Knife To Meet You! 19 The Calm - Part 1

Seph turned to her clock. Too dark to see the time, drat.

She let out just a bit of magic. The air in front of her fingers started to glow. She didn't use it to construct any rune, instead using the light to read the time. Three in the morning.

A soft yawn escaped her. She hadn't had much rest.

Another knock. Just a single one this time and quieter than the previous.

Seph rolled out of the bed and stood up. She lazily made for the door. She swiped up at a metal plate in the wall next to the door, which led to the room to light up just a little.*

The door opened to reveal Callu turning her head in surprise. She had just turned away from the door, seemingly given up on Seph ever opening it.

"You're awake!", She whispered.

"Just woke up", Seph yawned.

"Oh!", Callu caught on. "Oh I woke you up, I'm sorry!"

Seph frowned. "I'm already awake now. Sorry won't change anything."

Callu looked down sheepishly.

"What happened?" Seph asked.

"...Couldn't sleep. Kept thinking about... Yeah-"

Callu didn't need to finish the sentence. Their group had ended up working with Lyk at one point. It turned out to be scarier than any of them thought it would be, especially for Callu. She could imagine what getting entangled in Lyk's business again would be doing to her.

Seph nodded and stepped aside. "Come on in then.", She offered.

Callu hugged her in the doorway instead.

Seph sighed. She held her and helped her in. A few moments later they were sitting on her bed, still hugging in silence.

"We'll be okay, right?", Callu muttered into Seph's shoulder. Her voice was cracking a little.

"Everything will be fine.", Seph tried to rea.s.sure her. "This isn't much of a hard job. I doubt anything will go wrong."

And that was correct. The past couple of days of reconnaissance with Yurel had more than confirmed that the dagger wasn't handled with much supervision at all. It was less a matter of stealing it from Krys and Jach and more of a matter of just finding it unattended.

"But it's Lyk!" Callu protested.

Seph caressed her hair. "Even still. Everything will be fine."

Callu shook her head. "You don't understand! What if we get caught?"

"I won't-" Seph was interrupted by Callu, who turned to look at her. Seph could see her eyes had started to tear up.

"Lyk never goes for anything small. You don't just- You don't hire him to pull off a simple heist, there's something big going on here.", She took a raspy breath. "This dagger it- it must be important, really important. What if they catch us trying to get it? What if they think we're working for him? They aren't just going to let us go! They-"

Seph squeezed her tighter. "Nothing bad will happen, Callu. Everything will go just fine."

"But- ", Callu continued. "Okay, even if we succeed, what if it's part of some scheme? What if they still come looking for who stole it? We- We can't even decline or Lyk will... He will... " Callu sobbed. Yurel had demanded that the group work with him. If they didn't, he'd tell them about their role in the heist that took place over two years ago. "Seph, I don't want to lose any of you!"

Callu buried her face into Seph's shirt and broke out into a full on cry. Seph held her close, patting her back.

"You wont.", She whispered.

"I'm scared." Callu shook. "I don't want to be scared."

"I know. It's okay"

"I can't stop thinking about- about what can go wrong I can't- I..." She grasped at Seph's arms. "I don't want to think I...", Her breathing was too rasp and hurried. Too uneven.

"Hey.", Seph held her by the shoulders and backed out a little. She looked into her eyes. "Hey, Callu? I need you to look at me. Can you do that, please?" She asked slowly, one word at a time.

Callu whimpered. Her face was a mess. Covered with tears. Reddened eyes. Shaking.

She was looking down and trying to wipe her tears. Seph immediately looked around her room for her handkerchief -- it was on her bedside table -- and grabbed it. She wiped Callu's tears for her. She then cupped her cheeks and tilted her head so she faced her and repeated.

"Callu? Can you look at me?"

She sobbed loudly, then nodded. It took some effort for her but she looked Seph back in the eyes.

"You're panicking.", Seph told her, keeping her voice soft. "You know how your mind gets when that happens, right?"

She nodded after a second. "Y-yeah."

"I'll try and help. Will you do what I ask you to?"

She nodded again. "I'll t-try."

Seph hadn't seen her in this state in quite a while. In nearly half a year actually. They were really prevalent in the time after the heist. It was a rough time for Callu.

Seph still hadn't figured out the best way to calm her down, but there were some things she knew did help. So she ran Callu through them. She tried to get her to take deep breaths. She gave her some water. Talked to her constantly, trying to rea.s.sure her. She held her hand. Callu was not alone and Seph would try and make sure that she doesn't ever feel alone again.

When she had calmed down a little, Seph took her to the gardens. Walks always helped her. So did her friends. They walked for an hour and a half and then decided to lay down. Callu had calmed down a lot by then. They'd even had a laugh at what Callu had been thinking during that time. Who was the 'They' that would catch them anyway? Was it the Queen's guard? The Academy? Even Callu didn't know. The mind can be very irrational during episodes like this.

Callu was staring to feel tired by that point in time. She hadn't slept at all, unlike Seph, and hadn't had a good sleep the past couple of days either. And so they lay down. Seph watched over Callu as she slept.

While Callu slept, Hiila and Teak also made their way to the gardens. Seph had left a note for them at her door. Seph sent them away to get some food soon after, though. She was starving and she was sure Callu would be too when she woke up.

When she woke up, it was already past time for the cla.s.ses to start. The four decided to have the entirety of the rest of the day off to themselves. She seemed much happier. Seph was glad.

But then Seph felt a faint wave of mana enter her senses. She could tell what it was instantaneously. Yurel had just activated one of his 'flares' to send a message to Lyk. No one apart from Seph seemed to sense these. Yurel did not know about that. Seph was afraid that maybe they would have to make a move that very day.

Unfortunately her fears were soon proven to be true.