Rising Shards

I tried to ready myself for whatever was coming. I figured we'd find Chickadee, Caeda, that cloaked girl, and whoever else was working with us, they'd zap us to some other imp world in the void, I'd go in Downside mode and kick their asses and that strong sprite, which would apparently get Jeans and Rem out of Aira and Syval. Then we'd get back to the dance, I'd enjoy the dance with Marms, then afterwards finally tell Zeta, Oka, and Lillia everything once it was all taken care of and they didn't have to worry anymore. Having a plan like that helped even with all the unknowns.

We met one last time at a private spot outside the dome. Roux was keeping watch in case anyone got close, claiming they'd make a specific bird call if they spotted anyone, but wouldn't say what bird call. I said to just whistle, but they wouldn't listen.

"So is Jeans gonna like tell us which one has this Blade sprite?" Marmalade asked.

"I dunno," Aira said. "Jeans? You there?"

Jeans didn't project herself outward.

"She does this," Aira said. "I don't think she likes me at all."

"I'd keep it that way," I said. "We can't let her get..." I trailed off, staring at Syval. "OK, what is this now? You didn't have that on five minutes ago,"

Our companion Syval now had a lime green prom dress on, along with a wig.

"I'm blending in," Syval explained, pulling the bangs aside on the wig to reveal his face. "I felt too weird just being me here now that the schools are split. I made it with my adaptive gear, it can also turn into my new Tokickaman outfit in a pinch!"

"I'm sure there are lots of guys here, it's just a dance," I said.

"Yeah, but, I dunno," Syval said.

"I'll admit it, I'm jealous," Marmalade said.

"Of what?" I laughed.

"Of Syval's figure," Marms said. "And height."

"What, because he's short? Oh," I said. Syval did kind of rock the dress and if I didn't know him I wouldn't think anything of it, but that didn't mean Marmalade looked bad at all. I could see that being something she'd get self-conscious about, though. "I mean, I get it, but you look awesome, Marms."

"You think?" Marmalade said.

Something about her pouty look made me feel off. Like my Downside self was about to pop out again.

"Enough of whatever brand of flirting that is, let's get this mess over with already," Roux said.

"Team Tokickaman, go!" Syval said, cheering.

"Well," Marmalade said, crossing her arms.

"Well what?" Syval asked.

"I like Team Downside better," Marmalade said.

"But we're Team Tokickaman..." Aira said.

"You can be Team Tokickaman, and they can be Team Downside," Roux said. "Both of which are subsidiaries of Roux Enterprises."

We headed into the dance, which was kicking off with some bands. After all the build up to this dance, and the whole new dome they built for it, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see the dance floor was just like. Regular. It was mostly girls from Rising Shards and Wildfire Hearts, and having it just be our grade meant I could see a lot of people I knew, but everyone was too focused on the stage to notice us. The lights dimmed, and I waited by some empty tables with the others as the first band took the stage.

I lost myself a bit, my determination to get this over quickly wrecked by the first band being Nikki's. They were...awesome. It pissed me off how good they were. The music was good, the crowd loved them, they were so good that we barely noticed the weird light effect cascading down around us. Well, most of us didn't, some in our grade went to play in it for a bit, saying it felt like walking through mist when I asked a bit later.

And there Anastasia was on stage, who'd snatched Nikki from me. No, that wasn't right. Nikki was just too much of an airhead to tell me she was dating someone, and I was too stupid to ask. Now they weren't even together, and I just felt hollow watching them from the back of the crowd.

Until I felt someone grab my wrist.

"Hey," Marmalade said. She smiled, tilting her head to the side. I think she asked if I was alright, but I didn't hear that. I was too busy focusing on her now.

Warmth filled me again. That hollow space in my heart maybe didn't have to stay so hollow. Or maybe it had been filled with something else for a while, now.

"Yeah," I said. "Let's get going."

"Wait,"

A chill ran down my spine as Jeans suddenly stood right in front of us. Or floated or whatever.

"There you are," Aira said. "You know, if you want us to help you, you could like, show up and guide us a bit more."

"That's what I'm doing now," Jeans said. "And if you listen to me, you and I won't be stuck together anymore." She said that so bitingly that it was clear that her personality type was not remotely compatible with Aira's. After everything she put Zeta through, it was kinda nice to think about her being stuck to someone she couldn't greatly manipulate the same way.

But as I thought that, I did have a passing thought that she was manipulating us in a different way, which probably wasn't much better.

"Wait for what?" I said.

"Call it a hunch," Jeans said.

"If you betray us, I am gonna kick your ass, you know," I said.

"I'm not betraying you, I just have a hunch that the person we're looking for is...someone we have to wait for," Jeans said.

"And we wait back here?" I asked.

"Yes," Jeans said.

I couldn't see any of my friends around at least, so I could tell myself I wasn't actively avoiding them. Nikki's band finished, and the next took the stage, a bunch of ratty looking middle aged dudes in purposefully ripped clothes. They looked like a bunch of dorky dads trying to be badass.

"Hoo boy," Aira said.

"None of them have Blade," Jeans said, but we didn't need to hear that, it was clear these were just a bunch of dweebs that somehow ended up here. It wouldn't surprise me if we found out they were Penteldtam's favorite band or something and they got to play here to make him feel better after the school board had the devils kick his ass out of here.

The lead singer cleared his throat, turning a baseball cap around. "We are Eclectic Skullduggery and Stale Donuts! Are you dumbasses ready for some heavy metal rock and roll?"

The response was tepid to say the least. The dad band jumped into their set, which was I think an attempt at metal, it was definitely exciting, but the combination of way too loud instruments and nonsensical screaming rap lyrics about grills, taxes, wives, ex-wives, and golf courses made for a painful listen. All the dancing stopped as everyone stood in pained awe.

"Oh my god, they're terrible," Syval said. "Like, listen, there's good nu metal. Great nu metal, even. But this?"

Syval rambled on and on about his favorite nu metal bands for the entire set. We could barely hear him from how loud the band was, but eventually they wrapped up, and the third band took the stage.

"Get ready," Jeans said, appearing again.

We all tensed up.

"Blade's close," Jeans said. "I can sense it."

The retention sprite of General Blade, some chick in the void who was super powerful, who defeated both Jeans and Rem, eventually roping Aira and Syval into their mess (well, Aira and Syval did that on their own). If we could fix this, we could undo a lot, and finally slow down this snowball that had been rolling downhill ever since I first joined Aira and Syval for their heroic Tokickaman work. I was ready to put this chapter behind me, and move on to something better.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!