The Elixir

~Obstacle

 It starts quietly, the rumble. A growl, of sorts. Xara can't sort which ones are from the Fenrirs, who have no doubtedly given them away, or the safe. The stone shudders under their feet, groaning. Xara whirls around, facing the others. In the shaking, she can't see them properly, but catches their wide eyes. They're just as shocked and scared as she is.

Xara's emotions are a tumultuous, gnarled mess. Her hand still smarts from the cut she'd made, demanding attention. But with her jumble of thoughts, the pain dulls.

"What's happening?" Vieva yells, her flame zigzagging and sputtering as her confidence and focus wavers.

"I don't know!" Xara tries to respond, but the words lodge in her throat. When she'd scoured the Warlord's journal after returning from the Inventory Gala, trying to parse out his intentions, she'd read nothing about the safe opening in such a violent way. By now, the whole school will know something's occurring. She can almost picture it in her mind, somehow, through the chaotic mess: the dancers would've stopped, and so would've the musicians. Everyone would panic, and the professors would struggle to keep everyone under control. The two professors they'd tipped off may or may not confess-- though it's unlikely, for there would be a good chance that they'd be sacked. But Xara's confident in the fact that the Headmistress and her closer confidantes will know about the safe, and would have guessed where the five of them had run off to.

Xara's blood throbs, swelling with her magic. This ancient place, this secret, it pulls at the magic in her blood. It calls to her, crooning with a voice that's neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

We have waited for you, little storm.

Xara shoves them away, wincing as their small claws scrape her mind. She doesn't know when the voices had planted themselves in her mind, at what stage of his fear-inducing adventure, but something tells her that until she gets far, far away from the safe, she won't be rid of them.

The thundering of the safe intensifies, until a starting screech merges with the sound. Stone moans against stone, resisting the movement.

Xara feels the jarring clashing of the stone in her bones, and her knees quiver. The safe splits in the middle suddenly, yawning, giving them view to the darkness beyond. Pebbles and dust crumble above them, sprinkling the five of them like snow. Owain sneezes twice behind Xara.

Xara brings her arm up, shielding her eyes from the flood of darkness. It makes her eyes ache, trying to squint into the safe. It's futile. She can't see a thing.

When the extreme sounds finally cease, no one dares to move a toe, breathing heavy and hard. Xara presses a shaking hand to her head, using the pressure to recenter her focus. She can't be put off now. Founders only know what waits for them in the safe.

"We're going to get expelled, aren't we," whispers Owain, in a drawn, stumbling voice. He trips over the words.

Xara sympathizes with him. "It's likely."

The topic of expulsion snaps Vieva out of her dazed, fearful stupor. "I can't be expelled! My family would disown me!"

"That's... actually sort of sad." Derald comments.

Vieva magic comes to life, in tune with her anger. "Oh, what do you know, Pellefard?"

"Guys, please," says Lysabel in a quivering voice. "We're here now. If we leave, I don't think we'll be able to come back."

We have to continue on. This is our only chance.

The voices cackle in Xara head again, filling her mind with the discordant sound.