The sound of sirens pierced through the air as we burst out of the Rose Garden Cafe with a crowd of civilians, my heart pounding in my chest.

  Albert was o me, his brow furrowed as we looked around for the source of the otion. "What's going on?"

  I shook my head. "Hell if I know. There's gotta be a fight or something."

  There was a shiver of energy in the air, and I k couldn't be good.

  "It sounds far away. That's a relief. Maybe it's just some idiot knog over a dumpster," Al smirked.

  An uneasy smile cracked my face. "Yeah. Totally."

  "Still... it's close enough to Kaleidoscope that the pce will be swarming with senior knights in no time," he ented.

  As if on cue, fshes of light shot up from the horizon, flickering ience like distant fireworks. I felt a sinkiion in my stomach, and my heart rate shot through the roof.

  But a gentle hand on my shoulder brought me back to earth.

  "Hey, it's alright. We're safe here, Sienna. Whatever it is, it's not gonna make it all the way here."

  I bit my lip, closing my eyes and breathing in deeply. Right.

  "Sienna, I know you're a badass and all, but I don't think it's wetting involved in that," Al murmured, gesturing towards the distant explosions.

  I bit back a grimace, shaking my head. "I know, I know... I'm fine, holy. It's better that way. I've got enough on my pte, you know?"

  He chuckled, shrugging. "It's okay, man. I get it. I'm starving anyways. Let's eat first before anything else crazy happens."

  With that, we walked bato the cafe, pretending like everything was totally normal.

  So many things had already happeo us, and it was difficult to remember a time before the madness had started.

  But at least we had each other, and we khat we could t on one ao watch each other's backs.

  After all, that was what friends were for.

  The line had cleared up by the time we had reached the front, and the ers who hadn't run out were surprisingly calm. It was as if they'd already seen too much craziness in their lives to be scared off by some explosions in the distance.

  I didn't know how they did it. I hadn't been able to keep my thoughts straight ever sihe Cataclysm.

  Finally, it was our turn, ah ordered some hot soup and sandwiches to go with it. I hesitated for a moment while looking at the price tags, but quickly remembered the restaurants he campus would take our meal pns.

  God... it was so o have some breathing room in a restaurant for once. Even for a cafe, it was a lot han what I was used to.

  Not to knock the legitimate dim sum pce Al's family ran or anything. That neighborhood would always be home.

  We got our food and sat down, tug into the piping hot meals as I realized just how hungry I actually was. The st of freshly baked bread, a meaty parmesan soup, and a heaping sandwich made me almost fall to my knees with how hungry I was.

  "I'm sorry," I said quietly, shaking my head.

  "What's up? Spaghetti with sausage, mushroom, and onions are delicious," Al shrugged, a warm smile on his face.

  I frowned. "No, that's not what I'm talking about."

  I took a bite of my sandwich, letting the creamy mozzarel and roasted pepper goodness melt in my mouth as I tried to think of what to say.

  Al gnced around, a frown crossing his face. "You're not enjoying the food or what? It's just a bit crumbly, but I'd say it's pretty tasty. Or is it something else that's bugging you?"

  I shook my head. "Ah, no, the food is amazing. And, um... I guess what I wao say is that I... just think I have to stop taking things franted, you know?"

  I looked around the cozy interior of the cafe, and a rush of relief filled my chest as I reized that we were sitting in a familiar cafe, just chatting.

  "Two days. Two days I didn't know if you were alive or dead, Al. My best friend. The person I've looked up to and leaned on ever since we were little brats flipping through phonics books."

  "Huh?" Al's eyes widened in realization. "You mean...?"

  "Yeah, that whole fiasco whe separated. All I knew is that you were trapped in Refuge Zeta with all those monsters on the loose, and wot out that it was overrun, and people were being killed in droves, and..."

  I paused, swallowing back tears. "It was terrifying, Al. I know I wasn't the one who was in danger. But you were, and it reminded me that we're both... just, you know, fragile humans. And anything could g at any moment, and we couldn't take it frahe world isn't going to stop being a shitshow just because we wish it would. We have to be ready for anything, I guess. Even if it means holding bad keeping safe."

  Al griaking a big bite of his spaghetti and humming in satisfa. "You know, that sounds like a perfect time for me to say a super y joke and try to make you ugh."

  I cracked a smile. "Oh please."

  He shrugged, grinning as he set down his fork and dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. "Alright. Knoock."

  "Who's there?"

  "Pizza."

  I narrowed my eyes. "Pizza who?"

  "Piece of pizza."

  A snort of ughter escaped my lips, and I shook my head in disbelief. "That's terrible, dude."

  Al chuckled. ", that wasn't that bad, was it? You doofus."

  "Excuse me," I gasped, mock-offended. "Aren't you the one who gave me my ahem sparkly ass name? So I'm the doofus?"

  "Touche, touche. Doofusus doffens," he giggled.

  hter trailed off, and he sighed, setting his fork down and looking at me. "You're right, though. It wasn't something we could've prepared for, but it was scary as hell. Not just for us, either. I had plenty of time to think about it while I was lying on that infirmary bed."

  I nodded, finishing my sandwid pushing my pte away. "And I don't know. Sometimes it feels like things are calming down, and then something like this happens."

  He nodded. "It seems like a never-ending cycle of calm before the storm, doesn't it?"

  "That's an uatement," I grimaced. "By the way, thanks for saving me back there."

  A soft smile crossed his face, ailted his head to the side. "Sometimes an inch or a sed one way or another makes all the difference."

  I nodded, gesturing with my towards his legs. "You gonna be okay running around with your injuries?"

  He winked. "It's only half as sore. I'll manage."

  We both finished our meals and stepped back outside, taking iumn air. I looked out towards the horizoing out a slow, steady breath.

  Albert gnced over at me. "Good to go?"

  I nodded. "Yeah. You?"

  "Always."

  With that, we were off, making our way back to the Academy.

  As we walked, a ripple of energy shot through the air, and a faint flicker of light caught my eye. I bit back a grin as I saw two teams of Magical Knights including Twilight Aster and the Gems jumping from rooftop to rooftop in the distance as they made their way towards the source of the disturbance.

  The lunch had done a lot to ground me and remihat I wasn't fighting for my life or Albert's with everything on the lihat people were there now, and it wasn't just up to me to do or die.

  Still, a part of me felt strag them fly off into danger without so much as a thought.

  Shaking my head, I tucked my hands into my pockets and made my way back through the ons with Al, feeling a rush of warmth in my chest.

  If only things could stay like this for a little while.

  It would be nice.

  It really would.

  Al and I talked the whole way back to the campus, crag jokes and ughing as the early afternoon sun dahrough the trees. It was moments like these that I could hold onto, that I could treasure and cherish for however long things sted.

  As we passed a tree on campus, a raven perched on a branch cawed, sounding oddly like a chuckle.

  I paused.

  The bird was looking right at me, and a sense of unease came over me.

  Albert stared. "Uh, Sienna, you good? Something up?"

  I narrowed my eyes. "It's... nothing."

  At least, I hoped it was nothing.

  Suddenly, the sound of manic ughter behind us echoed through the air, and I spun around, feeling my hackles raise.

  "What the f—?" I started.

  Before I could react, Al tackled me as... projectiles I'd best describe as slime balls thudded around us, spatterih a thick, viscous sludge that was surprisingly solid and smelled almost like barbecue sauce.

  There were too many to dodge, and it wouldn't have mattered anyways.

  With a cry of surprise, I felt myself nd in a thick puddle of the stuff, and Albert was beside me, cursing under his breath.

  "Al? You okay?"

  "I'm fine. But damn, what the hell is this shit?" he groaned.

  "NYEH HE HE HE HA HA!"

  "Oh for fucks' sake," Al grimaced, standing up and wiping himself off.

  Slime balls tio rain all over the students around us, and I saw people running for cover, screaming and g in terror.

  The smell of motor oil was ing, and I coughed as I stumbled to my feet, trying not to slip on the goopy, sticky substance all over the ground.

  I could barely make out a girl cag like a madman as she stood on a tree branch, her hands raised in the air.

  Fuck.

  What was she doing here?!

  She had red eyes, long raven-bck hair, and wore a bck cape I'd best describe as a stereotypical Saturday m supervilin outfit. She had leather boots, fingerless gloves, and even a little golden on her head. Her stiletto heels were impossibly tall, and she had a massive on on her back that was firing off more of the slime balls in a near-stant stream. She wore a red corset that looked like it was made of leather, and her eyes glinted with mischief and malice as she looked around the courtyard, cag.

  "Citizens of Kaleidoscope Academy, tremble before me. For your Dark Princess Eris has arrived! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" she cried, raising her arms in triumph.

  Dark Princess Eris had set up shop in our native Pewterstoy a bit over two years ago, and she had quickly made a name for herself as one of the most irritating and persistent vilins that had ever pgued the city. She would somehow fill every outdoor trash iy with dirt and flowers, paint the front of every store a different color, and once, she even flooded aire block with glitter and fetti. She was also notoriously elusive, and gave the best Magical Knights iy a run for their money every time they came after her.

  The girl ain in the ass, to say the least. But she was harmless as far as we knew, and no one had gotten seriously injured or killed yet.

  Still, it wasn't something I'd expected to see at Kaleidoscope Academy.

  "Oh my God, she's actually here," Al whispered. "What the actual fuck?"

  I gnced around, taking in the chaos aru all around us. It was a mess, and it would take days to up.

  "The queen of all that is chaotid evil! The sn of all that is vile and dreadful! Fear me, fear me, for I am DARK PRINCESS ERIS!" she shouted, hopping from tree to tree like a deranged squirrel as she rained her payload all over the buildings.

  "NYHEHHEHEHEHEHEH! NYHA HA HA! HEHEHEHEH! NYAA EHE HE! NYHEHEHEHEHHHEEEEH HE HEHEHEHHAAHAHAAAAHHHAAAAA!"

  Princess Eris posed to cackle again, and my frown deepened.

  Al had just gotten these sneakers for me and they were soaked with the viscous, brown tacky substa looked like my denim jacket, t-shirt, and pants were ruined as well.

  "Al..." I hissed.

  "Sienna?" he murmured.

  I was having... Such. A good day. And now...

  I shook my head, staring bnkly down the main street of the campus as the slime balls rained down everywhere.

  "The senior Knights are all out dealing with the sirens we heard," I ented quietly. "Looks like this is our turf for today."

  I may not have cared much for fashion, but I sure as hell was not going to let this ruin my afternoon a away with ruining a pair of shiny white sneakers.

  Al bit his lower lip and turoward his dorm building, which was only a couple of yards behind us. "I guess it is, huh? Think you get to her?"

  I nodded slowly, balling my hands into fists. "One way to find out."