Kristen? KRISTEN!

I spin around wildly, slipping around a little as the heat from the rocks attacks my bare feet, but I can't care less. Where's Kristen? What's happening to him? Why on Ether Earth is everything so messed up?

Oh my Norton, Eclipse, Darryl says casually, my head is getting so overloaded right now—

Something happened to Kristen! I tele-scream back at him.

Oooh, my head, but WHAT THE NORTON DO YOU MEAN?!

I don't know, I was talking to him in my head and suddenyl he yells 'WHO ARE YOU' and 'GET BACK' and I lost the connection! My hand flies to my blowpipe for no real reason. I grip it tightly, so tightly that I think it'll break. But I need something to hold onto in my messed-up life. The whiff of Coral's scented fire drifts over, this time smelling of—and this is the only way to describe it—of darkness and shadow.

Spannit, ugh. You think he's been Snatched?

What—oh my Norton— My legs give out as I sit back down —oh my Norton, please, no—but he said that he would never—

It doesn't only work like that...it's not just you...it could be your parents. Your uncles, aunts, previous family members. If they join, it'll implicate you. So you can end up wiping out your entire family tree with your actions.

I clench my blowpipe tighter, and hear a crack. Oh spannit. I can always make another blowpipe, but I can't make another situation. How am I supposed to? Where do the determiners, the root, where does it all happen? Burying my face in my hands, hunched over on the ground, I begin to cry. I cry so hard that my tears waterfall down my cheeks in torrents. Gasping between breaths, I let every single bottled-up emotion flow, unable to stop, like skating on ice at high speeds. Resentment and disappointment at my parents for leaving. Worry for my sisters, now all alone. Hatred at myself for letting people down. Anxiety for Coral, Seamus, Amisha and Anton. Desperation for Kristen's situation. Most of all, the spiralling sense of dizziness that comes with a world that's rapidly disintergrating to pieces.

Is the universe always cruel in some way?

If so, why?

Why do things spin out of control?

Why my family?

Why me?

My tears taste bitter as the cascade down and nudge against the corner of my mouth. Am I the one who affected Kristen for being his best friend? If so...I'm never going to forgive myself.

"Ersline...?"

I glance up, sunlight filtering through my tears like a radio signal. Amisha's grey eyes are locked onto me, intensely boring into my head. She looks a little worse for wear, with two additional cuts on her face and a graze down the side of her neck. "Hey," I say, my voice rasping alongside my sobs. "You're okay."

"Yeah. I guess you could say that." She sits down beside me and grasps my hand, her warm skin rubbing against my cold, tear-stained palm. "You aren't though."

I choke down another sob. "Not really."

"Hmm." There's an edge to her voice that sounds almost...suspicious. "Care to tell me why?"

"I—I can't." I'm pretty sure that every line of our conversation is being recorded...

"I see," she says, obviously not seeing at all. All at once she suddenly becomes self-conscious, glancing around quickly before lowering her head. "I've got something to show you..." she whispers, her voice trailing off like Coral's smoke. She rolls up her sleeve and tugs down on the back of her dress, exposing her shoulder blade. I lean in closer, and all my sobs studder to a halt in my throat.

"Amisha—who done this?"

"I don't—I don't know! It was after the birds, after we woke up it felt itchy there so I asked Seamus to scratch it and he found...that..."

I don't have to time care about what the 'birds' are, or were. Because 'that' is an ominous message written in what I recognise as lumenitum, signed with two familiar initials.

𝒯𝐻𝐼𝒮 𝒪𝒩𝐸 𝒟𝐼𝐸𝒮. 𝒯𝐻𝐸 𝒪𝒯𝐻𝐸𝑅𝒮 𝒮𝒰𝑅𝒱𝐼𝒱𝐸. 𝒜𝐿𝒯𝐻𝒪𝒰𝒢𝐻 𝐼𝐹 𝒯𝐻𝐸𝒴 𝒮𝒰𝑅𝒱𝒱𝐼𝐸 𝐹𝒪𝑅 𝐿𝒪𝒩𝒢, 𝒯𝐻𝐸𝒩 𝒯𝐻𝒜𝒯'𝒮 𝒜 𝑀𝐼𝑅𝒜𝒞𝐿𝐸.

- 𝐸.𝐿.

The writing's tiny, but I can see from the lettering that it's as hand-writtten as any manuscript. There's only one catch.

The font's different from the one in the Dracondese cell.

"There's a P.S...." Amisha says.

𝒫.𝒮.-𝒜𝒩𝒪𝒯𝐻𝐸𝑅 𝒲𝐼𝐿𝐿 𝐵𝐸 𝒥𝒪𝐼𝒩𝐼𝒩𝒢 𝒴𝒪𝒰𝑅 𝑅𝒜𝒩𝒦𝒮 𝒮𝒪𝒪𝒩.

Okay but for real, Darryl says slowly and I realise that he's literally right next to me, reading the words, this can't be good...can it?

I'm not sure, I send back to him. The word 'ranks'...do you think it could be punning the word? Hastily, I ask Amisha the same question.

"Possibly," she says while Darryl remains tele-silent. I envision his Pariah-form hanging onto every word Amisha utters. "It could mean that another is joining us here...or it could mean 'ranks' like army ranks...or it could mean that someone is coming to the same power and quality as us." She looks sheepish as she voices her final interpretation, and I find myself wondering why.

"And...it says that...it's inevitable that you die?" I ask incredulously. "But how—"

"Precognitioning," shhe answers flatly. "It's common knowledge among Precognitionists that if two or more people have the same vision, then there's a nine out of ten chance that the vision is accurate."

"But—"

"Remember the vision I had a few days ago?" she continues, mercilessly cutting across my sentence. "The one with the glint of metal and lots of blood and where I thought the victim was me?"

What's she talking about? Darryl tele-whispers to me, like he doesn't want to be heard, even though we both know that Amisha can't hear us.

You weren't here then. Just shut up and listen, I tele-snap back.

"Anyways," Amisha ploughs on, "this message and that vision seem to be super similar, so I'm wondering if they're talking about the same thing, and—"

"Amisha," I say tersely, effectively shutting her up.

"What?" She's evidently annoyed at her lecture on Precognition being cut short.

"I'm not wondering about their meaning. For now, at least. The more pressing thing is who wrote it there."

At last I have her attention. "Go on..."

"I didn't even know about it, so it narrows down to Seamus, Anton, Coral and—" I pause, realising that even if Amisha knows about Darryl, the microphones don't. "Actually, just the three of them."

I didn't do it! Darryl tele-insists.

Hmm.

"Yeah..." Amisha says. She gives me a look that could spurt ice. "Thanks for the help." A hint of steel glints in her voice.

"Look, Amisha, I don't know why you have to be like this, but—"

"Oh, don't you, Ecplise?" she shoots back.

The last word slams into me like a punch in the gut, and I find myself getting to my feet. "How did you know.." I whisper. The microphones, idiot! I want to shout at her. The microphones!

Amisha remains seated, a knowing, bitter smirk touching her lips. "How do I know? Eclipse, oh Eclipse...there's so much you don't know in this world."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I answer, fighting to keep my voice steady. What does she know that I don't?

Eclipse! Hey! Eclipse!

Not NOW, Dosser! I press at him, still fixated on Amisha.

YES now!

I finally hear the note of urgency tingling in his mind-voice. What? I ask, as Amisha gives a slow sigh.

Norton's here...

WHAT?! I tele-exclaim.

Amisha, unaware of the conversation, studies my face. Her smirk dynamic shifts and shows tints of sadness. "One day, you'll understand."

(YEAH I GOT IT OUT FASTER THAN USUAL WHEEEEE :DDDD SOPH -> OUT)