Sophie wrung her hands as she navigated through the halls of her old school, her eyes focused ahead. The Vatarians behind her looked at the school in wonder, but Alvar had seen the school plenty of times, and was next to Mansi, making sure she was okay. Sophie's mind was racing. How was this going to play out? Mansi's wall isn't going to last forever, and once the Mirthless and Neverseen breakthrough, will her Assassins and the remaining Winged Warriors be enough?

And, there is no doubt, there are going to be some old friends here.

What if Edaline and Grady are here? Or Sandor and Grizel? How would they react to her? Would the fact that her parents and dear friends in the school distract her from the battle?

Sophie stopped dead.

Distraction.

Sophie cursed, reaching into the deep pockets of her white robe, pulling them out and scouring them over.

"Lia?" Alexios asked. Sophie spat out a curse that made everyone cringe.

"What's wrong?"

"Look, here," Sophie whispered, pointing to the Mirthless Infusing machine blueprints. The three of them crowded around the papers in her hands.

"What?" Mansi asked.

"There is no special cord in the blueprints." Sophie breathed. Everyone went quiet, before Alexios snatched the blueprints out of his sister's hands and holding them to the light, his mouth open as he scoured the pages for any note of the cord.

"She's right." Alexios breathed.

"The only information I got about this special cord is from Fintan, and he said that it would be used for the infusions. But-"

"There is no mention of the cord anywhere in here." Mansi sighed, looking over Alexios's shoulder to glare at the papers.

"So, what purpose does the cord play?" Sophie pondered.

"And also," Alvar's eyes widened.

"Keefe and Nour are going in alone to find it. If none of us know it's true purpose-"

"They could be walking straight into a trap. And we are all here distracted by the army." Sophie gasped. It was silent, deadly silent.

"Go." Mansi breathed. Sophie bit her lip.

"Lia, this could ruin everything! We need you to go!" Alexios snapped. Sophie scrambled down the halls, moving as fast as her feet will take her. She ran up the stairs of Foxfire, desperately trying to reach the peak of the glass pyramid before Keefe and Nour did.

"We should go with her-"

"No. The citizens need us; we need to pretend like everything is okay. That we have things under control." Alexios said, following the sound of the citizens of the main hall. Alvar leads Mansi and Alexios through the hallways, and they stopped before the giant doors of the main hall.

To find them closed and locked.

"Uh, hi? We are here to help?" Alexios awkwardly called out.

Mansi snorted, "Shut up," Alexios pouted.

"Leave now, Assassins, and we will consider leaving you be!" A counselor called out from within the hall. The sound of readying elven weapons sounded from the other side, and Mansi rolled her eyes. She banged her fist against the door, the sound echoing through the empty halls.

"You are dooming your citizens if you do not accept our help? Stop being stubborn and let us in!" Mansi roared, pounding her fist against the door.

"You have ten minutes to withdraw your soldiers and leave the battlefield." The same Councilor called out. Mansi rolled her eyes.

"Well, now I know where you get your stubbornness." Mansi pointed a look at her fiance, "It runs in Elven blood." She scoffed.

"Let them in; they are just trying to help!"An elf called out.

"What do you know? No one gets close to the room-"

"You will open the door." A sweet voice called out from behind them. Alvar, Alexios, and Mansi whipped around, watching as Maha stepped forward, her Mesmer powers seeping through the doors. Maha's golden tipped braids were pulled behind her head, and she wore a dark black robe, with steel armor pieces protecting her chest, shoulders, shins, and knees. A long sword was at her side. Not heavily armed, but good armor for a spy, not a warrior. Next to her were Leto and Lilac. Their eyes all widened at the sight of Leto, but his eyes glistened with Not now, we have to focus.

"I'm... going to..."

"You are going to open these doors, and tell your soldiers to put down their weapons," Maha repeated. It was silent.

"Put down your weapons, open the doors." The Councilor breathed.

"WHAT?! Councilor Alina-"

"Now." She snapped. The door slowly opened and revealed the hundreds of citizens of Eternalia cowering in the once happy lunchroom. Quickly grabbed supplies and children scattered amongst the floor and tables. Almost all of the kids were wearing Foxfire uniforms, holding onto adults who weren't even their parents. Some parents weren't able to get to Foxfire in time before they sealed everything off, so the remaining adults have been trying their hardest to keep everyone calm.

Councilor Alina finally snapped out of her trance, and she looked around in panic.

"Why, thank you, Councilor!" Mansi thanked cheekily, skipping into the room and past Councilor Alina.

"We are here to help, even if you don't think we are. What is the status of your forces and such? We can combine reports to get a better sense of everything." Alexios asked, walking towards Alina. Alina blinked at the sight of the attractive Assassin, but cleared her throat and regained her composure.

"They are calling off the attack," Alina announced to him. Alexios chuckled slightly, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, no, they don't just call off attacks. They must have something they were looking for, a goal. What did you-" Alexios paled slightly.

"Did you send one of the Councilors to the top of the pyramid?" Alexios whispered, his voice sharp enough to cut glass. Alina swallowed and looked over the injured elves.

"They gave us no other choice," Alina whimpered.

Biana slammed her shoulder into the door of the nursery, cursing at the times when she skipped weight training during gym class.

"Are you okay?!" Filomena begged the children, pounding on the tinted glass that leads into the nursery.

"MISS FILOMENA! HELP!" A child cried out.

"Give it to me, now kid!" Vespera hissed.

"YOU LAY A SINGLE FINGER ON THEM, AND I WILL CUT OFF YOUR WHOLE HAND!" Filomena threatened. Vespera surprisingly didn't answer.

"I can't get the door!" Biana panted.

"Move," Filomena commanded. Biana scrambled out of the way just in time as Filomena squared her shoulders in front of the wooden door and held her hand out, blasting it with a ray of light that flung the door of its hinges. Biana and Filomena barged in, but they stopped dead when Vespera grabbed her knife from her side and grabbed a child, holding the knife to their neck.

"Not another step!" Vespera seethed, the child squirming in her hold. If looks could kill, Vespera would be dead on the spot. The child glanced at Biana.

"Help me," They sobbed. Biana's heart broke as she rushed in front of the other children huddled near the back of the room. Biana glanced behind the table, almost throwing up when she saw the stab wounds through the Caretaker's back, who was unmoving on the nursery floor.

"What does she want?" Biana whispered slightly to the children huddled behind her, who were clinging to her skirt.

"She came in, saying there was a crystal in her that she needed, that she hid. I saw the crystal in a case on a nearby shelf, and I hid it under my apron. Caretaker Candice tried to fight her but," The child sobbed, more tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Give me the crystal please," Biana whispered, leaning down to look the boy in the eyes. Filomena was distracting Vespera, trying to get her to release the child. He held the crystal in his apron pocket, holding it close.

"I promise it will be in good hands. We need to get your friend back," Biana whispered, pointing her head slightly to the child in Vespera's arms. The boy nodded his head slightly, pulling a crystal out of his pocket. It was unlike any colored crystal she had ever seen, an almost opaque quartz crystal, which danced only slightly in the light. Biana held the crystal tight in her palm, and she faced Vespera again.

"They are just children! Let them be, I beg you!"

"Give me what I need, Vacker, and the child lives." Vespera snapped at Biana. Biana rolled the long crystal in her hand, and she made eye contact with the child in her hand. A Lith, a little boy with big floppy bunny ears, which were shaking with fright. His hair was caramel toned to match his ears, and his skin only a shade lighter than his hair. His blueish-purple eyes were bright with tears and fear.

"Have you truly resorted to threating children? Have you become that weak?" Biana snarled. Vespera's face showed no emotion, and the knife glinted only harder.

"The crystal," The knife pressed against the boy's neck, drawing the smallest amount of blood, "Now." She snapped.

"I don't know if I will," Biana breathed, one careful step after another. She made eye contact with the boy, and she gave a clear message with her eyes, which he surprisingly understood.

When you get the chance, run.

"Maybe if you told me where it went?" Biana proposed. Vespera lowered her knife slightly, only slightly, and she smirked.

"You should leave asking the questions to Sophie. You never were one for intense situations Miss Vacker." Vespera chuckled. Biana bit her hurling insult; she had more important things to deal with than her pride.

"I could say the same to you. Feel even the slightest bit threatened, and you turn into a barbarian." Biana scoffed, pointing her head to the shaking boy.

"How dare you-" Vespera's knife drooped on slightly more, and the boy took advantage of it. He pushed away from her blade, stomping on her foot with so much strength Biana swore she heard bones crack, and he scrambled into the arms of the other children. Vespera cursed and howled, and she lunged for the mass of kids.

But Biana cut her off with a swift punch straight to the nose.

Vespera clung onto Biana's collar as blood spurted from her now mangled nose, throwing the Vacker down onto the ground.

"GO!" Filomena yelled at the children, who all sprinted for the exit. Vespera towered above the grounded Biana and made a swift slice towards her's neck with her knife, but Biana kicked her hard in the stomach. The force of the fight made the crystal clatter out of her hand, but Filomena tackled Vespera into the nearby chest of toys. Biana's breath knocked out of her from Vespera throwing her around, but she crawled towards the crystal. Vespera threw Filomena off, and she held out her hand.

The crystal flew straight off the ground and into her hand using telekinesis.

"NO!" Biana cursed, but Vespera only smirked as she held the crystal up to the light and vanished into light. Biana held her hands to her mouth, not fully knowing what to do. Filomena searched the place where Vespera was just standing as if to really see if she was gone, but she stopped dead. The plucked something out from underneath the table in the nursery.

An activated honing beacon.

Vespera must have activated it when Biana and Filomena were trying to get into the room.

Filomena paled, dropping to her knees with her hands shaking.

"They know," She breathed, before looking up at Biana, "They found us."

Nour's disguise ability was slightly different than what Keefe was expecting, but impressive none the less. He broke into the elven shop, grabbed the poshest and fanciest elven clothing he could find, and ripped it and ran it through the mud. Keefe didn't need to change his whole wardrobe, just had to put on a slightly small blazer and a cape that was too small around his shoulders. Nour threw them at Keefe, who hastily put them on. When Keefe exited the changing room, Nour was already changed into his disguise, going through the papers behind the cash register.

"Uh, whatcha doing?" Keefe asked, straightening out his rumpled clothing.

"Research," Nour answered plainly, not looking up from the papers.

"Oh, uh, what for?" Keefe chuckled. Nour looked up from the papers, his face bland, and his eyebrow cocked.

Seriously? He seemed to ask.

"Sorry, I'll shut up," Keefe muttered. Nour scoffed and finished glancing over the papers.

"The Heks family..." Nour breathed, glancing over the family pictures.

"What about them?"

"They own this shop," Nour said, squinting at the picture.

"Wait; what?" Keefe stuttered.

"Yeah, Vika Heks bought the store after getting bored with the unicorns," Nour explained, reading off the papers.

"Bored of unicorns? How is that possible?" Keefe chuckled.

Nour shrugged, "There are a lot of creatures out there that the elves don't know about, I'm surprised you even know about Unicorns. Unicorns are somewhat old news, plus, one of the Vatarian abilities is being able to communicate with animals. My friend is one of them, and he says Unicorns can be assholes." Nour explained.

"Not the one I know," Keefe muttered, thinking of Silveny.

"Meh, sure, the one you know may be nice." Nour decided, continuing to examine the picture, almost like he was trying to memorize the family.

"There is an elven ability that can talk to animals, Beguiler." Keefe countered.

"All elven abilities are originally Vatarian since elves are descendants from Vatarians. Some abilities didn't transfer over to your elven bodies. Our animal communication ability is a real conversation. Both the animal and person cant have a full conversation with complete sentences and advanced vocabulary. Again, Vatarian abilities are different, like the ability to talk to animals, or, for example..." Nour lifted his hand and pointed his palm and Keefe.

"What are you doing?" Keefe whispered as the air around him slowly started to thicken and shake.

"Just shut up and standstill." Nour snapped, putting up his other palm. The air continued only to grow warmer and thicken. It seemed like the air formed a thick border around Keefe, and with a final flourish, the air seemed to tighten around his chest, head, and entire body.

"Uhhhh..." Keefe looked at Nour with a confused face.

"Look in the mirror," Nour scoffed. Keefe turned to the mirror and almost gagged.

Looking back at him was Stina Heks.

"OH MY-" Nour slapped his hand over Keefe's mouth. Keefe only screamed more when Timkin Heks was taking the place of Nour. Keefe continued to scream into Nour's hand, looking back between Timkin and the mirror. Nour- Timkin? Keefe honestly didn't know anymore. Nour looked ready to slap Keefe, but instead just shook him by his collar and shut him up.

"Keefe, it's still you! Calm down, man! It's an illusion!" Nour seethed.

"W-What?!" Keefe panicked. Nour placed a hand on his own cheek, and the area around Timkin seemed to flicker, and it shifted, revealing Nour's dark skin around his hand.

"Think of it as a shell of illusion around you! It is one of my abilities!" Nour breathed, looking nervously outside to make sure no one heard Keefe's break down. Keefe whipped his head back towards the winds, running a hand over his fake curls, looking at his feminine body at all sides.

"My hot bod!" Keefe complained. He ran his hands through the fake curls once again, which flickered and moved awkwardly through the illusion.

"MY HAIR!" Keefe sobbed. Nour groaned and let go of Keefe, letting the elf thump onto the ground. Nour grabbed two of the Heks family pins that were behind the counter and threw one of them at the sobbing Keefe.

"Stop touching the illusion; it isn't meant to be touched! We go in as the two Heks, get past the councilors, through the crowds of civilians, and try to get to the upper parts of the pyramid." Nour said, brushing off the clothing.

"And why the ripped clothing?" Keefe hiccuped, getting up from the floor.

"To sell the image. Panicked citizens don't like to polish up while running away from an army. Besides," Ruy pointed to Keefe's feminine clothing, "Stina's blazer suits you quite well." Nour snorted. Keefe pouted, shuffling awkwardly in Stina's cape and blazer.

~

Keefe followed Nour lead as he expertly navigated into Foxfire, sneaking past the Councilors, and through the panicked citizens. Keefe's gaze only grew darker and darker as he looked among the panicked and tired elves.

"My mom did this," Keefe whispered to Nour, both of them still disguised as Stina and Timkin. Timkin, or Nour, didn't meet Keefe's eyes, instead of looking over the elves who were crammed into Foxfire.

"I've spent my entire life at war, not on a battlefield, but not all wars are fought with swords and soldiers." Nour breathed, still weaving through the crowds.

"Amalia hates open combat; she hates it. I can't say I'm fond of it either. We prefer the quiet and complexities of a war of secrets, a war where people don't fully know how far they are in danger." Nour breathed. Nour looked through the sniveling elves, and looked up to the sky, chuckling slightly.

"And this is the very reason why." He quietly gestured around them, "The people."

"The people? I think it would be more of; I don't know, the fact that you are open on all sides, that there are so many things to worry about. There is a constant threat that you are going to die." Keefe shrugged.

"That feeling isn't the best, but look at all of this, Sencen. The people are hurt, they are scared! They never want to think about the fact that they may not live to see another day. That is for us to worry about, not them. It just," Nour took a shaky breath, "This reminds me of the Fall of Inalia. That is why I hate open combat, why I hate bloody gruesome and loud war because it reminds me that there is always a victim. There may be a winner and loser, but the people are always the victims. But how you handle yourself, not anybody else, around these victims defines who you are." Nour shrugged. Keefe bit his lip, shuffling slightly in Stina's ruined blazer.

"Why are you telling me this?" Keefe muttered.

"Becuase, even if you try to deny it, you blame yourself for your mother's actions. I can tell."

"What?"

"You feel responsible for stopping her because you share blood with her, you have seen what your blood has done to the innocents of war."