Warning:
This chapter contains mildly graphic violence, depictions of self-harm and sexual assault which may be disturbing to some sensitive readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Night seemed to be drawn-out. Wind howled into the trees that swayed violently, covering the moonlight with their leafy branches. The bespectacled woman lifted her cup of earl grey tea and took a sip. She gazed out of the rectangular windows of her room and sighed. Putting the cup down and running her fingers over the table to grab a piece of paper, she learned that Sir Wyatt had gotten the Director of the Writers' Guild his box of cereals. She crushed the paper and scanned the room upon hearing footsteps.

The room had a red carpet that stretched across its length and a neat table with a table lamp. The Chandelure that lit up the room blinked at the woman. Two potted plants—peppermint and basil—stood guard at the two sides of the giant black door that had an obsidian encrusted into the silver doorknob which gradually twisted.

A figure stood in front of her, proud and tall. Then, he bowed and said, "Madame Valencia, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Zayn," she addressed the boy. "You came as I hoped. Care to go on a trip to Kalos? With you and your deduction skills by my side, maybe you can help figure out who sent those four men here last night."

"I'm afraid I can't. Not just yet, at least." Zayn crossed his arms and lowered his head. "Do you have the key to the concert hall? The door is locked."

"Locked?" The black-haired woman echoed. "It's not exactly locked. You can't open it with a key. Also, Loralei has the keys to both the backstage and the hall."

The boy took a seat in front of her while combing his fingers through his yellow hair. He placed his gaze on the Pokémon above, the blue flames licking the air wildly.

The woman continued with a smile, "It's Loralei's Caramel. Reflect."

She watched with exasperation at the screen displaying the situation in the concert hall. She scratched her short black hair, like a man's, and stroke her russet teardrop earrings.

"Go," she said. "Go to Sage."

Caramel has to be a strong Psychic-type to create a wall of light to stop the door from being pushed open. Zayn made a mental note.

"See you later, Madame Valencia." He waved at her. Opening the door, the boy stopped and asked, "Right, is Sir Wyatt coming with us?"

"Of course. You miss him, don't you? Though you last saw him this morning when he passed you your cereals." The woman spun a purple pen. "Anyway, Sage probably needs a good detective now."

The boy bowed and dashed out of the room, leaving the woman to sip her tea. Her eyes landed on a tiny black dot in the orange-brown beverage. She dug her finger deep into her mouth and forced the tea out into a paper bag.

"There's a fly in my tea. No wonder it tasted weird."

「」

This is how I'm going to die. Sage thought and searched the crowd for his allies. I'm going to fucking die in a concert hall, but I don't know how.

Beside him, Mei fixed her eyes on all the students that were talking to each other with smiles etched on their faces. The noise drowned out all of those conversations so she could only read their lips. It unsettled her. She gripped the boy's arm and her fingernails sank into his flesh. Pulling her senior closer, she spun her head around to see faces whirling by, like she was at the eye of the tornado and they were being thrown about. The distorted smiles seemed to bare fangs, pointed and curved, and everything sounded like laughter to her. Two students were gesturing to each other somewhere far away, with both having one eye looking their way, glinting.

"They say bad things about me. They must want me to jump, place myself on a noose, shoot, overdose..." Mei whispered while dragging her hood down. "They say I liar. Don't talk to me! Why you disturb me?" Her lips were quivering as she let out a shriek. "I am good. Sayo is a friend. I never do anything. I never do anything!"

Sage stayed silent. He needed to concentrate on his search. No way was he going to let her hallucinations stop him. Still, it bothered him a lot, that he was probably going to die.

She mentioned "Sayo" just now, right? Sage glanced her way. What if something traumatic involving Sayo and Mei happened in the past, so she thought that main voice taunting her was Sayo? Or maybe it is Sayo, but warped.

Sage shook his head, realising he was going slightly off-track and resumed his search once more with gritted teeth.

The girl nearly tripped him with her foot and screamed into his ears, "Hey! Are you real?"

He felt her pinch him and he winced. "What the shit was that for? I'm real!"

Aren't her thoughts just incoherent and unfiltered. Sage sighed at the girl.

"Ah." She let go of him.

"Relax, I-I didn't mean to—"

His cheeks reddened. The girl's hands were quick as lightning and heavy as steel on his cheeks, creating a patch of tinged pink.

"OK, you are real." Mei looked down. "Sorry. I thought if I felt pain, you'd be real. Action-reaction forces."

"Whatever."

The moment he said it, a saccharine voice flowed into his ears alongside piano melody. It was nothing like all the sweet songs she always sang together with Ria. This one was not at all romantic or happy. This one came from one of her singles.

"It stalked me through the dark, crimson eyes full of menace. Hands, multiple pairs come my way, sticks, fists and guns." Loralei held onto her glittering black microphone. "So down I went, into fear! Good night, Pidove."

Aren't her singles just weird. Take 'Good Night, Pidove' for example. She must have been through a lot. Sage frowned. He took a step forward but a hand hauled him backwards. At the corner of his eyes, the palpitating girl bit her grey jacket and outstared him. Her voice quavered as she mumbled non-stop. Her eyes grew intensely dull, like a ruby that lost its lustre. A void, the boy reckoned so. They were no longer eyes, just deeper, darker red spheres rapidly greying.

It's the Pidove. Sage breathed.

A sudden scream shot through the night. The more Loralei sang, the louder the screams, and the worse the situation evolved into.

Chaos erupted with each high note. Max and Lark, who had forgotten to place their switchblades under their pillows after breakfast, were cutting their arms, each wound deeper than the previous one. The girls who had pepper sprays in their backpacks used it on themselves, sneezing and coughing up dust in between each spray.

"Ferro!" Titan hollered and caught Sage's attention. The cyclist punched himself with a metallic, shiny fist without hesitation. The fist morphed into a bloodied blade and Ferro's moans rolled into the darkness. It took a few seconds before the red-haired boy, too, was engaged in boxing himself.

Sage snapped his head to all the other students around him. What was it that caused this? Her Singularity? What was it? He had to rationalise, to prevent himself from listening to the song.

Lessons involving Singularity were always one-on-one with Madame Valencia so no one knew each other's Singularity or Pokémon unless they told someone else. Mei was the only exception who had Jade to accompany her. Perhaps there were other exceptions too. How would Valencia agree to such a vicious Singularity, much like a siren?

"Dark Aria," someone said with a mellow tone of her voice. A girl, thin as a matchstick, looked at him and grinned. Two floating Shuppet Dolls, one white and one black, encircled her. Their eyes were purple like the girl's, and they were glowing.

"Why aren't you affected?" Sage asked, sinking into his shadow. Whoever this girl was, she could potentially hurt him. No, he cannot let that happen to him. The shadow was now under his chin.

"I'm Ria. I was here within the crowd, not sick. Loralei just didn't want me to perform tonight." The girl flipped her grey hair. "Anyway, my dolls protect me from Loralei's ability. Do you need help? How do I get you out of your shadow?"

"It's fine. I've thought about death for so long. Before I was human, I was friends with the darkness—still am," the boy deadpanned. Can't let my guard down. What if she's here to eliminate those who aren't affected by Karma?

Sage found himself in a cruel abyss of blackness, and above, the appalled girl bit her fingernails, looking around and calling for help. He needed no help. Hell, no one would respond to her anyway. Mei, on the other hand, was still talking to the voices in her head and seemed not to notice his disappearance. Sage wanted to tell her, but that would mean leaving his shadow and he would be at risk of being exposed.

Damn it! I have to get to Ferro and control him to use the Killer card! Sage transported himself into Ferro's shadow and coughed. Something was amiss about the boy. Ferro was like a marionette and Loralei, the puppeteer. Sage called out to the boy but he seemed not to hear him.

Emerging from the shadows, Sage tried to control Ferro to use his phone. Sage shifted Ferro's hands but the boy kept hitting himself harder and harder, occasionally pausing to reach for his phone. The shadow jerked between the two movements. Sounds bounced off the walls along with blood-curdling screams.

Scan your damn iris. Why don't you have an iris scanner in addition to a password? Sage kicked the boy, hoping Ferro would awaken from this mass hypnosis. Immediately, he felt instant regret and doubled over in agony. Who the heck told you to turn your entire body into iron?

"This is bad," Sage muttered and glowered at the cyclist. "What can I do? Control Loralei?"

That's it. Sage gritted his teeth. He thought he had no other way out. He couldn't stay out there for long; being in the shadows was the only way to not be affected by Karma. As he forced himself into the dark depths once more, his hands slowly reached out to his neck. His head was slightly above his shadow when his mind was full of "kill yourself"s. Entering the boundaries of his shadow, stillness broke into the realm of his mind, robbing all of his negativity. A question popped up in his head.

Eliminating the root of the problem would turn out to be the best solution, right?

The puppeteer continued singing her song of child abuse and failed to seal the tears flowing out of her eyes. She seemed not to notice the boy running toward her. Loralei concentrated on singing her heart out. Closing her eyes, she counted to ten and took a deep breath. She cackled. She paused when a slam resounded in the hall, unsure of just which part of the hall it came from, only knowing that it seemed to be near her. Her eyes scanned across the students and found a strange target unaffected by her Singularity.

Yet she was so sure everyone would be engaged in self-mutilation. Dark Aria was supposed to trigger the destructive nature in humans, granting them self-destruction when hearing her sing. She didn't hear of a deaf student either. Just what made this student resist her Singularity so easily?

"Sage? Sage? Where are you? Sage?" The voice was barely audible.

The boy in question was being pushed back by the crowd, away from Loralei's sight.

"Sage?"

It was even softer now, and Loralei pictured the voice to be a Beautifly with drooping wings, falling gently onto the water surface and creating a tiny ripple. Red spread across the water and the still portrait remained in her mind.

Then, she was met with silence from the voice.

No one could resist my ability after all. She thought to herself. It's my win in the end. Everyone would perish and live happily ever after without misery. In the afterlife, that is.

Without warning, a force shoved her off the stage and she was flung onto the centre of the hall, bruising her head. Her thoughts swiftly replaced themselves with words never in her dictionary, words that her anima was communicating with her.

I can't actually sing. I suck. I killed my father. I'm ruining people's lives. I should have died long ago.

"You know, darkness runs far deeper than you think. I've to control your umbra rather than simply your penumbra."

She angled her head till she could see those menacing eyes that shocked her. The brownness of the eyes reminded her of her father's belt and the pupils reflected the beast that she was. Beyond the sclera was a cold creature, hardened by an unknown past, forged with a strange steeliness to halt her actions.

"Ugh." The single syllable was stuck in her throat. A memory flashed in her mind.

"Look what you made me do! Bitch! Here's another scar for you!"

Her father whipped her with his leather belt. Scalpels slashed her body and across the chest.

"I have no need for a flat-chested daughter. My daughter has to be busty. You're not worth a cent in a bagnio!"

Her father's grim expression followed her across the small room as she knocked over a porcelain vase and few broken pieces cut her skin. The girl whined but words never reached her mouth.

"How else shall I punish you? Lora, the law only punishes the perpetrator after the crime has been committed."

He hissed into her ear like an Arbok, yawning fully into her face.

"Little Lora, let me teach you about the birds and the bees. You like hands-on experience, don't you?"

"Fuck," the girl groaned. Pain smeared her head. "I killed him. Don't kill me... The law... Justice..."

"Law? Justice? Law is but a scarecrow and Justice, a blind opportunist." The monster leant closer, brown eyes glinting with a strange concoction of calmness and chaos. "Hand your phone over."

Like a weak-kneed Wooloo, the girl gave him her phone and unlocked it as told. She had no strength to resist. The longer she looked at the boy, the more she saw her father whipping her, caning her and punching her. The best choice was silence till Healer Killer came along, giving her a newfound courage to execute her plan. But, her father was her only family. Realising that now only made things worse.

"I didn't take pictures of his corpse. You won't find any evidence."

"Really, the law wouldn't be enough to judge you." He scrolled through her phone and found what he was looking for.

Catching the sinister, dull gleam in his eyes, Loralei tried to snatch her phone from him but he was too tall, and she was lying on the ground. "No. No! You can't be thinking of calling the po—"

"Release everyone. Once you do that, you have your phone back. I really can't find any evidence or photos or recordings." The boy smacked her face and pushed her down. He waited for her to nod, with a glare, and the students stopped hurting themselves simultaneously. There were, however, numerous injuries and many were bleeding, black and blue.

"Sage?" Mei came forward. "I finally found you. The voices... console me. Sayo sleeping already."

She isn't affected because she's talking to the voices within? Sage mused. His thumb hit the phone and he typed furiously on it.

"What're you typing?" Mei craned her neck. She was glad Sayo did not come to hurt her tonight. "Myself? When I admit defeat? Auto?"

Sage hit the "Enter" button and returned the phone to Loralei. "Here you go."

"Fuck you!" Loralei screamed when she saw a notification pop up and all heads turned to her. She got on all fours and reached out for the boy but tripped over her dress.

No! This isn't right! Why didn't things go as planned? All that hope for naught! Loralei hurled expletives endlessly at him. She didn't know how he knew about it or who he truly was. She never met someone with such calmness in that glint in his eyes. Yet, behind that glint, there was sorrow, and perhaps guilt. That was what she hoped she glimpsed.

A sharp pain coursed through her veins when something pricked her back and someone pulled her braided hair.

"To think you'd do this, you're so selfish, Loralei!" Ria slapped her. "Why would you go about determining who's miserable and who's not? You're the miserable one, not any of us!"

Ah, Loralei started the bullying back then too. Mei clasped her hands together and placed it on her chest. Karma down. Five of us left.

"Ha." Loralei snickered. "I still have Caramel anyway. Caramel, Dragon Pulse on them!"

Silence.

"Ca... Caramel?" She looked around but her Pokémon was not there. Zie did not appear from backstage, nor was there a dusky sphere shooting out from behind the curtains.

The doors swung open and students dashed out of the concert hall in fear and frenzy, leaving Sage, Mei, a disappointed Ria and a whining Loralei with bloodshot eyes inside the facility. When all grew quiet, a boy entered from the backstage, dragging a three-headed, black-winged Pokémon into the hall. Zie had been knocked out.

"Impossible, I have the key! No one could have entered!"

A tiny greyish-white Pokémon floated out from between the curtains. Two black circles and a keyhole formed zir eyes and mouth respectively. Zie had an appendage extending from the top of zir head which resembled a key with two white, blunt teeth. A blue key hung in the keyring.

"Klee!" Zie cried triumphantly.

"I trained my Klefki to rid of the habit of stealing keys, but this one was a special order," the yellow-haired boy said. "Also, it's great to have an easy opponent, conveniently a Dark- and Dragon-type like your Hydreigon. I thought it's a Psychic-type at first, but seems like I'm in luck."

"Admit defeat, you lost," Sage muttered. "And thanks for helping, Zayn."

"Fine, I lost. I was too selfish, huh? Maybe it was destined for me to die alone." Loralei sucked in a breath.

Titan and Ferro ran into the concert hall, realising they had left Sage alone. Their entry marked the fall of a human clouded with arrogance.

"She died," Sage told the others matter-of-factly. "Seems like she used the Killer card on herself."

For Mei, it clicked. So that was what he was typing. So you can kill a person with that. I wonder if you can eliminate fears or, better yet, stigma?

She hummed as she sat on the steps. She was glad she found someone in the midst of chaos. Jade had been alone in her room and this was perhaps news that the girl might want to know. Mei walked out of the facility, leaving the group staring at the cadaver.

"Mei, so you didn't hear me this morning." Zayn's voice stopped her and she turned to eye the concerned boy.

"I did, but I can't let up a chance to investigate."

"Who?"

The blue-haired girl recalled the morning's conversation with Zayn. Yes, she would keep that a secret till they both decided it was safe to reveal it. Her mind drifted back to her pulling her hair clip off and throwing it onto the floor to attract Sage's attention.

Those eyes, still sad, still lying, struck her. Now that she thought about it, after Sage used his Singularity—she witnessed everything—those eyes became more sombre. Zayn might know something about that, she told herself, but now wouldn't be a good time to ask about it.

More than that, it showed her something else.

Sage was truly an exceptional liar and a potential suspect. For someone who can kill another calmly, he could have been a sadist or masochist. Still, he was but a nineteen year-old whose self was enshrouded by mystery.

Her lips parted.

"Sage."