The school gates loomed like a memory half-forgotten. Keisha stood just outside them, her fingers curled around the strap of her bag, the silver bracelet cool against her wrist. The wind carried the scent of chalk dust and jasmine from the courtyard hedges. It should've felt familiar. But after the dream-realm, the fever, and the quiet days with Illario, everything felt slightly... off. Like she'd returned to a place that hadn't waited for her.
She stepped through.
The hallway buzzed with chatter, lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking. A few students glanced her way--some surprised, some indifferent. But when she turned the corner toward the alchemy wing, three familiar faces lit up like lanterns.
"Keisha!" Zelda rushed forward, her runes flickering faintly beneath her sleeve. "You look-well, you look like you've seen a ghost and wrestled it."
Keisha laughed, but it came out thin. "Close enough."
Tori gave her a once-over, arms crossed. "You sure you're ready? The third realm's already stirring."
Matilda stepped beside her, her whip tucked discreetly into her satchel. "We've been tracking the signs. The bracelet's not the only thing pulsing."
Keisha nodded. "I know. I felt it last night. Like something was watching me from behind the stars."
They walked together to the greenhouse annex—quiet, warm, and shielded from prying ears. The girls sat in a circle on the stone floor, the sunlight filtering through vines overhead.
---
Zelda unrolled a parchment she'd been decoding. "It's called the Thorned Vale. A realm of beauty and cruelty. Everything there blooms—but everything also bleeds."
Tori added, "It's a place of emotional entanglement. The Vale tests your ability to separate love from illusion, desire from obsession."
Keisha's breath caught. "So it's... psychological?""this is boring now, we've been through this already... How many tests based on emotion are we supposed to go through..?
"Deeply," Matilda said. "The Vale lures you with what you want most. But it twists it. Makes you question if it's real, does sound boring... Actually".
Zelda pointed to a symbol on the parchment—a blooming rose wrapped in chains. "The artifact we're after is called the Heartroot Locket. It's said to hold the purest form of emotional truth. Whoever wears it can see the intentions behind any action. But to earn it..."
"You have to face your worst fear...it has to be a human being though.. ," Tori finished, "and destroy them, and they will die in whatever realm or place they are.. "
"when did this quest get to killing people?" Keisha asked looking spooked...
"since now.. That we're collecting artifacts.. The third one... We still need seven more remember it will get hard" Zelda reminded.
Keisha felt the bracelet tighten slightly, as if responding to the mention of fear,. Her thoughts flickered to Illario—his quiet presence, the way he'd read to her when she couldn't lift her head, the way he hadn't asked for explanations but had offered comfort anyway. That's what she feared, that altered her emotions all the time...she feared being tricked.. Hosting a soul in her body only to betrayed or forgotten in the end.. But she cant destroy him.. She has to destroy her fear instead.. But not Illario.
"What if you don't want to destroy them?" she asked, voice low.
Zelda's gaze softened. "Then the Vale will make you. Or break you."
"so whatever it is im sure its not worth you losing and breaking yourself..." Tori added looking at Keisha.
The room fell silent.
Outside, a bird chirped once, then flew off.
....
Matilda leaned forward. "There's more though . We intercepted a message someone's trying to enter the Vale before us. A group. Possibly the same ones who plotted against us in the Desert of Despair."
Tori's jaw clenched. "They want the Heartroot Locket. Not to reveal truth—but to manipulate it."
Keisha's heart thudded. "So we're not just racing time. We're racing them, cause whoever it is probably has lived long enough since the beginning of magic...gosh this keeps becoming too much cant one rest."
Zelda nodded. "And if they get there first, they'll twist the Vale's magic to their will. We'll lose more than the artifact. We'll lose the balance between realms, realms that aint balancing well already ."
Keisha stood, pacing slowly. "I don't know if I'm strong enough. The last realm nearly broke me. And this one... it's personal."
Matilda rose too, placing a hand on her shoulder. "That's why you'll make it. Because it's personal. Because you care."
Tori added, "We all do. That's what makes us dangerous to them."
Zelda smiled. "And powerful."
Keisha looked at each of them--her sisters in magic, in madness, in mystery, guess coming back wasn't a bad thing anyway . The bracelet pulsed once, then settled.
"I'll go," she said. "Even if it hurts. Even if it means destroying myself in the process. "
"we should all head to the boarding house already, we sure don't want punishments..." Tori said already packing while chewing on her gum loudly..
"you will probably be punished for how you chew that gum... Dude it's disgusting" Matilda said rolling her eyes..
"whatever"...
As they left the greenhouse, the sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the stone,does it ever get easy...its realm after the other.. A new evil brews every minute...