Florence sent Seth with the two ghost dragons back to Quill to fetch everyone’s things that they’d left in the Quillitary yard. When they returned, the dragons were content to fish in the sea, then rest on the lawn and munch on the herbs from Henry’s garden while they waited for their next assignment. Seth went inside to help others with cleanup.

Inside Ms. Octavia’s classroom, Aaron studied various books, trying to find out how to fix the tubes or make new control panels. Carina, Sean, and Samheed worked on repairing the staircase so it wouldn’t collapse, and then they started fixing all of the broken spindles and sections of railing. Henry and Thatcher handled the injuries in the hospital ward, with Crow and Scarlet helping out. Florence assisted Simber in guarding the entrance to the ward. Seth, Kaylee, Ishibashi, Sky, and Ibrahim cleared out the debris scattered throughout the mansion, repairing what they could and magically making the rest disappear.

Fifer and Lani talked through the current status of the dissenters while magically replacing the chandeliers. Then they sealed the top of the mansion walls to the roof all the way around, so that whenever rain was scheduled it wouldn’t leak inside. Clementi moved from window to window on each floor, painstakingly reciting permanent glass spells at each for what everyone hoped would be the last time.

Thisbe officially introduced Maiven Taveer, Asha, Prindi, Reza, Rohan, and the rest from Grimere to the mansion. And later, while Thisbe instructed the black-eyed children on how they could help and invited them to explore the mansion, Fifer introduced Aaron to Maiven, his grandmother. The three talked through that surprise, and Maiven shared how they’d come to learn the truth. Then, with pressing duties awaiting them all, they agreed to talk more when there was time.

Kitten and Fox went together to the secret hallway so Kitten could continue looking for Mr. Today’s clue. There was no doubt in her mind that if she found it and tried to tell anyone, they would ignore her mews as usual. But it would be good to have the information whenever the humans got around to waking her up and asking for it.

Once Fifer left Aaron in Ms. Octavia’s classroom, she returned to the hospital ward. She was still trying to figure out the best way to handle the dissenters. Several of them expressed gratitude for being let inside and for the comfortable beds in the ward. And many seemed remorseful about fighting against the other Artiméans. But not all. Garrit and a few others were furious. And Fifer knew that Florence had been right. There had to be consequences for their actions.

Fifer addressed them sternly. “What you have done to Artimé is unforgiveable,” she said. “You put the lives of your fellow people in grave danger by following the leadership of a madwoman. There is no excuse for your behavior. If you would like to remain in Artimé, you’d better start thinking about what you plan to do to improve yourselves and this world going forward. Or be prepared to part ways and leave this island.”