The sound of small rocks hitting metal caused Lily to stir back to consciousness. She opened her eyes to see Brucie standing not far off, looking up at the giant bird, that made up the base of Carreau's Castle. They had found a place where debris from the stalagmites and stalagtites, had formed a small hideyhole, just large enough for the three of them to stay out of sight together. She untangled herself from her tails, revealing Brucie who had been sleeping in her lap. She shook him awake and lifted him off of her, much to his visible dismay. 

She stood and stretched, feeling the soreness of yesterday's battles coming back to her. The flask she had been given healed her well enough, but still her muscles ached slightly from suddenly being used more than they were used to. She had gotten lazy in the last few years, and decided she would have to rectify that. 

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked and undid her braid, letting it fall free for its full length. 

Brucie turned to face her, casting one last look at the towering bird, and said, "Six-seven hours, I think. No clock, or sun down here to tell." He walked over to where Mouse was now lying, next to the bag still half-filled with pastries and bread. He dug into it and pulled out a few, left some on the floor for Mouse to gnaw on while he put the rest in his own mouth. He then leaned back against one of the large rocks that made up their hiding place and quietly watched Lily work on re-tying the braid. "How do you manage that?" He asked. 

Lily stopped her work and looked at him. "Manage what?" 

"Your hair." He pointed to the tips of it. "It's at your knees almost. How do you deal with it? Just having hair makes my head feel itchy." 

She snorted, and returned her attention to her hair. "Practice, patience, and habit," she said and redid the pins that held it near her head, then started working on the braid proper. "Had it this long since forever. Just got used to it. Also braiding it makes it shorter, in a way, so it only goes to my hips." She looked up from where her hands were deftly weaving her hair together into her trademark braid. "This'll take a while. Could you keep an eye out for the castle? If it's been about as long as you say, they're probably going to start coming out soon." 

"Roger," Brucie said and returned to his earlier perch, this time looking straight towards the castle-topped bird. 

The quiet peace that she often enjoyed from the simple act of braiding her hair, was robbed of her not moments later, when the whirring sound of a small machine shattered the quiet around them. She looked over to the side where the familiar drone hovered in place, albeit at an upwards angle. She was about to simply ignore the buzzing of its propellers turned into beeps, eliciting an exasperated flick of her ears. 

"Just the drone," she called over to Brucie, having heard his curious grunt at the sound of the beeping. She turned her attention back to it just as the recording began, the sound of the pompous 'narrator' already souring her mood with his first few words. Nevertheless, she listened, and it turned out, that, for once, listening to this baboon was important. She was in the semi-finals, that much she already knew. It was what came next that chilled her blood, and fanned the flames of the familiar feeling of vitriol. Her teeth clenched and jaw tightened almost of their own accord, and she had to fight from clenching her fists hard enough to puncture her own skin. 

Of course. It had to have been too good to be true. Of course there was more to the tournament than just a college, that wanted to see humans, monsters and more fight to the death to get their heart's desire. With the message over and delivered, Lily was left shaking; her entire body tensed up like a spring. Mouse must have noticed her anger, for her walked over to where she was standing and pushed against her leg, trying to get her attention. Only when she opened her eyes and unclenched her fists did he stop, instead now looking up at her with a curiously tilted head. She crouched down and put her hand on his head, scratching him behind the ears as she remembered the breathing exercises she had been taught, to control her anger. She breathed in, then out, using the presence of Mouse as an anchor. 

When she opened her eyes again, what must have been minutes later, her anger was gone and instead replaced with determination. Fuelled by the fires of her defiance and the lingering embers of her temper, that never quite seemed to quiet, but determined nonetheless. The college, or whoever was behind it, had brought them here for something. They had dangled what she desired the most right in front of her nose, and she would be damned if they were going to snatch it away from her.

The College wanted to fight her? Bring it. Her hands were already drenched in blood, had been for years. A few more humans who dared get in her way wouldn't weigh anymore on her conscience. 

She stood up straight and headed towards Brucie, stopping a few metres short, looked towards him and then disappeared. 

Brucie, who had been watching her approach in his peripheral started, looking intently at where she had been moments before. "Lily?" He asked aloud. "Y'there?"

"Walk towards me," she replied. 

He dutifully obeyed and trudged towards her, still glancing back at the castle every other second. The fifth time he did so, and looked back, Lily had reappeared. "See you again," he told her to which she nodded, a satisfied looked in her eyes. 

"I had an idea," she explained. "Normally I can't really move while invisible. Walk very, very slowly at best. Being in his castle gave me an idea." The look Brucie gave her was... reading the shark was always a challenge, but she seemed to notice a glimmer of incomprehension in his beady eyes. "You know what, take five steps back, wait a few seconds, then five steps forward again, okay?" 

He nodded and did as she asked, first marching five steps backwards. At the fifth step his expression changed to something that could look like comprehension, and he gave a metallic thumb's up in the general direction of Lily. He walked forward again, and she came into view immediately upon his second step. "You disappeared when I walked away!" He exclaimed. 

"I did. Like I said, if I just make myself invisible I can hardly move without breaking it. [i]But,[/i] if I create a bubble of illusory of magic in an area, I can use it like a film, where I filter out anything I don't want the person inside to see. Looks," she nodded behind Brucie, and as he turned she made the dome she had created moments earlier opaque. It was perhaps half a dozen metres in diametre, and stopped just behind Brucie. "You were inside that, and I filtered myself out." She smiled. "I decided you couldn't see me, but you could see everything else. I might be able to do the opposite as well, giving myself a wider area of invisibility, but I haven't tried yet." 

She turned towards the castle on the crow, where she was beginning to spot activity in the windows, lights turning on and the like. 

"Bird-Man is waking up," Brucie muttered beside her. 

Lily nodded. "He, and his entourage of weirdos."