Thank you thank you everyone!! :)

Day six, part three (already, wow)

Wren was stringing together a beaded bracelet when Agent Winter burst into the room telling her that everybody had to come downstairs, Win looking sweaty and anxious. Wren didn't even say a word in reply; she simply got up (a little clumsily) and put her bracelet down, trying to ignore the beads that were spilling everywhere. She followed Agent Winter down several sets of stairs as she came into other rooms and got the attention of every guest she could find. As they made their way downstairs, people started murmuring in a sort of concerned way- they all knew this could mean nothing good. But none of them asked Win what exactly happened- maybe too scared to know, maybe not wanting to know at all. But they would eventually.

Soon, they all spilled back out into the entrance hall. Porcelain and another group of guests were already there waiting. AW looked around nervously as she whipped the latter out of her pocket.

"Everyone," she began, "The murderer has killed Leeli." 

Wren put a hand over her mouth to muffle her cry. Night looked at her sympathetically, and Mor slipped her hand into Wren's and squeezed.

"And," AW was continuing, "They left us a note. Lots of them, actually, but this one here is a- a letter."

Porcelain nodded at AW. She had already read that note aloud and did not want to do so ever again. So AW cleared her throat to relay the whole terrible message back to all of her fellow guests.

The room stayed mostly silent while all of the news was being shared; maybe it was too shocking to even know what to comment on. It was unbelievable to most of them. AW's voice cracked and pitched as she read it, but nobody really seemed to notice all that much. they didn't blame her, by any means. It must have been a hard thing to say to all of your friends.

There was a painful pause immediately following the reading of the letter. Nobody quite knew what to say; another friend was dead, making her the tenth, and more were going too, forced to their own doom because they weren't up to the murderer's standards.

"So," Porcelain finally said, "We, um, have the envelopes that were mentioned. They only say the names of people in that group on the outside. So we'll just say the names it has on the outside, then you guys can come and get them."

Porcelain pulled out the first envelope. "Far, Nymph, and me," she called out.

Once they had gotten theirs, she and AW took turns calling out the groups.

"Devin and Bean."

"Nihil, Caspian and Catsquill."

"Estrella and Mor."

"Gracia, Artimerrx and Alex."

"Reese and Marigold."

"Viola? and Boo."

"Night, Wendy and Winter."

"Wren and Darkking."

Slowly, everyone was called up and they received their own envelopes. Some were noticeably heavier and thicker than others. The groups stood around in little knots, murmuring about where they were supposed to go and eyeing each other all the time.

"Okay, so," Devin said uneasily, "Why aren't we starting?"

"That's a good question," replied Reese.

"Okay, then can we just... go?" Darkking questioned.

Everybody just shrugged. Devin and some others took that as a yes, and started wandering off in the direction of their assigned rooms. Most of the others simply shrugged and followed.

Slowly but surely, the groups started arriving at their places and taking a closer look at their challenges, all the while murmuring about Leeli and how terrible it all was and how they hated these games and how, though few of them said it out loud, they were all so scared. Even the murderer was- though, they were most of the time. Soon, though, other talk diminished once the guests realized what they were supposed to do.

"Oh my gosh, look at this!" Bean cried to Devin, who was distracted by the odd sculpture of an alien eating a doughnut that was in their assigned room. "Devin, we're- we're supposed to be making a trap for a doorway!"

Others were discovering similar things in their envelopes. Caspian's group had the ingredients for poison darts, Boo and Viola? had been assigned to making a tripwire and arrow, and Wren and Darkking had been told to make sandbags that would fall from the ceiling. 

"They're making us do the dirty work for them!" Artimerrx shouted, frustrated.

"Getting it done, letting us know what they can do to us, making us fear them more..." Alex murmured, nodding slowly, eyebrows scrunched. "I'd call it smart if I didn't also despise it."

Soon, though, the groups had to face the hard truth- they had to make them, no matter how sick, unfair, or twisted the job was. Reluctantly, they all started to get to work, reading instructions on what they were supposed to do and toying with the supplies they had been given. It was a little bit like some of the STEM challenges the CBers remembered getting at school, but the materials were more straightforward, and the stakes were obviously much, much higher.

Viola? smiled at Boo sagely. "I suppose we're supposed to be making a tripwire and arrow." Boo cocked his head at her. "I don't think it'll be hard to assemble; it's just the logistics that might be tough. Don't you agree?"

"Yyea!" Boo said excitedly. 

Meanwhile, Devin was fiddling uselessly with their supplies while Bean patiently asked him to stop. It was partly out of habit for him, but now, it was also out of nervousness. The truth was that he truly didn't want to lose, but he thought that they might anyways. The thought just overwhelmed him in a way he didn't want anyone to see. And, Leeli's death! He was still recovering from shock. He was almost lost without her telling him to shut up. He was sad in a sort of way he wasn't sure of; his guts were twisted, hands were sweaty, and his brain was doing backflips. Everything about his situation felt so off, so wrong.

Estrella was quick to start planning how to make her contraption work. She was sketching frantically while a million thoughts chased each others' tails in her mind. Mor was doing whatever she requested, eager to help. While others may have been pleased with that kind of progress and functionality, Estrella certainly wasn't.

Night was getting very frustrated with Wendy, who was taking forever to simply do basic tasks. Really, Night was just panicking. Their plan for a crossbow was messy and incomplete. Night was just so freaked out by the thought that her group might lose.

She wasn't the only one. Catsquill was in frenzy as he flew around the room, trying to do calculations in his head, and only losing it more when Nihil would quietly say the answers just before he could get to them. Caspian was getting a job out of trying to calm him down. Porcelain was trying to get a stubborn Nymph and an exasperated Far to cooperate, and her patience was beginning to dwindle. Gracia was still freaking out over everything she now knew, and disturbing thoughts kept occurring to her while she was trying to help Alex assemble their own challenge.

The murderer was not having a good time out of it either. They hated they way they had threatened the other guests into this panic. Images of Leeli were swimming in their mind, floating in a sea of guilt. There was so much pressure on them at that moment, a fault of both the Mystery and themselves. Their hands were doing the work for a weapon they could possibly use against someone standing next to them. They tried to hide the sweat on their brow.

As the guests sketched and plotted, built and assembled, worried and argued, Simul sat in her room with a splitting headache and a sinking feeling that something had recently gone horribly wrong. She had her eyes closed and her knuckles dug into her forehead, and her whole body was shaking just the tiniest bit. Tongues of fiery pain licked at the inside of her skull, an inferno crackling on her mind- thus, most her her thoughts were fried. Simul didn't know weather to call that hilarious or if it was just adding insult to injury; she really didn't want to think about it at all. She didn't want to think about anything, really.

Nothing was right in the ski lodge. That was evident to all, even the elemental instructors, who were oblivious at first; they were growing a little suspicious now. But telling them some of the secrets of the Mystery would put so much in danger...

Simul buried her face in her hands, slumped over on her bed. Something had to change, before everything would collapse. 

TOP TOP TOP! :)

I'll hopefully be posting very often in July, it's my camp project, with a 15,000 word goal.

Day six, part four~

"Hand me those last pieces of tape," Alex demanded, holding out a hand. Gracia did as she was told; she didn't have time to tell Alex she was being bossy. They were almost done. Gracia tried to ignore the fact that they were actually making a murder weapon and their lives depended on their success, and instead thought about images of cute puppies as she helped Alex tape down the last loose ends.

Finally, it was finished. Gracia, Alex and Artimerrx couldn't really tell if it was satisfactory, but they certainly weren't going to try it out. They admired their work for a few seconds, then their sense of accomplishment quickly vanished as they left the room.

On their way to the popcorn room, they met up with Wren and Darkking. The latter was overjoyed at the sight of them, while the former smiled and kept to herself, though secretly relieved to see that they had made it in time. They all talked together as they descended the stairs to the dining room, going through the hidden door into the popcorn room. There, they found only Estrella and Mor, meaning they were the second and third groups to finish. Rather than soothe their nerves, this only made many of them more nervous, because that meant their companions weren't necessarily safe yet.

Slowly, more groups began arriving; Far, Nymph and Porcelain, followed by Reese and Marigold. Reese started eating popcorn compulsively once she arrived. Artimerrx, Darkking, Gracia and Nymph joined her, though Nymph looked at each handful bitterly before shoving it into her mouth. Porcelain paced around silently, Alex and Far sat in opposite corners and occasionally gave each other knowing glances, Wren nibbled at her nails, and Estrella stood near the wall with her arms crossed and her eyes glazed over.

More groups began to arrive. Lots of the guests started to meet their companions, but others only became more anxious as other groups arrived, none with those they were really hoping to see.

There finally came the point where only two groups were missing- Viola? and Boo, and Devin and Bean. There was lots of stress to go around; both groups contained someone who had a companion or companions waiting for them. If Devin and Bean came back, that would save Far and Wren from losing two family members in a day, but if Viola? and Boo came back, Nymph and Estrella would both be saved from being the last in their group still alive. Lots of the guests were eating popcorn, biting their nails, or trying to comfort those who were waiting for someone.

After some kind of eternity, Devin and Bean were the ones to return. Nymph instantly shifted into a microscopic being so no-one could see her. Wren nearly cried with relief, which surprised Devin a little. Estrella looked down and tried to mumble a thanks to the friendly hand on her shoulder and whisper in her ear- Marigold, or Alex, or someone. Far was too overloaded with feelings to react much, but he snapped back to life when Devin crushed him in an embrace and ruffled his hair.

The joy died down when the realization that Viola? and Boo would be killed because the rest of them won started to sink in. Many of them began to feel guilty at their relief or success.

They all stood there, in silence, thinking about Boo and Viola?, not sure about what they were supposed to do next. Not sure about anything that seemed to matter.

~~~~~

Caeli was walking through a hallway many floors above the group, looking for news of the guests and also a soda. On her search, she found Vita and Ingus talking quietly. They looked up when they heard her coming. She gave them a sort of questioning look and Vita waved her over into the conversation.

"So?" Caeli prompted.

"It's all true. Leeli's dead, and the murderer was sick enough to leave a note on- with her," Vita chocked out. He seemed to mournful as he delivered all the news.

"They said in their letter that they're one of them," Ingus said. "Wonder if they'll believe it."

"But we know it's the truth!" Caeli cried.

"Insisting it won't make it any more believable," Ingus snapped.

"That doesn't matter right now; one girl is dead, two more kids have been doomed, and the rest were forced to make weapons!" Vita cried. He seemed very distressed that neither of the others were getting this point. Caeli hung her head, looking (and feeling) guilty.

"Sorry," she mumbled. There was silence for a moment.

"There's something so messed up going on around here," Ingus said. "If murder wasn't enough. You guys feel like there's something suspicious about the whole thing too?"

"Yeah," Caeli whispered. Vita nodded in a sort of small way, like he was nervous.

"Either we're all crazy, everything is crazy, or Simul's keeping something from us," Ingus continued flatly.

"If she is, she probably has a good reason for it," Vita argued.

"I agree. She wouldn't keep something from us for nothing," Caeli agreed. Ingus tried not to roll her eyes. Vita gave her a long look. Ingus only stared back. Caeli was thoroughly confused by the whole interaction.

They were quiet then. There wasn't much else to say. They were stuck trying to teach people magic while others were being murdered, and their boss was probably hiding something important.

"I'm gonna go get a Coke," Caeli said after a while, lacking much of her usual enthusiasm. Vita nodded. Ingus didn't react at all.

The only sound was Caeli's footsteps growing quieter as she walked away. 

~~~~Toptop!! :) 

TopTop! :)  

Day six, part five~

Nymph also didn't show up to magic lessons that day. No-one had really seen her since they were all in the popcorn room. They decided it would be fair to excuse her, though some of them were worried about where she might have gone- or if the murderer had caught up with her.

Terra was surprised to find that much of his class was making progress that day- most of the time, when something like this happened, they were too distracted or sad to procure so much as a grain of sand or a tiny pebble. But that day, many of them were forming rocks and small mounds of earth- a good sign that their magic was progressing and growing.

Not all of the elemental instructors were met with the same scene, however. In water, where Marigold, Far, and Wren were the only ones left, there was lots of silence and frustration. Ingus's perpetual sarcasm wasn't helping anybody out in the fire classroom. Caeli was worried about Nymph and the others were distracted by her absence. Still, classes went on, and some of them saw success, which was better than nothing at all.

Nymph, meanwhile, was sitting in a tall tree deep in the surrounding woods, with talons digging into the branch of the tree. Mostly, she was staring at some indefinite point in the distance and pretending like she was not feeling horrible. At that, she couldn't even manage to fool herself.

The dreariness was at an all-time high that day at Magicae Palace. After lunch and magic lessons, the castle remained almost entirely silent. Some of the guests attempted to play games together, but mostly, they all stayed put within the boundaries of their own thoughts, maybe reading or doodling or writing in journals and notebooks on occasion.

Dinner approached slowly, yet the stretch of time between lunch and dinner seemed to be empty. The afternoon faded into evening without anyone noticing. Dinner found a way to be even more uneventful than usual, and still, hardly anything of interest happened afterwards.

The murderer saw this as an opportunity to get some work done. They went around the castle, planting traps and tripwires in certain rooms for unsuspecting guests to meet their ends. They had one or two close calls where a guest might have seen them, but this time, they were in the clear. Unlike last time...

Gracia, the result of the murderer's misstep, was laying face-up on her bed in the life room, her hazy thoughts swimming in curiosity. Something inside of her knew that the final secret was being kept from her for good reason... but the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know... the final truth was clouded with danger and warnings and pieces of a puzzle she had long since forgotten how to put back together... for some other part of her knew... knew the real reason... 

She became resolute. She was going to find out what the secret was. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Because that was so short, here's the next part as well.

Day seven, part one

Simul woke up early in the morning to a parched throat and a headache that was small, but growing. She groaned softly as she rubbed her forehead and pinched her eyes shut for a moment, then rolled out of bed and yawned. I never mean to be an early bird, she thought to herself, It just always happens to me...

She rubbed the sleepiness away from her eyes and went to go fill up a glass of water. Her ever-moving rainbow hair rippled and glowed softly behind her as she glided across the floor in a nightgown with no feet beneath it. 

As she was rounding a corner, she could have sworn she saw a shadow shift unnaturally somewhere out of the corner of her eye. She felt a hot, terrified sensation sweep through her as she turned and looked behind her. Everything looked just as it should... but she was so sure she saw something move...

She turned back to the hall she had intended to go down, her eyes darting around as she quickened her pace. Simul quickly found a bathroom, filled up her glass, and turned back, her eyes opened to any movement. Now that she was on alert, her brain was making every shadow into something sinister, every door into a trap where something might leap out and...

She was back in her room. Surveying it, her eyes sweeping over her desk- to which she gave a small gasp of surprise. On it was sitting a letter in the handwriting she knew to be the murderer's. Breathing deeply, she picked it up and turned on a lamp to read it. The note detailed the rooms in which the murderer had set up their traps. Simul found herself nodding along to the words as she read. Perhaps it was a side-affect of sleepiness and fear that had just begun to wear off. The note finished with a cynical comment, probably to try and balance out the large kindness the murderer had just done for Simul. It was an odd thing to think about; the murderer wanted to keep Simul alive, by their weird and unofficial alliance. They shared the same kind of pain in the Mystery. Simul supposed there were certain things about the Mystery and ski lodges that the murderer didn't know- but probably wanted or needed to know. Or maybe the murderer was thinking about how quickly the ski lodge would fall apart if the host were to die...

Simul went back to bed, head full of thoughts, throat still dry.

~~~~~

Porcelain yawned and rubbed her eyes as she stared unseeingly at her bowl of cereal. Nihil was beside her eating blackberries at a ridiculously slow pace, while Reese was in front of her in her cat form, lying on the table with her stomach towards the sky. Nymph was sitting the the farthest end of the table, scrutinizing everyone through a thick curtain of black hair. Night Vision was playing with her phone in her lap, earbuds pouring Imagine Dragons into her ears. Looking around the table, Porcelain was all too aware of the gaps where her friends should have been sitting. She could see, through her sleepy eyes, Leafy and Viola? chatting happily... Hazel sitting beside her own Nihil... Autumn Artist telling a story to Secret and Boo...

She looked back down at her soggy breakfast sadly. It was a dreary, tired morning, and she missed her friends.

The morning was slow, though not to the degree the night before had been. Artimerrx played Monopoly with Nihil, Wren, Caspian and Mor, Bean plucked a tune on her guitar, and Devin did some experiments in the popcorn room. Nymph insisted on sulking and Estrella locked herself in a small library, but the guests continued to excuse them.

Meanwhile, Agent Winter decided to go take a walk out in the forest. She felt like she had to take a break from staring at the Air dormitory as she had been doing for what felt like forever. She sighed happily, walking and admiring the leaves on the trees. It was nice to get her mind off of things.

Back in the castle, her AE Night was also seeking to escape the monotony. She was headed for the craft room, a place that had been discovered long ago and forgotten about. She smiled at Far as he passed by, then turned a corner, went up a very short flight of stairs, and opened the door on her right, and took a step into the room. 

Instantly, an arrow shot from the ceiling and pierced her shoulder. Night cried out in pain as the poison the arrow had been spiked with seeped into her veins. She caught a glimpse of the tripwire below her feet before she blacked out.

~~~~~

Vita took a deep breath, glancing around at his two fellow elemental instructors. "We won't be too rough, right?"

Ingus rolled her eyes. "Stop worrying. Specifically, stop worrying about what we're going to do. We'll only go far enough to get our point across."

"Which, as I've told you, might not even be a valid point!" Caeli interjected.

"It will be," Ingus reassured them- in a not-so-reassuring voice. "I'm never wrong. Maybe slightly wrong, but I am never 100% wrong."

Vita thought that was 100% inaccurate, but then again, he didn't know if it could be called fully wrong... "Let's just go do it," he decided, "Before my head falls off from trying to think about that."

Ingus smirked at them as they all marched off, searching for Simul.

"Just don't be super mean," Vita pleaded. Ingus seemed not to hear him as she sharply turned a corner, her nose in the air. She came to an abrupt halt at a door. Caeli and Vita nearly toppled into her. Ingus, hardly flinching, knocked rapidly at the door. A few seconds later, the three of them were met with Simul, her hair in a bun that made her rainbow locks flow in a sort of dizzying spiral. Ignoring this, Ingus asked, "Can we talk?"

"Sure thing, jelly bean," Simul replied with ease. "C'mon in."

Ingus barged in the moment Simul swung the door open for them. Vita and Caeli followed, both of them wondering if this was a good idea after all.

"Ingus, you look like ya have something important to say..."

"I do, Simul. We- though it's mostly me- think you're keeping something from us, and we want to know what it is."

That statement might have sounded ridiculous from someone else, but Ingus's combined confidence and fierceness made it into something intimidating. Simul's golden eyes blinked rapidly and darted around quickly.

"Mayhaps I ask where you got that idea?" she asked coolly. 

"Well," Vita butted in hastily, "It was just sort of a thought we had, you know... there's this murder going on, and bad things keep happening, and you seem to be acting odd... er, a different kind of odd than your usual." Caeli nodded along, signifying her agreement.

"We don't want to accuse you of anything," Vita added quickly.

"I think you're overgeneralizing our goals, Vita," Ingus snapped. "just admit you're keeping something from us, Simul. You're acting too nervous to prove your innocence."

Simul pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yeah, whatever. My nonexistent cover's been blown. Good for you, Sherlock. I'm keeping secrets, and I'm saving your butts by doing it. If you like to live, then I can't tell you about it. So, uh, get."

Ingus took a step back. For the first time, she actually looked shocked, and even a bit offended.

"Simul, we're so sorry. We didn't mean to-"

"Vita, I know you didn't. You're too much of a bean. And Caeli, I'm assuming you're pretty fine too. Ingus, you stink right now."

Caeli, looking a little but teary, backed out of the room. Vita murmured a quick thank-you and a last apology before slipping out. Ingus looked at her feet. Simul took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. But it's not looking good for me right now, okay."

"I'm... sorry, too," Ingus said.

"I'll... I'll try to see if I can tell you later. but for now, let's not talk about it."

"Yeah," Ingus mumbled. Then, before Simul could something else, Ingus left, leaving Simul with yet another worry and much more pressure. 

Eeeee this is amazing! I can't wait to see what happens next! (Wow, I can't believe this is still going XD)

Aaaahh, I'm so excited, it's getting to be so much fun to write all this~

Day seven, part two

Agent Winter, not knowing that one of her AEs had just fallen into one of the murderer's traps, was still enjoying her walk through the woods as she neared the fence around the forest. She stopped as she came upon the fence. AW noticed that it was built not on the very edge of the forest, just sort of close to it. She peered through the holes of the fence, examining the trees and terrain beyond it...

Suddenly, for an odd split second, Win's vision seemed to blur in an odd way... all of the shadows in front of her came into sharp relief... and when everything went back to normal, it still wasn't quite normal- because she felt something around her had shifted. Or maybe her perspective had.

She founded herself breathing heavily, like she had just run for a mile. Looking around herself, she saw the fence and began to back away from it. What had it done to her? Was it trying to keep the guests in, or keep something else out?

Slowly, she began to retreat back towards the palace, all the while thinking to herself. Something was definitely wrong here, though she didn't know what, and she hadn't even begun to question why. Somewhere in her head, through all of her twisted and confused thoughts, there was a tiny voice, whispering one phrase. She could tell it was important, but she didn't know how or why. But it was there, insisting that it be heard.

Ski lodge.

~~~~~

Soon enough, Agent Winter found herself being told by a flustered Aqua that she had better come quickly; it ‘s Night. Her dread for her AE took control and forced other thoughts about secrets and fences and ski lodges to take the backseat in her mind.

When she got there, Reese was already standing over her, with Bean by her side, trying to console her. AW dropped to the floor. An arrow lay on the floor beside her AE.

“Don’t touch it,” Aqua warned. “Poisoned.” He looked so helpless, like he was sad he got himself tangled up into the situation, but like he also dearly wanted to help Win and Reese. At least Bean was there too, always there to help.

“I- I'll go tell Simul about this. And tell her we should block off this room, or disable the trap or something,” Aqua announced. “Erm- are you guys okay for a minute?”

“We’ll be fine,” Bean assured him. “Thank you.”

Aqua nodded quickly before turning and leaving to go tell Simul, who, though he didn’t know then, was wondering if she could tell him and his companions about the Mystery. Aqua wandered along through the castle, trying to smile at others when he passed them, though they usually gave him an odd look when he did. He murmured things to himself as he went, getting more and more nervous about the whole situation… after he found Night, well, he started to realize…

He knocked at Simul’s door. He could vaguely hear her sigh before she opened the door, her hair looking like a bird’s nest and the bags under her eyes so dark and heavy they looked to be almost fake.

“Um,” Aqua started, a little startled and fairly concerned, “We, um, I’m supposed to tell you that- Night died. It was by a poisoned arrow trap in the craft room.. So…. yeah…”

Aqua looked down. There were a lot of different things for him to handle- though Simul definitely had a whole lot more on her plate. She paused for a moment, knowing that, from there on out, she could never truly be at peace. She closed hr eyes for just a second.

“I’ll be right there,” she said, then slammed the door in Aqua’s face.

~~~~~

Lunchtime was a little awkward, as by that time everyone knew of Night’s death, and they were very conscious of her absence, as well as that of AW and Reese. Somehow the food tasted more bland that day, as if Simul’s magic wasn’t quite up to its standards. Suffice to say, it was as boring as ever, perhaps even more so.

Afterwards, Gracia and Marigold went looking for AW and Reese to try and go talk to them. Marigold knocked at the Air dormitory.

“Who is it,” Agent Winter asked in a scratchy sort of voice.

“It’s me and Marigold,” Gracia replied. “We were wondering if you were okay.”

“C’min,” Win said after a short pause. Marigold gently pushed the door open.

Agent Winter was sitting at the foot of her bed, her pillow stuffed behind her back and tissues scattered at her feet. Her blue hair was even more of a mess than usual. “Hi,” she said weakly. Marigold began to pick up the tissues and throw them away while Gracia sat down cross-legged beside her.

“What can I do for you?” Gracia asked.

Agent Winter shrugged, which slowly but surely turned into a nod. "There is something... I'd like to tell someone about."

Marigold, now intrigued, sat down on AW's other side. Win, staring at the ground, began to explain the mysterious feeling she had when she got close to the fence, and the perplexing appearance of the words "ski lodge" inside of her thoughts.

"I... I just feel like the phrase means so much more than it is," AW explained. "You know? Like it's bigger than it wants you to think it is."

Marigold was nodding slowly, but Gracia's insides were churning as she heard her friend try to tell her about how she was becoming suspicious of all the secrets Gracia knew. Then Gracia saw a perfect opportunity- maybe with AW and Marigold helping her, they could uncover the Final Secret...

Gracia took a deep breath. "Guys, there's something I'd like to tell you about-"

There was a sharp knock at the door. "Marigold?" Catsquill called, "Can you help us for a second? We're trying to deactivate the arrow dispenser and tripwire in the craft room."

"I'll go too," Gracia announced suddenly, spring up from her place on the floor. Agent Winter looked at her confusion.

"I'm sorry, Win... do you want me to ask someone else come here?" Marigold asked. AW shook her head, still looking confused at Gracia's abrupt departure.

"Well, if you're sure... okay, then. I'll see you later," Marigold said as an odd sort of goodbye. As the door shut behind her, AW's mind was filled with the possibilities of what Gracia was about to say.