After taking a moment to collect myself, I opened the bathroom door and was greeted with Shinso leaning against the wall. He raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Were you shitting your brains out or something?"
"Why would I if I hadn't eaten anything yet?" I scoffed.
"Well, I'm out here throwing up without eating a single thing." Shinso chuckled dryly as he led me down the hallway.
"Consider yourself lucky I saved you a seat." He said as he led me into the dining area. "By the way, I'm glad your arms' doing better."
Just then I felt extremely stupid. It had been about three days since we got transported here, and I had now only realized that my arm had been healed? I don't blame myself considering all I've been through so far. As we stepped into the dining area, Oboro and Aaron looked towards me with a smile.
"Y'guys should eat quick, Catherine's itching to teach you guys." Aaron said with a smile.
"Teach me?" I asked. What would Catherine want with me now?
"Yeah, your spirituality lessons, and your potion consumption."
Right. I didn't get to consume my potion since Shinso had fallen ill. Suddenly The Umbridge's voice sounded in my mind. "Whatevere you do, you can't consume the additional potion. When the woman's not looking, either dump it out or pretend to consume it."
"But wouldn't that be lying?" I whispered extremely quietly, sinking in my seat as I raised my fork and spoon to eat. After a few seconds of silence, The Umbridge spoke again.
"Is lying the worst thing one can do in this world? There are many other dangers one can get into—dangers that lying won't grant you easy escape."
...
Me, Shinso, and Ayumi stepped out of the carriage in front of a more regal-looking building, one that contrasted anything we've visited before aside from the Parterre de Fleurs. I turned back to Carter, gazing at the man with curiosity.
"This is Catherine's place?"
In the crimson moonlight, Catherine's place seemed to resemble a cathedral. Carter smiled as he approached the front door, knocking twice on the wooden doors. The entirety of the street seemed to fall silent as we awaited for a reply from anyone behind the door.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Catherine greeted us at the door with a small smile. She adjusted her rounded glasses up the bridge of her nose and gazed down at me, Shinso, and Ayumi. "Come in."
The inside of Catherine's establishment screamed high-class, but the outfits we usually saw her wearing told us that she spent most of her funds on this house. With the flick of her wrist, the chandelier ignited with fire-light from what seemed like fifty candles overhead.
Lining either end of the foyer were stone pillars, making Catherine's house resemble a palace.
"Your first spirituality lesson begins now." Catherine announced, the woman's tone and attitude reminiscent of a ring-leader.
"Since when were you so excited?" Carter's lips bore the Cheshire smile as he smugly crossed his arms.
"I apologize, I'm just kinda excited." The woman's face flushed a little, putting her black locks into a braid that slung over her shoulder.
Catherine stepped back a few feet and plopped down into one of the armchairs by the fire, reaching into her satchel and taking out what appeared to be a small black charm.
"Spirtuality is very...how do I say this..." Catherine's voice softened to a whisper as the black charm seemed to gently shake in her grasp.
"...different, depending on the individual."
She looked up at Ayumi, nodding her head. "Come."
The black-haired girl nodded her head, walking over to Catherine and standing in front of her chair. The older woman fell silent for a few moments, looking into Ayumi's eyes before commanding her to sit in the arm chair across from her.
Ayumi leaned back into the chair, sinking into the plush velvet fabric, her gaze continually fixated on Catherine's figure.
"Your digestion is in the works." She said with a smile.
"That's good to hear..." Ayumi looked at the black pendant for a few moments, her expression hardening slightly.
"Lately...I've felt like something is brewing inside me."
"That would be the abilities of a Bloomer." Catherine raised the charm with a sense of solemnity.
"A what?"
"That's the Order 9 potion name. We also call those the Orders."
Upon hearing the elaboration, Ayumi felt her senses gradually calm. "Ok...when do you think I'll be able to get these powers?"
"Well." Catherine gazed back at the fire for a few moments, her smile widening slightly. "We could practice right now."
"Huh?"
"Bloomers are those who, in a way, are beginning to bloom with their abilities. Sure, the amount of time you've consumed the potion isn't large, one's abilities can still be tampered with to a small extent."
"Ok..." Ayumi nodded her head.
At that moment, the black-haired girl felt a small tingling in her palms, and her eyes widened in astonishment. Catherine watched the scene with a placid and genial expression. Her lips parted slightly as she spoke.
"Look towards the fire." She said, gesturing towards the fire with her index finger.
The girl turned her gaze towards the fireplace. When she did so, the tingling in her palms seemed to intensify. When she felt that, her gaze shifted over to Catherine.
"I...my palms are tingling."
"Have they ever felt like that before?" The woman asked.
Ayumi fell silent for a few moments, her eyes fixated on the fire once again. "No..."
Catherine laid one leg over the other, clasping her hands on her lap. "Then you're indirectly using your abilities."
Her eyes widened even more. "What ability though?"
"Could be any of them." At that moment, Catherine stood up and approached Ayumi, before kneeling beside her chair.
"In order to properly distinguish, I'd visualize the fire in your mind." Her voice softened to almost a whisper as she too looked into the embers.
"Alright." Ayumi slowly closed her eyes, her brows furrowing as the image of the crimson embers surfaced in her mind.
I remained silent whilst watching the entire interaction. Suddenly, my forehead began to tingle slightly, almost burning to a certain extent. I had somewhat grown used to this sensation, but I used a herculean effort to hold back a grunt of pain.
"The fire's growing..." Ayumi's voice lowered, and her face turned slightly pale. The air around the four of us seemed to drop in temperature, causing me and Shinso to shiver.
"Fire's ain't doing a good job." Shinso sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's...g-getting out of control." The girl's voice began to quiver slightly, and her face turned a ghastly shade of white. Sweat was now beaming down her forehead. Catherine's gaze shifted to the teenage girl, her eyes widening upon seeing her current condition.
"Dear, stop." She said, her voice growing firmer as she took hold of the girl's arm. She let out a gasp and instantly retracted it upon feeling how scolding hot it was.
The burning on my forehead seemed to intensify to an almost excruciating extent. I slowly took a deep breath, attempting to stifle a groan of pain. Everyone in the room seemed fixated on Ayumi, which slightly relieved me.
"Ayumi!" Catherine cried out, her eyes wide with fear and concern. The woman's breathing quickened as her body began to tremble.
I gritted my teeth to the extent of believing my jaw might break in two. Ayumi's pained expression seemed to intensify as she leaned back in her chair, letting out a yelp of pain as she held her hands to her temples. "I-it's burning...it hurts!"
My eyes snapped shut, and I felt like I might explode at that very moment. My hands curled into fists as I grunted.
"Umbridge...what are you doing?"
"Nothing, it's you." They replied, their illusory voice sounding in my ears.
"What?" I felt my face pale. "I-it's me?"
"Stop it, Isaiek. Stop using your abilities." Their voice turned deadpan, almost bordering on guttural and demonic.
I stumbled back, almost falling to the ground as I stifled a scream. I felt the skin around the sigil on my forehead bubbling like boiling honey. The pain was now too much to bear, I bit into the sleeve of my coat, almost directly into the skin and bone of my flesh underneath it.
"H-how do I stop it?!" I screamed into the fabric, the commotion a few feet away enabling me to do so.
"Just let go, Isaiek." The Umbridge replied, their voice not changing from previously.
I took a deep breath, my gaze shifted towards the nearest stone pillar. "Do I have to?"
"If you want the girl's suffering to end."
I didn't know what I was doing, but I charged towards the pillar, ramming my head into the mottled stone with brazen force. Then, I lost consciousness.
...
My eyes shot open, gazing around the surroundings. Ayumi was slumped in the arm chair, a blanket over her form. She was sound asleep. Carter and Catherine looked over my form with visibly concerned looks.
"What happened?" I groaned, sitting up in the chair. I felt Carter press his arm on my chest, gently pushing me back down.
"You...passed out on us." Carter replied, taking a deep breath. "We don't know why, but the moment you fell to the floor, Ayumi returned to normal."
He pointed towards the chair by the fire, pointing at Ayumi's slack and peaceful form.
"And Shinso?" My eyes were half-lidded as I asked the question.
"He didn't suffer anything; he was the one that informed us of your condition." Catherine gestured towards Shinso, who sat on the couch, gazing at me with worried eyes.
"What now?..." I asked, leaning back in the chair.
"It's best if we stop for the night. We don't know why Ayumi experienced that, so we might tutor her privately until further notice." The black-haired woman stood up, walking over to the front door.
"If you can walk, there's a carriage waiting for you outside. If you can't I can either have you and Shinso leave, or we can consider having you over here until further notice."
"You...care a lot, don't you." I leaned up in my chair, smiling softly.
Catherine's face flushed a little as she turned her face away. "You're not the first children..."
She looked towards Shinso, huffing. "Teenagers, I've encountered."
"You don't need to correct yourself." Shinso let out a self-deprecating chuckle. "I'm not one to give out commands on how one should act."
"Alright." Catherine heaved a sigh of relief.
I stood up from my chair, my hand clutching to the arm rest for dear life as I attempted to regain proper equilibrium. Shinso also stood up, walking over to me and taking me by the hand.
"Should we leave? While you were out like that, Catherine and Carter suggested we could practice spirituality with Isaiah."
I felt my blood run cold, and a strange shiver course through my spine. "Isaiah? Aaron's friend?"
"Yeah Catherine and Carter taught him a little about spirituality."
He looked back at the duo. "Do you think he'd mind if we stop by his office?"
Carter and Catherine both shook their heads. Catherine parted her lips to speak. "Isaiah's very busy at this time of night, he'd be extremely cranky if the two of you stumbled into his office in the middle of the night."
I felt another shiver run down my spine. Who knows what Isaiah would do to us if we invaded his space. The man gave me a small panic attack and knocked me unconscious through his words alone. And due to the fact that he's a Meta—or a Seeker as The Umbridge called it.
"What should I do?" I whispered under my breath.
"Just don't proceed, trust your instincts." The Umbridge's voice sounded once again in my mind.
I took a deep breath with an ok. Me and Shinso turned towards the door as he shoved his hands in his pockets, walking outside. I looked back at Ayumi, her gaze peaceful as she slept. Carter and Catherine sat in the arm chairs beside her, silently watching her.
"You coming?" Shinso grabbed my arm, pulling me forward into the street near the carriage.