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Chapter 5 - Rinse Repeat

Morning, November 15th, 2007 - Dunwich

Glass Witch
Maeve sat before the mirror of her room in the Bed and Breakfast with stolid silence. Her eyes focused on the reflective surface glass as she uttered a single word in Old Irish, "Foilsiged!" She felt her mind clearing of all unwanted distractions as the surface of the mirror rippled. A slow smile came to her, as she held her hand aloft and thought about her sister. The mirror remained blank as she uttered the command again. Nothing appeared, and just as she considered wasting more essence on a failed fae scrying. Her eyes narrowed as she slammed her fist into the mattress and let out a loud curse.

"Sod it all," she tossed her pillow across the room at the mirror before digging into her suitcase. After finding all the parts to her military uniform she pulled it on. A pair of black dress fatigues with sections of kevra woven over vital areas. She finished tying her combat boots before pulling her hair back into a long black braid. The last bit was her gloves each fitted with a reliquary gem in each palm so she could store extra essence when in combat. She pulled out her classified Irish MMID before packing the rest of her luggage away. Staring at the MMID she let out a loud frustrated sigh.

"When dis is don, Aim gettin' drunk off me arse," she finished her look with a single silver necklace given to her by Sinead. Sorrow graced her mind as she said a small prayer while clutching the pentacle pendant. Now it was time for the drive to Whateley and likely the sarcastic comment from Agent Jimenez.

"So, what's with the Mission Impossible garb?" came the expected quip when she stepped out of her room.

"Dese ere me combat fatigues," she trilled before walking onward and ignored him as she strolled forward to the front desk of the Bed and Breakfast. They had arrived at the station the day before and arrived on time to check-in at their rooms at the Bed and Breakfast. She turned around to stare at the two-story house and was impressed by how such a cozy building held four large rooms ready for a night's stay. Already she was planning to book a few more nights at the place as she remembered the loving care the couple had put into their breakfast display.

"Do you only have two emotions? Pissed and grumpy?" Jimenez quipped again at her this time causing the raven-haired woman to glare daggers at him for a minute straight.

"Ye get da rental?" she asked and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his eyes as he pointed to a nondescript black sedan parked along the sidewalk just outside the B&B.

"More than a few taims they added a 'damage insurance' surcharge after I left," she uttered as she adjusted her seating.

"Really?" he asked, "Why did they overcharge ye?"

"Not ev'ryone is happy ta have a mutant stay in their hotel." Maeve scooted her luggage to the other seat and motioned for him to drive. She didn't give the DPA Agent any chance for small-talk by immediately burying her nose in a small leatherbound book. The book itself was filled with a mixture of scripts composed of Younger Futhark runes and ancient Irish ogham writings. Reading through it her head was numb from having to take a step back to think in Old Irish and to parse out meanings in Old Norse. In both cases, she was able to put together her theory after buying the book just before her sister died.

Maeve had an idea what spirit her sister hosted before her death, and since Sinead refused to tell her she was going to press the issue with the new host. For a moment as she set down the book in her lap she watched the thick woods of the Miskatonic valley zip by her. Her sixth sense caught something just as they were pulling up toward the gate of the school. A large black shape hovering in the underbrush. Is that a Black Shuck?

The shape was gone in the blink of an eye as her ethereal sight into the Veil revealed nothing there. Hmmm. Maeve closed her book just as they reached the gate.

Mid-Morning, November 15th, 2007 - Doyle Hall

Scald-Crow

A wailing cry awoke me as images of the banshee caused me to snap my eyes open. I felt a cold sweat all over my body as I let loose a curse in Irish, "Go n-ithe an cat thú, is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat!"

"Calm, mo chroí, we are in the medical hall. You were hurt by a few bullies."

Morgan's calming brogh helped me keep the demons threatening to overwhelm me at bay.

"I daren't wake you earlier. Your ears were damaged." Immediately, I remembered a high piercing sound that had forced me to my knees. Upon remembering I covered my ears instinctually. The sound had reminded me of whenever a discordant scream or whistle literally forced my brain to shut down. A few images came back to me as my eyes darted all over the hospital bed I was laying on. Memories of a taller olive-skinned woman intervening on my behalf. My eyes widened as I gasped. ENVY!

"Fina," I whispered as I pushed off the loose sheet covering my form and let loose a confusing line in Gaelic, "Cá bhfuil mé?"

"English please," remarked Sophia from a seat right by my bed. My eyes widened as she was busily working on a laptop situation in her lap. Nearby in the doorway stood a woman in full security uniform watching the hall.

"Um," I asked and pointed at the security guard.

"You were attacked and one of your cottage mates intervened for you," Sophia said, "and they called me here to come to talk to you once you woke up. I've been doing my homework for a bit since they let me skip my morning classes."

"Thanks, Soph," I gave a lopsided smile as I then asked, "Where's Envy?"

"Miss Valocco is speaking to Hartford," said the security officer whose name tag read, 'Officer Rathore.’

"Dis one walks the ways of old, my heart, I can feel the blood of Durga in her." I felt like I had waltzed into Narnia with how almost every other person I ran into at this place had the puppet strings of myth dangled about their person. Was I truly myself or was I simply being brought into a greater play of an ancient drama.

"Your spirit can stop chatting to you and please pay attention," Officer Rathore smirked.

"How did you -"

"Most Avatars have their tells, yours is your eyes drift off and you bite your lip. It's how I can tell you're concentrating on a telepathic conversation."  The woman stalked panther-like toward me and placed a hand on the end of my hospital bed

"Complex thoughts, for one who is just now seeing the board," Morgan commented. "This one is touched like you, but she is honorable. We can trust her."

"So do I have your attention now?" Officer Rathore asked.

"Yes ma’am," I replied.

"Miss...not ma’am....I'm not an old woman." The Officer chided me before saying, "I need you to give your side of the story, and then I can let you go."

A mix of confusion and dread flitted across my thoughts. I longed to be back in my room hiding away from what was becoming a far more complicated experience by the minute. First, I was bullied for bumping into some stupid bitch, and now, I was facing what can only be expulsion. Right? The girl's targeted me and Envy came to keep me from danger. Why she appeared or how was beyond me. The girl did have a far higher rating of magic skill than me or even Sophia.

I remembered the girls - three of them. Each of them from some sort of cheerleading squad, but that wasn't possible. Right?

"I remember a blonde woman, and two others and they screamed cheer-bullies," I relayed.

"Yup, those are the Whateley Martial Arts Cheerleaders," Sophia replied from the seat beside me without even batting an eye.

"Wait, the Cheerleaders aren't even official?" I asked her.

"Nope, they're a training team like the Kimbettes." Sophia finished something on her laptop and eyed the security officer carefully.

"Can we stay on topic please, ladies," Officer Rathore rubbed her temples.

"I was done with lunch and the three Cheerleaders cornered me on my way to my next class. The Blonde tried to punch me and eventually a few seconds later Miss Valocco appeared and intercepted them." The memories caused my breath to hitch, and I could feel tears filling my eyes.

"Alright, that is definitely in tune with what Miss Valocco said and what we were able to get off the security cam footage," Rathcore nodded.

"Shouldn't you write this down?" Sophia asked.

"I have an eidetic memory," Officer Rathcore replied.

"So am I free to go?" I asked eagerly.

"Yeah - sure, just try to avoid getting into trouble for at least a week." Officer Rathcore sighed.

"Thanks, miss!" I said as I got up and rushed to the bathroom to get dressed in my uniform.

"No problem," the Security Officer said before disappearing out the door leaving me alone with Sophia. The native girl let out a loud demonstrative sigh which I heard from the bathroom.

"Gráinne get out here, now!" she barked at me.

Why was everyone intent on rubbing it in my face that I was a jinx?

"Okay - geez - I'M HERE!" I sighed as I stepped out in my frumpy uniform.

"Why did you do it?" she asked me and tapped her foot.

"Nothing, I bumped into the stupid blonde's side when I was thinking and she decided to put me in my place."

"So that fucking bimbo ignored your rager tag and still attacked you?" Sophia calmed and gave me a worried look.

"Yeah...if Fina hadn't stepped in I would probably be in this room longer." I gulped. "Sophi...she was a sonokinetic...her scream hurt my ears a lot. I was crying in pain in minutes."

"Hmmm...we'll need to see if there's a way we can work around that." She clucked her tongue before noting down something on her phone.

"Why?" I asked.

"Uh you know about the combat finals right?" she asked.

"The what?" I felt my voice hike up an octave. She didn't just say combat finals? There's no way that this school had....oh god.

"You forgot that there was an X-Men angle here didn't you." She said flatly.

"Gods...they’re going to, what, make me fight in a gladiator pit?" I asked.

"Yup." She sighed.

My eyes widened as "Gods...I'm not even supergirl. I'm fucking Rogue aren't I?"

"Actually. kind of yeah. You don't even like to really touch people."

"Fuck my life."

Lunch Period, November 15th, 2007 - Crystal Hall

Scald-Crow
"Braithim rud eigin olc!" Morgan murmured in my ear as we walked alongside Sophia into Crystal Hall. A few of the kids on the ground level watched me as I entered and one laughed at how much of a "slob" I was. Fuck em! There wasn't any time to go change and I needed food! My stomach was already giving me hunger pangs.

"Ceiard?" I asked her in my mind. Morgan's ability to sniff out magical signatures and identify things was proving more useful by the day. Though the way how she phrased it to me when I asked wasn't like sniffing it out it was more like she read into them.

"Something evil is active. I've felt bits and pieces of it fleetingly. But now it's concentrated." She said as I felt her shift in my hallow eerily. Sometimes when she did it I had a serious feeling that my own body wasn't mine and I was just trapped in a sack of flesh. Humming a bit I jumped into line beside Sophia and immediately went after the stack of beef I needed for calories and protein.

"Are you going to try a salad today?" I was asked and I smiled as I eyed the lentil salad.

"Strange how I introduce you to protein and calorie-heavy veggies and you target those specifically for food."

"I'm a growing exemplar!" I teased her before asking Morgan, "Explain."

"My Domains are War, Fate, and LIfe. When things that defy what should be walk they stain the metaphysical paths of possibility." She explained, "Like how I told that idiot Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig he would be killed by a drunk Norseman!"

Wait...who?

"The so-called Emperor of Eire, fool tried to unite everyone, but didna have my or the Dagda's blessing. He defied the Stone and so I told him he would die. Was pretty great actually."

"What the hell is banshee woman telling you now?" Sophia commented, giving me a small scowl.

"Uh...how she likes telling people they are going to die." I relayed.

"That's fucked up and what I expect from the Spirit of a Faerie." She said and waved her hand at me.

"You know she's a Faerie?" I asked her incredulously.

"First, your spirit is named Morgan and you told me about the Banshee dream. That screams fae and I read enough young adult novels to know the basics of your redhead ginger mythology." Sophia finished her plate and pointed at the Underdog table for us to get a seat.

"That seems like a lot of deduction you made about me," I said carefully as she sat down beside Shipwright and was joined by her roommate, Haruko. Wait, why was the Bad Seed sitting with us?

"Okay. First, the Banshee thing plus you're Irish. Not that hard to look up what a Banshee is and also you're allergic to stuff including Iron? Seriously? That screams Faerie! And, it's weird you aren't a Sidhe like Fey either." She waved her hand in a quick roll to illustrate the thought process.

"Tagann olc! Something creeps nearby." Morgan's words hung in my skull as I let out a sigh and met Haruko's eyes. The Steel Manifestor was using a pair of steel chopsticks to eat her food.

"Why is she here?" I asked carefully.

"I'm here to watch you Gráinne-chan," she smiled, "All senpai watch their kohai."

"I'm not your bloody junior!" I let out a low rumbling growl.

"Haru-chan don't you damn dare wake up my best friends Dandere or Envy's going to get maaaad,” Sophia smirked at me as I ignored her and Haruko's weird weeb nonsense. I was not a fucking Dandere! Wait, what the hell is a Dandere? And then I realized she mentioned Envy and a bright red blush came to my cheeks.

"I knew it! Stheno and I have been betting on when she's going to admit her crush for daring Valocco-sama," Haruko twirled a chopstick between her fingers.

"What are you three talking about?" Shipwright asked us after finishing a few quick calculations on a legal pad.

"Oh, as you know I'm Gráinne's best friend and Haruko is my roomie plus Gráinne's 'mentor' in BMA." I hated that stupid Japanese woman being called my mentor! Just because she learned karate earlier than me didn't mean my exemplar skills wouldn't help me catch up faster! Still though, a flash of memory from the fight between the Cheerleaders and a punch that put down Gem. Oh my god, I was so useless during that fight and I’m supposed to be the big scary blooded rager! Some berserk I am. The self-pity was getting thick by the moment.

"You guys are weird...is that why a Bad Seed is sitting with us?" she inquired.

"Haruko's harmless." Sophia rolled her eyes before rearranging a crystal pendant hanging around her neck. "Her dad's Yakuza and her mom's just a regular mom."

"Well no," Haruko interjected, "my mom works with Seattle's Chapter of the Grand Hall of Sinister Wisdom."

"Wait what?" I watched Sophia shoot a quick glare to her roommate.

"Yeah...I'll tell you all later, she's not that scary, but she does have a reputation in Korea." Haruko then quieted as she dove headfirst into a massive bowl of ramen. The blur of her movements was a mixture of astonishing and horrific to me. It all stopped when something or someone walked into the Crystal Hall.

Have you ever had a sensation like a chill down your spine, but worse? I guess the proper term is someone walking over your grave. Well, that feeling compressed my chest as shadowy hands gripped my lungs and prevented me from taking a breath. I turned just in time to see a hulking figure walking toward the bad seed table.

"Oh fucking hell," Haruko said just as she stood up and I followed her gaze. Envy was speaking to her group of friends which included a girl with long snakes in place of regular hair. The figure which I'd seen and barely could watch was terrifying to behold. A smaller wimpy looking boy in the regular uniform walked beside them and the two seemed to be conversing about something.

“Hey, Envy isn’t it?”

I shot up immediately at hearing those words as the bastard said it loud enough for most of us nearby to hear it. Envy in her regular Italian dispassionate fashion emitted a loud exaggerated sigh. Seeing him speak to her something in me made me want to jump on the bastard and tear his skull off.

"No! Child! This is a demon's work!" Morgan's words and the hands of my best friend on my shoulder stopped me.

"Gráinne, calm down, I know you want to kill him right now, but he's most definitely stronger than you." My friend's words only kept my rage in check as I could feel the bleed of red over my vision increasing.

So there I was, waiting as this piece of shit talked to my crush. Let us not forget that this woman saved me with no reason other than she knew me. A flash of ghostly hands caressed my sides as I felt pressure along my buttocks and breasts. Finger's danced over my collar bone as I stood staid. The conversation was quickly going south and I could see the sweat building along the meat-wall’s brow. Each attempt he made to break that ice queen's mask he failed.

"Stupid idiot," Haruko growled as she pressed her hands together and I saw the formation of a dagger in her hands.

"Not you too!" Sophia barked.

"Is that Oop?" Lexi asked us as a few other Underdogs stood and watched the scene.

"Sounds like him, even terrible names as well," came a voice farther down the lunch table.

"What in the world have Rest and that idiot gotten themselves into?!" Lexi said and I could see the unease lurking in her posture.
An upperclassman whose name I couldn't place tried to intervene. The fool's screaming and posturing grew by the moment. Pretty much every single person was watching him by now. That's when I heard a strange keening sound brush my ears and something rushed past the boy. It was on the edge of my vision and it wasn't. A shadowy something walked beside the boy before darting off.

"BLACK SHUCK! DOOM COMES!" Morgan's voice came just as the poor sad bastard's body was starting to writhe in agony. Envy was a blur tackling the poor sod just as his clothes burst into flames and the smashing of glass followed the upperclassmen's call that Oop was burning out. I was transfixed on the horror show in front of me as shards of glass scattered across the floor.

"Envy!" I screamed as I felt my friends hold me back.

"Let her do this!' Haruko snapped in my ear.

I watched just in time to see Envy toss the man's flailing body and a wall of magical energy surrounded the figure. Only a second later a flash of energy broke my line of sight as I blinked. The boy was gone, all that power had eaten him alive.

"Beware what you get when you make a deal at the Crossroads." Morgan's murmur made me realize I was sobbing in fright at what I'd just witnessed.

Just After Lunch, November 15th, 2007 - Crystal Hall

Dusk-Wing
I...I didn't know burnout could make people explode. Sophia's eyes were wide with shock as she sat on the chair in the lunchroom. Her gaze was fixated on the broken window where Envy slammed the Overdog outside. A large mix of biological goo and soot was still in the now broken magical shield. Every trace of essence that bound the demonic energy spilling off the fool was twisted with taint. She'd heard from her grandfather about the "Starry Wisdom" and the works elder terrors from the deepest vacuum. Even those minute descriptions he told her in bedtime stories weren't enough to explain what her senses revealed.

The veil was torn almost in twain as shadowy forms crawled over it like carrion eaters on a corpse. A writhing mass of energy woven in the form of thick purple vines wound with tooth-shaped briars. The young shaman-in-training attempted to remember whatever it was she was seeing. The mass itself was demonic and yet it wasn't the chill disconnected death of the stars. No, this was something else. It pulsated with life and yet a false life. Much more came off it and reeked of the musk of estrus.

She was brought back to reality by the tapping of an impatient foot.

"Okay, you two," replied a member of security who was far from a sight for sore eyes, Officer Jaya Rathcore, who appeared to be equally sour to see them again.

"She's in shock, speak to me," she said while placing a hand on Gráinne's shoulder. Her best friend was indeed in shock, her eyes half-closed as she shivered. From her own short close friendship she knew the girl was strangely attuned to the emanations in the veil somehow and the sudden explosion of demonic taint was likely overwhelming her.

"We think it was Alley-Oop," she began as Rathcore was busily recording the information in a smart tablet. "That's what Gráinne's roomie, Shipwright, was able to piece together. He was here with his friend Rest, another underdog."

"Okay, we're still retrieving the security footage, but most witnesses say it was an exemplar kid. One that had more muscles than should be possible," the security guard rattled off to her.

"Yeah, it was like some great hand decided to shove extra muscle into his skin," she sighed. "I mean he looked like an overstuffed muscle sausage."

"What did he do once he came in," the officer asked.

"Well, from what we were able to hear from his tirade he was going on and on about his strength and his rights as a newly emboldened man-meat child." Sophia rubbed her temples as even remembering that little bit was driving her to new levels of disgust. It reminded her of all the jocks at home who thought just cuz she was an exemplar that she would jump in bed with them. It didn't help that Gráinne's reaction to what she saw was to shut down on the spot. Not in a full comatose state, thank gods, but she wasn't responsive.

"He was in the lunch line and started hitting on Envy," Sophia urged the conversation forward.

"We have a record of him harassing and ogling Exemplar girls," the security guard remarked.

"I'm a little surprised Envy engaged him the way she did," remarked one of the underdogs.

"I'm not," Sophia replied.

"Why?" Lexi piped up.

"I live with a Bad Seed remember," she deadpanned, "Haruko's been taking combat training for a while."

"Right, I guess, I barely know you two," Shipwright replied honestly.

"Alright - for the entire table," Sophia pointed at Gráinne, "she's my best friend from out West, and the brooding thug with the eye-patch is my roommate in Whitman."

Sophia let the Underdogs soak in her little lecture and scanned the lunchroom. The cliques of Whateley didn't make it hard to tell who the power players were and as soon as she walked into the Crystal Hall for the first time she divined most of them. The top dogs were the Alphas Council, the Academy's version of a Student Union. Training teams were just a fancy term for what they really were - the mutant version of high school cliques. For the most part Sophia sat at the Underdog table because while the Underdogs seemed to be chronically underpowered most of them were pretty chill.

Well, most of them except for the presently exploded, Alley-Oop, who had to have a fixation on Exemplar Girls. Fuck his and Rest's bullshit. Before that asshole went and made the obviously stupid deal with a devil and fried himself to death she had only been dealing with one migraine that weekend. Sophia Jameson was a small-time mutant and even if her grandfather was a shaman she herself wasn't that important compared to others on campus. That was until she decided to use the sweat lodge and learned she'd have to share the time with one Kayda Franks.

The young native girl bit her lip in frustration as she pulled apart what she knew of the Lakota girl in her head. A recent addition to Whateley just under a year ago, and one that had easily wound up connected to some of the most important people on campus. If it weren't for a criminal trial her mother wouldn't have made a stink over keeping the shamaness at arm's length.

"Stupid Underdogs, why do you always have to try to be something you aren't." The voice pulled her out of analysis and made her have to pay attention.

"Screw off Gravmax, Amy isn't here for you to pick on," a voice snapped just out of view.

"Oh great." Sophia placed a hand on Gráinne's shoulder and gripped it hard.

"I hear that hot Italian chick Envy took on the guy hitting on her," his uniform was immaculate and bled nouveau riche.

"Oh hell," Sophia let out the sarcasm and flicked a look at Nicholas Broussard, aka Gravmax.

"Nice to see you again my exotic flower," Gravmax smirked as he drew closer to the table. The idiot was attempting to show a bit of swagger in his walk and all it seemed to do was make him look constipated.

"So...first we get a Villain for a teacher earlier this year," Gravmax began, "and then I hear that a Bad Seed is beating up members of the Martial Cheerleaders, or at least that's what Yellow Queen is saying."

"What do you expect from a Bad Seed - their criminals, each and every one of them." Remarked an Underdog in slight agreement with Gravmax.

"For once one of you inferiors is actually right," Gravmax rubbed his chin before he said, "I mean Envy's mom is the Strega, a renowned slut and A-List villain. Hell, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree at all."

"Don't talk about her like that," a low voice said just after the rich bastard was done doing a little twirl with his arms up like some sort of ringmaster.

"What did you say?" he whipped back to face Sophia who was now pressing half of her face into her right hand.

"Nicholas....just walk away." The native girl tried to warn him as the once shocked redhead lifted her head to stare at the Melvillian fool.

"Don't ever -talk about- Envy like that," Gráinne said the words slowly and bared her teeth at the boy. For all his swagger Gravmax didn't blink and only smiled. He was a warper and one that had a reputation for knowing how to use it to his advantage. Sophia didn't move as her friend stood up and closed her eyes tight.

"What's the little redhead saying to me? Damn girl, you are pretty," he remarked and the fool did the one thing he shouldn't have; he reached out and traced a hand along Gráinne's face.

"Oh....Nicholas you poor dumb fucker," Sophia sighed.

What happened next occurred in a matter of seconds. Gráinne's green eyes seemed to blaze with green fire, as her entire body tensed up like a cat ready to pounce. Just as Gravmax pulled back his hand the redhead's hand lashed out and struck him squire in the solar plexus. Sophia could only watch as there was a small crunch and he was sent back two feet. She's pulling her strength? Got to be, he's not dead. The superpowered teen rose to her feet as she closed her eyes and jumped at the asshole. Her eyes widened with fixation. A loud growl erupted from Gráinne's mouth as she pulled back her hand to hit the teen again and she slowed.

"Dammit. I missed her stupid armband," Nicholas rose to his feet and jumped back as the girl swiped at him. Her focus grew more and more intense by the minute.

"NO ONE TOUCHES ME! I WILL FUCKING TEAR OUT YOU'RE THROAT!" her voice was rumbling deep in her chest as she tried to step closer. Lucky shit. He's weighing her down to stay safe. Sophia jumped back just as Gráinne whipped around to attack the upperclassman again and missed. Her downward slam of both hands hit the table and tore through the wooden frame like butter.

"Damn girl calm down," he coughed at her, still obviously recovering from the early strike.

"She's killed someone raging you idiot," Sophia called out as the Shamaness skipped out of the way of her friend’s next vector - a giant pouncing leap which almost landed squarely on Gravmax.

"You're not kidding!" he exclaimed just as Sophia said, "Gráinne calm down I'll make him say sorry."

"What hell is this bullshit," he retorted.

"I'd run, fast," Sophia chided him as the redhead slammed her foot down in frustration and the floor rumbled and creaked from the impact.

"You will die by my hand," Gráinne sang as she twirled around and her eyes darted. Gravmax was making his getaway as Sophia put herself directly in Gráinne's path.

"He's gone - sweet girl, he's gone." She stepped closer, hands held out to show she was unarmed.

"He touched me! No one touches me," Gráinne said as a tear fell down her cheek. Sophia read her friend's body language and moved to envelop her in a hug.

"I know, Gráinne, I know," Sophia herself had been groped and molested by boys in her life.

"I - can't control myself when someone gets too close," she let out a loose sob.

"And it didn't help that he was mocking your crush right?" Sophia replied.

"Yeah," the redhead blushed, "it's not fair. Little rich shit thinks he can mock me...or her. She saved me."

By now Gráinne was mumbling as the post-rage fugue settled in. Sophia scanned the room and noticed that more than a few of the other students were eying the rager in her arms wearily. Dammit. This is going to be my new normal. Sophia considered her options as she closed her eyes and let her friend sob against her chest.