Once the four left Serenaland, Matoi had sent them another assignment, and the four walked down the underground hall they'd been in for the last three days.

"Fifty feet." said Kate. "Should show up in a few seconds."

"Right." said Julia. "Um, Serena and Naomi, right?"

"Yep." said Serena, eyes ahead. The four walked for another fifty feet, and in the next instant -

- one wall of spikes burst up behind; another burst up ahead as the left & right walls grew spines, starting to close in on the two. Naomi snapped her fingers and two holes appeared in the ground as the four held their breath. Streams of fog went in to the burrows, and the walls dissolved back to their regular form, clearing their path.

"Done." said Serena, and the four started forward again.

"Okay." said Julia, Manufacture's rods forming as she glanced back. "Let me know when."

The four went up another fifty feet, and in the next instant -

- a tidal wave started up from behind & started flooding down the hall towards them; a solid orange wall burst up ahead -

- but a quick casing of stone formed over it, one hole that Serena's fog started filling as Kate & Julia turned back, and as the tidal wave hit her rods -

- the water dissolved in to hydrogen gas; Split's hair formed a fan and started wafting the chemicals away, Blackburn's fog still filling the hole behind.

"All good." said Kate, and Serena nodded. "What'd you say it was called again? Foof?"

"Foof, yeah." laughed Serena. "Two oxygen and two fluorine."

"Pretty explosive. It's an actual chemical?"

"Yeah. Nobody uses it, though, I think, since it explodes at room temperature. Yuruko told me about it."

"Starting to get cold." winced Naomi, temperature lowering in her wall.

"Still probably'll be - what, minute or so?" said Kate.

"Yeah." said Serena.

Julia fidgeted with her rods until a minute passed and the orange wall disappeared, four starting their walk ahead. "Um. At least the next one is fun."

"Yeah." laughed Naomi. "Just a big explosion, right?"

Kate & Julia stopped as Naomi & Serena went to the right wall, Avalanche's arm dragging and forming a stone tube as the prodigal pair went ahead, streams of fog filling it.

"Careful." winced Serena and Naomi nodded, as they'd found out last time Avalanche's arm wasn't unshatterable.

"Y-Yeah."

They came up another fifty feet, and in the next instant -

- a black wall burst up ahead. Naomi led the pipe to the barrier's heart, and they stepped carefully until they were back to Julia & Kate.

"Ready?" said Naomi; Serena nodded, and she stomped -

- and the wall of asphalt shattered as soon as the explosions burst out of the tube ahead, concrete shards shooting towards them, dozens & dozens of stone walls forming ahead but shattering as soon as they formed -

- and Naomi staggered gasping against the wall once the explosions finished after a minute, Kate having had to plug their hearing five seconds in, four still stumbling as the walls stopped rocking -

" - what - what the hell was that?" panted Kate -

" - azidoazide azide." winced Serena, relevantly. "If - if that didn't work, then -"

- and four breathed relieved as Naomi's stone wall crumbled, revealing an unscathed hall ahead but with no black wall.

"I - I need a minute." wheezed Naomi, and in the next instant -

- eight tendrils burst out of the walls, four crackling with electricity as they shot towards the four -

" - Manufacture!" shouted Julia, bashing one with her rod -

- but the tendril sprayed water as it died, electrified water claiming the four as they staggered, electrical current entering everybody but Julia -

" - B-Blackburn -"

- streams of fog filled the conductive water on their bodies with clay, soft material absorbing the water and stopping the electrocution -

- just in time for another tendril to breathe fire over the four -

- and harden their prisons instantly; little energy left, Naomi desperately snapped -

- and only Serena's turned to dust; streams of fog filled the rest with dilute acid -

- another enormous tendril burst out of the ground ahead; Julia & Kate screamed as the acid doubled within their prisons -

- and the keen tendril impaled clear through Naomi's back & out her chest; she gasped as blood burst from the ghastly aperture, and as it ripped up to her heart & split her chest open -

- blue light filled the hall, and the four sighed as they stood at the beginning again.

"…god." winced Serena, and Naomi nodded. She took a marker off of a whiteboard on the wall, trying to stay upbeat as she marked her spot again.

Serena had died six times, once trying to protect Naomi, and Kate only had one mark on her's. Julia had five, and Serena had pretended not to notice two were trying to save her. Julia was still Inky to her.

"...looks like I'm still in third, right?" said Naomi, and Serena nodded. She'd had nightmares before of Naomi dying & Mia telling her she was a terrible mentor, and was already readying for them to start again once they got out.

"…shit." Kate sighed and slumped against the wall. "Still got more after that, looks like."

"Yeah." said Serena.

Naomi handed her a stone pouch, and she started filling it with sandwiches & chocolate. Tendrils of fog filled stone cups with water. They'd been down there for a few days already; Matoi had directed them to one house in Kitesville the locals thought was haunted, and they'd turned out right for once.

"Started off with those, uh, electric tentacles, right?" said Kate and Serena nodded. "Right."

"And I hit them." mumbled Julia. "Um. Sorry about that."

"It's cool." said Naomi. "And then they started spraying water, right?"

"Yeah." Serena winced. "I tried to use clay to - um, absorb it and - insulate us, but -"

" - and then fire." nodded Kate. "Probably goes through four elements, right?"

"Like Mia." chimed Naomi, relevantly, and Serena laughed.

"Yeah."

"Right." laughed Kate. "Still. Wouldn't be surprised if it had a few more."

"Yeah." said Julia. "Um. Should I - should I not hit it next time, then?"

"…worth a try. If, uh, Serena's alright with it."

"I guess." mumbled Serena. "Um. Can you use Split to grab them? I can fill your hair with rubber."

Kate nodded. "Might work, then, yeah. Can just absorb the water once they start spraying."

"Yeah." said Naomi. "Plus, um - I can probably like, just punch out that huge one."

The four laughed.

"Doubt the fire one is too bad, either." said Kate and Serena nodded.

"Yeah. I can just - I can just fill my cup with water with that or something."

"Sounds good."

The four finished eating, and Serena nodded as they stood, reminding them of their plan. They passed the first & second test, and as they passed the third -

- eight tendrils burst out of the walls, four crackling with electricity as they shot towards the four -

" - Split!"

- but four hairhands filled with rubber gripped them tight & tied them in a bow, another four tendrils added to the Christmas present, thrashing and writhing; water spit out of their tips & towards them -

- and another hairhand caught their liquid sprays as the four stepped back, Julia at the back, Kate at the front and Serena & Naomi in the middle -

" - think I should kill it?!" shouted Kate, and Serena's head shook -

" - no, it probably has something -"

- gusts of fire erupted out of the tendrils -

- but a swift sweep of a wet hairhand doused out the flames; behind, the enormous tentacle burst out of the ground and shot towards Julia -

" - Manufacture!" she shrieked as she stepped back, throwing one rod at it -

- and blue light filled the hall just as the explosion hit Serena & Naomi's glancing back faces -

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

- and the four stood again -

" - Julia -" sighed Serena - " - you -"

" - I'm - I'm sorry - just got -"

- Serena marked her seventh & Naomi her fourth, and started to worry there was a limit of ten revives. "I just - we just went over this, and -"

" - I'm - I'm sorry! I - I just - I got nervous when it -"

" - you know exactly what's coming up! How can you get -" - Serena groaned and closed her eyes against the wall, not seeing Kate stifling her frown.

"S-Sorry." said Julia. "I - I'm good. I - I know what to do now. Just gotta - don't hit them. Don't hit them. Right?"

"That's - yeah." said Naomi. "Just need to do that - right, Serena?"

"…no, um…" Serena sighed as her eyes opened. "…just. Just relax. You're going to screw up if you focus too much on it. Or me."

"Right." said Kate. "Should just get some rest for today. Still be there when we get up tomorrow."

"Yeah." Serena sighed "Just, let's just sleep, yeah."

"Sounds good." said Naomi. Her & Julia laid down first, as Serena had already made sleeping bags. Julia took her phone out & set an alarm, and Kate & Serena sat against one wall.

"You need any charge?" said Kate, and Julia shook her head.

"No, um. All good. Night."

"Night."

Julia closed her eyes. She just knew Serena would keep her up if she thought about her too much, but she was trying to keep it from hitting Naomi! She had sacrificed herself the most out of the four! By this point, she'd accepted that Serena probably wouldn't ever like her & would focus on keeping liked by Naomi & Kate.

"…alright." Kate yawned, picking up one stone cup. "Cappuccino?

"Sure." whispered Serena, streams of fog filling it with foam & milk & coffee. (Surprisingly, Kate hated it black.)

"…and, uh…" Kate gestured to Julia, then to her ears, Split forming earmuffs for herself. "Can you? Don't wanna keep them up."

"Sure." said Serena, and streams of fog filled Julia & Naomi's ears with plugs. "Um. What's up?"

"Just wanted to say - the way you backed off of Julia. Was a good idea. More likely to screw up if she's too focused on it."

"…yeah. Sorry. I still don't like her."

"Hey, so long as you're not getting in to arguments - s'fine by me. Just need to be able to work together for the rest of the year."

"I guess. I can do that, but… just feels like I need to stay angry at her, too. Just in case."

"Just in case?" Kate smirked.

"Yeah. In case she does something again, and…" Serena leaned back. Before she entered Urasaria, she had been in the types of online communities where one line out of place had everyone jumping on you, and she'd had a hard time peeling back the hardened callus of a woman she was before. "… I don't know."

"No, I get what you mean. Still, though. If she does something again, all three of us will be yelling at her."

The two laughed.

"Guess that helps."

"Tabloids can put all four of us on the cover, if we ever get out."

"Yeah." Serena's mouth went grim. "…ugh. Trying to think of what we can do…"

"…well. Might just have to tie Julia's hands behind her back."

"That might work, yeah." laughed Serena. "Ugh. This is like a puzzle."

"Pretty hard puzzle." Kate laughed. "I want to say it's like training - but, well. Never done anything like this."

"Yeah. It isn't like training, yeah. Even if…"

Kate could tell Serena was about to worry whether the revives were limited, so she asked; " - what type of training did, uh, Mia put you through? Everyone's got their own style for mentoring."

"Um, the main stuff I remember is… when I first got Blackburn, Mia made me fill up a bottle of sunscreen or get sunburnt." Serena smiled, thinking she might like the beach now.

"Pretty good incentive." Kate laughed. "Most distinctive one I remember from Samuel was, uh - back on that first exam. Mid-year exam." (Serena nodded.) "Samuel released - I mean, you probably saw it -"

" - I was in the infirmary most of the day -" laughed Serena -

" - well, he released about - I think it was fifty pigs all at once, and told me to bring back fifty-one - and well, me, you know - just kept swinging around with Split trying to find that last one. Almost thought someone else took it."

"What'd you do?"

"Found out there was a farm near Urasaria. So, I went out there and -" - Kate's head shook as Serena laughed - " - no, no. He told me at midnight there were only fifty."

"Jeez." laughed Serena. "I would have believed it, but -"

"- I know." laughed Kate.

◆◆◆

The four set out the next day, and as the enormous tendril shot towards Julia again -

- she swept back as Naomi stepped up -

- and Avalanche's arm ripped it clear out of the ground; another punch shattered it in to a hundred pieces -

- and four sighed relief as the other tendrils wilted, still standing carefully. They didn't speak until another few minutes passed.

"…alright." muttered Kate, hairhands retreating back to her ponytail. "Just gotta -"

- a wall burst up ahead, and in the next instant -

- a dozen saws burst out -

- and blue light filled the hall as soon as it touched them.

"...here we go again." mumbled Julia -

" - you have to wait every time?!" groaned Serena, relevantly -

" - this really sucks." groaned Naomi.

◆◆◆

The following day, the four were floating in midair, floor having disappeared below -

" - how the fuck do you-?" groaned Kate, and in the next instant -

- the four started to fall -

- and blue light filled the hall as they stood again.

◆◆◆

Streams of insects filled Serena's ears -

- and blue light filled the hall -

- and Serena stifled her tears as she marked her tenth revive. She had tried not to think about death since her first few months at Urasaria, particularly her first week in the infirmary, and seeing Kate & Naomi die repeatedly was making this her least favorite Revenant.

"Nice." chimed Naomi.

"C-Coolio."

"I'll - I'll test to see if the limit is twenty." said Julia, mocking bashing Manufacture in to her own skull, and Serena laughed.

◆◆◆

"Alright." muttered Kate, head starting to swell under zero gravity, Split's hair forming a knife -

- and slitting Serena's throat in a geyser of blood. Blue light filed the hall -

- and the four could barely stifle their laughter as they stood again -

" - KATE!" shouted Serena -

" - I'm - I'm sorry -" - she cackled - " - I thought you were - the fucking gravity -"

" - YOU FUCKING BITCH!" laughed Serena, and Kate's own rose -

" - it's these fucking - I thought you were upsidedown -"

" - check it before you -"

" - maybe - maybe, um, Blackburn should -" - said Julia -

" - come - come here!" laughed Serena, fog pointing to Kate - " - next time, I'm gonna get you -"

" - god." laughed the hairwoman.

◆◆◆

- and as the lightning struck Julia heart-on -

- blue light filled the hall -

" - wait, you're not - aren't you immune to electricity?" said Naomi -

" - not always." winced Julia, checking her hair, still standing on end. "This is - this is like when my mom did my hair in elementary school. She, she won a lifetime supply of hair gel and they sent her one tub."

◆◆◆

Serena marked her death, then passed the marker to Naomi, who passed it to Kate, to Julia.

"Never died to a heart before." muttered Julia.

◆◆◆

The four stood ahead of the wall. A dozen saws burst out -

- and four swept back as Naomi stomped for a wall of asphalt ahead; Serena started filling it with fog as the farther half of the barrier broke down, Julia at her side and holding Manufacture's rod to the center of the wall, and in the next instant -

- hundreds of vines burst out of the floor; green mist filled the hall as they each took a deep breath -

- and Kate's hair filled their ears & nostrils as Naomi snapped her stone fingers, spikes slicing the vines off from their roots underground, and as the plants started to split open -

- streams of fog filled them with spiked magnets; Julia threw one Manufacture rod down the hall, electrical arc attracting every last metal & spiked bit towards it, and as the lightning bolt shot from further down the hall -

- Manufacture's first rod absorbed it just in time for the floor to open up and for the four to start floating in zero gravity, bottomless void below as the four started spinning in midair; once they hit upsidedown, their blood started to pool to their legs as their heads started to ache -

- but one Split knife slit everyone but Julia's legs; the poet set her rod to her skull, ensuring her blood was still running there as streams of fog filled the other's ears, steady dripping of blood out of their limbs but ensuring it couldn't clot or clog, and in the next instant -

- hundreds of spikes burst out of the wall -

- but were blocked by a stone dome that formed around the four as they huddled tight together, still floating, but in the next instant -

- her stone fingers snapped; her stone dome collapsed as the floor reappeared below -

- and renewed gravity slammed Kate so hard in to the ground her legs snapped on impact; she stifled her shriek as the floor disappeared again -

- but quick Split strands kept the four tied close together as she yanked them back up to the ceiling, one strand searching on the ceiling like it was going through a maze; below, insects started crawling out of the bottomless void and flooded all over the walls; ahead, Julia saw the spiked magnets start to fall -

- but she threw her second rod first; it sparked and brought the magnets back to itself, and her first rod sparked & brought back its sister to Julia, spiked magnets still safe on her metallic batons -

- and above, Kate's hair found the miniscule pinhole in the roof; one strand traveled up it as streams of fog filled the insects with lead -

- and the floor reformed just after the insects fell back in to the featureless pit & away; Serena repaired Kate's broken legs as they hit the ground, and the four jumped -

- just as a hundred spikes burst out of the ceiling; a hundred spikes burst out of the floor; one still-beating & still-floating heart burst out of the ground a hundred feet ahead -

- Julia's first Manufacture rod blasted her second away, spiked magnets still on the second; she threw her first forward -

- and it blasted its sister further -

- and it blasted their spiked magnet cousins right through the heart in a shower of gore just as the spikes disappeared and the four fell back to the ground, shooting up to their feet again as they heard a rumbling begin from the prodigal wall behind -

- the wall opened up to the untrimmed ground outside, forest beyond -

- and no danger came as the wall peeled fully back, four squinting from the square of light filling the hall.

"...c-careful." said Kate. Serena nodded.

"Stay - stay still."

"It - it looks like it's outside, right?" winced Naomi, vision readjusting, walls stopped in silence.

"…looks like it. Might be the backyard." said Kate. "Keep still. Be ready for anything."

The four waited for five minutes and spoke after six.

"…five trials. Right?" said Kate, and the three nodded. "…could be the, uh, end of it.

"I'll - I'll go outside first." nodded Julia, and three stood tense as she went outside. She turned back, and in the next instant -

- nothing happened, and she nodded as Manufacture's rods formed -

- just in time for nothing to happen; with no time to waste, the three rushed out, and as they turned their eyes back -

- they saw they were at the base & back of the mansion still standing on its hill, spire at the top piercing through the white sun.

"Is that it? Naomi winced, seeing the walls close behind.

"I-I hope so." said Julia, and the four backed away slowly. After a minute, Kate glanced back in to the forest behind.

"...ready to swing?" she said, and the three winced as they huddled at her back. Split grabbed them tight, and the branches cut Kate's cheeks as they swung through the forest, eventually landing on the cliffside road that led back to the city.

"…f-fuck." groaned Naomi as she stood, Kate's bumpy ride worse than Marisa's.

"…think it's over." sighed Kate, and eight eyes turned to the house they couldn't see. "When we get back, think we should ask the government to quarantine that place."

"…yep." Serena sighed relieved. "I'll tell Matoi when we get back."

"Sounds good." said Naomi.

"Back to civilization." said Julia, and everyone but Serena laughed.

"Yep. Only got a few wounds for it, too." said Kate, gesturing to Serena. Streams of fog started to fill her cuts.

"Yeah." said Naomi. "Are we even... are we even in the same place?"

"Only one way to find out. Still - should split up in to pairs, just in case."

"Yeah." said Serena. "You two can go ahead."

"Sure." Naomi smiled, and the two went off. Kate crouched against the side of the road, and Serena sat beside as she checked her phone, fog still filling Kate's cuts.

"…ugh. Feel like I could just fall asleep right here." mumbled Serena.

"…yeah. Wouldn't mind taking a few days off when we get back."

"Sounds good."

"Yeah. Got class to catch up on, too, and… you said you got three-star recently, right?"

"A few weeks ago, yeah."

"…yeah."

Kate paused. She still only had Samuel & Matoi for friends at Urasaria, initially believing that she needed to remain professional. "... you and me. First second-years to get three-star. That's good. Real good. Don't, uh… Anyone ever tries to get to you on something - don't let it. You're good at what you do."

"I... um, thanks." laughed Serena, fog finishing up. "Done."

Kate looked at Serena as the two stood. Her eyes seemed to imbue the previous silhouette of Serena's face on to her's now, and her voice had little of its previous pitch. Her father would've thought she was a freak. She thought of her lesbian friend Lanara back in Lanacca, who had disappeared after Christmas, and of Jake in their class now.

They met up with Julia & Naomi in a city diner. Julia was showing her poetry to Naomi, and though Naomi knew Serena wouldn't have liked it, if all of her friends liked all of her friends, she wouldn't have been any further than in September. Even if she didn't know it, eighteen years of foundation were contained in her head, and before they slept later that night, Naomi sat upright in bed.

She was thinking she might bring out that old tracksuit again, and she wanted to shop a bit when they went to the next city. After all, she was needing to run a lot for her job now, and she would definitely need it next semester for mentorship. She might even try out a jacket like Serena's, but not one as spiked.

[END OF ARC: EVERYONE'S A CRITIC]

◆◆◆

The following day, Mia received a call from Aimee, and she could never resist a chance to see her.

"Did I already achieve Existential?" said Mia as she stepped in. Even from across the room, she felt Aimee tense.

"Nah, I just." Aimee laughed. "Just. Wanted to, to call you in for something important."

"What is it?" said Mia, sitting down beside.

Aimee placed a small box on her lap. Mia took a short and cut breath seeing it.

"… um. O-Open it." laughed Aimee. "Um. Unless you really wanna see me get on - y-y'know."

Inside, two rings.

"I - yes -" - Mia threw her arms around Aimee - " - yes, yes!"

"G-Good. It would've been really awkward o-otherwise. Um - s-so - this summer?"

"I - yes, yes. I-I love you so much."

"I love you s-so much, too."