School was a discovery. After handing Leafy, her best friend and man eating tree, his breakfast, she had more chances than usual to enter the school grounds. As expected but still awkward. Raon’s tall figure stalking after her like a bodyguard also felt all kinds of wrong. He was her brother not her Bodyguard. 

"Oh, come here." She muttered and fell a few steps back offering her arm to link in. A second later, they were walking side by side. 

“This position is making protecting you more difficult.” Raon quietly noted, “I would prefer to be behind you. It makes me a better shield.” 

Internally, Titania wanted to bang her head against something. Good gracious, yep it was those moments she did not know if she should feel honored or weirded out, “I like this more.” She answered him as earnestly as she could manage, and he blinked before nodding.

This was going to be a great day….although I feel like I forgot something.

Didn’t I….no seriously, oh well, I can also ask in the evening. 

The classroom was, as usual around this time, still rather empty except for Amita, who sat on her usual chair. She whipped her head around, first looking at Titania, then narrowing her eyes at Raon. 

“Are you planning on murdering someone today, Tarajan?” She asked with poison in her voice. 

At least someone was behaving like usual. It was almost, no, actually truly comfortable. 

“Of course not, Lumiere, and, if anyone, it would be you….” She stood still for a moment. “Or our Zhang menace.” 

“If it turns out to be the latter, would you be terribly troubled to leave me a bit of him to stab? I would like some part in having his scalp.” Behind Amita, a shadow seemed to move, Titania blinked, was that her imagination? Raon quietly shook his head at her unasked question. 

Now that is new. 

“Maybe if you ask politely enough.” 

“I see.” 

Titania moved to her seat in the last row, settled down, and pointed to her brother to get himself a chair as well. He instead quietly shook his head, and placed himself into a corner of the room whereupon he seemed to freeze like a statue, closing his eyes. 

Tension was running high; his shoulders were rock hard and he was balancing on the back of his soles ready to jump at the smallest of sounds. Slowly one after another the other students were entering. Every single one of them shot a glance at Raon and then at her before settling even further away from her than usual. Mikki was not here yet.

It was shortly after the gong announced the beginning of the lesson when their Homeroom teacher walked in, put her papers on the desk, and then let her gaze wander the room. When she saw Raon, she froze. 

“Tarajan, I distinctly remember saying that I would not be playing favorites with you, or any of the other members of the three main families, please request your bodyguard to leave.” 

“Teacher, He is my brother.” Titania corrected and the teacher blinked. 

“Does it matter? He is not a student; he leaves.” Their Homeroom teacher said and Titania heard Raon let out a small laugh.

“I see no reason for you to laugh. This academy is one of the most secret faculties in the City. Nothing will happen to your younger, or older, sister.”

“Younger.” Raon said quietly, his voice was so emotionless it made everyone in the room shudder, “Neither am I the only one here who should not be.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Their teacher quipped. Not the first time Titania admired the woman's courage; she truly was not impressed by their powers and lineage. Not that Raon intended to say much more than he already had. 

Their Teacher went so far as to call him out and surprisinglt, in the end, it was Amita that gave in first. 

“Leave it be, the Tarajan are obsessed about each other's safety. That aside, he is right; he is not the only bodyguard in the room. He is just the only one not bothering with subtlety.” She said and leaned back. Their Teacher took a deep, deep breath and then calmed realizing she had most likely lost. 

“I understand.” She gave up and then started the roll call before her lesson.

Once that was finished, the next teacher walked in and stared equally flabbergasted at Raon, then at Titania. Titania raised an eyebrow in an, “I dare you say something” manner, and he stepped back. Wonderful. 

Raon passed the time by playing with his small knife in his corner, and sometimes there was a small shimmer near Amita as well. A reflection that did not look quite the way it should. 

Class ended like on a normal day, only that Mikki did not appear. Nor was he mentioned by anyone; it was as though he had vanished just as quickly he had appeared. Without anyone gossiping,, anything could have happened. Maybe he was dead.

No one here cared, not really. 

Titania did though, after all, she knew who he was, or rather what he was. Maybe someone from another family had drawn the line and made sure he was well….gone…

She walked out of class and stopped as she saw someone walking towards her, a sly grin on his face. She internally signed. Dear, it was the last person she wanted to see. Turning, she tried to walk the other direction down the hallway to avoid the other party. 

“Titania…!” Someone shouted from behind and anger boiled up inside her. 

Well, kicking his ass on your to-do list…now you got the chance….

She calmed down and turned around. 

Smile, put on a smile Titania. 

It was hard, but she smiled, faintly, not very relaxed but still a smile, and her back turned rigidly straight. 

“Zhang.” She said dryly. 

“Titania, my dear, how are you today? I certainly hope well?”

Smile, a smile is your mask. 

She smiled still. Taking a careful step back, “Everything is well and fine.” She said and signed Raon to stay back, grabbing him by his shirt. Hold Back. She had not picked up a lot from her failure with Mikki but enough. Enough to fake better. 

“Your smile is so stiffly, Titania.” He said, walking past her and earning a vicious gaze from Raon. 

“And your friendliness is so fake.” She answered back and watched him walk past, “Raon, do me a favor; I am sure you have a spare knife you can waste on him, can you throw it around the corner over there, and make it hit his manhood?”

He blinked at her, “I did not expect that, but yes I can.” 

“Thanks.” She said and turned. “I am ready to circumvent my sanity a bit, he and his people seek to destroy ours with no consideration for whatever is happening to others. I dislike Lumiere, but I dislike them more. That aside his girlfriend is a healer, she will help him if his sliminess is worth the effort.” 

“I see.” he twisted his wrist, a smallish knife in his hand, and shortly later, a scream, or rather a painfully high wail was heard. 

Check-one, kick the Ass of a certain Zhang's Ego. 

To go: talk with Zhu Wei, improve Soundproofing. This feels kind of good. Checking that list down. I should do that more often. 

She marched down the hallway while smiling politely at Zhang's Girlfriend hurrying down the corridor. Well, he would be taken care of soon, but gods did it feel good doing that, somehow. Maybe she was a bit too much of a Tarajan after all? 

School vanished behind them as she turned around, “Raon.” She muttered and tapped her tattoo twice, it was now located at her shoulder blades. Nothing. She sighed and tapped it twice again, “Release.” 

Now it worked. She was in a span of seconds decked in armor; a suit with a long coat and a pair of guns fixed on her upper thighs. On her head a black hat straight from a sixties movie gentleman. 

“Show me the front.” She said, and he tilted his head. 

“Sure?” 

“I want to see what is going on. Stupid I know but I want to see, I want to look at it myself.” 

"Okay. Follow.” 

Raon took the lead deeper into their small private slums. 

“Mother will not be happy.” 

“I know, I risk it.” 

He took her answer and walked up to a giant tree. She faintly remembered playing there as a child, but then this tree had been smaller. Raon placed his hand on the bark and muttered something. 

In front of them, the previously thick green parted, and a small pathway lined with thorny bushes and plants opened up. 

“Remember this place for the future.” He said and turned to her, “If all fails this place is the safest you can be, safer than the main house even.” 

She followed him. 

“How come?” She asked, and he shrugged his shoulders. 

“The others do not know. This is….my place….even Cedric does not come here often. Keeping him in the dark is not possible after all.” 

The path was longer than she expected as she followed him along. When they reached a small but utterly beautiful glade, she felt as though she had entered some wonderland.. It was filled in snow-white flowers, in full bloom, almost luminous in their shine. 

Curiously Titania bowed down trying to touch one of them as Raon grabbed her hand. “No.” he said and smiled at her, “The rest should not be disturbed.” 

“The rest.” Despite the place's beauty, an uncomfortable feeling crept up at her as he smiled one of his blank and utterly expressionless smiles. 

“The rest of the dead,” He answered her, “These white Lilies enjoy them.” 

White Lilies? She looked at the flowers and tried to remember where he had heard that before. Then, suddenly, it came to her. “Graveyard flowers.” She muttered, and a shudder ran down her spine and she kept her distance from the flowerbed. 

“Mhh, the most beautiful of flowers.” Raon told her and walked down a small stoned path right into the glade, “Keep to the stones.” The silence of the place, along with its stark beauty was suddenly much less striking, but more as if someone had suddenly turned it ice cold. A small stone circle was placed into the center of the glade, where Raon was going toward. Stopping before it, she saw a multitude of runes carved on the surface. Her brother stopped,  and stood right in the middle, smiling at her, reaching out his hand. 

“Come.” He said, and with hesitation, she followed him. 

Stepping into the circle, Raon muttered something she couldn’t understand when the runes glowed in the darkest of greens, scarlet lights red as blood in between.