powered. He then provided Morgan with a set of tools and some spare machine parts and quartzes so she could perform some basic fixes. With her new tools in hand, Morgan made her way from the Engineering Building to the school from the entrance in the courtyard, then walked up the stairs to where the homerooms for the classes were. It didn't take long for her to find the room belonging to Class II, as she spotted her friend Bridget rummaging through some boxes with her classmates.

"Afternoon, Bridget!" Morgan called out.

The blonde-haired noble looked up and smiled. "Morgan! Hello! How are you today?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks! What about you? I heard your class is planning something special for your indoor garden."

"We are, though to be honest, we did run into some technical issues recently…" Bridget's eyes then wandered to the toolkit that Morgan was holding. "Speaking of, am I correct in assuming that you're here to help us in fixing that?"

"That's right! Trainee engineer Morgan Daraen, at your service!" Morgan gave a small bow with her hand doing a curtsy motion.

Bridget led Morgan inside to where the machine was, which consisted of the main body connected to an external switch. Some of Bridget's other first year classmates in Class II were busy with their own activities, setting up the plants and boundaries that would take up the majority of the space in their indoor garden. Kneeling beside the machine and the switch, Morgan called George on her ARCUS and started to inspect both components of the machine. George walked her through the basic steps to check the device's condition before they went into the troubleshooting phase. The process reminded Morgan of one of the first tasks she ever did on a field study for Class VII. So much time had passed since then…

Eventually, she located the source of the problem: one of the space quartz giving the globe its power had fallen from its slot. While quartzes were generally not susceptible to wear and tear, the surrounding compartments were. As such, Morgan had to employ some creative weaving of glue and tape to repair the slot without impeding the output of the quartz. Once the quartz was secure, she turned the device on with the switch, and the globe lit up like it was supposed to.

"...And it's alive!" Morgan shouted in triumph.

"Great job, Morgan," George said. "So? How do you feel? Think you want to continue doing things like this for the rest of the festival?"

Morgan looked around at the Class II students who were rejoicing around her. "It feels pretty good, actually. I think I can go a few more rounds."

"Great. Then I'll see you later at the Engineering Building."

After Morgan hung up, Bridget came forward to give her thanks. "Thank you again for your help, Morgan!"

"No problem, Bridget. Just make sure you don't keep this on longer than it needs to. This is an older model, so it's not as energy efficient. By the way, how are visitors going to be able to see the full light show in the middle of the day?"

"You haven't seen anything just yet," Bridget said with a small twinkle in her eye. "After all, we have yet to set up our pièce de résistance. It'll really help in giving the garden some much needed ambience."

"Oooh! What is it?"

Bridget giggled. "Heehee! You'll have to wait until the festival to find out! We may be friends, Morgan, but I'm not about to disclose our class's secrets so easily!"

"Oh, I see how it is!" Morgan laughed back. "Okay! Then it's a deal. I'll be sure to swing by on the day of!"

Morgan finished packing her things and was about to leave the classroom when Bridget stopped her. "Actually, Morgan! Wait! Since you're here, would you be able to look at something else for us?"

"Sure! I have time. What is it?"

Bridget led Morgan back outside, where some Class II students were still unpacking several boxes containing the decorations for their attraction. She knelt down beside the box that she had been inspecting when Morgan first arrived and opened its contents.

Morgan furrowed her eyebrows. "These are…cones?"

"They are indeed cones," Bridget affirmed, a frown on her face. "We were planning on setting up some boundaries for our Stella Garten, but not with anything that garish."

A female student by the name of Margaret walked up to the pair. "None of us ordered them by mistake, either," she said. "We suspect that they were meant for another class."

"Hmm…" Morgan looked at Bridget and Margaret, then at the box of cones. They DID look out of place compared to the rest of the decor that Class II was working with. She took one look at their expressions and immediately had a guess as to what they were going to ask her next. "Okay. I'll take them off your hands."

"Really?" Bridget responded. "Then does that mean you know where these are supposed to be?"

"I think I have a hunch. These sorts of cones are meant to be placed outside. I'm betting some class or outdoors club will be using these, so the academy field would be my best bet. Once I drop off this toolkit at George's, I'll swing by the field to see if anyone is missing these. If this is what I think it's shaping up to be, then there could be other classes whose packages got mixed up."

"That would make sense…" Bridget murmured. "Very well. We'll leave this matter in your capable hands. And while you're out and about…"

"…I'll keep an eye out for your missing decor." Morgan winked at the blonde noble.

...

Upon arriving at the academy field, Morgan found Lambert of the Riding Club, who confirmed that the cones in the package were meant for their club activity. In return, Lambert showed Morgan a small crate containing a number of freshly printed books that he assumed was delivered wrongly to them. Lambert would have sought to return the crate to its rightful recipient, had he not had his hands full with tending to the horses. Morgan didn't know what kind of person would need this many books, but judging from the number alone, she guessed it must have been for stock instead of a personal book delivery. So, she took the crate to Keynes' Bookstore to see if he had any ideas.

As it turned out, Keynes was the one who ordered the books in the first place, and he gave Morgan a big toothy grin when she revealed to him the contents of the crate. "That looks more like the order I placed! So they delivered it to the wrong place, did they?"

While Morgan was glad that the package was now with its rightful recipient, she couldn't help but pick up some of the words that Keynes had said. "Does that mean you also received a wrong delivery?" she asked.

"That I did." Keynes lifted a parcel from under the store counter. Compared to the stock order, this one was smaller and less bulky. "I'd opened it earlier so I could verify if it was anything in our regular stock, and sure enough, it wasn't. I think one of the students might have ordered these."

Morgan peered into the contents of the package. They were all copies of the same book, but that wasn't what caught her attention. "Wait, that title…!" she gasped.

"Oh? Do you recognize it?"

A bead of uneasy sweat dropped from Morgan's forehead. "For better or for worse, ahaha…"

…

"...Thank goodness!" Dorothee said excitedly upon opening the package. "I was really starting to worry that they wouldn't get here in time!"

"Don't mention it, Dorothee…" Morgan tried not to look creeped out as the president of the Literature Club started giggling to herself. "Flower of Crimson Love. So the short story I asked her to proofread is finally finished."

"Heheheh… Now we'll be able to hold our little reading circle, just as planned. I really would like some boys to attend and share their impassioned views on the works we'll be reading…! Ahhh! B-Be still, my heart…!"

Morgan handed Dorothee a tissue. "Mind your salivation, Dorothee."

The bespectacled author embarrassedly took the tissue and recomposed herself. "Thank you once again, Morgan. By the way, I was wondering about something else…"

"Let me guess: something you didn't ask for got delivered here, too?"

"Wellll, there is that…" Dorothee adjusted her glasses. "But more importantly, will Miss Alastor be able to make it to the school festival?"

"That's…a good question." Morgan's voice trailed off. Admittedly, she had been so focused on her class's choreography that she didn't ask the royal siblings if they would be attending the festival. Olivert probably was the most likely to show up, being the academy's ornamental chairman of the board. Meanwhile, Cedric was on the opposite end of the spectrum; as much as he had expressed an interest in visiting Thors before his inevitable enrollment, his weak constitution would prevent him from being out for long excursions. Alfin, as usual, was a wild card; she always had a habit of keeping things hidden from Morgan so she could surprise her later.

"Well, if it turns out she can't make it, then I can set aside a copy for her," Dorothee continued, still clinging to that small bit of hope. "It is the least I can do as thanks for providing such helpful feedback. Do let me know, will you?"

All Morgan could do was smile and say, "Of course. I think she'll be happy to receive a copy. Now about that other package…"

Dorothee led Morgan to a large package tucked away in the corner of the Literature Club room. Upon opening it, Morgan was pleasantly surprised to see it containing paper lanterns with foreign characters painted on it, strips of blue cloth, and two wooden containers that were colored red.

"Wow! That lantern looks like it came straight from Chon'sin! Which means it's probably from eastern Zemuria. Let's see, didn't Bridget say that Alan's class was doing an Eastern teahouse?"

"An Eastern inspired teahouse? Now that should be something worth visiting…" Dorothee remarked, giggling to herself once more. "Heehee… You know, that reminds me of another story I read. It told of a philanderer whose penchant for inviting women to tea ends up landing him smack dab in the criminal underworld! And then, he used his talents to capture a culprit that was giving a professional assassin trouble to catch! But the best part is that all the story's events occur from within the same teahouse! It's such an ingenious way of using your setting to the maximum!"

"Another one of THOSE books, I presume?"

"Actually, no. The philanderer and assassin were male and female, respectively."

Morgan's jaw nearly hit the floor in bewilderment. "That's…surprisingly normal."

"And what's wrong with that?!" Dorothee exclaimed, getting worked up. "Just because I have my preferences doesn't mean I don't know how to appreciate other genres!"

"P-Point taken…" Morgan gulped.

…

Several minutes later, Morgan was finally back on track to delivering the package to its correct destination. As she made her way to Class IV's classroom, she began to grow concerned for Class II's ornaments, which were the whole reason she was on this wild goose chase in the first place. Just how many more stops would she have to go through before she found the missing ornaments?

With her thoughts brewing in her head, Morgan nearly bumped into a brown-haired student who was also carrying a box.

"Watch where you're going!" the student called out.

"Sorry!" Morgan said. Then, she looked more closely at the student. "Wait, you're…Alan!"

The teen turned around at the sound of his name. "And you're Morgan, right? One of Bridget's friends? I'd like to stay and chat, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I need to get this to the faculty lounge."

"That wouldn't happen to contain something belonging to another class, would it?" Morgan asked hastily.

Alan raised his eyebrows. "How did you…?"

"Cause I was on my way to deliver this to your class." Morgan set down her package and revealed its contents.

Alan looked inside and nodded. "So our mail orders were mixed up after all. Thanks for bringing them all this way. We weren't sure what to think when the mailman showed up and handed us this. We're making a teahouse, not a tea party."

He opened his own box to reveal an assortment of high-class ornaments and flower decorations, which washed Morgan over with a wave of relief.

"Well, you're in luck," Morgan said happily. "Those decorations belong to Class II."

"Really? Then it's a good thing you caught me before I could make a fool of myself. Can you take this?"

"I could, but…" Morgan smirked. "I think since you're already on your way, you can be the one to deliver it to them!"

"But…why?" Alan looked confused. "You were the one who was looking for it, right? Besides, it's not like it matters who gives it to them…"

"It does," Morgan replied promptly. "At least, in this case. Trust me."

"Again, why?"

"That…" Morgan put a finger in front of her mouth. "Is a secret to everyone!"

Alan eventually relented and started making his way to where Class II's classroom was, but not without making an offhand comment about how vague girls could get. Morgan turned the corner with the intent of delivering the Eastern ornaments to Class IV, but she immediately doubled back to follow Alan from a distance.

When Alan finally reached the Class II classroom and delivered the decorations to Bridget, Morgan looked on with a self-satisfied smirk.

'Heehee! Good luck, you two!'

The rest of the afternoon passed by with little fanfare. Morgan continued to help George with some tasks for a while until he insisted that she rest for the remainder of the day, saying that as the lead choreographer and vocalist, she needed to start conserving her energy for the dress rehearsal later that evening.

There was still some time before the evening rehearsal, so Morgan wandered around the campus for a while. The air was much more festive and light-hearted, making the military academy feel more like a regular school. The shadow of conflict that the Imperial Liberation Front had cast across the empire had dissipated, and now the students could really cut loose and be themselves.

Morgan caught a few glimpses of her classmates as she walked around the school grounds. Laura emerged from the gymnasium alongside a girl named Monica, and the two of them waved at a passing by Emma. Alisa, Millium, and Gaius were carrying some equipment to the old schoolhouse for tonight's dress rehearsal. Jusis was by the academy field, riding atop a horse for the Riding Club's obstacle course. Fie was showing Elliot and Machias the flowers she was growing with the Gardening Club. Rean, his Student Council work done for the day, was taking things slow by fishing at a small pond with one of his friends in the Fishing Club, a boy from Class I named Kenneth.

As she contemplated how she should go about spending the rest of her free time, Morgan received a call from her ARCUS.

"Hey, Morgs. Got a sec?" Crow's voice spoke through the speaker.

"Crow? Yeah, I'm free. What's up?"

"Well, we've run into a bit of a problem…"

Crow went on to explain that their outfits for the concert would be arriving late and wouldn't arrive in Trista until tomorrow morning. That didn't bode well for Class VII; after all, it would be difficult to do a dress rehearsal without the actual dress. Fortunately, Crow had a backup plan.

"Why don't you go and pick it up for us? It'll be a good opportunity to use Gelica's parting gift."

"I think the two of us need to go over the definition of 'plan' next time, my Trickster," Morgan retorted, but she nevertheless couldn't find any faults in Crow's proposition. Angelica's orbal bike was a more convenient and faster method of travel compared to the train, and Morgan could easily stuff the outfits in the sidecar for easy transportation.

"Oh, and you should take someone with you, too," Crow added. "You're bringing twelve outfits back here. I don't care if you're an experienced delivery girl or whatever; that's not exactly going to be easy on your own."

Morgan nodded. "Okay. Let me know when you're free, and then we'll go over there together."

"Whoa, whoa! Who said I was gonna go with you?"

Morgan's expression fell. "Is…that a no?"

"Were you inviting me just now? Nah, there's no way, haha…unless?" Crow's voice sounded like he was in disbelief. But before Morgan could make her intentions more clear, the trickster continued. "For real, though. I'd love to join you, Morgs, but I've got some stuff I need to get done. I kind of promised some people in Class III that I'd help them with their activity."

"A-Alright…"

"I'll leave this in your capable hands, then. See you later tonight!"

With that, Crow hung up, leaving Morgan on her own. Ever since she and the others came back from Ymir, Morgan had been looking for every opportunity she could for the two of them to be alone together so she could tell him how she felt. However, it felt like every time she did try to approach him, he always found some excuse to be elsewhere. Perhaps he really was in demand during this time and she was overthinking things, but given how he would always find some opportunity to hang around her in the past, it almost like he was deliberately busying himself to avoid her.

"No use worrying about it now…" she sighed while shaking her head. "Let's see who else I could call upon for help…"

Morgan looked down at her ARCUS. Of all her classmates' names, there was one that immediately came to mind when it came to asking for help with mundane, everyday tasks.

...

"Sorry to make you kids come all this way to pick these up," said Howard, owner of the Le Sage Boutique in Heimdallr. "I think you'll be pretty happy with the way they turned out, though."

"Fantastic!" Rean smiled as Howard gave him two suitcases containing the boys' and girls' outfits. "I can't wait to see them."

"Thanks for getting them done on such short notice, Howard," Morgan added.

Howard laughed. "Haha! This was no sweat compared to what Crow put me through last year. He had me working like a madman. Last year's concert was great, though, so you can bet that I'll be there to see if you kids can top that…" He then knowingly glanced at Morgan. "Especially since the Vermillion Deliverer herself is going to be front and center on the vocals."

"Crow just couldn't keep that to himself, could he?" Morgan groaned.

Howard gave another laugh. "It couldn't be helped. You're going to be in the spotlight, so your outfit needs to stand out from the rest. I'm sure you'll appreciate the little additions regardless."

Morgan turned to Rean, an eyebrow raised. "Rean, did you guys make some last minute adjustments while I wasn't looking?"

The swordsman chuckled to himself. "As someone I know would say, that's a secret to everyone!"

Morgan couldn't even bring herself to be mad when he said that.

"You've landed yourself in quite the interesting class this year," Howard remarked. "We miss you in the capital, but it's good to see that you've been enjoying Thors. Rean, make sure you and your friends keep this one from getting too shamelessly self-driven."

"We'll do our best," Rean affirmed, deliberately ignoring the loud snort that Morgan had just elicited. The two students thanked Howard once again for his help before they exited the boutique.

"Good. The bike's still here." Morgan breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the orbal bike still parked in the same spot that she had left it.

"There aren't any laws saying we can't park here, are there?" Rean said as he put the suitcases into the sidecar. "We should be fine."

"Yeah, but that doesn't give us a free pass to do whatever we want," Morgan replied. "And let me remind you that blood will be shed if these outfits end up becoming too indecent. Laura's words, not mine."

"We didn't do anything to the outfits themselves," Rean clarified. "We just gave you girls some additional touch ups to give you all some individuality. You'll see when we get back."

*chirp* *chirp*

The two of them were then interrupted by a distinct chirping sound coming from somewhere above them.

"A bird…?" Rean was the first to find the source of the chirping: an exotic-looking bird with deep blue feathers, almost like lapis lazuli. "Don't think I've seen that species before."

Morgan was about to voice her own thoughts when she noticed that the bird was staring in their direction. Specifically, she could feel the bird's gaze fall on her in particular. Now that she thought about it, didn't Angelica say that she had been following an exotic bird the day she came across her and Crow at the old schoolhouse? But before she could utter a word, the bird started flapping its wings and flew away. Strangely, no one else noticed the vibrant blue avian soaring above the city streets.

"Have you ever seen anything like that before, Morgan?"

Rean's question snapped Morgan to attention. "Huh? Uh, no. I haven't. It's way too elegant to be a pigeon, and it's not the right color of blue to be a blue jay. What's a bird like that doing in a place like this?"

"Who knows?" Rean shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, Morgan! It's been a while!"

Morgan's eyes lit up as she turned to see a familiar woman wearing a flat cap and red glasses waving at her. "Misty! Nice to see you again!"

"Mis…ty?" Rean audibly gasped upon hearing Misty's name.

"So how did that gig of yours go?" Morgan asked.

"Pretty spectacularly, if I do say so myself," Misty responded with a grin. "And what about you? Why are you lugging two suitcases around? Ooh, don't tell me… You're getting the jump-start on a romantic weekend getaway with your boyfriend?"

"We're not," Morgan said promptly. "And also, he's not my boyfriend."

"We're just here to take care of some business for our class." Rean stepped forward to introduce himself. "I'm Rean, by the way. Rean Schwarzer. This might sound overbearing, but you wouldn't happen to be the same Misty who hosts Abend Time, would you?"

"The very same. I take it you've tuned in a few times before?"

"Not just a few times; I always make sure to tune in every week!" Rean clarified enthusiastically. "It's really an honor to finally meet you."

Misty let out a lighthearted chuckle. "Heehee! It's always a pleasure to meet a loyal fan. So? What sort of business ARE the two of you taking care of?"

"I can explain…" Morgan proceeded to explain Class VII's plans for the upcoming school festival and how the two of them had come to pick up their class's outfits.

"Wow! A concert, huh?" Misty looked ecstatic at the mention of their music-related activities. "That sounds like a blast! I'll definitely set aside some time to come visit!"

"You know you're always welcome, Misty. Although…" Morgan put a finger to the side of her chin. "I can't imagine a professional like you would be too impressed with amateurs like us."

"Oh, don't be silly, Morgan!" Misty smiled kindly at her. "Great music comes from the heart. So what if it's a little on the amateurish side? As long as you give it everything you have, you'll be sure to make a memorable performance."

Those words from Misty gave Morgan some much-needed comfort. Not only was it reassuring to hear from the words of a professional, it also echoed the advice that Crow had given her when they first started rehearsals. Now she felt like she was truly ready to tackle the dress rehearsal tonight.

"...Whoops! Lost track of the time. I better get going!" Misty said. "Bye for now! And good luck with your rehearsals!"

"Thanks, Misty!" Morgan and Rean waved goodbye as Misty disappeared into the boutique. "Right. Shall we, Rean?"

"Actually, wait." Rean stopped Morgan. "Could I…ask something first?"

"What is it?"

"It's about Misty. I was hesitant to say it earlier when you mentioned her being a professional, but…" Rean took a quick glance around him to make sure no one else was listening before whispering, "That gig you mentioned while you were talking with her. Does that have to do with being an opera singer?"

Immediately, Morgan understood the hidden meaning behind Rean's question. She quickly glance all around her, and after confirming that no one was looking their way, she nodded her head. "Instructor Sara's right. Nothing ever gets by you."

"Then she's really…?"

"Not here," Morgan whispered back. "I'll explain while we're on the road."

Rean nodded in understanding and took his seat on the orbal bike. Morgan sat behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist as he turned the bike on. Yes, the bike belonged to her, but Rean also had experience with riding and testing the bike, so Morgan felt it was only fair that he also get to ride it every once in a while. That, and Rean said he wasn't quite comfortable with being seen wrapping his arms around a girl's waist in public.

As they set off on the road, Morgan explained the truth behind Misty and her side job as Vita Clotilde, the Azure Diva of the Erebonian Opera House. Seeing as Rean was already on the right track, she saw no reason to cover up the truth.

"…So Vita Clotilde and Misty from Abend Time are the same person. I should've known; it's not like she was trying to sound different back there."

"You don't sound surprised, though," Morgan remarked. "Did you meet her somewhere before?"

"Back during the Heimdallr field study, my group met her in the Garnier District," Rean explained. "We had to clean up a monster infestation underground."

"Oh, that underground passage under Hotel Der Himmel?"

"That's the one. Anyways, when I saw her walk up to us, I couldn't help but notice that she looked familiar. But don't worry; I can keep a secret."

"Thanks. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

"What about you? When did the two of you get so close?"

"We sort of met right before our first field study, and we kept in contact after that." Morgan smiled. That memory felt like such a long time ago. "Course, I didn't realize she was Vita Clotilde until much later."

Morgan thought back to their previous encounter in Ordis. That truly had been an eventful afternoon, and not just because she happened to stumble on her friend's double life. If Morgan received fifty Mira for each time a witch had revealed themselves to her and asked her to keep their true nature a secret, she would have one-hundred Mira total. It wasn't much, but it was weird that it happened twice.

"Lately, I've begun to feel a strange energy emanating from somewhere in your academy. If you can help me locate the source, then I'll do everything in my power to help you remove that curse of yours."

Unfortunately for Morgan, she had not been able to make any progress on that front, what with the bulk of her attention being dedicated to the school festival. She was still confident in her theory that the old schoolhouse was hiding SOMETHING away, and all signs were pointing towards that something being related to what Vita had shown her under Ordis. The question, then, was figuring out where that something could be located under the old schoolhouse. It would have been easier to consult a witch's intuition, but Emma had already sworn herself to secrecy, and getting Misty to set foot onto campus without causing an uproar would be easier said than done.

Morgan hugged her arms tighter around Rean's waist as he made a slight turn. At this point, the only thing she could do is pray that the old schoolhouse wouldn't give them any more problems before their big day.

Dress rehearsal, for the most part, went really well. Rean and Morgan met up with the rest of their class at the old schoolhouse, where they then changed into their outfits and did a run through their performance. Fortunately for Rean, the outfits were met with approval from the girls, which meant that no innocent blood needed to be shed that evening.

As their dry run neared its end, however, they did come across one issue…

…

"My hat's about to fall off," Fie grumbled.

"Same here!" Millium agreed. "Is there any way we could glue our hats onto our heads?"

"I would strongly recommend against gluing your hat onto your head," Jusis remarked.

"It's my bad…" Morgan said. "I didn't choreograph our routine with this sort of headwear in mind."

Rean shook his head. "It's not your fault, Morgan. Honestly, we should've also taken this into consideration when we made those last-minute additions."

The additions that Rean mentioned included unique pieces of headwear for each of the girls to wear. Alisa received a jet black variant of her usual hair ties, Laura a white ribbon with patterns resembling the edge of a sword, Emma a black flower placed on the left side of her head, and Morgan a white hairpiece in the shape of a wing clipped to the right side of her head. Fie and Millium were the only ones who received similar pieces of headwear, those being top hats that were miniature in size and black in color.

"I may have a solution."

The class turned to Sharon, who had been dutifully watching from the side. "I could fasten Lady Fie and Lady Millium's hats onto headbands. That way, the two of them needn't worry about their hats falling off while dancing."

"That's a good idea," Crow agreed. "Actually, that's how most mini top hats are sold these days as props. I can go get us some glue tomorrow."

"Glue won't be necessary," Sharon said, giggling mysteriously to herself. "All I require is some thread. The only issue, I fear, is that my usual batch and the ones provided at the student store might not be enough to hold them in place on their own."

"Actually…" Morgan raised her hand. "One of my connections in the capital is a seamstress. I can contact her to see if she has anything on hand."

"That sounds like an excellent proposition, Lady Morgan. Can I trust you to do that for me?"

"Of course! Just leave it to me!"

…

And so it was that Morgan opted to turn in early for the night so she could call her acquaintance Charlotte in the capital. Thankfully, Charlotte was willing to make time for her and Sharon to come over the following day.

"Looks like I've got another full day tomorrow," Morgan muttered to herself. "At least I'm making the most of Angie's gift. I wonder if she'll be able to make it to the festival…"

Angelica, as she had told Morgan previously, had not returned to the academy since the trip to Ymir. Towa was the one to break the news to the rest of Class VII, and they were all saddened by the news. Even still, they continued pressing on, knowing that Angelica would probably beat them over the heads if she ever saw them sulking because of her, and their upperclassman's absence was turned into motivation to put on an even better concert.

*tap* *tap* *tap*

Morgan perked her face up from the book she was reading. It sounded like something was tapping on her window. Curious, she bookmarked her page and stood up from her bed.

*chirp* *chirp*

That was when she saw it: an elegant bird with feathers of lapis lazuli color perched on her windowsill.

"I've seen you before…" Morgan muttered as she moved closer to the window, recognizing it as the bird she and Rean saw in Heimdallr earlier that evening. "What are you doing here?"

She opened the window to get a better look at the bird, but all it did was turn to the side in response. It was then that Morgan noticed a small piece of parchment that was rolled up and fastened to the bird's leg by string.

'Someone's messenger bird,' Morgan realized. "For me?"

The bird turned to her, and almost as if it could understand what she was saying, it nodded its head once. So, Morgan carefully removed the note from the bird's leg and unfurled it to reveal its contents. To her surprise, it was a note from Vita, albeit addressed from her other persona.

"One of my contacts told me that something big's going down in Crossbell.
Tune in tomorrow for a special broadcast at the usual channel after 22:00 for more details."
-Misty

"Crossbell..." Morgan stared with widened eyes at the note. When Mayor Dieter Crois announced a declaration of independence in front of the other world powers at the Zemuria Trade Conference, the other nations naturally dismissed the declaration as soon as it was made. So, the mayor announced a that a local referendum would be held to affirm that Crossbell's citizens also supported its independence. However, the referendum was reportedly postponed due to an unforeseen jaeger attack, and that was the last Morgan had heard from the city-state. Until now, that is.

Morgan looked at the bird for any sort of hint as to what Vita could have been implying. Could it truly understand her? Or maybe it could only respond to certain things? What even was this bird, anyway? Was it just her pet? Or perhaps it was something more…?

Predictably, the bird only turned its head to one side. If nothing else, it was vague in its responses, much like Vita herself.

Morgan gave up trying to gleam anything from Vita's bird and folded up the note. "Thanks for delivering this to me. Tell your mistress that I'll be looking forward to that special broadcast."

The bird chirped once in acknowledgement before flapping its wings and leaping off from the windowsill, fluttering into the night sky until it was a small, blue speck.

Author's note: This is it. The final stretch of the story. How will things pan out now that Morgan is in the thick of things?

Regular updates will, unfortunately, not be returning as IRL things continue to impede my motivation and new video games are competing with each other for my time. Rest assured, I aim to complete this story.

Until next time.