"Nobody in their right mind could expect you to know what all that was. Lucky for you, though, I'm more the left-minded type." Lyric shot off a grin, staring back at the mural. "Maybe Fate isn't so moody, after all."

The Seraph's face was painted with some sort of excitement, as proven by the spark in her eyes upon sending him a look. "Bet they didn't have anything like that in school, huh?"

"It rings bells, but not loud ones—this is, like, the third time I've said it. You think it might be worth just filling me in, yourself?" Despite his complaint, Kyoya rested with having learned something. If nothing else, that much was worth considering a victory.

"No-can-do, sorry. It's a different story when you figure it out yourself, literally. I'd only be doing you a favor by keeping it to my end, at least till you figure all that out. I'd wager it'll come naturally, soon enough."

"Noted. But, in that case, what does that mean for you? You don't seriously think I'm just gonna let you keep tabs on me—" The Miscreant was met with a waggling finger.

"That was pretty much my plan, so let's keep questions to a minimum for a spell, m'kay? You and I are gonna have a LOT to talk about here pretty soon, I promise. So, just stick around..." Lyric's eyes began to wander, an uncertainty in that amber glint shining as clearly as any mirror. "Please?"

Kyoya was still trying to figure out why it was so easy for so few words to make him feel as though he'd been socked in the gut right after a hearty lunch. This second tone shift multiplied that blow's impact tenfold, leaving him no option other than compliance.

A light sigh escaped him, the boy offering a dopey smile to ease her spirits.

"I guess I've got nothing to lose, anyway... Fine."

Almost immediately, Lyric threw her arms up in cheer. "I knew you'd come through!"

She didn't seem to notice her voice almost rocking the floor of the Archive.

"Yeah, yeah. So what's the move now? Did you ever even read up on whatever it was that you needed to check out?" Kyoya asked with a titled head.

"I was actually looking for updated records about what it was we just saw... But now that we got to see it first hand, I doubt there's any need to bore you with any more book business—I'm way too psyched about this little development, anyway! Alexandria's gonna lose her mind!"

"Sounds like you've got some serious plans..." he laughed along with her excited rambling. "I'll owe you. I'm still not totally sure what's bringing all this about, but I can only assume you've put a lot into it. I'll do my best, whatever it is."

Calming down, Lyric nodded to herself.

"Then let's make it official." She offered a fist, presenting it to him. "All my friends get a unique handshake... Let's see if we can figure out ours."

Truthfully, he hadn't the slightest idea what she was talking about, the first thought being her and Ryder's special little exchange back in the cargo hold.

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But, when she moved her fist up once, he wasn't given a chance to get caught up thinking. They exchanged a top-down bump followed by the same action but with Kyoya starting from the top. After that, they tapped elbows, followed by the back of each other's wrists, and ended with a fist pump.

"Whoa! That flowed way better than I thought!" Kyoya did his best to scramble for an explanation, unsurprisingly being met with no such luxury. They separated after a few moments, Lyric letting off a relieved breath.

"Looks like it came pretty naturally to you, Blue. Nice one."

She trailed off with that, seeming lulled into a strange but visible and radiant comfort. Some aspect of it managed to calm even the subconscious thoughts in the furthest back parts of his head. "But, I'm glad you're willing. To see this through, I mean. I understand that it seems really sudden, and we don't know one another too well yet, but—"

The girl cut herself off. "Ah, I'm just rambling. Don't worry about that; just know I appreciate you taking the time to consider it."

"Hey, you ramble; I think too hard. We've all got something going on up in the head."

"Yeah... Right," she agreed, her eyes gliding about once more. "So... anything you were meaning to do once you got here?"

The Miscreant thought back to his conversation with Reika. Her words of studying Fate's influence rang faintly, but they rang nonetheless.

"More of a here-to-be-here kind of thing. If we're rolling together for a bit, I don't mind following."

"Perfect! Don't sweat yourself about it, then—I'm a pretty solid planner, believe it or not. And this planner happens to know the perfect little café in Midtown—"

Lyric's 'planning' was cut short.

A faint rumble sent dust and debris tumbling down from the rafting above. It lasted longer than any minor tremor, with both of them staring blankly at each other as the event progressed.

The shaking continued for another several seconds before a brutal crash sounded off somewhere in the distance. Right in tow, the Archive's foundation began screaming in a cacophony of shattering glass and crumbling stone, seemingly the effects of an earthquake taking the entire kingdom off its hinges.

"That couldn't have been good!" They both held onto a mostly stable pillar, the rumbling beginning to die out after another minute.

Though, just as the ravenous quake relented, shouting replaced it.

"Definitely not good." Lyric instantly reacquired her wits, that peaceful amber in her eyes glazing over to a stone-cold, gilded autumn storm.

A repulsive aura quickly found its way to the boy's senses. The air around them was physically thicker, no longer simply feeling as though it were tight. A methodical ambience of angst had overtaken the atmosphere. Soon, a reddish haze fell upon whatever it so pleased.

Kyoya finally brought a long-awaited seriousness about him, this time well aware that he'd be offered no more second chances. Flashes of his standing before Teleo's Archduke appeared in his mind—a brutal recollection of how truly vicious the great, big world could be.

The haze that had fallen over the atmosphere was dreadfully familiar. It loomed overhead during the Invasion of Teleo; it seeped into even the skies and dug spindly digits into the land and sea. It crept into his every attempt to prove he was ready to leave the Monadt Highlands...

...and it always signified the arrival of something awful.

He had to slow his racing heart before he could speak again.

"Demons... Whod've thought."

"You read my mind."

Their eyes met briefly before they both stared out in front of them. The pair peered through the demolished wall and straight out to Altra Castle, the home of Altaire's Royal Family. Its grand courtyard stretched almost a square mile, and even from the Archive, an ominous crimson smog was billowing from the center.

The boy shot his signature glare as a vessel through which to issue his challenge, all of the presented factors bringing them to that chilling conclusion.