It is another morning at Gemini Academy, where the Summer sun shines bright in the sky, it's rays blazing through the glass in the ceiling of the Great Hall. Alec Bacani sits opposite Orion and Day in a sober silence a few minutes after the Principal has announced the next task to take place this very night.

"Day," Orion says, nudging Day with his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Day glances up at Orion, his face still void of any emotion. He offers a nod and looks back down to the toast and fried egg on top of it.

Orion and Alec exchange concerned looks.

"Is it the task?" Alec asks, unable to understand why the fourth task would bother him more than any of the ones they've faced before.

"No," Day replies, and for a moment Alec thinks that's all they're going to get out of the consumer witch. "Gwendolyn said something to me yesterday."

"What was it?" Orion asks, encouraging Day to disclose more.

"She's worried about the war."

Alec raises his eyebrows.

"So is everyone?"

"She went on about politics and how we need to find our allies. She wants me to prepare," Day adds, finally looking up and meeting Alec and Orion's eyes.

"That doesn't sound good," Orion says, leaning back into his chair.

"No, it doesn't." Day looks back down to his untouched food.

"What are you going to do?" Orion asks.

"Prepare," Day replies, his tone more determined than before.

His eyes wary, Alec asks, "How?"

"I don't know, but I think I know someone who will," Day answers, looking up to where Zoe sits with the bright haired controller witch that throws her head back and laughs, momentarily mesmerising Day.

"And you trust Sierra?" Alec asks, his eyebrows furrowed. Alec knows that Day and the controller witch have been getting closer ever since Sierra got attacked in the courtyard, but now as he follow Day's gaze, he wonders just how close they had gotten.

"Don't you?" Orion shoots back, his eyes stern as they land on Alec, his tone just as defensive.

It takes Alec a moment to reply, his brain tossing the question around.

"Yes, I do," he replies, twisting around to look at Sierra Kingsley.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

There are many things Sierra expects sauntering into the library. The large windows that travel from the ceiling to the floor, rows and rows full of books and very few students scattered around. But Sierra Kingsley does not expect to see Day Blackwood seated at her favourite table, lined up against one of the large windows.

As she takes a few steps, decreasing the distance between herself and the consumer witch, she marvels at how he has grown on her in the past few weeks.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you here."

Day looks up from the ancient book he was perusing. He shoots her a quizzical look, "Why not?"

Sierra pulls a chair out as she answers, "Thought you would be outside with the boys, trying to figure the next task out."

Day knows which 'boys' Sierra refers to, as Lucas, Orion, Noah and Alec had sauntered up to him fifteen minutes earlier with a proposal to unravel the future task.

"For all we know, it's going to be inside, just like the first one," Day offers as an explanation.

Sierra hums in agreement, sitting down and pulling out a bigger stack of books than the one placed next to Day.

"You're not worried about the task?"

Sierra looks up at Day in surprise, the enchantment on space extension forgotten.

"It's strange, it used to be all I could think about, but now it seems like there are bigger fish to fry. Yet, I don't even have any bigger fish, yet." Sierra blushes at the roundabout way that she explains her thoughts. "Sorry, that probably didn't make sense."

Day chuckles. "It did, a little."

"It did?" Sierra asks, out of surprise.

Day nods, before he explains, "Gwendolyn told me to prepare for the war."

"Coincidentally, the Principal told me something very similar."

"And have you been preparing?"

Sierra nods, before pulling out her notebook where she had been jotting down anything that she thought could help them. As Day's eyes move over the pages and scribbled notes, he can't believe he had ever questioned Sierra Kingsley's brilliance.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

As the sun drowns into the sea, the candidates line up outside the room that held their fourth task. Sierra taps her foot against the floor nervously, thinking back to the first task.

"Did you hear? There's no audience for it," Noah mutters, walking up to Sierra.

Sierra's head snaps up.

"What? Why?"

Noah shrugs, and looks at Amisha who stands beside Sierra, her posture rigid with tension.

The Governor walks out of the room, and calls Zoe's name. The candidates watch as Zoe follows the Governor back, only to come out after ten minutes, her skin ashen grey and her eyes not meeting anyone's. The Governor calls for Aarush and the Indian boy stumbles after him. As soon as the Governor closes the door behind, Day walks up to Zoe, and envelopes her into a hug.

"Don't bother asking, I'm under an oath until everyone's been tried," Zoe mutters, before sagging into a chair against the wall defeatedly.

"Zoe, are you okay?" Sierra asks, stepping up, her eyebrows furrowed with concern.

Zoe only responds with a nod and closes her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall. Sierra looks up at Day, who stands beside her.

"Do you need anything?" Day asks, before catching Sierra's eyes and shrugging.

"A nap will be nice, but that'll have to wait," Zoe replies, her voice so monotone, unlike the usual chirpiness.

Aarush walks out of the room, spending half of the time Zoe had in there. Day is called in next, and Sierra smiles at him, hoping that he understands her support and encouragement.

Sierra frets and bites her nails, as Day walks out, his body stiff and tense. Her body is taut with tension as Alec is called in, and then Amisha, followed by Lucas. Noah is next, followed by Orion.

And then finally it is Sierra's turn.

Sierra walks into the room, it's empty with only a chair in the middle, with only The Revealing council present and Principal Cashore.

"Please take a seat, Miss Kingsley," the Governor instructs.

"Last week you were handed a slip of paper by Alana Cashore, with a piece of information about the Dark King. Will you please tell me what it said?"

Sierra remembers back to when the Principal had slipped her the paper and very aggressively told her that no one could know about it, especially not an authority figure. Sierra's eyes shift to the Principal, and the older witch shakes her head imperceptibly.

Sierra gulps before answering, "I don't know what you're referring to, Governor."

As she utters the last syllable of her sentence, a sharp jolt of pain shoots through her body and Sierra's body falls off the chair.

"How about now?"

Sierra glances up at the witch from the council who had spoken to her.

"What?" Sierra asks, in surprise, her body still recovering from the pain.

"What was on the slip, Sierra?" The witch kneels down, gripping Sierra's chin harshly.

"I don't know," Sierra answers, her voice firm and conveying her stubbornness. Sierra screams out in pain, as another jolt of pain shoots through her body, this time lasting longer than the first.

Sierra gasps, "What are you doing to me?"

"Whatever it is, can stop if you answer my question truthfully."

Sierra shakes her head, refusing to speak. When she sees the witch's face change, Sierra bites down on her tongue, waiting for the pain to come. And it does, harder than before. She tastes blood in her mouth, and a sob breaks her body. She's not quite sure how long it goes on, but it feels like forever.

"How about this, I can make you a deal," the witch starts, and Sierra looks up at her with defiant eyes. "If you can tell me what the paper said, I'll tell you where your brother is."

Sierra gasps, looking at the witch in front of her. Sierra's body twitches, and she opens her mouth before closing it shut. Sierra shakes her head, refusing to give in.

"That's enough," Gwendolyn Highmore calls out. "She's not going to give in."

Sierra meets the Consumer witch's eyes and she knows that Gwendolyn Highmore had just lied to the Revealing Council for her. Because Sierra knows that if she had been asked the same question again, she would've given in. They would've had her, hook, line, sinker. She had been ready to throw away everything just to know where her brother is.

The Governor steps forward, holding out a potion for Sierra to take.

"Congratulations on passing the test, Miss Kingsley. As your reward, here is the pain killing potion."

Sierra looks up at the Governor in disbelief, but reluctantly takes it and gulps it down. Instantly, the pain disappears, as if it was never there in the first place.

Standing up she follows the Governor out.

"You all have performed exceptionally in this task. The points will not be revealed, due to the personal and sensitive nature of this task. However, there is a tie for the lowest number of points. Orion Winders and Aarush Bhatia have tied, and therefore there will be no elimination for now. The council has decided that there will be another task only for Mr. Winders and Mr. Bhatia. This will decide who shall be eliminated. You may head back and get some well needed rest."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Since The Revealing has started, Noah hasn't found many moments of peace. But as he lies down on the grass with Orion, he feels content.

The wind feels stronger, rushing through the strands on Orion's head. They fall onto his forehead, inching close to his eyes. For some reason lost to him, Noah can't take his eyes away from the boy next to him.

Orion's eyes are closed shut, his lips tipped up and one hand resting below his chest. Noah notes how good the black shirt looks on him, and tries not to focus on how easy it would be to lean in and brush his lips against Orion's.

"I'm sorry, you have to compete in another task," Noah says, apologetically, hoping to distract himself from his growing need. He wonders what Orion would do in response. Would he kiss him back? Or would he push him back, and stutter trying to find a reason to cancel their study session? Worse, he could turn out to be a homophobe just like one of the boys in Noah's Elemental Studies class.

Noah hadn't been able to believe his ears, when he had heard the rude remarks directed to the boys behind him. He had threatened to punch the next gay couple he saw, and Noah's stomach had churned. He would've expected that sort of comment back home, but never here. He had heard that America was more forward, more modernised. But that hadn't been the case.

Witches were the same everywhere, buried in tradition and terrified of displeasing the Gods of the Cauldron. But no one had heard anything from the Gods in decades if not centuries. Occasionally, a priestess in Rome would come forward and claim that she had been visited by the Gods with a new order.

It ranged from more time dedicated to helping those in need to more breeding programs to help repopulate the dying community of witches.

"At least, this way it might be over," Orion replies, and Noah has to itch his brain to remember what they were talking about. The additional task, Noah realises.

Noah has never seen the boy so devastated. A part of him wants to ask Orion about what he went through during the fourth task but at the same time, he doesn't have it in him to share his. It was hardly fair to ask for one thing but not be able to give it back.

"Did you hear about the Malefactors attacks?" Orion asks, his arm crossed over his forehead.

At Orion's words, Noah feels the cold, dark Earth beneath his skin, more harshly than before. It feels like the dirt was staining his soul with a sense of hopelessness. Noah's thoughts drift to the elementary school that had been targeted and then the new shrine for the cauldrons that had been built. Both had been ravaged and destroyed, children – both witch and Civisal – killed. The priestesses at the shrine had fought until their last breath but in the end they had yielded to death.

"Yeah, I saw the news headlines and clips. There were little kids."

"How are we meant to defeat them?" Orion asks, his voice lacking hope.

"I...I don't know, Orion."