Template:Forgive Me

One= "What do you think it could be about, Aaron?" Emelia asks, walking with her newly tri-limbed friend Aaron, to the assembly - mandatory assemblies were strange, because Rasskazov never held them often, and she could've sworn that she saw him go just after the fire, which was very worrying.

"I don't know," Aaron says quietly, leaning a little bit on Emelia for support - he was only just now getting used to the fake leg that he had to live with. "It can't be good, though - Rasskazov never calls mandatory assemblies."

"That's the thing," Emelia says. "I saw him leave, after the fire. So...who? Kadnikov?" She shrugged. "He likes you too much to drag you here. Unless it's not him. Let's rule out Astrauckas immediately. Campbell would never bother. Maybe Kuusik, though."

She watched Alfred walk in with Sorin and Eca - the way they stopped, it was almost as if they'd expected it. She'd seen Alfred with Johanna earlier - where was she, anyway? She wasn't with them. That in itself seemed a little ominous - although maybe she was with her brother...although he wasn't with Alfred.

Emelia helped Aaron into his seat - one nearby her, before laughing. "Only need to lose an eye and you'll be a pirate. A robot pirate." She looked around for Cristi, and not seeing him, she frowned, biting back a wail of worry she smiled when she saw Ileana coming up to her.

"You're okay!" Emelia couldn't help beaming as she threw her arms around her best friend, and they held each other so tightly, like they were scared someone would tear them apart. Like the woman apparently leading the assembly. Brenna Amory. For a minute Emelia blinked, not believing it. She turned her focus back to Ileana.

"What's going on?" Ileana asked her quietly. "Where's Cristi?" Her friend looked around for him too as they finally pulled apart. Emelia's heart sank. So she hadn't seen him either? Now she was terrified, not that she would admit that her fear for him ran that deep - but anyone with eyes could see it written on her face.

"And I reckon it's something to do with her. Brenna. I'm scared for him." She let the words slip out, blinking back the tears. "I know it's him, but..." He hadn't gotten himself killed in some dumb explosion, had he? He'd promised...promised to come back to her alive. And Cristi never went back on promises, not by choice.

That brought the question What if it wasn't by choice? to her head, but she tried to brush it off. He wouldn't let himself get in that situation. When she spotted Laena up there she suppressed a smile. If Laena was here, she was safe as you could be at EESM.

"This is bad news, isn't it?" Aaron says, glaring up at Brenna. After all, she had started the fire that cost him his leg, so Emelia could hardly blame him. Nonetheless, she had to hold back a 'No sh*t Sherlock,' because now was neither the time or the place for such outbursts.

"Well, if she's there - it can't be good, can it, Mr. Sherlock?" Emelia replied. It was still a part of what she'd wanted to say - she didn't want to show how much the situation terrified her. You had to hide it at EESM, being weak or law-oriented made you a target for most people.

"No, my dear Watson." Emelia smiled - it was a small smile, but a smile all the same. He'd returned the humour, which she couldn't help but smile about. "It certainly cannot be good."

Ileana returned after having gone to speak to Eca, looking defeated. Had Eca not known, either? Something was seriously up now - they were both in Nikelkaj, and very close even for siblings.

Her eyes followed the pair of EESM ghosts - Benedikt and Catrin - and their facial expressions made her want to go and comfort them. Brenna had killed them - so, when they absorbed into the wall, she held her tongue, not wanting to alert Brenna to their presence. "Ileana - you weren't in the maze, were you?" Emelia asked all of a sudden, remembering her voice screaming. "I mean, I heard you, but then I found out that was all her fancy spells."

"No, I was in our room." Ileana replied. Emelia exhaled, letting out breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding. "Why?"

"She burnt it. And there was obviously some spellwork to make us hear voices in there...to get us in. I heard you, and Cristi, Nayden, Luca, my mother and Feliks. I didn't even think before going in there, it was just your voice in there at first..." She shook her head. "We're all screwed, and it's not like it's Rasskazov. If I do one thing, one of you die - and even though I want to get her out of here as much as the next girl, I just won't risk that." Emelia shook her head.

"We'll talk about it later, 'kay?" Ileana tried to comfort her friend by putting a hand on her shoulder.

Emelia kept hoping Cristi would turn up, looking around frantically for any sign of him. "I wonder where he is...bet she knows," She looked ready to publicly hold a knife to her neck until she told her where Cristi was, but it would probably result in her death, so she stayed seated - until she caught a glimpse of Laena again - mask and all.

"What the hell' s going on?" Emelia asked. "I mean, not that I'm not glad to see you, but I've just almost died in a burning maze, my boyfriend's missing and quite possibly dead, and I'm confused."

"I have to admit, not my favourite idea ever," Laena replies. "Well, Brenna's now headmistress, and I'm here because I'm her ally. Obviously. Have been for ages."

"Please, hand me a knife so I can slit my own throat," When Laena looked at her incredulously, she shrugged. "What, I'm dead anyway. I'm practically Leadership Enemy #1 to Brenna, along with Aaron."

"Not while I'm here, unless they all want to die painfully. I swear that I will flay anyone who does anything to you, okay? That settled? Good. Back to your seat." Emelia would smile at that, amusement crossing her face, before doing as told.

"Who was that?" Aaron asks, with a raised eyebrow.

"Laena," Emelia replied, grinning. Safe. As safe as you could be at EESM.

And in that moment, Aaron Leppälä decided that he now hated Celaena Sardothien. Two= The room fell deathly silent when Brenna held up her hand for silence. A single thought filled Shannon Kentwell's head as she watched her aunt - why is she here? with the occasional interjection of who does she think she is? and similar thought chains. As she blinked back tears, she was shaking with not only fear, but inexplicable anger.

We'll get rid of her, Kat had said earlier. Why had she, Shan, stopped Kat from getting Rasskazov? Maybe, just maybe, they would have had a better chance if she had just let Kat get Rasskazov. She felt Kat squeeze her hand - but she wasn't going to let Brenna see her cry. She wanted to stay strong - refuse to tell her that she had gotten to her. It seemed impossible just then, but somehow she would muddle through.

"It is wisest to begin by saying that Rasskazov is gone after little struggle.And that means, however much you may dislike it, I am the new headmistress of EESM. None of the things that Rasskazov has formerly let slide - explosions, as well as other endeavours of the same calibre, will be tolerated."

Shan would glare hotly. She came here, and now she wants to take over EESM? The thing that made her so angry was the knowledge that she could do it - the fact that Shan knew she could. And she'd chosen to do it. It wasn't a surprising thing - her motivations were bound to lead her here again one of these days - but this was the last place, except for home, where she could stay away, and now even that was ruined.

"You think you can waltz in here and make yourself headmistress?" Emelia jumped up from her seat, seething with the same anger, emanating from her in waves. "You think we're all - professors, students, prefects, everyone - going to sit around like sitting ducks?"

"Precisely," Brenna says coldly. "I don't expect you to sit around like sitting ducks, though. You're EESM students, anyone who thinks it's just another day at the office with obedient students is dreaming."

"Well then, dream on," Shan mutters quietly, searching the room. Her eyes land on the Divination professor...Professor Holt,right? She was holding her head in her hands. Was she okay? She looked like she had a headache or something. Those were nasty - especially when you get it because someone spiked your drink with vodka. Kat had found that immensely funny. Just when Shan was about to move to help the professor - hell knew nobody else dared to move, the woman started laughing. It started off as a chuckle, steadily growing louder and louder. What was there to laugh about? It wasn't funny in the slightest. The situation wasn't funny at all, so why was she laughing, damnit? By the time she finished that thought, the laugh was maniacal - and to be honest rather irritating. Shan wanted to know what was so amusing that the woman had to instigate her laughing in such a dire moment. After a while of unexplained cackling, when Shan was about to yell at her to cut it out, her question was answered.

Holt looked at Brenna - more like a glare. They'd been having a glare-off the entire time, Shan realised. Then, Holt began to chant almost ominously. "You're gonna diiie~" Could it be true? Was that headache a vision? Not that Brenna would believe it, but it was possible. Shan just looked at Kat.

"Happy Hunger Games," she whispered, "and may the odds be ever in our favour." Three= Emelia's eyes lit up - that meant it was time for the party to begin. Everything like this meant a party at EESM - it was a wonderful idea really. If she was going to take over EESM, she had to know how things worked these days. Maybe, just maybe, they could scare her off. She joined in with the chant - nudging Aaron.

"Already there," Aaron replied with a grin, joining in with a high five with Emelia before joining in with the chanting, sorely tempted to let off a firework or two. Maybe later. "You're gonna diiie~" he chanted, grinning at Emelia the entire time - casting a few glares at Laena.

"No shit, Sherlock. I'm going to die, you're going to die. Everybody is going to die. Thank you for your most helpful clearing up of that, because I'm sure none of us were smart enough to know that ourselves." Brenna retorts to Regina.

"Oh no, you misunderstand me," Regina says. "I mean that someone will kill you - someone you'd never expect to. And when that happens, I will take great pleasure in nailing your head to the wall. Until then, though - You. Are. Going. To. Die." She continues her dancing, leading the chant and flashing grins at students who whooped in admiration.

"What a wonderful story. The Prince married the Princess and they lived happily ever after." Brenna clapped sarcastically. "I don't get scared by a stupid scaremongering tale - so stop trying." She appeared almost bored. "At least say something realistic if you're going to try."

Ivan would offer Aaron a sneaky little smile before conjuring up instruments for the students to begin playing. If this was a party to rebel against her, then he was willing to take it all the way with these kids. He secretly liked these parties - but since he was a professor he had to pretend to disapprove of them. But just now, that didn't matter.

"Vodka all round!" Laurent yelled, allowing the students to take glasses. It was his favourite part of any party, to be honest - to him it couldn't be a party without it.

Shan took an electric guitar from Kadnikov with a grin and a nod of thanks, playing a riff with the party animal inside her escaping. "A 1, A 2, A 1234!"

Aaron suppressed a laugh, catching on very quickly to the riff she was playing, nudging Emelia.

"Already there," she whispered, sticking out her tongue. Aaron laughed.

"Oh, stop it Dalca. Actually...wait, don't, I like this you better than giggly-and-girly you, so keep doing stuff like that."

"You can count on it," Emelia says. "I'm already there. Here we go back,"

"Oh hell no, Dalca, you aren't singing that without me," Aaron says. "this is the moment,"

"Tonight is the night, we'll fight till it's over," Emelia grins. "Would I sing that without you?"

"Probably," Aaron says with a laugh. "''So we put our hands up, like the ceiling can't hold us, like the ceiling can't hold us!"

Ileana tapped Emelia, who was initially too busy partying to notice. "Fă-te au ți cuțitele cu tine?" When she didn't reply, she raised her voice so her friend would hear her. "Fă-te au ți cuțitele cu tine?"

"Of course," Emelia says with a grin. Not adding Laena would stop it. just in case that dampened Ileana's party spirit. When Ileana spun Apol around, head thrown back, she trusted that it had not. "Aaron, be careful dancing on that peg leg."

"Careful isn't even in my dictionary, you know that."

"Of course I do."

"Then why are you asking me to be?"

"Just because I know doesn't mean I have to accept." Emelia looks round when Kat smacks a metal cup on the table. She can tell already, so she joins in with the first line, nudging Aaron. "And don't say already there this time. Teenagers scare the living sh*t outta me!"

"There already," says Aaron with a smirk. "They could care less, as long as someone will bleed!"

"Hahaha, very funny Peg-Leg the Pirate," Emelia folds her arms, pretending to be disapproving. "So darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose, maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me!"

Ivan watched, an amused smile on his face, laughing. Just before Kat began, he yelled "Smoke bomb!" and let one off. "I've always wanted to do that," he admitted. "You know what, I'm supposed to be professional but I really don't care right now. Nobody's professional at EESM!" He picked up the final guitar.

"Please, ignore my favourite advice!" Laurent yelled to Brenna, causing many students to snigger. If Alfred was partying, it had to be safe for him to party too, so Sorin spun Kat and did one of those 'fancy ballroom dip thingies' but when he brought her back up their lips collided clumsily. He went immensely red.

Kat giggled and kissed Sorin again, causing his whole face to go redder than the Valentines roses he'd planned to buy her. "No need to be sorry, Sorin." She replied to his muttered apology, giggling.

"I see you didn't take my advice from earlier," he said to Brenna. "What a shame that is." Unfortunately, she merely ignored him.

"You think you can walk in and steal my crown? Well that's where you're wrong. I'm Nie Engel, EESM's homecoming queen, and I am the only queen bitch in this place. So, I suggest you get the fuck out of here and leave us alone. Or there'll be hell to pay - the ceiling literally can't hold us. We're not just going to sit by and let you dictate what we do. We didn't let Rasskazov, so why the fuck should we let you?!" Nie - of course. Emelia whooped, throwing her fist into the air, watching Apol go back to her seat she suddenly understands her concern.

By the time Emelia had even figured out what could be going on, Nie's eyes were filled with terror. Four= Nie didn't know what had happened for a minute, her vision temporarily black at the edges, which worried her. "Verdammt," she muttered quietly, rubbing her eyes and looking left and right. She couldn't see Carmen - and that scared her, even before the spiders came. Last (which I interestingly wrote first)= “I don’t personally think you have much choice,” Shan says, deathly quiet. “I am the one holding the knife to your neck, I don’t think it’s in your better interests to be sassy with me.”

“I don’t care,” Brenna says quietly. “I’m not going to die begging for mercy from a fifteen year old girl, much less my niece.” She catches Gio with the corner of her eye, offering him a brave little smile.

“Hey!” Gio yelled, struggling against the two – Aaron and Emelia – holding him back. Brenna placed a finger to her lips, hopefully in an ‘It’s okay,’ gesture, even though that was a total lie, of course.

“Gio – just do them a favour,” she says quietly. “Can you get my sister for me? I have a few things I need to say to her, that I never did.” She shrugged at the questioning glances from others. “My wand’s over there – I’ve got a knife to my neck – what can I even do?”

The two let him go, and he comes back about ten minutes later, with Chiara, engaged in conversation with her about what has been going on, and why she was here. She seemed a little bit emotional, as shown when she actually hugged Gio in the midst of it.

“Chiara,” Brenna says quietly. “Why are you crying? After everything I did to you, and to Shan – why are you crying? I’m not the kind of person people cry for, you know.”

“That may be,” Chiara says slowly. “But you’re still my sister, okay? Still the younger sister I was reaching out for. Kind of like the Muggle movie, but the other way round.”

“Is now really the time to make Frozen references? But yes, kind of like the muggle movie, Chiara. Why do you say that, anyway?” Brenna appears confused, and for once, she truly is.

“Well…Elsa was shut away, you see. Her parents were disapproving of the power she had, scared of what she could do to the world. Anna was always trying to reach out to Elsa…but it never truly worked until the end.”

“Except that Frozen had a happier ending for Elsa than this one.” Brenna sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for everything I did to you when we were children. I blamed everything on you, and I was wrong to do that. But…will you do me a favour, Chiara? I’ll understand if you say no.”

“Well…yes, of course. I’m not you, I’m forgiving, you know?” Chiara half smiles, taking Brenna’s hand quietly. “What do you want me to do?”

“Please…when you go back home for the holidays – will you take Gio with you?” Brenna asks, smiling a little when Chiara nods. “Thank you.”

Shan hesitantly removes the knife. “Something quicker. But I’d need an adult to do it. I don’t want to draw it out like that.”

“Chiara,” Brenna says again. “Will you…well, do it?”

Chiara looks like she’s going to refuse, but then she unexpectedly hugs her sister. “Yes.”

Shan hugs her mother in comfort, and offers her aunt a small smile – something she’d never done before, ever.

Chiara steps back. “Forgive me,” she whispers. Brenna nods. “Avada Kedavra.”

When she watches the light fade from her sister’s eyes, for a minute she looks horrified. She glares at everyone who looks as if they may begin cheering. "I don't want to be cheered for."

"What is there not to cheer for?" Emelia asks. "She's dead, she's scarred EESM history forever. What is there not to cheer for? We should be throwing a party right now."

"Because we shouldn't." Chiara says quietly. "That's just barbaric. You can party to high heaven once Rasskazov's back. But for now, whilst I'm here as the most safety-qualified person in the castle, I ask that the calmness is retained until such time as his return."

"How do we know we can trust you?" A boy piped up quietly from the back. Shan was over there in a half second, towering over the younger boy, almost daunting.

"My mother is the Minister of Austria. She is nothing like her, and don't you dare even suggest that to be so." She growls, causing the boy to squeak an apology before she moved back.

"Please return to your common rooms." Chiara says, trying to stay calm. She watched the people file out,until she was alone. She sat, cross legged, nearby Brenna, in utter silence.

"Forgive me," she whispered quietly, putting Brenna's wand in her hand, where it had always belonged. "Please...forgive me for what I've done." She got up after a while, walked out and locked the door.