Kai waded through the thick grasses, barely able to see above it as she tripped and stumbled across the hem of her burgundy skirt, and though the dress was extravagant, it offered little protection against the sting and whip of grass and leaves.

She nibbled on her lip as she rose to her tip toes in an attempt to see further, but saw nothing but the mesmerizing wave of grasses. Surely she wasn't alone out here, right? Mr. James had said it was a game, of sorts. All games had plots, had reasons, had characters. There was no reason to think she was the only one out here, right?

Rustling. Kai whipped her head around, but saw nothing but the wind touched bend of stalks, and so, so much grass.

Again! Kai inhaled sharply and spun in a quick circle, but saw nothing. "H-hello?" Her voice quavered when she spoke, and the fragility of it startled her. "Is anyone out there?" She tried, and to her relief, the words sounded much stronger this time.

A hissing sound whistled through the grass, sending shivers up and down her arms. "Dependsssss. Do you want usssss to be out here?"

Kai choked on a breath and drew her arms around herself in a feeble form of protection. "Who's out there? Show yourself! I demand it." She tried to push every ounce of command into the words, but it sounded lacking, even to her own ears.

There was a hand across her mouth, something cold scraping across her neck, lips brushing against her ear as they hissed. "Are you sure you want to see your fate, Princess?"

The voice was threatening, but could not hide the silken tones woven through. Kai's tension laxed at the sound of it, the cadences and subtleties of it entrancing her.

She took a deep breath, and the spell snapped around her, shattered glass and the faint fragrance of roses, as Kai thrust her arm back into the man's chest, a satisfying groan choking out of him as he stumbled away, and she spun, her other elbow connecting with his nose with a sharp crunch.

His body hit the ground with a reverberating thud, and Kai pressed two fingers to her own neck, wincing at the pain from the knife blade that had dragged across her skin as he fell. She took a step forward to retrieve his knife, when her eyes caught on his face.

Kai's knees buckled, and she hit the ground beside him, eyes wide as she stared at that face, that face that she knew all too well.

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Juno stumbled blindly out of the castle, clutching his sack of food and supplies to his chest. He knew it was full, of course, but with the logics of the simulation, it lay limply against his chest, only fabric and empty space. Oh how he wished that just a portion of all he had could break that coding, that he might have something to cling to in this moment.

Blair had drove him from the castle. No. Not Blair. Blair would never do such a thing, even if he did not call Juno a friend yet. It looked like Blair, spoke like Blair, but those words, those actions, this person was a shadowy reflection of the true one that Juno had barely known.

He needed to get away from the castle, and fast. Though this Not Blair had locked himself in his chambers upon pushing Juno away, he could change his mind at any instant and hunt Juno down, and he would be helpless to the might of the prince.

He shouldn't have agreed to plug in. He should have fought against Mr. James, should have done something. Not for the first time, Juno let his mind sink into the endless outcomes this little game could have spit the others into.

One of them had to be the princess, and he had to find her. That, Juno was sure of.

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Carmen bit her lip and looked down at the needle and thread in her hands, then back to the gaping hole in Veronica's side.

She didn't want to do this. She couldn't do this. Just looking at it was making her feel lightheaded, yet she couldn't imagine how Veronica was feeling.

The older teen had worn herself out cursing and swearing every word Carmen knew, and a few which sounded ridiculous, yet from the vehemence Veronica had said them with, they only rang of anger and pain.

But now, her face was a pale wait, with sweat trailing down her face as she gulped in shallow breaths. "Just... Sew... Me... Up..." Her voice was still forceful, through broken from small groans and gasps.

Carmen's hands shook, and she dropped the needle, hissing out her own curse as she fumbled to find it in the grass.

Veronica's face knitted into something barely recognizable, then snatched the newly recovered needle from Carmen's hands. "Gimme that," she muttered, pushing herself into a sitting position, wincing at the motion.

Carmen pulled her shoulders into herself and watched Veronica's fingers wind the needle adeptly in and out, her own voice letting out echoing whimpers whenever Veronica reacted from the pain.

Carmen turned her head away and tried to keep down the roiling nausea, the feeling reminding her of Avery, hidden far away in the bushes.

There was the crunching of footsteps, and then a sharp gasp. Carmen looked up to see Charlie, holding a small sack, and a palm sized book. The book hit the ground with a thud.

He dropped to his knees next to Carmen and reached out to Veronica, but stopped short, his own breathing hard now. "I... I didn't realize it was this bad."

Veronica let out a groan reached her hands out, fingers sticky and dark with blood. Carmen recoiled, but Charlie's hand slipped into it, squeezing tightly. "What do you need?"

"A knife," Veronica grunted, took a deep breath, continued. "And a lot of bandages. Clean ones."

Carmen jolted, eager for something to do that meant she didn't have to stare at what once was a hole, but was now a mess of white thread and flesh and blood. Her body started to shake, and she hurried to dig into her empty medical bag, a small scalpel like thing appearing in her hand. She passed it off to Charlie, then continued to search the limp bag for bandages.

When she turned back, Charlie was murmuring something to Veronica, his voice sounding strained as he sawed at the long white strand protruding from Veronica's side.

Carmen stuffed the bandages into his other hand got up stiffly, her mind fixated on that image, again, and again, and again.

She stumbled a step away and leaned roughly against a tree, sliding down it to slump on the first floor, the bark scraping against her skin. Good. The pain distracted her. Carmen looked up to try and find Azalea, but instead saw a man with the Prince's insignia on it.

Someone screamed.

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Charlie whirled around from where he was bandaging Veronica and saw Carmen plastered to a tree, her lips parted in a scream, the sounded rattling in his head. A pace away stood another of the prince's guards, but this one had a more ornate uniform, and a short cloak around himself.

Charlie didn't think. He reached back, and the bow slammed into existence in his fingers, an arrow shimmering to life in his hands, the tightening of it all, the cutting of a feather on his cheek as he let go, a sharp intake of breath as it hit its mark, embedding itself in the stomach of the guard.

Another scream. Azalea, running forward, one word on her lips. "Juno!"

Charlie's heart stopped. No. No he didn't. That couldn't be Juno. Juno with supposed to be playing the simulation with them, not against them. Juno was just out there, probably with Maylea and Kai, right?

Carmen was crying now, and had moved over to Azalea, her hand brushing the hair away from the soldier's face.

Charlie dropped his bow as if it was burned him and bolted over, breaths coming in quick succession. "I'm so sorry oh my God I'm so sorry Juno what do we do?"

Juno made a hiccuping sound and stared up at the three of the them, body shaking, with his hands curved around the arrow in his stomach. "H-hey guys. I guess... I guess I found you after-" he shuddered, and Azalea whimpered. "After all." His eyes unfocused for a moment, and dread sunk in Charlie's stomach.

His gazed fixed on Charlie, and he flinched from the intensity of it. "You have to get them out of here. It's... it's Blair, but he's not Blair, and he knows where you are!"

Juno grabbed Charlie's arm and stared at him, eyes insistent and pleading. "Get them out out here. Find the princess. Win thi-" his voice hitched and his body shook again, before going limp, eyes still staring at Charlie.

Carmen screamed again.

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Maylea was glaring in the general direction of Corben. "Give me your knife."

Silence. If there were ever a time for crickets, this would be it. The thought amused her, slightly, bit Maylea was too annoyed with Corben to linger on it.

She had her hand out and waiting, taping her foot very slowly, a trick that had once been able to make him do anything. He had probably grown out out that years ago, but little habits from countless memories could not be stopped.

"I've already told you. No. Do I need to say it again? Are you blind and deaf?"

He was probably folding his arms.

Maylea withdrew her hand and folded her own arms, pressing a deeper scowl on her face. "Corben, I'm blind, not helpless. Just give me the knife!"

A huff. "I am not letting a blind, clumsy- ah, don't interrupt, you know it's true- and stubborn girl use a knife. I'm not the healer here, and I will never be the healer here."

Maylea threw up her hands in exasperation. "Fine! Then you cut off the skirt! But it needs to go, one way or another."

A thicker silence this time. Moments ticked past, and still Corben did not speak. Maylea could feel the tingle of his gaze on her, and her face started to grow warm.

"Quit staring at me and just answer! We both know I need to skirt gone, and if you won't let me do it, you havr to do it."

Corben cleared his throat, and when he spoke, it sounded off to Maylea. "No. There's no need to cut it off if you're not even walking."

Mqylea reached forward until she touched Corben's arm, then circled her hand around it and squeezed. "Corben Slater Paterson, so help me, if you don't help me cut off this skirt, I will recount every embarrassing thing you did as a child, and you will never be able to regain the respect of these teens again."

Corben jerked his arm away, making Maylea stumble. "I don't care how you threaten me," he grumbled, stealing Maylea for just a moment before drawing away again. "I'm not doing it."

She knew where he was. She knew where the knife was. Maylea lurched forward and yanked the knife out of one of the straps crossing his chest and whirled away, a subtle kind of glee filling her and doing so.

He grabbed her wrist and the knife dropped to the rocks with a clatter. "That... was not... safe." He was trying so hard to hide the trimble in his voice.

He started guiding her someplace, then was pushed down to sit on something.

Maylea was still fuming when she felt a tug and heard the sound of fabric ripping. Unspoken words drifted between them as he worked around the hem of the dress, the fabric settling unevenly around her knees.

"Why?" She said finally.

Corben stopped working, shifted. "Because you're you. Because you're asking me to do this. Because I'm a guy, and you're a girl, and you can't even look me in the eyes and see how much I am hating this."

"This..." Maylea hesitated. "This as in, right now? Or- or this as in me? As in us?"

"Yes! No! Both! I can't stand it and I can't stand not being able to look you in the eyes."

Maylea reached out, touching his face. For a moment, he leaned into it, for a moment, they were just a breath more than childhood friends. "At least now," she said lightly, tracing soft circles with with thumb. "I can't see how ridiculously stupid you are!"

She drew her hand back and punched him on the shoulder, earning a groan in response.

"Hey now," he complained, wrapping her first in both of his hands. "That's not fair. I can't hit a blind person, let alone a girl!"

Maylea stuck her tongue out at him, and for a moment, the briefest of heartbeats, it felt like old times again, a time when they were once friends.

A scream broke the spell of the moment.

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It's almost 1am but I am a night owl and like to write at night

Every chapter I keep saying that I'll include you guys more but now all I can say is check out the discord!!!

That way, I can get your opinions and ideas before moving on, without having to post the chapter so you can comment!

Of course, I love comments. Comments make me happy.

Aight I gotta sleep byeeeeee