Katrina hugged Kit close to her chest as the crowds grew around her. People were flooding into the centre of Torsten, from passing vagrants in weathered coats and Ravens with their wild hairstyles, to identikit Hawks and crimson-cowled members of Godhand. It were as if they’d put their differences aside to embrace peace, as if the darkness enveloping the world had been cast aside and there were no more worries about the future – tomorrow would come, and tomorrow would be good.

Kat didn’t share such sentiment, though. That joyful music poisoning the air wasn’t the sound of peace and happiness, it was the sound of deception, a sound that wanted to worm its way into her memories and rework her heart. It might have worked too, if Kat didn’t wake up every morning drenched in sweat, the recurring nightmares leaving her heart uneasy and her thoughts scattered. It were as if she’d helped dispel one memory-altering illusion, only to have two more pop up in its place. Maybe it was that suspicion that protected her – or maybe it was something to do with the green-haired elf who appeared in her dreams when darkness threatened to engulf her?

Andromeda, on the other hand, had been lost to the melody. She had dragged Kat and Phoenie out here and was leading them through the sea of bodies towards the stage. Occasionally she would glance back to check if Kat was still there, but for most part her eyes were, like Phoenie’s, fixed on the stage and its prancing entertainer: a man who had pulled in the biggest crowd Kat had ever seem; a man who had somehow united warring tribes with his music; a man who had enraptured the youth of Torsten in mere days.

Mr Adonis.

Kat could hardly believe it, yet at the same time it made sense. There was her new teacher, waltzing around stage without a single bad step, switching between instruments like an artist would pencils, and never missing a beat as his cheery voice sung each word with pitch-perfect accuracy. No, beyond perfect. It was disturbing – but then this was a man who loitered around the girls’ changing room as they prepared to shower. When Kat had raised the issue with Andromeda and Phoenie, they insisted they ‘didn’t mind’ as it ‘encouraged them to get fit’.

Mr Adonis was very, very creepy man.

As they neared the bandstand, Katrina began to notice more of her fellow Academy students. There was Elone Kent’s brilliant red hair bobbing away, next to the black cut of her fellow Hawk, Vincent Masters. Next to them the ginger mane of Joel Gibson swished from side-to-side, while his girlfriend Kaori whooped and cheered with uncharacteristic liberation. The sight of Hawks and Ravens so comfortable around each other sent a shiver down Kat’s spine.

Then the three girls brushed past Deneb Odette, standing arms crossed with stern eyes watching every move Mr Adonis made, and came to a stop next to a squealing, clapping Lance Algar. The stage was only a few bodies away now, and Katrina could already smell the scent of spring that followed Mr Adonis everywhere. The new teacher noticed the the girls and winked in their direction without missing a beat of his song. Lance’s euphoria erupted, reaching a level of whooping Kat didn’t think possible. It was amazing he hadn’t passed out yet.

Chapter 61
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