I wake up to a sharp knock at my door.  I groggily sit up in bed, my eyes burning as the sunlight stabs at my gaze.  Talk about a wake-up call.  I realize The Odyssey is still open on the blanket in front of me, so I set it aside as I get up and make my way to the bathroom.  Much to my dismay, the one piece of hair sticking out still won't stay down.  Ugh.  I give up and go to answer the door once a knock rings out again.  I open the door to see Caim standing there, looking up at me.  Some color returns to his face as he sees me.

"I was worried that something happened to you!" he exclaims. "It's nearly eleven o'clock!"

"What?" I must've slept through the morning announcement.  

"I mean, you're not the only one," Caim adds. "Will only just woke up, too, and nobody's seen Iris yet."

"Oh." I frown. "I'll go check on him."

"Awesome!  And then make sure you two go grab some food in the hotel lobby- Dana's been busy over in the kitchen now that we've got food again."

I walk with him off my patio, then part ways as I turn left and head down towards Iris's cottage.  It's quiet over on this side of the cottages.  Maybe it's because the flautist's cottage neighbors Furfur, Marzy, Sophie, and Rori's cottages, and they're all... y'know.  I step onto his patio and knock on the door.

"Iris?" I call.

No response.

That's never a good sign on this stupid island, so I knock again. "Iris, it's Azrael."

Still nothing.  I gently jiggle the doorhandle, only to find that it's unlocked.  Another really not good sign.  I take a deep breath, pray to the gods that I'm not going to find a dead body, and open the door.  

The cottage is a disaster.  Stuff is everywhere, I think a few things are broken, and Iris himself is sitting in the corner, his lavender eyes hazy.  I carefully approach, trying not to trigger any negative reactions.

"What... happened in here?" I ask quietly.

Iris looks up at me, his expression unreadable. "That... what we just saw... that wasn't balanced, Azrael.  That wasn't fair to him."

"I thought you think murdering a killer is justified," I remind him.

"...well, yes, it is, but... it was brutal, Azz.  It didn't seem justified, or balanced, even if the deaths technically balance each other out," he says, hands balling into fists. "And we don't even know if Flauros is the one who tried to kill me, so that person might still be roaming freely."

"How about we start by cleaning this place up?" I suggest, gesturing to the mess around us.

Iris looks around, blinking as his eyes adjust to his surroundings again. "Oh.  I... I did that."

He gets to his feet and begins to put things back where they were.  As I help my grabbing the trash bin and scooping up broken items, I reach under the bed for a broken pencil and instead feel some sort of fabric.  Curious, I set down the trash bin and use both hands to pull out the fabric.  I unfold it to find myself staring at a black-and-white varsity jacket, a red letter 'D' embroidered on the right side.

"What's this?" I call to Iris.

He stops folding clothes to come over and look. "I don't know.  I found it in my drawer and didn't think much of it.  I must've thrown it under there at some point."

"No offense, but I don't see you wearing something like this," I tell him as I hand him the jacket.

He rolls his eyes as he folds it back up and tucks it into a drawer. "None taken.  I don't see it, either."

"Maybe give it to Will or someone."

"I'll think about it."

We clean up in silence for a few more minutes before Iris runs a hand through his hair and says, "Well, it's getting late.  I'm probably going to head to bed in a few minutes."

I look him dead in the eyes. "Iris, it's eleven in the morning."

"Oh.  Really?" Iris blinks, processing my words. "It feels like the trial was only a little while ago, and I know I must've spaced out for a long time, but are you sure it's eleven?"

I don't answer, juts go over to the door and fling it open, letting the bright sunlight shine into the cottage.

The flautist stands there, and I can see the gears turning in his head. "...huh.  I guess it really is eleven, then."

"You need to keep your digital handbook on you at all times from now on," I insist, gesturing to where it sits on his desk.

He walks over and picks it up, thinking. "...I don't have pockets."

"Then we need Caim to build you a watch or something."

"I'm fine, Azz, really," Iris objects with a smile. "No need to worry about me.  I just get confused sometimes, that's all."

I want to say so many things to him right now, tell him that he needs help, tell him to just let Caim make him a watch, but I know it would all just fall on deaf ears.  But I also want to keep him in a good mood and the recent execution off of his mind, so I turn towards the open door and ask, "Wanna go get something to eat?  I heard Dana's been cooking up a storm."

"I'm good," Iris responds, "but I'll come with you."

"Nobody's eaten for a whole day," I remind him. "You have to eat something."

Iris frowns but says nothing.  He shifts uncomfortably before grabbing his flute bag, swinging it over his shoulder, and walking out the door with me close behind.  As we approach the hotel lobby, he seems to brush off whatever he's feeling and quickly puts on a content look.  I know he doesn't want me to worry about him, but it just makes me worry even more when I can visibly see him putting on a mask again.

"Hey, boys!" Dana greets as she sees us enter the kitchen. "Food's probably cold by now, but you can re-heat it in the oven.  I went a little overboard now that I can cook again, so help yourselves."

She looks at Iris for a long moment, as if trying to read him.  Finally, she looks at me and asks, "Can you leave for a moment, please?  I need to talk to Iris for a moment."

I'm confused and also intrigued, but I trust Dana and quickly fill up a plate before going into the lobby to eat.  I was in such a rush to leave that I forgot to re-heat the food, but I'm also too hungry to wait any more now that I'm so close to eating again.  And it turns out that when you haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours, even cold eggs taste incredible.

"How's it going, junior Shakespeare?" Will greets as he and Zeben enter the room, flopping onto the couch together next to me.

I give the videographer a wary look. "I'm still offended that you jumped on me like that at the trial."

He sighs, nodding. "Yeah, I'm sorry for that.  It's just that when there's a killer and everyone's lives are at risk if we don't catch 'em, you really want to try coming up with possible scenarios, y'know?  I mean, obviously that doesn't excuse my actions, but I was stressed, and when I'm stressed, I get like that.  Ask any of the actors I've worked with, they'll tell you the same thing."

"No, that makes sense.  I get it," I shrug. 

"How about we all meet each other halfway?" Zeben chimes in. "We just try not to let the chaos of the situation get to our heads now that both our detectives are gone, and avoid accusations without concrete evidence.  That way, we don't split the group apart- we need to stick together now that there's so few of us left.  I... I don't want to lose anyone else."

His expression darkens slightly at the last part, and he lets out a deep exhale.

Will wraps a reassuring arm around him. "Don't sweat it, farmer boy.  I think we're done with murder.  Nobody in the right mind would even consider it after all we've been through."

A few minutes later, Iris emerges from the kitchen and gives me a smile.  I dismiss myself from the conversation with Will and Zeben to go join him.

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

Iris shrugs, taking a slow sip from a steaming mug in his hands. "Yeah.  We had a good conversation."

I know it's not my place to be nosy, so I don't ask any questions.  We find ourselves walking across towards the central island when I notice that the final rope bridge is unblocked.  I look towards Iris, and he nods.  

"Might as well check it out," he comments.

This island feels... oddly ominous as we cross the bridge.  This thought leaves my mind briefly as we step onto the island and promptly find ourselves standing in what seems to look like some sort of vendor stall area.  All the street vendor booths are quite cozy-looking, with sunset-orange glows from lanterns adding a touch more color to everything.  Maybe this place isn't exactly as off-putting as I felt it to be- this seems like a cute area to do some writing outdoors.

Beyond the stalls is a large building, and upon stepping inside, seems to be a factory of some sorts.  For what, I'm unsure.  In fact, I'm just confused as to why there's a factory in the first place.  Are we going to be put to work or something?  As we turn to leave, a flicker of movement catches my eye.  Suddenly, Caim emerges from one side of the room, a toolkit in hand.  He jumps as he nearly runs into me.

"Agh- sorry!" he apologizes. "I've been looking around for anything I can use to help fix up the airplane.  Hope I didn't startle you too much!"

I laugh it off as a way to cover up the fact that my heart is now racing in my chest. "You're fine."

Caim pulls on the steampunk goggles around his neck as he giggles nervously. "Well, I'll see you around!  I gotta go try making some more progress."

He says a brief hello to Iris as he exits.  I take another look around the factory, but seeing as there's not really anything else to see, I turn and leave with Iris by my side.

"Ho-ly sh*t," I say as I push open the door to another large building.

"Allowing students access to this stuff is not ideal in a well-balanced scenario," Iris mutters under his breath.

We're standing in a military base.  A whole f*cking military base.  As in, the walls are lined with weapons and other stuff.  I think there's a tank in the back.  This is not stuff that late teens and young adults should be screwing around with.

Iris and I exchange glances before turning around and shutting the door as we leave.

"Let's consider this off-limits," I say once my hand is off the door handle.  The flautist gives a sharp nod in agreement.

Now that I'm looking up as I walk around the island, I guess I didn't notice all the machinery aimed at the sky from the rooftops.  Damn, I gotta keep my head up more.

"A little different than the amusement park, huh?" Monokumace comments as they pop out of nowhere.

Iris sets his jaw at the sight of the dragonlike creature but says nothing.

Monokumace notices but chooses to ignore him as they turn to look at me. "Well?  Now ya know you can defend yourselves against that dirty traitor in the class."

I freeze, processing the words I've just heard. "...what?"

The headmaster giggles. "Oh, whoops!  Guess almost everyone I told about that is dead now.  Well, I ought to repeat it again.  Just... let me..."

They suddenly pull a handheld microphone out of nowhere, and as they start speaking into it, I hear their voice echo from the loudspeakers.

"Attention, students!  It's come to my attention that you are all unaware of one teensy-weensy detail that you should probably know!  Well, if you've seen the vault door in the Ruins, that little area was built by the very society that trapped you here- the Future Foundation.  Why is this important, you may ask?  Well, the Future Foundation has left you all a very generous gift- a spy in the class!  And that traitor is still alive.  Anywho, hope that didn't just ruin the trust you've placed in all your friends!  Buh-bye!"

With that, Monokumace puts the microphone back in their spare pocket dimension and turns to look at me and Iris. "Was that a good enough explanation?"

***

(2099 words)

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