Chapter Thirty-Five: The Vanishing of Ariel

"You can try describing it in abstract terms, avoiding anything you’re not allowed to mention," Dunn said, looking at Lily with anticipation.

Lily hesitated. The problem was she couldn’t clearly distinguish what she could say from what she couldn’t. But perhaps if she used only substitutions, explaining things in the style of a fable, it might work.

"Um... should I do it here?" Lily glanced upstairs, thinking the third floor might be a bit noisy right now, unsure whether they should stay or move to someone’s room.

"Here is fine," Aiden said, being closest to the door. He walked over and closed it.

Lily sighed, went to sit on the bed, and motioned for Dunn and Aiden to find seats as well. She began, "Give me a moment to collect my thoughts."

"Well... you both know those superhero movies from the early twentieth century, right? Iron Man, Captain America, and so on."

"Yes." "Yeah." Aiden and Dunn nodded in unison.

"Good. For now, you can think of it as: some superheroes appeared in the world—every country has them. Each hero has their own unique abilities. Miss Liu Shiqin is one of them. So am I, and so is John."

"Maybe, when you turn fifteen and have your coming-of-age ceremony, you’ll be one too. I’ll explain more specifics then—Miss Liu Shiqin left those instructions for me."

"What’s different in our British Empire is that the government seems to be deliberately hiding all this from us orphans at St. Lance’s. The ‘Treatise on Mist Two Point Four’ they sent us, according to Miss Liu Shiqin, has been modified."

At this point, Lily noticed she didn’t get the vague sense of impending doom she usually felt when crossing a line. That was a relief.

"Modified..." Dunn chewed on the word.

"Why did Miss Liu Shiqin... leave?" Aiden glanced at Dunn, then asked.

"I don’t know the specifics. But that’s just how her ability works," Lily replied, carefully avoiding the details of Liu Shiqin’s power, for she sensed she shouldn’t say more.

After a brief silence, Lily changed the subject: "This afternoon, we need to gather everyone and discuss the next John’s Squad rescue mission."

Dunn snapped out of his daze, surprised. "So soon? We haven’t prepared. We still don’t know what those terrifying creatures in the mist are. And most importantly, there’s the bell and the ever-spreading time corrosion."

"That’s exactly why we must hurry." Lily didn’t disagree—these were the real issues facing everyone at the orphanage.

"Our situation now is different from the past six months. During that time, those giant creatures never appeared—otherwise, John’s squad would’ve noticed something. They’re too large and too loud to go undetected."

"As for time corrosion, we’ve more or less deduced it’s a recent phenomenon. If it really spreads and intensifies, the orphanage will eventually be destroyed by it."

"We don’t have much time. We must either find John or uncover the true cause of the time corrosion. In truth, I think we have to do both, as they’re probably connected."

What Lily didn’t say was that she now had stronger means at her disposal, and she was beginning to understand the bell.

She’d already researched the concept of ‘entropy’ granted by the Destiny Coin she wore at her chest. She didn’t fully understand energy creation or annihilation, but she guessed it was something like probability.

Before coming to Liu Shiqin’s room, Lily had experimented by amplifying the ‘entropy’ of getting her favorite flavored biscuit at breakfast, waiting to see if it would work.

As for the "Mandate" gloves, their ability to alter basic cognition and established facts depended greatly on imagination—used well, they could change everything.

"You’ve convinced me."

After a brief pause, Dunn nodded.

Aiden’s expression didn’t change. When Dunn nodded, he stood up as well.

"Hungry."

With that one word, Aiden left the room and headed for the canteen on the second floor.

"...Let’s get breakfast too," Dunn said, glancing helplessly at Aiden before looking at Lily.

"I hope they have my favorite matcha biscuits," Lily replied with a gentle smile.

——————————————

A crow soared through the dense mist, past the tip of Big Ben where Liu Shiqin had once stood, over the railway bridge Lily’s team had crossed, and up into the highest sky, toward the swirling vortex streaked with black and violet lightning. The bird flew faster and faster, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

With a soft thud, it plunged straight into the vortex, leaving only a few black feathers behind to drift on the wind.

The feathers fell for a few seconds before bursting into flame, finally dissolving into a wisp of black smoke that vanished into the ever-churning mist.

——————————————

After enjoying her favorite matcha biscuits, Lily was just leaving the second-floor canteen, feeling satisfied, when she saw Ander rushing toward her at full speed. She frowned at once.

"Ander, don’t run on these polished wooden floors! One day you’ll lose all your teeth!"

But Ander didn’t stop. He skidded to a halt right in front of Lily, panting.

"Sis... ha... something’s wrong... Ariel... Ariel, she..."

"What happened to Ariel?" A sudden sense of dread gripped Lily.

"She’s gone... Ariel’s disappeared." Ander’s face was stricken with fear and anxiety.

"Gone... Disappeared..." Lily didn’t say anything more. She turned back to the canteen door and shouted,

"Dunn, I need your help!"

Dunn, who was carefully sipping a cup of hot water, nearly burned his nose at her shout.

He didn’t complain; he put down his cup and ran to Lily.

Seeing Lily and the anxious Ander, Dunn looked at her inquiringly.

"Ariel’s gone. Come with me to her room—your observation skills are sharper. See if you can find any clues."

"Could she be in the bathroom or the basement?"

"I had Sister Xiu check the bathroom, and I just came up from the basement," Ander replied, still out of breath.

After hearing this, Dunn exchanged a look with Lily.

"Let’s check her room," Dunn said, following Lily and Ander toward the girls’ dormitory on the fourth floor.