"They found her."

Octavia was grateful for Harper shaking her out of a nightmare, given how frequently they blighted her. The words he offered in its place were somewhere on the cusp of a dream and a nightmare themselves, for the implications that they came with. It took them a moment to register as she sat up, doffing the covers. Fighting to give him her full, groggy attention took effort.

"Who?"

"The Ebony Maestra," he murmured urgently.

Octavia's stomach lurched. "Where was she?"

"Some really remote town in the southeast. I'm amazed they found her at all."

"And they…brought her back?"

"Yeah."

That, too, had implications. Octavia was on her feet almost instantly. "Where is she?"

"Selbright," Harper said. "She's staying with Mina. It was the easiest option."

"How'd they get her to agree to come?"

Harper bit his lip. When he didn't answer, Octavia was almost afraid to ask again.

"Harper, how did they…get her to agree to come with them?"

"It…wasn't very nice."

Octavia tensed. "Did they…threaten her or something?"

Harper sighed. Where Octavia had gotten up, he sat down on her bed instead. "I didn't know this until this morning, but…Josiah apparently gave a message to Briar, and…Briar gave that message to this…Maestra."

"What did he say?"

The look Harper gave her hurt. "'If you don't come with us, we'll tell the Velrose clergy where you live.'"

Octavia's eyes widened, her heart dropping into her stomach. Already, she was starting to sweat. "That's awful! Why would he do that?"

"I know there's no Velpyre clergy left to hurt them anymore, but I don't know all the details of how that works. I…imagine getting sent back there wouldn't end well for her. Not considering what happened," he said sadly.

"That's cruel!" Octavia cried. "I don't understand why he'd do something like that to her!"

Harper shrugged half-heartedly. "It worked. Maybe that was enough for him."

She struggled to swallow her ire, a Josiah-bound snowball that seemed to grow larger every second she thought about it. "I…what happens now?"

"Now we drag her into this, I guess. I don't know who's going to be the one to try to convince her, but--"

"I already know exactly who it's gonna be," Octavia spat.

Harper recoiled at her venom. "I…Octavia, I get why he did it, even if it was messed up. He wouldn't actually do it. You know that. I know that. After everything he's been through, you seriously think he'd report her?"

Octavia squeezed her eyes shut, exhaling heavily. "No, I…I don't. I don't think so, at least. I don't know."

"That's Selena's mother. He wouldn't," Harper said.

"That's exactly why I'm worried he would," Octavia murmured.

"Octavia," he chided sharply, soft as his tone was by comparison.

Even so, she hardly had the drive to apologize. If Harper were to look into her eyes right now, he'd find only the truth of her distrust. She didn't give him the chance to press. She didn't want to, going out of her way to give her gaze anywhere except to the boy who could tear it apart.

"Are all of the Soulful in Selbright?" Octavia asked.

He shook his head. "Just the ones that live there. The rest of them came back."

"All of them?"

Harper's smile, if nothing else, was welcome. "All of them."

"Is--"

"Yeah."

Octavia hoped the way she barely let him finish wasn't unforgivably rude, although the knowing smile he sustained on her behalf spoke to the contrary. He didn't object when she sped through the motions of tossing her boots on haphazardly, not so much as caring to formally change out of her nightgown. For now, for at least this moment, being Octavia took priority over the appearances of being the Ambassador. This was too urgent. Her heart couldn't be placated a moment longer.

She heard him laugh softly at her urgency as she nearly kicked her own door down, the wood slamming with a harsh bang into the wall. She only somewhat regretted the way it probably awoke the rest of her housemates, provided the same news hadn't already awoken them. This news, by comparison, was her own emergency. They'd understand.

Octavia nearly tripped going down the stairs on no less than two separate occasions--an impressive feat, given the small quantity of steps to begin with. The only thing that moved faster than she could was her heart, racing so far ahead of her that she'd surely never catch up again. It had been weeks. Logically, there was no reason to be nervous, and the fleeting thought was almost humorous. It would almost certainly get her teased and laughed at--although that, too, wouldn't be entirely unwelcome.

Octavia never made it outside. She didn't need to. The only treasure she could desire from the excursion, clad in familiar royal blues and crowned with fluffy satin that had come to stain her eyes, had come home to her instead. Her visage hadn't changed in the time they'd been pried apart. Octavia's explosive smile just barely outdid her tears.

She didn't care who saw. She didn't care what conversation the girl was well-engaged in. She didn't care what companions, around which she was currently comfortable or not, were present at her side. It wasn't enough to keep her from practically leaping from the steps, tackling the girl with such force that she nearly collapsed to the ground. It was by a miracle that she remained upright, stumbling as Octavia's weight crashed into her in full. It was all the latter could do not to break down in her arms, relieved and joyful to embrace her again. She was aware of the way her voice cracked as she cried the Soulful Maestra's name. Once more, she didn't care.

Viola's hesitation, born of shock, was temporary at best. She returned Octavia's embrace, albeit with less overwhelming urgency and more amusement. "I'm gonna assume you missed me, then?" she guessed with a laugh.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Octavia teased through tears she couldn't restrain.

The feeling of Viola's bow brushing against her cheek made her heart sing. "I could be wrong. Maybe you liked your alone time. Maybe I should go again. Sorry to intrude."

Octavia only hugged her tighter. "I'll chase you down and drag you back here if you try."

"I'll just have to be faster than you."

Octavia scoffed. "You are the absolute last person who could ever outrun me."

Viola's laugh, stolen from her for so long, was a miracle to hold close again. "Maybe that's not a bad thing."

"Okay, you have to share. We missed her, too, you know," Harper joked from the stairs, leaning against the wall with a casual smile.

"But not as much as I did, so I take priority. Get in line," Octavia joked back.

"You don't get special privileges just for being the Ambassador, you know."

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. He did the same right back. Viola giggled, still bound in Octavia's embrace.

Octavia was glad, somewhat, that her frantic descent hadn't woken up the entire cottage prematurely. That part, thankfully, had already been done on her behalf. She was only somewhat distressed at the way her warm hold on the Maestra suddenly increased from a world of two to three, spirit spontaneously thrust into a mix of soul and heart alike.

"We missed you soooo much!" Madrigal cried, one arm thrown around either Maestra in a way that stole Octavia's breath. "We were all so lonely without you! We thought about you every day, and you were always in our hearts! We never forgot about you!"

"Why do you people keep acting like I died or something?" Viola asked with another giggle.

"Good to have you back, Vi," Renato offered with a grin. "Missed ya."

"Harper, tell me if he's lying."

"I sincerely don't know what I expected."

There was a part of Octavia that was afraid to look to her left, should she find the physical capacity to peek past Madrigal's endless squeezing. She knew he was there. She'd heard his voice as she'd raced to Viola's side, surely having gone straight to business the moment she'd arrived. If she chanced a glance at him, if she broke the spell that came with the warmth of blessed reunion, would the ice in Josiah's eyes freeze her heart and sting her soul again? She didn't want to risk it.

Octavia did it anyway. She hadn't, under any circumstances, expected the faint satisfaction that had settled onto his lips. Even with his arms crossed and his gaze stern, still he found the consideration to smile. It wasn't warming, but it was more than relieving. She could breathe.

When the moment passed, when Octavia was free once more, the joy in her heart was edged out somewhat by the dread that threatened to take its place. If Viola was here, it was as Harper had said--her return wasn't without reason, and apparently not without success. In the worst way, Josiah was surely satisfied with the outcome. Perhaps she should've been, too.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It didn't make a single word that left his mouth any easier to handle. It didn't pull Octavia from the auditory threshold of bells or no bells that she teetered on each time he spoke lately. Even now, fresh from the elation of reuniting with her Soulful companion once more, she was right back on that borderline again.

"You were saying, then," Josiah resumed, a conversation long interrupted brought to life once more. "She's in good health?"

"She's definitely not happy, that's for sure," Viola muttered.

Josiah blinked slowly. "I can't particularly blame her."

"That was a low blow. Seriously."

"It worked."

"Are you actually gonna do it?" Octavia murmured, the question still burning a hole in her mind even now.

The eyes that met her were cold enough that her heart pounded. For a moment, she genuinely, truly feared he'd say yes. Josiah's actual answer wasn't much better.

"I'm not going to tell the clergy. However, I'm going to hold onto that for a little bit longer."

"What do you mean?" Viola asked.

He sighed. "She doesn't know I'm bluffing. We're gonna keep it that way. If we don't, there's absolutely no way we're going to be able to convince her to go down there. That's to say nothing of actually getting her to form a bond with Seraphim's Call again in the first place. I highly doubt guilt-tripping would work. Never stopped her before."

Viola tilted her head. "Guilt…tripping?"

Josiah was silent for a moment. "Nevermind. Just…know that this was the best option, and maybe even the only option. I didn't do it because I wanted to. I did it because it would work."

Renato crossed his arms uncomfortably. "Does she…know what she's gonna have to do?"

Josiah shook his head. "Not yet. I'm going to go talk to her. There's a non-zero chance she could call my bluff and try to escape. If that happens and she goes somewhere else, we'd have to start over. I don't want to have to keep catching her and dragging her back again and again."

"Don't talk about her like that."

The words were out of Octavia's mouth before she realized they'd left. They were enough to draw the piercing gaze she hated. She met it with her own, resolute for once in defense of a woman she'd never met.

"Like what?" Josiah asked coolly.

Octavia did what she could to glare steel into his soul. "She's…from the same place as you. She dealt with the same people you did. Doesn't that matter to you?"

He didn't budge. "Of course it matters. This matters too, though. We need to be able to get to Seraphim's Call, whatever that takes. It's not optional. You know that. I know that. We don't have a choice."

"We have a choice to be kind," she urged.

"Not with this."

It was in words she wasn't supposed to hear that Octavia had heard of others' distaste for Josiah's coldness in recent weeks. Now, though, they stood silent, seemingly content to let her take control of a confrontation she lamented dealing with at all. "Let me go with you."

Josiah narrowed his eyes. "You don't trust me to talk to her alone, then?"

Steadying her breath was a nightmare, the effort of keeping her voice level just as difficult. "I'm…the Ambassador. I have the right to be there. I have the right to be involved."

Octavia was glad he was Essenced. She was glad he wasn't Willful, let alone a Maestro anymore. It was a combination that would've stricken her down on the spot, for how harshly his eyes speared into her heart and came out the other side. "You want to be involved in planning all this, then?"

There was nothing in her life that she wanted less.

"Yes."

That alone was a risky answer. He wasn't stupid. He'd seen her break down at least once. If anyone could put the pieces of her rosy puzzle together from context alone, it was him. His suspicions weren't subtle.

"You're sure?"

Octavia contemplated modifying her terms. She opted against it, any mentions of making a sole exception or finding a sudden motivation surely a hint at ulterior motives of kindness. If she tried to sneak into his head, she wouldn't be surprised if he interpreted her intentions as sabotage. That would be an entirely different battle to fight with him.

"Yeah."

Josiah glared. She glared back, the fire she'd concocted beneath her pupils not quite enough to bore through the ice in his own. Octavia held her breath.

"We're going in the morning, then. We're going by ourselves. I remember the way back."

What should've let her breathe a sigh of relief only made her stomach twist into a knot instead. The idea of walking alongside him for roughly twelve straight hours, unfeeling as he'd been, was a misery in and of itself. Part of Octavia liked to imagine he might soften up somewhat. Most of her doubted it.

"What are you planning on telling her?"

Harper's voice was far more level than her own, calm and composed to a degree Octavia wished she could emulate. It didn't quite match with the slightest splash of hostility that painted his face.

It hardly rattled Josiah. "It'll be fast. I'll tell her that she won't have to stay for long. She can get this over with and go back to whatever it is she's doing with her life."

"What's your plan for her?"

"We get her down there, she bonds, Octavia guides the Muse in Seraphim's Call, and we get her out. It's that simple."

"If she refuses?"

"Same threat."

"I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this. I know you don't have anything against her."

"She has every right to hate us. Believe me, I don't want to have to do this to her."

Harper's eyes widened. His face fell. It wasn't subtle.

Josiah froze, unable to tear his eyes away from the Willful boy's own. Each of their gazes flooded with different flavors of pain. The moment he took the bait, he gritted his teeth. Octavia wanted to vomit.

Josiah didn't give anyone else a chance to process the depth of an otherwise-shallow exchange. It was with far less joy than Octavia's flight that the bang of the front door rattled the cottage on his way out. It was the most emotion she'd seen him emit in awhile. She almost preferred it this way.

Octavia hardly processed most of the twelve hours it took to walk to Selbright once more, regretful not to be in River's company this time around. It would've been far less stressful than walking on eggshells around a lightning bolt waiting to strike, for how on edge Josiah seemed to be. He was dead silent nearly the entire voyage, save for occasional reminders for Octavia to hydrate or insistence that she rest for a while. She was surprised to even receive those, somewhat beginning to doubt the degree to which he'd truly suppressed kindness.

He was unstable, her understanding of a boy she'd spent so much time with quickly slipping away. She thought about making idle conversation, the emotional distance between them driving her downright insane. She summoned the strength to try at least once.

"I wish…Selbright was closer. It's tough that we have to keep walking back and forth like this."

"Mhm."

It wasn't getting her far. "It'd be nice to get to look around Selbright at some point. We could…put aside a day or two for it. I think that'd be interesting."

"Not anytime soon."

Octavia frowned. "I didn't mean…nevermind."

Josiah didn't give her anything to work with. She didn't bother to try again for several hours, and even that had been fruitless.

"It's starting to get colder."

"Are you cold?"

It was interaction, at least. "No, I mean the weather. Maybe we should get warmer clothes."

"We can put time aside to get stuff in Selbright, if we really need it. Just for that."

"Do you like cold weather?"

"I don't particularly care."

He didn't particularly care about anything, apparently. "Do you have a…favorite kind of weather?"

"No."

Octavia gave up again.

Even if she were to bide her time conversing with Stradivaria, there was little she could think of to say regardless. Her thoughts were idle, passing bursts of negativity that she couldn't quite quash despite her best efforts. She'd managed, at least temporarily, to calm her pounding heart long enough to get her through dealing with this small facet of her task from Hell.

Octavia wasn't quite growing numb to the thought of the blossom and the flame--not in the absolute slightest. Even so, her pain was somewhat muted, for now. She was underwater, hopelessly adrift in dark depths through which all was muffled and still. Surely, she would have to come up for air eventually. She wondered if Stradivaria would understand, if she could pull him down with her into that dark place.

Do not trust Stratos.

That, too, was its own dark place.

Josiah's borderline impatience had led them to flee the cottage while the stars were still burning out against the morning sky. As such, they'd had the chance to cling to a bit more shimmering sunshine than the trip to Selbright usually afforded. She was thoroughly impressed by Josiah's ability to locate Mina's house of his own accord, relative to his singular voyage to her home from the opposite direction entirely. Given the frequency with which Octavia and company tended to show up at Mina's house unannounced, she was beginning to wonder if they were intruding. Apparently, in this instance, Mina hardly minded.

"Well, hello," she greeted with a bit too much enthusiasm, leaning against the doorway.

Octavia waved, grateful for her first friendly interaction in over twelve entire hours. If Mina's eyes were anything to go by, it wasn't for her.

Josiah didn't so much as crack a smile. Still, he at least raised one hand in a quiet wave of his own. "Hey."

"I can't say I was expecting company," Mina added, her voice dripping with something Octavia couldn't quite pinpoint. The way she twirled a strand of hair around one finger was equally puzzling.

Josiah tilted his head, his expression neutral. "Do you mind having us?"

Mina's grin was different. It painted a picture that made Octavia raise an eyebrow. "Not one bit."

"Appreciate it."

"You are always welcome here. Stay as long as you'd like, my Essenced friend."

For whatever exceedingly low tone Mina was taking with him, Josiah was largely unfazed. "Is she here?"

"Straight to business, then. I respect it. She's in the salon. Are you in the mood for anything to eat? I can make you whatever you want."

"I'm good," he said coolly, practically pushing past her on the way in. Mina rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"What kind of tea do you like?" she called.

Josiah raised one hand dismissively behind him. "I'm fine."

Mina watched him pass her by for far longer than was necessary. Octavia tried and failed horrifically to stifle a smirk of her own.

Mina wasn't immune to it, although it didn't quite quash her grin. "Damn, he's the hard to get type. That's kind of hot."

"You are absolutely shameless."

"And you dropped him right at my doorstep. One hell of a gift from a friend. Please do that more often."

Octavia couldn't keep her smile for long. "We're…not exactly here for fun."

Mina crossed her arms, her satisfied grin falling in turn. "I kinda figured. You want me to give you guys some space?"

Octavia winced. "I feel bad doing that to you in your own house."

Mina rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. "I don't know if I want to be a part of whatever talk is about to happen. She hasn't been a bad guest at all. She's actually pretty nice. I feel kinda weird that everyone seems to have it out for her."

"You're really not gonna wanna hear this conversation, then," Octavia murmured. "Just know that there's a…reason."

Mina sighed. "I figured as much. I'll stay out of your way. If you're gonna start yelling, try not to be too loud."

"I'm really sorry about all this," Octavia said sadly. "It's one more thing I'm dragging you into."

Mina shook her head with a smile. "Don't be. Besides, your little peace offering over there more than makes up for it. It's gonna be pretty cold out tonight. Tell him the house has poor heating. Tell him my nice warm bed has enough room for two peop--"

Octavia didn't particularly regret elbowing Mina in the stomach, although the playful blow wasn't nearly as hard as it could've been. "Does your dad know you act like this?" she muttered rhetorically.

It was more tempting to stay with Mina, joking and teasing where applicable, than it was to face the weight of the confrontation she knew awaited beyond the threshold. True to her word, Mina did give them space, content to depart down the hallway without objection. The distant sound of a door closing gently left Octavia sealed in a sizable room that felt far too small. Two embers of a flame that had long since raged and died had already locked eyes, inseparable and unmoving. He stood. She sat. Neither blinked.

The woman delicately placed her teacup atop the salon table, not daring to peel her eyes away from Josiah's as they pinned her in place. "Hello," she offered, her voice soft.

She didn't sound like Selena. She didn't particularly look like Selena, either, the long locks of her hair that challenged the night sky perhaps the only thing that aligned the two acolytes. She was mature, composed, graceful in her own way--even under the crushing pressure of the boy who stared her down.

Her eyes were different, more like the deep forests of Josiah's than Selena's own. She wasn't Selena. For the absolute force with which Josiah's gaze sought to tear the woman down to her soul, he wouldn't find the fallen acolyte. They'd never met, Octavia realized. She watched him try anyway, wordless and utterly fixated on her face alone.

The woman averted her eyes, desperate to escape his intrusive glare. "I-I…I don't believe we've met."

"We've never gotten the chance, no," Josiah said quietly.

For the briefest moment, Octavia caught the way his fingers twitched at his sides.

The woman's best efforts to break the loaded silence between them were respectable. "I'm…Celestina," she tried.

Josiah didn't blink. "I know who you are."

The way those fingers became fists wasn't quite as subtle, nor quite as fleeting.

The discomfort on the woman's face was substantially more visible than Josiah's, a different flavor than the boy's own. Even in the face of his apathy, she still strived to offer peace. "And…you are?"

"I was your daughter's best friend."

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