Rising Shards

Maia watched as Iris peeked around a brick pillar. She assumed she was blocked from where she stood so she didn't make much of an effort to hide herself.

"Where are they even going...?" Iris asked.

Ahead of the two were Caeda and Chickadee, two of the devil group. By Maia's estimation just from what she'd seen half-paying attention to them in class, the two weren't as close with the other devils. Anastasia's group had been pretty clingy with each other after the whole dramatic reveal with them beating up Penteldtam, and Caeda and Chickadee hadn't been seen much.

"This is more gumption than you usually have about..." Maia said.

"Anything not related to us? Right? But Chickadee keeps messing with everyone, and Caeda's creepy, so they gotta be up to something." Iris said. "What if we're the only ones who can find out?"

"I...don't really care?" Maia said.

"Yeah, I don't really either," Iris said. "But, my dear friend, but! This is suitably distracting enough to not do our yet-to-be-renamed B.F.S. business until evening."

"That's true, yeah," Maia said.

Caeda and Chickadee were taking their sweet time getting wherever they were going, though.

"Wow, tailing people is boring," Iris said.

"Getting tired of this already?" Maia asked.

"Yes, but we're in too deep now!" Iris said. "Or, this is the only thing I can think of right now that can distract me."

"Uh huh," Maia said. "Well, we could pick up a new hobby or something."

Keeping an eye around her, Maia made sure Caeda and Chickadee weren't looking their way. She did notice Roux and Raytris approaching. Roux and Iris talking would probably completely derail Iris' attention.

While Maia was prepping for Roux and Raytris, she didn't notice that Tay was passing by.

"We tried that with the magazine collecting," Iris said. "And what did we do? What we always end up doing. Making out and biting each other."

Tay froze in her tracks. "Uh. Did you just say..."

"Don't even worry about it," Iris said, waving her away.

"Because I've heard the rumors about your...'B.F.S.' and would just like to inquire—" Tay said.

"Leave us alone already," Maia said. She grabbed Iris' hand. "C'mon, we're gonna lose them."

"Lose who?" Roux said.

Maia sighed. They were at a serious risk of picking up a party they did not want following them.

"Are you tailing someone?" Roux asked. "Because I can give you my tips on how to follow someone."

"O-or you could just send me," Raytris said. "I can sneak really well." To demonstrate, the slime girl turned into a much smaller version of herself, then back to her regular height.

"Or me!" Tay said. "Who are you following?"

"Damn, too late," Maia said.

"Everyone get behind us!" Iris said. "Caeda and Chickadee were acting weird."

"Weird how?" Tay said, pulling out a small notepad from her pocket and a pen from behind her ear. "Give me details, please?"

"We don't even know! We were just gonna follow them," Iris said. "If you wanna come with, you can't screw this up for us."

"I mean, they can, then we'll just do something else," Maia said.

"No! We gotta at least try a little," Iris said. "Which means you three better quit yapping for at least five seconds if we get closer."

"One question, though," Tay said. "Caeda doesn't have that frying pan, does she?"

"How should we know? She probably has it on her at all times now," Iris said.

"That frying pan is like the symbol of what she wants to be at this school," Tay said.

"Like...a violent chef?" Iris said.

"No, more like," Tay shook her head mournfully. "She wanted to be popular and important so badly for so long that she chose a strange and probably dangerous path. Now that she finally got attention from a big, dramatic, violent act, she's clinging to that image of herself."

"Huh," Iris said, not sure what to make of this analysis. She kind of wanted to hear what Tay thought about her and Maia, but at the same time absolutely didn't want to get analyzed by Tay. "Weird..."

"Chickadee, though, I haven't gotten enough intel, she's kind of a strange case even for me," Tay said. "I've gotten some conflicting sources about her so I'm not sure yet if—"

"Hey, they're leaving," Maia said.

"Alright, let's go team!" Iris said, pumping her fists in the air. Then she covered her mouth, hiding behind the pillar and peeking over to make sure she didn't draw attention to them.

"I don't want to call this a team," Maia said.

"Fine, all of us snooping dweebs let's go follow those weird, violent girls!" Iris said.

"I never said I was coming with," Roux said, crossing their arms.

"Freaking fine, don't come with then!" Iris said.

"Well, I could use the intel for my own nefarious secret keeping," Roux smiled smugly. "I am picking up quite a lot of secrets lately, it would be nice to add a few more." They chuckled. "Will I tell you what I've learned? No, I shan't, I promised I'd keep it all under wraps, hehehe..."

"You are so annoying, either shut the hell up and come with or don't!" Iris said.

And so, the strange gathering of a not-quite team followed Caeda and Chickadee. The two proceeded into one of the older buildings on campus, heading down a stairwell.

"Everybody whisper, our voices are gonna echo," Maia said.

"Isn't this where the Chumbler casino was?" Iris said.

"Yes, and where the current bicycle gang hideout is," Tay said.

The basement of this particular old building had a wide ballroom in it, one that was apparently too much work for the school to maintain, or maybe one that didn't get as much attention compared to the fancy new areas of the school. Because of that it was a regular space for strange cliques and factions to take up shop. Big pieces of cardboard were strewn about, formerly hallways for the current residents, but it looked like they'd been discarded.

There was a big enough pile of cardboard for the group to hide behind. Iris looked ahead and saw Caeda and Chickadee approach a familiar face.

"Oh my god," Iris said, pointing at Laenie, who sat behind a desk that the faculty must have discarded long ago.

"Yeah, we see her," Maia said.

"She's been gone for like ten years, what the hell!" Iris said.

"No she hasn't, I see her around a lot," Maia said. "She just...used to be easier to be around when she was just a regular shy girl rather than wannabe biker gang leader. She kinda scared off everyone we hang out with."

"I'd ask how could she scare anyone, but then I remember the whole Exa Cani thing," Iris said.

"Shh!" Tay got out a pair of binoculars with one hand, and a pen in the other as she knelt down, a notepad seemingly appearing out of nowhere atop her thigh. "Quiet, I want to hear what they're saying."

"You be quiet," Iris said. "Or, wait, you're right. This is like, exactly what we came here for. Think we'll find out some big world altering secret listening in on this?"

"Maybe if you actually shut up," Maia said.

"Hey—" Iris started, but Maia just ruffled her hair. When Iris patted her own head trying to get her hair right, she pouted at Maia, but Maia just winked back. That had such an effect on Iris that she almost forgot why she even came all this way. 

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