The passage was dark, with no lights to guide them through. The entrance sealed itself off when they stepped into it, bringing any relief from possible pursuers, but offering no exit anymore.

They moved slow, Cormac was able to speak again, but his head still pounded and the pills effect was wearing off. He felt the pain fully now and there was no shortage of it.

They traded no words during the trip, only holding each-other as they limped through the stone tunnels.

Aviana was a beacon of warmth in the sea of cold.

They had been walking for a long time, though neither could begin to guess how long it was, the tunnels seemed to stretch forever. A part of Cormac already accepted that this might very well prove to be his end.

But then, he could make out a stone. He saw little, but he saw it. Aviana must have realized it too, since she sped up their walk through the tunnel.

The black, became grey and grey gave way to shallow colors.

They turned the corner and, Cormac saw outside.

Coming to the open ground, he could feel a gentle wind brush against his face. Could hear the rare chirping of night critters accompanied by a noisy stream. Could smell the freshness of the forest they emerged into. He was overcome with joy, as if he was born again.

Before he could do anything however, he fell to his knees, then on his belly. Overcome with exhaustion, he fell asleep.

Something brushed against his nose and he opened his eyes. Stray red hairs flew across his face, tickling his cheeks and nose.

Aviana was lying opposite to him, still fast asleep. Now that they were in the light, Cormac could see the grime that covered them both. Her red hair took on a rusty hue, her pale skin covered in dirt.

He watched her breathe peacefully for a few moments. It was a moment of respite again, something she gave him again and again in the last days.

But then the memories of the day prior made themselves be known. Carl and Norman were dead. He killed them.

Cormac decided to take a walk. He silently stood up, careful not to wake up Aviana. It was hard, as every movement pained him excruciatingly, but he got a little used to it by this point.

They were in a forest. The trees were too high and rich with leaves for him to have a vantage point. They would need to guess, but all sense of direction was completely gone by their trip in the dark. He washed off his face in the stream, gulping down what water he could drink with his hands. Then he set off to find food, his stomach was grumbling.

He did not know much about plant life, but his mother forced him into a few herbalist classes with tutors. Something Cormac was currently grateful for. He found a berry bush, one which was most probably safe to eat. He ate some by himself, then he made a sack from his shirt - his jacket was way too bloodied - and grabbed as many as he could.

He headed back, scared to leave Aviana alone for too long.

She was still sleeping when he came back.

He left the sack next to her, ready for when she would wake up. Then started cleaning his clothes.

Aviana woke up to a broken body. The ground was hard and every bone and muscle was sore. Before doing anything, she did what she did every day after waking up, going through yesterday.

She remembered how she had broken Rodrick's arm on purpose, how she talked with her uncle, her father's visit, the suspicious behavior of her teacher and all the bloody rest that happened that day.

Considering that, Aviana was afraid to open her eyes. There was still little chance that she might just wake up in the lounge. Everything might have been a nightmare, nothing more.

But that hope was frail and couldn’t last if she wanted to live on.

She opened her yes, just to see…berries. A number of berries prepared on a white shirt, now dirtied with the juices coming from the fruit.

She sat up looking around, but no danger presented itself. Cormac was just cleaning his jacket in the stream, his upper body clear for the world to see.

He had a crazy number of scars all over his back.

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"Good morning." she said while eating a berry.

"Yeah…good." answered Cormac while brushing a very stubborn blood spot on his jacket.

"Thank you. For the berries."

"You are welcome." the spot still held strong.

"So, what the fuck happened yesterday?" she asked.

"I have no idea." he replied, finally succeeding at his task.

"You, you! Not only did I have your back yesterday, I got into this mess with you. The least you could do is tell me what's going on!" she grew furious.

He turned around, a kind expression on his face. It did wonders to stop the rising heat in her cheeks.

"I am sorry. I really have no idea. Master Norman just ran at me and things just… kind of happened after that. I do apologize for getting you into this…whatever this is. And thank you…for saving me."

"What about the guy that warned you?" Feeling bad for her outburst, Aviana grasped at anything that presented itself.

"I already told you everything yesterday. I only met him once before, but this was the first time he ever told me anything. He said that I was…" Cormac stopped, unsure of if he should continue. "In danger." he finished.

"So what are we going to do know? For all we know they think we murdered a teacher and a fellow student."

"You are asking me? I don’t know if you noticed, but it seems like I was making all the wrong decisions these last few days." He stood up from the stream. "Honestly, I thought you'd already have a plan by now."

"Why?"

"I don’t know. You seem capable, decisive."

"Well…thank you. But I certainly don’t feel like that right now."

"What about coming clean? We did escape but if we come back voluntarily that must look good right?"

"How do you plan to explain this? A teacher and a student attacked us out of nowhere, slashing at the first sight of you?"

"Yeah, not a good idea."

Silence took hold, as both of them found themselves at their wit's end.

Captain Hank Furden saw many crime scenes during the years on duty, but he never expected to have a visit to the renowned Academy. Furthermore, the princess herself was a suspect, along with a used-to-be heir to one of the seven major families. Frankly, it was the biggest case he was ever given.

But he had nothing.

When he got to the scene of the crime, everything was cleared out already. The victim was a teacher of theirs. From the background he found about him. He used to serve in the army for a while, before getting accepted as one of the tutors at the institution. From what the other students told him, Norman used to be a good mentor, teaching with all he could. Doing more than was expected for the sake of his students.

One of his students did say that the princess was a violent devil of a woman, but Hank gathered that they had personal issues between one another, and the only one who may have known something couldn’t talk.

He was overlooking the case files again for the tenth time in a row. It didn’t make sense.

Why would the students kill him? Especially with all that rode on their backs? The royal family vouched for their daughter vehemently, as did the La Bor for the boy. Neither even entertaining the idea that their offspring may have caused this. This by itself, would be no surprise. Nobles were well-known for their ignorance to the shortcomings of their family. But the principal is connected to the family and he talked with his niece right before the incident. Confirming that she wasn’t armed, nor was acting unusually.

Additionally, Norman's routine activities were also wrong. After attending lunch, the teacher missed his next lecture and was seen by many students, that reported 'suspicious behavior'.

Hank decided that this was a puzzle he had neither the pieces, nor the key for.

For now, he would send out an arrest warrant and a bounty for their capture. He needed whatever they could tell him. His gut, as it was wont to do, told him it's perspective and it did not think that they were the perpetuators. But a crime with only victims is no crime.

And this was definitely a crime.

"Alright." said Aviana as she stood up. They cleaned their clothes as much as they could have and their jackets and trousers just looked a little worse for wear, but the white t-shirts couldn’t be salvaged. Aviana wanted to leave them there, but Cormac at least had the idea to pick as much berries into them as they could. Camouflaging the blood as its juices. Plus, they had at least some rations this way.

"First things first, we need shelter and we need food and water. Ha. HA. PHEW!" she sneezed strongly. Her world rotating for a moment.

"Bless you." Cormac stifled a laugh. "We could try to build a roof here at least. Could be enough for a few days."

"Yes, but we can't stay here. The entrance did close behind us, but there is no way for us to know they won't be able to open it again. And guess what they would find if they did."

"Us." Cormac nodded.

"Yes, we need to go somewhere else, the question now becomes, where?"

"There really is no way to know is there?"

"Exactly. That’s why I propose we find a vantage point first. We scout our surroundings and then we make a decision."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Cormac agreed, but before they ventured out, he came closer to Aviana. His hand stretched. "My name is Cormac by the way, Cormac La…"

"Aviana." she said as she shook his arm. Quickly dodging from saying her full name.

"Okay, Aviana. Lead the way."

"Follow quickly Cormac. I can't pull you behind me forever."