Chapter 886

The Land of Darkness hums in peaceful silence beneath its trio of moons. A dark weasel sets his little rump on the ground and sighs contentedly, raising his nose to the sky, sniffing in the cool night air. Or day air. It doesn't really know - it's all the same here. It begins to wonder if there's any wild cabbage growing close by

WHAM.

The weasel screeches and turns on its tail, dashing away from the twenty-four people that suddenly appeared from absolutely nowhere, each with their arms full of a piece of yurt or a treasured possession.

"Are they all here?" Midnight gasps, dropping Jesse's hand and running around to check, her favorite little stuffed penguin still clutched to her chest.

“Um,” Elias says, standing on his toes and using his superior height to look around at all the ambassadors. "Yes, I'm counting twenty, and then all of us – I think we all made it -"

"Not all the people - I don't care about them -" Midnight snaps, glaring at Elias. "I'm talking about all the pieces of my house!"

"I'm sure it's all here," Pippa says very soothingly, reaching out a hand to pat Midnight on the shoulder while Ben fights to keep his face straight, avoiding the urge to laugh. "We know how important it is to you, Midnight - we've all been very careful to make sure we got it all." Midnight growls and flashes her teeth at Pippa, not trusting her. Not yet.

"Where...where is here?" Jesse asks, turning in a circle and peering around with a frown on his face. Honestly, it all looks...exactly the same as the place they just left. Just hills and waste in the darkness. Midnight promised that she'd vanish them all away to somewhere that lined up with Moon Valley but...god, how does she know?

"Can't you see my map?" Midnight says, turning away from the quiet and wide- eyed ambassadors who keep their respective yurt pieces held tight in their arms, awaiting further instruction and praying not to die.

"Map?" Jesse asks, frowning.

Midnight nods and points around at the ground. "See? All etched into the dirt. It's the map of your stupid Alpha castle with all the big boys running around in it.”

Jesse's eyes go wide as he sees what she's talking about - that Midnight has, indeed, painstakingly drawn out a map of Alpha Academy on the ground, presumably so that she could more effectively spy on him for Darkness.

"So...you..." he exhales sharply, hardly able to believe that it's so close that this whole insane journey is so nearly finished. "That's where we are? One more vanish and we're...in Alpha Academy?"

"Well, that's what you wanted, isn't it?" Midnight snaps, turning to him and putting one hand on her hip. "That's what you made me give up my entire life for, and destroy my house, and betray the Dark God -"

"We're very grateful, Mids," Jesse says, stepping forward and ending the harangue before Midnight can have a melt down and second guess herself yet again. “And trust me – it's right. But you can't take us to the palace? In the capital?"

Her little shoulders slump as she looks at him, tired and afraid. "I don't know where that is. I – it took a long time to find your stupid boy school."

Jesse smiles at the description, stroking a hand over her hair, looking with a great deal of love at her dark eyes, her sad little face. "The Academy will do perfectly, Mids. Thank you so much. We're ready when you are, okay?"

He looks up around at all of the collected people, each of whom looks hopeful and excited, except perhaps Elias, who looks worriedly at Pippa, and Pippa herself, who stands with her eyes closed, her arm looped around her Alpha, her other balancing a basket full of Midnight's kitchen supplies.

"Where in the castle do you want to go?" Midnight whispers, looking up at Jesse with a great deal of faith in her eyes.

"Um, maybe to our room?" he offers, wanting someplace safe and secure for her to land.

"Okay, this way!" Midnight says, turning and striding off to another part of her little map. Jesse blinks when he recognizes the space that she walks over to - where Midnight has carefully detailed the shape of the room he shares with Rafe and Ariel, including the details of the location of their couch, their beds...

Damn, how much did she spy on them?

"Everyone stay in the lines!" Midnight calls as the entire group begins to step within the threshold of the map. "If you don't, you'll shift to Moon Valley inside a wall and then you'll be dead!"noveldrama

Jesse spins to her with his eyes wide. "Is that true!?"

"No," she grumbles as the gathered crowd gasps and presses in close to each other fastidiously avoiding the lines that demarcate the sides of the room It will just be easier if we're all together. If they're scared they'll listen to me."