Anything?

CAIN

"And if you just invert the array here, instead of… forcshing the manah through the yoousual channel, it scchould stop reject… ing… your… bo… zzz…"

Cain’s hand outstretched just in time to prevent her from hitting her forehead on the table.

How tired must one be to end up asleep before finishing a sentence?

Well, who else would it be, really, if not her? But at the same time…

Cain sat there for a second, just watching the drool escape her wide open mouth.

Instead he set his own quill down, careful not to let it click against the desk, and gently pried hers out of her fingers before she stabbed herself with it in her sleep.

He slid one arm under her knees, the other behind her back, and lifted.

She was lighter than she had any right to be, for someone who casually leveled forests.

She mumbled something unintelligible against his shoulder and… burrowed in like he was a pillow?!

“Mimimimi…”

He felt his face go red.

Quickly, he laid her down on his bed, drew the blanket up to her chin, and stood there a moment longer than was strictly necessary.

The sofa would do fine for him tonight.

He cast one last glance at her diagrams still scattered across the desk before he blew out the candle.

This… couldn’t go on for much longer.

He needed... he needed counsel.

\\

CAIN

“Abel, what do I do?”

The bedridden boy considered Cain for a moment.

“Throughout… my limited time… in the limelight…” Abel smiled, but he was not in the room—probably in the past. “I met a great… variety… of people. And… the one constant… among them? They will… never… change… unless they want… to change.”

“Solveig is killing herself for me though. I want to… I want to get her not to care about me as much as she does. I feel like she sees me and my progress as a measure of herself. But it’s not—and I don’t know how to convey this to her without sounding like an asshole. But I feel like I’m not reciprocating—and if I do reciprocate I will feed into her worst tendencies… and…”

“...Cain.”

“Yes?”

“Right now… nothing has happened… yet…”

“And?”

“The milk… has yet to be… spilled. Just sit back… and watch.”

“You’re…” Cain breathed out. “You’re right.”

“But if you… want to change? Come… up with an… excuse. Remove yourself… say you have something to… attend to… and she can’t come with…”

“I think… man, that’s genius. It gives her a reason to get away from me for a while. Thanks for your perspective.”

“Barely… did… anything.”

“Great place to vent if nothing else. You don’t have the liberty of escaping being my confidant."

“Ha. Ha. Wow. Another joke… at my expense. How… original.”

Cain began walking out. “Thanks. See ya soon, Abel.”

“Bye.”

The door shut behind him.

And truth was... Cain disagreed with Abel. Heavily.

\\

Abel waited a while.

“The fox jumped… quickly… over the hedge.”

On cue, the door to his room opened.

“Sir?” the maid said.

“I have… some thoughts to share. Entertain… me?”

“Of course.”

The door locked shut through a mechanism only a select few in the castle were entrusted in knowing.

\\

SOLVEIG

Yawwwnnnn…

Solveig was a very sleepy girlie. Between trying to coax Cain into exercises (which he has only very reluctantly agreed to do) and magic lessons (which he has somehow gotten worse? in) AND trying to coach D’Igoll the way of the Demihuman Warrior, her time has been very limited these days! 

Honestly… she hasn’t really had time to breathe. But heroes don't get to breathe. They only cope and hope it gets better!

Catching a few ZZZ’s in Formulas class was honestly the best case scenario, really…

In fact, she was so sleepy she nearly made a fatal mistake.

Her second week of classes had, up until this point, been flowing remarkably smoothly. That was, right up until the forces that be finally decided to get off their collective butts and do something about it.

"Arrrrgh, damn it. Rolli. Rita. Khome lookie at this."

Rita was the first to respond, peering across the classroom table.

"What… heh," she collected herself, "is it?"

Solveig pointed. "See this?"

She pointed at the water bottle.

Rita's eyes flicked to Rolli. Rolli's eyes flicked to the door.

"Notice anything?"

"N-No?"

"Ah, but that's the trick of it. Watch. Watch as I pour it into the Detect formula we learned last week."

"Wait, don't—" Rolli said, then stopped himself. "You’re wasting perfectly good water; what if you get thirsty?"

“That’s exactly what ‘they’ want me to feel. But, lo!”

The water vanished into the formula and reappeared as a rather concerning, festive pink glow.

"Pink! Ha, a love potion." Solveig beamed. "Doesn't have to be a particularly potent one, mind you. Could just be something subtle. One that makes a person a little more agreeable to whatever the poisoner happens to be asking for at the time. Isn't that fun?"

"So fun," Rita said.

"Right? I wonder who'd even do something like this. Some enemy, plotting in the shadows." Solveig tapped her chin. "I should make a list of suspects."

"A list," Rolli repeated.

Solveig put her cup down, but not before throwing the rest of it out the window sill she sat near. "Keep an eye out for me, would you? Both of you. Watch everyone closely."

"Everyone," Rolli said faintly.

"Everyone," Solveig confirmed.

"O-Of course.”

Solveig forced herself to turn back to the front, directing her blurring attention to the Formulas chalkboard. But the symbols were just meaningless lines dancing in the heat.

Which… honestly…

She jaw-crackingly yawned.

A gentle tap hit her shoulder, pulling her back from the edge. Cain leaned in slightly.

“You OK?”

“Yeah… yeah…” Solveig muttered, her head lolling back. “Just need someone to slap me in the face. Real hard. That will help.”

“I won’t be slapping you in the chest. Please, let me know what I can do. We can skip this evening’s tutoring—”

“I’m fine! You’re just saying that cuz you wanna be lazy. Well, I’m not!”

“There’s… there’s a difference between laziness and capacity, and you are treading very tightly on the latter.”

“Well, nyo. Okay? That’s that. We gotta get you up the rankings; we haven’t even cracked top 10 yet.”

Besides, she needed a distraction. A distraction from herself.

For some reason, the terrifying threat of the Devil suddenly felt like a breeze—barely an inconvenience compared to the past two weeks.

Honestly… she was surrounded by so many caring, honest people right now. Cain was checking on her. Rolli was agreeing to help her. Everyone was being so good.

And it felt entirely fake.

She didn't know why everything suddenly felt so much heavier, or why their kindness made her feel more isolated instead of safe.

Her uncle used to tell her that friends carried your burdens for you. But if that old saying were true… why did she feel like she was sinking into the floor alone?

So no, Solveig wouldn’t settle.

She slapped herself on the cheeks twice with both hands.

She could do this. She would!

\\

ISOLDE

"Ah, Isolde. What a lovely surprise."

Seren didn't so much as look up from whatever she was doing with her hands.

"Seren. I'm going to cut to the chase. I'm here on business terms, and business terms only." Isolde folded her arms, refusing to sit. "I haven't forgotten how you brazenly did something short of bribing me, last time."

"Your insistence on viewing that event as something more than it was..." Seren finally glanced up. "It's simply distressing."

"Then pitch it to me. Tell me exactly what kind of information you might have that would interest me."

"Could I interest you in a cuppa first?"

Isolde didn't answer. But for the fate of Illustria, every option had to be exhausted, and exhausted thoroughly.