October was a long month for Cary. It was the longest time she had ever gone without talking to David. Even when she was assigned four readings of the bible, the worst punishment she ever got, she had finished it in two weeks. It was almost four weeks after their fight when the Halloween Feast came around.

There were posters about it all over the place, hanging in the mead hall, in the school buildings' corridors, even hovering in the air along the paths. A huge banner for it stretched across the fountain, but the ink had started running on that just an hour after it was hung. From everything that Cary had seen and heard about it, the feast was the event of the semester.

"I don't know why this feast is so important," Cary said. "I mean, we're not witches, right?" She glared over at Siobhan, as the two of them were heading for the mead hall.

The night had already fallen, but there were so many torches hovering around the grounds that it was hard to tell. It seemed almost as light as a cloudy day, with the strange sparks flying all over the place and raining down on them like confetti. Cary reached out her hand towards some of the sparks, expecting them to burn her. But the sparks just flowed right through her hands, unimpeded by it, and flowing down to the ground at her feet.

Siobhan was wearing another dress, this one nicer than the one she wore to the dance at Merlin Prep. Cary had opted for a nice dress shirt, but she always hated the way that boy's dress clothes fit on her. She chafed at the stiff fabric and pulled at the collar. The dress clothes had always been the only thing she hated about going to church, until her grandparents finally opted for casual attire. But when they had packed her suitcase, she still ended up with two dress shirts in there. Clearly, they thought that she would be having more events that she'd want to dress up for.

"Yes," Siobhan said, snickering a little at the question. "We're not witches. None of us are witches, Cary. But there are other reasons to like Halloween. It has always been when the veil between the realms is the thinnest, long before they started handing out candy. All magical beings, witches, sorcerers, wizards, and wiccans alike, celebrate the occasion because of that. For very different reasons, though."

"It was at Halloween that people first discovered the magical realm," Sam said, drawing Cary's attention to the fact that he was walking right behind them, easily listening in on their conversation.

Cary turned around to look at Sam, and her stomach plummeted when she saw that David was with him. David's eyes were trained on the ground in front of him, clearly trying to avoid making eye contact with Cary. Avoiding even looking at her. He was wearing a proper suit, which actually made him look almost handsome. But his hair was starting to run long, and hadn't seen a brush in days, which thoroughly destroyed the look.

"Hey, guys," Siobhan said. She looked between David, Sam, and Cary for a moment, with a look on her face somewhere between a smile and a scream. "How-how are things?"

With the animosity between David and Cary, Sam had been left out more and more. Siobhan and Sam always seemed like better friends than that, but with him staying by David's side, it was almost like he was choosing David over Cary. That just didn't sit well with Cary, or Siobhan for that matter. It was no secret in the group what caused the growing schism.

"Things are good," Sam said. He, too, was looking between David and Cary, obviously thinking that the divide between them would soon mend. Cary wasn't so sure. And with the silence from David only growing, it seemed less likely by the day.

David kept looking at his feet as the four of them headed across the square. He seemed almost nervous about something, perhaps the feast to come. Or maybe he was just nervous about being that close to Cary again. David had been getting up earlier in the day, so he had always been cleared out of the room long before Cary got up in the morning. He was also staying out later and later, long after Cary had gone to bed. She was starting to think that he was avoiding her, but Reggie had been just as absent from the breakfast table those mornings. That meant that they were more likely practicing for the runners up tournament, or the next season. Despite being mad at him, Cary knew David well enough to know he wouldn't be taking the recent defeat lightly.

"So," Siobhan said, but the word hung there in the air between them, with nothing else said.

"Yup," Sam said.

They were just coming up to the mead hall, so neither group said anything else before heading inside. The hall seemed like it had grown since lunch, with the tables wider and more spread out through the area. Instead of the serving stations against the far wall, there were several platters running along the center of the tables. As they headed into the room, making their way over towards the fifth grade table, Cary eyed those platters, trying to see what they were serving. But all the platters and serving dishes were empty and clean, shining in the torchlight that was streaming down from above.

Decorations filled the space overhead, with balloons, streamers, and even birds flying around. Confetti rained down from several baskets, which didn't seem likely to run out anytime soon. But the confetti didn't make it down past people's heads, leaving their plates clean for the food to come. It all just disappeared, much like the sparks from the torches. All the decorations were in the oranges and blacks of the day, and the reds and whites of the school, making the whole thing seem magical in a way that was hard for Cary to describe. As they headed towards their usual table, she reached her hands over her head, trying to touch the confetti. But it receded from her touch, disappearing sooner than it would have otherwise.

"Freak," Greg called out.

Cary recoiled from the word, from the bully. When Cary looked towards Greg, she wasn't surprised to see a large, Cheshire cat smile on his face. Ever since David had used the word, had called her that, the word had more of an impact on her than ever before. Even when it wasn't directed at her, she would recoil away from it, curling in on herself and putting up her walls. Thankfully, she only had two classes with her old bully. Moreover, he seemed to be busy most afternoons, leaving Cary in something of a bully free bubble.

Greg hadn't bothered dressing up for the feast. He was just wearing his usual jeans, t-shirt, and coat. He was sitting sideways on the bench, as if just waiting for the food to arrive so he could head out. But Cary knew that he was just waiting for her to arrive so he could try to trip her. As Siobhan and Cary passed by the bully, Cary made a point to take a wider path past him, which was easier with the sixth graders' table further away. Cary tried to keep Siobhan between her and Greg, using the taller girl to shield her from his view. In the end, Greg just laughed at her as they passed.

"Where's Nelgomi?" Cary asked, as they came up to their spot. She noticed that Sam and David had disappeared behind them at some point, but she wasn't sure where they had ended up. That worked out just fine for her as she sat down in her usual seat.

"I thought you were supposed to bring him," Siobhan said. "He's your roommate."

"He wasn't in the room when I left. I thought he would have been here already."

Siobhan just shrugged as she sat down next to her. The platters were all still empty, and the other fifth graders were starting to grumble about the late meal. Dinner should have started two hours earlier, and if it didn't start soon, many in attendance would already be up past their bedtimes. The general conversations that always stemmed up in the mead hall was easily twice as loud as usual, though Cary wasn't sure if that was from more people being in there at that time or if everyone was just talking louder than usual.

Cary started looking around at the crowd nervously, searching for hints at when the feast would start. That was when she noticed that the teacher's table and balcony wasn't against the far side of the room like normal. Instead, they had replaced the serving stations against the far wall. Moreover, instead of the sparsely populated table, with just one or two teachers eating there as they watched over the kids, everyone seemed to be in attendance. There were dozens of teachers filling the table to overflowing, making the balcony just as crowded as the rest of the tables in the place. Sitting dead center in the table, just visible around the sixth graders next to them, was Headmaster Sparks, who Cary hadn't seen since the first night that she arrived. Cary easily recognized a few of the teachers, the ones that she had classes with, but most of them up there were complete strangers to her. The staff seemed a lot more populated than she was expecting.

"Good evening, everyone," Headmaster Sparks called out, seemingly out of nowhere. His voice boomed around the room, easily drowning out the noises from the crowd. As he stood up at his place in the center of the table, the conversation started to dim around the room. The headmaster waited until he had silence before continuing. "Welcome to this year's Halloween Feast. As you all know, this is the first celebration of the new year where everyone is in attendance. To the fifth graders arriving late this year, welcome to Thorbjorg Prep School. I've already met with each and every one of you, but unfortunately my day to day keeps me from getting to know you as well as I would have liked."

Cary felt like Headmaster Sparks was looking directly at her when he said that, but his eyes started to slowly wander across the room, stopping at several places as it went. She tried to follow his eyes, to see who he was looking at, but her view was completely blocked by the next table over. When Sparks continued, she looked back at him, surprised to see his earlier smile gone.

"Now, it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway; no one here is allowed out of the magical realm tonight. It is already dangerous for our fifth graders to head to their home realms, but it is doubly so for all students tonight. As you know, magic is drawn to the recently formed sorcerers, even through the barrier between realms. This can rupture the fabric of that barrier if the pull is strong enough, like with the fifth graders, or when the barrier is thinnest, like tonight. If the barrier is ever destroyed, the realms will merge, destroying both. This would be bad."

Despite the grim tone of his voice and the topic at hand, several of the students in the upperclassmen tables laughed at the comment. Sparks didn't seem to take offense at the laughter. For Cary, though, this was the first time that it was explained in a way that she understood. It was the last question that still nagged at her, and knowing the danger involved explained a lot.

"We've already stopped five students from sneaking off campus tonight," Sparks said. "The school staff will be doubling our overnight patrols, making sure that none manage to slip through the school barrier. Yes, we're well aware of the tradition of trying to sneak off of campus; many of the teachers here had participated in such rituals in our own day. I cannot stress enough how dangerous that is, for all of us.

"Next, we have some announcements," Sparks said, which caused several groans of annoyance to flit about the room. "In the coming weeks, we will be having a lockdown drill. For those coming from the human realm, this isn't anything different from your own active shooter or tornado drills. It's also similar to the dwarven realm's avalanche drills, and cave-in drills from both the dwarven and goblin realms. It's nothing to worry about. Listen to your teachers when it starts. And..." He paused, looking out around the room, his smile spreading wider and wider. "Now let the feast begin." He raised his hands to either side, spreading them far wider than his smile.

A loud thump hit the table behind Cary, and she jumped in her seat as she turned back to look at the table. Suddenly, all the platters were filled with food. Turkey, ham, stuffed pumpkins, mashed potatoes, and corn were among the dishes that Cary recognized. But there were far more that she didn't, including something that looked like a grilled mushroom that was bigger than the turkey. At first, Cary thought that it might be a fairy mushroom, but instead of the red and white coloring of the fairy mushrooms in the forest, it was yellow and black. And it glowed, even in the bright lights of the room. Given that it was placed directly in front of Nelgomi's usual seat, and not repeated on any of the other platters that Cary could see, she assumed it was something from the dwarven realm. Something that only Nelgomi would have wanted to eat. And yet, a few of the other fifth graders were taking a slice of it, trying the strange food.

With the evening already getting late, Cary just grabbed a slice of the turkey, some of the stuffing from the pumpkin, and a scoop of potatoes. Her cup was already filled with Coke, her usual go-to drink. With people feverishly eating all around her, Nelgomi's empty plate, empty cup, and empty seat were that much more noticeable. And yet, other than Cary and Siobhan, no one seemed to notice it.

Once Cary finished eating, she went back to looking around the room. Looking at all the decorations everywhere. Looking at her classmates to see if any of them were heading out yet. Looking for Nelgomi. As the night dragged on, there was still no sign of the dwarf. However, it soon became clear that most of the younger students were heading off as soon as they were done eating.

"Wanna head back?" Cary asked Siobhan, pointing towards the door. Siobhan's own plate was almost cleaned off, but she was still busy chewing. Cary waited patiently for her to finish her latest bite.

"In a minute," Siobhan said. "Hopefully they'll have this earlier next year, when it's on Saturday, so we can enjoy it longer. I feel like we only just got here."

"They could have canceled classes for the day," one of their neighbors on the table said, nodding his agreement. He was one of the ones that tried the strange mushroom dish, but he didn't seem any worse off for it. Cary had seen him often enough over the past few weeks, but she still hadn't caught his name.

"It's practically a national holiday," said one of his friends.

"Does the magical realm even have holidays?" the first boy asked. "Or nations?" The two of them started up a conversation on the topic, but they dropped their voices, purposefully excluding Cary and Siobhan in it.

"Yeah, let's go," Siobhan said, before downing the rest of her drink. It was a weird, yellow colored drink that smelled like bananas. Or maybe it just smelled like yellow.

As the two of them headed off for the night, several other students joined in. David and Sam were long gone, as was Greg, which only made Cary more nervous. Her eyes flicked around the room, searching for the three of them, in the off chance that they were all conspiring against her. She wouldn't put it past Greg to plan something, but whatever it was, he was too dumb to pull it off properly.

When Cary and Siobhan emerged from the mead hall, Cary spotted Nelgomi standing next to the fountain. There were several students walking past him, and he seemed to flinch every time one of them got close. But he wasn't watching the students. Instead, his eyes were trained on the fountain, as if searching for some answer in the waters flowing down around him. Answers that didn't seem to be coming, as he continued to stare into the depths.

"Hey, Nelgomi," Cary called out, as they came up next to him. Nelgomi practically jumped out of his skin, turning around to face her. His eyes flicked all around him, as if searching for some predator. When he saw that it was only Cary and Siobhan coming up next to him, he settled down just a little bit before turning towards them. "Where have you been? You missed the feast."

"Oh, um," Nelgomi said, as he slowly got ahold of himself. "None of your business," he shouted, before turning back towards the fountain.

"Fine," Cary muttered. "Sorry." She kept her eyes locked on him as the two of them continued on towards the dorms in the distance.