Before Elise continued scribbling on her scrap paper, she lifted the book and flipped through it, too fast to read anything, but Veaer could see paragraphs of text that looked like the first page—a mess of letters with no obvious system. As her thumb reached the last page, she opened the book to the front again and laid it flat. “And there is a key. It’s the mirror. It’s how Tychon works.”

  “Is that how I work?” Tychon makes a snarky remark. He’s back.

  But just like the fog, I wave him away.

  “I’ll give it a shot.” Veaer took a sheet of paper and a pen. Perhaps the puzzle wasn’t only on an individual level with each letter, but something wider.

  She wrote the alphabet out, noting there were twenty-six, and made two rows of thirteen so they would align.

  She glanced between the book and her paper and latched onto B and S. If she were to split a mirror down the middle of her letters…

  “Of.” Elise leaned closer. Her hair was jasmine scented. “That’s a word, and a start.” She made quick work of the rest of the sentence, and Veaer sighed in relief at the decoded answer.

  “Wonderful, we have the right book. Where did you find this? In his room of course, but more specifically.” Elise was already turning to the next page and decoding sentences.

  “It was in this contraption, like a stack of empty books used as a hidden compartment. It fell from his closet when—” She paused and realised Elise was watching her as she recalled what happened. A flash of white, being pinned to the carpet. “I opened the closet door, and it toppled over. Someone, an investigator must have been rummaging through if it was that easy. I thought it was strange how the books all stayed together.”

  “You’re lying.”

  I’m avoiding unnecessary details.

  “Why are you afraid of her knowing?”

  “Contraption. Interesting.” There was something unspoken in her words.

  Veaer needed to do something with her hands, tapping her fingers wasn’t enough as she waited for Elise to finish. She was writing before she realised.

  “Alright I got this one.” Elise lifted her paper and turned to Veaer who used her arms to cover her writing. “It’s from a while ago, based on what he wrote. We’ll need to go further in.” She handed Veaer the paper and swiftly flipped to the middle of the journal.

  And the decoding ended there. Religion and Mythology 3. That placed this journal entry to a year ago. She did recall seeing Tychon switch to a male uniform, but at this point she couldn’t imagine him without it.

  “Next one, still too early,” Elise said, keeping her eyes to the pages as she flipped with one hand. The other hand was fitted with a pen to start writing.

  “She never did get around to that. Oh well.”

  Several pages were skipped and the sound of pen against paper overtook the silence of the library. Veaer’s eyelids had grown a little heavy by the time Elise’s chair thumped to the floor as she stood up with zeal and shook the paper in her hands. “Yes, yes, yes,” she repeated. She only breathed for a few moments and Veaer snapped her gaze to the paper, trying to decipher anything that was going on without ripping it away from the princess. “Yes, this is—this is new…” She double-checked by lifting the back portion she had yet to flip through and seemed to mentally note its placement in time. She slapped the paper back on the table before rushing towards a bookshelf in the darkness.

  Veaer took the chance to fix the chair, then grabbed the paper to read it.

  “May angels go with you,” Tychon whispers.

  There were plenty of codewords in this entry that Veaer couldn’t place. Self-creation, what did that mean? And where were the connections to angels? A choir, a Tree of Life, Heaven’s Peak? Too many things to wrap her head around, too much for this late at night.

  Instead, she waited for Elise to return by flipping through the rest of the journal. At face value, she couldn’t tell if there was anything useful, until she started seeing Elise’s coded name mentioned more and more. On one of the last pages, her name was written in large letters, scratchy and frantic, like he had written her name over and over on top of each other to indent it into the journal.

  Her hand ached as it held the bunch of pages.

  Potential answers. Potential learnings.

  She ripped the pages from the book and stuffed them in her jacket pockets, then forced her shaking hands to the loose papers they’d been deciphering on to tear them apart—to avoid suspicion in the wrong direction; she’d rather her selfish impulse stay in her mind only. She left their latest and most important deciphered message intact. As the last shred of paper hit the table, she sprung up and attached herself to a nearby bookshelf, grabbing aimlessly in the dark for something to occupy herself with, and found a stack of cards held together with a metal ring. Flashcards of bugs and insects.

  She shivered, not typically enjoying the crawling, many-legged images, but she flipped through and found the one on butterflies near the back. It was a standard orange and black monarch butterfly, but still mesmerising enough that she wanted it. With a quick opening of the ring, she slipped the butterfly flashcard into her pocket and then placed the cards back into place.

  Elise returned with a worn hardcover book as Veaer stuffed her hands in her pockets, trying not to make the crinkling paper obvious, and walked back to their table.

  Don’t worry about it now, I’ll look at them tomorrow. Don’t worry about it now, just concentrate on Elise.

  The book was dropped on the table and the title read: The Order of Ascension by Brielle Haldar.

  Veaer perked up and her eyes widened. A match to the entry.

  “I have reason to believe that this Order, his choir that he’s gathered, has something to do with his disappearance.” Are you trying to convince yourself, Elise? “This book, I’ve never read it, but Tychon and I came across it when we started at Adraredon. In this very library, we sat upstairs and tried to read it, because he was always after something new, spiritual, mythological or theological. But everything was way too dense to me and… it was like I was missing something, as if the writer and every other reader were continuing a conversation but I had only just joined.” She opened the contents page.

  “Creation, ascension…” Veaer mumbled, leaning forward to read and then glancing towards the decoded entry. Despite knowing the truth, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. A piece in the grand scheme of things, a clear vision to what Tychon was doing that day, how the actions of others could have led to this very moment, even if it was Elise who took the knife. “They have to be connected.”

  “And I know they are.” Elise briefly glanced at the ripped papers with a pause. Her lips parted and then pursed. Her gaze flitted across Veaer’s face. “Such haste to get rid of our evidence. Why is that?”

  Veaer drew a breath in and held it as excuses circled her mind. Though, Elise didn’t leave room for a reply as she sat back down and flipped to a page in the middle of the book, as if the scraps of paper were nothing of relevance anymore.

  The spread displayed drawings and writings on The Tree of Life and Heaven’s Peak, not with a lot to understand as much of the page spoke of history and recounts of events, a heavy absence of anything to apply in their situation, but what was most interesting were the two index cards tucked inside.

  Just like the one still sitting in my room.

  “This is Tychon’s handwriting.” Elise slid the two cards onto the table. Some sort of equation with fractions was written in blue pen. Ter and Mian, she hated maths. “He must have come back to this book and…” Her fingers picked at her lips as her mind turned gears.

  Veaer took a closer look at the numbers, wondering about the correlation between her card and these ones. Did they have different equations? But with that, she felt useless in this situation. Elise was practically doing everything. Veaer didn’t know whether to stay or go. Her limbs felt too light and her eyes too heavy. Whenever she shifted to do something, she didn’t commit lest it interrupted something, or it wouldn’t lead to anything. Was this selfish? To force time spent with Elise, to be another weight, to hide things from Elise?

  Everything was too far away, all in the air, spiralling towards the glass dome, too much to grasp or comprehend. The corners of her vision became vague. She shifted in her chair and made herself take a deep breath. She stuck the soles of her shoes to the floor so she couldn’t be anything but grounded. Her thoughts floated to the Boudreau twins and how they were sleeping right now. She thought of Adair, how after tonight she needed her company to erase untouchable feelings, an untouchable girl. She thought of Haiwrin, how he always knew the answers to her anxieties of holding onto so much yet nothing at all.

  Then new questions appeared like a flash in the dark.

  Where do people hide more information? Where do people keep their secrets?

  In their minds, in their journals, in bookshelves, closets, under the bed, tapestries…

  She blinked, drawing herself out of her mind, and the darkness came back to engulf her. Elise was mumbling to herself but she didn’t tune in as fatigue was making its way through her system. Tychon’s room would have clues, and she had already been there. Tychon likes puzzles and riddles, what about a quest?

  The map of Adraredon Academy was put up on the left wall of his room, above his bed. The Magician was on the opposite side of the room, above the desk. One hand pointed to the Heavens, one hand pointed to Hell.

  As above, so below.

  Below the bed was the index card. Haphazard mess, or purposeful placement?

  Above the bed was the map. Convenient, or just like the mirror to the letters?

  A map meant coordinates. Coordinates meant numbers.

  Numbers, she had numbers.

  Three sets of numbers. Why the equations? He liked his coding.

  Map and coordinates meant a location.

  We meet at Heaven’s Peak.

  That was a location.

  “We need a map.” Veaer stood up and scooped up the index cards. “Like in Tychon’s room, do you know the one?”

  “Yes, large, sepia tone, bird’s eye view of the school. Why do we need a map?” Elise closed the hardcover book and Tychon’s journal.

  “These are coordinates.” She gestured to Elise with the index cards. “We can find Heaven’s Peak.”

  “What has you so sure? We haven’t worked them out to know if it could produce a coordinate.”

  I’m not sure.

  “But I am.”

  “These belong to Tychon and if he’s hidden something in that book, then it must be related to his journal entry. The only thing I gather is location. I don’t see how it has anything to do with art or other people, this ‘choir’. The closest thing they replicate are coordinates. Heaven’s Peak… if his choir has met there, they may have left something behind. If they continue to meet there despite his absence… our questions will be answered.” The rest of her deduction remained stuck in her throat. Her analysis of his room and the card she found would only reveal that she didn’t trust Elise as much as she wanted Elise to trust her. “We need a map like Tychon’s, I think that’s what he would’ve used.”

  The princess showed the slightest hint of surprise in the dilation of her pupils and how her jaw relaxed. “Why can’t we use Tychon’s map?”

  “I can’t go back.” Someone knows I was there. “We won’t be able to go together, and I won’t be able to take the map without someone noticing afterwards. And the more I go, the higher the chance we get caught.” Veaer tried to smile, a small pit of pride in her chest for getting this far, but Elise didn’t smile back and Veaer wondered if it was because her smile was too soft or because Elise thought it strange.

  Like a mask snapping back into place, Elise didn’t answer for a while, and she returned to the bookshelf to put the hardcover away.

  Veaer tapped her fingertips to thumb in her pocket. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. And the need for sleep destroyed the wall that kept nighttime thoughts away.

  She hates you now. She doesn’t want to talk to you. She thinks it’s a bad idea. You’re intruding between her and her dead best friend. She’s questioning you because she can see through your lies. She’s going to hurt you like she hurt them.

  “Rosell,” Elise said through everything else. Veaer brought her palms to her ears to soften the noise, but then there was only silence. Then Elise repeated, again, softly, “Rosell.”

  “Yes?” Veaer swallowed. She needed sleep. She hadn’t been getting enough sleep. The ghost kept her up at night. The memories that she could never forget. The words that found their way into her mind when she least expected it.

  The princess was by her side again, her chair closer. Her hand hovered over Veaer’s wrist. “Meet me tomorrow at admin. My father has a map.”

  “He has one?” Quiet voice, small voice.

  “Yes, and we’ll go there together. Get some rest, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  CHAPTER 14

  ELISE EXCAVA

  Year 2, Semester 1, Week 7

  In her second year at Adraredon Academy, Veaer found a girl sitting in her favourite art room.

  She was gorgeous in the way that made Veaer shiver and stuff her hands in her pockets to count her fingers. Long black hair, concentrating brown eyes, golden skin, freckles, wearing her uniform like it was specifically designed for her.

  The girl gently pressed a brush into two dollops of paint and mixed the colours in the bristles together against a wooden palette. She lifted her hand to the canvas and did a single, thick stroke without a waver in her arm, without a twist in her wrist, without any smudges or gaps in the line. Perfect.

  Veaer held herself against the rolling door so she wouldn’t catch the corner of the girl’s eye and interrupt her enamouring entertainment. A butterfly spread its painted wings across the canvas. It was created as if it had been a million times beforehand.

  Practised.

  It would explain the flawless line art that the girl continued to grace the canvas with.

  I did not find it all. Veaer squeezed the edge of the door. You have been hiding from me. The beauty of this academy has been incomplete.

  The girl moved to inaudible music. It flowed through her arms and chest, in the way her hair swayed to a tempo unknown to Veaer.

  The next time she saw the girl, they were walking towards each other in a hallway. The girl had Tychon Alastor Galacia with her, a boy Veaer met in the courtyard once while he was reading tarot cards for other freshmen, and she knew that his older brother Stelios was a popular senior. As they moved past each other, Veaer waved.

  Tychon smiled and waved back. He was holding a fresh leather notebook in his other hand which Veaer was tempted to grab and inhale.

  The girl kept walking, even without Tychon as he paused to ask how Veaer was.

  “Intrigued,” she answered, her gaze following the ghost of a girl. “What’s her name?”

  “Oh.” Tychon mirrored the direction she faced. “That’s Elise. Elise Excava.”

  “Elise Excava,” Veaer repeated. Like Izot Excava, her brother.

  CHAPTER 15

  FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

  Year 3, Semester 1, Week 9

  Veaer forgave herself for making friends with Adair a long time ago.

  When Veaer was three, she had her first play date. That date stole her favourite doll, and she could never remember their name.

  When she was six, her teacher punished her for using markers to do pretend make-up, and the teacher didn’t believe her when she said a classmate told her it was okay.

  When she was ten, she lost her best friend. What exactly happened that day continued to elude her, and she blamed that on growing up. She blamed it on the fact that friends weren’t meant to be forever, such as enjoying a song wasn’t, and every book eventually ended.

  When she was twelve, she learnt that walking behind everyone wasn’t just being polite. She learnt that getting to class and finding a seat early wasn’t just being punctual. She learnt that always needing to face the door when she settled into a room wasn’t just a fun habit.

  When she was fifteen, she stepped onto the grounds of Adraredon Academy, and swore that she never needed anyone else. Caemi and senti alike failed her, and to let people in was to fail herself.

  So perhaps her past self was displeased about the current situation.

  Laying in her bed, the curtains drawn in the middle of the day, and the hips of Adair Boudreau in her hands.

  Adair perched upon Veaer’s lap, looking down at her with a smile that matched her kitten heritage. Her gentle fingers trailed Veaer’s arms and wandered over the buttons at the top of her shirt. It was study period for both of them, and how fortunate that was, as they could use this time to study each other.

  “Something’s on your mind,” Adair murmured as she leaned down and pressed her thumbs against Veaer’s eyebrows.

  Veaer hadn’t realised she was scrunching them and relaxed under Adair’s touch. She closed her eyes and relished in the feeling of Adair’s hands shifting to her hair and massaging her head. “Yes, you’re on my mind.”

  “You know that’s not what I mean.” Adair’s knees pressed against Veaer’s sides as she adjusted her position. Veaer’s eyelids lifted in time to see the checkered pattern of the cat caemi’s skirt waver, the material spilling out around her. “You can talk to me, I’m here to listen.”

  But there are things I can’t tell you. Things I shouldn’t tell you.

  Veaer lifted her palm to Adair’s cheek and used it to bring her face closer. The scent of coconut moisturiser was welcome, and there was a subtle hint of strawberry in that shiny lip gloss too. “Am I going to get the ‘this is what friends are for’ speech?” Veaer chuckled and the warmth of Adair’s skin drew into her.