With her aching side, Banshee didn't enjoy her run the same way she usually did.

A small group noticed her and tried to chase her down, Liaisers out and pointed in her direction. Usually, she'd have played a game of hide and seek with them before sneaking up behind them, but tonight, she just wanted to get home. It took her a few minutes to be sure that she'd lost them, but as always, she did.

From the rooftops, Banshee dropped into a quiet alcove a few blocks from her house. There, she placed Cryo's ice on the ground and spoke the words that would dim her.

"Shadow of Skypillar, return."

The shadow smoke took her sight, leaving Olivia completely disoriented with her half-broken glasses. She opened her bag for Viri to slip into the shadows of, relieved to see that her Ascended was looking far better than she had back at the skyshrine. Maybe it was that she'd dimmed out of choice rather than dimming because she'd drained Viri's power, but Olivia didn't think that was it. Even after recharging, Viri had still looked... off. If what Harpy had said was true, it'd explain a lot. Their bond was obviously still in tact, given that she'd been able to transform again after dimming on Cryo's back, but Olivia couldn't help wondering what damage the Shimmer had done.

Olivia picked up Cryo's ice, and with it pressed to her side, started rollerblading home.

She kept her bag open just enough for Viri peek out of. "Are you okay, Viri? How do I even give an Ascended first-aid?"

"I don't need first-aid, Olivia," said Viri. "We share the wound. I have a bruise, just like you, but I'll be okay. The auroras will heal me eventually. When you transform and dim next, we'll split and share what remains of the wound again."

Olivia frowned. "I'm sorry, Viri. I didn't even think how much the Shimmer might have hurt you. I was too focused on being dim around Cryo."

"You couldn't have known, Olivia," said Viri. "I could feel how disconcerted you were. I understand."

Olivia rubbed the side of her face. "That's not the point."

She paused as she bladed by the same group that was still trying to work out where Banshee had gone, blaming one of their members in particular for losing her. With a spark of inspiration, Olivia reached inside her bag for her own Liaiser, intending to appear as if her conversation was with someone on the other end when she realised it wasn't in her bag.

"Oh, Other take me, I'm an idiot," grumbled Olivia. "I must have left it at Ariel's or something. Mum and dad are really going to--" Everything came back in a flash--the gathering, her broken glasses, Jason, the High Speaker catching her in the Starlight Hall. With Banshee's last few hours, she'd completely forgotten how deep the hole was that Olivia was actually in. "--kill me. Like, literally this time. We may as well start planning the funeral."

"And um, I'm sorry about that too, Olivia," said Viri. "In the moment, I forgot you weren't allowed in the Starlight Hall. It's just so natural for me to be there. I didn't think twice about it."

Olivia blew a piece of hair out of her face. "We could have made a break for it if you hadn't panicked and left me right in the middle of it y'no."

"I didn't want to be seen!" said Viri. "If the High Speaker had happened to see me, it could have classed as a direct reveal and I'd have to leave you and you'd be Dark!"

"What do you mean a direct reveal?" said Olivia, raising an eyebrow.

Viri's mouth snapped shut.

Olivia puffed out her cheeks. "Rules?"

"Yup."

"Interesting," said Olivia. "There's more than one type of reveal. Are there any reveals that are okay?"

Viri scowled. "Talking to you is dangerous sometimes."

Olivia grinned at that. "Hey, you never said there was a rule about trying to get your Ascended to reveal information, did you?" Her mood dropped. "Are you okay though, really? Are we okay?"

Viri reached up, placing one of her cloth-wrapped hands on Olivia's fingers. "We're perfect, Olivia."

"I'm glad," said Olivia, giving the Ascended a little scratch on the head. As always, the few bits of skin that showed through Viri's form-fitting garb were glowing in the presence of the auroras, now out in full. "Might wanna hide before someone notices you."

With a nod, Viri disappeared into the shadows inside Olivia's bag.

Just to be on the safe side, Olivia closed the bag. She kept her rollerblades straight, training her gaze on the skies above. The same way the riverweed danced with the water's current, the auroras danced with the sky.

She wasn't the only one that watched them. Many people came out at night purely to watch the auroras. Couples stood together, families with children that pointed and squealed with excitement. Parents that gently explained the same eager questions that Olivia herself had asked a thousand times over.

With a lecture inevitable regardless of how quickly she made it home, Olivia took a slightly longer route home through an alley that was clear of people. Cryo's ice had numbed her side-- she might as well have a little bit of fun.

The straight line became her runway. She pushed her speed and balanced on one leg, her chest forward and other leg curled behind her. When she was almost at a stop, she stepped forward, twisting so she was backwards and weaving her feet in and out of each other with fluid movements. The smile was firmly set on her face as she went through a few other moves that Ericka always dubbed as showing off, and her thoughts wandered.

She could enter the rollerblading competition, assuming they let her have a few hours away from the temple stuff. The prize money would solve her glasses issue and then some, so maybe--

As she reached the end of the alley, she returned both her blades to their base position.

She couldn't go in the competition for the same reason that she probably couldn't go swimming in the riverweed bloom when it happened in a few weeks. Exertion increased the chance of a seizure, and both activities had proven more than adequate at inducing them. She maybe could have gotten away with it if she hadn't landed herself with six weeks of temple work, but in her current situation, she'd be lucky if her parents ever trusted her without an escort again.

Olivia reached the side door and, after a breath to mentally prepare herself for the incoming lecture, opened the door.

She stepped into the entrance hall, catching a glimpse of the restaurant floor as she passed by the door that connected the two. She could hear a few of the louder regulars, but overall, it seemed like a fairly quiet night. There'd been a lot of those recently. It meant she had more free time, but overall, she knew it wasn't a good thing.

Olivia headed up the stairs, attempting to keep her footsteps as quiet as Banshee's were. Part of her was hoping that she could sneak straight up to her room, but when she saw her father sitting at the upstairs table, his attention focused on his tablet in front of him, she knew her luck had run out.

Olivia brushed her fringe aside and walked over, resting her bag on the table. "Hey, dad, I--"

"Staying over Ariel's to look over a few free learning sponsorships, were you?" he said in a completely neutral voice. "Did you forget to leave out what you'd be doing before that?"

Olivia bit her lip. "We went to the gathering at the temple." Her eyes flicked up, but he was yet to look away from his tablet. "But it was only to support Ariel and Thomas, I swear! I wasn't looking for anything myself. I was just trying to be a good friend and..."

She trailed off, realising that he was waiting for her to admit the thing that he already knew.

Her gaze dropped to her bag where her fingers played with the strap. "Um, well I sort of went exploring by myself to cool off after some guy ran into me by accident. I couldn't really see all that well and I ended up in the Starlight Hall and one of the High Speakers found me there."

"And now you've got six weeks of temple work," said her father, still in that neutral voice that made her feel more guilty than any kind of anger ever could have. He pushed his tablet forward and folded his hands on the table. "Ariel called us earlier today to explain the situation, and it's a good thing she did, too. The High Speaker visited us during the day, and from what Ariel was telling us, she was inspecting our home to make sure that your mother and I also didn't need to participate. Luckily, I think we passed her test."

"I'm sorry," whispered Olivia.

"It's okay, Olive." His eyes finally met hers, and he gave a gentle sigh. "Your glasses too?"

She nodded. "They were knocked off my head and I stepped on them after the guy ran into me."

Her father took a breath, seemingly accepting it, and Olivia began to relax when his gaze drifted to her side and suddenly hardened.

"Olivia," he said sharply. "What is that you're holding?"

Olivia followed his gaze.

Cryo's piece of ice. She was still holding it, and she'd completely forgotten it was there.

Her mind raced, trying to come up with an explanation. Her dad stood up, skirted around the table and held out his hand.

Olivia hesitated.

"Olivia."

"It's... a piece of ice from Cryo."

Her father's expression turned hard. "Where were you after school today?"

"Um, nowhere in particular," said Olivia quickly. "Just... places, you know? I hung around with Thomas for a bit, then they went to the canals and I can't swim so I just walked around, enjoying the afternoon for a bit and I didn't really--"

"Thomas came over earlier to return your Liaiser, which is on your nightstand upstairs," her father said. "Which makes me wonder where exactly you went after you left your friends."

"I--"

His stare cut her off. "Were you chasing Luminaries? Again?"

Olivia blinked. "What? No, I--"

But her father was shaking his head. "Olivia, you know how dangerous that is, especially for you. What if you were to end up near a Manifested? Or even a Luminary? In the middle of a fight, they wouldn't be able to focus on you! How could you be so reckless? You are the last person I'd ever expect to--"

"I'm not helpless!" said Olivia, anger tightening her fists. "You know Ericka chases the Lumi's around and you seem somewhat interested when she talks about it, but as soon as there's even the possibility that I was with her or doing it myself, then you're--"

"Because Ericka's parents don't have to worry about her having a seizure and falling into a canal, or being unable to get herself out of the way if she's in danger!" said her father. "You aren't like everyone else, Olivia! You have to be careful!" He shook his head. "I knew we should have continued to insist that you have an escort with you. Perhaps--"

"Don't you dare!" said Olivia, pointing a finger at him. Starlight, the pity in his voice was infuriating. "I'm not some three year old you have to babysit all the time! I can handle myself! I haven't had a bad seizure in ages, the new medication stopped those! I've only been getting the blackouts and I always get the auras before those!"

Guilt sank into her father's face. "That... may have to change soon, Olive."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're going to take away the new meds because of this? Dad, that's not--"

"No, Olive," he said, one hand covering his face. "We would never. Not if we had a choice. But we might have to start looking into other options for your medication." He took a moment to compose himself--to banish the tears that were lurking in the corners of his eyes. "The restaurant isn't doing so well. Especially now with your glasses broken, if things don't pick up again soon, I'm not sure that we'll be able to keep affording these new ones."

Olivia's fingers dug into Cryo's ice, still clutched at her side.

She'd been prepared to be yelled at, but she hadn't been prepared for this.

She sucked in an exhale in an attempt to keep her own tears off her face. Going off these new meds meant there was no way they'd let her swim during the riverweed bloom, but she'd been expecting that anyway. But she'd only just found her independence--being able to move about the city without the escort--that'd been their deal. If the meds kept away the bad seizures, they'd allow it.

The meds had given her some kind of control over her own body. Some kind of freedom. Without them--without them, she was--

"That's--that's okay, dad." Her voice betrayed her and cracked. She grabbed her bag off the table and turned away. "I still had the drop seizures anyway. Really, it's the same thing. Not like I know the difference when they're going on. No big deal. Don't worry about it."

"Olive," he said, walking over to her. She escaped him, reaching for the door that led up the stairs to her room. An all-too familiar buzzing filled her ears. Her head felt like it'd drift straight off her body. "Olive, we're so sorry, we're trying a few other options first but--"

Olivia wasn't going to make it up the stairs to her room. Instead, she placed her back to the wall and sank to the floor. "Aura."

Her dad crouched beside her, holding her hand as her other one rubbed her face--yet another sign that she was about to--

She blacked out.

Olivia came to with her right arm, the one that'd been on her face, strangely numb. The fingers were moving, but it didn't feel like it was her doing it. Her dad was still crouched beside her, stroking the back of her hand, his mouth moving, speaking to her. She focused on the words, using them as a rope to pull herself back from whatever hole her brain liked to slip into of its own accord.

"--hear me yet? That's a girl, just when you're ready, nice and easy, you're--"

Olivia frowned, blinking. Everything still felt fuzzy. Two seizures in one day--first at the skyshrine and now here. "How long as was I out?"

"Twenty seconds or so," he said gently. "About the usual."

She nodded, sitting up from the wall. Her dad helped her to her feet, holding tightly to her arm as he led her over to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat her down. By that point, she didn't need it, but she'd had that argument enough times to be sick of it.

I'm not a baby. You don't have to do everything for me.

We're just trying to help, Olive.

A few minutes of awkward later, her mother appeared with food from the restaurant. Even if the previous conversation hadn't happened, the fact that it was mac and cheese--something that wasn't even on the normal menu--would have been enough to tip Olivia off that something was up, especially when she was in trouble.

"We only worry because we love you, Olive," said her mum before she went back down. "We just need to know that you're okay."

Her father disappeared down to the restaurant soon after. Olivia poked around at her mac and cheese until it went that icky kind of warm, her appetite gone. Her motivation to do anything but sit there and stare at it was non-existent. She kept drifting back to earlier. The way Cryo and everyone else talked to Banshee and somehow, she managed to end up being jealous of herself.

Deciding that she'd had enough, left her food on the table, grabbed her bag and Cryo's piece of ice, and went up to her room. 

She tossed her bag on the bed, where Viri peeked out of.

"Are you okay, Olivia?"

Olivia just shrugged and walked onto her balcony, leaving Viri in her room.

The auroras were still out, if only barely. Their song was almost done for the night.

Olivia didn't stop herself from singing along this time. Quietly, she gave their soundless melody a voice. Their song built up in her throat, and with each note, she could have sworn that they grew brighter. The violets became lilac, the teals a bright white coloured with the slightest hint of green. Enraptured, it was all Olivia could do to keep singing until nothing but the song existed.

Her vision turned white.

No--not white. Silver. She looked around, still able to feel the aurorasong vibrating around her like it was weaving together the very existence of this reality, whatever it was. It was an infinitely vast expanse of silver, a world made of nothing but light and sound intertwined together forever.

She saw nothing, she was nothing, and she was alone.

No. That wasn't right. Olivia squinted as, somewhere under the melody, she found a harmony--a second person, another silhouette against the endless silver.

The second silhouette stepped forward at the same time as she, as if they were the song weaving this reality together. Mirrored. Together, yet opposites they stood, facing each other.

Olivia knew that midnight hair, those mismatched eyes, that thoughtful and kind soul kept protected by a hardened exterior. The first time she'd seen him had been the same night that they'd been called by Skypillar. The same night that somehow, they'd both stumbled their way up the mountainside in a trance to the Celestial's Eye.

The night that they'd become Luminaries.

"I know you," he murmured, lifting a hand out for hers. "How did I forget who you were?"

Everything felt dreamlike, yet so clear. How had they forgotten? How had she forgotten him?

Olivia took his hand, and at their touch, the silvery expanse around them changed.

It swirled and shifted, swelling and rising into an elegant figure that would have made the most graceful of women jealous of her poise. The figure lifted her chin and extended her arms out towards them where two amulets that matched the colour of her skin rested in her palms.

"My newest chosen," she said, those three, simple words alone a masterfully crafted piece of wonder. "Your first, true test lies before you. Before the second moon falls from the sky, you must save Ella Spiritcaller. If your fail in your task, all may be lost."

Both of them reached out to take an amulet, and as soon as they were lifted from the figure's palms, the silvery expanse began to slip away around them as its song drew to a close.

Olivia held onto her partner's face for all she was worth. She would not forget it--not this time, not with that look in his eyes. One green, one black. Not now that she had a name for his face. 

Jason. 

She would not--

The silvery expanse dissipated.

Olivia blinked, finding herself back on her balcony with Viri hovering in front of her, her skin glowing violet as it always did under the auroras.

"What happened?" asked Viri. "What did you see?"

"I--" Olivia frowned. There was something--something she'd been trying to hang onto. Something important, that she hadn't wanted to forget. Her gaze fell to the silvery, almost white amulet in her hands. It was just smaller than the size of her palm with a strange symbol she didn't recognise on its surface, almost looking like it was etched out of light. It hit her. "Ella. We have to save Ella. Me and Cryo, before the festival is over."

"Is that it?" said Viri. "Do you remember anything else?"

There was still something, but for the life of her, Olivia couldn't remember it. All she could remember was the figure's voice, like music floating around inside her head. "No, just the voice and what we have to do."

Viri nodded. "I believe in you two. You can do this."

Olivia slipped the amulet's chain over her neck. The amulet was well-hidden below her shirt, and the chain was almost too thin to notice. "I know we can." She grimaced as her side started to regain feeling, sending an ache all over her body. "Though we might have to give it a few days at least until this heals."

"Wait until the second moon rises to begin," said Viri. "The amulet will be at full strength then."

Olivia didn't question her Ascended and walked back inside her room, grabbing Cryo's piece of ice and holding it to her side once more. Though cold, it didn't melt into her shirt or make the fabric wet. Neither did it burn her skin from the cold.

"Sounds like a plan," said Olivia, watching the last of the auroras fade from the sky through her open door.

She grabbed her Liaiser off her nightstand with silent thanks to Thomas, and sent Ericka a message.

[Sign me up for the rollerblading comp, Rikky.]

The reply came almost instantly. [I thought you weren't gonna do it tho??]

[Need money to fix my glasses], Olivia replied. [I'm in as much trouble as I'm ever going to get in anyway.]

[Ooo you rebel~] said Ericka's returning message. [Consider yourself signed up!]

She didn't tell Ericka about the medication. With what Banshee and Cryo had managed today, Banshee's offerings combined with the prize money might just be enough to keep her parent's heads above water a little bit longer until she could figure something else out.

Either way, she had to try.

Viri perched on Olivia's wrist as she put her Liaiser down. With the auroras gone for the night, Viri's skin was back to its normal non-glowy state. Her wide, violet eyes seemed to be studying Olivia, trying to work something out.

Olivia gave her a smile. "We're gonna do this thing, Viri." She flopped back on her bed, turning herself to face the balcony. "Ella better be ready, because we're going to save her butt whether she wants it to be saved or not."

Viri drifted through the air, coming to curl in front of Olivia's chest. "I'll be with you all the way, Olivia."

Olivia wrapped her arm around Viri. "I wouldn't want it any other way, Viri."

And with her Ascended curled in front of her, Olivia watched the stars, wondering if somewhere, Cryo was looking at them too.

*+*+*+*

A/N - Aaand with that, the intro arc is over ^_^ Next Wednesday will be the first chapter of the new arc, starting with Olivia's first day of temple work with Jason ;D 

To split up the parts, I'm going to put an 'interlude' between them. Since I'm out of pre-written parts, I kinda had this idea based off what a few people have asked about in the past ~ How do I write my chapters? 

So when the interlude goes live, it'll have a link to a google-doc thingo where I'll be writing the next chapter of ShadowSong. I make no promises about the time/day it'll go up, but it'll be before next Wednesday ^_^ This will probably be a one-time thing, but if you wanna have a look-see, this is a thing that's happening. 

[ALSO - REMEMBER, NEW SNEAK PEEK INDIGO PANELS POSTED TO THE FACEBOOK PAGE <3]