Whether or not Morgan remained alive within that cocoon was not a question Lin was ready to ask.

She rushed over to the centrepiece. Upon her approach, she realized that it not only hung from the ceiling, but was also strung to the floor as well by abnormally thick strands of webbing.

“Morgan!” she called, hoping for any sort of response. “Wake up, Morgan!” She climbed up to the pod and started knocking on its hard shell. “What are you doing… MORGAN?!”

Lin fell forward, panting.

“Hey… you… thing… Avalon! What is this?!”

She looked up, only to feel her stomach drop at the realization that the six-legged ferret was no longer with her. In fact, aside from the pods dangling from the ceiling above and Morgan wrapped up below her, there was no one else to be seen.

“Hey… this isn’t funny… Hey!”

With a hard thud she dropped back down onto the cafeteria floor. The exit was right behind her and every bit of reason in her head screamed at her to high tail it out of there. But she couldn’t leave without Morgan, especially in the current situation.

From the corner of her eye she noticed a flicker of light. Staring down at her hands, she realized that, in her panic, she had completely forgotten about the gift Avalon left her.

The trail of glowing gold swirled around her and with it an idea came to mind. Climbing back up to the top of Morgan’s cocoon, she thought back to when Avalon split the dome back outside with the same light. As if following her thought, the light around her focused brightly around her hands.

“Open.”

Like ice the web quickly melted away from her hand, and before long with nothing left to hold her, Morgan’s unconscious form fell forward.

“Woah there!” With one arm she caught the girl while the other held onto the strand from the ceiling. She grimaced at the extra weight, and with a heave and a ho she carefully brought the two of them back to the ground.

Now that she had some time to breathe, she saw to her relief that the blonde was still breathing. At least she was alive. Despite the tense air around them, the sleeping girl seemed unbelievably peaceful.

“Geez…”

Lin inwardly sighed, and lifted Morgan onto her back with care.

“When we get out of here, you and I are going to have a long talk.”

“Oh that won’t do.”

Lin froze. The silhouette of a tall woman stood in front of her, blocking the exit.

“I leave for only a moment, and somehow some little flies have found their way into my nest.”

As the woman stepped out of the shadows, Lin saw now that she was actually quite beautiful. She wore a long black dress that fell to the floor, accompanied by matching opera gloves that wrapped elegantly around her thin arms. Lin assumed her dark hair would reach down to her waist if it wasn’t tied back in a neat bun behind her head. What caught her attention most of all, however, was her eyes; they flickered dimly like a dying flame in the darkness, emanating an unnatural purple light.

“Must I truly explain what’s about to happen?”