The night of Homecoming reached its arrival as all of the Decelis students dressed in their best clothes. The ceremony had begun with an emergency announcement by the Headmistress Narissa.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," she said through the microphone, "We have experienced something out of the ordinary this early evening: the Crimson Heart of Refugia has mysteriously vanished. We think that someone in the school has stolen it. If so, then that very person will be confined to their dorm room for one week's time. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Mistress!" replied the students of Decelis.
The ceremony officially started with Heli performing Vivaldi's Four Seasons Concerto. Athena always loved him when he played. It was the first thing she had noticed when they first met.
The fingering, the trills, the bowing!
Athena just could not get over any of them. She felt as if Heli was the bearer of all of the seasons. She swooned.
But as she swooned, the necklace glowed. She ran out of the room. She was in the empty library.
Suddenly, her wings flew right behind her back. And then, the necklace made Athena levitate from the ground.
*~*~*~*~*~*
This had never happened to me before, she thought, Why is it only me that's experiencing this?
She clutched on the necklace. And soon, she fell to the ground with a loud and thundering thud.
Crimson Heart had lost its glow. And then, she heard running footsteps. In a flash, Athena went to the top of the bookshelves once again.
She saw the Headmistress Narissa with William and Sooha!
I believe they are after me, Athena thought vigorously, But they don't know I have the Crimson Heart.
How are they even going to–
"I've found her!" shouted one of the security guards of the school.
They took Athena by the shoulders and escorted her off of the bookshelf. Narissa marched up to her.
She then tried to break off the necklace by force. But the clasp still refused to budge.
"But that is impossible," she exclaimed, "How is this prized possession of Refugia refusing to unlock from your neck?"
"How am I to know?" asked Athena, "I wasn't stealing it...I was trying to search for a book, and now you blame me for all of this."
Narissa slapped Athena silly. Athena screeched at the top of her lungs. And then, all of a sudden, every bolt of lightning crashed the bookshelves all over the floor.
And soon...the library was in an outrageous mess.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Narissa had Athena in her hands and threw her in her dormitory room. She slammed the door shut and locked it tight. Athena heard the jingling of the keys.
She banged on the door.
"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" Athena shouted.
But Narissa huffed.
"YOU ARE NOT COMING OUT OF YOUR ROOM! UNDERSTAND?!?!"
"GOD, YOU SUCK!"
At another bang, Narissa fell to the floor. But then she walked away.
Athena, terrified for her life, fell to the bottom of the door, and laid her back against it. She then began to cry.
"Heli," she whispered through sobs and gasps, "What am I supposed to do?! Help me! Please! Help me! Get me out of here!"
Her cries sent a spark of light from the necklace. The spark went all the way out from her room and into the school canteen, where the Homecoming party was held.
The light appeared in front of Heli.
"Heli," said the voice.
Heli was confused.
"The princess Athena needs your help. She is trapped in her own room, locked in by the Headmistress Narissa of Crims. You must save her. She is not very stable in locked away areas."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Heli, along with Shion and Odette, rushed to the door of Athena's room. Athena knew the footsteps came from Heli. Finally!
"Heli!" she called, "Please, get me out of here! I can't handle it anymore!"
"What do we do?" asked Odette, "We don't have the key!"
"We don't, but Heli does." replied Shion.
Athena banged on the door hard with her fists.
"HURRY!" she yelled.
Heli grabbed the key from his pocket and successfully unlocked the door.
Athena fell to Heli's arms. Heli began to cry.
"I am so sorry, Athena." he wept, "I should have noticed the red flag sooner."
"You saved me, that's the important thing."
"I know...I'm glad to see that you are all right." Athena smiled.
Suddenly, Narissa appeared in front of the couple. Sooha then snatched Athena away from Heli and held a knife against her neck.
"Why didn't you tell me you were already dating?" Sooha confronted.
"I never liked you because of the last time that happened at homecoming. Before Athena arrived."
Sooha groaned.
"But why did you fall for her, instead of me?! What the hell do you even see in her?!"
"Because...you only wanted me to ransom my fortunes that my parents left me, after the Krampus had killed them! Athena is much different than that. All she wanted was someone to care for her, love her, and grow old with her. She missed me, Sooha! She had been gone for almost a year. This had been hard for me and Decelis. Why can't you understand that?!"
"Because," snapped Sooha, "Serpents can never date, but they can befriend. Zeha was planning to kill Athena, but now he is planning to kill you as well. It's a revenge scheme!"