"I want to beat the person who appointed you as Blade Master."

All of her other classmates gasped save for Crow, who only responded with a subtle raise of his eyebrow. "Hey, Sharon's crazy good. If you can win against her, then that already makes you better than me."

Morgan shook her head. "This isn't about hierarchy," she refuted. "It's about us."

Another gasp sounded from her classmates. This one sounded more intrigued than the last, but Morgan ignored it. "I haven't won a single time against you. I can't consider myself a champion when there's still one person I haven't beaten yet. This may very well be my only chance to settle things once and for all."

Crow hummed to himself. "So it's personal."

"Yes, it's personal. And I know that you aren't one to back down from a double or nothing gamble." Morgan crossed her arms. "So? Are you in or not?"

"A double or nothing gamble, huh…?" Crow scratched his chin to ponder the proposition, but the corners of his mouth slowly curving upwards revealed his answer long before it could leave his lips.. "Well, when you put it like that, I can't say no, can I? Hey, Sharon! Got a table we can borrow?"

The Reinford maid giggled. "Right this way, ladies and gentlemen."

Sharon led the small group back to the table where she and Morgan had played their match. Them returning to the table where they had just played caught the attention of some other players, with a few curious ones even starting to form a crowd. When Crow sat down instead of Sharon, those few stragglers turned away, but Morgan didn't mind. To her, this was the most important match of her life.

Crow cracked his knuckles, his trademark grin flashing confidently on his face. "Alright, this one's for all the marbles! Ready, Morgs?"

Morgan steeled herself. "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's draw!"

Both players drew the first card from their pile. Unfortunately for Morgan, her card number was lower than her opponent's.

"Looks like you're going first!" Crow observed. "What'll be your first move?"

Morgan grimaced. Most of her matches with Crow that started out in this manner resulted in her loss. However, that was when she played to match his tempo. This time, Morgan was determined to set the pace of the match from the get go.

"I'll put this down!" Morgan declared. "7!"

Rean, Laura, and Millium all gasped, confused as to why Morgan would play such a high value card so early in the game.

Crow merely raised an eyebrow in disappointment. "Showing your hand this early? I thought I taught you better than that." He then proceeded to inflict divine punishment with a Bolt card.

"1!" Morgan's 7 was now back in play.

"Mirror!" Both Morgan and Crow swapped cards.

Morgan's eyes widened in anticipation. "Back at you! Bolt!"

"Tch…" Crow subtly glanced between his cards and the playing field.

'He didn't put down a card immediately…' Morgan noticed. 'Going off of previous games, either he doesn't have any more special cards, or he's debating whether to save his last one for later.'

"You got this, Morgan!" Millium cheered.

"Yeah. This time, you'll get him for sure!" Rean supported.

"Looks like I'm the villain in your guys' story, huh?" Crow mused. "Alright. If that's how it's gonna be…"

"Don't let them get to you," Morgan said. "This is between us."

"Haha… Very well." After closing his eyes for a moment, Crow glanced up at her through his bangs with a defiant look she had never seen him make before. He was really getting into this villain schtick, wasn't he? "Then continue focusing all your intent on me. I want to see everything you've learned since our last dance."

Crow put down his first numbered card of the match, and the game resumed as it normally would. The two of them continued trading blows until each player had only a couple of cards left in their hands.

"You like looking in a mirror?" Morgan quipped as she put down a Mirror card.

"I do, as a matter of fact." Crow responded with a Mirror of his own. "This handsome face doesn't clean itself, you know."

"Yes, I'm sure you're quite the kisser." Morgan put down a 3, tying up both of their total amounts.

"Same score? Gotta redraw." Crow put his hand on his deck. "I just can't stay comfortable around you for very long, can I?"

"You say that as if it were a bad thing, my Trickster," Morgan insinuated, placing her hand on her own deck.

Crow smirked in response. "On the contrary, Morgs. That's just the way I like it!"

Morgan and Crow flipped over their top card at the same time. This time, Morgan had the higher score. A 5 to Crow's 3.

"Here!" Crow put down his second to last card. "A 7!"

Morgan grit her teeth. This was the trump card Crow had been saving up. She had done well to get rid of most of her less valuable cards, but now her only remaining options were 4 and 6. Putting down the former would result in an immediate loss, but would it be enough to stand against Crow's last card? Each person had two 7 cards in their deck, and Crow had just placed his first one. If she was correct in her calculations, then she had already-

"What's wrong, Morgan?" Crow spoke suddenly.

Morgan looked up from her hand. Her silver-haired upperclassman's expression was impassive. Nigh-on unreadable. And yet, he said almost sincerely, "It's not over until the last card has been played. So play your card."

She held her breath, and after accepting the inevitable outcome, she put down her card. "6."

"5."

Morgan let out a small gasp. "4."

"Well, would you look at that? Looks like we're leaving it up to Lady Luck this time, haha!" Crow laughed heartily. "I didn't think we'd ever get to this point."

"I thought your last card was a 7," Morgan admitted.

"Well, then I guess I got ya real good, didn't I?" Crow smirked. "It's been fun, Morgs, but every bit of fun has gotta end at some point. Ready to finish this?"

"Yeah…" Morgan couldn't help but notice the hint of melancholy that briefly flashed in Crow's eyes when he said that. Contrary to his previous statement, it almost felt like…he DIDN'T want the fun to end just yet.

"On the count of three. One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

The two of them flipped their cards over for the last time. When the final score showed itself, Morgan had to blink twice to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Crow had drawn a 4. She had drawn a 7.

"Damn. Guess Lady Luck wasn't on my side today." Crow shrugged. "Welp. That's how the cookie crumbles sometimes."

"You did it!" Millium jumped forward and glomped Morgan, who was still seated in her chair and processing the result.

Laura let out a long sigh of relief. "Goodness, my heart was about to burst out of my chest. To think I would be feeling this way from a simple card game…"

Sharon giggled, looking as calm and collected as ever. "The tension was so palpable, you could pluck as if it was thread."

"I know what you both mean," Rean said. "That was definitely a duel for the ages, but there's no mistaking it now. Morgan is the true champion of Blade in Class VII."

Crow leaned over the table and extended his hand. "Good games, Morgs."

"G-Good games…"

Even as she shook Crow's hand, Morgan could not turn her eyes away from the final result. She had dreamed of this moment for a long time, wondering what she might do or say when she finally got one over Crow. However, she didn't expect the match to end in such a way; it was almost too quick.

"I…actually won?"

Crow would never forget the time his grandfather sat down with him to have "the talk."

He was a young lad at the time, having just started to get interested in the allures of the opposite sex (and really, sex in general). So when certain things…happened overnight, his grandfather did what any reasonable adult would do and gave young Crow the old rundown while the bedsheets were in the wash.

That was when Crow came forward with a question of his own.

…

"Hey, Gramps. How will I know I've found…the one?"

His grandfather hummed to himself. "The answer to that question, I believe, depends on your preference. What do you prefer in a woman?"

Crow thought about it for a moment, before settling on, "Don't really care, as long as she's got big knockers!"

"Kids these days…" His grandfather groaned. "You want this old man's opinion? The body is only half the battle."

Crow rolled his eyes. "Let me guess: it's about the personality?"

"It's about more than that. You might find a woman attractive based on her appearance or personality, but love isn't a one way street. You need to find someone who can push you to be a better man than you were yesterday. That can be someone who's just out of reach but you can catch her with enough effort. Or, it could be someone with the determination to catch up to you no matter what. Once you show you're committed to matching her tempo, it's only a matter of time before you can tell if she's the right one."

"That sounds like a lot of work."

"No ever said that love is easy, young lad. It wasn't for me, and it wasn't for your parents. But if you can get over that hurdle? Ooh, there's nothing else quite like it." The elderly man then reached out and ruffled Crow's hair. "Gambling men like us? We gotta make sure we bet on the right ones."

…

*SPLASH*

Crow rinsed his face with water from the bathroom sink a couple more times before turning off the faucet. He looked up at his own reflection in the mirror above the sink. Yeah, he looked like a mess, if he did say so himself. A hot mess, but still a mess. And no, he was not sulking because he lost in a children's card game. Between checking up on all the stalls and projects he helped others set up and making sure that Towa and George weren't overworking themselves, he had no shortage of ways to keep himself busy.

It was a lot of work, but considering that a certain munchkin whose name starts with the letter "M" was no longer acting suspicious of him, it was worth it in the end.

"A better man than I was yesterday, huh?" Crow muttered to himself, basking in the irony of the statement. On the contrary, he was growing worse with each passing day, digging himself deeper into the hole that was to be his early grave.

No, the real person who was becoming better with each passing day was someone else. It was almost scary how much she had changed since the first time she sat down to play Blade. She was a seasoned veteran, shaped by countless matches and repeated failures in such a way that the thought of defeat no longer fazed her. At least her reaction to her actually winning was pretty funny, though.

And yet, for all of her smarts, it seemed there was still one thing she was completely clueless on…

Pushing those lingering thoughts aside, Crow wiped his face dry with his bandana before tying it around his forehead. The moment he set foot outside of that bathroom, he would put his mask back on. Just for a little while longer…

"You sure took your time in there."

Crow nearly jumped out of his skin. Standing in front of the boys' bathroom was the very person he was thinking about just a few moments ago. It was enough for him to briefly drop his metaphorical mask.

"Yo," he greeted her. "You're not with the others?"

"They, uh…" Morgan glanced to the side for a moment before resuming. "They said they'll be back. Millium wanted to check out some of the other attractions."

'She's lying,' Crow recognized. Really, it didn't take long for anyone to pick up the cues that indicated when she was lying. Try as she could to hide it, but some habits just couldn't be covered up. Even still, Crow felt compelled to play along and see what happens; rubbing it in her face later would be an excellent way of getting back at her for beating him.

"And what? You drew lots to decide who would stay behind while the rest tried to catch up to her?"

Morgan coughed. "Well…we thought you were sulking in there for too long!"

"I was NOT sulking!"

"Are you suuure? I did finally break your perfect record against me."

"Losing never feels good, but you know what? I had it coming. It was only a matter of time." Crow then pointed his index finger at Morgan. "That doesn't mean I'm gonna lose next time, you hear? Don't go acting all smug just because you won once."

Morgan laughed. It wasn't a loud, hearty laugh, nor did it convey any sort of confidence or defiance. Rather, it was soft and alleviating, like she had been relieved of a weight from her shoulders. "You know, I'm glad you said that. You don't hate me after all."

That comment puzzled Crow. "Why would I hate you, Morgs?"

Morgan began fidgeting in place, putting her hands behind her back and looking down at her feet. "You were avoiding me a lot these past few weeks. Don't try to deny it. You've been talking to us less and less."

"Well, I told you my reasons earlier, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. All the side projects you roped yourself into, not to mention Angelica and your graduation…" Morgan then leaned forward and looked up into his eyes. "Don't you think you're working too hard, though?"

Crow could read the worry on her face as plain as day. What he was really curious about was why she was worrying about him all of a sudden. "I think you're the last person I want to hear complaining about putting in too much effort," he quipped.

"It's not the amount of work," she said, shaking her head. "It's about how sudden it all happened. If you keep going at this rate, work will consume you. And when that happens, you might push yourself away from the rest of us. We're your friends, aren't we?"

Crow raised his eyebrows. That's what this whole thing was about? Maybe she was observing him a lot more closely than he gave her credit for.

"Sorry, I just…needed to get that off my chest," Morgan continued. "I didn't want to have any lingering regrets of my own, you know?"

"Regret?"

"Yeah. That's why you're doing all of this, aren't you? You didn't want to have any regrets after graduating."

With each word that she spoke, Crow felt like he was gradually being torn in two. He knew that he wasn't throwing himself into festival preparations for altruistic reasons, but the more Morgan explained her stance, the more he wanted to believe it. Maybe deep down, he wanted to believe that he did harbor a desire to live the last months of his school life to the fullest. To not go quietly into that dark night before everything went to Gehenna.

"This may very well be my only chance to settle things once and for all."

'My only chance…huh?'

Crow recalled the words Morgan spoke to him before their match. All he had wanted was to check out Gate of Avalon for a minute and then leave. A quick get in-get out operation. Seeing his underclassmen playing against Sharon was a coincidence. The whole thing about Angelica? It was a convenient way to divert their attention so he could make a quick getaway. But this girl… She defied his expectations. She reached out and chased after him, challenged him to a duel, and won.

Damn, this girl was scary.

"…Heh." Crow chuckled softly. "What am I going to do with you?"

Morgan smiled coyly. "Does that mean I'm getting warmer to your secret?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," he responded in a similar manner. "Still, I'll be sure to keep what you said in mind."

He took a look at the festival goers who were walking by them. Okay, seriously. Where was everyone else?

"Hey, Crow?" Morgan asked. "Do you have someplace else you need to be? Or are you free right now?"

"I've got nothing right now," he answered. "Why? What's up?"

The black-haired girl reached into her skirt pocket and procured a set of festival tickets. "Well, I have a couple of these left…"

"Oh, yeah. The visitor tickets. I'm guessing George give you those?"

"Mhm! They're good for today, and they can admit two people apiece. So…"

"Excuse me! Sorry!"

A passing by visitor accidentally bumped into Crow, forcing him forward to the nearest wall.

"Ah!"

Crow looked down at Morgan's surprised face, tightly sandwiched between himself and the wall. He normally towered over her, with her head barely poking above his shoulders. But now? She was so close he could almost kiss her.

"You're…awfully close…" Morgan stammered.

Smirking, Crow spoke in a flirtatious manner, "What? You don't like this?"

His smirk began to fade, however, when Morgan meekly broke eye contact and used the tickets she was holding to cover her face.

'There's no way…' Crow remained in place, towering over his underclassman in bewilderment. There was no way his attempts at flirting were…actually getting somewhere, were they?! Especially when Morgan had been so avoidant to his advances up until now-

"I was about to say…" Morgan continued from behind her tickets. "Seeing as it's just us, and we don't know when the others will be back…"

Morgan slowly lowered the tickets to reveal the top half of her face. Her black eyes were practically shimmering as she looked up at him expectantly. A faint blush adorned her cheeks in such a way that made the plucky tactician look no different from an innocent maiden.

"Do you maybe want to…check out some of the festival attractions with me?"

And that was the final straw that broke old Crow's back.

It was Sharon's fault.

Of course she had to make a comment on how "impassioned" Morgan looked when challenging Crow after the latter excused himself from Gate of Avalon to use the restroom. And of course the Reinford maid suggested that Morgan wait for him outside the restroom so that he wouldn't be on his own. And of COURSE her classmates started to get in on the fun by pointing out that she still had a few tickets left over.

So after that embarrassing excuse of an attempt to ask Crow if he wanted to explore the festival together, the last thing Morgan expected was for the silver-haired trickster to humor her and actually say yes. To add insult to injury, although she wouldn't consider herself skilled at "sensing" people compared to her other classmates, even she could feel the eavesdropping gazes of her friends just around the corner while Crow pinned her against the hallway.

Thus, Morgan was left with no other option than to go with the flow and see things through to the end. Fortunately, the view of the academy field from the nearby window gave Morgan a place where she could move away from the prying eyes of her classmates.

…

"...When you said you wanted to have fun, riding horses was not what I had in mind."

"This is the easiest way for you to lighten up!" Morgan countered. "Your horse will tell if you're feeling nervous; if you feel nervous, your horse will, too. Likewise, if you soothe yourself beforehand, you'll have an easier time soothing your mount. And thus, an easier time riding!"

To prove her point, Morgan leaned forward to stroke the side of her horse's neck, which responded to her gesture with a small nicker. It was a black mare that Morgan took an immediate shine to, as it matched the color of her hair. Lambert, the head of the Riding Club, claimed it was a proud steed that was picky about who its rider was, but that didn't stop Morgan from plopping herself onto the horse's back and soothing it from there. In a way, pegasi were little different from regular horses save for the wings, so it made sense that her experience would carry over.

"Spoken like a true expert," Crow said. "Think you're up for the obstacle course?"

Morgan hummed to herself. "What do you think?" she asked her horse. "Want to see if we can beat the target time?"

Her horse whinnied. Taking that as a yes, she motioned for Lambert to escort her and her steed to the obstacle course that spanned the entire academy field. The goal was to complete three laps within

All without bumping into any of the cones (which Morgan had proudly delivered) that were scattered across the track, as bumping into any would result in a penalty on one's time.

Unfortunately for Morgan, it soon became apparent that while pegasus riding helped with soothing and bonding with her mount, the actual riding part was a different story. A horse galloping on the ground was nowhere near as smooth as a pegasus galloping through the air, and as soon as the gates opened, she and her horse rocketed straight into a cone. Thankfully, she was able to get her mare to calm down, and they started the race anew. By only slightly moving the reins to change directions and letting the horse handle the rest, Morgan was still able to complete three laps within the target time. However, her earlier blunders ensured that she wouldn't be setting a record anytime soon.

"Do not feel discouraged, Miss Daraen!" Lambert consoled her as he helped her get off her horse. "Not many could ride a steed of this caliber and breeze through the obstacle course on their first try! Here! A commemorative medal to celebrate your accomplishment here at Super Stallion!"

Morgan happily accepted the medal and whispered to the mare, "We'll get them next time."

"Close but no cigar, Morgs," Crow said. "And here I thought you'd be able to set a record!"

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Would YOU like to give it a try, then?"

As if on cue, her horse also snorted, as if it were issuing a challenge.

Crow started waving his hands. "No, no! I'm good!"

"I believe your steed is thinking otherwise, Armbrust!" Lambert pointed out. "Fret not! Everything is a learning experience!"

Morgan had to keep herself from laughing when a protesting Crow was led to the starting line.

…

"You ever been to the east, Morgs?" Crow asked as he and Morgan entered Class IV's teahouse.

"No, I haven't," Morgan replied. "However, there was a place called Chon'sin in my world. A lot of the design choices here resemble the architecture over there. I remember it being a place where many of the most skilled myrmidons and swordmasters came from."

"Hehhh… Sounds like a place Rean would feel right at home at."

The two of them found a bench to rest at and received their complementary green tea and snacks, all while exchanging conversation and admiring the eastern-inspired decorations.

"Ahhh, this is heaven…" Crow breathed out. "Sweets and bitter green tea are just what this tired body needs."

Morgan giggled. "My Trickster, that's the sort of thing I'd expect an old man to say, not you!"

"Doesn't make it any less true," he countered. "And who was it again that let me, a novice, try out the obstacle course again?"

"All things considered, you didn't do too badly! Even if you couldn't make it under the target time."

"Yeah, you keep hitting me where it hurts. See whether it'll come back to bite you in another year!"

"Another year…" Morgan's smile quickly vanished. "You're not thinking of deliberately staying another year, are you?"

Crow blinked. It was almost as if he hadn't even considered the thought of staying another year. Although, if that was the case, then why would he mention the following year at all?

"Well, given all the credits I've scrounged up in Class VII, I shouldn't be in too much danger of a repeat," Crow eventually responded. "Besides, I've got the best note-taker in the school helping me study! I've got finals in the bag this round."

"As long as you still remember who helped you get this far…" Morgan sighed, but on the inside, a part of her couldn't help but feel vindicated that her efforts were paying off.

Following their meal, the twin sisters Vivi and Linde came forward with two sets of boxes containing paper fortunes, which was a custom of eastern culture. Vivi held a box of relationship fortunes while Linde carried the luck fortunes. After a bit of deliberation, Morgan reached into Linde's box to draw a luck fortune.

"Really, Morgs? Not gonna go with the relationship one?" Crow said, sounding disappointed.

"I've taken enough gambles to know when I'd be playing into your hands," Morgan snidely remarked. "Plus, a little bit of good fortune might be what I need to hear before our performance tomorrow."

Crow couldn't come up with anything to refute Morgan's claim, so he decided to follow her example and draw a luck fortune of his own.

"Please be good, please be good…" Crow kept praying to himself right up until he unfolded his fortune, where his expression shifted to a large grin.

"Has Lady Luck smiled on you?"

"You bet your Mira she has!" Crow waved his fortune in front of Morgan's face. "'Great luck. You make your own luck behind the scenes and you make it well. Thorough preparations will net you excellent results.' If that's not a sign of good things to come, I don't know what is."

Morgan giggled. "I bet you wished you had that before we played Blade."

Crow groaned and rolled his eyes in response. "What about you? What did you get?"

Morgan looked down on her fortune, which displayed the symbol for slight luck. "You stand on the precipice of an important decision. Hold fast to your beliefs and strike decisively, lest hesitation cause you to be swept into the abyss."

Crow whistled. "That's rather foreboding for 'slight luck,' don't you think?"

"Tell me about it…" Morgan continued to stare at her fortune for about a minute until a single word popped into her head. "…Judgment."

Crow gave her a puzzled look. "What?"

"It's something that I heard once, from the last time someone read my fortune." Morgan proceeded to explain her chance encounter with Holly during the Heimdallr Summer Festival and how the fortune teller had associated Morgan with the Judgment arcana. Once again, she was told that she was on the verge of making an important decision. It made her wonder on the inside: just how many more decisions did she have to make before she reached "the one" that would change her fate?

"Well, no use worrying about it now, right?" Crow said, clapping a hand onto her shoulder. "The fact that you're getting another fortune about it means that life-changing decision probably hasn't happened yet! You'll get wrinkles if you spend too much time worrying about every choice you make from now on!"

"Oh, you…" Morgan shoved him back. "Mentioning wrinkles is the last thing to say to a lady!"

"Well, my point still stands, doesn't it?"

Their little scuffle earned them a few snickers from some of the other patrons and student staff. Vivi, who had walked away disappointed that neither of them drew from her relationship fortune box, began eyeing them with renewed interest.

"Hey, Crow?"

"Yeah?"

"What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

"You mean…about the decision?" Crow scratched his head. "Well, I guess it really depends on the situation. If it was about what I'd get for dinner, then I probably would just flip a coin and leave it up to chance, but I'm guessing that's not what you're thinking about."

Morgan nodded. "Imagine if the world was at stake and the cost of choosing wrong was irreversible. Would you still go through with it?"

"Talk about a heavy turn of events…" the trickster remarked. "I'd probably start reconsidering how I'd even got to that point in the first place. Like, if things got that bad, I'd be thinking, 'Damn, I really messed things up, haven't I?'"

"…Then, would you do it?"

"Like I said, it's a case-by-case basis. But I guess if I did get to that point…" Crow adopted a more pensive look in his eyes. "Well, a man's gotta see things through to the end, right?"

…

"Ta-da! What do you think?"

Morgan posed for Crow to show off her newly acquired straw hat, flower necklace, and tuxedo mask, all of which were props provided by the Photography Club for their photo booth.

To her confusion, Crow was not showing the same amount of enthusiasm as he did when he first urged Morgan to try something on for the photo.

"Your fashion sense is, uh… How should I put this…" Crow struggled to find the right words. "You're definitely making the most of what little you have."

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Morgan said. "Well? I put something on, so it's fair that you wear something, too!"

Crow started meandering through the prop pile, haphazardly tossing aside anything he didn't like. "Well, since you're wearing a mask, Morgs, then why don't I do this…"

A few seconds later, Crow fished out a bulky looking helmet with a bright orange visor and put it over his head. "Ha! What do you think of this?"

"…Can you even see through that?"

"Honestly? Just barely." The trickster shrugged his shoulders. "But hey! That's kinda the point of this whole thing, right?"

He then motioned for Fidelio, the head of the Photography Club, to come over and get ready to take their photos. "Okay, Morgs. Should we keep this casual? Or should we face each other down like we're in an epic showdown?"

Morgan hummed to herself. "Hmm… Why not both?"

"I like the way you think." Crow winked from under the helmet. "That alright with you, Fidelio?"

"I can certainly arrange that," Fidelio said. "Look this way first, please."

Crow and Morgan made half a heart shape and a thumbs up sign, respectively, with their hands. Afterwards, they sifted through the props for some fake weapons to hold for their next photo. Morgan was able to find a prop spear. Crow couldn't find any prop guns, so he had to make do with a sword. The two of them stared each other down, weapons pointed at each other like they were actually going to fight one on one.

"Thank you for your patronage," Fidelio announced. "I'll get your photos ready in just a moment."

"Over already, huh?" Crow said as he took off his helmet. "I thought it would've taken longer. Guess that's the head of the Photography Club for you…"

Morgan shook her head left and right after taking off her hat. "I have to say, it feels weird having something on my head."

"You know, now that you mention it, I've never seen you wear any accessories or do anything else with your hair," Crow remarked. "There a reason for that? Or not really?"

Morgan rolled a finger through her short hair. "I guess I never really thought about it. My hair's been short like this for as long as I can remember. Not nearly long enough to experiment with different styles and accessories."

Crow cupped his chin between his thumb and index finger. "Maybe you should try a new look sometime! Who knows? You might look better with longer hair."

"You think so?" Morgan considered the idea briefly before muttering to herself, "Maybe if my hair actually bothered to grow…"

"Here you are, you two." Fidelio came forward and presented Morgan and Crow with their photos. "I hope these are to your liking."

The two Sevens took a gander at the pictures and immediately began collapsing in laughter.

"My Trickster, you look like a buffoon!"

"Same to you! It's like I showed up while you were on vacation and crashed your spa day!"

Their laughter was cut short, however, when the bell rang over the intercom, signaling the end of the first day of festivities.

"The first day of the academy festival is nearly over," Towa's voice spoke through the speakers. "Thank you for coming today, everyone! I hope you'll join us for our second day of festivities. And for all of you prepping tonight for tomorrow's attractions: good luck, and try not to overexert yourselves."

"Day one's over already…" Crow muttered. "Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…" Morgan nodded her head. "I almost wish…"

"And…SAFE!" A first year student with red hair and a wool beanie raced into the room, camera in hand and out of breath. "Did you guys miss me?"

"More like barely out!" Fidelio responded, raising his voice. "Rex, I thought I told you to be back before sundown!"

"Haha! My bad! I got kinda sidetracked…" Rex then locked eyes with Crow. "Hey, Crow! How's it going?"

"Rex, my man!" Crow walked over and gave Rex an enthusiastic handshake. When they leaned forward to complete the gesture, the former whispered, "You got any good shots today?"

"Hehehe!" Rex snickered. "I'll send you the best ones later tonight!"

"Trickster…?" Morgan scrunched her eyebrows together while making herself sound as threatening as possible. She had heard from Rean about the sort of pictures Rex liked to take…as well as how all were taken without consent from the parties involved. If the "shots" Rex was referring to were anything like those…

"Oh, uh…" Crow started sweating profusely, and he whispered to a similarly panicking Rex, "Maybe I'll take a rain check instead?"

Morgan, refusing to wait any further, reached forward to grab Crow by the hand and shouted, "Thank you for your time, gentlemen! We need to leave right now!"

As she stormed out of the Photography Club room and downstairs to the first floor of the Student Union with Crow in tow, Morgan tried not to pay attention to the assortment of odd looks she was receiving.

"Are you upset?"

"I am not upset."

"You're holding my hand pretty hard."

"How else am I going to drag you all the way to the schoolhouse?"

"What was it you were about to say earlier?"

"It's…" Morgan shook her head. "Mm-mm! It's nothing!"

She tried as hard as she could to not look back, deciding to herself that Crow didn't need to hear what she had wanted to say.

'I almost wish today lasted a little while longer.'

Little did Morgan realize at the time that her day was, in fact, about to get a lot longer.

The first problem came when Morgan had to push through the mountain of questions her female classmates were asking her while they changed into their concert attire.

"Soooo? How'd it go?"

"Hey. Vivi told me you were throwing hands in her class's cafe. What's up with that?"

"Holding hands in public? You're bolder than I thought, Morgan!"

"I suppose it was only a matter of time…"

Combined with everything that she had experienced in the afternoon, Morgan found herself too overwhelmed to give a concrete response. The entire experience had been like being on an airship, with its varying lows and highs with the occasional bump due to turbulence. All in all, it hadn't been a bad experience by any means, but that just added more fuel to the fire that was her friends' interest in her private affairs, and Morgan didn't want to have any distractions right before rehearsal.

The second problem came during the rehearsal itself. Apart from the additional music number that Morgan would sing as the encore, the rest of Class VII's routine stayed the same. That, naturally, meant that Crow would be in his usual spot observing from the front. Nothing unusual…except that Crow was now dressed up in his own outfit copying the rest of the boys. He described it as his own little surprise, seeing as someone had to be the one to reveal Class VII's last minute encore. Morgan found that her eyes kept wandering to him, as the regal white, yellow, and red of the concert attire paired very well with his natural silver hair and white bandana. During her and Emma's duet, seeing Crow's new look was enough to cause her, the person who choreographed the whole dang routine, to blank and forget a step. Thankfully, she was able to get back on track soon after, but having to rely on Emma made her feel embarrassed.

"And here's where I come on stage and give my little spiel…" Crow said, jumping onto the stage. "While I'm talking, Emma, you need to move out of the way so Morgan can take center stage for the encore. Once I'm done, the spotlight will pass from me to Morgan, Elliot plays the starting chord, and there! All done!"

"You make it sound easy!" Rean remarked. "How are you feeling, Morgan?"

"I'll be fine," she reassured everyone. "But Crow, you can take as much time as you need. Emma, Fie, Millium, and I will need a moment to catch our breath."

"S'all good. Heck, you can even borrow my shoulder to lean on if you're feeling tired!"

"I'll pass, thank you very much!"

That earned her a few chuckles from the rest of her classmates. Ugh, the audacity!

The third problem came when she decided to retire for the night. All she wanted to do at the end of a long day was to throw off all her clothes, take a long shower, and go to sleep. However, her plans came to a screeching halt when she noticed that the drawer she had used to stow away her father's book was open.

"No, no, no, no…"

She dropped all her belongings - her concert outfit, the Gate of Avalon relief card, the Super Stallion medal, and her photos of her and Crow - and dropped to her knees to confirm her fears. Her father's book, one of the only links she had to her previous life, was gone.

"Where is it?!" Morgan started shouting. She started searching every nook and cranny of her room, clinging on to a futile hope that it might still be somewhere, anywhere. "Who did this?!"

That was when she saw it. A sign so blatantly obvious as to who the culprit was that Morgan was shocked she didn't notice it earlier as soon as she walked in.

Trapped in between the space of the window was a bright blue bird feather.

"That. Freaking. Bird."

Those were the last words Morgan would utter before the quietude of the night was interrupted by the sound of a loud, ringing bell. All the hairs on Morgan's skin began to rise; she recognized that bell. It wasn't a one-to-one match, but the eerie tone and depth that felt almost like a funeral march matched the ringing she had heard while in Lohengrin Castle.

Which now led to the current problem. She and her class traced the source of the ringing to the old schoolhouse, now surrounded by an ominous glowing boundary. Unsure of whether this was an ill omen or not, Principal Vandyck had been poised to ask Towa to call off the rest of the festival, which would also mean canceling Class VII's concert. That was when Rean stepped forward, who asked the principal to give Class VII a chance to solve the mystery behind the old schoolhouse once and for all. The rest of the class rallied behind him, not wanting to let the academy's efforts into planning the festival go to waste, and when that happened, all their ARCUS units began to glow in unison. None of them were sure how or why it happened, but it did mean that Class VII and only Class VII could now cross the border into the old schoolhouse.

"Can't believe it…" Crow muttered softly while looking down at his glowing ARCUS. "Even mine's doing it, too."

"Crow…" Morgan had never seen him look so conflicted before. "Is that so surprising? You're one of us."

"Y-Yeah… I guess it just didn't really click with me, since, you know, I joined late."

"Millium's is glowing, too," Morgan pointed out. "And you know better than us how the ARCUS units work. They don't lie."

"Can't argue over that…" Crow gave a weary sigh before psyching himself up by cracking his knuckles. "Right. We've got a little over two hours before midnight. Ready for one last rodeo with the old schoolhouse, Morgs?"

Morgan nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

The two of them followed Rean and the rest of their classmates into the unknown, but not before Morgan pointed two fingers from her eyes to the old building.

"I told you I've got my eye on you…"