And not like more mals than normal will be trying to get in - they can barricade the door against the usual fleeing hoard, and then not worry at all about it until after the flames have passed and the halls have cooled.

And the cleansing drowns out a lot of noises Bea might make. 

(It's been a stressful year. They deserve a break.)

"Do you think the plan worked?" she asks.

"We're going to have to find El and Luthien to ask for sure."

"They'll probably go scavenging before induction."

"The labs are closest..."

"Want to try to intercept them?"

"We'll have to be quick."

"Think it's worth the effort?"

"I need to get a handle on the political situation... Things will be unstable. But I don't think they'll appreciate the interference with scavenging - and everyone else will be trying, too..."

"We could get a good place in the cafeteria, then."

"Take a proper shower."

"Indulge in luxury."

"At least fifteen entire minutes of it."

"A bounty beyond imagination." Kiss.

Kiss! A longer one than they can usually afford, too.

Graduation is the best.

This time next year will be better. 

Plus the travel time from Germany to London.

Fair enough; though Liesel bets she can get a flight okay. 

Bea has every faith in her.

She's honored to have such trust from her ally. 

It's well earned.

And she'll strive to keep earning it. (Kiss!)

Kiss!

Though they should probably get moving soon...

Yeah. Their fifteen minutes of luxury is nearly up - they'll need to move as soon as the cleansing fires finish. Which means they need to get ready now, and decide for sure if they're taking showers and getting food, if they're going scavenging, or if they're going looking for Higgins and her girlfriend. Or some other option, like tracking down the Shanghai Domina's daughter.

Shower would be nice, if Bea can be selfish for a few minutes longer. After that- the cafeteria will be where everyone ends up. It'd be more efficient to let the others come to them.

Showering would help the politics, anyways. (And she doesn't think Higgins and her girlfriend are immune to a pretty girl - or two - who's just gotten all freshened up.)

One might even go so far as to say a pretty girl or two who have just freshened up are even a weak spot for them.

A glaring opening for their other new girlfriend. 

Sounds like sufficient justification.

More than plenty. 

To the showers, then, as soon as the mortal flame dies off and the corridors clear enough to be navigable. With their carefully hoarded senior outfits to change into after, and perhaps a bit of work tidying up their hair...

(Getting to worry about hair is a pretty unique luxury, one even enclavers have to struggle for. Liesel can't afford luxury here, except in brief snatches. But she thinks that once they have some room to breathe - she's going to enjoy cleaning her girl up. Giving her a little beauty, the breathing room Liesel never had growing up.)

She has cases full of jewelry waiting for her to play with when they get out.

They can both dress up. 

Perfect.

And a slightly less spectacular dressing up today, to celebrate surviving another year. 

And one more to go.

Off to the cafeteria, then?

Might be better to try to catch those two when they return to the floor after scavenging... There's a bit of time before lunch, still. 

Sounds like Liesel wants an excuse to keep Bea to herself for a while longer.

She's trying to be considerate of Higgins' girlfriend's clear dislike for being spoken to during meals.

Multiple purposes, as always.

It's how she operates. 

It's very attractive.

One of her many purposes. 

Heee.

Quick kiss, before setting up something to alert them when one of their targets returns to the floor. 

Then it's a waiting game.

They get alerted pretty soon to Luthien Higgins entering the corridor, at least. 

Her girlfriend's not usually far behind. Time to say hello?

She looks more 'high on adrenaline and endorphins' than 'exhausted,' at least, with an exceptionally and possibly unwisely large haul from the workshops in her arms. (She might be in trouble if a mal jumped her. But, on the other hand, 'very few mals are left' is why they're all relaxing a little today.) She's lightly singed, too, and her clothes are covered in a really interesting variety of stains she might not be able to get out later, but she doesn't have any blatantly obvious injuries.

(She and El got a good haul, though. Things for Shinta - a forging apron, sandpaper, a new file; materials for their book chest - purpleheart wood, small gold bars, a coil of titanium wire, a LED strip, and a new fine engraving tool; and materials for a custom knife for Jialin - high quality magnetite ore is the big one there (much better for making truly quality blades than the pre-made steel the school usually provides.)

She smiles at Bea and Liesel, good naturedly, and says, "Hello!"

"Congratulations are in order, I assume?"

"By the skin of our fucking teeth."

"This fucking school," she says, commismeratingly. 

She gives her sister a playful nudge. "Pretty sure we got it working at the end, though. But, yeah, it took a lot longer than anticipated..."

"The two of you are nothing if not resourceful."

"...We made it out. And - I don't know who survived. Some people collapsed. But... We got everyone back to their allies, at least."

"Find out next year. Later today, maybe, for some of the enclaves."

"Though most of those who went weren't enclavers..."

"And Jiana didn't collapse."

"It went almost as well as could be hoped, then."

"That we made it back at all is good."

"It's important to manage your expectations."

"Max out your rate of pleasant surprises."

"As opposed to the other kind."

"Important to keep track of."

Small smile. "Oh, now that the new year is begun... I did have something personal to ask you two - maybe not in the hallway?" She hasn't actually mentioned anything like this to Bea.

"Sure, we need to put this stuff away, anyway."

They'll follow to El's room. 

...Which has very helpfully combined with Luthien's room! They now have a double wide and don't even need to move the furniture. 

Public service has its rewards, apparently.

" - How'd you guys swing a merge?" 

"I don't actually know. It wasn't like this this morning."

"Reshuffling hadn't happened yet, this morning."

Luthien touches her elaborate collar, speculatively.

...It is a neat bit of artifice.

She sends Bea a knowing smirk. "But that isn't what I wanted to ask you about..." She nods to Luthien. "That collar is marvelous." And to El: "Do you take commissions?"

"For a collar? Depends on the offer. And the use you're planning to put it towards."

"It'd be a gift for Bea." She's fine with giving that information out for free, or at least in exchange for El hearing her out. "And payment is negotiable."

Blush!!

Cute.

"Acceptable. It'll work better if you have a hand in the construction yourself, though."

"Of course. And I certainly have design opinions." She smirks at Bea again, and raises a hand to brush her hair back, accentuating her lovely neck. (And drawing the eye to how nicely she's cleaned up, too.) "Something a bit simpler, more elegant... Like a plain golden band, with golden chains..."

"I can see how that would fit."

"Could add a leash."

Interested noise. 

"A little subtlety might be warranted," Bea murmurs.

"Optional leash," she says after a moment. 

"Doable."

Smile. And: quick negotiation of payment? (At least expected ranges.) And what the collar would do in terms of artifice.

A collar's no small piece of work. Liesel will be paying in material and her own time as much as anything else.

Mana, too.

That goes without saying.

She can also pay in connections, if needed - she's got her own network. 

Tangibles are worth more at the moment. Favors owed are... hard to quantify.

She'll pull on those only for said tangibles, then. 

Deal.

Do El and Luthien have time to go over specifics of what Liesel is looking for now? (She'll understand if they'd rather meet later for this.)

Better to get it laid out before classes are scheduled.

And then they can figure out exact timings based on class. 

Yep.

"What's the range of features on offer?"

"Depends what spells you're willing to work into the creation. The format takes well to continuous effects, but I can set triggered ones as well."

"I have a few I could put in..."

"If they're any good for sharing, we can take that off the price."

She'll describe them, then - she has a pretty good spell for subtle communication at a distance (from her description, it sounds like a similar concept to Chengsu's whisper spell, but different execution and framing), and one for revealing someone's mood, and one for seeing through someone's eyes (though it's obnoxiously prone to dropping if they stop making eye contact), and one that sounds like a variant of a healing diagnostic spell... Plus some far more subtle spells for commanding and controling and binding her target than El or Luthien ever get. 

Yeah, worth the trade.

Luthien could maybe throw in a few spells useful for sadists (or masochistic targets), if that'd be to Liesel's taste. 

She glances at Bea.

For after school, maybe. That's a little more risk than she's comfortable with right now.

They can commission further jewelry later, then. 

"How reasonable of you." 

"Someone's got to be the reasonable one."

"You two are doing a good job of it."

"Thanks."

"Frees us from that responsibility."

"Not our strong suit anyway."

"Taking over responsibility is, fortunately, mine."

"Sounds like a good combination."

"I'm a good person to have around."

"I have always found you so."

Smug smug smug. 

A good look on her.

Most things look good on her. 

If they're done with buisness, El's sure the other two have a room or two of their own to flirt in.

If El and Luthien would prefer not to share. 

Not a purely business relationship that she seeks, then?

Maybe not.

Hmmm.... What does Lu think?

Sharing's turned out well so far. 

Sounds like a yes.

(Seems like a successful bit of politicking.)

(She'd say so.)

(And a bit of fun, all too rare.)

Though they shouldn't take the whole day...

They can have a taste for now. 

A teaser.

An appetizer, really. 

El and Lu are a banquet.

To be uncovered over a rather long time. 

Something to look forward to.

Later, though - it'll be lunch soon, then getting ready for Induction...

Bea and Liesel will leave them to it.

"See you later."

"See you." And they're off. 

"I'd say that counts as an auspicious start to the year," El says to her girlfriend.

Satisfied smile. "An excellent celebration."

"A fitting reward, for two heroines."

"Better than any other we've been offered..."

"Hopefully the trick doesn't spread too far. A girl's only got so much time in the day."

"And Jialin and Dani will have their own celebrations for us."

"Oh, I do hope so," she purrs.

"We'll need to make all their worry up to them once they're back... And leaving them out of this." Jialin at least had gone to get supplies, and Shinta had gone to the alchemy labs, and Dani had been dragged off by a New York senior.

"I'm sure they'll have future opportunities."

"Dani will ensure that, once she knows it's possible."

"She is reliable in that way."

"A consistent soul."

"That's a kind way of putting it."

"Fits everything else about her, too. She's loyal."

"Yeah. Like a puppy."

"Though I might get jealous if you put a collar on her. Like cats and dogs."

"What if I let you put a collar on her?"

Oh now that's a thought... One she likes. 

Kiss!

Kisses!!! Excited wiggly kisses!!!

"You'll have to come up with some good ideas for her."

Giggle. "A puppy collar!"

"Yep."

"The main focus of decoration should probably be the name tag..."

"Heart-shaped?"

"An anatomically correct heart."

"A bold choice."

"A bold design for a bold wearer."

"Thinking of something three-dimensional?"

"I'll have to play around with it. Perhaps make a model in clay..."

"Let me know if you want help."

"A second eye might help."

"Don't you have two of your own?"

"A third and a fourth, then."

"Of course, dear."

Kiss!

Kiss. "Now I just have to find someone who won't miss theirs..."

"Don't attach them to me!"

"I could lacquer them and make desk ornaments out of them."

"Hmmm... Don't know if I want some random person staring at me, though."

"Understandable. What if they had little eyelids you could close when you weren't working on a project?"

She makes a bit of a face. 

"All right, no eyes. Just for you."

"Thank you, darling."

"You're welcome, Lu." Kiss!

Kisses!

"Want to go find the others now?"

"Let's."

Find Shinta and Dani to write down another name on their alliance?

Dani deserves to be formally acknowledged, after all. 

And they've got the leverage to make it stick, too.

The New Yorkers can't do much about it. 

Not after what they've done.

And how much El and Lu can make them regret trying. 

Check her room first off?

Sure. 

To Dani's room.

Which contains a Dani!

"Hey!"

"Hey, cutie!!!" Bounce! "Your enclave didn't give you too much grief?"

"Nah. Wanted me to sign up on an alliance, but I said I needed to think some more."

"Speaking of alliances - can we come in?"

"Of course." She steps back to let them in.

She sits down on Dani's bed with a little bounce. "We wanted to ask you - and we already ran this by Shinta - do you want to join our alliance?"

Eeeeeeee tacklehug!

"I think that's a yes."

"Yes!!!"

She laughs and hugs back, squeezing tightly, then gives Dani a very enthusiastic kiss after her 'yes.' 

Excellent!

A great initial celebration. 

Fun times.

Though now they need to fetch Shinta to write Dani's name up with their alliance!!!

No time for delay!

Shinta has finished settling her own haul into her room, and can be pretty easily fetched. (Though she doesn't see the point of the quasi-ceremony of writing names up.)

It's an exercise in team bonding. And a public commitment discourages defections, though El thinks that won't be a major consideration with this group.

She's not intending to. 

And the others are fairly well tied together, so.

Yeah; Shinta suspects the world will end before El and Lu split.

Not wrong.

They'll keep it together, though. 

Always do.

Their little service to the world. 

The world is definitely grateful.

Though their own team has more celebrating to do. A snack bar run, for instance. 

Yesssssss.

...Yeah, she's up for that. 

Dani will go grab her tokens.

Shinta's got a big stash - she doesn't use them much. 

They can share the cost.

She's fine covering more than her share of the celebration. 

That would be appreciated.

No problem. 

Snack time, snack time, let's go get some snacks!

Snacks!!!

They get three tokens a week, and Shinta spent basically none of hers in freshman year - and she's been saving the majority most weeks since, keeping her feeshman tokens in reserve for special occasions or acquiring things for trade given that the school will give better results on older tokens. Saving up hasn't always been pleasant - but her luck in the cafeteria line isn't terrible, and she likes having things for trade more than she likes eating, and she can endure hunger. 

They've gotten a bit over four hundred fifty tokens each since induction; it's rare to have more than single digit numbers on hand, given how useful the extra calories are (and with Luthien's appetite, she and El end up spending their weekly tokens and then trading for more food). Shinta spent a big chunk on their last alliance celebration, and she's still got roughly two hundred left, sorted meticulously in a coin binder by age. She doesn't have the best luck with the machine - that's Dani - but she can give Dani tokens to feed in for some very good results. 

There's of course the standard little pile of off brand, stale, and/ or squished chips and peanut butter crackers and candy bars and the like, but they also score: a few two packs of poptarts; a good variety of gum including a few packs with caffeine in them (valuable for trade; Shinta squirls most of those away for later); a handful of gumballs that come clattering in a rush out of the machine in a rush; a packet of stale pocky (also better for trade than eating, Shinta insists); a fresh salmon onigiri, dated that very morning; some room temperature soda; a bottled tea that's only making a vague gesture at being chilled; an actually cold bottled coffee; a pouch of Bon Curry; a lemon soda...

Which is on top of the bottomless lukewarm urns of unsweetened coffee and tea, which Shinta saves old bottles to fill up from (she hates water, and the unsweetened drinks will keep for a few days, and she runs on coffee) (there's also extremely suspicious packets of sugar with the urns, but they're almost never worth the risk, even for enclavers). 

It's a veritable feast, even better than what Dani's used to with the weekly snack bar runs with her enclave. And it's more than what even Luthien can pack away; they'll have some left over to store for bad days, and some to trade. 

She and El have a lot more room for storage than they used to, with the combined room meaning they can save on bed and desk space. Filling up empty bottles with coffee for the next few mornings isn't a bad idea. 

Teamwork! It's great!

There's major advantages to an alliance. 

Joining was a no-brainer, really.

Dani said yes very quickly. 

She knows what's good for her.

Both wise and decisive. 

She is both those things, yes.

An excellent complement to all her other good traits. 

Heeee.

Light kiss! 

"Let's take all this back to me and El's room?"

"Sounds like a plan."

" - Oh you two haven't seen the new room yet - "

Bounce! And time to show off their very very shiny combined room! 

So much room for activities!

Maybe explore those after Shinta leaves? 

Haha, sorry, of course, of course.

Much appreciated. 

They've got a celebration feast in the meantime. 

Just as much fun!

And a rarer treat. 

An important consideration.

Which means Luthien's gonna savor this. 

She deserves to.

Mmhmm!

Best girl.

El's best girl! 

Forever and always.

The drawback of a group celebration is Luthien can only give her sister an entirely insufficient kiss...

Save it up for later, sweetheart.

She's bottling up a lot of tension for later. 

Snack party's not enough, huh?

She and El can have their own little afterparty.

It's a date.

Good. 

Dani, meanwhile, is trying to make friends with Shinta!

This is... Difficult. Shinta is not a friendly person. 

She must have interests, though?

...Some. Like not dying.

Well hey. Dani doesn't want to her to die either. Common ground!

Her lips twitch into a small smile despite herself. "Normally friendship is more than that."

"From small acorns grow mighty oaks," she intones solemnly.

Heh.

"What are your interests then, other than not dying?"

"Rock music, flashy magic, pretty people. Love poems, adventure stories. I followed football and basketball outside."

"...I used to hike and camp a lot, and to hunt - both archery and rifles, and shot competitively with both. Though guns are harder to find good youth programs for, everyone at them's obnoxious, and nearly everyone's a sore loser. So, I didn't really keep up with that. But..."

"I was turning 15 Induction year; my birthday's in December. And I'd qualified for the Cadet bracket in the World Archery Youth Championships; the year you turn 15's the youngest you can really go international. Competition was going to be in August. My coach thought I had a pretty good chance at gold. Was planning on Archery World Cup or Youth Summer Olympics - or both - the year after."

"It's hard to have a lot of other interests when you're going for the Olympics. So I guess that prepared me for the Scholomance pretty well."

"Oh."

"Sorry."

"...Not something you did. And this shit's been good practice, if nothing else."

"Still. It's a chance you won't get back, and that sucks."

It's taboo to mention what you'll do after graduation, which Shinta thinks is silly and only goes along with to avoid getting hissed at. But.

"I'll still qualify for the Junior bracket in the Championships when we get out of here - and I'll be eighteen. That's enough for the full Olympics."

"I hope you make it."

"I will. The only question is what medals I take home. ...And how much of a pain in the ass returning will be."

"I could hook up some new documentation, if you wanted? Or reinforcement for a cover story?"

"...My disappearance hit the news; so did Luisa's - I asked the new freshmen in sophomore year about that."

"And I'm not... Leaving Luisa's family without any closure."

"Well, if absurd amounts of money or political influence can help, don't hesitate to ask."

"...Thanks."

"I'll probably just blame Jacky for everything; I think part of how she got Luisa to trust her is the three of us all happened to live within a few hours of each other. But - police'll want a crime scene. And I dunno how to give them one."

"...I probably have a usable sample of Jacky's DNA."

"...I kind of grabbed her trophies when we knew she was dead. And earlier - I grabbed a lot of Luisa's stuff after she vanished."

"I imagine that's quite a bit to work with."

"Guess I could use help faking - recreating - the crime scene, then."

"It'll be a couple days before we could get to you, probably..."

"Dani's closer... And I can stall - or try to hide for a bit..."

"And we can make a plan for what'll be needed."

"Might be able to send you out the gate with some of it..."

"...Not too much of the really creepy things, please."

"...DNA sample doesn't have to be big. We can just stick it in something. And that kind of test will probably be the hardest part. I can throw together an evil lair. But I can't leave traces of specific people."

"I'll do what I can. Helping is what friends do, after all."

"...Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"I'll look at what I have and work on lists for later."

"Sounds like a plan."

They can focus on the snack bar feast and general alliance celebration the rest of the time until Induction, then. 

Yeah!!

No objections from Luthien's corner. (...Though she's going to have to wait all the way until after dinner to work out her tension with El...)

El has faith that she'll survive.

Possibly by the skin of her teeth. 

Even so.

How much she hates waiting definitely helps with idly building mana, though.

So actually it's good for her.

She'll need more convincing about that.

El will see what she can do about that.

Luthien isn't sure if she should be excited or apprehensive. 

Some of each, perhaps.

Hmmm... A good compromise. 

El tries.

She's talented. 

She's one of the best girls in the Scholomance.

Certainly in the top four. 

Yep.

Along with the rest of their alliance. 

As is only right and proper.

Light kiss!

Adorable.

Shall they make their way to Induction?

Fine, fine...

Time to go meet the new friends.

Luthien's good at helping flush mals from the cafeteria and freshman hallway ahead of the actual arrival of the new students - and she's inclined to, where most people will just join the cluster waiting for the new students to arrive with mail. 

Shinta's even better at it - and her family doesn't exactly know to send her anything. She's taken to monitoring the halls instead; over the years she's caught a few mundane-born freshman - who usually die soon after Induction, often that same day - or kids who were unexpectedly hit hard or who were sick or injured, or who were at the far end of the halls and got ambushed before they could get their feet under them, and shepherded them to join the others in the cafeteria. This time she goes straight to the freshman halls, and rounds up her stragglers while everyone else is getting mail. She carries her guns with her. 

Dani does usually get mail, and she's got responsibilities as a New York senior besides.

El can escort her to the cafeteria.

Seniors - especially a New York senior, accompanied by a senior famous for her involvement both in killing a mawmouth and in the mad gambit to fix the cleansing machinery - get pride of place closest to where the new freshmen are pulled together into their huddle. They're given drinks - water and hot cocoa - and a few bracing pats on the shoulder, and enclavers find each other - 

And then those freshmen carrying mail for the older students start calling out names. 

Dani usually gets at least a newsletter keeping her up to date with the gossip and such.

El's not expecting anything.

Daniella gets her expected message, from a scrawny stick of a freshman who's the daughter of one of New York's non-enclave workers.

And a reedy boy, voice unsure, calls out - "I have something for Tinuviel and Luthien Higgins?" His head is swinging around, scanning the crowd with bemusement. "Daughters of Gwen Higgins - ?"

...The crowd around El falls silent, and several people turn to stare at her. 

Oh fuck. Sigh.

She raises her hand to beckon the boy over. "Over here, kid. And it's El."

He scurries over as the whispers start up and more people turn to stare! He hands El a tiny folded scrap of onionskin paper - it can't weigh even a gram, and it's folded so tightly it looks more like a hazelnut than paper. "I'm Aaron?" He sounds unsure somehow. "From Manchester."

"Nice to meet you, Aaron from Manchester. There's going to be a lot of fallout from this, so you might want to go find your friends now."

"Don't have any," he mumbles, shoulders creeping up near his ears. "'m indie."

Of course he is. Thanks mum, she always appreciates getting fed minions offered the chance to do a good turn.

"Then a word of advice? Take this chance to make some. You can sit at our table for dinner, that might give you enough shine that an enclave sends someone to feel you out. But you're not the only indie kid, and the others need a group too."

"...Alright..." he sounds unsure, still, but he's rescued by Daniella's freshman - who'd been hovering, getting increasingly uncomfortable with their group being stared at, and now grabs his hand like a lifeline.

"Let's go," she says, tugging him away from the spotlight.

Ah, the seeds of friendship.

"Gonna open that, then?"

"I'll wait for Lu."

Lu returns pretty soon! They've cleared the halls of freshmen by now. 

And then she notices all the staring and whispering. She hurries to El's side, asks - "What did I miss?"

"Mum sent a letter. To the daughters of Gwen Higgins."

"...Oops."

" - Have you opened it yet?"

She displays the tightly-folded nugget. "Was waiting for you."

"Thanks." Open it now? 

Might as well.

In Gwen's neat hand, written so tiny El can barely read it -

Ash and I are safe, going into hiding. We may not be at graduation point. Aaron's family has our contact. Take care of each other. 

And stay away from the fucking mawmouths, children.