"I'm really sorry, I thought you--"

"You can't go! You really can't!" Idrena was grasping at my coat hem, her face a wreck as she sobbed and groveled to me. The rest of the group were trying to look away, clearly embarrassed.

"This was decided upon a long time ago, Skip," I said. In truth, I liked her--she was like a little sister to me--but I was going back home, since my Visa had finally given up the ghost. It was hard for me, too, but I had to be the adult here and accept there wasn't anything I could do.

Idrena, however, seemed to have other things in mind. "I can't go on without you, Adrel. I need you with me. Please."

"I really can't, Skip. I'm sorry."

"Then I have to do this." She pulled out a shimmery red pendant from under her blouse, and instantly Kara and Utena coiled up.

"Idrena, you can't!" Kara said. "It's not worth it."

"Where did you even find one of those?!" Utena asked.

"One of what?" I asked. Clearly I was a few steps behind in this whole situation.

"It's a Stone of the Unseen Servant," Utena explained to me. "If she smashes that stone, she'll become a Servant. Perfectly obedient, perfectly effective--"

"And non-existent to everyone but their master," Kara concluded.

I goggled. "Why would she... why would anyone--?!"

"Why do you think?" Kara replied.

Oh. Oh lord above and below.

"Skip," I said slowly, "you've meant more to me than I can express these past few months. But this..." I shook my head. "There are better ways to stay in touch, kiddo. Better ways to show your love for me."

She smiled, and there was something of a darkness in it. "I know. But that's not why I'm doing it. It's for me." Then she held out the Stone and tossed it to the ground, like spiking a football.

The Stone shattered, filling the room with a red mist. I coughed and choked against the fog, and I couldn't see anybody else in the room. A hollow ringing filled the air, until at last I could hear Kara saying, "That was a great meeting, everyone! Say goodbye to Adrel, and for the rest, we'll see you next week!"

I looked around me; we were still in the meeting, or rather concluding the meeting. Where before it had been simply the four of us, now there were about six or seven chatting and wrapping up the discussion. And there, next to me, was Idrena, with absolutely nothing to say.

I watched the others, but none of them so much as recognized that she was there. One, a blue-haired girl I didn't know, walked straight through her without even bumping into her. I gasped at the edge of breath, "What have you done?"

She shrugged. "I'm gone now."