Chapter 7 - Can't Rest Easy

"You mean the trail that led you to my lab?"

"Yes! That one!"

At this point, neither Mr.Hugo nor Flo could categorise this incident as something they could overlook. There were too many things that made zero sense: the golden-white core, Flo's strange ObserVation scan, the voice crying out from the storm and now the trail of white light.

"Florentine?" a familiar voice called out.

Flo turned around to see Caecilius walking towards her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I am part of the auxiliary NightGlow squad in case the primary units need backup," he replied neutrally. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I see! I work in the Observatory as a researcher and was headed there when I got caught up in the disaster by accident," Flo explained.

Caecilius looked at her, a rare flicker of surprise crossing his features. "Are you alright? The tornado was dangerous."

"I am fine!" Flo looked down at herself. She was covered in grey dust, leaves were tangled in her hair and her clothes looked as though they had been personally mauled by the mountain terrain. She quickly looked back up, plastering on a bright smile. "Completely fine!"

Caecilius stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" A twig dropped out of her hair and clattered onto the stone path. "Absolutely." Caecilius offered a quiet nod.

Flo asked, "Do you know what caused the disaster in the first place?"

"Yes, I have been told that it was some ability user whose magic went out of control," Caecilius replied.

Flo asked, her brow furrowing in thought, "Why hasn't that happened before then?"

"Perhaps it was a particularly strong user this time and users of that level rarely ever make mistakes."

Flo crossed her arms. "But if it was just someone's magic going out of control, why did nobody else sense the golden-white core?"

Caecilius looked at her, his dark eyes narrowing slightly in confusion. "The core?"

Flo opened her mouth to explain, then paused. She could hardly break down a complex anomaly in the middle of a rescue zone with busy medics and guards all around.

Before she could say anything, a voice called out from behind, "CAECILIUS!"

An operative waved to him from a pile of rubble. "Help us clear the debris!"

Caecilius looked back over his shoulder. "Sorry, I will have to take my leave. Rest well."

"Yeah, you too!"

Caecilius turned around and left for his duty call. Flo watched him go before turning to Mr.Hugo.

Flo dusted off her sleeves. "Come on. Let's go back."

Back at the Observatory, Flo dropped into her chair with a heavy sigh and repeated her question, "How could it be someone's magic when no one even saw the golden-white core?"

Mr.Hugo set a thick stack of reports onto his desk. "And no one's ObserVation picked up a trace."

"Yeah, that's what I’m saying!" Flo leaned forward.

"I think we should look into this further tonight."

Mr.Hugo looked at the clock on the wall, then at Flo, then back at the clock. "Tonight," he repeated slowly, hinting at their late-night secret testing.

Flo narrowed her eyes. "You're already thinking about sleeping, aren't you?"

"I would never."

"You absolutely are."

"I am a responsible professor."

"You once fell asleep standing up during a lecture."

"That was advanced meditation."

"You were snoring!"

"It was deep breathing exercises."

Flo deadpanned, staring at him until Mr.Hugo offered a sheepish smile and slunk back into his office.

As soon as the clock struck 2 AM, Flo stood ready inside the testing hall. She had recalibrated the diagnostic arrays, set up her notebook and doubled all the sensors around the primary ability measurement chamber. If her magic flared the anomaly again, she was going to catch it.

Mr.Hugo stood outside the glass, looking considerably less enthusiastic about being awake at two in the morning.

"Ready?" he called through the mic.

"Ready!"

Flo stepped inside and the heavy chamber doors sealed behind her. She began with DayShine but nothing out of the ordinary happened. She switched to ObserVation and received standard readings. She tried DayShine again, pushing more output into the system but still nothing. She ran a full diagnostic scan but the screens displayed completely ordinary data lines.

Flo stared at the readouts in dead silence.

Mr.Hugo looked through the glass. "Nothing?"

"Nothing," Flo muttered, deflating.

She let out a long, defeated sigh. "Maybe it only happens inside an active storm."

"That is possible."

Flo crossed her arms, pouting.

"Try to remember the exact moments when you saw the white core," Mr.Hugo suggested softly.

Flo closed her eyes, retracing the memory. The howling wind. The swirling dust. Her DayShine barrier getting drawn inward. And then... shifting into ObserVation.

"Wait." She snapped her eyes open. "The ObserVation! It was different! The scan wave was golden-white this time, which is completely unlike my usual ObserVation scan wave!"

Flo pulled out her notebook, scribbling at breakneck speed. "Colour shift... crying noises... core visibility..." She stared at the page, a triumphant grin spreading across her face. "Finally, this has to be an anomaly!"

Mr.Hugo smiled faintly from the control station. "Well, there you go."

"Maybe my ObserVation shifted because of the core," Flo muttered, tapping her chin with her pen. "Or maybe the core reacted to my ability! Or maybe there is an underlying link between the two! Or maybe-"

"You know what?" Mr.Hugo interrupted, standing up from his chair. "Log the details for tonight. We can only wait for time to reveal itself and give us opportunities to uncover what you saw and what it means."

Flo squinted at him. "You are just trying to clock in early, aren't you?"

"Okay, bye-bye!" Mr.Hugo was out the door before he even heard the last of her.

"MR.HUGO~~~!" Aaand he was gone.

Flo let out a heavy sigh, tossing her pen onto the desk. "Unbelievable."

She walked back up to her desk on the upper floor where her cat was sprawled out over a stack of blank parchment. Flo stared at the cat. The cat stared back with unblinking eyes.

"You agree with me, don't you?" Flo asked. The cat blinked slowly.

"I knew you would." She scooped the cat up, holding it at eye level. "There has to be something relevant to the incident and my ability. I know it. The cat gave a tiny, indifferent meow. "I can't rest easy unless this is solved!"

The cat looked deeply unimpressed, squirming out of her grip to curl up on the seat cushion. Flo set the cat down gently. "How cute but I must focus today" She slapped her cheeks and turned toward the archives. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

[ Time Skip ]
It was morning and Flo still had no answers.

Flo had spent the whole night scouring old books about abilities in the mini library. She had searched through dusty, ancient volumes for any mention of dual abilities but nothing. She had searched for unusual ObserVation phenomena and still nothing useful. She had searched for magical storms or tornadoes, nothing. She had even searched for golden-white cores, absolutely zero hits.

Flo slammed another heavy book shut. "Why is there nothing?!" The cat, now awake with the loud slam, watched her from across the table.

Flo wept streams of tears and petted the cat aggressively for comfort. Without sleep, she was a half-zombie as she dragged herself back to her dorms.

At the dorms, Amelia was waiting by the entrance. The moment she caught sight of Flo's sunken eyes, her expression shifted from concern to annoyance. "Flo?"

Flo stopped in her tracks, blinking slowly. "Hmm?"

"Are you okay? You didn't even come back last night! I was worried!"

Flo scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Yeah, I was busy at the Observatory."

Amelia crossed her arms. "You stayed there all night? Again? Did you even sleep?"

Flo thought about it. "No."

Amelia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Of course."

Flo offered a faint smile. "Don't worry, I'm completely functional."

"You look like a ghost."

"Thank you."

"Not a compliment!" Amelia took Flo by the shoulders. "Sit."

Flo sat.

"Eat." Amelia handed her a wrapped sandwich.

Flo ate.

"Drink." Amelia thrust a water bottle into her hands.

Flo drank.

"Now, talk."

Flo was now finally looking like a human with a glow on her cheeks.

Her XP energy was revived but it didnt last long. She let out a long sigh and told Amelia about the tornado.

"Caecilius said it was someone's magic gone haywire," Flo finished.

Amelia frowned. "Who's Caecilius?"

"My NightGlow practical partner."

"Oh, yeah! I heard Mr.George was doing that," Amelia recalled. She suddenly locked eyes with Flo. "Wait... you mean the scary, quiet guy?"

Flo tilted her head. "...Maybe?"

"Flo, there are only so many scary, quiet NightGlow users in our batch."

"He's not scary though."

Flo turned her head toward the street and then back to Amelia. Amelia suggested, "You know what? Let's go out."

"Now?"

"Yes. Maybe because you've spent the entire night staring at ancient paper, let's cheer you up."

"Mon amii~" Flo hugged her and Amelia smiled softly.

They ended up at a cozy little café not too far from the academy. The cafe had cute small wooden tables and warm lighting.

"This is nice," Flo murmured, sliding into a booth.

Amelia sat opposite her. "Now stop thinking about the tornado."

Flo nodded firmly. "I won't."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Five seconds passed in silence. Flo stared out the window, tapping her fingers on the table. Their drinks arrived. Flo took a sip of her warm mocha and it took her by surprise. "Oh…! This is amazing!" Flo whispered, clutching the mug.

"Are you... crying?" Amelia asked.

"It's just really good coffee!"

"It's basic coffee, Flo."

"It's so good, this will be my comfort drink from now on!"

Amelia laughed and for the first time that morning, Flo actually relaxed.

Then, a fragment of conversation could be heard from the table behind them. A customer was talking loudly with another person sitting at their table.

"...I'm telling you, something weird happened again when I went to her house yesterday," a man muttered.

Flo's right ear twitched. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop. The café was just too quiet and the man wasn't whispering.

"I went over to check his place and items and stuff were dropping here and there," the man continued. "Three books just flew off the shelf by themselves!"

His companion laughed nervously. "Maybe the shelf is broken?"

"No! The shelf was fine! And then a picture frame slammed down and the cupboard door opened right in front of me! Even the piano started playing on its own."

Flo slowly turned her head toward the booth behind her but then looked back straight when her eyes met one of them. She gave Amelia a surprised look who, by the looks of it, was also already quite invested in the story.

The conversation behind them went on. "Then there was this weird, heavy dragging sound coming from upstairs."

"You think the house is haunted?"

"I don't know, man. But what if it's related to all the incidents happening around the city?"

Flo froze. She slowly turned her eyes back to Amelia. Behind them, the customer let out a heavy sigh. "Ah, whatever. It's probably nothing."

Flo stared into her coffee mug, her interest thoroughly piqued. An isolated house, objects moving, strange sounds and a potential link to the incidents happening around the city? It could easily be an old building with bad plumbing... but Flo couldn't leave it alone, not when this could be the opportunity Mr.Hugo was talking about.

After the customers went away, Amelia whispered,"Flo, eavesdropping is bad! But…"

Flo looked up at Amelia with absolute conviction. "I need to investigate that house."

Amelia grovelled, burying her face in her hands. "What?!"

"I just need a reason to go to that house."

"Why do you need a reason?"

"Because I can't just knock on a stranger's front door and say, 'Hello! I heard your cupboard is haunted. May I come inside?'"

"Still, no."

"Come on, Ami!" Flo tapped her fingers rapidly on the table. "We need a tactical plan."

"Why am I in this tactical plan?!"

"Because you are my best friend!"

"That is emotional blackmail!"

"And it is highly effective!"

"Unfortunately," Amelia groaned.

Flo leaned across the table, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "We could pretend to be official academy safety inspectors."

"Absolutely not."

"Why?"

"Because that is impersonating an official, Flo!"

"Fine." Flo stroked her chin. "We could pose as advanced research students conducting a field survey."

"That sounds even more suspicious."

"Then you talk to the owner first."

"Why me?!"

"Because you look trustworthy!"

"I am not using my guts for breaking and entering! Also, we need someone who has some connection to the squad officials to look legit."

Suddenly Flo exclaimed, "Wait."

"What?" Amelia asked cautiously.

"I know someone who can give us legitimate standing."

Amelia's face dropped instantly. "Who?"

Flo smiled brightly. "Caecilius."

Later that afternoon, Flo stood near the gates of the Active Ability Academy. Caecilius was walking out of the practical training sector when he spotted her waiting by the archway. He stopped in his tracks.

"Florentine?"

"Caecilius!" Flo called out, marching over.

He looked at her, then glanced at a deeply embarrassed Amelia standing two paces behind her, then looked back at Flo. "What brings you here?"

"I need a favour," Flo declared directly.

Caecilius paused, his expression remaining completely unreadable. "That sounds dangerous."

Amelia covered her face with both hands.

Flo gasped, her eyes starting to tear. "I am an academic researcher! It’s for science! Should you as an ability user yourself contribute in the name of science?!"

Caecilius nodded slowly, thinking about it deeply.

Flo turned to Amelia, pointing at him. "See? He gets it!"

"That’s again misconstruing the situation, Flo," Amelia mumbled from behind her hands.

Flo ignored her, stepping closer to Caecilius. "There is a residential house nearby where unexplained phenomena are occurring."

Caecilius listened quietly.

"Objects falling off shelves and doors opening on their own and heavy dragging sounds." Flo leaned in. "And I suspect it might be connected to the city incidents."

"And you wish to investigate it?" Caecilius asked.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

Flo offered a confident smile. " For SCIENCE off course! And it’s not wrong because it’s-”

“For science,” Caecilius completed her line. He was silent for a moment, processing her words. Then, he gave a single, firm nod. "I will assist you."

Flo's eyes lit up instantly. "Really?!"

"Yes. My NightGlow unit handles localized magic containment. That gives us official jurisdiction to inspect private property reporting abnormal magic activity."

Amelia peeked through her fingers, thoroughly shocked that this was actually working.

"Excellent!" Flo cheered.

Caecilius looked down at her. "So, what is our plan once inside?"

Flo paused and then, replied "Well... we can figure that out as we go."

Caecilius stared at her in dead silence.

Amelia let out a long, exhausted sigh. "I told you this would happen."

Flo smiled brightly, adjusting her cloak straps with complete, unearned confidence. "Don't worry! We will be fine!"

She had absolutely no idea what they were about to encounter but one thing was certain, she was confident about it.