The Oracle

Chapter 61: Sweet Surrender

SORA

"Shae and I were standing by the doors," Isabella begins. "I was standing with my back to the doors while Shae was facing me. Cordelia and Valerie's dance had just ended and we were beginning to talk about how we hoped things could be like this everywhere once Carmin's terrors end. Shae had offered to go get me some punch from the table because he was going to go get a refill. I said that I would be grateful, and just as he went to leave, his eyes flickered to beyond my shoulder..."

"And that's when he jumped in the way?" Cordelia asks and Isabella nods.

"It all happened so fast," Isabella's breath hitches. "I don't even understand why I was a target. All I saw was a flash of steel underneath a flash of darkness."

"Are we going to discuss the elephant in the room?" Kit crosses her arms, glaring at Reverence. "What exactly is he doing here? Wherever he goes, Carmin follows."

"I know how this looks," Reverence frowns, "but I would never hurt any of you. I was talking to Sora, Akari, Penelope, and Kaito. I was telling them how I want to help. I don't— I don't want anyone else to die."

"Setting that aside for the moment," Gambit starts. "Carmin has the runestone of Gluttony and Temperance. Has anyone considered that he may be in this very room? Has anyone considered that he wanted to get Evory isolated so that he could get her stone?"

"If that's the case, why wouldn't he have gone after her while she was with Darius in the infirmary earlier?" Kat asks.

"He couldn't have," Cordelia says. "The infirmary is locked by a keypad. He would have had to attack someone the moment before they went inside in order to get passed the door. Either that, or he would have to watch for the code. I was with Evory and Darius the entire time, and they were together the entire time before I asked for their assistance."

"Hang on..." Akari trails off, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she looks around. "Valentine. Why couldn't you see what was going to happen?"

"Because he's wasted," Miroslava scowls and interrupts before Valentine can say anything, making him clench his jaw. "He started drowning in alcohol when he saw Akari leave with Kaito. Jealously never suited him well."

"Isabella, were you watching Shae the entire time?" Gambit asks.

"I mean, no..." Isabella blinks. "I was watching Cordelia and Valerie for— oh my god."

Isabella covers her mouth in horror with her hands, realization dawning across the room at her words.

"The perfect distraction," Akari breathes out. "The perfect time for Carmin to swap out with the actual Shae. That means..."

"Evory," Gambit, Akari, and Cordelia all say at the same time, rushing out of the room.

All of us, including Carmin's special forces team, rush out to find Evory, Darius, and Sander in the infirmary, led by Cordelia. As we approach closer to the infirmary, sounds of shouting can be heard and I prepare myself for the worst. Cordelia punches in the key code for the door and when it opens, a horror scene is revealed.

Several patients in the infirmary are hiding underneath their beds and others in the corner, two or three wounded as accidental casualties. The room itself is a mess, beds slid sideways and broken objects laying all over the floor. Near the back of the infirmary, Sander is pinned to the wall by his wings, shouting in pain as he tires to pull the blades strewn in them out, blood running down the wall. Darius is attempting to help him while Evory stands her ground against Carmin, bright yellow energy glowing around her as her staff clashes repeatedly with Carmin's switch axe.