**Chapter 128 – Their Saturday**
Lysithea woke up earlier than necessary.
It wasn't new. Even after so much time taking care of the children, her body still insisted on opening her eyes before the sun truly rose. The room in the companions' building was silent. Outside, the academy was still asleep.
She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, combing her silver hair with her fingers, before standing up for real.
In the corridor, she almost bumped into Graciela.
The dwarf was already up, apron thrown over her shoulder, expression of someone who had fought with the pillow and lost.
— You too? — Lysithea asked.
— I never sleep in late — Graciela grumbled. — And today even less. Academy kitchen doesn't rest even on Saturday.
— You're not obligated to work every Saturday.
— If I don't go, they ruin the seasoning. Again.
Lysithea let out a low laugh.
— You talk as if the kitchen were yours.
— Worse. I care. That's more serious.
The two went down together.
On the ground floor, the movement was still small. A few staff members crossed the corridors, few students appeared around there so early. The smell of baking bread was already coming from afar.
— They left early today — Lysithea commented suddenly.
Graciela looked sideways.
— Yours?
— Ours — she corrected. — I saw through the window. The whole group leaving together.
— And you didn't go after them.
— No. They're not little children anymore.
— They are — Graciela retorted. — They're just bigger and more dangerous.
Lysithea didn't deny it.
The two separated for a while. Graciela continued toward the kitchen, grumbling along the way. Lysithea stayed in the internal courtyard for a few minutes, observing the clear Saturday sky, before ending up being pulled by other companions into light conversations about schedules, meals and common academy complaints.
Her day passed like that: between conversations, small responsibilities and that quiet worry that never truly went away.
---
Later, near midday, Lysithea found Graciela again. The dwarf was sitting on a bench behind the kitchen, with a simple plate in her hands and the face of someone who had already yelled at at least three people.
— Any decent food left? — Lysithea asked.
— There was some left because I didn't let it get ruined. Sit.
She sat.
For a while, the two ate in silence. The distant noise of the academy filled the space between them.
— You're restless — Graciela said, without looking.
— I am.
— Because they left.
— Because they left together. Without properly telling anyone. Without the adults. And with that face of people who are going to pull something off.
Graciela huffed through her nose.
— If they were just going for a walk, I might even believe it. But that group doesn't know how to go for a walk without turning it into a problem.
— I know.
— And even so you let them.
Lysithea looked at her own plate.
— If I go after them every time… they'll never learn to come back on their own.
— Beautiful. Sensible. And a shitty thing to hear.
Lysithea laughed without humor.
— I think so too.
It was only then that Mirella appeared, coming along the side path with some papers under her arm. Elara came a few steps behind, expression more closed than usual.
— So this is where you were hiding — Mirella said.
— We're not hiding — Graciela answered. — We're surviving.
Elara stopped beside the bench.
— You also noticed the group disappeared early?
— I noticed — Lysithea said. — They left together.
— I asked a 1st Year student — Mirella commented. — He only saw them heading toward the academy exit. Nothing more.
— Of course — Graciela murmured. — Because if it were easy to track, it wouldn't be them.
Elara crossed her arms.
— I don't like this.
— None of us likes it — Lysithea answered. — But… it's Saturday. They need space.
— Space with that group is never just space — Mirella said. — It always ends in something.
The four stayed silent for a moment.
The sun was already higher. The smell of the kitchen mixed with the courtyard wind. Somewhere far from there, inside the capital, the group was probably already in the middle of something that none of the four would be able to stop in time.
Lysithea looked toward the academy gates, even without being able to see much beyond.
— I just want them to come back in one piece.
Graciela poked the empty plate with her fork.
— If they don't come back, I'll go after them myself. And then someone is going to regret it.
— That's it — Mirella said. — Now you spoke like a person.
Elara didn't smile. But she also didn't disagree.
Their Saturday continued quieter, slower and far more worried than the group's Saturday.
And, at least for now, all they could do… was wait.
**End of Chapter 128**