(im)purity tower 51

Tedros was... worried, to say the least. Walking back to his room after classes, his mind raced with concern. What could be wrong? he wondered, looking absently through the blue glass stairs at a group of Evergirls babbling on about some mindless class they were taking. Did she do poorly in class? No, she wouldn't be that distraught over something like grades... Could it have been something I said? The concept made him miss a step, the toe of his boot colliding with the lip of the step. His arm shot up in enough time to grab the railing and steady himself, but he could hear the Evergirls giggling at his misfortune below. He brushed himself off and sped down the hallway, ignoring strange looks from those who lingered in the common room. As soon as he reached his room, he slammed the door shut behind him, resting his head against the frame for a moment. Deep breath in, deep breath out... Okay--

He turned with a grin. "Hey guys― oh."

"Oh, hey Tedros..." Chaddick laughed nervously, quickly pulling himself up off of the boy beneath him.

"Hi," Nicolas said simply.

The three boys stared at each other.

Tedros waited for more. Nothing else came.

"Um. Sorry for interrupting, I can go if you want to―"

"No!" Chaddick nearly shouted. "No, no, that's-- that's fine--" But Nicolas did not appear to share share the sentiment. He sat up on the bed-- Tedros' bed-- and stuck his hand into Chaddick's hair, twisting it around his fingers. Chaddick babbled on;

"Sorry, we didn't think you would be back so soon, but if you want to go to sleep we can stop― Ow!"

Nicolas tugged a little too hard on his hair. Tedros looked between them

"...um, no, it's okay. I was thinking about finding Agatha before it got too late, she ran from me after dinner and I... yeah." he trailed off, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"Perfect. Sounds perfect," Nicolas jumped in, shuffling off the bed. He pushed Tedros in the direction of the door forcefully, almost too excited.

"Isn't it a little close to curfew?" Chaddick intervened from the bed, slight concern wavering in his voice.

"Not a problem. Chaddick, you'll go find him if he's not back by eleven."

"Why me―?"

"Because I said so. Goodbye, Tedros, good luck with... whatever it is you're doing," Nicolas yanked the door open with his free hand, shoving Tedros in the chest with his other.

"Uh thank you. Have fun you―" The door slammed shut in front of him. "...two."

And now he was alone. The hallways were slightly quieter than before, some stragglers remaining as they sped through last minute homework. It wasn't all that late-- the grandfather clock against the wall was ringing out its regal tones. 9 pm. Two hours to find Agatha, find out what the matter was, and get back to his room without getting reprimanded. 

Easy!

----

It was not easy. In fact, just finding Agatha seemed to be more of a challenge than he'd initially thought. She wasn't in the Library of Virtue, or Hansel's Haven, or the Menagerie, and he couldn't get past a stubborn group of nymphs monitoring the pink staircases. His last hope was the courtyard. Sneaking out of the school was harder than he'd expected, but he hoped it would be worth it--

It wasn't. The courtyard was completely deserted, as were all the surrounding nooks and alcoves. Even the upper branches of the trees where she sometimes wedged herself were empty.