Ch 2.89: All
<span style="font-weight:400">ina told Prisma everything, all of it. She took the news surprisingly easily, mostly just nodding along as ina exined the general strokes, only asking for details on the particrs. They were engaged in conversation for a while, neither of them even making mention of the light drizzle that started raining down in the middle of it. “So… no one knows, except you four?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“And you, now,” ina said, still a little nervous about that part. She’d exined why they were keeping it secret, but Prisma hadn’t really affirmed that part. “You’re… not going to tell anyone, right?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma looked down at her hands, examining the fencing gloves on them once more. “I don’t even know how you kept it a secret for so long. I don’t see how I can…”
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Not a, “I’m going straight to Alonse,” at least. </i><span style="font-weight:400">“Listen, I know you’re still, <i><span style="font-weight:400">involved,</i><span style="font-weight:400"> with Waine. And I know this doesn’t change that, but there’s room for five in a practicum group, right?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Waine won’t let that happen. But after tonight, after what he did… Stars, I’m not even sure what to do.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What he did?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma nodded, looking squeamish. “The reason he was disqualified. He snuck a crystal portrait in, tried to get pictures of us on stage.”
<span style="font-weight:400">ina shook her head, remembering that he had in fact apparently been disqualified from the second round. “That’s…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Fucked,” Prisma said, walking back out into the street. “It makes me not want to be around him, knowing he’d do that…”
<span style="font-weight:400">ina followed, making quick nces across the street to make sure they weren’t in danger. She wanted to respond, but for some reason Prisma’s thought process still lingered in the air, like she wasn’t done speaking. Despite that though, they walked three blocks straight, in a direction ina wasn’t really too sure about, without speaking. Eventually, the silence was too much for ina.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Why did you y like that at the end?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma looked back, eyelids hanging, downcast. “I don’t know what you mean,”
<span style="font-weight:400">“We drew so much at the end. I thought I could read you, but I was wrong, every time.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Maybe you just don’t know me as well as you think.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“It wasn’t just me that was wrong, Prisma. Something was wrong with you, I could tell.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma stopped, in the middle of the street this time. They were far enough away from Mirage that themps of the street weren’t red anymore, weren’t really plentiful at all, leaving them in the pale blue light of the moon and only a handful of overhead crystals.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Once you were in your underwear, I knew scissors was all I needed to win. I was going to throw it, and I guess you knew it too, but I couldn’t. I remembered back then, in the forest…”
<i><span style="font-weight:400">The forest.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ina winced at those words. “Prisma, we don’t have to talk about that, we—”
<span style="font-weight:400">“How can we not!” Prisma said, fists clenched. “I did horrible things to you, barely managed to convince Waine to let me stop at your underwear, took a picture of you anyway even though I knew it was wrong, knew it was <i><span style="font-weight:400">all </i><span style="font-weight:400">wrong.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Stop,” ina said, trying to ignore the ball in her throat. “That was a mistake, and you were forced to—”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I made a choice. I put my stupid family ahead of you.” Prisma turned around, and even in the rain ina could see her eyes welling up. “At first, I really was trying to beat you up there, cause I was upset about Waine letting Ivis take my ce, and annoyed you even agreed to such a ridiculouspetition at all. But the more we yed, the more you took off, the more guilty I felt. I started to feel I should lose, to make up for back then. At the very least, I wasn’t going to be the one to strip you naked. That was the <i><span style="font-weight:400">one </i><span style="font-weight:400">thing I could say about myself from that night, the one way I can sometimes convince myself I’m not the the literal worst person in the world, just in the running for the title.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Everything seemed more wet through ina’s eyes now for some reason, even though the rain hadn’t picked up. “Can’t we just forget that?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma shook her head, looking irritated now. “I can’t, and you shouldn’t either. I’m not gonna force you to put up with me.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Prisma, I’m not ‘putting up’ with you. I get things may be awkward for a while, but we can—”
<span style="font-weight:400">Someone was there, creeping towards them.
<span style="font-weight:400">ina almost turned around on the spot, but from Prisma’sck of reaction, she knew that was a bad idea. The person was walking up behind ina, but if Prisma couldn’t see them, they probably didn’t expect ina to be able to know they were there either. “Let’s just get to the meetup point,” ina eventually said, trying to inflect some urgency in her voice. “We need to make sure everyone’s okay. We’ll talk about uster.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma seemed confused at first, but realization spread over her face soon enough, nodding. ina had exined the invisible enemies to her, and she hoped the girl was picking up on the seriousness of the situation.
<span style="font-weight:400">ina walked, trying to right herself in directions. She’d know how to get to the meet up from Mirage, but having exited on that back street and then following Prisma off to who knows where, she was more lost than she knew she could be. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Damnit, I should’ve paid more attention.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> The only sce she had was that the person tailing them seemed more interested in following than attacking, for now at least.
<span style="font-weight:400">Eventually, she did recognize andmark, the inn they’d stayed at before. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Perfect.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She turned and walked east, until they reached the outskirts of town right next to the forest. She looked around for guards, anyone, but in the middle of the night, in the rain, they were alone. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Guess I have to hope it’s just the one. </i><span style="font-weight:400">If it was, they stood a chance, even just her and Prisma. If it wasn’t though, then ina could only pray.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This is the meeting spot,” ina said, turning back to the city. Just as she suspected, there was no one there, no one she could see anyway, but she could feel their presence with [Restraint] all the same.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Right,” Prisma said, ignoring the fact that they very much weren’t at the stables that ina had mentioned earlier, turning around as well. “We just wait for them?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah.”
<span style="font-weight:400">ina really had to wonder if their hunter knew ina was aware of her and Prisma’s status as prey. They just stood there, invisible, only a few feet away. ina was itching to make the first move, afraid that their n wasn’t going to work after all, but if Mirage’s invisible agent was willing to wait, so was she.
<span style="font-weight:400">“ina,” Temmie said after an agonizingly long wait, “it’s time.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Prisma’s eyes shot to the satchel, clearly confused about the voice, but before she could do or say anything more, six daggers were flying out from the bushes.