[published June 27th 2017]

Picture above is Lilliana, but imagine her hair a bit lighter ^~^

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"You were right," Emilia said into her phone, looking around cautiously. She had locked herself in the bathroom to her dorm, running the water from the sink so no one would hear her. "A war's coming, and it's coming soon."

"Great," Sullivan replied. Emilia could basically feel his smirk through the phone. "Did you figure anything else out?"

"Not yet," she replied.

"What about your whereabouts?"

"I don't know, the headmistress never told us," Emilia explained, leaning against the counter next to the sink.

"Good thing I put a tracker in you."

Emilia almost fell over in shock, choking on air in the process. "You what?!"

"Relax, I put it in your arm while you were asleep," Sullivan explained.

"Creep..." Emilia muttered under her breath, causing Sullivan to chuckle slightly .

"Is anyone onto you?"

"I don't think so," Emilia replied.

"Good," Sullivan said. "Keep it that way."

A knock came from outside the bathroom, causing Emilia to jump. She instantly hung up in fear of someone hearing Sullivan. "Caitlin?"

Emilia quickly turned off the water and took a quick breath before opening the bathroom door with a smile. A certain brunette with navy blue eyes was standing on the other side. She looked at Emilia with concern and confusion spread across her face.

"Were you talking with someone?" Penny asked, tilting her head slightly.

"No, what gave you that idea?" Emilia laughed, mostly out of nervousness.

"I thought I heard someone talking..."

"You must be hearing things," Emilia laughed. "You getting old, Penny?"

Penny's heart dropped; she did it again...

"Are you ok?" Penny asked softly, bringing the back of her hand to Caitlin's forehead, thinking she was sick.

"I'm fine," Emilia insisted, slapping Penny's hand away and smiling reassuringly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been acting differently..." Penny pointed out. "You keep calling me Penny instead Pisces..."

"It's nothing," Emilia explained, chuckling nervously. "I just realized it's about time I grew out of that habit." Emilia let out another nervous chuckle, as Penny looked at her in slight suspicion. She looked a little farther down, noticing who she thought was Caitlin playing with her necklace again. She was twirling it around her fingers.

"I've never seen you wear that necklace before," Penny pointed out as she reached out to grab the necklace, only to have Emilia turn away harshly out of fear.

"No!" She exclaimed, a little louder than planned. Her eyes instantly widened after she realized what she had done. She turned back to Penny with a firm grip on her necklace.

She let out a nervous laugh. "I just don't want anyone to break it."

"I'll be gentle," Penny insisted as she reached for the necklace again, only to have Emilia turn away slightly again.

"I'm sorry, it's just really important to me," Emilia explained as she smiled at Penny sheepishly. Penny only continued to stare at her, suspicion and curiousness clouding her mind."Well," Emilia started after a few moments of silence. "I'm hungry. Wanna join me in the cafeteria?" Penny stared at her for a moment, before nodding. They both headed towards the door and were on their way out of their dorm when they were interrupted.

"Where are you guys going?"

Emilia and Penny turned around to see Sam, leaning up against the door frame to her bedroom.

"Not that I care or anything..." She continued, looking away and puffing her cheeks stubbornly. She was such a tsundere at times. And by at times, I mean all the time.

"We're going to the cafeteria," Penny explained, before sending her friend a smile. "You're welcome to join if you want to." Penny and Emilia then left, Sam following behind.

They walked down the hallway silently. Penny was too busy replaying the scene with who she thought was Caitlin over and over again in her mind, while Emilia was scared she wouldn't sound enough like Caitlin if she started a conversation. Sam was just being her normal quiet self, probably thinking of ways to summon Satan.

"Caitlin!!"

Emilia turned around just in time to get hug-attacked. All she saw was a bundle of light brown hair before she was pulled into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're ok," the girl said. Emilia decided to hug back, thinking that's what Caitlin would do in that situation. The girl pulled away, letting Emilia see her chestnut eyes and fair skin. She had soft features, and her small lips formed a warm smile.

"You guys too," the girl continued and looked behind Emilia at the two other Water Signs.

"Hi, Lilli," Penny said, sending her chestnut-eyed friend a smile. "We were just heading for some food, if you wanna join us!"

"Of course!" Lilli exclaimed, letting go of Emilia and basically skipping to Penny and Sam, linking arms with them. A disgusted expression crossed Sam's face at the human contact, as Penny let out a small laugh at the cute gesture.

Emilia was about to follow, but turned around after hearing footsteps. She saw Margaret walk out of a room with the words "Teacher's Lounge" above the door.

"You guys go on ahead, I forgot something in my bedroom," Emilia explained, keeping her gaze locked on the mysterious door as her three friends stopped in their tracks.

"I can wait for you," Penny suggested.

"Nah, it's fine," Emilia waved her hand at her dismissively. "I'll be right there."

"Ok!" Lilli exclaimed energetically. She locked arms with Sam and pulled her down the hall, despite her groans in protest. Penny waited for a moment, keeping her eyes locked on Emilia in thought  before walking off, following her two friends.

After Margaret, Penny, Sam and Lilli were out of sight, Emilia quietly walked over to the teacher's lounge, putting her ear against the door to hear if anyone was inside. After not hearing anything, she looked through the keyhole. After seeing no signs of anyone, she slowly opened the door, quietly closing it after her, trying to make as little noise as possible.

It seemed to be, well, a lounge for teachers. There was a few couches around a coffee table in one of the corners, along with a few doors leading into different teachers' offices. Across from Emilia was a door with the words "Headmistress Margaret" over the door, peaking Emilia's interest.

She walked over to the door, taking the lightest and quietest steps she could, fiddling with her necklace anxiously. She opened the door to Margaret's office, quietly closing it behind her.

There was nothing special in her office, only a desk in the center with a black swivel chair. There were bookshelves with different boring paperwork and books, along with piles of paper on Margaret's desk.

Emilia made her way to Margaret's desk, briefly looking over the surface of the desk before opening one of the drawers under the desk. It only contained pens and different miscellaneous office supplies.

Emilia closed the drawer, before going for the drawer under. She opened it, a smile instantly spreading across her face at the sight.

Inside the drawer was a big folder, with the title "Zodiac Signs". She opened it up, seeing each of the Zodiac Signs' information, like their name, date of birth, information about their families and other important info. What peaked Emilia's interest the most, was the words "Strengths and Weaknesses".

Emilia pulled out the folder and was ready to leave, before footsteps could be heard nearing the door to Margaret's office. Emilia panicked and quickly closed the drawer, hiding under the desk as the door opened and Margaret walked in.

A pair of legs appeared next to Emilia as Margaret sat down by the desk, causing Emilia's eyes to widen and cover her mouth with her hand to make her breathing as quiet as possible. Emilia could hear Margaret writing for a moment, before a pen dropped to the floor, right in front of Emilia's face.

She mentally panicked as an arm came into view, knowing Margaret would see her if she bent over to pick up the pen.

"Margaret, I need your help!"

"How many times have I told you to knock, Clara?" A sigh could be heard from Margaret as her arm retreated. "What's wrong?"

Clara laughed nervously. "There was a small accident in the science room..." Margaret groaned before standing up from her desk, causing Emilia to mentally breathe out in relief. Emilia removed her hand from her mouth as she heard the door close, crawling out from under the desk.

Emilia pulled out her phone, sending a message to Sullivan. It read, "I found something useful. Call me as soon as possible."

She then quietly left the teacher's lounge, running into the Water Signs' dorm and into her bedroom. She crouched down by her bed, pushing the folder under it before sitting up and breathing out in relief.

"What are you doing?"

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Clara reminds me of Mirai from Beyond the Boundary/Kyoukai no Kanata lol

- Kate ⭐️