Cinder sniffed the air, focusing on the door where Martin had disappeared moments ago. Her feathers shifted through alarmed colors as she realized his scent had completely vanished - not faded, not moved elsewhere, but simply ceased to exist. The implications hit her like a physical blow.

  "He's gone," she hissed, her feathers flaring with defensive reds and worried silvers. "They... they gated him somewhere!"

  Katherine's emerald eyes narrowed dangerously. "What?"

  Vespera's eyes shot open.

  Cinder leapt off her seat, her foot already in the air, wings spread wide. Her boot obliterated the door into the Vice Principal's office, sending it flying inward.

  "Yes, Miss Nova?" Vice Principal Graves turned away from the window towards the trio as Cinder and others stormed into the office. "Why have you demolished my door?"

  "Where is he?" she demanded, her feathers blazing through combative oranges and reds.

  "Mr. Glock has been transferred to an appropriate facility," Graves replied calmly.

  "WHAT facility?" Cinder's wings flared wide, filling the office with prismatic light.

  "Please return to your dormitory." Graves said, shadowy static pulsing across the office.

  Lightning crackled behind Cinder as Vespera entered, her black wings trailing electricity. "Wrong answer," the Thunderbird clicked, aiming a hand at the Vice Principal.

  The Kitsune secretary was yelling something in the background, but waves of darkness bloomed from Katherine silencing her with a wave of pure dread.

  "You know," Graves said. "I was going to take it easy on you, on the account of who your parents are, but clearly you need to learn to control your anger, Miss Nova. Detention for a week for all three of you–you'll start with Auditorium cleanup and then..."

  "DO YOU THINK I GIVE A SHIT?!" Cinder snarled, wings stretching wide and igniting with brilliant colors repelling the dark static. "WHERE IS MY FIANCEE YOU FUCK?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?!"

  Vice Principal Graves' void-like face rippled with dark static. "Fiancee? I wasn't aware you were engaged, Miss Nova."

  "Soul-bonded," Vespera clicked tiredly, electric arcs humming across her figure. "And you have ten seconds to tell us where our fiancee is, or I will dismantle your office and this entire school if I have to. Nine. Eight..."

  "Mr. Glock has been detained for fraudulent enrollment," Graves stated calmly. "The Stratos Clan Scrutimancer provided evidence that he is, in fact, a mundane human named Martin Kilborne who illegally infiltrated Skyfall Academy."

  "And you just believed a Scrut and let him have our fiancee, is that it?" Vespera growled, humming even more dangerously.

  "Regardless of his Omnithornian registration, he repeatedly assaulted Prima-Heiress Emerald Stratos, dunking her into Genesis fluid and then punching her in Delving class. Emerald told me that this was an unprovoked attack. Repeated inhalation of Genesis fluid while being alive can result in permanent insanity. That alone is enough to arrest and to expel Mr. Glock."

  "That's it. I'm going to kill her," Cinder growled. "Vee, handle Graves. Emerald and I are going to have a little chat."

  "Miss Nov..." Graves began but Cinder already flashed out of the office.

  Vespera pulled out her phone. Her talons danced across the screen as she dialed.

  "SimmiTech Legal Division," she clicked into the phone. "Authorization code Victor-Echo-Echo. I need Attorney Thornheart. Now."

  Katherine maintained her deep-field around the office, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. The Kitsune secretary remained frozen in terror, unable to move or speak.

  "Ah, Miss Simmi," a smooth voice emerged from the phone. "What can I do for you today?"

  "My soul-bonded partner has been illegally detained by Skyfall Academy and transferred to an unknown facility without due process," Vespera stated coldly.

  "Soul-bonded partner?" The Bunyip lawyer blinked. "Did you finally link your soul with Zheng Xing Ker?"

  "No," Vespera clicked. "I'm breaking off that engagement. My soul-bonded partner is Skyfall Academy student Alexander Glock, who was just illegally detained and transported somewhere by Vice Principal Graves per information provided by the Stratos Clan Scrut."

  There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

  "I see," Attorney Thornheart said carefully. "And you wish to pursue legal action against both Skyfall Academy and the Stratos Clan, my lady?"

  "Immediately," Vespera confirmed, electricity crackling around her. "I want every legal resource SimmiTech has available on this case. Now. Get your attorney ass over here ASAP, Thornheart. I NEED to sleep after my delve and I hav' no energy to deal with this shit."

  "Miss Simmi," Graves began.

  Vespera extended her phone pointing it at the principal, her Bunyip lawyer staring sternly at Vice Principal Graves.

  "I must inform you that any further actions against my client's interests will result in immediate legal consequences," Attorney Thornheart stated firmly. "The illegal detention and transportation of a soul-bonded partner of a Primaborn Simmi Heiress of Thunder without due process is a severe violation of Omnithornian law."

  Vice Principal Graves' void-like face rippled with static. "The evidence provided by Scrutimancer Satosh clearly indicates-"

  "Evidence obtained by an independent Scrutimancer without proper judicial oversight is inadmissible," Thornheart interrupted. "Furthermore, the soul-bond between Miss Simmi and Mr. Glock establishes his legal status as a protected entity of my honored client Prima-Heiress Vespera Simmi. Any attempt to separate soul-bonded partners without proper judicial review constitutes a direct violation of Firstborn Clan Rights Act, Section 72-C," Thornheart stated. "I'm dispatching a legal rep team to Skyfall Academy immediately. Vice Principal Graves, I strongly advise you to reveal Mr. Glock's location before this escalates further."

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  Graves' void-like face flickered with static interference. "The matter falls under federal jurisdiction due to immigration violations-"

  "Immigration status is irrelevant once a Prima soul-bond is established," Thornheart countered. "The bond automatically grants protected status pending formal review."

  "If you don't tell me where you sent my fiance to," Vespera growled. "I have every right to activate my familial Corpse Seeker to head straight for him. And I don't care if it demolishes half of this school and Cradlefall in the process, as you and Skyfall will be the ones footing the bill as YOU are the one responsible for his disappearance!"

  "Miss Simmi, activating a Corpse Seeker within school grounds would be-" Graves began.

  "Within her rights as Prima Heiress who's soul-bonded partner was just abducted without due process," the lawyer said.

  "Very well," Graves seemed to deflate, his tentacles coming down. "Your fiancee is in..."

  Emerald had just emerged out of the shower and was now wearing a white robe with the school's logo on it, trying and failing to make herself look presentable. Her scales still looked dull in the mirror, covered in gray patches. She once again grabbed at the magisteel collar on her neck, trying to pry it off. The Shandrian slave collar would not budge, a red pyramid flashing angrily in the center.

  She had asked Solace and Quint to help her take the damn collar off, but the two simply ignored her, leaving her alone in the bathroom.

  A rainbow blur smashed through the bathroom door, sending splinters flying everywhere. Emerald spun around, her dull scales flaring with alarm as Cinder Nova stormed in, wings blazing with violent reds and oranges.

  "WHERE IS HE?!" Cinder snarled, her voice echoing off the black marble tiled walls of the delving class bathroom.

  Emerald backed away, her hands raised defensively. "What? Who?"

  "DON'T PLAY DUMB!" Cinder's wings flared wider, filling the bathroom with brilliant rainbows. "What did your Scrut do with my fiancee, you stupid beerch?! I smelled Satosh in that office!"

  "How would I know that?!" Emerald asked. "I just got back from Arx and those Shandrian fucks took my armor and my phone. What are you even on about..."

  Cinder growled, eyes blazing with murderous intent, Phase-Shifted to the max, body stretched, dark claws out. "Alexander. Your clan's Scrutimancer just took him somewhere. What did you do?"

  Emerald's red eyes widened with genuine confusion. "I didn't do anything! I've been trying to wash dried fruit out of my scales for the past..."

  A magisteel-reinforced boot sent Emerald flying into a wall, obliterating the sinks and the mirror, black marble shattering. The dragoness yelped, tried and failed to produce dragonfire to defend herself. Dark claws closed around her throat.

  "I have had just about enough of your shit, Em," Cinder snarled. "Either you tell me where my fiancee is or you die right here."

  "Ci! You... I swear I don't know," Emerald choked.

  The wall behind her cracked as her head collided with the marble tiles, sending stone shards flying.

  "Wrong answer," Cinder growled, her wings blood red. A magisteel-covered fist collided with the face of the dragoness.

  Blood sprayed from Emerald's nose as another blow connected. Her scales, dull and weakened from the slave collar's suppression, offered little protection against Cinder's rage-fueled assault.

  "Wait!" Emerald gasped, spitting blood. "Please! I really don't know anything! I've been on Arx this whole time!"

  "LIAR!" Cinder slammed her against the wall again. "Your clan's Scrutimancer just took him! Tell me where!"

  "I don't know!" Emerald wept. "Please! Stop hitting me! I saved you from..."

  Her skull cracked with another punch of a magisteel fist, her vision doubling, gray scales atop of her head shattering into gray and red crystalline shards.

  "I'd rather you didn't fucking save me you sick fuck," Cinder howled. "For two years I've been doing whatever shit you wanted. Two years, I've been your pretend-kobold, your fetchling!"

  "I... I made you stronger... I helped you..." Emerald wept as ironclad fists pummeled her into the wall.

  "You never gave a shit about me! You used me!" Cinder's voice cracked with rage and pain. "You used everyone! Vee, Sol, Io even Quint! All just tools for your sick games!"

  Blood dripped from Emerald's shattered snout as she tried to speak. "I... I was protecting..."

  "PROTECTING?!" Cinder slammed her against the wall again. "You call what you did to Sarah protection?! What you did to ME protection?!"

  "The Skinwalkers..." Emerald choked out. "I saved you from..."

  "AND THEN USED IT TO CONTROL ME!" Cinder roared, her wings blazing with violent reds and blacks. "Made me your little servant! Your perfect little songbird! You made me kill the Skinnie Clan instead of going to the authorities and now there's a fucking OUTSIDER in my soul devouring it from within, turning me into a ghoul! I would have murdered you sooner or later you dumb fuck! Guess it's time now. This is how you perma-die."

  "I'll help," a cold voice said from the doorway.

  Emerald looked up through blood-streaked vision.

  Katherine stood there, her emerald eyes glowing in the blossoming shadows. The temperature in the bathroom dropped dramatically as she stepped inside.

  "Need some assistance disposing of the body?" Katherine asked casually, her claws extending. "I know some good spots in the Deep where no one will ever find her bracelet."

  Emerald's eyes widened with terror as darkness began creeping up the walls, extinguishing the lights one by one.

  "Wait!" Emerald choked out through bloodied lips. "Please! I really don't know where they took him! I... I just asked Satosh to deal with Alexander Glock a week ago! I... I was just trying to protect you, I swear Ci!"

  "Your help made everything worse!" Cinder barked. "Alex could be dead now because of your stupid, selfish..."

  "I... I can help get him back!" Ember wept. "Please Ci, you're hurting me. If... If you kill me I can't call Satosh, can't do anything to..."

  Cinder's claws tightened around Emerald's throat, her feathers shifting through violent reds and blacks. "Why should I trust you?"

  "Because," Emerald gasped, "I'm the only one who can call off Satosh. He... he works for my family, obeys me! Please."

  Katherine stepped closer, the shadows around her deepening. "She's telling the truth. Her heart rate indicates genuine fear and desperation."

  Cinder's grip loosened slightly, but her eyes remained hard. "Call him. Now."

  "I can't," Ember mewled. "The Shandrian Watch took my phone, took everything... I don't remember his number! That was my second phone, I lost the first one during our last show! I don't have any more phones! The only way to contact Satosh is through a specific protocol. A.... an encrypted communication device. I... I don't... maybe you can take me home and... My Hearth mom's there and she can call dad and he can call Satosh and..."

  "Taking someone you just beat to near death to their parents' estate sounds like a terrible idea," Katherine pointed out.

  "If... if you take this collar off... m-my dragonheart will h-heal me," Emerald stammered. "Then I can wash the b-blood off and..."

  Katherine's emerald eyes narrowed. "No chance. That collar stays on. You're way too dangerous to us with dragonfire on."

  Cinder's grip remained tight on Emerald's throat, her feathers flickering between violent reds and calculating blues. Katherine watched from the shadows, her emerald eyes cold and assessing.

  "Prove you can help," Cinder growled. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't crack your stupid head in half right now you dumb beerch!!!"

  "I... I already swore to be Alexander Glock's... your C-clan's Sixie in front of witnesses," Emerald cried. "I... I can tell the school that it was all my fault.... that I lied about him being a human, had S-Satosh fake the report! If he was taken from Skyfall, Graves knows where he is... I... I can talk to him, tell him that..."

  Emerald's words hung in the air, trembling like a fragile promise. Cinder's grip slowly loosened.

  "You're going to help me get him back," Cinder growled, her voice low and dangerous. "And if you're lying, if he is dead, or hurt because of you, I will personally make sure you never see another sunrise, Emmy."

  "We should make her look presentable if we're going back to Graves," Katherine threw a healing potion at Cinder who shoved it into Em's mouth.

  Then as the potion took effect, Cinder pushed Emerald's face into the water spraying from the obliterated sink, quickly washing the blood off the dragon girl.