Ascendio

VIII: Settle In

When Lisa and her golden egg pottered into the Hufflepuff common room after the task, the eagerly awaiting students cheered and begged her to open it to reveal the clue inside. Unable to resist the curiosity herself, she twisted the latch at the top of the egg—and instantly regretted it. What sounded like a chorus of screaming banshees ripped from the egg, making everyone in the room cover their ears until Lisa struggled to clamp the egg shut.

"What the hell kind of clue is that supposed to be?" Jisoo gasped shakily, glaring out from the safety of underneath Rosé's arm.

"Maybe...maybe I should try again," Lisa suggested optimistically, though altogether naively in hindsight. Kyungsoo always said something about 'turning it off an on again' to get muggle devices to work, so perhaps it would be the same with the egg. She undid the latch once again and the entire common room cried out when the screams erupted from the egg—only for a second as Lisa immediately snapped it shut, casting a bashful glance around the room. "Nope, that didn't work."

"Okay, never open that thing near me again," Jisoo seethed and rubbed sorely at her ears.

___________________________________________

After a long night of celebrating, Lisa was relieved to finally curl up in bed with the egg by her side. Inevitably, her thoughts wandered to the conversation she'd had with Jennie, and she wondered if Jennie really was going to find out the truth and how she would react when she did. Eventually, she settled into a restless sleep, her dreams filled with fire breathing dragons and Hanbin's piercing stare, his icy voice echoing in her brain: what are you?

The owl was tapping on her window for almost a minute when she eventually blinked herself awake, scowling as she blearily swiped at the latch in complete disorientation. The cool night air shocked her out of her drowsy state as the handsome eagle owl hopped in and deposited the letter on her lap before flying off again.

Lisa sat bolt upright. She would recognise that elegant handwriting anywhere, but only in her wildest fantasies had it ever spelled out her own name. After fumbling to place her glasses askew on her face, she tore open the envelope and smoothed out the paper, heart thumping as she read.

Lisa,

I did as you asked. I can believe Hanbin would do such a thing, but I can't believe how blind I was this whole time. I suppose I didn't want to see the truth. I cannot forgive him for what he has done to you. The worst part is, he did it to protect me, or so he says. I don't really know what to believe anymore. This whole thing is my fault, really. I'm sorry I pushed you away, when really you should have been the one pushing me away.
I can't be in the same room as him right now, so I'll stay with Ye-ji tonight, until I can arrange something more permanent tomorrow.
I just had to say I'm sorry. I am so sorry, Lisa. I hope you can forgive me, but I understand if you can't.

Jennie.

Lisa finished reading the letter once, and then twice, jaw clenching when she noticed the damp spots on the parchment. She read the letter until the words blurred before her eyes and she couldn't think straight. Jennie knew the truth now, and it seemed she was finally done with following after Hanbin. Lisa's thoughts ran furiously through her head, but one thing in the letter stuck out to her.

When Jennie said she would stay with Ye-ji, did she mean Ye-ji as in her mother Ye-ji, or...no. Surely not.

Lisa had to be sure.

Lisa leapt out of bed and stuffed herself into her green Holyhead Harpies hoodie, grabbed her broomstick from under her bed and tiptoed out of the dormitory.

Lisa was certainly no stranger to sneaking out of the castle at night (Jackson and Jisoo had made sure of that throughout the years), so it didn't take long for her to navigate the passageways, avoid the patrolling prefects, and slip out into the night. As soon as she was out in the open air, Lisa kicked off on her broom and launched into the inky black sky.