Thousands of white dots drifted past the highest window in Skye Hall. The Headmaster sat at his desk, the glow of a dozen holographic screens reflecting in his glasses as the Headmistress paced back and forth next to him. Every couple of seconds, she turned to the window to ensure the snow still fell.
"Oh, this isn't good. We've already accumulated four inches, and it says the snow will continue through the morning!" she lamented. "We'll have to call in de-icers, but with the way the roads look, I don't know if they can even get here! Oh! We can get Alexandra- no, I'm sure she's busy. There's no way she could clear the whole campus herself, either."
"Azure."
"I knew we should have invested in heated walkways! It's too late now, but maybe we can install them over this Summer? At least on the main pathways..."
The Headmaster looked out to Halfmoon Plaza where a handful of students mulled about around the fountain, tossing snowballs back and forth, and building tiny snowmen. Beyond it, the lights of Port Cyrreine were a blur of color in the night.
"Let's give them the day off tomorrow," the Headmaster decided. "I'll send out a message to let them know to be careful. But they've been working hard all year, and finals are almost here. They deserve a break."
"Okay," the Headmistress confirmed. "That will give us some time to organize de-icing, too."
The hot chocolate from Skye Cafe in The Roots didn't pair well with Caspian's dinner, but fit perfectly with the snow drifting lazily by the window, and the cozy, warm atmosphere of the dining hall.
"Come on, hurry it up!" Rowan pleaded. "This kind of snow is rare around here!"
"The snow is predicted to continue until tomorrow afternoon. We have time," Snow asserted. She lifted her spoonful of soup to her lips.
"Okay, okay," Rowan said. He watched as three people slid down the hill outside on makeshift sleds. "But as soon as we all finish we're headed outside, right?"
"I think I'm staying in tonight," Lilly said, frowning at the weather. "It looks rather cold outside, but cold weather is perfect for enjoying tea."
"...Do you mind if I join you?" Caspian asked. It did look cold outside, and with Lazula out at practice it was the perfect time to hang out with Lilly. Plus, he had decided he was going to test his luck soon. 'Shoot his shot,' as Rowan put it. Whether he gathered the confidence tonight or not, a friendly conversation over tea couldn't hurt his chances.
"Oh, if you don't mind staying in, I surely wouldn't mind the company!" Lilly replied with a smile.
Lazula trudged back from the SFC, ducking her head down against the freezing wind. As it whipped down the trail, it carried globs of wet snow. Every now and then, a cluster of snow that collected on the branches above would come crashing down dangerously close to her. Her joggers and windbreaker weren't nearly enough for this weather, and the snow on the ground only made her journey slower.
It was wildly unpleasant, Lazula thought. But she gained the slightest hope as the warm glow from the windows of Cedar Hall came into view. Soon, she'd be back inside. The thought of her hot shower, a hot cup of tea with Lilly, and her friend's smile, were enough to warm her. Her footsteps quickened.
"Call Lilly," Lazula ordered, once she had reached the stairs next to Cedar Hall. Her friend's picture projected from her Holoband. "Odd," she thought. Lilly usually picked up in a few seconds.
She didn't answer at all this time.
Despite her disappointment, she continued up the stairs and to the dorms. Her shower warmed her up, but after she sat idle in her room, chin resting on her hand as she watched the snow drift by her window.
Since the next day's classes were cancelled, she didn't have any urgent homework. Finals were coming in just over a week but the content was easy enough, so she wasn't worried. Besides, the academics weren't why she was at Sentinel.
"I really don't have much of a social life, do I?"
The way the snow fell to the ground and blanketed the entire campus was pretty, and there were so many people outside, it felt almost wrong to stay in alone. With clothes better suited to the cold, a little peek outside wouldn't hurt. She opened her closet, layering on sweatpants and jackets until she could barely move. Then, a beanie to hold her deep blue hair. She looked in the mirror.
She was entirely unidentifiable.
Lazula walked around the side of Cedar Hall, making her way to a courtyard a bit downhill of the dorms. She had noticed it before and it was nice enough, but no one ever seemed to be there. This night was no exception.
She paused for a bit, taking in the scene. A white sheet blanketed everything in view, from the dorm buildings and trees to one side, to the view of Cyrreine Mall and the corner of the bay at the other. A few inches covered the flat concrete bench beside her. Its pristine surface begged to be disturbed.
She pressed her gloved hand into it until the snow flattened no more, a mark as if to say "I was here." Next to it, she crudely traced the symbol that adorned her cape. Satisfied, she backed off a few steps. She looked behind her. Then to the windows of the dormitories surrounding her, and downhill to the trail. She was entirely alone.
She sat down and laid on her back with arms at her sides, then began to make a snow angel.
"You know you want to!"
Noxis knocked Rowan's hand off his shoulder. "I'm just going for a walk. I'm not going to join in on your snowball fight, because I'm not eight years old."
"Even Lazula's joining us!" Rowan goaded. "Are you about to tell her she's acting like an eight year old?"
"Just leave me be."
"But without him, teams won't be even..." Caspian mumbled, watching Noxis leave Cedar Hall's lobby. The elevator opened and Team LSLI appeared, decked out in full snow gear.
"Hey, even in a winter coat like that you've got a nice body," Rowan said, slinking up to Laurel's side.
"Leave me alone."
"That's the second time I've heard that today," Rowan noted.
"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me."
"So how are we gonna do this?" Ichigo interrupted. "We could go team against team, boys against girls..."
"Why not teams?" Lazula suggested. "We can count this as an extra training exercise."
"Everything's training with you!" Lilly teased. "We have a day off, it's time to relax."
The snow outside was deeper than Caspian expected. As he left the patted-down sidewalk for the expanse of grass between the dorms and the music building, his boot sank halfway to his knee. The two teams spent some time to prepare, and build makeshift fortresses. What Team CRLN lacked in numbers, they made up for with Lilly's attunement to dust.
"Challenging us was a mistake," Lazula declared. "We refuse to lose to you!"
"What we lack in number, we make up for in spirit!" Caspian returned. "We will fight until our last breath!"
He threw the first snowball, and all frozen hell broke loose.
Chunks of white shrapnel flung from the top of the wall as Team LSLI let loose in retaliation. Caspian, Rowan, and Lilly ducked for cover behind the wall, scrambling for ammunition.
"This isn't good!" Rowan shouted. "We're up against Lazula!"
"I'll let you in on a secret," Caspian said, packing in a snowball. "My sister can't throw. We should be more worried about Laurel. Considering she's a sniper, she's got good aim. We might have to watch out for Snow, too."
"I've got this," Rowan replied. He reeled back onto his knees, and flung snowball after snowball at the enemy team. After a couple of shots hit Ichigo and Laurel, they pulled back behind their fortress and returned fire.
"There's no way we'll win like this," Caspian assessed. A chunk of shrapnel flung from the wall next to him. "With more people than us, they have more ammo. Our best bet is to be mobile."
Caspian, Rowan, and Lilly scattered, abandoning their wall. Lazula's eyes widened as her brother approached, and she put her arms up to block his snowball. He ran past her as fast as he could in the deep snow.
"Get back here!" She shouted with a laugh. "And stand still!" One snowball landed far to Caspian's side, and another cleared his head by a few feet. He scooped up her second throw, and returned it. He felt a twinge of satisfaction beating his sister at something, even if it was just a snowball fight.
The fight continued for several minutes, during which even Lazula forgot to keep track of who was winning and losing. Snow seemed to be enjoying herself too, probably in part due to her skill. She was near impossible to hit, with the way she dodged around snowballs. Her aim wasn't bad, either.
Lazula stood still for a second, and Rowan cracked a grin. He packed a snowball in tight, flinging it toward her with all the strength he could muster. Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing as they watched it crash into Lazula's cheek, knocking her head back with the impact and exploding into a fine powder.
"Oh, no..." Rowan lamented. He turned to his teammates. "It's been nice knowin' you guys."
Lazula's eyes fixed on Rowan as she removed the snow off her reddening cheek with a single wipe, full of dramatic flair and spite. She calmly turned to Snow, handing her a snowball.
"Go ahead and throw this at Rowan for me."
"How hard?" Snow asked.
"As hard as you can."
Rowan's eyes widened. "No, wait!"
Snow's arm cocked back, and she let fly. The snowball careened forward like a cannonball, knocking Rowan back as waves of red aura rippled across his chest.
"Nice shot!" Laurel commended.
"...Maybe not as hard as you can next time," Lazula decided, looking to Rowan.
He was slow to get up. "Yeah, I think I'm out."
Noxis stepped down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets as he looked up to the trees and buildings blanketed in white. The snow had slowed since the night before, but small flakes still drifted down from above. He passed by groups and couples decked out in coats and beanies, and playing like children. He continued on, paying them no mind.
He passed into the alcove of trees next to the library, and stopped. Despite all the people outside, it was entirely silent. The blanket of cotton in the clearing had been entirely undisturbed. Noxis cleared snow off a stone bench, and sat under the barren branches of an oak tree.
He held a hand out, and let a single snowflake fall into his glove.