All That Lives Must Die - Eric Nylund [225]
And with that, she turned and left them there. Stunned.
Fiona recovered from the shock, and started thinking . . . and getting mad. “This is completely unfair,” she said.
“’Tis not like we haven’t seen it coming,” Jeremy told her. “Though ’tis a shame about Mitch. I thought him made of sterner stuff.”
“Shut up,” Robert said. “You don’t know what’s going on with Mitch. He said he’ll be back in two weeks—maybe in time for our next match.”
Sarah said to Robert, “I sympathize for whatever Mitch is going though, but I’m not going to risk graduating on ‘maybe.’ ”
Amanda skulked to a couch and sat, head between her hands. “Maybe we should just disband,” she muttered.
Fiona had to rally her team—while she still had a team. She went to Amanda and set a hand on her shoulder. The girl’s skin was blazing hot. “I’m not giving up. Scarab is a good team. We stick together, and we can get through this. We’ll win our next match, and who knows what the rankings will look like after that? Let’s not panic.”
Jeremy nodded. “No one be panicking, my dear Fiona. But we should consider the hard facts of playing without two key members. And what if we break apart as Miss Westin suggested? Would it be so bad to find open slots on a team that needs us?” He stared pointedly at Amanda as he said this.
“No way,” Fiona told him. “Like I said, Scarab is a good team—maybe the best team, regardless of Mr. Ma’s rankings. We beat both Dragon and Wolf teams during the midterm. And we would’ve won that last match against Falcon if Mr. Ma hadn’t cheated. It’s like they don’t want us to graduate.”
Jeremy considered this, then said, “A wee bit suspicious, I grant you. So let’s consider Miss Westin’s other alternative: get replacements for Mitch and our dearly departed Jezebel. If Mitch comes back—lovely—according to the rules, we then have an alternate attached to the team.”
Robert flopped onto the couch. “I don’t know. It makes sense . . . but it feels like we’re giving up on them or something.”
Sarah sat next to him, close, so her knees touched his. “They are the ones who left us,” she said. “And it’s not like we have much of a choice.”
“But we do,” Eliot whispered.
Fiona turned and saw Eliot standing by the door to the Headmistress’s office in the only shadow in the room. He gripped Lady Dawn tight in his hands, and his eyes were hard and cold. “There’s a third option Miss Westin didn’t mention.”
“Oh, come now, Post,” Jeremy said with a little laugh. “What other option could there be?”
“Jezebel,” Eliot said. “She’s not here because she’s trapped in Hell fighting a war. So . . .” He straightened and looked them all in the eye. “We go and rescue her.”
58. Much of the Paxington Institute in San Francisco was designed by Augustus Pugin (1812–1852). Pugin was an advocate for Gothic architecture (and attacked “Pagan” classical architecture). He is widely known for his work on the British Houses of Parliament and the clock tower Big Ben. After being recruited by the Paxington Architectural Trust, his views on classical design softened, and he blended Gothic and classical elements in what is now known as Mytho-Gothic. In his journal, he wrote, “My previous works are as pale imitations compared to Paxington. My dreams have taken on a life of their own.” Pugin never saw his work finished, as he died after a mental collapse in 1851. Your Guide to the Paxington Institute (Freshman Edition). Paxington Institute Press LLC, San Francisco.
59. Marchantiophyta is a division of plants commonly known as “liverworts” which are typically small and low to the ground with flattened leaves. Monoicious is a term indicating both male and female reproductive structures are located on different branches of the same plant. Therefore this insult makes reference to a person’s small size and