The rest of the night was silent for most of the Sparrows. One by one, they retired to their rooms and fell asleep. Dahlia had just changed into a pair of long light blue pajamas, her favorite color next to white. While most people would read a book or perhaps meditate before bed, she conjured a few of her snowflakes, watching them float and dance around her palm before melting.

As her next snowflake hovered above her hand, the Academy began to shake, almost as if there was an earthquake. She quickly jumped out of bed, ready to rush towards the door and escape. But after a few seconds, it stopped. And Dahlia's gaze shifted throughout her room, making sure that none of her stuff or the walls had been harmed, and based on her findings, nothing out of ordinary had happened. The door creaked open, and she nearly gasped at the suddenness. 

"Fei, did you by any chance... feel any shaking?" Dahlia asked. "Yes, I did notice. And something else too," she nodded. An unsettling silence squeezed right into the conversation, making things even more awkward by the minute. "Well, spit it out!" Dahlia sighed. "Meet me in my room in five minutes," Sparrow Three shut her sister's door, leaving the blonde to wonder what was going on, and why these strange things occurred.

She put on a pair of slippers before climbing the steps to Fei's room. The moment she walked in, she saw Ben sitting in the chair next to her work table. She seemed rather focused on chopping up food for her ravens, but from behind those sunglasses, Dahlia could tell Fei was gathering some intel from her ravens. "We're getting tons of missing person complaints in a three-block radius. I was thinking hysteria," She finally spoke. 

Ben just stared at the floor, pondering his next thought. "What are they up to?" He queried. "Who?" Dahlia raised an eyebrow. "The Umbrella Academy. Use your head, Number Seven. First Marcus, now they're grabbing civilians off the streets?" he furthered his theory. The blonde was stunned to hear her enemy refer to her as Number Seven, as Christopher was supposed to be that number. As she and Fei exchanged glances, they both thought the same thing. Ben thought he was the leader now that Marcus was gone.

"I suppose you think you're Number One now?" Fei inquired. "I'm taking back the reins," Ben glared. Though she did her best to hide it, Fei couldn't help but let out a snort at his statement. But in Dahlia's mind, the thought of him being Number One again brought back the day of the chemical accident, and the large amount of hatred Dahlia had for him rose once again. Ben shifted his gaze to the Icy Sparrow and squinted.

"You think it should be you, D?" Ben sneered. "You had your chance once. Didn't turn out well, did it?" Dahlia growled. "She does have a point," Sparrow Three clasped her hands in front of her. Without warning, Ben suddenly grabbed a raven, clutching it tightly as it struggled to break free, making Fei feel the bird's pain and try to help it escape her brother's grasp. "Say that again. I dare you,"

The staring contest between Ben and Dahlia was an intense one, as the blonde would not turn away until he broke his gaze. The raven continued to shriek and squawk as he kept his grasp on it. Fei turned her attention to the other ravens who hovered above, some in their cages while others rested on the broken wooden platforms. The ones who were free swirled and cawed at Ben, ready to jump him upon Fei's command.

"Excuse me, children. Do you mind if I clean up?" Grace called out, breaking up the dispute. "Do it quickly," Ben sighed, finally releasing the bird. As the caretaker walked in, Ben pressed his back against the wall, claiming that he respected Marcus and he'd do anything to protect him. "But we've been Numbers Two, Three, and Eight for far too long. With Marcus gone, it's moving day,"

"Change can be good," Fei replied, slowly nodding her head. "Whatever, at least I'm not desperate to become the leader," Dahlia muttered, groaning as Fei elbowed her side. "Take it easy, Dahlia. But anyway, how do we handle the Umbrella situation?" "If they bring Marcus back, so be it. And if they don't, then we have some decisions to make," Ben explained. 

"Marcus isn't coming back. God took him," Grace smiled, making the three Sparrows turn their heads in her direction. "What do you mean by 'God took Marcus?" Dahlia questioned. Grace stood up from her crouching position, explaining God was in the basement and that he brought Marcus home. "I think something's wrong with her. She doesn't usually talk like that," Fei noted. "All I'm saying is, if we play our cards right, The Sparrow Academy is ours,"

 As Ben walked out of the room, Dahlia couldn't help but mumble behind his back. Though he didn't say anything, The Squid Boy could still feel her icy cold glare. "It's been six years, Dahlia. Aren't you ever going to move on?" Sparrow Eight's eyes widened at her sister's words. The siblings tended not to speak on the matter, knowing that it would trigger Dahlia's fury. But with time passing by, they all eventually grew tired of her and Ben's constant battles.

"How could I move on after the one person who ruined my life is living in this house?" Dahlia scoffed. "And be honest, you'd probably hate him too if he just abandoned your ass when you're about to get crushed by a giant can," Fei just ignored her sister and went back to chopping up her raven's food.

~~~~~~~

"Yo! Sparrow Eight, wake up!" Alphonso pounded on Dahlia's door the next morning. The blonde slowly turned in her bed, glancing at the alarm clock on her bedside table that read 8:00 am. "Go away, Alphonso. I'm trying to sleep!" She grumbled, hoping that he would respect her request. But Alphonso continued to knock on the door, each knock louder than the last. Goddamn it, I was hoping to sleep in today.

"What do you need?" Dahlia yawned, slightly leaning against the doorframe. "I need you to grab me and Jay some candy from the store. Preferably something sour," Alphonso reached into his pocket, pulling out a ten- and five-dollar bill and slipped it into her hand. "And why should I go out and get you candy when you can get it yourself?" Dahlia squinted. "Let's just say it's... payback for taking my pizza,"

Dahlia rolled her eyes, claiming she didn't take the whole pizza, just two slices. But Alphonso insisted that if she could take two slices, she might as well have taken the entire thing. "If it gets you to leave me alone, I'll do it," She reluctantly nodded. "Yay! You're the best!" He cheered as the blonde shut her door. I can never get a break from these guys. Except for Sloane, she's the only one I tolerate.

As soon as Dahlia finished getting ready, she walked the four blocks to the local grocery store. The sliding doors opened automatically, and she quickly paced towards the snack aisle. Hoping to get this errand over and done with. "Why couldn't Jayme and Alphonso grab their own snacks? I'm not their little errand girl," she muttered as she searched the shelves for the sour candies her brother was looking for.

Buy two get one free sale? Well, maybe I can sneak in a snack of my own. She grabbed two bags of Sour Patch Kids and a free bag of Warheads. As she searched for her snack, she came across a few boxes containing sticks of Slim Jims. She reached out to grab one of them, but a tiny hand snatched the meat stick from her. What the... she looked down to see a little boy, perhaps around the age of twelve giving her a smug look.

"Give me that, little brat!" She attempted to snatch it away from him, but he held a tight grip. "Hey, I grabbed it first!" he protested. "No, it's mine!" She protested back. Unbeknownst to her, the little boy wasn't just wandering around by himself. Two pairs of footsteps quickly rushed towards the snack aisle at the sound of the commotion.

"Trying to take snacks from a child now, Icy?"

Dahlia quickly stood up straight, turning around to see it was the same raven-haired girl whose family had attacked the Academy. Standing to her right, another girl with red hair and an all-black outfit looked ready to fight. "Dragon Lady. Did you follow me here?" She squinted. "First off, I'm a phoenix. And second, I don't think that's any of your concern," the raven folded her arms across her chest.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here. Once my family hears you and those freaks are still in town, you're going down." The blonde threatened.  "Hey! You mess with my friend, you mess with me too..." the redhead growled, catching the Sparrow's attention. "Please, you're not even worth my time, ginger," That little insult made the redhead's eyes widen to the size of saucers, her eyes burning with the temptation to strangle her.

"Enough! Vic, take Stanley and wait for me outside," the Umbrella ordered, not taking her gaze off the enemy. "No, I'm helping you beat this bitch up!" Victoria protested. Dahlia chuckled, popping her knuckles as her eyes turned ice blue. "Let's end this, shall we?"