"Make sure you get that off your hand as well," Phantom said, motioning to the black scribbles littering Káel's palm like fresh blood after a murder.

          "Yeah I know, there isn't exactly a bathroom down there," he replied, hiding the mark in his pocket with a sour frown and closing up the secret secret room. 

          As he went for the stairs a strange vibrating sensation rattled at his wrist, causing him to jump and feel around for his phone. The box remained lifeless in his pocket however, coaxing him to lift his sleeve and stare at the little shaking sender.

          Káel blinked in confusion. "Why's it doing that?"

          Phantom was equally perplexed by the bracelet, craning over Káel's shoulder to inspect it. "Is there a button somewhere to stop it?"

          The bracelet continued to vibrate as Káel looked at it from every angle for a button, the silver bracelet completely bare of any bumps or switches. It persisted, growing more restless by the second, until Káel poked the centre of it, silencing it with a soft click.

          "Did it stop?" Phantom whispered, the two of them watching it in stiff anticipation.

          Suddenly a small orb shot out of it, halting at Káel's eye level while he jumped. "Finally! It worked!" the orb cried, somehow possessing the energetic tone of his roommate.

          Káel drew back in surprise. "Truvius?"

          "Oh yeah, you've never been in range when I've tried to call you on your sender," Truvius continued. "Glad you figured it out, where are you?"

          "Walking around," Káel replied, giving the talking orb a weird look. "How did you do this?"

          "I'll show you later, where were you before? Cause when you disappear and I try to call you on this the signal never works."

          "I was outside," Káel lied.

          Truvius' voice flattened with doubt. "Really now?"

          "Did you reach him?" another voice cut in.

          "Yeah, quit shoving your face at my sender Leon, you can hear him perfectly fine!" Truvius snapped, a quiet shuffle leaking through the orb as the boy's adjusted to share the call. "Anyways, we're outside playing some games right now. Feel free to join us."

          "Okay," Káel replied hesitantly. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll catch up later."

          "Alright, see you then," Truvius quickly replied, cutting off the call before Leon could give his farewells.

          Phantom shared Káel's concerns over the strange nature of the call. "That was..."

          "Odd?"

          "He sounded kind of weird," Káel said, thinking about anything he could've done to arise irritation amongst his acquaintances. There was plenty, but none of them ever affected Truvius.

          "Ignore it for now, we need to get rid of that lovely drawing on your hand first," Phantom said, casually strolling away to the nearest washroom while whistling a tune.

  —————  

          Káel checked the washroom for guests, discretely slipping his hand out to scrub at the stain under the flowing water enchantment. The water turned grey with loose ink, but even though it looked like it was coming off, the markings remained clear as day.

          Káel flexed his palm in confusion, muttering a spell at the tap to warm up the water. "Phantom."

          "Yes?"

          Káel tried rubbing a bar of what he assumed to be soap on his palm, but even under the assault of rosey pink suds, the ink was relentless. "It's not coming off."

          "Use the soap." Phantom tilted his head when he saw what Káel was holding. "Oh... never mind. Try harder?"

          Káel breathed out an irritated sigh, clawing at the marks until his skin burned. "I am! It's not coming off, what is this stuff?!"

          Phantom leaned in to watch Káel's futile attempts at washing the symbol off, the continuous stream of dirty grey water somehow clicking with a long lost memory.

          "Oh..." he breathed, his voice dropping to a worried whisper. "Uh oh."

          "What? Do you know what this is?" Káel replied, his worry bouncing right off his friend's undynamic face as he rammed the soap into his palm as a last shot at success.

          Phantom chuckled nervously as Káel stared at his bubbly palm. "Yeah, it just dawned on me..."

          "What is it?!" Káel pressed, his voice shaking as he scoured the black marks. "Is it poisonous?"

          "Enough with the poison crap, it's ink..."

          Káel's face twisted with confusion as he rinsed the suds from his skin to look at it. "Tattoo ink?"

          Phantom broke down into laughter. "Nope! But it's just as bad. That's hair dye, enchanted, long last, hair dye. Zalius's father used it on him when he was younger so his white hair wouldn't concern people."

          "What the hell was it doing down there?!"

          Phantom playfully shrugged at Káel's panicked irritation. "Guess he ran out of normal ink."

          "Well how do I get it off? I can't go flaunting ancient ritual symbols around the school!"

          "You'll need someone to break the enchantment," Phantom replied, almost unable to speak between his amused laughter.

          "It's not funny!" Káel threw his attention to the door as a set of footsteps passed, his voice dipping to a pitched whisper. "How do I break the enchantment? Cause I need to do it pronto."

          "Magic."

          Káel locked onto Puff. "Please tell me you can get rid of this."

          The dragon warbled with uncertainty, slowly shaking his head. 

          Phantom continued to snicker at Káel's predicament, holding his hand over his mouth like it would stop Káel from noticing.

          "I told you it's not funny! If someone sees this we're both dead meat!" Káel growled, rubbing at his reddened skin with his thumb.

          "I mean there's a chance they won't recognize it," Phantom muttered. "It's old."

          "Let's not take chances, I need something magical to break the- Soren!" Káel exclaimed, clapping his hands together with triumph. "I can get Soren to do it, let's go!"

  —————  

          Vera lingered by the main entrance, half in a conversation with her friends as she skimmed the perimeters. In or out, Káel would come through that front entrance eventually. He had been missing all morning.

          When a patch of unkempt black hair passed her, she secured her target, throwing his name to his back as he turned around in bewildered confusion. A smile tugged her cheeks as his silver eyes dimmed in disappointment at the sight of her. "Truvius was looking for you."

          "Yeah I know," Káel replied, sliding his hand deeper into his pocket.

          She caught the motion, and the small strings of cobwebs kissing his shoes, closing in on her prey with an innocent charm. "So where did you go when you got up so early?"

          "Outside, for a walk."

          Lying.

           She watched as he made his way towards the door, rushing to his side with a grin. "And you're going back outside?"

          "I came from breakfast, why do you care?"

          The amusement grew on Vera's face as they approached the open doors. "I guess we missed you somehow."

          Káel nodded, allowing her to follow him out the door. 

          As they passed the students lounging at the steps, she smiled to herself.   

          Káel's habits of isolation had finally worked against him. 

          She waited until they passed the influence of any other students, stepping in front of him and sticking an arm out to block his escape. With a slow and deliberate turn she shifted her gaze to him. "You were in that room."

          She smiled as his mouth dropped, trying to cook up a response before his weak facade shattered. "What? Where'd that come from?"

          "Next time, clean your shoes," she said, resisting the urge to celebrate as Káel looked down and went pale.

          "I..." He flicked his gaze to the right, sparked with irritation until he locked gazes with her. "Was in Samanthra's office..."

          Vera cocked an eyebrow, Talli wouldn't even buy a lie like that, and she didn't have patience to spare for his sad games. "So why don't you show me the room?"

          "No," Káel replied, sighing as his cold front couldn't deter the red head from following him to the forest's edge. "Why are you still following me?"

          Vera shrugged. "I'm bored."

          Káel narrowed his eyes and continued on his path with the new company.

          Vera watched him fiddle with his pocket. "Are you going into the forest?"

          "Yes."

          "I could have sworn you said you didn't have a Ceptrum," she continued tauntingly. "Unless you were lying about that aswell."

          "Jee, you think?" Káel retorted, pulling the Ceptrum out of his pocket as they stopped at the forest's edge.

          She narrowed her eyes as a new detail caught her, black ink covering Káel's palm in a pool of runic symbols. She snatched his wrist to get a closer look at it, seeing the panic set into the boy as he realised far too late the mistake he'd made.

          She squeezed into his bone, twisting his hand around with a disappointed smile. "What's this?"

          "That..." Káel swallowed, taking a moment of silence for his felled plans before ripping his hand away to shove the ceptrum back in his pocket. "It's a doodle."

          Liar.

          "Doesn't seem like a 'doodle'." Vera said, dipping down to try and pull his gaze from the grass. "What have you been up to Unicorn Boy?"

          Káel flicked his gaze to his right again, the cold hostility only tightening in his voice. "Nothing."

          Vera took a moment to analyse the situation, picking through his short experience at Cobalt to find the perfect trigger. She was too close to satisfying her curiousity, too close to pulling away the sheets hiding Káel's strange behaviour. 

          Too close to play her threat safe.

          "Would Ray say it's nothing?" she chimed, heart spiking with excitement as another wave of panic struck Káel. "Here..." she tugged down her sleeve, flaunting her sender as another nail hammered into Káel's coffin. "I'll call him right now-"

          "No!" 

           Vera flinched at his tone, relishing in the fear painting every inch of his whitened face. His eyes were pleading for her to stop, darkened by the fear of losing the secret she was so close to snatching.

          And she wasn't going to give up.

          A wicked grin tarnished the innocence she wore like a mask, every syllable slowed to deliver its own individual blow on Káel's heart. "Show. Me. The room."  

          Káel stopped, his shoulder relaxing as he turned his attention to his right, his gaze lingering on the air as if he didn't care to hide it anymore. "Fine," he said, his shallowed voice directing itself to Vera as he smiled at her. "But you'll have to help me with something." 

          "Help you with something?" Vera said, unable to keep her grimace down as she folded her arms. "It depends on what that something is..."

  —————  

          Káel scowled as he lead Vera to their destination. She was clearly growing more cautious as he lead her, wondering if following him was a wise decision after all. 

          But it was too late to turn back now.

          "So what was that thing I'm supposed to help you with?" Vera whispered, crouched beside Káel in the emptied room that once boasted the haunted stairwell to the room.

          "I'll tell you when we get there," Káel whispered, his harsh tone drawing a glare from his company. "Just don't freak out."

          Káel popped the compartment open, sighing as Vera leaned down to take a peek inside. "Woah, so that's the Ceptrum? Cool!"

          Káel shushed her, and with one last shoulder check to make sure nobody was in sight, he held out his Ceptrum and spoke the password.

          Vera watched in awe as he walked through the illusion of a wall, tearing past him down the stairs with a kicked up cloud of dust to track her journey. Puff and Phantom went after her, Káel coming last with a dismal drag to his feet.

          "Were you cleaning this place?! How many times have you been down here?!" Vera yelled, her voice carrying up the steps to Káel as he rolled his eyes.

          When he came into the room, he found her toying with one of the swords, bouncing it between her palms and slaying the air. "Just don't break anything, cause it might not end well for us."

          "This place is great! We should make it a secret meeting room!" Vera dropped the sword to pick up a small flask of aquamarine liquid off the floor.

          Phantom walked up beside Káel. "Poison."

          He snatched the vial from her and carefully placed it on a shelf. "This is half of it," he said, grabbing the grimy chestplate concealing the Ceptrum.

          Her eyes filled with more curious awe, the pure joy in her voice nearly softening Káel's hostility. "There's another room?!"

          "Yeah, and this is the part where you don't freak out."

          Káel held out the Ceptrum, staring at it in hesitantly as Vera glued her gaze to him him. He glanced at Phantom and sighed, muttering the password with a stiff growl. The wall shifted away, showing the clean room beyond, with the ritual he'd spent hours creating sitting in plain view.

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Quality Quip #18:

'There is no greater a force than the avalanches that start as small choices.'

~ Anon