It was not simple factual reporting which led Darius' schoolmates to stab the very concept of schooling in the back. In truth, they delighted in their classes and their time together. However, Cornelia had asked them all- they and their parents -at a very, very bad time. While Cindy was busy meeting and growing fond of Malachi Brandonkin, something of a civil war had begun in Tolemac Secondary between the allied classes of 2-A and 5-B on one side and the allied classes 1-A and 6-C on the other. And while there remains detailed testimonies of what precisely caused the war, the reasons are so convoluted and so at-the-end-of-the-day-nonsensical that I will not endeavour to detail them here. Petty would be a generous compliment.

For our purposes, let us say that a number of people from class 6-C had reason to hate Darius, Simon had reason to protect him, a number of people in class 5-B desired Simon's approval and a number of people in class 1-A had reason to protect the students of class 6-C. And it all came down to one fateful moment when Lauren of class 2-A became the target of a vicious food-related attack, only for Colin- her classmate -to take the stain in her place. The incident sparked an inter-class food fight and led to multiple suspensions as well as Lauren agreeing to go on a date with Colin.

To be clear, neither Cindy nor Cornelia knew a thing about any of this. Cindy did not know for obvious reasons but Cornelia had been left in the dark somewhat on purpose. While she usually kept a tight watch over Darius' activities, her obsession with the Overseers since the Eve had left the boy in the care of his father- who actually knew what it meant to be a child. And so James and Darius had an unspoken agreement, not to lie to Cornelia but simply not to bother her with answers to questions she didn't ask.

Unfortunately, Darius forgot to be anywhere near as careful with Cindy as he was with Cornelia. It wasn't really a problem most of the time since Darius was not usually a very loud person- indeed, he was a gentle man -but on the eve of the sixth day, he had a particularly nasty conversation with his 2-A's monitor which happened to wake young Cindy up.

As he was practically screaming into his ringer, Cindy found herself with her eyes open. But she was still far too drowsy, and the ranting was far too wild, for any of the boy's complaints to be discernible. The inaudible whining soon wound to a slow and steady halt before giving way to a sigh. Then Darius said something which Cindy was awake enough to hear.

It is that bastard Bruce! This rottenness is his doing. Him and his idiotic pack of wolves. Someone ought to take him down a peg.

And Cindy could not have heard this next part, but Simon- being a good leader -did respond through the ringer, saying...

And I will handle him. But do not forget that he and his merry men are only idiots- not villains. Reckless though they may be, they did what they did in fellowship with you.

I suppose you are right. I'll put the matter to bed for now. But I don't know how long I can put up with his rubbish.

That much, I understand.

And so the call ended. And Darius drifted off into sleep. But Cindy became, at once, concerned. She didn't know much about Darius' fellowship. So, when she heard what she could hear from the dispute that night, she had no way of knowing that Bruce and Darius were not actually foes but simply boy-ish fellows who used insults and stupid gestures to express genuine affection. She knew that they had been fellows before but the last she had heard of it was some time ago. On hearing Darius' recent opinion of him, what she thought was...

This Bruce boy and his wolves are troubling my brother. Traitorous schoolmates, are they.

And she did think of him as a brother since he was always kind to her when she was Kiara and it was by her design that he didn't recognise her when she became Cindy. Being a sensible girl, she did not blame him for his mother or father and their time as roommates only solidified her stance on the matter. So it was that when she came to believe that Bruce and the "wolves" were troubling her brother, she determined her next course of action at once.

This much she knew: The Wolves of Tolemac Secondary were the sort of boys that girls pretended to have ringer conversations to avoid. They were the sort of boys who intentionally said and did outrageously childish things to girls- not to impress the girls -but to impress each other with just how silly they could be without being embarrassed. And she knew this because she had seen them in action as both witness and victim while walking in town.

On ordinary days, even though school let out around five o' clock, some of the Wolves often stayed late to play several rounds at tourney. This much Cindy also knew since Darius would, on occasion, stay with them- though he never really liked the sport -and after he returned she would be the one to have to clean the muck off his shoes and wash his sweaty clothes.

When the clock was soon to strike five on the sixth day, Cindy made her way to the school and when the hour fell, she hid behind some buildings and watched as the vast majority of parents and students and teachers made their way home- or at least away. And, sure enough, there they were: in the field, setting up teams and bracing for the draw. And as she watched, her mind began to spin with excitement upon her noticing a very opportune fact: the grass of the field needed to be occasionally washed and, since it seemed the best way to do it, the school had a sprinkler system set up to do just that.

Having had the memory of climbing the bifrost carved into her heart, Cindy did not find the long fence keeping her from the school grounds very daunting. Neither was she impressed by the dozens of foes that might catch her; after years of experience wandering around the Gibbs house while making no noise at all, she fancied herself a master tip-toer. That said, the climb was actually very difficult. Not as difficult as it would have been for someone who never did chores, but still difficult. Even through her gloves, the fence and its links burned against the skin of her palms as she pushed herself up. The fence itself was also of the kind which had sharpened points alternating at the very top and, though she passed them relatively unharmed, she could not avoid getting a single cut that made her drop on the other side all the harsher.

The sound of the fall seemed so loud and shocking to her that as soon as the aching receded enough, Cindy crawled behind a nearby bush for fear of being caught. Fortunately, sounds tend to be much louder when you are close to the source, and no one was as close to the crash as Cindy. The runner-up was, in fact, so very far off that even if he had noticed the sound, he would have taken it in as one of the cacophony of thuds and scratches and shouts that characterise a proper episode of sport.

When she saw that she was safe enough, she got back on her feet- though she remained hunched over -and made her way to the valve. After finally getting there, and being safely hidden behind a stone wall, she looked over at her soon-to-be victims before maniacally turning the valve and watching the waterworks. As the water droplets leapt from sprinkler to player to player to ball and to grass, Cindy was beside herself laughing and she had wandered just far enough from out behind the wall that Colin- who had (for some peculiar reason) recently decided to get in better shape -managed to notice the girl cackling like a maniac.

Look! By the lockers!

When Cindy knew that she had been spotted, she stopped laughing and bolted toward the horizon. Of the fourteen Wolves who were on the field- and who were now soaking wet -five went to dry off and nine made chase; among the nine were Bruce and his most loyal goons. Cindy, knowing better than to try and climb the fence in a rush, made her way to the school's main entrance which was, more or less, on the complete other end of the compound.

By the time she finally got beyond the borders of Tolemac Secondary, three of the nine had given up. If we're being frank, five of the remainder really wanted to stop- it was, after all, no fun wearing wet clothes in a colder season -but Bruce had a voice like a riding crop and so his goons forced themselves onward, all the time panting like they might faint at any moment. In all fairness to her, she had managed to lead such a chase that by the time they stopped running, her pursuers' clothes were more dripping with sweat than actual sprinkler water. But when they did stop running, it was because she had turned a very wrong corner and found herself caught in a dead end.

At first she smiled and bowed and attempted to walk off from between them- assuming that they were gentlemen who would never hit a girl. However, Bruce stepped forward and, without even a word, struck the girl on her cheek with such force that she fell. It was then that she became very afraid. And it was also then that her shadow-black cloak subtly came off her shoulders.

Rascals.... Bullies.... Beasts....

She thought to call for help. Or plead with the predators o'er her. But she had no notepad and no voice. And, quite frankly, she could hardly get up; so broken was she by the climb and the run and the pain of being struck and fell'd. And so the shadow took its leave, slowly creeping away before turning the corner and disappearing out of sight. The wolves did not notice since they were too busy being soaking wet and tired and angry.

(to Cindy) Now then, what have we her- Wait a mo... I know you. You're Gibbs' servant. (to his goons) Look! It's the Gibbs' servant.

Well spotted boss! Well spotted! She is the Gibbs' servant!

I remember she served us cupcakes and cleaned our plates!

Very bad cupcakes they were too! Very bad!

You didn't like them?

Did you?

I thought they weren't half-bad.

Not half-bad! Not half-bad, indeed! Very well put boss!

Don't you know your betters girl? You should be more careful about who you bully.

Very well put!

As the Wolves looked down on their prey, a great and sudden and terrible sound like thunder boomed all around them. And after it came a boy-ish voice sounding so ecstatic, you could almost see, in your mind's eye, the mischievous smile from whence it came.

And before anything could be said in response, Bruce felt himself being lifted up by the back of his shirt as his mask came undone- knocked off by his own flailing arms. Screaming in utter panic, he felt a little tickling sensation at his side and so, along with his fearful crying and screaming and panting, he let out brief fits of pained laughter- with the total effect that he looked quite insane.

Dark magic... It's dark magic! A cursed beast has possessed the boss!

Spare the drama! I am simply a better class of bully!

The voice spoke again but still no one could see its source. And not one of the goons could recognise the sound. Cindy did. And she laughed along with it; though, of course, neither Bruce nor his goons could hear her laugh. Then, at last, Bruce caught enough of a breather to yell out something intelligible. The words he chose were...

Help me!

And so the goons, being very loyal children, picked up rocks to throw in Bruce's general direction. And the Guardian, not entirely wanting Bruce to wind up dead, dropped the boy before moving on with his fun. Less than half-a-moment after Bruce's body made its landing, the five goons who were stood at the front felt something like a rope whacking them in the stomachs and chests, sending each of them flying either towards the wall or the road or against their fellows in a frightful crash.

Regarding the two who hit the road, they became afraid when they saw an autocar headed their way. But they were even more afraid when they felt very large hands grabbing onto them before lifting them up high into the firmament. And then their fear reached its fever pitch when, after a bit of hanging around between the clouds, whatever it was that held them began dragging them down and further down and faster down towards the ground at almost-break-neck speeds while the faint sound of a long and evil laugh tainted the blasting wind. When they finally neared the ground, they reached a screeching halt just shortly above the stone and the two were so afraid, they vomited right on the floor against which they had feared to die. Then, after a brief reprieve, their invisible foe made two sharp and jerkish moves. One to lift them up and the other to throw them into garbage bins.

The other goons, and Bruce himself, went to check on the two to see if they were alive and well- since they were very loyal fellows -and while they were all occupied, Cindy felt a very forceful lick roll from her knees to her nose. The smell of it was altogether awful but it made her forget her tiredness and her aches. And not a minute after, all the alley and all the wolves vanished at once. It was as if everything her mortal senses knew had been false, and all the world about her had been merely designs on a tapestry curtain. And then, it was like that curtain had been pulled apart and she had been dragged into a boundless void with neither sound nor scent nor sight. It was like sleep in that she could not have told you how long she spent there. She later knew that it was less than a minute but it could have been hours or years and she wouldn't have known the difference while there. Indeed, everyone who sleeps visits there but in a different way and by a different road.

Then, something else happened. And it happened with all the vaguery and ease of waking up after a good night's rest. Cindy found herself on the other side of a new curtain- though she couldn't quite say when she had gone through it. As swiftly as breathing or blinking, she came upon a new stage with a different setting than the one before; and this stage was a wide bed of mist where no trees grew. Finding herself falling through a bed of mist and straight down into a mighty cave, she splashed, at last, into a great pool of water. When last she shut her eyes, she was in the town of Tolemac. When next opened them, she was in the hidden country- the treasure only she and Malachi knew.