"Caya Kilander," I said, crossing my arms.

If I really had to think about it, I didn't have anything specifically against Caya. I valued her power, and strength in battle. She seemed to be much more suited to a leadership role at school than Penteldtam. The Kilander thing was iffy but I also didn't care much about that.

But even so, it was hilarious to see her stuck in what looked to be a tire swing made of gummy candy, angrily swaying around in a room by herself.

"This is why I hate trickster entities," Caya said as she slowly turned our way. "Because of garbage like this!"

"Do you want us to help?" Esther asked. "Tik and her friends sent us."

Caya struggled against the gummy tire, which was wrapped around her upper arms and torso. "I think I can...nrgh!"

Charmaine and I tried to stop the tire from swinging, but each touch ended up pushing it more. And we maybe pushed her a few times for fun. It felt like a plastic inner tube compared to how it looked, thankfully not a sticky feeling like I expected.

"Stop that," Esther said.

"Sorry," I said.

"How did this even happen?" Sai asked.

Caya sighed. "I had that bastard Reed cornered, then he...did some trick or something, and I ended up like this."

"It looks kinda relaxing," Charmaine said. "Hopefully the gummy part doesn't stick to your clothes, though."

First attempt to pull Caya out of the tire was not very successful, we pulled her by her feet but the tire slipped away, almost making her ram headfirst into the wall. Second attempt Sai and I had a firmer grasp on the tire, and we were able to get her free.

"I was kinda expecting a follow up trap," Myles said, poking at the tire with her foot. "Like you try to get out and three more pop up."

"Trickster types don't usually think that far ahead," Caya said, face flushed with embarrassment. "Which is why you have to destroy them the first chance you get."

"I really thought you'd ask us to not tell anyone what we saw by now," I said.

"That would guarantee you would tell everyone you could," Caya said.

"That is true," I said.

"Why are you here, anyways? Just exploring Falling Shards?" Caya asked.

"My mother sent us to investigate the Penteldtam situation," I said.

"Which has snowballed into a whole stupid affair," Myles said.

"You said it," Caya sighed. "I really want to avoid asking students for help in situations like these, but...would you all be willing to help me settle this?"

I checked with the others. We'd already agreed, but Charmaine's leader talk in the halls made me want to try a bit harder to include the others in my decision making.

"We're in," I said once I'd seen the others nod.

"Excellent," Caya said. "We know that Reed has made a pact with Penteldtam, but he may have others too."

"What does a pact mean in this case, exactly?" Esther asked.

"Basically, a trickster entity has a lot of excess power in the void," Caya said. "They siphon that onto a host, who gains a bit of that power, and has a lot more shielding. It's a parasitic bond though. If the pact continues, the initial boost of power for the host wanes, and long term it saps from the host until they're drained completely. Then the trickster moves onto someone else."

"So if we stop the trickster, that takes care of it?" Sai asked.

"Generally, yes, but the hosts must be dealt with first," Caya said. "Basically we'll have to kick whoever's ass was stupid enough to form a pact with that idiot Reed. The hosts get a lot of shielding, so we won't have to hold back."

"Even us?" I asked. "You realize we're a lot stronger than the other Cani, right?"

"Even you," Caya said. "And, er, apologies for my coarseness. I'm just incredibly pissed off right now."

"It's...understandable, given the circumstances," Esther said.

Caya elected to search the halls more to locate whoever had a pact with Reed. She seemed to know where she was going, and her wristband was still functional in spite of whatever blockage this place put on it. She projected a rough map from it, following hazy patterns that were presumably the energy one with a pact would have.

Charmaine stretched. "You think we're gonna have to kick Penteldtam's ass again?"

"I hope not," Esther said.

"I'm sorry the school board put you up to that," Caya said. "As co-principal, I'll do everything in my power to make sure anything like that isn't thrust upon you again. That said, if Penteldtam really is under a pact with Reed, we may have to strike."

I crossed my arms. "So you don't want us to do anything like that again, but also you want us to do it again. I'm fine with fighting, and I'm fine with beating up Penteldtam as much as possible, but that sounds a bit hypocritical."

"It does, yes," Caya said bitterly. "But this would be different than the school board asking you to hurt someone to prove some cruel point. As long as the aura from the pact with Reed surrounds him, you can attack without mercy."

"We just have to stop right when that's gone?" Sai said.

"Precisely," Caya said.

"Will it be obvious?" Esther asked. "I really don't want to hurt anyone."

"I say this primarily for myself, take of it what you will, but if we don't stop Reed, many more people will be hurt," Caya said. "We can be cautious and defeat the ones with pacts without harming them. But if we do nothing, this killing game may advance beyond a trickster's whims and become genuinely deadly."

"I..." Esther trailed off, stopping her gait entirely. I understood her concerns about our role, amplified by Caya's attempts to explain her position. Even with Mother's talks about the subject, Esther had never gotten over what we did to Penteldtam at the talent show. But to me, in this specific situation, the answer was obvious.

"There's a crisis that we have to solve," I said. "We agreed to help, so we're going to solve it. Worry about the rest later."

"A bit more blunt than I would have put it," Charmaine said.

"A far cry from you being ready to walk away a few minutes ago," Sai said.

"Tch," I said. "That was different, Faleur was in the room, and—"

"You don't need to say any more, Zeta Faleur clouds your judgment," Charmaine said. "Maybe we need a pact of our own to take over decision making when that girl's around and you're in charge."

I vehemently disagreed, but I didn't have the mental energy to argue that.

"If you want to back out, I won't judge you at all," Caya said. "I am raring for this fight now though so apologies if my patience is razor thin."

Like Caya, I think I just needed to hit something. And we had a perfect outlet waiting for us.

"I'll fight, I just want to make sure we're doing the right thing," Esther said.

"We are." I said.

A mad cackle echoing through the halls interrupted us. It definitely wasn't Penteldtam, unless the pact changed his voice somehow. Caya ran first, but I tried to match her, wanting to show her the true strength of a devil Cani.

I groaned when I realized where we were headed. That Lucian boy was still speaking to the rest of the assembled class.

"...and Phase 13 of my plan, that is where I tactically coughed seven minutes into every lunch to distract you from that wretched cow Gwen, you'd always give me your handkerchief just in time, just long enough to give all the attention to me. This would pay off when I reached Phase 17, where I finally will take care of Gwen once and for all..." Lucian ranted.

"Ugh," I said. "We're just going in circles. I could have led us back to this room if I knew it's where we were going."

"But now you have a clear mission," Caya said, pointing directly at Lucian. As I focused on him, I could see a glowing aura of energy surrounding him. "That's the sign of the pact. As long as that energy is up, keep attacking."

We all nodded. Caya shouted, her bellowing voice sending the crowd filing out of the room. Seth Kerres, Gwen, and Achilles hesitated before leaving, but one glare from Caya sent them packing.

"Stay out there," Caya commanded.

This left only Lucian in the center of the room. I looked forward to wiping that smug look off of Lucian's face.

Before I could land a single hit on him, though, the boy let out a horrible shriek at his big villain speech getting interrupted.

"What's wrong with you?" Lucian cried. "I wasn't even halfway through my phases! Barely a third! How dare you interrupt my triumph! Who even are you, anyways?"

He screeched again when Esther tried to start an introduction.

"It's no matter, I don't need to hear it from you," Lucian said, energy crackling around him.

"Careful, don't make any rash movements," Caya said.

"Reed taught me an important skill," Lucian said, sending a wave of energy at us. "I can read you like a book."