The aftermath of the fight still clung to the air like smoke when Professor Gertrude summoned them all to her office.
The group—Zann, Leonel, Aranea, Aleck, Beau, and Elenea—stood in a stiff line before her desk. Her gaze, sharp as tempered steel, swept over each of them in turn. The air in the room was so heavy that even the sound of the ticking clock seemed to shrink away.
Darenn and Irving stood off to the side, both wearing grim expressions.
"I called you all here because I want to know exactly what happened," Gertrude began, her tone calm yet laced with disappointment. "While Headmaster Gavin is away, I am responsible for the academy, and what happened out there—" she paused, "—was unacceptable."
Darenn's jaw tightened before he stepped forward. "The fault also lies with us," he admitted. "As Aranea's Familiars, we should've stopped our fellow Familiars before the situation escalated. We didn't."
