At the same time the two girls were hugging out, miles away, a certain headmistress was in deep thought about the newest students. One in particular.

“Oh, how I wish things had been different, dear.” she sighed woefully. If only she had taken action that fateful day. Now, she didn’t know what was going to happen. She rubbed her nose, contemplating the future, and the actions that she would need to take. Little Reina had always been a loose cannon, and that was when she felt loyalty to them. Now, it was pretty clear she wouldn’t possess an ounce of loyalty, and they deserved that.

There was also the problem of the staff. Despite what Veriy had said, he'd revealed he hadn't gone through with it yet. For now, they were the only people in the Academy that knew Reina was coming home. Perhaps it was selfish, but they wanted to keep her to themselves just a little longer. Besides, if Arcturus learned she was coming. . .Wynn shuddered. He would stop at nothing to cancel this.

For too long, they had to pretend she had never existed. Wynn clenched her fist. That damned Precept Prime. . .preaching the so called safety of Neverstien, she had forbidden any trace of Reina. It was as if she had never existed. Wynn never felt like she needed to go through the trouble of standing up to the Precept Prime, especially when Reina was already hundreds of miles away, but once she came back. . .if Wynn didn't take action, the Precept Prime would lock her away.

Wynn eyed the camera; it seemed to be inert, but you could never tell with her. Oh, to hell with it; she was already going to become a huge thorn in the Precept Prime's side, why not become one now? Wynn walked over to the door and locked it. On the way back to her desk, flicked the light-switch, casting the entire place into darkness. Finally, she pulled down the blinds on her circular window.

There, nobody was able to see what she was doing from the outside. Reclining in her chair again, Wynn brought out the small communication device they had given her. It was nothing extravagant, just a small disk with a button in the middle. Furtively glancing at the camera one last time, Wynn took a deep breath. She was not going to be bullied by the Precept Prime.

Wynn pressed on the button, and it glowed blue. Placing it onto the desk, Wynn watched as a holographic image of a tiny girl, sitting in a very big chair, appeared.

"Wynn! My favorite headmistress!" The figure shot finger guns at her. "How are you doing?"

Wynn smiled gingerly. "I'm doing fine, Commander."

The quality of the image wasn't the best, with the girl occasionally glitching slightly, but Wynn could still spot the pout on her face. "Really? You say that, but you never return any of my calls! We could be doing so much together, just imagine it. You, the stuffy headmistress of the school who actually has a fun side, and me, the wise-cracking commander who hides a sea of turmoil and seriousness underneath. It would be a great sitcom!"

Wynn shook her head. "I apologize for the lack of communication, I've just been so busy." Wynn paused as she recalled something. "And if I remember, Luna informed me that I should only use this during emergencies. There haven't been any until now, so I didn't feel the need to call you."

The Commander gasped, clutching her chest. "Ow! I can't believe you just hit a poor maiden's heart like that, Wynn. You need to be more gentle with a girl's heart, you know? Some people might think our relationship is solely based off of you asking me for help and stuff!"

Wynn scrunched up her face. But. . .it was? Judging from her look on the Commander's face, it probably wasn't a good idea to say that out loud. Instead, Wynn coughed into her hand, hoping the Commander would catch the drift.

"Oh, so there's an emergency?" She sighed, draping a hand over her face. "And here I was hoping for a nice, luxurious vacation!"

An arrow of guilt stabbed Wynn. "I'm really sorry about this. It's just. . .I don't know anybody else whose willing to go against the Precept Prime." Wynn hoped the mention of the leader of Neverstien would be enough of a bait to catch the Commander.

It worked. Hook, line, and sinker, the Commander's eyes widened. Even with the blueness of the hologram, Wynn could have sworn there was a spark in her eyes. "Messing with dear old Prime, eh? That'll be fun! What's the deal this time? You're usually so careful about treading the line with her."

Wynn closed her eyes. This was it; there was no turning back after this. "Reina. . .she's coming back."

There was silence, and Wynn cracked open her eyelids again. The girl was murmuring to herself, tapping her finger on the rests of her chair. Wynn could barely catch what she was saying. "If Reina's coming, then so will Brisingr. . .no doubt about that."

Wynn furrowed her brow. Brisingr? Who was th- her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the Commander burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "This is comedy gold! So, Reina's coming back, Brisingr is as well, the Precept Prime is getting pissed - it's like a big reunion! The most dysfunctional reunion in history!"

Wynn giggled awkwardly. At least it looked like one of them was having fun with this whole debacle, even if she didn't exactly understand what was going on. "So, will you help us?"

The Commander stopped laughing, but there were still tears streaming down her face. "Hm, there's an Legend appearance showing up soon. In Neverstien, believe it or not. We don't know who or when, but we're going to be pretty bogged down dealing with that. Of course, if Brisingr got here any faster. . ." The last part sounded like it was more to herself than to Wynn.

Wynn slumped. "It was worth a try, I guess."

"Don't worry, Wynn! We lovely people at Yggdrasil will still help you! It might just take a while. Besides, I've been meaning to annoy the Precept Prime lately, so this is working out great!"

Wynn exhaled. "Thank you, Commander."

She bobbed her head. "No problem, no problem. Oh, but Wynn?" Wynn hummed to tell her she was listening. "Be very careful. The Precept Prime will go to any lengths to protect Neverstien, and your Academy is not Neverstien."

Shivers rang down Wynn's back. She could only hope they would be able to get through this.