Ferain was sure to keep up with the news in the coming weeks. As August ended and September was well under way, the world had only grown dimmer. More riots were breaking out, more violence and unease was spreading like wildfire back on the mainland, and due to the string of murders, the rest of the school’s major events had been canceled until further notice. This might not have been seen as too much of a problem when compared to killings and growing tensions between the two species, but it was a big deal for the students of the school. The remaining team events were canceled, as well as the final advancement test of the year. Besides just those, there was another major event shut down this year, really decreasing morale when it was announced.
Fera learned from Marrow’s sister, of all people, that every year in September, the three wielder academies host a special event, one that the schools share the responsibility of conducting. They send students who volunteered to the hosting academy for the whole month to participate in classes, and special games like tournaments and races and various sports. At the end of the month before being sent home, there would be a large festival to celebrate the get-together. According to Mamane, first-years could not participate in the games but they could watch, and the festival was open for everybody to attend. This year was supposed to be Olirian’s turn to host, but with the recent issues being what they were, Headmaster Hakamura and the school board decided against the event.
Mamane also growled out her frustrations that this was her last year here until she managed to get her nursing job, and she despised the fact that she’d have to miss her last gathering for a while. It obviously wasn’t just her either that was venting out their objections to the cancellation. Pretty much the entirety of the fourth-year students were up in arms against the decision, or at least complaining about it. Ferain knew they understood the circumstances, they were simply upset that the most looked forward to event of the year would not be happening for their last bit of time of enrollment. This lack of energy and drowning atmosphere of gloom did not pair well with Fera’s already stressful life. Yarin had been growing increasingly distant from everybody, not just her, and Lilipa was starting to get antsy because of this. Fera and Anita’s relationship, while still somewhere between good friends and lovers, was steadily getting better after their talk a few weeks prior.
The only reason they had not officially become a couple was primarily due to Ferain’s hesitation, which she felt guilty about, to be sure, but there was nothing to be done about it. She was scared of taking that leap, worrying that… Well, to be honest, she didn’t know quite what she was worried about. They both made their feelings perfectly clear that morning, and yet, there was still something preventing Ferain from devoting herself wholeheartedly to deepening that bond. She wanted Anita more than she ever wanted anything else in her life, but… she just couldn’t act on that impulse yet. Perhaps it was because of all that was going on around her, or perhaps she just sucked at relationships, and maybe, her assumptions that it was a bit of both categories was the most logical and correct answer.
At the end of the day though, it didn’t really matter what their status was, it only mattered that they were still together in any way, and that would never change. As for her problems at school, that remained as it had been since the start of the year. That was at least what she thought for a while. As it happens, Mamane was right, a fair amount of the fourth-year students did actually respect her now. Whenever she saw Marrow’s older sister with her friends, they all talked to her like she was part of the group, inviting her to eat lunch with them, and even defending her from some of the first-year students that always caused her trouble. It was strange, but it made her happy to have somebody outside of her circle standing up for her. It almost made her feel like she belonged now. To make things even better, after the fourth-years came over to her side, some of the younger students started changing their opinions too.
By no means could they be considered friends, or even distant acquaintances, but the casual greetings and lack of muttered insults was a drastic improvement that she was glad to see. Even Marrow had lightened up a tad, though, that was most likely because they saw each other much less now. He didn’t even hang out with Raven anymore, instead choosing to eat lunches alone or to just wander off somewhere by himself. From the social shadow that was always glued to Copper’s side to the sorry sight he was now, it truly did hurt Ferain’s heart that it came to this. The only fortunate thing that happened to him recently was that his sister talked to Guji, since Ferain had failed to remember to do so, and made sure he did not get stuck with a new partner.
It was ironic in a way, Fera had to admit, though it didn’t make her happy at all thinking about it. Thanks to the actions of him, Copper, and Raven primarily, she was labeled an outcast within the school. Now, Marrow was just as much an outcast as she was. Fera wondered if anybody could feel victorious having their bullies stripped of everything and stuck in the same position as they were. If so, Fera was certainly not one such person. Seeing him sink so low so quickly, it felt wrong to her. It made her feel even more queasy knowing that it wasn’t just him sinking to her level, it was like a scale for them two. While he went lower, Fera was rising higher. Her level increased, her standing in the school was getting better, and even her mocking nickname was beginning to become a source of pride instead of shame. Whenever she saw him loping around the hallways on his own, she almost imagined trading everything she’d gained so he could have his life back the way it was.
Even if it meant torment for her, it would almost be worth it to just set things back to the beginning of the year, where she was the bullied, as she always had been, and his life was not completely destroyed.
“It’s not your fault.” Anita said, while they sat in the cafeteria and Ferain had just noticed Marrow sitting alone in the back corner of the room.
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, Anita. I can feel bad for him anyway, can’t I?”
“You can, but I don’t know if I would after everything he did to you.”
“Don’t say that, you don’t mean it.” Fera muttered.
“I don’t know, Fe-Fe, maybe you just have a larger heart than the rest of us.” said Maple, who was sitting across from them and next to Victor, leaning on her hands and kicking her feet back and forth beneath the table.
“He’s been through a lot too, Maple, give him a break.” Victor stated, before biting into half of a baked potato.
“Do you really need to eat like that?” Maple asked, staring at him incredulously, and appearing to be somewhat disgusted.
“He’s a growing boy.” Anita said, putting on a scolding expression, like a mother chastising a child. “And you’re a growing girl who needs to eat their balanced lunches.” she added, before throwing a diced potato at her.
Maple growled playfully and threw some corn at Anita, who then responded with one of Fera’s pieces of cut up breaded chicken. Victor put a hand out to stop Maple as Fera grabbed one of Anita’s arms, preventing them from going any further. She’d just seen Professor Sara Yakuma walking by, doing her usual rounds to spot troublemakers, and that was one teacher you didn’t want to mess with. Fera didn’t think she was particularly that strong, but she had a nasty attitude and a habit of acting like they were on the streets and not in a school. There was a time where she hoisted Copper out of his seat and threatened to throw him out of the window, all for muttering how attractive she was under his breath as she passed.
That was Sara though, a person who got angry over a whispered compliment. Ferain didn’t think this type of person would be very forgiving if they caused a food fight to break out halfway into their lunch break. Maple saw Sara giving their group a nasty, sideways glance, and then gave Ferain a thumbs up.
“Good catch. Would’ve gotten in some serious trouble with her walking around.”
“Yeah, and to think, Fera here had her as a teacher for the better half of the year.” Anita said. “Really must have been rough on you.” Anita then added, patting Fera on the shoulder.
“Yeah, it was.” Fera said mindlessly, as her attention was now on somebody else in the room.
She was watching Sara previously but stopped when the teacher happened upon another first-year student. She had long, raven-colored hair with a silver, bird-shaped pin clasped within it to hold some of her bangs out of her indigo eyes, which almost looked like obsidian in certain lighting. There was another girl beside her, one with ocean-blue hair and eyes that matched. She had a curvy figure and a bit of an okay face, in Fera’s opinion. If she had to be picky, and she did, her nose was a bit too upturned and her mouth was too natural at dishing out mocking sneers. She wasn’t nearly as attractive as the stunningly beautiful girl beside her, but even Fera had to admit, Raven was simply in a class all her own on that front.
By a long shot, she preferred Anita over anybody else, but it was impossible to deny Raven’s natural beauty, and she was still only sixteen. Given a few more years, she might be the most stunning girl at the academy.
“As long as she’s still alive.” Fera thought darkly.
It wasn’t as if she had a deathwish out for her or anything, it was just the grim truth of the matter. Really, anybody in this school could be dead before the year was over, and she didn’t even want to think about what would happen if this persisted into next year as well. The worst case scenario, besides more murders, obviously, would be the closing of the academy. Fera probably learned enough this year to rejoin normal school life back home, but just because she could, didn’t mean she wanted to. This was where she belonged. It was where her parents went, it was where she met Anita, and here, she was surrounded by people like herself. It was only natural that she did not want to leave this place behind.
With this in mind, her eyes next found Yarin, whose standing within the school hadn’t changed, given that his status as a suspect in the case was not open to the public. People probably suspected of course, and he was being monitored by the entire staff of the school, but they still didn’t really treat him any differently than before. Then again, he was always sort of left alone since most people were intimidated by him anyway, so Fera guessed that it made sense things didn’t change a whole lot. Secretly, she knew that he was spending his nights trying to find the killer, but she didn’t know how he was going about doing this. The only thing she did know was that the murders had stopped since he started this routine of his. It was definitely taking its toll on him, and for some people, this only made him more of a suspect, but Fera had faith in him to put an end to this. He was, after all, the strongest wielder in the school, or so everybody said.
“Ferain?” came some voice, but in her unfocused mind, she couldn't tell who it was.
“Hmm?” she hummed, forcefully peeling her eyes away from Yarin.
“Geez, are you even in there today?” Maple questioned, waving a hand in front of her face, which earned her a light zap from Fera’s powers. “Gah! What was that for?”
“Invading my personal space.” Fera replied.
“But Anita does that all the time.” protested Maple, before turning to Anita. “Don’t you?” she then asked, raising an eyebrow in a curious manner.
“All the time.” Anita replied, grinning menacingly. Ferain wondered if Anita knew how Maple intended that question, as it was very likely it went right over her head.
“Quit teasing her.” Victor scolded, lightly tapping her on the head with a giant fist.
A quiet squeak escaped Maple’s lips as she winced from the hit and quickly clapped her hands to the top of her head. “I can’t believe you hit me.” she said, putting on her fake tears and feigned sobbing tones. She sniffled twice and blinked rapidly with her round, honey-toned eyes. “Y-you… How could you? Ow.” she suddenly gasped, after Victor had firmly planted another fist in the same spot as before.
“Cut it out, I’m not buying it and neither is anybody else.” the large boy firmly stated.
“Just trying to have a bit of fun.” Maple grumbled. “Speaking of having fun.” she now added, reaching into her bag, and Fera knew at once this would not end well. Whenever Maple delved into her bag, it only meant one thing was coming out of it. “Here, I have something for you two to look at. I’ve never seen your bodies in their entirety, but I’m pretty sure I got the proportions right. Let me know if there’s some things that need to be fixed, would you?”
Maple handed over her thick notebook and Fera, who was extremely hesitant to flip open the cover page, slid it over to Anita. Her partner was quick to snatch it up, apparently curious about Maple’s art. Anita had never seen much of it before, and certainly she’d never experienced this sort of art from her at any point. Embarrassed, Ferain buried her face in her hands as Anita flipped through the pages, growing more red and seemingly engrossed with every passing page.
“You did pretty well with these. It almost makes me think you’ve been spying on us in the changing rooms or something.”
“Whaaat? Nonsense.” said Maple, before giving a bit of nervous laughter. “I mean, we don’t even have the same gym classes, sooo… you know… that’d be weird. Plus, it’s pretty hard to do… err…”
“It’s?” questioned Victor. “Maple, you haven’t.” he sighed, shaking his head.
“Hey, it’s the best way to get real examples. Seeing the real thing is very different from looking it up online. Plus, there are no pictures of half-naked Feras on the internet. I needed to get my measurements right and stuff and…”
“Come to think of it,” Anita started, interrupting Maple’s ramblings. “This pair of underwear that’s in this picture, Ferain has that exact kind.”
“Sooo, I might have also snuck in and looked at your underwear during one of your swimming lessons.”
“Oh good, because for a moment I was worried you went through our clothes during one of the times we invited you over.” Anita said.
Maple blushed deeply and actually began to sweat. “Yeeaaah, you see, that would be, umm… crossing a line, right? I mean, I might be willing to forgive a really good, really special friend if they did that to me, but, yeah, that’s really rude, isn’t it.”
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Ferain had spaced out partially throughout that exchange, and for good reason too. Maple spied on them while they changed, and apparently, she’d seen them naked, or close enough to it to get the drawings accurate. If that was really the case, did that mean…
“Maple, did you see?” Fera asked, interrupting whatever she and Anita had been arguing about.
“See what?” Maple asked timidly.
“Well, you saw us changing, right?”
“Yes, and I’m terribly sorry about that but I needed accurate images to–”
“Images?!” Anita shouted. “You took pictures?!”
“It’s easy when you’re hiding in the rafters. Nobody ever looks up, you know?” Maple said, almost sounding proud of herself.
“Why don’t you just use your own body? It’s not that different from Fera’s.” Anita argued, but Fera wasn’t done, she needed to be sure of her suspicions.
“I don’t care about the peeking, Maple. I am a bit annoyed about the pictures but we’ll talk about that later. Did you see my scars?”
“Ohhhh, that’s what you meant.” Maple said. “Of course I’ve seen them. I never mentioned it because I figured you wanted to keep quiet about them. Really, I don’t find them to be too bad, but to each their own. Clever idea, having Anita cover you every time you change. Keeps unwanted eyes away from them.”
“Not all of them.” Anita muttered, angrily stabbing her fork into a piece of meat.
“Then why didn’t you put them in your pictures?” asked Ferain.
“Because, they’re not exactly you, just… similar. You’re the example that I built off of.” Maple replied, before looking sheepishly away. “Also…” she murmured quietly. “I didn’t want to post them online if you didn’t want people knowing about them.” finished Maple, spilling the words out so quickly and quietly, Ferain almost missed what she said. ‘Almost’ was the key word in that matter.
“Online?” Fera choked, her face turning so red, she doubted it had ever been more so in her entire life. The thought that people could see her body, or something close enough to her body, drawn in underwear or worse, naked, was enough to send her temperature skyrocketing through the roof. A brief faint spell washed over her and she slowly crossed her arms atop the table, then firmly planted her face between them, hiding it from view.
“Like I said, Fe-Fe, it’s not really you, just a very close, as accurate as I could make it, extremely similar…. Ummm… copy?” Maple said, trying to sound reassuring but ending with deflated confidence in her statement.
“Looks like her to me,” said Anita. “What do you think, Vic?” asked Anita, moving to hand over the book. There was a bright flash of blue light and a sparking Ferain was crouched at the end of their table, the book clutched in her hands and held firmly against her chest. “Geez, Fera, I was only joking.”
“I wouldn’t have looked anyway, lightning bug.” Victor assured her, holding out his hand to take the now smoking book. Fera closed it and relinquished it to him. “I don’t want to see my friends in that way. It’s not really a good thing to have floating around in my head.” he added, blushing brightly as he returned the collection of drawings to its proper owner.
“All of your friends, Vic?” Maple questioned, batting her eyes and grinning at him. “There isn’t any… I don’t know, girl… that you’re interested in?”
At once, Victor, who was almost as timid as Fera when it came to these sorts of topics, looked away, appearing to be quite embarrassed. Maple’s prodding of his arm and invasion of his personal space certainly didn’t help either. While Anita laughed, Fera looked around the cafeteria again, remaining perched on the end of the table like a resting cat.
“Who are you looking for?” asked Anita, after several seconds of Fera’s absence in the conversation.
“Mana.” Ferain answered. “She hasn’t been at school for a while now.”
“She’s here sometimes.” Maple pointed out.
“Yeah, but she leaves early all the time, or she just stares off into space.” Victor added.
“She does that sort of thing all the time though.” Maple stated.
“She does, but it’s been worse recently.” Ferain stated. “I feel like I need to check on her.”
“Do you know where she lives?” asked Anita.
“District-C, I think. I might check with the headmaster before I head out, just to be sure.”
“And he’ll give you that information?” Victor wondered.
“I think so.” Fera replied, sliding off of the table and looking back at her friends. “In fact, I’ll go check now, that way I can head there right after school.”
“Want me to go with?” Anita offered. “To Mana’s, I mean.” she quickly added.
“I…” Fera started, wondering how to word this in a way that wouldn’t hurt Anita’s feelings. “I think it would be better if I go alone.” she decided on saying, but it didn’t sound as nice as she hoped when she spoke it aloud.
“Fair enough.” Anita quietly said. “She’s probably still upset about Giana, and if that’s the case, you’re the only one that can help her.” she continued, sounding more understanding, and even supportive.
“That’s my Anita.” Fera thought, smiling on the inside and outside. “Thank you. I’ll see you all later.” Fera said, looking at each one of her companions in turn.
“You better. We have that study session later so don’t be late.” Maple growled.
“Which reminds me. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on you when you try to sneak off.” Anita said, smiling. “Can’t have you rummaging through our clothes again, hmm?”
“Of… Of course not, Anita, you have my word that it was a one-time thing. Won’t happen again.” Maple assured her.
Ferain scooped up her bag and wandered off, giving a two-fingered salute to her peers while leaving them behind at the table. She followed the exterior walkway from one building to the next, marveling in the sunny weather they had been blessed with today. It seemed that even as the world was growing darker in terms of atmosphere and occurrences, the sun still knew how to shine down on it. The typical seagulls cried in the distance as they flew sporadically in the sky, and the salty sea air didn’t smell all that sea-like this morning. All in all, she had to be grateful that days like this still existed when all else was darkness and fear and hatred. She suspected that it was at times like this when these sorts of days were the most necessary, but in the end, it wouldn’t help much.
The sun and the warmth it brought with it would lighten some moods, bring some people outside to enjoy it, but as sure as there was day, there too was night. Night would bring it all back, would remind people that they needed to be afraid of leaving their homes, and needed to be wary of traveling alone when they did. Fera shook off this terrible line of thinking, trying to delude herself into becoming one of those simple people that would forget all of it when they saw a sunny day. It wouldn’t work, of course, there was too much she would have to forget, but that didn’t stop her from putting on a smile and trying anyway.
Like outside, the halls of the main building were brightened as well, thanks to the long windows along the corridors. The tiled floors were always kept so spotless, they almost acted like mirrors, refracting the light to the walls and lockers along the painted hallways. Guji’s office was on the top floor of the school, placed right across from the center staircase, and easily identifiable because of the two wooden doors that acted as its entrance. When she arrived, knocked, and received no answer, she came to the unfortunate conclusion that Guji was absent for the moment. It was bad luck on her part, so she decided it would be best to go to her next class and come back at the end of the day. He was bound to be there at some point, she was sure enough of that. As an odd twist of fate would have it, however, somebody else came to the rescue.
“Ms. Hirigaya?” asked a stern, but sometimes gentle voice. It was a woman’s, and one that she recognized from a class she had in the afternoons.
“Professor Willow?” Fera gasped, surprised to have run into her. It wasn’t as if it was unexpected of her to be by the headmaster’s office, or even on this floor, seeing as her own office was up there, but still, Autumn Willow was not the teacher she usually ran into in the halls. She was the headmaster’s right hand at the school, meaning she was usually where he was if she wasn't teaching a class. If Guji was gone somewhere, then she expected her to be there as well.
“Did you need the headmaster for something?” asked Professor Willow, her straight lips and piercing, always observing eyes as intimidating as ever. Fera didn’t know why, but this woman’s presence, her voice included, always made her feel like she’d been caught doing something wrong and was being scolded for it. It made her feel defensive most of the time, and honestly frightened other times.
“I… I was… You see…” Fera murmured.
“Yes, child?” she asked, her back straight, her lithe body at attention, and her commanding aura in full effect. Her blonde hair was tied back in its perfect bun, and her suit was wrinkle-free and flawless in every way. This teacher was the exact opposite of both Mr. Haris and Professor Yakuma, but that was probably due to her top-position. Fera then wondered briefly if it was the other way around. Was she like this because she got the position, or did she do this to get the position? A question for Guji at a later date, perhaps. “Ms. Hirigaya, if you are only here to dawdle, I suggest you start getting a move on towards your next lesson. Lunch will be ending shortly and you–”
“No!” Fera shouted, mostly due to her nerves. The sudden outburst seemed to take Willow back, seeing as she winced from the surprising cry. “Err… no, I mean.” she corrected, speaking softly again. “I… I did have something to ask Mr. Hakamura. Umm… I…” The teacher raised an eyebrow and Fera knew that the woman’s patience was running thin. She had seen this look several times in class before, mostly whenever the twins she shared the lessons with argued and started interrupting her. “I needed to find out where Mana Key lived, umm… Professor.”
“Ms. Key?” Willow questioned, and at once, Fera knew she would not be getting what she desired from this person.
She was not as loose as Guji was, who by all means was more fit to be a student than any of the teachers. He just had an easy air about him, one that made all of the students accept him as a friend. Ms. Willow, on the other hand, was the one that would break up a study group if she thought the students were having the least amount of fun. Knowing this, asking for a student’s personal information, especially in wake of these horrible events, was obviously out of the question.
“Sorry, Professor, stupid thing to ask, I know. I just wanted to check up on her. I… haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Yes.” Ms. Willow muttered.
“Yes?” repeated Ferain.
“I understand, Ms. Hirigaya. As I’m sure our loose-lipped headmaster has told you, I might as well not bother an attempt to hide it. I know that you were with Ms. Key on the morning the last victim was discovered. She has been… off… these last few weeks. I think it would be best if a friend did pay her a visit. I’ve found that in troubling times like these, that is when friends are needed most of all.” Willow raised a tablet she was carrying under her arms up and began tapping something on the screen. Shortly after, Ferain’s school band received a notification. “There, Ms. Key’s address. Please, make sure she’s alright, would you? The students’ health and safety always come first for us teachers, and I would like to know she is okay.”
“Y-yeah, o-of course.” Fera stuttered, shocked and dumbstruck by Ms. Willow’s willing cooperation. It would appear that the students are not the only ones who have begun to see her in a different light as of late. She, according to Guji himself, was one of the many people that spoke out against her coming here. Now, it almost seemed like she had trust in Ferain, or at least some small sliver of faith. “Thank you, Professor. I’ll… let you or the headmaster know about her wellbeing as soon as I can.”
Professor Willow gave her a short nod and then tapped something else on her tablet as she walked away. Once her thoughts were collected and organized again, she turned back to the stairwell and began the descent towards the lower floor. It was when she reached the second floor that she was stopped by something, something that normally would not have caused a sudden halt in her tracks, but due to the voices being ones she knew, it couldn’t be helped.
“That’s why I’m backing out, Raven.” said Marrow, who sounded more tired than Ferain had ever heard him before. Fera peeked down the hall but there was nobody in either direction. It was only when Marrow spoke again that she knew they were on the next landing beneath her, unaware of her presence due to how quietly she always tread. “I… I can’t do what you’re planning. It’s not right.”
“You don’t want revenge?” Raven snarled. “Personally, I’m tired of this big head she’s starting to get. Look, I’ll lead if you want to wuss out and take the backseat, but I need your help. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s gotten stronger, and that Caswell girl is always by her side too. If it’s only me, I might have some trouble.”
“Then why the hell don’t you get your own partner to help?!” howled Marrow, and Ferain jumped when a loud thud followed the shout.
Raven gasped, or something similar, and what sounded like a groan of pain emanated from her lips. It was too feminine to be Marrow’s harder tones, so that was at least who Fera assumed to be the victim. For a moment, she even thought about intervening, having been on the receiving end of Marrow’s rage before, but Raven’s words struck a dark part of Fera’s heart. This alone is what kept her at bay, thinking, perhaps wrongfully so, that she might deserve to be pushed around a little. As much as she hated the thought of it, Fera sort of enjoyed hearing Raven in a little bit of pain.
“Huh? Speak up?!” Marrow screamed, which was followed by another slam and another choked, agonized breath.
“Y-you’re choking me.” Raven spat, finally becoming able to breathe.
“The correct term is strangling.” Marrow hissed venomously. “Speak clearly and I won’t keep strangling you.”
“I could cut you, right now if I wanted.” came Raven.
“And I could drown you before you had the chance. You came to me for help, remember? You might be a lvl-2 now, feather head, but don’t underestimate what I can do. I didn’t take the test, otherwise I might be sitting pretty where you are right now. Make sure to keep that in your empty head next time you want to threaten me. If I say that I want out, I want out. I’m tired of this dumbass game of yours, and I’m tired of dealing with that girl. It’s over. I’m tired and I’m done. If you want to fight her so badly, and if you want to do so alone, without Caswell lurking around, I suggest you challenge her to a duel or something. Whatever you decide to do, however, just be sure to leave me out of it.”
“She killed Copper.” Raven spat.
“He killed himself.” Marrow said, with a guttural, pained growl escaping with the words. “He decided to leave that night. He decided to leave me behind and to go alone. He was weak enough to be killed in the first place.”
“He was weak?” barked Raven, almost laughing as she spoke. “You’re the one letting his killer roam around the school, gaining favor by kissing everyone’s ass and making herself look like some sort of actual prodigy.”
“And who was the one that gave her that stupid nickname, huh? She can do whatever she wants, and you can do the same. I’m. Done.” There was another slam, a heavy one, and this time, she heard a break in the cry that Raven let out, like it surprised her by both how much it hurt, and the fact that he actually did whatever he had done. “And I am not weak. Talk to me again and you’ll see just how much better than you I really am. If I want revenge against Prodigy, I’ll take it my way, and for my own reasons.”
Ferain had a hand clasped over her mouth, feeling that she had to mask even her breathing for fear of being discovered. Marrow’s footsteps, they sounded heavier so that was how she knew them to be his, was getting quiet as he continued down to the first floor and walked away. Raven, however, did not move. She did not speak either, or make any real sounds at all. For a moment, Fera was genuinely concerned for her, and those feelings almost won out over the fireworks that were bursting in her chest, but in the end, they didn’t. She reveled in knowing that somebody had stood up to Raven, and even hurt her a bit. Of course, when Fera was descending the stairs at the end of the hall instead of taking the central ones, she did feel partially guilty for how much pleasure she took out of it. It made her feel… wicked, and in a way, even dirty.
Not Maple’s kind of dirty, but like she was covered in some kind of uncleanable filth. By the end of the day, she bid farewell to her friends and partner, and started heading for Mana’s dorm in District-C. It was uncertain what Mana’s state of mind would be, but the last time Fera really talked to her was the Saturday morning when Mana brought her to the murder scene. After that, they had only passing greetings and very, very minute amounts of small talk. Fera was sure that this had to change, and maybe it was partially for her own sake as well as Mana’s. Maybe, she needed to talk about what happened too, and who better to talk with than the only person who experienced it with her.