[COLOR=GRAY][CENTER][COLOR=8A9A5B][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/COLOR][url=https://open.spotify.com/track/2Fxmhks0bxGSBdJ92vM42m?si=622cd5b518ac4b44][img]https://i.ibb.co/589szLm/harperbanneri-copy.jpg[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/pJAAgZk.jpeg[/img][/url][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=8A9A5B][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Southern Plateau[/I] - [I]Pacific Royal Campus[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=8A9A5B][b]Welcome Home #1.098:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Veiled Horizons[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][COLOR=8A9A5B][SUP][sub]_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][indent][sub][color=8A9A5B][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR][I]Haven-[@Skai],Cass-[@Lord Wraith][/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=8A9A5B][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [COLOR=GRAY][I]Trials and Tribulations[/I][/color][/right][/SUP][/indent]

The world turned white for Harper. She blinked furiously, trying to chase away the afterimages that danced before her eyes. The flashbang’s detonation was a physical blow, the light sharp enough to slice through her defences—powered or not.

The girl’s irritation, which had been simmering just below the surface, now bubbled into a silent fury. The flashbang was a cheap trick, a desperate grab for control, and it stung more than her retinas. It was an affront, a challenge, and Harper felt the familiar thrill of battle rise within her. She was no stranger to conflict, being the baby sister of someone who could be an angel at best and a devil at worst, but she preferred her battles to be strategic, her victories earned through wit and will rather than brute force.

So, for the sake of peace, she did not try to retaliate, begrudgingly nodding in agreement to stay behind with Cass. 

As they departed, the trio of Mira, Layla and Simone chattered happily while pushing through the campsite, not paying attention to their surroundings before accidentally bumping into Harper and knocking the other girl to the ground.

[color=#8aaceb]"Hey,"[/color] Cass called sarcastically, [color=#8aaceb]"Watch out"[/color]

[color=ffffff]"Real class act, Cass"[/color] Scolded Simone as she reached down with Mira to help Harper back up. [color=ffffff]"Sorry about that, we'll watch where we're going next time."[/color]

Harper’s mind was a whirlwind of strategies as she navigated the new, vexing predicament before her. Lost in thought, she barely registered the solid object that collided with her side, sending her tumbling to the ground. Her reflexes kicked in, hands splayed out to brace for impact. The ground met her with an unyielding thud, and a jolt of surprise coursed through her—the pain was absent, but the shock of the fall lingered.

She was a formidable presence, not as much as Katja but not one so easily toppled either. So, the realization that she had been caught off guard in such an extreme manner added a sting to her pride.

There she was, momentarily grounded, her usual poise disrupted by an unforeseen force of three apologetic girls.

As she accepted the hands reaching out to her, Harper’s face warmed with a rosy hue of chagrin and annoyance. Her eyes flicked towards Cass, delivering a silent but scathing rebuke, before she redirected her gaze to Simone and Mira. Her smile was strained, an effort to mask the confusion beneath her composed exterior.

[color=#8a9a5b]“Thanks, no harm done,”[/color] Harper asserted, brushing off her attire with swift, deliberate strokes. She ignored Cass's sarcastic remark as she took the seat opposite his; Harper wasn't about to let him get under her skin more than he already had. Still, if she was stuck with the guy she might as well try to converse.

[color=#8a9a5b]“Alright, Cass,”[/color] she said, her voice steady. [color=#8a9a5b]“Since we're stuck here, how about you stop being a jerk for a minute and tell me a bit about yourself? Or are you all bravado just for show?”[/color]

Cass raised an amused eyebrow at Harper's question, allowing himself a half-smirk. Sure he had been a jerk to the girl but he was starting to take a liking to the spitfire brunette.

[color=#8aaceb]"Not much to tell, my mom sucked, my dad was an abusive drunk. Bounced around in foster care for most of my life until the Jones' adopted me just before my Hype-Gene activated and I got shipped to P.R.C.U. Was here about five minutes then I was impaled through the shoulder by Hyperion." [/color]He rubbed his shoulder, looking towards the dark sky above.

[color=#8aaceb]"Still hurts when it rains."[/color] He leaned back in his seat, creating a ball of kinetic energy he proceeded to juggle while talking. [color=#8aaceb]"I don't bond with people well,"[/color] He allowed himself a half smile, nodding towards Harper apologetically. He tossed the ball of energy higher before re-absorbing it.

[color=#8aaceb]"You got a date to the dance?" [/color]

Harper raised an eyebrow, not expecting Cass to open up so candidly. The vulnerability in his words contrasted sharply with his earlier bravado, and it caught her off guard. For a moment, she felt a pang of empathy for him.

[color=#8a9a5b]“Sounds like you've had it rough,”[/color] she said, her tone softer, though she maintained her guarded posture. [color=#8a9a5b]“But that doesn't give you a free pass to be a jerk, you know?”[/color]

She watched as Cass played with the ball of kinetic energy, noting the way he seemed to use it as a distraction, a way to avoid deeper emotional engagement as he’d stated.

Which was why his question about the dance came out of nowhere for her, and Harper blinked in surprise. 

She opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. 

[color=#8a9a5b]“The dance?” [/color]Harper repeated, momentarily thrown off. The thought of the dance brought back a rush of emotions. She had hoped to be asked by Gil, of course, but as she recalled his previous words, she found that it reopened deep wounds she’d thought had healed. 

Just another face in the crowd. One of his many fans. She hadn’t changed that yet…had she? 

[color=#8a9a5b]“No, I don't have a date,”[/color] the brunette finally admitted, her voice tinged with a hint of sadness she tried to mask. 

She leaned back slightly, studying Cass with a curious look now. [color=#8a9a5b]“Why do you ask? Trying to make up for being a jerk by offering to take me?”[/color] Harper teased, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of her lips. Of course, that couldn’t be it, right?  [color=#8a9a5b]“Or are you just trying to see if I can keep up with you on the dance floor? Because I’ll have you know I’m a pretty good dancer,” [/color]she added, her tone playful but with an underlying challenge. 

[color=#8a9a5b]“Gonna need more than a little flashbang to rattle me.”[/color]

[color=#8aaceb]"Who was being a jerk?"[/color] Cass replied playfully, "[color=#8aaceb]I was just watching out for my friends, I’m just suffering from crippling brutal honesty." [/color]He added with a wink.

[color=#8aaceb]"I've already seen you squirm, so I hope you dance better than that because trust me."[/color] He leaned forward, [color=#8aaceb]"The flash isn't the bang you'll be talking about."[/color]

He stopped, pursing his lips before shaking his head.

[color=#8aaceb]"Yeah, yeah I heard it. That was gross."[/color] Cass apologized, retreating into his seat, [color=#8aaceb]"But I digress, if I'm lucky enough that no one else has asked, I'd like to take a spitfire like you. Would be a lot of fun to actually have someone to keep up with."[/color]

Harper reclined, her expression a blend of amusement and skepticism. [color=#8a9a5b]“Oh, watching out for your friends? That sure is one convenient cover for ‘brutal honesty,’” [/color]she quipped, the irony not lost on her. [color=#8a9a5b]“But if we’re handing out points for honesty, I’ll give you this—your approach is certainly… unique.”[/color] But a method she recognized all too well. Hadn’t she just mirrored that same blunt honesty with Aurora?

Cass’s clumsy attempt at humour drew a smirk from Harper, her eyes rolling in feigned annoyance.[color=#8a9a5b] “Oh no, your charm is [/color][i][color=#8a9a5b]overwhelming[/color][/i][color=#8a9a5b]. Please don’t stop on my account,[/color][color=#8a9a5b]”[/color] she drawled, the edges of her voice quivering with suppressed laughter. He had a knack for humour, albeit awkward and a touch cringe-worthy.

She paused, her gaze lingering on Cass as she considered his offer. [color=#8a9a5b]“A spitfire, huh? I like the sound of that. It’s got a certain… spark.” [/color]It was a welcome change from the drab monikers of ‘drill sergeant’ or ‘stick in the mud’, that was for sure. 

As for her answer, her thoughts returned to Gil’s image- a hope held close to her heart, yet always just out of reach. To attend the dance with Cass, who was honestly a wildcard beyond what he’d already shown here, was to step into uncharted territory. Just like with Gil. Maybe that’s why he was a chapter that just refused to close for her. He was simply too enticing. But Cass…Cass might be the pen she needed to write a new story. 

Or, at least, someone to attend a stupid dance with. 

With a breath that felt like the first step into a wider world, Harper made her choice. 

[color=#8a9a5b]“Alright, then,”[/color] she finally said, her voice steady. [color=#8a9a5b]“I’ll go to the dance with you.”[/color]

[color=#8aaceb]"It's a date then, Spitfire," [/color]Cass replied with a genuine smile. [color=#8aaceb]"Now I have a real reason to [/color][color=#8aaceb][i]dread[/i][/color][color=#8aaceb] it."[/color] He teased before blowing a few strands of wavy blonde hair out of his green eyes. He looked over to Haven and Alyssa before turning back to Harper.

[color=#8aaceb]"I don't know what you and Wings hope to actually get out of the Space Cadet over there, but hopefully it helps, I guess. For what it's worth, Foundation didn't leave me with the best first impression. Torres' comment about Hyperion was a little too close to the chest." [/color]He rubbed the scar through his shirt again.

[color=#8aaceb]"I hope we're wrong about them and they actually are the good guys, if not then I'm sure you'll have no problem rallying the troops."[/color]

Harper’s expression softened, a gentle acknowledgment of the scars they all bore, some visible, others hidden deep within. Hyperion’s legacy was etched into the very fabric of their lives, leaving a mark that words could scarcely touch. She felt an odd sense of disconnection, an outsider to this particular pain felt by some of her teammates yet intimately aware of its pervasive shadow over their lives. 

Harper's gaze flicked to Haven, remaining there as she replied. [color=#8a9a5b]“Yeah, that’s why I’m doing this, honestly. For her. For my friends. I don’t want any of us to be taken by surprise. Not again.” [/color]

Her gaze snapped back to Cass, lingering on where he’d received his trauma. 

[color=#8a9a5b]“Would you do it if it came down to it, though? Join the fray?” [/color]

[color=#8aaceb]"Depends on how well you dance,"[/color] He answered coyly. [color=#8aaceb]"One foot in front of the other first though."[/color] Cass cautioned Harper, [color=#8aaceb]"If you go looking for trouble, you're sure to find it."[/color]

Harper’s response was a roll of her eyes, the gesture laden with playful defiance. [color=#8a9a5b]“Oh, is that concern I detect? And here we are, still days away from our first dance,” [/color]she bantered back, her tone light and teasing. [color=#8a9a5b]“I appreciate that, but trouble has a way of finding me whether I try to avoid it or not.”[/color]

She leaned in slightly, her playful expression giving way to a more serious look. [color=#8a9a5b]“Speaking of trouble,”[/color] Harper began, lowering her voice a bit. [color=#8a9a5b]“There might be some… reservations about Amma in our group. Did Alyssa ever mention anything weird about her before? Should we be worried?”[/color] 

[color=#8aaceb]"Alyssa isn't exactly... uh forthcoming,"[/color] The blonde replied looking towards the pair currently conversing. [color=#8aaceb]"Not to say she's dishonest, but Alyssa speaks like a sphinx. Everything is a riddle, if she had spoken about Amma previously there's a high probability I missed it on account of the way she rambles."[/color] Cass shook his head slightly.

[color=#8aaceb]"She hasn't been quite the same since her and Luce took a sabbatical from P.R.C.U."[/color]

Harper nodded, absorbing the gravity of Cass’s observations. [color=#8a9a5b]“Can you tell me about Alyssa before the break? What was she like?”[/color] Harper probed further, her curiosity sharpening. [color=#8a9a5b]“And did she ever hint at what might have happened during their time away? Even if in riddles.”[/color]  

[color=#8aaceb]"She's always been a chatterbox, usually will talk your ear off about anything and everything but since she came back it's like she's in another world, like she sees things no one else does. She used to be a lot more bubbly and warm, not sure how the change hasn't put more stress on her relationship with RJ."[/color] The blonde mused, his hand resting on his chin.

[color=#8aaceb]"Oh she did more than hint, but a lot of it is hard to believe. Something about [i]Hellions[/i] and [i]Magni[/i], she talks a lot about allegedly tracking stuff of folklore and myth in Europe and having to slay them. Honestly, most of it sounds like a fantasy novel. Claims the scars on her neck are from a vampyr attack."[/color] Cassander explained, splaying his index and middle finger before tapping along the side of his neck while gesturing with his head towards the scar on Alyssa's. 

Harper absorbed Cass’s portrayal of Alyssa, the image of a vivacious, chatty girl taking shape in her imagination. A sense of longing washed over her, a wish to have known Alyssa in those carefree days. Warm and outgoing sounded like traits Harper would have appreciated in a friend. And as for the other girl’s relationship with RJ…he must just really care for her. That’s what it had to be. 

The words ‘Hellions’ and ‘Magni’ sparked a brief connection to the comic lore she adored, but Harper quickly dismissed the notion, knowing their reality was far stranger than fiction.

[color=#8a9a5b]“A vampyre attack?”[/color] the brunette echoed, her tone hushed. In any other world, the concept would be laughable, but not in theirs, not where the impossible was mundane. Alyssa’s speech surely pointed to some hidden truth.

Cass nodded. [color=#8aaceb]“That's what she says.”[/color] 

[color=#8a9a5b]“Well, shit,”[/color] Harper replied, a shiver running down her spine. 
[hr] 
Haven gave Alyssa a nod, if only to let the girl know that she'd heard and understood her. A phrase like that may have spooked her if she'd heard it on her first trip to the plateau. Yet she knew that Hyperion had left a scar on this school and the people that called this island home. Of course there was worry in everyone's hearts that another person like him would reappear one day to finish his work.

[color=tan]"Thanks, Alyssa. I feel better now that we've chatted."[/color] A white lie, but it had been informative. Harper would certainly know what to do with it. Better than Haven would, at least. [color=tan]"I'll see you around."[/color] Haven gave the girl a smile and nodded a thanks to RJ as well before she turned away.

She moved towards Harper, who seemed to miraculously be getting along with Cass. And were they... [i]flirting[/i]? How'd they get on the topic of vampires? [color=tan]"Has the hothead cooled off now?"[/color] Haven said as she approached with a pointed glance towards Cassander.

Harper turned at the sound of Haven's voice, a teasing grin forming on her lips. [color=#8a9a5b]“Oh, he’s not so bad once you get to know him,”[/color] she replied playfully. [color=#8a9a5b]“We were just discussing some... interesting topics. But probably not as interesting as your conversation with Alyssa over there. How'd that go?”[/color]

Haven took a breath, resting a hand on her hip. [color=tan]"Well enough, I guess. Lot's of indirect answers, but I picked up on a few interesting things we can look into."[/color] She gave Cass a skeptical glance before stepping in closer. [color=tan]"I'll start with how Amma goes by Tiamat at the Foundation, and how she has been there the longest out of all of them. Well, up until last year."[/color]

[color=tan]"Alyssa knows that they went into the forest together,"[/color] Haven murmured softly. The "they" in question being Amma and Lorcán. [color=tan]"Said every queen needs a prince. Ugh."[/color]

[color=tan]"Oh, and students have been going missing there. Apparently someone like me was her roommate, and she vanished without a feather left."[/color] The thought had her wings shiver behind her. [color=tan]"There's no way someone could fly across the ocean, so they couldn't have run away."[/color]

Harper’s attention was riveted on Haven, each revelation sending ripples of intrigue and apprehension through her. The alias ‘Tiamat’ used by Amma at the Foundation was not lost on her; it was a name steeped in ancient lore, synonymous with primordial chaos and creation. 

[color=#8a9a5b]"Tiamat, huh?" [/color]Harper mused aloud, her mind racing. [color=#8a9a5b]"That's... quite a name. Definitely not one you'd pick lightly."[/color]

As Haven continued, Harper felt a shiver of unease. The image of Amma and Lorcán together in the forest, with Alyssa's cryptic comment about queens and princes, added a layer of mystery and potential danger to their relationship. Maybe Aurora had every right to worry, after all, feelings or no feelings. 

What role did their strange teammate envision for Lorcán in her court?

The information about the missing students hit Harper hard. The idea of someone disappearing without a trace, especially someone with abilities like Haven's, hit even harder. 

Maybe it was time to bring in the others. It was earlier than she would have liked, but with Haven or even her in some kind of danger....  

[color=#8a9a5b]“Do you think the school knows about any of this stuff?” [/color]

Haven shook her head at first, and then shrugged. [color=tan]"O'Neil doesn't seem happy with them being here, and I'm sure Alyssa and Amma's transfer here leaked some info about the Foundation to make him so aggressive towards the reps."[/color] She frowned. [color=tan]"Alyssa said that we can't trust anyone, not even faculty here on the island."[/color] Her eyes searched Harper's for guidance. [color=tan]"I trust O'Neil, but... maybe there are things he won't tell us because he wants to protect us."[/color]

Noting her friend’s concern, Harper placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, begging for it not to shake. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were standing on the edge of something much bigger and more dangerous than they had realized.

[color=#8a9a5b]“We're going to figure this out,” [/color]Harper said firmly, her voice carrying a note of determination. [color=#8a9a5b]“But we need to be smart about it. If we can't trust everyone, we need to be careful who we share this with. And that means…probably bringing in a few more people on the team.”[/color] 

She frowned, clearly considering her options. [color=#8a9a5b]"There's a lot to think about here. I'll touch base with you tomorrow. I need to process everything we've learned and figure out the best way to move forward."[/color] 

Besides...she was so tired. 

[/color]