[✔️] 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐾 𝐹𝐴𝑆𝑇 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

𝐈𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐒
"𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑, 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑."
—𝐷𝑟. 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑎 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛

𝐈
— 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑎 —

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 rest of the group stood in front of the Icarus Theatre, though there was hardly any time for them to relish in the fluorescent light bulbs that lined the overhead nor the posters that showcased Vanya as they sprinted inside the building.

Swiftly, they made their way up the many staircases, not bothering to waste a breath on talking before they reached the floor that the orchestra was performing on.

Before they could head up the extra few steps to the door, Allison stepped in front of Luther and held her notepad so he could see what she had written: I NEED TO GO ALONE

"Wha . . ." Luther's eyes were hopeless as he shook his head and firmly told her, "Allison, I can't let you do that, all right? She's beyond reasoning."

"You hear the music?" Diego pointed out as he gestured towards the doors, where they could hear the sound of violins and the low thrum of cellos floating through. "It's started."

Allison shoved Luther's chest as she gave him a begging expression, her eyes unmoving from his.

"Do you honestly think she's gonna listen?" Luther insisted with an exasperated sigh. "After everything that's happened?"

"Shut up, Luther," Mara scoffed before grabbing Allison's hand. "I'm coming with you."

"Mara." Diego raised his eyebrows as she and Allison began making their way to the doors.

"Diego," she returned with the same tone, raising her eyebrows in the same fashion as they brushed past him.

Ignoring all the men's pleas for them to just stay and follow the plan, Mara and Allison headed up the couple of steps before pushing past the doors and entering the grand concert hall.

There seemed to be nearly two thousand seats in the concert hall, and every single one of them was filled with men and women who were dressed elegantly in sleek tuxedos and glittering gowns.

Ignoring the strange stares they were getting from the audience near them, Mara and Allison walked down the aisle until they had made it to the very edge, their eyes focused on nothing and no one but Vanya.

She looked completely different from the mousy girl that Mara knew. Her warm brown eyes were now an electric blue, accompanied by black eyeshadow, and her skin, while it usually was pale, was so white it seemed almost as if she were glowing.

She was dressed in a fitted black tuxedo and sat in a chair near the front as she played her violin. Her eyes lifted from the music sheets in front of her and met Mara and Allison's stares, and a smile drew onto her face.

Mara gave a small sigh of relief as she returned with a warm smile. Luther was wrong; Vanya would listen to them.

Before any more optimistic thoughts could cross her mind, however, the music was accompanied by the thud of footsteps as Luther sprinted onto the stage from the left while Diego came from the right.

Noticing the interruption, Vanya got to her feet and slashed her bow through the air in front of her, immediately delivering a wave of white energy flowing through the room.