Three days into Deuce and Idia's bet... along with practicing and gathering more stars...

The group is at the Ancient tree, and it's been decorated with more Wishing Stars.

Idia suddenly asks, "...I'm sorry, WHAT?"

I'll say it again. I've collected the agreed-upon number of Wishing Stars," Deuce answers.

Idia is left flabbergasted, "Bwha...?"

The agreement was for Deuce Spade to collect both his quota and my brother's by the Starsending—150 stars per person. That would be at least 300 stars, right?" Ortho says.

"Okay, hold up! You're saying you got that many stars in THREE DAYS?" Idia says, dumbfounded.

And Idia doesn't believe it, "Yeah, nice try. That joke's not even LOL-worthy. Now you're resorting to lies to get me to perform in person?"

"I'm not lying! See for yourself," Deuce says and presents the stars in the bag

Idia is shocked, "What? You actually did it...?"

"Yup. Deuce met both quotas. I counted his total myself," Trey says.

Ortho is impressed, "Wow, that's amazing! How did you collect so many stars in such a short time?"

"I used every last bit of free time I had hunting down students all over campus. Some weren't so cooperative, which led to a few minor 'disputes'... But I did what I had to as a Stargazer to ensure we'd have a successful Starsending," Deuce explains.

Then says to Idia, "Now it's time for you to uphold your end of the bargain, Idia."

"I, uh..." Idia skeptics. And then says, "OH! Didn't you say you'd fill my quota AND get the dance down perfect? You have to meet both requirements before I lift a finger."

"You haven't been paying attention at all during practice, have you?" Trey questions.

"Uh...no?" Idia answers.

"Deuce's dancing has improved considerably. He can basically do the whole thing from start to finish without any mistakes," Trey answers.

"Oh... Huh. Neat," Idia says.

He then says in thought, "I didn't expect Deuce to put in this much work. Who goes all out for a school function? Still, Ortho's been looking forward to this. Guess I can't hold out forever..."

Suddenly, Deuce calls out, "Idia!"

"Idia!" Briar calls out.

Even Ortho calls out, "Idia!"

"... Oh, all right..." Idia says, out of his train of thought.

He thens ays, " I concede. I'll play the drums under the big tree at the Starsending. Happy now?"

"For real! YESSS!" Deuce cheers.

"Great job, Deuce," Briar says.

"Hard work for the win!" Tanzanite says.

"You out-stubborned him!" Jasper says with a grin.

Deuce happily says, "Thanks so much, Idia!"

"Idia..." Ortho says.

Trey says to Deuce, "You did a bang-up job, Deuce. Now all four Stargazers will take part in the ceremony, together."

"Right!" Deuce says.

"I'm sure the headmage will be happy as well..." Trey says.

And right on cue, Crowley comes in, "Greetings, dear students!"

"Ain't that the headmage now?" Grim replies.

"Perfect timing. Saves me the trouble of going to his office," Trey says.

Then Deuce says, "Headmage! Idia's agreed to drum at the ceremony in person!"

"Really? Idia Shroud? That's marvelous news!" Crowley says, happily, "I know I was rather insistent about the matter, but in truth, I thought it a lost cause. I would've been keen to see how the ceremony played out under...normal circumstances," Then his face shows a serious expression, "An unfortunate wrinkle has arisen, however."

"What wrinkle?" Trey asks.

"Did something happen?" Sereia asks.

Trinket is also confused.

Crowley soon explains, "I've been keeping close tabs on the weather forecast for the coming week, as you might imagine... And lo and behold, thunderstorms and torrential rain are predicted for the day of the ceremony. It's all rather dire."

"Oh no... Does that mean you're calling off the ceremony?" Deuce asks, shocked.

"I'm afraid I might have to," Crowley says, "Exposing our students to danger is, naturally, entirely out of the question. And the newspaper reporters certainly won't come out to write about the event in inclement weather."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Deuce says, clearly upset.

"Oh no," Briar says, and is disappointed.

"Believe me, I understand your frustrations, given how hard you've been rehearsing," Crowley says, "I, too, have no desire to cast aside an opportunity for reputation building—ah, I mean, a time-honored tradition! My options are to either heed caution and cancel now, or wait until the Starsending and hope the weather clears. Goodness me, I'm positively paralyzed with indecision!"

Then Deuce asks the Headmage, "Sir, could you please hold off making a decision until the day of the ceremony? I don't want to give up yet. I'll keep practicing until the Starsending."

"Are you certain?" Crowley asks, "If I end up calling it off, you'll have done even more work for nothing. Are you prepared to accept that risk and continue your preparations regardless?"

"I wouldn't want to fall out of practice only to regret it the day of the ceremony. I'll keep rehearsing until it's showtime," Deuce says.

Then turns to the others, "Come on, guys, let's keep at it!"

"Hmm... Personally, I'm not sure it's a good time investment to just continue and hope for the best," Trey says.

"I'm with Trey! Finally, a voice of reason!" Idia says.

"I do want to perform, but I'm not sure, especially with a risk of the storm," Briar says.

"But... I don't think we'll ever have the opportunity to be Stargazers again while we're here. So, if there's a chance the weather might clear up, no matter how unlikely it seems... I want to give it our best shot, so we don't look back on this with regret. Please, guys!" Deuce begs.

Trey thinks a bit, "Hmm... I guess you have a point. If the weather does clear up, we won't have practiced the dance enough. And if THAT happened, our housewarden would have our heads. All right, you've convinced me, Deuce. I'm in."

Briar says, "I think Deuce is right. It will be best to practice and maybe the storm will clear. It's best to practice and wait to see what happens."

Idia is shocked, "What?! Well, I remain ENTIRELY unconvinced."

"I don't think it matters in your case, Idia. You already lost your bet with Deuce. You don't really get a say," Trey says.

"Excuse me?!" Idia cries out.

"Trey Clover's right, Idia," Ortho says.

Idia is in defeat, "Aww, man... My last hope..."

"What is it you always say when you're playing PvP online? 'Losers gotta shut up and cope! Gwee hee hee!'" Ortho says imitating Idia.

He then asks, "Would you like me to play a voice recording of it?"

Idia growls in frustration, "Arrrgh... FINE. I'll do the stinking drumming."

"Trey. Briar Idia. Ortho. Thank you all so much!" Deuce says, happily, "Let's keep practicing until the Starsending!"

Crowley happily says, "Gracious, what model students you are! Very well, I'll postpone my decision until the day of. Keep it up, everyone!"

Ortho remains silent.

Then Grim asks, "What's a matter, Ortho?"

Ortho then says, "I ran a model of cloud movements over campus based on weather radar data. The headmage is right. Giant cumulonimbus clouds will pass right over us that day."

"But that's just a computer model, right? We don't know for sure what'll happen," Deuce points out.

Then Ortho says, "True. It's strange, though. I've calculated everything down to the last decimal, and the odds of clear weather are very low... And yet I still find myself running simulation after simulation in which you're performing the Starsending under a perfectly starry sky."

"Ortho..." Trey replies.

"Look, didn't a miracle happen in "Wish Upon a Star"? A wooden puppet became a real boy. I'm sure the weather will clear if we just have faith!" Deuce says.

Ortho thinks for a minute and says, "Mm... It sure would be nice if the Starsending could still happen somehow."

Idia remains silent.