The sun hung above them, struggling through a layer of clouds that hung over the city like a dirty sheet.
Edward leaned against the wrought iron fence at the edge of the Academy grounds, watching the few students who'd been cleared to leave trickle through the temporary checkpoint.
His maroon hair caught what little light existed, and his black eyes, always too alert, tracked every movement with the precision of someone who expected betrayal at any moment.
"Heyy," Dominic appeared at his elbow with that casual, infuriating grace he had. His crimson eyes were clear this morning. "My life is so harddd, you know how I can be. I had to save a cat from a tree and reject a couple women here and there while I was on my way here."
Edward's eyes wandered.
Dominic noticed.
"Relax. We're just going to look at fish."
"We're going to look at fish while a murderer picks off students one by one," Edward corrected. "And you want me to relax."
Dominic shrugged, a lazy roll of his shoulders. "We're not the targets. Probably. Besides." He tilted his head toward the Academy building, where Seraphina was just emerging. "We have company. Be nice. I wanna see some fish!"
"Wow, fish, why did we even agree on the aquarium again?"
Seraphina walked toward them with the careful, measured steps. "Hey, Dominic."
"What?"
Her pink hair was pulled back into a practical ponytail, and she'd traded her usual oversized sweater for something fitted, a soft blue jacket over a simple white shirt. She looked like she was trying very hard to look like she wasn't trying at all. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"What? What are you on? I'm totally fine?"
"I dunno." She paused. "There's just something off with you, like you're not yourself, during breakfast you just started blanking out."
"Huh…huh? Nah, I just got bored."
"And to think I was ever worried for you."
"Were you worried for me? Are yo-."
"I don't want to hear your stupid jokes, dumbass."
"You two are like an old married couple." Edward's eyes narrowed. "I feel like I'm third wheeling."
Silence.
Edward spoke. "We should go already."
"Fine," she pouted, stopping a few feet away. Her amber eyes flickered to Dominic, then away. Then back. Then away again.
"I've been ready," Dominic said, pushing off from the fence. "Edward's the one brooding."
"I'm not brooding."
"Yea Batman, whatever you say."
Seraphina made a sound that might have been a laugh, quickly stifled.
They passed through the checkpoint without incident. A tired-looking instructor scanned their IDs, noted their destination on a clipboard, and waved them through with a muttered warning about curfew.
The city beyond the Academy walls was different now, quieter, more watchful. Shops that would have been open at this hour were shuttered. People on the streets walked faster, heads down, eyes forward.
"I'm surprised that they even let us outside the academy, I'm guessing that they're focusing more on rebuilding the place so they could probably care less about letting us out." Edward commented.
"Stop analyzing everything," Dominic murmured as they walked. "You're going to give yourself an ulcer."
"Ulcers are caused by bacteria, not stress."
"Then stop giving yourself bacteria."
Seraphina snorted. Actually snorted. Then immediately turned red and covered her mouth with both hands. "I didn't-that wasn't-"
Edward raised an eyebrow. Dominic's lips twitched.
"You're weird," Dominic said.
"I know," Seraphina whispered through her fingers.
The aquarium was nearly empty.
"Ladies first."
That was the first thing Seraphina noticed as they pushed through the revolving doors into the cool, dim lobby. A few families with young children clustered near the ticket counter. A pair of elderly women studied a map by the restrooms. Otherwise, the vast space echoed with emptiness.
Edward looked over to Dominic, staying behind to talk.
"What is even happening to you?"
"Nothing much really."
"Yeah, I don't trust it for a second, what's been on your mind?" Edward tried to put his hand on Dominic's shoulder but he swatted it away.
"Nothing, I'm fine, I'm okay."
"If you like her then just say it already, you goddamn baby." Edward pushed through the door, leaving DOminic by himself under the warmth of the sun.
"That's not…"
Dominic had already wandered toward the first tank, his hands in his pockets, his posture loose and unconcerned. Edward watched him go, noting the easy way he moved, the lack of tension in his shoulders.
Edward muttered to himself.
"I feel like he should worry more about being murdered today, there's barely anyone here to see."
"Wow guys, look at the fish!" Dominic pointed at one of the tanks. "Aren't they…pretty?"
"Come on," Seraphina said, tugging at Edward's sleeve. "We're supposed to be having fun, remember? That's why I asked you two. To... have fun." She said the words like they were foreign, something she'd read about but never experienced.
Edward let himself be pulled.
The first exhibit was a massive tank of tropical fish, bright splashes of color against a carefully constructed reef. Seraphina pressed close to the glass, her amber eyes wide, her lips parted in an expression that stripped years from her face. "Wow…they sure are pretty."
"Are you even looking at them?" Edward asked.
"Uh huh."
Dominic appeared at Seraphina's other side, close enough that their shoulders almost touched. "The yellow ones are called Yellow Tang. They're herbivores. Eat algae off the reef." He pointed at a cluster of blue fish darting through a coral formation. "Those are Regal Tang. Same family, different diet."
Seraphina turned to stare at him. "How do you know that?"
Dominic shrugged. "I read things. Sometimes."
"You read about fish?"
"I read about lots of things." His crimson eyes met hers, and for just a moment, something flickered in their depths. Something that might have been genuine. "You never know what information might be useful."
"Yea totally, information about fish. I'm surprised you can even read."
Dominic pouted. "How rude of you, Seraphina."
Edward pointed at one of the fish. "Look, that one looks like Dominic."
"Not ugly enough."
"Right…" Edward crossed his arms.
They moved through the exhibits in a loose formation, Seraphina leading, Dominic drifting at her side, Edward trailing behind where he could watch both of them and the exits simultaneously. The jellyfish tank drew a soft gasp from Seraphina, their translucent bodies pulsing in the dark water like living lanterns.
"They don't have brains," she whispered. "Or hearts. Or blood. They're just... nerves and water and light, just like you."
"I'm sorry." Dominic apologized.
"Huh? I was just joking."
"Oh."
Edward felt something twist in his chest.
"I'm going to go find the restroom now, I feel like I'm intruding on something."
He left.
[I heard Hoshimi's whispered warning: Watch Dominic closely. Does this have to do with his eyes flickering blue sometimes? Hoshimi's right, something's wrong with him, like he isn't himself]
But watching him now, standing beside Seraphina with that soft expression, Edward found it hard to reconcile the two images.
The shark tunnel was the highlight of the aquarium, a forty-foot walkway enclosed in curved acrylic with water pressing in from all sides. Seraphina stepped onto it with visible hesitation, her hand finding the railing and gripping tight.
"It's safe," Dominic said from behind her. "The glass is like a foot thick. Could probably survive a bomb."
"That's not—" Seraphina swallowed. "That's not what I'm worried about."
Above them, a sand tiger shark glided past, its rows of teeth visible even through the distortion of the water. Seraphina's breath caught. Her grip on the railing tightened until her knuckles went white.
"It's beautiful," she whispered.
Another shark passed, smaller this time, its skin catching the artificial light in shifting patterns of gray. Seraphina watched it go, her expression complicated.
"Do you think we're like that?" she asked quietly. "Witches, I mean. Designed to kill."
"Yes." Dominic replied. "Even if we try to ignore it, without killing others, we wouldn't live, sharks kill to protect, they kill to survive until tomorrow."
"How philosophical, I wonder if you picked that up from Edward." Seraphina smiled. "It's unlike you."
They emerged from the tunnel into the gift shop, a garish space filled with plush toys and keychains and everything designed to separate tourists from their money.
Seraphina wandered through it with dazed wonder, picking up items and putting them down, her fingers tracing the fabric of a stuffed octopus.
"Neila used to have one of these," she murmured. "When we were little. Before everything."
Dominic walked up behind her, Seraphina's face flushed at the sudden contact as Dominic spoke next to her ear.
"Do you want one?"
"No…it's fine."
She paused.
"You know? I ran away to the Mirlo estate when I was fourteen. Audrey's family took me in, gave me a room, a purpose. They didn't care that I was a Shaw reject. They just... let me exist." A pause. "And Neila never came looking. Not once. You didn't either."
"Do you hate me for that?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry Sera."
Seraphina ran her finger along the glass.
"You used to be my everything, my entire world. The day I ran away, you didn't follow, you didn't even bother. I knew that we were immature but I didn't know how to feel."
"You're right, I've been an idiot."
She pressed her cheek against the cold surface of the glass, trying to remove the warmth in her cheeks.
"I'm glad that…you eventually started talking to me again."
"I never wanted to hurt you." Dominic's fists clenched. "Listen, I get it you hate me, if you want to I promise I'll back off."
"I hate you, but not as much as I did then." Seraphina sighed, pulling her face away from the glass. "But that's what I brought you here along for, I want to get to know you again, see your face without the texts, so let's just forget about the past. It's not like we can change it anymore."
"Thank you Seraphina."
"I believe you're a good guy."
"You too."