The sunlight woke Maria up as softly as shoving light on someone's face realistically could. Katarina-sama had taken Maria as a body pillow, and her moving out of the way forced all of the sun directly onto Maria's face.
The blonde sat back up, groggily finding her shoes and looking at the bound magical book resting on the small table to the side. The other bed had been pushed against the door in case someone from the Ministry tried to sneak in.
She felt… Conflicted. There was no happiness in her heart.
Not yet, she tried to convince herself. There were things that needed doing, and very little time to dwell in her feelings as the furniture blocking the door aptly reminded her.
Maria stood up and looked through the window. The streets below were as lively as usual, unaware of what had transpired at the Claes' manor, or among the nobles in general. No one had an idea of the rottenness clinging to the higher society that ruled them, no one knew they could all be made to obey at someone's whim.
Maria's heart went to her throat as a couple of knocks came through the door.
"Maria-chan?" Katarina-sama was just waking up. Less groggily than usual, but still a bit slow.
"I-I'll see what it is." Maria gulped, fiddling with her fingers.
She was scared, that much she would admit. What she didn't want to think about was about the reason. The full one. The creeping feeling that the darkness ran way deeper than she thought, that they would be stalked no matter how far they ran away.
"..." Katarina-sama took her sword, having fully woken up after realizing where they were. She strode with confidence towards the door and separated the bed with a single one-handed pull to the side.
She'd break Maria without difficulty…
Katarina-sama opened the door and peeked out, crouching without swinging it fully open and retrieving a small box and breakfast from outside.
The door had the jewels Katarina-sama used to pay for the room.
Maria felt ill in the stomach.
"They're everywhere." The blonde whispered.
"What do you mean?" Katarina-sama tilted her head.
"The Ministry. They must have taken the jewels and handed them back." Maria insisted, looking around the room fully expecting someone to materialize from thin air. An assassin, or something.
"Why would they, though? I mean, it was really nice of them. But why?"
"I… I don't know. To show dominance? To make us paranoid?"
"Then it's working on Maria-chan." Katarina-sama took a small paper from within the box "Err… 'a small gift to show our appreciation and support on Nicol-sama's behalf…' yep. Sounds like the Ministry."
She sounded way too casual about it. Anyone else would have made Maria suspect them.
"But why?"
"Dunno. Nicol-sama doesn't have people backing him up, only a crazy woman that wants to dissect him or something."
"What?" What.
"Huh… You know? Make him a lab rat." Katarina-sama tried to explain.
"I… I still don't follow." Maria was sweating cold now. Was this something about the other world? It sounded bad, but Maria didn't really understand the context.
"You know!" No, she did not! "Run tests on him and stuff."
Tests. Experimentation. That Maria understood.
"Is it because of his magic?"
"I think so, yes."
So vague…
"Please, Katarina-sama. It might help us get him out of the book." Maria pleaded, taking the lady's hands between hers.
Katarina-sama flinched.
"Ah…"
Maria took a step back, as if burnt. Her face heated up and for a moment, no one was following them. Nothing in the world existed but Katarina-sama and herself.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…!"
"It's fine! Really, don't worry Maria-chan!" Katarina-sama laughed it off, waving her hands placatingly "You just surprised me, that's all!"
"I know it's not the time. I shouldn't have—."
"Maria-chan? Hey, Maria-chan! Hear me out." Katarina-sama tried to speak, but Maria's mind was at full throttle already. She didn't realize she was being shaken until the lady picked her up.
"Oof?!" Maria landed on the bed, having been thrown when the brunette failed to get her attention back.
"Listen to me!" Katarina-sama pleaded "It's fine. I'm just… It's been some rough few days, y'know?"
That had to be the understatement of the century. Maria knew full well Keith-sama's situation and everything happening in the manor had taken a toll on Katarina-sama. She had always been a strong person, always thinking positive, always smiling. But Maria wouldn't have expected her to go through all of this with the same cheerfulness as before.
Academy affairs had nothing to do with a dark conspiracy spanning… Who knows how much of the government. And they were surrounded on all fronts. The only thing keeping them more or less sane was Maria's own magic.
The blonde mage sat up and took deep breaths.
Maybe the dark magic had gotten to her, in a roundabout way.
"My apologies." Maria breathed out, not calm. But with a more careful intonation "I didn't mean to make a ruckus."
"Don't worry, Maria-chan." Katarina-sama was sitting beside her in the next moment, hands intertwined with Maria's and that supporting smile of hers "I don't even know what that is."
Maria smiled weakly. She didn't doubt the lady's words, but she didn't feel like laughing.
She felt remorseful. Had she taken advantage of Katarina-sama's turmoil? Should Maria have made advances in this situation? Probably not, so she did her best to not bring it up. Not yet, at least.
"Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you." Maria spoke honestly, she didn't mean to burden the lady with her feelings. But she wanted to express them all the same.
"You'd be invincible." Katarina-sama whispered "I just hold you back."
Maria frowned.
"That's—." Not true. That's what Maria wanted to say, but another knock interrupted her words.
The girls tensed, and Katarina-sama placed a hand in front of Maria.
"Stay put." The lady stated, her expression changing like a completely different person had taken her appearance.
"No, I'll be behind you." Maria stood up when the lady took her first step, feeling her body move with the certainty of practice "I'll take all injuries off of you."
"It's dangerous." The serious Katarina-sama replied.
"I had time to practice."
The silence killed her a little, but she needed Katarina-sama to agree with her. Even a room's distance was too much, Maria wasn't sure she wouldn't freeze in place if she wasn't in the middle of things when they happened.
"Fine." The brunette advanced, and with each step Maria's heart became louder and louder.
The door swung open and a figure clad in dark was there.
"...!" Maria flinched when they pushed themselves inside the room, being forced further back when Katarina-sama took a defensive step back and a second figure entered right behind the first.
"Finally!" Alan-sama took off his hood and closed the door with a stage whisper "What took you so long? I thought you had run off somewhere!"
"Alan-sama!" To her credit, Katarina-sama just barely held back her voice. Almost yelling when she threw her weapon back, realizing she was about to swing at the prince.
"Duh, who else would be? I figured returning your stuff would give Maria-san a clue."
"I still think we should've waited outside." Mary-sama took off her hood as well, looking around the room with a judgmental look "Alan-sama does things in such a weird, roundabout way even in an emergency."
"You… You're here." Maria's voice dripped with disbelief, suddenly feeling the space between Katarina-sama and herself to be way too close for comfort.
"No, we're spies. We have an ancient artifact that lets us copy appearances." The prince rolled his eyes "Of course we're here. What? Did this moron eat some of your mental prowess?"
"No… I…" Maria frowned "I mean, how did you find us?"
"I figured you wouldn't be able to afford a place to stay." Mary smirked with confidence "After we got wind of what happened at the Claes manor, we came to town to look for you. You'd have to have bought a place to stay with something from Katarina-sama's possessions. So we separated and looked for people trying to sell off jewelry or…"
"I just looked at random inns until someone had something that belonged to Miss Dumbass." Alan-sama interrupted "Really, it was almost too easy."
"You didn't follow the plan?!" Mary-sama looked outraged.
"No, why? We're here."
"I mean, Alan-sama always seems to know what's up with me and Nicol-sama." Katarina-sama frowned, deep in thought.
"So you just happened to find the inn?" Mary-sama insisted.
"Yep." Replied the prince "In any case, where's Nicol? The book?"
"You even know about the book?" Maria asked, mindful of speaking too loudly about it.
"Gerald came back to the castle. It's… Complicated." Alan scratched the back of his neck "And he seems to have lost some of his vitality."
Maria blinked "I hope that's not permanent."
Alan-sama shrugged.
"So what's the plan?" Katarina-sama got to the book, lifting it up so everyone could see it "We free Nicol-sama, right?"
"Yes." Mary-sama moved, and took it with both hands. Studying the bindings "Anything we do, we need everyone on board."
"And Gerald-sama?" Maria asked.
"Bastard's nothing if not cunning." Alan grinned, no trace of hesitation in his face "He'll find us."
"But first, Nicol-sama." Mary-sama started unbinding the artifact.
Katarina-sama and Maria flinched.
"Take it easy." Alan-sama spoke up "It's not going to eat us."
"If it does," Katarina-sama deadpanned "I'll get mad."
"It won't." Alan-sama clicked his tongue "It's a magic artifact, it only works the way it was intended to. It wouldn't have been a spooky little story at the Academy if it could actually hurt anyone."
A magic sigil appeared in the front cover, changing colors as Mary-sama placed a hand on it and smirked.
"A fool's trap." Mary-sama said.
"You cracked it already?" Alan-sama asked, unsurprised.
"No, but Alan-sama was right: It's a tool, and will answer like one." The brunette smiled "Give me some time, these runes aren't the same we saw in class. But some look familiar."
"Shall I lend you a hand?" Maria asked, feeling her mood lift as the nobles smirked at each other.
When she felt helpless, her friends were there. It happened before, it'd happen again. It made Maria feel invincible.
It made her feel loved.
"Yes, please! And Alan-sama, we might be here for a while so…"
"I know a place that sells fruit and stuff." Alan-sama replied "I'll bring provisions."
"I'll help." Katarina-sama interjected, her tone a sad mirror of her usual cheerful one "I can't do anything magic-related. But I'll help however I can."
"Idiot, don't push yourself too hard." Alan-sama frowned "We got this, just relax."
"But…"
"Katarina-sama is always there for us." Mary-sama took her eyes off the book with a smile "Please, let us protect Katarina-sama this once."
Ah… Yes. That was right. Those words… Maria could feel them echo deep in her heart. That was it, the thing she could fully express without burdening Katarina-sama.
"I didn't do anything, though. I just…"
"You did enough!" Maria interrupted her, suddenly aware she was the only one present that knew of Katarina-sama's true identity "And we'll be forever grateful for it!"
Maria pushed to grab at the lady's hand, feeling her chest burning with determination. She saw Katarina-sama surprised at the intensity of Maria's movements, and she almost didn't realize she had pushed too hard when their lips touched.
"Katarina-sama?!" Mary-sama screeched, slamming her hand on the book. Her face full of disbelief.
"I'm so sorry!" Maria threw herself back, about to get on her hands and knees.
But she didn't. Because that accursed book started glowing with a green light.
"...?!" Alan-sama rushed and pushed it off Mary-sama's hands, retreating as he pushed Maria and Katarina-sama further back into the room.
When the light receded, Nicol-sama's hunched form appeared beside the fallen book.
"Wha-?!" Maria wanted to cry out, but the noble's movements stopped her dead.
He lifted his face, turning to look at them as his hands stopped covering it.
His eyes were bloodshot, a grimness that made Maria flinch oozed from his whole being like that of a wounded animal.
"A lie." He said, and his words were like a dagger twisting a sound in Maria's heart "Just a lie."
"Ni-."
Alan-sama placed a hand on Katarina-sama's shoulder. He shook his head.
"Ladies, why don't you go get something to eat?" He looked at Nicol, an expression Maria couldn't quite read settling on the prince's features "I'll have a bit of a chat with Nicol really quick."
Maria didn't have it in her heart to deny him. Her small moment with Katarina-sama was quickly forgotten.
At the Academy, during the hardest times, Nicol-sama had never looked anything but determined to win. To follow through and get Keith-sama back. He had been ready to lay his life to an end if it meant achieving victory.
The sheer defeat Maria saw in his eyes now? It scared her. They'd destroy the book. No one mentioned it, but no one doubted it either.