Nadira quickly paced the perimeter of the hall. She could see the Elders of the Families watching from raised platforms. Places of honour.

Around this labyrinth of a building, she had to take different routes to get her bearings. As smart as it was to split the search party, she wished that Arturri would have at least given her some vague sense of direction in this place. But, it wasn’t as if she had never been there before, so that would serve her.

At some point in the ball, before the music changed, she noticed two of the Bheorse split off from their partners in unison. She remembered how they hunted her down the streets with Arturri, Kro and Sadie when she was the one running. These two had the same expression.

She noticed that one of the Bheorse’s partners left behind was her previous companion, himself. Kro, the traitor. She had gone to him for support and he sold her out immediately. They met eyes. He looked entertained. Let him rot. He was probably the only person there from a Family that would recognize her face. Didn’t matter. What was he going to do about it? She would rat him out just the same for harbouring her in the first place- or at least, she could, if she wasn’t the better person.

She didn’t want to look at his face anymore, so she instead focused on what had drawn her attention in the first place. The Bheorse were following something. They had caught a scent. She recognized that, and she wasn’t about to let it just run off. They looked pissed.

Of all things, Leliana’s annoying voice entered her head, so pompous and proper. It was no good to get into a fight at the ball. It is a Diplomatic event going back centuries. Something going wrong, resulting in fights between groups - a scandal.

And what other scandal could be found here, aside from maybe the uninvited Orphans gatecrashing the biggest event of the season?

Damn it all. If it was one of them finding out about Arturri or even Daress, she couldn’t let them get to either of them. The Bheorse weren’t pretty to get on the bad side of. But she had an idea.

Her feet ran to a stop and then she turned back to the ballroom. To the stages where the Elders in red sat.

They looked appalled momentarily when she showed her face before them. She was dressed in a black suit, so her colours were as they should be, but she had ignored her veil. The face of an Orphan was profane. Disgusting. Unwanted. That was who she was, so she stared at them and let them be uncomfortable. She would deal with the fallout of that faux-pas later.

“Your kids are going to embarrass you.” She nearly spat the words.

“We have never met.” ‘What an unpleasant introduction. From an unpleasant girl. I see your mind. Are you such a fool to speak?’ The thoughts flooded her all at once. Conversation with these people were uncomfortable. Invasive. They stared at her as if they were tasting her mind like an odd meal. Commenting on its palate. They certainly had a lot of interesting items on the plate they could digest later.

“No we haven’t, but we have the same goals. We have to stop them, don’t we? What do you think your young will do when they find them? Take them quietly? Are you ready for that big song and dance?”

“You insolent rat. Get your face out of our sight before your station ceases to protect you.”

That went better than she could have expected. They knew exactly what she wanted them to do. Whether or not they did it was up to them.

It was then that she had to go and follow the Bheorse that had gone down that hall. She had set her piece in motion. It sickened her how proud Leliana would be. Or maybe disappointed. It was bile all the same.

Hopefully, it wasn’t too late to follow the hunters. Thankfully, she could hear their pounding footsteps some distance ahead of her. These halls were as twisty as before. Eventually she found the hall was getting darker as she went down. Something about this felt meaningful, and she found herself slowing down, even as she could hear the sounds coming towards her.

The portraits in the dark seemed empty. Something about this darkness felt safe. Warm. Like being underneath the blankets, where monsters couldn’t get you.

The footsteps came closer, but Nadira couldn’t get out of the way in these narrow halls. Collision. They both screamed and collapsed against each other in the dark hall.

Daress! It was her! “It’s you!” Nadira couldn’t help the astonishment. The waifish girl that had braided her hair and shared all her book’s stories with her. Years of chores and punishments suffered together under Leliana’s tutelage. The vision of the burning Library was brought to mind all of a sudden, and her mood shifted.

But she didn’t have time to catch up just yet. She helped Daress up. “Come on,” she said to her.

Before they could go anywhere, the three figures appeared against the light at the end of the hall, their faces all in shadow, outlined in a rim of red. The two Orphans took a step back to run.

“STOP”. A youthful voice called out to them, no, through them, and Nadira felt it hold her still for just a moment. She had felt this way before from another Bheorse, but the sensation was unique. Daress pulled her arm, and she was moved.

But it soon didn’t matter. They moved away and the Bheorse seemed to move closer. They were no longer running, but walking them. These walls had turned against them somehow. They had moved backwards into a dead end.

She looked over at Daress. She didn’t know exactly what she expected to find, fear and confusion, maybe panic about everything that had happened .But that wasn’t what she found. Daress’ face looked excited as the Bheorse got closer.

Nadira wondered if she was saving the right person here. But that thought didn’t make sense. Surely the Bheorse were going to expose them and destroy everything. They were going to cause them pain for fun, drag them in front of the Matron and make a show of the entire Church at the Ball of all things. No, this had to end. She had to say something as a Diplomat. Nadira turned to face them.

Then, there was a sharp whistle.

The three figures in front of them stood suddenly alert. There was silence. A glance over their shoulder and at each other. They started to back away. They must have been communicating with one another, Nadira figured. After a moment of hesitation, they slinked away. The short one seemed to hesitate before turning the corner. Nadira didn’t need to be psychic to know that this wasn’t over for them.

Someone superior had to have had them called away. Nadira felt relieved. Maybe her plan had worked out after all.

She let out a big sigh of relief. “You’re okay. Thank goodness.”

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Daress was quiet for a moment. “Yeah. I’m okay. Nice of you to ask.”

She realized it hadn’t been a question. Maybe it should have been. “Right, sorry. Um, I’m just glad that you’re okay is all.”

Daress laughed, like she had told a joke. She looked over at her friend in the dark. Why weren’t the lights on where she was? Nadira looked up and saw the orbs of magical energy that illuminated these halls a little further away from them. The closest one seemed to dim like a candle about to go out. She didn’t know what to say.

Nadira noticed that her friend’s eyes were on her face and she turned to her. Before she could say anything, Daress took a step past her. Then another.

She was walking away. “Wait-“ Nadira went with her, like a puppy trotting to her heels.

“Oh, Nadira. Don’t,” Daress said. Her voice was shaky, but pitying. As if even in her weakness, she was stronger than her. It was not a tone that Nadira had ever heard from her before. “You already have everything you want.”

Nadira frowned, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She just shook her head. She seemed to be looking for something. Distracted. “Nevermind. You should go back.”

“…We should both go back, Daress.”

Who was Nadira to tell anyone to go home, after everything that she had done to try to stay as far away from the Orphanage as she could. It seemed so hypocritical, even to herself, as she said it. She knew what it was like to want to get out. But she missed Daress. She missed her friend. And she didn’t understand what she was going through. She wanted to.

Daress shook her head. Of course she did. Nadira could never expect someone to go back willingly.

Daress spoke then, softly, like she used to. “You know, I never got to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?”

“When you left me?”

The words pierced Nadira pretty quick, like a hook, or a spear. Like it was nothing. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and tried to play it off. “Oh. Yeah. I know, that wasn’t the most thought through decision or anything, I had to act pretty quick, you know. I’m sorry about that.”

“I understand. So I want to say it now. Goodbye.”

Nadira chuckled nervously, like it was a joke. It had to be a joke right? “You’re not serious… Where are you going to go?”

“I can’t tell you. I don’t know.”

Nadira realized as things went quiet for a moment that they were moving towards the ballroom again. Her feelings mixed together. Relief. Anxiety. She would be walking into the lion’s den out there. Both the Bheorse as well as all the other Families were out there, but so was Leliana and Arturri - somewhere.

But where else could she go? Where else was she trying to go?

“You know Leliana is looking for you, right?” Nadira paused. The vision of the flames lingered at the edges of her mind and she could no longer resist the question. “I - I have to know what happened at the Library,” she blurted, “They think it was you, the Sedralogue basically accused you, but I know you wouldn’t—“

The noise of the ballroom was starting to get louder. Nadira wanted to believe that she had misheard what came next, but it was spoken with such reverence that it was unmistakeable. “I burned it down, Nadira.”

“Wha- what are you talking about? The Daress I know would never-“

Daress didn’t let her finish. “Turns out, I have a calling after all. I don’t care that they want you to be Diplomat… That’s why you’re here, after all.”

“That’s not-“ Nadira tried to begin, but she was lying. It was.

“Because she thinks you can talk me down. But she doesn’t know that’s not true anymore.”

“Daress… I never wanted to hurt you.”

Daress opened the door to the main ballroom. The light flooded against them. Nadira could see now how Daress had changed.

She looked vibrant, her skin was less tired, her hair had better shine - it was like she was otherworldly. Looking at her, Nadira felt like the entire rest of Entithea, even the most beautiful of the Families, looked desolate. Sick, somehow. And after walking through the darkness with her, she realized how cold their magic really felt. This revelation left her in goosebumps. What had happened to her?

Nadira understood then, watching her, where she was planning to go. Daress was staring up to the balcony and there Nadira saw the Head of the Dar Yi at the most prominent balcony, onlooking the events of the Ball with their closest consultants around them.

Even if Daress didn’t want to, Nadira knew that she would have to go home. She could feel Leliana’s eyes on her back as the two of them entered. She was ready. Where was Arturri? Should they wait for him?

Nadira glanced over at the Bheorse table, but the Elder she had spoken to and the few of the Family's young that had followed them were nowhere to be found.

Daress moved away from her, continuing now towards the main doors at the far end of the hall that would lead to the balconies. She didn’t know why she wanted to see the head of the Dar Yi, but she knew that it would be a bad idea. On reflex, she reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Wait, let’s stay here, there’s no rush, is there?”

Daress looked away from her, her posture stiff. “You are trying to trap me.”

Nadira softened. “Listen, I know you have every reason to think that. But it’s not like Leliana is going to drag you out of here by force, it would look bad. So you’re safe in front of all these people. We’ll say you’re a Diplomat, if they ask. Okay? So, let’s just have a good time together. While we can? I mean, you walk out of this room and you’re a public enemy or something, and I got a big promotion to a job I don’t want. But right here?” She reached out and tugged Daress’ sleeve before gesturing around them. “We’re friends who snuck out to the biggest night of the Season. Tomorrow maybe will suck. I don’t know what is going to happen to us. What’s going on with you.. But I… I miss my friend.” Nadira realized she was starting to cry. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I just want her back. And I’m so sorry. I hurt you and now you got me back, and I’m so sorry.”

Daress stopped. Nadira could not see her between her tears that were streaming now. She felt Daress embrace her around her shoulders. She was warm. She hugged back, because she didn’t want her to go away. She knew this was a brief moment.

A new song had started from the band. Nadira wanted to dance, to make the most of it. Who cared if Leliana was just waiting for a moment that she could stop it all and bring Daress to justice. Who cared if Arturri had gone off who knew where, and she would miss catching up with him outside the bathrooms. She didn’t want anything to take this night from her. This moment.

When the hug ended, she looked into Daress’ face, imagining that even if she wasn’t forgiven, maybe such a thing was possible. But Daress looked distracted.

“I’m sorry too,” Daress started to say. The lights of the main hall started to flicker suddenly.

It wasn’t something she could control, Nadira realized. Something about her repelled magic. Was it in a book she read? Did she do something she didn’t know how to undo? That’s what that book was about, wasn’t it? Something about unwanted spirits.

“It’s okay, Daress, we can help you!“

It was starting to be obvious to those around them. Even the grand ballroom with a hundred souls was being effected. Little flickers around Daress, but isolated. It seemed like it was overwhelming her. It was different to the hallways. Here, the souls of the Ancestors were an army, and they would not extinguish so easily.

Nadira wondered if her unwanted spirit was even unwanted among the Ancestors. She didn’t know much about how that worked, but it seemed plausible. “Daress…” She reached out to her. The girl’s face was becoming troubled, twisted, as if it was a struggle inside of her. She placed her hand on her shoulder. She had to get answers. “What did you do?”

Daress recoiled from her and pushed her hand off her shoulder. Her eyes stared into her filled with rage, her lips curled and she shook her head. Nadira took a step back, and gradually that rage was filled with peace.

Nadira didn’t have time to figure out what was going on.

Daress turned from her and started to walk down the ballroom. Nadira knew that she needed to go after her but she wasn’t sure what more she could say. She’d screwed it up so bad already. So she only watched in shock as Daress reached out to brush the dancers she passed.

She didn’t have to touch them. They missed their steps the closer she came to them. Some of them held their footing, others fainted into their partner’s arms. The further she moved down the hall, the more noticeable this effect became. The more it happened, the quicker it happened to others. The dimmer the lights became.

The music stopped as the musician’s noticed the line left behind the girl. Instead, the sounds of the Ball were replaced by mutterings, cries of concern, panic. The head of the Dar Yi watched from their balcony with a calm disposition, but they whispered something and an assistant of theirs moved from the balcony.

Leliana stood up from a seat at a central table.

Anyone who tried to restrain Daress soon collapsed, and everyone who could see this happening started to back away as far as the room would allow to let her through. No one knew what was happening.

Nadira was frozen in place now with a new emotion towards her friend. Fear.

As patches of the room were left in darkness and Daress reached the staircase to the higher balconies, the ground itself began to rumble.