CHAPTER 152: IT’S A DATE

{Talia}

The deeper they went into the Dawnspark Ruins, the worse everything got.

The air was thick with corruption. Corruption that produced an oily, wrong feeling that made Talia’s skin crawl. The walls pulsed with sickly-looking purple veins. Strange whispers echoed from all around the group.

Scarlett led the way, torch held high, her sword ready in her other hand.

Kanna moved beside her, silent and focused.

Talia stayed in the middle, ready to disintegrate any enemies at a moment’s notice.

And Liora brought up the rear, clutching her lute tightly.

"So, uh... how much further?" Scarlett asked, glancing at the map Aegis had drawn.

Talia leaned over to look.

Right, the map. The map was... something.

Aegis had clearly drawn it herself. There were crude lines representing corridors, circles for rooms, and annotations scrawled everywhere in her chaotic handwriting.

"Move here!" with an arrow pointing left.

"AVOID THIS PLACE PLS!!!" with three exclamation marks next to a room marked with skull symbols.

"Make sure to jump here!" over what looked like a pit trap.

"Dangerous fight probably??? idk but be ready" near the center of the temple.

Talia’s eyes narrowed.

"How does she even know all this?"

"I dunno," Scarlett admitted. "But, hey, it’s working so far. We haven’t died."

"Yet," Kanna added helpfully. "That might change if you let your guard down."

They continued forward, following Aegis’s arrows until they reached a massive chamber at the temple’s heart.

The ceiling stretched up three stories, supported by cracked pillars. An altar stood in the center, covered in dried blood and corrupted crystal growths. And behind it—

"Oh, that’s not good," Scarlett said.

A massive umbral creature pulled itself from the shadows.

It was vaguely humanoid but fucked up in just about every way that mattered. Its arms were too long, it had a head that was more mouth than face, and its eyes glowed purple.

Its body shifted and warped right in front of them, never quite solid, like writhing black mist.

Talia’s instincts screamed danger.

"Positions!" Kanna barked.

They scattered.

The creature lunged at Scarlett, its claws raking down toward where she’d been standing a second before.

Scarlett rolled forward and came up swinging, her blade cutting through the creature’s arm.

Black ichor sprayed around it. The arm dissolved into shadow and reformed instantly.

"It regenerates!" Scarlett shouted.

"Then we hit it harder!" Talia launched ice spears from three directions simultaneously.

They punched through the creature’s torso. It shrieked, a sound like metal tearing, and stumbled.

Kanna was already moving, her blade aimed at the creature’s legs.

She cut clean through. The creature fell.

Its body started reforming immediately, shadow pooling and reshaping.

"Liora!" Talia called. "Can your magic hurt it?"

"I don’t know!" Liora’s fingers worked frantically across her lute strings.

"It’s worth a try!"

Liora inhaled slowly and her finger’s movements slowly became a tangible melody. Golden light wrapped around her instrument. The aura she created pushed the creature back.

The monster screamed.

Talia followed up with a spear made of ice and noticed that this time the monster didn’t regenerate instantly.

"Light magic hurts it!" Kanna observed. "Keep playing!"

Liora nodded to herself, inhaling slowly, and she kept going.

Scarlett charged back in, her strikes coordinated with Kanna’s now. They carved through the creature systematically while Talia froze sections to slow its movement.

Despite being hurt now, the creature still adapted quickly, with insane reflexes and wild swings. It caught Scarlett with a backhand that sent her flying into a pillar. She hit hard, armor denting.

"Scarlett!"

"I’m good!" She pushed herself up, spitting blood. "Just pissed me off is all."

She charged again, this time with even more ferocity.

Kanna focused on the creature’s core, a central mass of shadow that looked more dense than the rest of its body. Every time she struck it, the creature’s movements became more erratic.

Talia realized what Kanna was doing.

"The core! Aim for the center!"

She gathered her magic, pulling moisture from the air, from the stones, from everywhere she could reach.

The temperature plummeted.

Ice formed around the creature’s core, spreading fast, locking it in place.

"Now!"

Kanna drove her blade straight through the frozen core.

Scarlett hit from the opposite side.

The creature shattered.

Its body exploded into wisps of shadow that dissolved into nothing, leaving only silence and the sound of four people breathing hard.

Liora’s music faltered and stopped.

"Is it dead?"

"Very dead," Scarlett confirmed, leaning against her sword. "Holy shit. That was intense."

Kanna was already examining the altar.

"There’s something here."

She moved aside some of the corrupted crystals, revealing a hidden compartment beneath the stone.

Inside lay three items:

A sword, black as midnight.

A staff, carved from dark wood and topped with a crystal that pulsed rhythmically.

A suit of armor, lightweight but clearly enchanted, the metal the same deep black as the sword.

Scarlett whistled low.

"I’m going to take a wild guess and say this is what Aegis wanted us to find."

Talia picked up the sword carefully. It felt cold in her hands but not unpleasant. Balanced. Perfectly weighted.

"But how did she know this stuff was here?"

"Maybe she read about it?" Liora suggested. "She does research everything."

"This seems like more than research," Kanna said, examining the armor. "These items were hidden deliberately. How would she know about them?"

No one had an answer.

Talia thought about it. Aegis’s her perfect test scores, her seemingly random knowledge about monster hunting spots, her ability to navigate social situations with frightening precision.

[How much does she actually know all this?]

"Doesn’t matter right now," Scarlett said, already packing the items. "We got what we came for. Let’s get out of here before something worse shows up."

"Something worse than that?" Liora looked back at where the creature had been.

"I’m not sticking around to find out."

They made their way back through the temple, following Aegis’s ridiculous map in reverse.

By the time they emerged into sunlight, all four were exhausted, injured, and covered in various types of monster residue.

But, they made it. And, additionally, Talia had managed to vent a ton of frustration.

[Mission accomplished.]

---

{Sophie}

Sophie’s tongue swept into Vera’s mouth for what had to be the tenth time in as many minutes.

They stood just outside the academy gates, completely unbothered by the growing crowd of scandalized onlookers. Vera’s hands were tangled in Sophie’s hair. Sophie had one hand on Vera’s ass, squeezing.

Someone gasped.

Someone else muttered something about "shameless commoners."

Sophie didn’t care. She just kept kissing Vera, slow and deep, savoring every second of it.

In the distance, Vera’s coachman shifted his weight from foot to foot, arms crossed. His face was turning an impressive shade of red. Half embarrassment, half "please god let this end soon."

Sophie pulled back just enough to catch her breath, grinned at Vera, then dove right back in.

Vera hummed into the kiss, clearly in no rush either.

The coachman cleared his throat. Loudly.

They ignored him.

He cleared his throat again, even louder this time, like he was trying to hack up a lung.

Still nothing.

"Miss Wheeler," he called out, his voice strained. "We really should be going if you want to reach your grandparents’ estate before nightfall."

Vera broke the kiss just long enough to wave vaguely in his direction.

"One more minute."

"You said that five minutes ago."

"Then what’s one more?"

Sophie grinned against Vera’s lips and kissed her again. Deeper this time, just to be annoying.

The coachman threw his hands up.

"Fine! I’m leaving in thirty seconds. With or without you."

Vera sighed into Sophie’s mouth but finally, reluctantly, pulled away.

"I’ll miss you," Sophie said, straightening Vera’s collar even though she’d been the one to wrinkle it in the first place.

"Please. You’ll survive a week."

"Barely!" Sophie groaned, throwing her head back dramatically. "It’s gonna be so boring without you!"

Vera rolled her eyes but smiled, pulling Sophie into one more hug.

"Try not to seduce the entire academy while I’m gone."

"No promises."

"Twenty seconds!" the coachman barked.

Vera groaned, grabbed her bag, and jogged toward the carriage. She climbed inside, leaning out the window to blow Sophie a kiss.

Sophie caught it dramatically, pressing her hand to her chest like she’d been shot.

The carriage pulled away.

Sophie stood there, watching it disappear around the corner. Then she turned and started walking back toward the academy, already feeling the boredom settling in.

The halls were emptier than usual.

Most students had already left for summer break. The ones who remained were either scholarship kids like her with nowhere else to go, or nobles who’d rather stay in Rosevale than deal with their families’ bullshit.

Sophie’s own family was back at Starcaller Farm.

She could go. Technically.

But it wouldn’t be the same without Aegis there.

[Big sis promised we’d go together. So I’ll wait.]

She made her way to Aegis’s dorm room, pushing the door open without knocking.

Lune sat at her easel, brush in hand, completely focused on her canvas. Her black hair fell in front of her face, and she didn’t even glance up when Sophie walked in.

Sophie didn’t say anything. She just walked straight to Aegis’s bed and flopped face-first onto it with a dramatic thump.

The pillow smelled like Aegis. That faint mix of lavender soap and something distinctly her.

Sophie buried her face deeper into it and inhaled.

"Ah, is this what it means to feel ’creeped out’, I wonder," Lune said without looking up.

"H-Hey, don’t judge me!" Sophie shot up, clutching the pillow defensively. "I’m not the one who’s drawn like a thousand pieces of art inspired by literally one person!"

Lune’s brush paused mid-stroke.

Her expression didn’t change, but her ears turned slightly pink.

"... That’s different."

"How?"

"It’s academic. I’m studying."

Sophie snorted.

"Sure. Academic. That’s definitely why you make sure her boobs are the exact correct size every time."

"It’s called being accurate."

"Uh-huh. I believe you."

Lune set her brush down with deliberate care and turned to face Sophie, her yellow eyes flat.

"Are you done?"

"Depends. Are you done pretending you don’t have a crush on my sister?"

Lune pulled back, blinking.

"A crush?"

"Aha."

"I don’t have a crush on your sister."

"Liar."

They stared at each other.

Sophie broke first, grinning wide.

"You know what? Forget it. I’m bored. Let’s go do something."

"I’m busy."

"You’re always busy. Come on." Sophie hopped off the bed and walked over to Lune’s easel, leaning against it without touching the wet, magical paint. "Let’s go on a date. Just us."

Lune blinked.

Her purple eyes flickered with something Sophie couldn’t quite read. Surprise, maybe. Or confusion.

"A date," Lune repeated slowly.

"Yeah. You know. Where two people go out, have fun, maybe make out a little." Sophie grinned. "We could get food, walk around Rosevale, see what trouble we can get into."

"Why?"

"Because everyone else left and I’m already dying of boredom. And you need to get out of this room before you turn into a painting yourself."

Lune considered this.

For a long moment, Sophie thought she’d say no.

Then Lune stood, set her brush aside, and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair.

"Fine."

Sophie’s grin widened.

"Hell yeah. Let’s go."

They left the room together, Sophie already chattering about where they should go first.