Once more, I donned Destiny’s black dress with its white apron and lacy frills. Ravyn had stripped Tristan of his jeans and t-shirt in exchange for Lynn’s outfit, leaving her in her underthings and him in a French maid uniform. They were positioned on the floor side by side, placing their hands on top of one another.

“That was quick.” I’d expected Ravyn to need my help in the clothes swap, but she apparently had this down to a science.

Ravyn’s devilish smile looked strange on Lara’s face. “Stripping people is an art.”

I blushed, and she snickered, unrolling the [Dispel] scroll.

“Where did you find Lynn?” I wondered aloud once Ravyn had disenchanted Tristan.

“In fucking time out,” Ravyn spat in Lara’s sing-song voice. “They had her in her own room at the other end of the hall. Like a cell.”

The mention of this “cell” twisted knots into my stomach and wrenched at my heart. I shifted uncomfortably and chewed my lip. My eyes dropped to the floor, and I toyed at the hem of my dress. Chills prickled the hairs on the back of my neck and my forearms, and my tail tucked between my knees. N-no. Not there. Please! I’ll behave! One look at Ravyn told me she was experiencing a similar sensation.

“Celestia’s one fucked up bitch,” Ravyn murmured, slapping the scroll against Tristan’s chest.

“Yeah,” I murmured.

Ensuring that there was no contact between herself and Tristan or Lynn, Ravyn shook her head and called, “[Impersonate Soul]!”

Tristan’s body reconfigured itself into Lynn’s soft curves, his hair twisting into the twin braids of her violet hair. Soon, Lynn’s exact copy slumbered beside her.

“That’s where the window is, though,” Ravyn said. “That room.”

I shivered, despite having no personal memory of this cell. Hot, familiar tears threatened behind my eyes, and I visibly shook. “Ravyn, I-I don’t know if I can go in there.”

“Hm, Destiny must have spent time in there,” Ravyn hummed, grabbing Tristan underneath the arms while clicking her tongue. “Fine. Leave the school and turn left. Around the side, you’ll see a shop with a green awning and a hedge with blue flowers. Stay right behind the hedge, but stand so I can see you. Understand?”

“Y-yes.”

“Repeat it.” Ravyn dragged Tristan toward the door, and I followed.

“U-um. Leave the building, turn left. Go around until I see blue flowers and a green awning. Stop and just stand there,” I replied demurely, bowing my head. Goddammit, can I have my body back, please?

My own thoughts were answered by a snappy, cruel voice. Why? Because you’re not good enough? You’re right, you know. You’re not good enough for anything. Or anyone. Go back to Leche, you ugly mutt.

“Matt!” Ravyn snarled. “Go.”

“R-right!” I shook my head and skipped away from the room.

Ravyn had a far better handle on the map of this damn school. Once I reached the fork of the hallway and stared down my options, I realized I hadn’t paid enough attention to the directions we’d walked. However, Destiny’s legs took hold. I wandered through the hallways with an acute muscle memory that suggested my feet had walked them dozens of times before. I passed the same rooms we’d seen on our way to Tristan’s room, the classes still well in session. Two other catgirls crossed my path, but both went out of their way to snub my presence.

Because you’re worth nothing.

No! This is to my advantage! We couldn’t have picked a better pair to infiltrate the school—no one wanted anything to do with us. Keep walking, Destiny. Don’t stop. We were outcasts; not a word would be murmured to the Madame because it would mean they were close enough to see us. This was high school bullshit all over again. I couldn’t help but laugh under my breath.

Before I realized it, I was at the grand double doors of the entrance. Almost there. I skipped down the steps and walked left, rounding the school until I found myself traversing a path of hedges with blue flowers. I followed it until I reached a line of storefronts, the closest of which had a green awning. I positioned myself behind the hedge but in front of the store, hoping that at least my upper body was visible to Ravyn’s spell.

I wasn’t really sure what to do to look like I was occupying myself outside of the Venicia School of Etiquette, so I tried to take an interest in the blue blooms of the hedge. They smelled fragrant and sweet, more potent than any rose I’d ever sniffed. Lule misri. I could only assume it was the name of the bloom; it emerged like a fond memory.

“Destiny? Hi!” An unfamiliar voice chimed from my right. “It has been quite some time since you’ve come this way!”

“Ah, hello!” I looked toward the greeting, met with the cheerful face of a tall, golden-haired girl with coral eyes. “U-um–” I didn’t have her name. What the hell was I supposed to call her? What could I say? “How have you been?”

“Very well, thank you! I find myself often thinking of you and Lara. Dock work must be perilously slow.” She bowed low, then straightened. “You are quite missed at the school, though today is my day of rest, as usual.” She smiled and rolled her eyes as if I knew exactly what that meant. “If only we could study each day of the week.”

“O-of course. If only we were so lucky,” I murmured, praying that Ravyn wouldn’t cast on me now. How do I tell her I’m busy? Busy doing what? “What are you doing on your day of rest?” I asked, fishing for literally anything.

“Well, I thought I’d—” she began, then vanished. The limp body of Tristan-now-Lynn appeared in its place, slouching to the ground in a heap of arms and legs.

“Ah!” I squeaked. Holy fuck. Stop squeaking, Kelmer. I knelt and lifted Lynn’s arm, throwing it around my shoulders.

I hoped Ravyn had an explanation ready for the newcomer. Though, honestly, she’d probably glean little more than a maniacal giggle out of her. I thought I heard the name ‘Annabelle’ shrieked at an unnerving decibel but convinced myself it was nothing more than my imagination as I started toward the road. I had to get Tristan-now-Lynn to the dock as soon as possible.

As it was when we approached the school, the streets of Venicia were bare. I kept expecting alarms to be sounded or Celestia to jump my ass at any second. But the only sounds were my unsure footsteps coupled with the limp drags of Tristan’s feet beside me. The heels of Lynn’s outfit caught on the path, and I tried to fix them while bearing the slack weight of a sleeping body. But after the second time they caught, I decided they weren’t worth it and pressed on.

Eventually, a breathless Ravyn caught up to my side and took Lynn’s other arm.

“Not all according to keikaku, eh?” I asked as we quickened the pace.

“According to what?” Ravyn demanded.

Ah, there’s still more to learn after all. “Nothing. Nevermind. How did you get her off of our tails?”

“Annabelle seems to have quite the reputation in the school,” Ravyn sneered. “And she’ll be locked in that cell for at least another twenty minutes.”

I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me. “Is that all the time we have left?”

“Just about. Don’t panic. We can make it,” Ravyn huffed in an uncharacteristic display of encouragement. “Just keep going.”

I matched my steps to Ravyn’s, and we marched around the bends of the city, through the marketplace, past Felsi’s ice cream shop, the cooking store, Notch’s tailor services. No one left the comfort of their homes or storefronts to question the twins carting an unconscious Lynn toward the docks. It seemed so easy. I could make out Portia’s boat just in the distance—we were almost there.

“H-hey! Wait!” Cannoli’s desperate squeal sounded from behind us. I looked over my shoulder to see her and Keke with shouldered bags, full-ready in their [Combat Mode] as they jogged to catch up with us.

“Oh shit,” Ravyn breathed.

“Lynn?” a familiar, alarmed cry stopped me in my tracks.

I turned and froze.

“Lynn? Lynn! Answer me!” Ara, pale-faced and slack-jawed, was suddenly between us, holding the face of the one she thought was her sister. “Please!”

Shit.