Nic watched her leave, but didn't stop her. Maybe it was best if she wasn't here for this part anyway...

Actually, it probably would have been.

Yue's tablet buzzed with an incoming call.

After a few rings, Yue answered. It looked like she was packing.

Laurel's face was visible but she was in a dark room. Her eyes were still furious but there was a hardness to them now. "Do you have a minute?" it wasn't really a request.

"Uh..." Yue replied, taking a seat. She seemed rather worn out, but she listened.

"What did Nic do all those year ago?" she asked with an unusual bluntness.

Yue stared very blankly at the screen. She didn't move or speak for a very long time.

"I would rather hear it from you." Laurel said with a cold tone that wasn't aimed at Yue, "If you wouldn't mind."

After another long moment, Yue slowly shook her head. "I... can't do this now," she told Laurel quietly before reaching to hang up.

"He killed someone you loved... didn't he?" Laurel asked before she had a chance to hang up.

That didn't stop Yue from hanging up, but her blank eyes answered the question.

The next few days passed rather quickly. Laurel seemed to be using her skills at hiding because she wasn't seen.

Frei started to get a little worried though she hid it rather well. She remained at Raven's side most of the day. "She must be in the same place Cong's been hiding..." she muttered to Raven as afternoon rolled around on the third day.

--

Once the group had boarded the Juttle, it took off towards James's place. Kale secured in one room, James in another. Kalma kept watch outside of James's door and from the noises, he was indeed in the violent stage. The little girl was still asleep and hooked up to a few things, no one wanted to deal with her on the ride over.

After the first day of Laurel being missing, Nic actually left his room to look for her briefly. The next day he spent a little more time looking. But he stopped after awhile, figuring she'd show up again when she was ready.

Raven, for the most part, did a good job taking care of Frei. When she wasn't at his side, he was either relaxing or becoming more acquainted with everyone at James' place, trying to get a better feel for everyone. He seemed to have some ulterior motive behind it though.

--

Once they boarded the Juttle, Yue stayed in her small allocated room.

And sure enough, as the afternoon started to pass by, there was a knock on Nic's door.

The people of JP seemed to really like Raven. He easily got along with the majority of them, including the girls. There was always a few of them hanging around when he wasn't with Frei.

Nic grunted for them to come in. He was back on his computer.

So Raven tried to use the girls to get the dish on other girls and the guys.

There was a long pause then slowly the door opened and closed behind Laurel. She leaned up against the door, not looking at Nic. It was blatantly obvious that she had been crying... a lot. In fact, it looked like she might still be crying but was out of tears.

It didn't take much work from Raven to get them dishing on boys they liked, though it seemed that most of them were still crushing on James. They also dished on some of the girls: where James had picked them up. There seemed to be a bit of a hierarchy.

When Nic managed to pull away, he glanced over at Laurel. After a moment he started to get up, but stopped himself and sat back down quietly.

Raven was a little interested in the hierarchy, but not so much so. He was more curious about how things worked when James wasn't around.

Laurel took in a shaking breath, "Sorry..." she murmured, still not looking at him, "I didn't want... to distract you b-but..." she fought to hold the sobs back as she put a hand over her mouth. It was clear she hadn't slept much.

Angelina was usually in charge, Bee up near the top as well. The girls were being trained in order of their interests. Some in art, or academic subjects where they had tutors. Most were in some form of dance or musical skill, they wanted to go on to be in James's show.

"... But...?" Nic asked, clearly not sure what to do.

Once the basic information about the girls was cleared up, he started asking about the guys.

"I-I..." Laurel finally just started to sob, "c-couldn...t s-stay away...an...more..." she got as she slowly slipped into a sitting position on the floor with her face in her hands.

There weren't many of them. All of them were handsome. There was a rumor that James kept them around for Wolfe.

Nic seemed rather torn. After a moment he got up and sat beside her, but didn't touch her.

Raven seemed to become very interested in those rumors.

After a moment Laurel seemed to realize he was beside her. Then she punched him in the shoulder as hard as she could in her weakened state, "You're... s-so mean!" she declared, still fighting the sobs, "Y-You b... boulder!"

The rumors seemed to have countless variations. Some claimed Wolfe slept with two of them a night, others said he had a favorite, others yet James still hadn't found a guy attractive enough to tempt Wolfe, some claimed it was a big joke between them. No one seemed to know the truth. The guys remained closed off about it, it was clearly a topic they were not going to discuss. One things was for sure though, none of the guys slept with any of the girls at JPs, it was against the rules.

Nic sat there quietly, still clueless.

Raven kept digging into the rumors and speculations, having a bit of fun with it.

Laurel kept hitting him, "I-I told you!" she said louder, "I... said it would... hurt me! That... i-it... would b-break my heart! ... didn't e-even... bother to tell me... in private." she said in a quieter voice.

Nic let Laurel keep hitting him, not saying anything.

Laurel eventually gripped Nic shirt, shaking him a bit, "H-How much... do you think I c-can take?" she demanded, "H-How did you... expect m-me to react?"

Still, Nic said nothing.

Laurel looked at Nic for a long moment, her slow sobbing the only noise in the room. "... Y-You stupid... s-stupid man..." she finally whispered before hugging him around the neck as tightly as she could.

Still, Nic said nothing, not hugging Laurel back. He sat there silently as still as a statue.

Laurel continued to hug Nic tightly, muttering something inaudible into his neck.

Nic didn't reply.

It didn't appear like Laurel was going to let go for awhile. Though eventually she got a bit more control over her emotions and managed to stop sobbing, though she still seemed overwhelmingly heartbroken.

After a very long time, Nic suddenly spoke. "Do you believe in magic?" he asked.

Laurel had her cheek resting on her own shoulder, arms still tightly around Nic's neck. She thought about his question for a long time, "... Yes." she decided quietly, "Do you?"

"... I think I'm starting to," Nic replied, but for such a typically positive topic his voice was too dark.

Laurel contemplated his words for a bit, "You... still couldn't find anything?" she assumed.

Nic seemed to be lost in thought for a long moment before nodding.

"... I'm sorry." she said quietly and wholeheartedly. She lightly touched the back of his neck where the start of the huge scar was. "I'm sorry..." she repeated in a whisper.

Nic was silent for another long minute. "I think... someone cursed me as a child," he suddenly revealed.

Laurel started to stoke the back of his neck, "I'm sorry..." she whispered again, several heartstrings breaking in her voice.