"I know it's too late, but with all due respect, I don't like this at all."
"Gathering information on the Red Claw is crucial. We have enough on our plate as it is, without their interference."
The knocking of two pairs of dress shoes on stone was the only sound in the hall, silver walls marked every several dozen feet by a pair of black panels raised an inch or so from the surroundings. Two bands of light ran down the ceiling, casting hard shadows on the faces of Douglas Hudson and the Headmaster. Two creases folded across the former's forehead.
"Can we trust her?" he questioned. "She was put in solitary for a reason. It's too easy for her to lie her way out of this."
The Headmaster adjusted his glasses. "From word I've received, she's been a model prisoner. Besides, we have a second source of information. If they pass along something different, we'll know someone was lying."
"The kid from Sentinel?" Douglas asked. "I heard his mouth was shut."
"It is. But I still have faith."
As the two came to the set of panels at the far end of the hall, Douglas spoke up again. "We can't trust our own children with what we know, but we're trusting a murderer to provide us information. Something about that doesn't sit right with me."
"The goal is always to know more than the other party," the Headmaster explained. "We need to be careful in providing information. But in receiving, I'm open to risk."
"Biometric scan required," the door's automated voice prompted. The Headmaster held his palm against the door, and after a couple seconds a pulse of blue light left the door transparent. A gentle tone echoed down the hall. "Access granted."
The doors slid apart to reveal a cylindrical chamber of glass, just big enough for the two of them to stand comfortably. As the doors closed behind them, the fog over the windows lifted to reveal a cell. It was almost comfortable, but held all the measured sterility of a doctors' office waiting room. A mattress sat on a platform against the far wall, which was painted in strokes of blue and silver just barely more alive than the hall leading in. At the table just a few feet from the glass, a bald-headed woman sat. A python's tail encircled her chair, its tip stirring when the two appeared.
The Headmaster nodded. "Hello. How have you been faring?"
Her voice was amplified directly into the chamber, and carried the slightest distortion as it echoed through. "Oh, you know. Been stuck here in solitary since June, so I'm just peachy." Her plastered grin vanished. "Why are you here?"
"We managed to strike a deal with the head of the facility," the Headmaster explained. "You don't like being in solitary, do you?"
"It's not so bad!" she claimed, flicking her serpentine tail underneath the table for balance and leaning back in her chair. She raised her arms high. "Plenty of me time!" she beckoned to the blank wall. "The view is lovely! I don't ever want to leave!"
"I'm going to guess that was sarcasm. And either way, if you cooperate with us now and provide information on the Red Claw, we'll try bringing you out. It will likely be for only a couple days at first, but if your good behavior continues-"
Python's eyes flashed. Her chair struck the ground, and she leaned over the table. "Deal!"
Douglas exhaled behind Headmaster Skye.
"Good. All of your responses are confidential. Only the three of us in this room right now will hear of any of this," the Headmaster pledged. "First, during your interrogation, you claimed the attack on Sentinel's Entrance Examination was not perpetrated by the Red Claw. Was this the truth?"
"Yep. We don't know who did it, but that's the truth."
Douglas and the Headmaster traded uneasy looks. They gathered themselves, and nodded.
"I'm being honest here! That wasn't us!"
"We believe you," Douglas finally spoke.
Headmaster Skye cleared his throat and loosened his tie. "Next, can you verify the one in charge of the Red Claw goes by the code name 'Condor?'"
"Spot on."
"Good. What can you tell us about him?"
"That's a tricky one. He does like his secrets," Python explained. "But if I want out of here, you need info, huh? I know he spent time in Mantle, and Mistral. When he was there, he gathered people. Faunus, I mean. He's good at that kind of thing. He's convincing. But as far as who he is goes, I have no clue. I don't think anyone does."
"You expect us to believe you don't know the name of the guy you work for?"
"Would it be helpful if I told you I asked him the same thing? And he told me he was a 'ghost?'"
"We'll verify her answers later. For now, let's move on," Headmaster Skye decided. "I'm guessing you've heard about the events of October first?"
Her smile faded, and her expression clouded over. "Yeah. I heard about it. If I knew he was planning something like that, I would have left, immediately."
"Your attack in June left plenty dead. Where do you draw the line?" Douglas questioned. "A hundred dead? A thousand?"
"Douglas, let's stick to the script."
"Before the first, death wasn't our goal. Yes, people did die. But death, for us, is a means to an end. At least until the last attack."
The Headmaster's reservations were replaced by curiosity. "And what is that end, then?"
Her lips parted again into a grin, and her tail encircled her before laying back down behind her seat. "You're an old-school huntsman, aren't you? You should know better than anyone why."
The Headmaster's brow stitched behind reflecting lenses. "Enlighten me."
"The Grimm are humanity's only true predator. Without that pressure, we become weak. We look to the strong for safety. But what do we get in turn? Exploited? Controlled? And the rich- the ones who actually have any power in this world are just okay with it, treating Griswold Baine and Frontline like some twisted God?" She took a breath to pull herself back from the frenzy she worked herself into. "Back then, there was no Frontline. There were huntsmen, there were Grimm, and you had to fight to survive. We're bringing back those days. And bringing power back to whoever deserves it."
"How old are you?" the Headmaster sternly probed.
"Twenty-six," Python answered in suspicion.
"That makes sense. You never lived in a world where you had to fight to survive."
"And you've forgotten it."
"You think Scarlet Hawk's gonna get a sequel?" Rowan asked. "You guys saw that after-credits scene! Total sequel bait, right?"
"If previous patterns are any indication, there will be a sequel in two to three years' time," Snow analyzed. "And a third to finish the trilogy two to three years after that."
Ichigo leaned into the laptop that sat next to his dinner. "Yeah, she's right. Tyr, Captain Steel, all these big ones come out a couple years apart."
"Heya!" Moka greeted, approaching the Round Table with her plate in one hand, coffee in another. She set them down and took a seat. "Cas isn't coming today?"
The table fell silent. The three silently debated who should break the news with uneasy looks for a few seconds until Rowan finally answered. "...He and Cat broke up."
"Oh." Moka blinked her eyes wider. The look faded, and she glanced out the wall of windows with a huff of laughter. "Huh. Good for him."
Rowan's hesitant gaze disagreed and the silence persisted. "No..." he replied with a shake of the head. "He caught her cheating on him."
"Oh..." Moka repeated. She glanced at the table's solemn faces as she poked absently at her food, before settling in to eat in silence.
"Good evening, Caspian. You slept for two hours and thirty-seven minutes."
Caspian groaned, and turned over with a rusting of sheets and blankets. He flipped his pillow to the cool side, and lay his head back down.
"It appears your sleeping pattern is irregular. A regular sleeping pattern is essential for-"
"Shut up."
He was left alone. In silence. Or near silence, rather, as the cardboard walls of the dorm building did little to muffle whatever was going on three doors down. He heard the wind rustling the branches of the tree past his covered window, and footsteps outside his door.
Three sharp knocks jarred him the rest of the way awake. Another three- louder, brisker, and he fought the lightning-strike of an urge to tear his blankets away, fling his lumpy pillow to the opposite wall and rip the door open.
He didn't answer. He didn't answer because maybe then, Rowan, or Lilly, or whoever it was would get the hint. That he didn't want to talk to anyone. Didn't want to see anyone for one gods-damned day. Or two. Or however many it took before he didn't feel like an idiot, or a victim, or Cattleya's second favorite plaything.
"Hey, if you're in there, I brought you some food," Rowan interrupted. "You can just take it back into your room, if you want."
He hadn't eaten anything all day. He should have been hungry, but he felt nothing apart from the beginnings of a headache.
"Oh, Moka says hi..."
Right, Moka. That slut. Or should he even bother calling her that, without Cat telling him what to think about all his friends. Rowan and Ichigo, obnoxious, immature. Snow, creepy. Lilly, too nice. Hiding something. Lazula, arrogant. "Kind of a bitch." But it was said in jest, so it was okay. There was no reason for it to offend him.
Friends. Lazula. "Is she my friend, or just my sister?"
He hated when his thoughts followed one after another, whirling around his aching head in a pointless maelstrom that would possess him, convincing him each thought was some infallible truth before it gave way to nothingness. It made him want to scream, or cry, or take off running or just go back to sleep.
He decided he must be hungry. Getting out of bed was labor, and his room was cold. He tiptoed to the door, making sure with an ear nobody was in the common area before opening the door. He didn't know if he could stomach the chicken strips and seasoned curly fries- right, it must have been Monday. He wondered if any homework was assigned. He'd ask later. But just the thought of working his way through an assignment in his room was enough to discourage his appetite. It would be a bother to make up all that work, but he'd probably be fine. If he had anything going for him, it was book smarts. Not that they had done him much good so far.
He realized he stood in the entry to his room, the door trying to close against his shoulder as his blurred eyes fixed on his meal. He scooped it off the ground, and locked his door again.
Days passed much the same. Caspian lost any concept of time within his walled world. Just light, and dark. Many voices outside his door, and none. Whatever food showed up, he ate. He only ever left for the couple of minutes it took to use the restroom, or to take a shower whenever he gathered up the will. His dormitory window became his lone portal to the outside. He watched the orange-brown leaves be stripped away until branches were almost bare.
He needed anything to distract him. Like music, though even the songs that he usually enjoyed, or ones fitting of his mood, felt hollow somehow. An empty backdrop to his mental cascade. Seeking out a song he'd actually enjoy was a bother. He would lay on his bed, scrolling endlessly through apps and social networks on his Holoband, getting a look into lives happier than his– and lives worse. Both made him want to fling it against a wall. He'd scroll for hours, or no time at all. However long it took for him to catch up with all the nothingness he missed.
Sometimes he felt almost well enough to go to class, or get dinner for himself. To go, of course. Other times, he wished his "heroic" stunt back in June did kill him. Cattleya would get showered in sympathy and attention, and he'd be a hero. A real huntsman. And he wouldn't be around for any of it. He didn't think he wanted to be dead. That was maybe a step too drastic. He just wanted to stop existing for a while. To let time pass by without him, and emerge when it was all behind him.
The elevator doors opened, and Snow stepped into the fourth-floor hallway to Team CRLN's dormitory. She heard the usual sounds from beyond the walls of swirling greens and browns suggestive of nature; muffled words and laughter, some music. But when she neared Team CRLN's cluster, it all fell silent behind her.
She raised her hand and knocked three times at the door's center. A few seconds later, a door opened inside. The latch clicked, and Lilly appeared in a simple white tank top and sweatpants. She greeted Snow and her eyes trailed down, likely to the bag of pretzels and bottle of apple juice Snow held.
"Hi Lilly. Is Caspian here?"
Her gaze stayed down, now looking to the wall behind Snow's left leg. "He is, but I think he's sleeping again."
Sleeping at 4:32pm. Strange. Snow wondered if this was an effect of being "cheated" on. She knew what it meant, in theory. And knew that because of it, Caspian and Cattleya were no longer in a relationship. But as for his feelings, the pain he must be feeling, she hadn't the slightest idea. It was one of the few times she realized she wasn't human. And one of even fewer times she thought it might be for the best.
"I see," Snow answered. She held out the gifts she brought, and tried to look Lilly in the eye. "When he wakes up, will you give him these? He might want them."
For the first time, Lilly allowed a light smile as she took them from Snow's hands. "Thank you, I'm sure he'll appreciate them."
Sitting on the edge of the bed and swaddling himself with his comforter, Caspian listened in. He couldn't go out there. At least three light-dark cycles had passed since his last shower, and he hadn't changed clothes in as long. His room was dank and smelled of the food scraps and refuse he couldn't be bothered to throw away. He'd open a window, if it wasn't so damned cold outside.
He couldn't let anyone see him, let alone Snow. They hadn't spoken in the last month– it must have been longer, actually– and she came by to drop off a gift? He didn't deserve someone like that in his life.
A few minutes later, once he was sure Snow had gone, he gathered the worst of his mess into a spare bag. He ran to the shower, and on the way back, knocked on Lilly's door. The movement inside reminded him he hadn't spoken to anyone in what must have been weeks. Lilly's expression changed from one of surprise to a smile in just a second or so.
"Caspian! Hi!" she remarked. "How are you doing?"
The fact she treated him leaving his room like winning the Vytal Tournament was a little embarrassing. He rubbed the shame off the back of his neck. "Hey, Lilly. Did Snow come by earlier?"
"Yes, she came by just a few minutes ago," Lilly answered. "She had something for you!" She left her slipper at the door to keep it open, then turned to her desk. She came back with colorful plastic in each hand.
Chocolate covered pretzels and apple juice. The same snack he offered Snow in passing almost a year before, on their Winter Holiday shopping trip. He couldn't help but chuckle.
"You know, sometimes I forget she's an android," Caspian said. "She has her quirks, but... coming up here to drop something off for me, when she knows I'm at my worst? That's empathy. That's something some people I know struggle with."
Lilly nodded, her smile returning. "I find myself thinking the same thing."
Caspian returned to his room, but for the first time the darkness of a mid-Autumn sunset behind his curtain left it too bleak for him. His stomach growled, and he decided Snow's gift wouldn't be enough to sate it. He put on his socks and a pair of boots, swapped sweatpants out for chinos and donned his favorite blue raincoat. In theory, if he looked good, he'd feel good.
He still wasn't better. He still hoped he wouldn't run into anyone. His brief exchange with Lilly had been enough socialization for one day.
The wind bit his skin, spitting cold rain against it. November had come, and with it the usual wind and relentless rain that made him want to turn around and huddle beneath his blankets. The entrance to Cedar Hall brought back the memory of his first date with Cattleya, the pair heading back to the dorms after their evening out. He felt no sadness for the loss, no longing- just a bitterness to match the cold.
He felt like a ghost. Or an alien. People passed him by in pairs and groups with half a glance if he was lucky. He passed through the mechanical line and was spat out the other side with a sandwich and chips. He was on his way back to his den when a shrill voice behind him made him wince.
"Cas? Hey!"
Moka was slow to approach at first, but when Caspian turned fully to face her, the usual bounce returned to her steps. "How have you been?"
"I'm…" Caspian trailed off. He took a second to decide how honest he should be, but his silence provided enough answer. "Alright."
By the droop of her tail and the purse of her lips, he could tell he didn't convince her.
"I'm so sorry. Getting cheated on stings."
Caspian sighed. "Yeah. It does."
"I should have told you about them. I'm sorry."
Caspian's brow lowered, and he pulled his head back. "Wait. You knew about Cat and Blaise?" he questioned.
"I... I wasn't certain..." Moka stammered. She picked a string off her sleeve. "I thought there might have been something going on, but I know the kinds of things Cat said about me. If I didn't have some kind of proof, I thought you'd just think I was trying to pull something to break you up, or…" Her tail flicked when she managed to look at him, and one of her boots bounced restlessly on the fake marble floor.
"So you kept it from me? So you didn't think to let me decide what I thought about it all?" Caspian berated. "She was cheating on me for months. And in all that time on her team you didn't figure it out?"
"I... thought there was a chance it was all in my head," Moka squeaked out. "I have this bad habit of not thinking things through, and acting on impulse and just making everything worse but I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to mess things up with my team. And I really like having you as a friend. So I didn't want to mess things up with you, either."
Caspian shook his head with a sharp, dignified exhale. "Well, congratulations. Because you did just that."
"I'm sorry!" she pleaded. "I was going to tell you as soon as I knew for sure, and I also didn't know how to break it to you, and–"
Caspian stopped halfway through turning away to pivot back toward her. "No. Just– stop. Talking, for once. I don't want to talk to you– I don't even want to see you right now. Just leave me alone!"
The scene played on repeat in his mind as he returned to his dorm in Madrona Hall.