A few isolated lights only just illuminated the scruffy pile of paper and opened books coating a table laid between two rows of orderly bookshelves. Layered above this was wiry golden hair which sprouted lawlessly from Silence, who was currently napping inside her school's library.

Three more tables were in eyeshot of hers, but all were abandoned and desolate.

As the Nth minute passed without disturbance, the sleeping girl arose, knocking half the contents of the pile with her subsequent arm stretches. Her disorderly hair formed a natural bang over her entire face, which she had to wipe away to pick up the things she dropped.

Silence gave out a lengthy yawn whilst looking around, her thin, bloodshot eyes surveying the area and detecting no life. She then noticed just how much paper was out before her, and after ordering through them, she finished the two unfinished sheets and plopped them in her normal grey messenger bag.

Giving off another great yawn, she stood up sloppily, barely keeping her balance as she put the sheets in her bag and left, one hand fiddling with her reappearing bangs as she did so.

Next, Silence dragged her feet haphazardly towards the main exit, which was somehow open regardless of how dark it was outside, altering her body to put her weight on her stable leg after every step.

Confused towards the missing sun, she promptly tilted her head, shrugged and continued to flawlessly navigate her school as fast as she could be bothered to drag her legs. Assuming there was no one around anyway, she put up a barrier around her and put on her speaker, which ironically started playing dramatic piano music.

Whilst taking a shortcut through the medical block, Silence found out that the school's doors were still unlocked for whatever reason. Finding the lack of security odd, she once again shrugged and stumbled through the many required pathways, that is, until she finally thumped into a locked door and had to rethink her course.

After leaving the medical block through an open exit, Silence finally bumped into someone, however, this person seemed odd to her.

Whether it was the dark red paint mimicking blood around their mouth, the long black hair that competed with her own in terms of disorder or the almost inhuman angle at which their head rested on their shoulder, something didn't quite add up in Silence's mind. She proceeded to wipe away the hair in front of her eyes and dully met theirs.

Unlike Silence's unchanging expression, the other person's eyes widened and a small shriek escaped their 'bloodied' mouth.

Visible shaken, they asked Silence in a soft voice, "W-who are y-you?"

Slowly miming her reply, she eventually realised her one-way barrier was still in effect so took it out, suddenly unleashing her music, which was currently moonlight sonata, to them.

This seemed like the final straw, since the other person darted away as quickly as their legs could carry them in the opposite direction before she could even repeat what she had previously mimed.

Now even more confused, Silence stopped to peer through the nearest window with its light on. Focusing her vision, she redirected her eyes from a handful of people inside who seemed to be receiving some piece of paper to a clock prominently displayed on the wall.

Upon seeing the displayed time of five twenty-six, Silence's confusion only grew. In an attempt to cure it, she froze with her head resting on her shoulder.

'Isn't this way too dark for this time, even if it's autumn...' she thought, expressing the reason for her confusion. "Oh well," she told herself, redoing her one-way barrier and continuing her wobbling stroll past the combat and language blocks to finally reach the main gate.

To her surprise, a crowd of people were bunched there. Groups of people in pointed hats and robes channeling their magic through stances and continuous chants were dotted around, other groups of mainly children dressed in more casual clothes formed a small queue leading to the doors of the combat block, with other parties of children making another queue towards a pair of adults with pieces of paper similar to those she had seen before.

When Silence bumbled to them, one of the female adults, who Silence recognised as the librarian, walked towards her and asked, "Wh-... Silence? Where's your group?"

This time turning off her music and barrier preemptively, she replied "Group? What's going on here?"

Her volume increased with her confusions as she then asked, "Wait, you don't even have the sheet... What are you doing here?"

In the middle of yawning, Silence answered, "Leaving. I've apparently been asleep in your library since lunch..."

Thinking about it for a while, the librarian's stance snapped from confused to apologetic as she softened her tone and explained, "Ah... Sorry, with organising this event, I must have forgotten to wake you up. Did I also forget to lock the library?"

Silence succinctly remarked, "And to turn off the lights."

Shrugging it off with a laugh, the librarian responded, "That explains why Steph suddenly ran over here screaming... Well, do you wish to join the event?"

"Eve... Oh yeah, it's Halloween. I'd rather get some sleep thanks."

Noting how Visibly Silence was, she rebutted, "You need more?" Then gave up on the girl who tilted her head with a near dead expression, saying, "Have a good half-term then. I hope for your sake that you didn't blunder your tests."

-

Considering the last part as unnecessary, Silence stumbled off. Passing through the gate and squinting her already tiny eyes due to the sunset that met her.

Realising the night before was probably an illusion, she eventually regained her ability to see and negotiated the streets and now audible traffic, finally getting back to her dorm.

Unrushed, she showed her id to the security by the door and hobbled up the numerous staircases and winding corridors before finally reaching her room.

"Where were you? You missed last period and disappeared," Becky, who was standing in her sparkling clean room, asked with worried facial expressions and stance that made the puppet seem so alive that Silence actually shivered slightly.

Explaining what happened, the maid became relieved, applauding Silence for finishing her homework so quickly, soon after scolding her for falling asleep at the school and not even phoning her to state why she was absent.

Just before leaving, Becky stated, "By the way, I'm busy tomorrow, so you'll have to go shopping yourself if you want to."

Seeing Silence's nod, the puppet maid left the room, allowing Silence to get even more sleep without getting out of her uniform.