It was the first day of the year that felt like spring had actually arrived. It was bright, sunny, the snow had all melted. The green grass and fresh air brought me back to those childhood days sitting on Father's porch watching the peaceful world.

It was a bit less peaceful on the joint Rising Shards/Wildfire Hearts campus. Just about everyone had gathered outside to see the unveiling of a new building, taking up a field previously used primarily by fourth year burnouts, if the rumors were to be believed. Somehow those problem students had been shooed away, and in just a few weeks, thanks to the scientists at Taramin Labs lending a hand, a new building was ready. I leaned against a tree, a picnic bench in front of me, my fellow devils nearby. Sai, Charmaine, and Esther were playing on the table, setting up dominoes that went from the top of the table spiraling down to the ground with the help of some well-placed binders, textbooks, and blankets, a complicated and very bold display given the amount of students around.

"We're getting pretty good at this, I'd say," Esther said as she worked on her row.

"Once we eliminated the problem children from the mix," Charmaine said, glaring over to Myles and Ash, who were sitting on separate picnic blankets away from the table.

"I disagree with that assessment," Myles said, crossing her arms.

"You shouldn't, you kept knocking the dominoes down first chance you got, dumbass," Ash said.

"You knocked them over just as much as me, don't lie," Myles said.

"I'm not lying!" The two siblings started grappling. I rolled my eyes and focused back on the dominoes as Sai placed one more.

"Kay, that's perfect," Esther said. "Ready?"

"Ana, film this," Sai said. I didn't get involved with this game, but it was hard to come up with an excuse not to film their setup.

The three devils practically barked at Myles and Ash to get them to quit roughhousing right by the dominoes. I got my phone ready, and nodded.

"OK, should we just go?" Esther said. "Want a countdown?"

"Say that thing you said earlier," Sai said. "The careful hands thing. Then go."

"Oh! What was it..." Esther tried to remember. "Careful hands set these all up, and in a moment the fruits of that labor will be shown in their full, destructive nature."

"It's a bit over the top," Charmaine said.

"Char, shut up, we're filming!" Sai said. I didn't stop, wanting to keep Sai blowing up a bit in the video to tease them.

Esther flicked the domino, sending the row falling. The path of dominoes split, sending two, then three rows falling over, spiraling onto the ground. One trail remained, and Charmaine ran along side it as it almost reached a stone path on the campus grounds.

"And them...wham! Fireworks go off." Charmaine said.

"Are you actually going to have fireworks for this?" I asked.

"Ideally, we would, and maybe we can do that if we go pro," Charmaine said. "Use your imagination for now. Or we can get some explode-y power in here, or maybe our shadows? You're not still filming, are you?"

My smirk answered that. Charmaine tried to take my phone away. When she failed to do so, she scoffed and went back to her dominoes.

"We seriously won't have time to set this up again, will we?" Sai asked. "Can they hurry up and show off this stupid building?"

"Why, stupid? No it is not!" A man we'd had plenty of contact with approached, disdain in his voice at Sai's words. It was Mr. Benta IV, someone who had some serious pull in the school district. "When you see it, then you'll understand the majesty of the dome."

Mr. Benta IV carefully stepped past Myles and Ash, who were still grappling with each other.

"So it's a dome?" Charmaine said.

"That it is," Benta IV said proudly. He got out a cane that was seemingly just for show to point at the building, which had a Cani-generated energy field around it that obscured it before its big reveal. "My pride and joy since joining the school board, this dome."

"Really?" Sai said.

"Yes, really, look at this thing! It's a dome! What more do you want?" Mr. Benta IV said. "It'll be a fine locale for the dances this week. And hopefully many more events. If I have my way, why, even Peachy Peachy could play here! Wouldn't that be swell?"

"Yes..." Sai begrudgingly agreed. Not that they didn't like the singer Peachy Peachy, they did, they just didn't want to agree with Mr. Benta IV on anything.

We had a fair bit of contact with this guy. He was the one who gave us the command to make our debut of sorts knocking Penteldtam down. He hadn't asked for anything since then, but we all had formed our own opinions on our role there, for the most part agreeing it probably wasn't the best decision, but also that we didn't really have much of a choice.

"I have to ask," Esther said. "Is it safe? It wasn't here last week, that speed of construction is concerning."

"It's absolutely safe. It's two hundred percent safe. I hired a genius scientist to work on it!" Mr. Benta IV said. "One of those scientists who made you lot all like that. By the way, I don't have any principal related things planned, so fret not about me asking you to do another hit for me."

"Not sure I like that phrasing, but whatever..." Esther said.

"I'd explain more, but..." Benta's eyes lit up. "You can ask her yourself!"

He gestured towards two approaching scientists from the labs. One was Mother, who was not involved with this unless was secretly big into construction management and was keeping that from me, and the other, a woman with brunette hair tied up that looked to be around my mother's age.

Myles got Ash in an arm bending submission that had her tap out, finally ending their fight. The two realized my mother was close and stood at attention, pretending they weren't just fighting a second ago.

"Dr. Vesper! What a grand day, splendid, isn't it?" Benta IV said as he shook the brunette haired woman's hand.

Dr. Vesper reminded me a lot of my mother at first glance. A coldness in her stare that was hard to shake, someone immediately intimidating, but maybe she had the same warmth under that glare as Mother did. Mr. Benta IV withered a bit in her stoic presence, though.

"Well. I, shall leave you to it. I look forward to your remarks at the dome unveiling," Mr. Benta IV said before scrambling off.

That dome ahead of us was where our dance would be, and it would be the site of my next concert as well at the same event. I tried to not get in my head too much about the concert, because every time I thought about it I got stressed.

Mother picked up one of the dominoes, glancing at each of us before setting it down. "This is Dr. Vesper, I told you about her, Ana."

"And us, too," Charmaine said.

"You're the one Caeda's working under now, correct?" Esther asked.

Dr. Vesper nodded. She looked like someone who calculated everything and chose her words very carefully.

"Thanks for that," Myles said, getting a shoulder punch from her sister. "What? Caeda's a lot, we can all admit that, right? Chickadee, too."

"So you helped put this all together?" I asked, nodding toward the new dome.

"That is correct," Dr. Vesper said. She held a hand out to me, and I shook it. A warm smile crossed her lips, which maybe shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did. "Anastasia, I haven't seen you since you were just...ah, you probably don't remember me."

"I..."

Seeing her face, a foggy memory returned to me. It was just after Mother began taking care of me. I was in one of the cold rooms at the Taramin Labs. Dr. Vesper gave me and a girl next to me a piece of candy. And the girl next to me said...or wait, was it me who said it?

"I'm not one for long goodbyes."

Something about that phrase struck a chord within me, but I couldn't put my finger on why.

"Dr. Vesper researches similar fields as I do," Mother said. "She's also much more of an expert on Echela studies and how to utilize their own unique abilities. I think this dome is the result of both?"

"Oh, don't flatter me so much," Dr. Vesper said. "A little Cani teleportation, void hopping, and finding a few that generate specific kinds of minerals, along with Echela's control of Xionis. With that together, putting a place like this together is no problem."

"That is interesting," I didn't really know what to say. My brain was desperately trying to remember that girl next to me as Dr. Vesper spoke, as well as more about her, so it was somewhat hard to focus on what she was saying.

"Cani and Echela are so fascinating, aren't they?" Vesper asked. "After all my time studying the biology of both those broad umbrellas, I feel like we've barely scratched the surface on what we're capable of."

"Yes..." I said.

Dr. Vesper continued for a bit about her research. She apparently played a big hand in the Taramin Labs being able to shift places around the country, and had her own research on the devil treatments separate from Mother's. The opening ceremony for the dome was about to begin, so Mother and Dr. Vesper couldn't stay long.

"Do get a tour before the dance if you're able," Dr. Vesper said before she left.

I wasn't sure what to think about that.

"If we go to this dance and that thing isn't safe, I bet we could sue the school and never have to work a day again," Charmaine said.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that?" Esther said. "And you already don't work."

"Yeah, but I could avoid that whole thing, you know?" Charmaine said.

Sai didn't take their eyes off of Vesper even as she and Mother were already far away from the group.

"Sai? What's up?" I asked.

They kept staring for a bit longer, until I repeated myself, shaking them out of their stupor. "Nothing. Just thought she looked kinda familiar."

"You probably ran in with her too," I said. "I know I did, but I can only remember one time..."

"Right, yeah..." Sai said.

They didn't sound too convinced, but my mind was elsewhere also.

Finally, the school staff began to get ready for the unveiling. We'd all been waiting a long while for this dance, and with it so close, I felt equal parts excitement and dread, but as I'd soon find out, I really should have only felt one of them.