After a rather long conversation between us four, we eventually come to a consensus. There's not much we can do for the quest; the system has made sure of that. So all we can do is get the absolute most out of this before we burn the place to the ground.

Not… exactly sure how we're going to do that, but Jumble mentioned it before. And now more than ever I'm inclined to agree with her. Llaliu, too, unsurprisingly–all she wants is to get out of this damn place. A sentiment I can very much agree with. Clutter, too, has kind of stopped caring about the rewards. It's obvious the system is doing its damndest to make sure we don't get them anyway.

Click stays behind when we leave the room. It seems comfortable in that place for some reason. I don't have any reason to tell it to move, so there it stays until we need the doors again. Which'll be soon.

Very soon.

I summon my Class Card and type out a quick request for everyone to meet in the library. I get a bevy of confirmations before we reach the door. Everyone's on their way–Rina sent a message confirming for Ward and Euro–but Dani just sent a… grunt in text form. I'll take that as reluctant confirmation. Llaliu opens the library and steps aside to let Clutter and I in, then stays and waits for everyone else.

"Sir?" Sawyer asks as we walk by. "What's going on?"

"The exact same thing as before. Just with more confirmation." I motion at the bookcase that leads to the cozy room. "There are more chairs in that room. Ward–you too."

Ward looks up from his book and nods. "Yessir."

I frown at his tone, but a yawn and stretch proves it to be tiredness–not annoyance. He's not Dani. Can't treat him like he is just because he sided with that asshole at first.

"Should I go get Shatterhand and Wojkmi?" Llaliu asks.

"They're on their way." I assure her. "Gnash! You still in there?!"

No response from beyond the bookshelf. I pull the book lever and wait for it to disappear, revealing an empty space behind it. Clutter steps inside before I can, sniffs the air, and frowns.

"Blood." He mutters. "Not a lot of it, but I know it's blood."

Books clatter to the floor behind us. I turn to witness a very surprised Sawyer–book still in his hand–and an absolutely flabbergasted Ward. The pile of books around him gives away who made the noise.

"B-blood?!" He stammers. "W-whose is it?! We were… we were sitting right there! How can there be blood?!"

Clutter shakes his head. "We'll find out soon enough. Whoever doesn't show up within two minutes is… hopefully not dead."

Ward squeaks, but Sawyer's expression hardens. He carefully leans over and puts the book he'd been using down on a table, then nods directly at me.

"What are your orders, sir?"

…Shit, he thinks this is bad. I hope to hell this is just a misunderstanding. "Dani. Go find him."

Sawyer snaps off a two-handed chest pounding salute and storms off. I don't want to admit that Dani could've hurt anyone. He didn't seem like he'd go that far–but with that outburst in the trial subquest I'm not crossing anything off. In fact…

I turn to Clutter. "You know whose blood that is."

He nods in confirmation. "Mostly."

Most… shit. One of the constructs. Not Ward, obviously, so… Rina, Euro, or Dani. But why is it in this damn room? They were leaving. Dani wasn't even here in the first place. The hell is going on?

I motion towards the exit. "Clutter."

Without another word, Clutter disappears. He flickers against my awareness, becoming nothing but a weak staticky image against it. It's getting stronger. Soon enough, I might not even be able to see him. Nobody else will, either.

"Um… w-what about…" Ward stammers worriedly.

Llaliu grabs him by the shoulders and leads him into the room. She glances around at all the chairs, as if trying to figure out where the blood is, and eventually settles on gently putting Ward on a leather-like chair. He fidgets nervously, looking around the room in the exact same way Llaliu did.

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Eventually, he gestures at the chair Jumble and I were on. "B-blood."

My eyes snap to the thing. I can't see anything at all–or smell anything. Guess I'm not as much of a paindne as Illumisia's blood would say. And Ward is still a paindne, even if he's a construct.

"You're sure?" I ask.

He nods. "It's not old. Maybe… fifteen minutes at most. Someone quickly cleaned it up."

"Maybe… maybe they just got a papercut?" Llaliu asks hopefully.

Ward doesn't say anything. I take that as a very bad sign. My fingers crawl towards my neck, and for a brief moment, hope blossoms in my heart; that it could be my blood. But that dies all too quickly, because Clutter definitely knows what my blood smells like. Hell, he knows what everyone's blood smells like thanks to all the subquests we did. I bet he's following that trail right now.

"There's a very small chance this isn't one of us. Not sure if that's the better or worse outcome. So take this." I summon two coins, then toss them to Llaliu. "One's a purification and the other's a shield. Break the first if they're physically attacking you, and the other if you even think there's a psychic nipping at your brainwaves."

She nods and closes her hand around the coins. "I'll keep us safe."

I offer the best smile I can manage and turn to run. My every instinct is screaming that something is horribly wrong. We've been working together for too damn long for someone to turn at random–especially not now that our district is being pressured on all sides. It's only a matter of time before long–range spells siege our tower complex. We'll have to move everyone into the main tower and the halls–no more lighthouses. It's too dangerous.

My breaths come much harder than they need to as I book it for the meditation chamber. They said they were coming, but… where the hell are they?! It's been two damn minutes already! I pull out my Class Card as messages ping in–from Jumble, Wojkmi, Dani, and Shatterhand. Gnash is just constantly sending a stream of… single letters? Why is–

…NO!

I rip a coin from my pocket and flick it to the ground. A strand of relocation flares in my mind. It slowly creeps through reality itself, wriggling through strangely thick magic until it latches onto Gnash. My spell slips away like morning dew rolling off the petals of a dying flower.

My heart thunders with anger. Possibilities swarm my mind like angry hornets diving at innocent picnicgoers, stinging them one by one until they all fall down bloated and sobbing in pain. I can't come up with a single good option.

"Pearl." I state calmly enough to surprise even me. "Who the fuck did this?"

Her face is as calm as my voice. Her eyes glitter with hatred. She knows–or at least she thinks she does.

"Dani." She whispers. "There's nobody else."

No. There isn't. I lace my fingers together and bring them close to my mouth as I try to link my relocation to Dani. I'm stopped by the exact same sensation that stopped me from rescuing Gnash. That's as close to confirmation as I need.

"They can't have gotten far."

I turn back as Wojkmi and Shatterhand appear at the end of the hall–both gasping for breath. If it wasn't for my awareness, I wouldn't have even noticed them. Or cared. Shatterhand waves vigorously to get my attention. I take a deep breath through my nose and bear my teeth in a show of how little I give a shit about inconsequential anything right now.

Neither of them react. Because they're already stone-faced with worry and anger.

"Gnash." Wojkmi states. "Can you relocate?"

I shake my head. "Already tried. Someone's jamming the spell."

"No." Shatterhand whispers. "They know, then. They know how your relocation works. Is it one of us?"

"Not anymore." I say with grim certainty. "If either of you see Dani again, treat him like an enemy. But don't kill him yet–Gnash's life comes first."

The pair nod with unrestrained hatred. Dani hadn't done himself any favours by trying to make friends. Nobody here–except for maybe Jumble and the other party members–would think twice about killing the paladin if it meant getting Gnash back safe. And I can't even send Gnash a message saying we'll come rescue him. That'd give Dani too much information.

I grit my teeth and motion towards the library. "Llaliu and Ward are in the library. Go talk with them–see if anyone has any clues as to how Dani did it. And stay together. I'm not letting anynoe else get kidnapped."

"Understood." They say in unison, then sprint away.

My stomach twists in knots as I watch them go. Dani did it right under our noses. And Gnash must've hurt him in the struggle–that's the only thing I can think of right now. At least Clutter didn't smell Gnash's blood. That's the tiniest flickering candle flame of hope right now in this murky well of uncertain despair.

"Shelby!"

That's Jumble's voice. I spin on my heel to face the direction of it; she sounds… frantic. Almost like she just lost one of her closest friends. I steel myself for the things I'm going to have to say–for the ultimatum I'm going to have to give. Dani or everyone else. The Jumble I've come to know won't hesitate.

I just hope that's the real Jumble.

But as her footsteps start to echo through the halls… they come heavier and splatter-ier than I remember. Almost like she's running with wet shoes. While carrying something fairly heavy. Something that could've wet those shoes. A new shiver sets my spine straight, and new horrid anticipation worms into my gut like a rusty knife. Because Jumble's voice sounds like she just lost a close friend.

Something Dani hasn't been for three months now.

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