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The silence that reigned over the trio was stifling, to say the least. Blake remaining seated on the ground as she stared wide-eyed in shock from the revelation just given to her. I... nearly killed them, she repeated in her mind. In the time that her vision had gone red with fury, she had become destructive. So much so that she had tried to destroy everything in her path. Indiscriminately.
"You should be fine, but I'm just not wiling to take any chances at the moment," Amber clarified herself, relinquishing her aura, "It took the rest of my strength to hold you off long enough for you to knock out again."
"I-I see," Blake let out a breath she didn't realize she held. It was quite the scary thought to know that she had gone berserk. Why it didn't happen in the case of Melody, in relative hindsight, was probably a godsend in disguise. Blake looked down at her hands, blackened with the dissolved dust of the Ires she had taken out in her berserk state. The thought of those same hands being stained red in blood was a thing of extreme nightmares. Layla stepped out from behind Amber, still cautious in case of Blake returning to that state of uncontrolled blood lust.
"At the very least, it seems that the only trigger for it is if friends of yours are in danger," Amber concluded, "In other words, you should be safe for now. That is, until someone you know or care for gets in a pinch they can't get out of. Don't get me wrong here; I'm not gonna call you a monster or anything since you went through that without much control over yourself. I'm just gonna say we should keep that little secret in mind for the future. What do you think?" There wasn't much need for an answer, anyway, since all three agreed in comfortable silence. It was dangerous, but Blake felt as though she could use that to her advantage. With a bit of training on her end, maybe it might prove useful. Due to the sheer power she demonstrated in "berserk-mode", Blake began to wonder if there could be a way for her to control it. Still, that thought had to wait - she had a certain stupid talking Ire to meet.

Meanwhile, not far from the meadow, a lone cabin stood in the middle of the woods. A large crash coming from the south echoed through the forest, scaring the nearby local wildlife to run north in an effort to get away from the destruction. A lone figure emerged from the cabin's south entrance, taking in a deep breath of the forest air. A few feet from them, Sebastian appeared.
"Master, it would seem they've passed the test as you had wished for," it reported with a bow. The figure smiled, satisfied with the results of the trial he put out.
"Excellent," the figure spoke in a gruff, manly voice, "Go ahead and dismiss them. Let them rest. I'm sure that they wouldn't mind considering how tired they must be. One condition for you, however..." Sebastian yelped as it felt a cold energy wrap around his shadowy form. The energy was white in color, but much too cold to be considered an aura, "Kill another innocent human being for fun like that again and I will make sure that you understand the meaning of death to the letter."
"O-Oh dear," Sebastian gulped, laughing nervously. The figure smirked, "So you can understand fear. Interesting. I guess my tests proved my theory to be correct." The white energy released Sebastian as the figure chuckled with amusement. Sebastian dusted itself off.
"I still cannot believe for that to be your aura, but who am I to judge," Sebastian muttered to itself, "Then I will be on my way now, Master." With that, Sebastian disappeared quickly, leaving the lone figure to himself. After laughing to himself for a few more moments, he stepped into a ray of sunlight, revealing himself.
"This will be fun," Daniel spoke with a wicked smile on his face, "Once I prove how much stronger I can be than Blake, I'm sure that she will be mine. She will no longer look at me with a desire to protect me; she will want me to protect her instead! I was right to visit Melody about the Ires. A shame she didn't see this coming, but I guess that's for her to figure out as she rots in that jail cell. Oh well."

Layla felt a chill run down her spine as a slight breeze swept past her. Something in the air didn't feel right; it was as if nature itself was warning her of some impending danger. She glanced around the meadow looking for any signs of danger only to find the meadow devoid of everything save for herself, Amber and Blake. Those two were discussing something about Blake's recent berserk-mode development with her when she had felt her chill. Without any clue as to why she felt so uneasy, she fell silent.
"Layla? Is everything okay?" Amber asked with concern, noting her silence. Blake shifted in place; Layla figured that she must have caught on to the uneasy feeling in the air. No surprise there; she's always sensed these things, Layla thought in her mind. Knowing Blake for so long had taught her that Blake had tended to trust her instincts a lot. It was probably what earned her reputation at school and what made her the amazing and experienced Knight she was today. Still, it was rather unnerving to know that her uneasiness wasn't just some random fluke. Since even Blake could sense it, that could only mean that her instincts were right. The only one who didn't notice, unfortunately, was her dunce of a long-time best friend, Amber.
"Blake, not you too," she was groaning after noticing Blake had the same reaction. Despite all the reactions, however, even Amber began to pick up on why Layla and Blake had become quiet. The uneasiness in the air just continued to grow stronger the longer they stayed. It felt as if it could suffocate them at any moment.
"Oh goodie! You're all still alive! Congratulations!" Sebastian yelled as it popped out of nowhere. Layla fell back with a scream of surprise, Amber screamed and activated her aura defensively for them both, and Blake screamed while throwing a straight punch at Sebastian enveloped with an aura gauntlet. Sebastian dodged the attack seamlessly as it disappeared and reappeared without a moment's hesitation, laughing all the while.
"Why in the name of all that is hella holy is it that you love to do that so damn FREAKING MUCH?!" Blake lashed out in a rush of irritation and fury.
"Why, to keep you on your tippy-toes, of course," the Ire smirked, "Anyway, my master has asked of me to relay the following message: return to your homes to rest. I will meet with you tomorrow at the place where this all began." The sudden message caught Blake off-guard. Go home? Rest? After everything they just went through?
"Stop playing games, you stupid Ire," Amber spat, relinquishing her aura, "What do you mean by that? He wants us to do this another day? After we did so much just to even see him? Are you kidding?"
"My master is human, dear Amber," Sebastian replied calmly, "He would hate to see his guests greet him with exhaustion and fatigue. Rest assured, he will meet you tomorrow at the building like how you met with me. There will be no tricks or trials this time around. He had made sure that I will also not harm a single human for... incentive, else I be destroyed by his wrath." Amber took a quiet note that Sebastian was actually showing signs of fear, something she didn't expect from mindless bloodthirsty killers of humankind. Then again, Sebastian also happened to be the first sentient Ire that even veteran Blake had ever seen, so she didn't find this to be all that surprising anymore. Without any other words to express, Sebastian took a bow and disappeared from sight just as fast as he had appeared, leaving all three weary teenage girls standing alone in an eerily empty meadow.

They eventually returned to their separate homes to contemplate the days events and returned to school the next day. After calming crowds of students just wanting to talk to them and be popular, they each went about the school day as normal. There was only one thing missing out of the seemingly ordinary day - Daniel was absent. Cor Fortium's Gentleman was nowhere to be seen, and even his fangirls seemed quite upset about that. Although, Blake heard a few rumors that Daniel had disappeared from home from the last few days. His mother and father had apparently been searching for their son to no avail. This left a bad taste in her mouth, but Blake dismissed the feeling. At the moment she had other things to think about, especially what was going to happen after school. The three girls discussed during lunch that they were going to go back to the building ruins as Sebastian had told them previously. The incident with Janice was not repeated, as Sebastian had promised, so they could only assume that whoever was its master would most likely be present as well.
"I mean, it's just... I feel like this is a complete set-up for us," Layla was saying as the three made their way to the building after school. They were discussing their most recent events and why this was all happening. A few theories came up that were not that far-fetched; Melody having an accomplice doing more dirty work for her while she sat in jail, as an example. There were also thoughts that this was just an elaborate trap set by Sebastian who made the entire thing up just to destroy them. Even the thought of them in a state of illusion upon entering the area was a theory they talked about.
"Well, I'd rather confront this head on," Amber said, smirking proudly, "We've fought so many Ires before and still won against the odds, so we should be fine."
"I would like for us not to be so rash, though," Layla countered quietly, "We should approach with caution, at the very least. You never know when Sebastian would appear again." At the mention of the Ire, Blake's hairs stood on end. Just the mere mention of its name name her uneasy. Usually when she fought, she could predict an Ire's attack pattern and movements due to her experience with fighting them for so long. With Sebastian... it was a completely different story. It had the capabilities of teleportation, intelligence, analytical skills, as well as the ability to register and learn what human emotions were and their applications. A sentient Ire with this much intelligence would mean that its actions can either be calculated or unpredictable with no signs of differentiation. It was something that make Blake antsy and unusually nervous.
It didn't help that she kept on thinking back to her mess the other day. Her "berserk-mode", although extremely powerful and convenient in a pinch, meant that she would be blanked out in a state of blood lust, trying to destroy things indiscriminately. When she arrived home that night, she immediately called Maria and Ryne to discuss it, and their answers did not sit well with her at all.
"Hm, Maria did mention that I was like that at one point," Ryne had said in a serious manner, something Blake wasn't used to, "I would have red eyes and go on a killing spree and not stop until I was finished. We talked about it before, and it seems to be something out of our control. As Knights, that berserk mode is like our last resort; if our Guardian is in danger and we've exhausted all of our strength, that mode will trigger automatically. It's dangerous, so it would be best to constantly watch yourself."
"I see. And there's no way for me to stop it when it starts, is there?" Blake asked morosely. Silence on the other line gave her an answer. So I'm that dangerous, huh, she thought. Sure, the berserk mode worked wonders when they were in trouble, but the risk it presented itself that day was not worth it just as Ryne had implied. To hold that much power for the risk of taking the lives of innocents was something Blake would rather avoid; how to do just that was a whole other matter that she couldn't stop wondering about. But if the trigger is having Amber in danger with me fully fatigued and exhausted, Blake convinced herself, I should be fine if I manage to hold my strength long enough.
"That is, just enough for Layla to keep her armor and weapon," she finished her thoughts aloud, reminding herself of the two she wanted to protect.
"Blake? Did you say something just now?" Layla turned her attention to Blake as they approached the abandoned building ruins.Blake shook her head, putting away her thoughts. Now wasn't the time for that.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it," Blake replied nonchalantly, flashing a quick smile. Layla brushed it off, but she knew what Blake just did.

That was a mask, a front to hide her thoughts from her and Amber. A way to dismiss the topic completely, and a way to signal for her not to mention it again.