Rising Shards

While Amara and Michi found another activity to entertain themselves with, Rain and Ash were just making small talk when we found them.

"It's gotta be weird," Ash said.

"Sometimes, yes, but studying abroad makes those royal burdens lessened," Rain said. "I still of course have to think about my status and not be too reckless in my decision making."

"That'd drive me crazy," Ash said. "I already second guess everything I do."

Myles leaned on the table, glancing smugly between Rain and her sister Ash. I knew the look; my siblings Lyla and Lilith had similar expressions when they were about to embarrass me. It seemed like it was an inherent duty of siblings to be able to do so. Lilith was better at it than Lyla though, my older sister had mostly grown out of that, but there were times she ran into me with my friends where she'd try to upset me, doing things like casually dropping the information that I hadn't quite finished every volume of the classic literary theory series Tales of Writing Beyond Fiction. Myles' style of embarrassing her sister was more akin to my younger sister Lilith, going for something overt rather than quietly humiliating.

"You definitely second guessed that beef stew you had the night before that spelling bee," Myles said.

Ash cursed at her sister, revealing quite a sailor's vocabulary as Myles just laughed.

"That was like ten years ago, how do you even remember that?" Ash snapped. "And that wasn't even why I...whatever, nobody needs to hear that story."

I didn't see anything immediately similar between the two, or any reason why they'd be paired up. Rain, a princess from Novu, and Ash, a devil Cani from another world. Maybe the distance they took to get here?

"So, how's it going here?" Myles asked.

"It's adequate," Rain said. "I don't mean that as offense to you, Ash, of course, just this eating establishment is a much lower quality than I am used to."

"She said when she's at home in Novu, their royalty legally can't eat at a restaurant if it's below the standard."

"And the standard is much, much higher than this," Rain said.

"We're trying to figure out why we got paired up," Anastasia said. "We're thinking it's not as random as it first seemed, and trying to get clues from that."

"Well, if they were going by the royalty angle, they would have paired up Rain with Charmaine," Ash said. "I dunno what we have in common. I guess A's in our first name? Both our last names start with A, too..."

"It's not necessarily just what you have in common," Tay said. "It could be inherent chemistry."

"Well, there's not a lot of that here," Ash said. "And I don't mean that as offense to you, either, Rain."

"No, I understand, there really isn't so much as a flicker of romantic chemistry between us," Rain said.

"A bit more blunt than I'd put it, but yeah," Ash said.

"Could this be the theorized 'glitch,' then? A pairing that isn't quite right?" I said.

Tay slammed her hands down on the table.

"Whoa! Hey!" Ash said.

"Hmmmm," Tay squinted at Ash, then Rain. "Nope, this one's clear."

"How can you be so sure?" Anastasia asked.

"Their hair colors complement each other," Tay said with complete confidence.

Ash's blue and Rain's red...I supposed that had some merit to it?

"Well, my hair color's the same as Ash's, so what would be the difference between us?" Myles asked. "Why pick her for this spot and not me?"

"No, that wouldn't do at all," Tay said. "The colors complement, but Ash's short hair matches Rain's longer hair. Your long hair isn't compatible with Rain's."

"That makes sense to me," Rain said.

"Does it?" Sai asked.

Anastasia put a hand on Tay's shoulder. "That kind of inane logic is making me even more certain you're responsible for this." She gripped tightly. "You having these bizarre motivations to group them together, ones only you could understand. Then you lead us around, explaining why each group is together. With the end goal of getting us to go to the prom in these pairs and the group of three. While documenting it in your silly little books. Do I have it correct?"

"You don't, seriously!" Tay said. "I wouldn't interfere with anyone's love lives, I just like documenting them! And I'm not just about romance, I track friendships and enemies as well. I simply understand the thought process behind whoever did this. Or at least I think I do."

"If that's really the case, who do you think did this?" I asked. "Just an imp looking like that Thadley character, or the real Thadley himself somehow? Or are we perhaps being held here by a classmate?"

"I think...it's someone who wants people to be together," Tay said. "Someone lonely, maybe, someone who can't stand to see anyone alone. To that end, I understand and even empathize with whoever or whatever has us in their grasp."

It would make sense for Tay's hobby of keeping track of her classmates friendships and relationships to be born out of some loneliness. It made me pity her a bit, and hope she found someone someday. I also thought about how painful it had been for me since my breakup with Ko, but I wasn't able to find the right words to say that it can hurt as much as bitter solitude to be romantically involved with someone.

"Whether an imp from the void could have longings like that, I am not sure. But maybe if someone is pulling the strings on this operation, the emotions are being filtered through that lens..." Tay said.

"I don't understand that at all, but you sound like you know what you're saying," Myles said.

"Let's check the last pair, then," I said. "If the others are clear, then they're the odd one out, yes?"

"Most likely," Tay said.

Just as began to think of any similarities or potential chemistry between KJ and Charmaine, the former got up from her table, her stride frantic as she reached us.

"Stay back!" KJ said. Rain rose to her feet immediately, embracing her. Amara was there almost seconds later, standing protectively in front of the two.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Myles said.

"We were just talking, and she...she got all weird! Something's wrong with her, she's dangerous..." KJ said.

At the table KJ sat at, Charmaine stood, then remained still. The stiff body language was like she had been haunted. Her eyes suddenly glowed red, and a horrible wail escaped her lips as she flew toward us.

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