Within the dark void, the faint midnight blue light highlighted the corridors Katrina jogged around. The yellowish magic helpfully made sure Samir kept up the pace as it carried him along; the librarian wished he could fly in-front of her to light the way better. Despite the diminutive visibility, she was able to admire the architecture of castle interior the further the ventured into it; it reminded her so much of the campus' aesthetic in the real world, one of the few things that 
sold her on attending there. After making it to a spiral staircase that descended much lower than where her library was, she stopped to catch her breath.

"Shit," Katrina complained, never having expected to run a marathon to catch up with a girl she thought couldn't move unless commanded to. As the brunette fell into a heaving crouch, the magic landed Samir gently on the ground as he awaited the next command from his Curator, breathing normally and comfortably.

"Fuck you," she told him, and by extension the magic that carried him effortlessly. She wanted to smack the carefree smile off of his face when she noticed the tome in his hands, carrying it for her, saving his face from a red palm print. Wiping sweat off of her forehead, she tried to force her pulse to slow down so it would stop beating loudly in her ear to track Lillian's humming better. Eventually she heard it clearly again, and something else underlying with it, in concert with Lillian. Looking up at the standing Samir, again, Katrina wondered if there was some magic elsewhere in the castle that carried Lillian. Taking deep breaths, she stood, began to move in the direction the humming grew less faint.

Katrina felt thankful in that an indicator of brighter midnight blue gave her some kind of lead, picking up the pace as she closed in. But she noticed the brighter her surroundings, and the clearing Lillian's song, an instrument was playing with it, something tickling at her earlobes, urging her forward. The sensation should've given Katrina pause, but she proceeded a little faster anyway.

Katrina and Samir eventually ended in a more open part of the castle. It was almost a balcony setting with the midnight blue of the sky surrounding the castle practically glowing, alit like a full moon was shining down on everything. At the balcony setting, there was a gathering of several people, sitting in chairs or on the ground, all of them lounging, circling Lillian who stood at the center. She was floating on her tip toes, as a glowing lime green-tinted energy hung Lillian above ground. The energy flowed through her ear canal in one way and wafting out the other, but keeping her mouth open as a gorgeous aria and the finally identifiable sound of a violin was produced. What came from Lillian flowed over the crowd in ghostly sound waves, driving their lolling attention ever-forward. Katrina felt her senses teased by the waves, but her attention span remained wired, and only had to follow the tangible path of notes to see who'd led Lillian away from the library.

"Mr. Richardson?" Katrina spoke aloud, confused.

She looked at her old elective choir teacher, sitting amongst the crowd in the most opulent chair present. Halting his violin playing, Yany Richardson, the lowly instructor from the music department, did a double-take at the appearance of Katrina who seemed to come from nowhere.

"Katrina...Brunig? How did you get here?"

"I...have the same question for you...?" Both former student and teacher looked at each other, and quickly surmised that unlike everyone else present, they were both clear-headed and conscious, and in possession of items they held close to, practically clung to the more they stared at one another.

"So...you're part of this too?" Katrina finally broke the silence.

"I seem to be, as I assume you are too," the music teacher answered back. Katrina noted the difference in the Mr. Richardson now as opposed to what she remembered a semester ago. He was a nice teacher she enjoyed, prone to knit sweater vests and measured temperament despite the arrogant stature half the class carried, some because of music skill that planned to ascend to Julliard or other big music schools, and some were just the entitled, standard assholes. And some of course were just both.

That day, in whatever measure time held in the, Yany Richardson was dressed in a classy green suit, surrounded by familiar faces, classmates that bore subdued, sedated smiles matching what Katrina produced out of Amber, Samir and Lillian thus far. Mr. Richardson's look was very Pied Piperish, with all the elements put together on the balcony.

"I...I thought I was the only one here, wherever here is, with...power," she took the tome from Samir's hand, suddenly self-conscious about her power.

"I thought the same, but I figured there was more to this castle than expected. I just haven't dredged up the courage to see who or what else is around."

"From where I started, the castle is bigger than you expect."

"Where did you start?" he queried.

"Campus library. Where did..." Katrina paused, looking up to see shades of the music department room she'd taken his class in. "Ah, yeah."

"Do you know why...uh..why you have power here?" He questioned.

"Honestly, no idea. I was just handed a book during my shift at the library, like last night. And the book...responded to me."

Yany Richardson blinked a few times, and laughed a little.

"Same here. Someone donated an old violin the department forgot it had; I played it a little to see if it was fine-tuned, and I drew the attention of a few of these students. They didn't want me to stop, and the more I played, the more I didn't want to stop. And the more I played, the more I just...transported myself here."

"Virtually the same story with me."

Katrina couldn't believe she'd be getting answers like this, that explained a lot yet made more unanswered questions.

Standing dumbfounded, scratching her scalp through her hair, Katrina had little idea of what to do after both empowered university-attendees met, but the sight of Lillian as spaced out as the rest of the violin-conditioned contingent, she felt a slight flaring of possessiveness.

"Honestly, not sure where to go from here, but I don't suppose I can get Lillian back?"

"Oh, I assumed she found her way on her own here," Yany admitted, stroking the bow string length as he looked at the singing submissive fondly. "She's one of the best singers in the department; I was hoping to make more music with her," he spoke, feeling his own flare of territoriality. The Librarian and Minstrel both exchanged looks reflecting their heightened personality traits, both unwilling to let go of a subject each had affected deeply.

"Sorry to say, Mr. Richardson, but she's not available for any more performances at the moment."

"Well, she seems to have wandered off the beaten path, maybe to one she likes better. Perhaps she has chosen what she wants."

The rational parts of the usually shy adults may have found a way to de-escalate the growing stand-off, but their domineering powers guided them further into a standoff.

"Her choices belong to me," Katrina stated firmly, gripping her tome, ready to open it and levy whatever spell she could think of.

"As you may belong to me, Ms. Brunig. You're on my turf now, and it's time to face the music..." He laid his bow against the violin strings, ready to conduct commands.