Pre-Gunnerkrigg Years[]
Annie as a child, back when she "still knew how to act like a kid."
For most of her childhood, Antimony Carver lived in Good Hope Hospital, where her father was a surgeon and her mother, who had fallen ill soon after Annie’s birth, was a patient. Her mother Surma took responsibility for Annie's education while at the hospital, and taught her all that she could. It was at Good Hope that Annie, around the age of 6 or 7[1] first encountered the psychopomps, spirit guides who conduct the souls of the dead to the afterlife. At first, Annie would just accompany her new friends on their visits to patients, but eventually, with her mother's guidance, she would help them in resolving disputes and other difficulties.
It was while exploring the hospital that Annie learned to pick locks, and was probably also
when she got into the habit of being on her own and self-sufficient. Her maturity beyond her years may be attributed to the countless hours she spent in conversation with the psychopomps, while no time passed in the physical world. Although she was very close to her mother, the closeness of her relationship to her father is unknown, and she had no friends her own age. When her mother died, no psychopomps appeared to take her into the aether, forcing Annie to do it herself. This traumatic experience likely resulted in her somewhat cold and curt manner toward the guides of the dead.
After Surma passed away, Annie, in accordance with her mother's wishes, was sent to Gunnerkrigg Court.
At Gunnerkrigg Court[]
Year 7[]
Annie arrived at Gunnerkrigg Court about halfway through Year 7, and was placed in the North class of Queslett House. Almost immediately upon arrival, strange things begin to happen: During her first year, she acquires a second shadow; befriends a robot, a minotaur, a ghost, and suicidal fairies; gains control of a body-stealing demon; helps a couple of telepathic girls; falls into a river; infiltrates a robot facility; makes the acquaintance of a trickster god and his grumpy wolf-tree lieutenant; and she also helps her friend Katerina Donlan navigate her crush on a boy who later turns into a bird.
Year 8[]
Her second year starts off no less eventfully. After a tearful reunion with Kat and some disappointment that her father never contacted her, the girls go to an assembly for the students. The fairies Annie encountered previously (privately called Red and Blue by the girls) are now human students in the Court, but they are no longer friends. Annie and Kat agree to help Red, who believes that all she needs to do is make her hair awesome again to fix things. The girls believe there is a deeper problem, but are proved incorrect when friendship (or at least the closest the former fairies can get to it) is instantly rekindled upon the revelation of Red's new haircut. Soon after, Annie introduces Kat to a psychopomp and describes how she originally got involved with the soul conveyors. She also tells the story of her first time helping a trapped spirit, a boy named Martin who did not realize that he had died and was worried that his parents would be angry that he had started the fire that had consumed his home. She regrets that she could not help the ghost of the Annan Waters the same way she helped Martin. She reveals that her mother once told her that she would never send her into danger, which she takes great comfort from even now.
Beginning of Medium Training[]
Kat is working on a physics project while Annie secretly copies her answers when Jones comes to begin Annie’s training as a medium between the forest and the Court. Jones questions Annie on what Coyote said to her at the end of his visit, then warns her that while Coyote does not lie, he is still dangerous. She then proceeds to discuss Annie’s parents in a blatant attempt to anger her so as to determine her response. The two then discuss the origins of the Court while watching Mr. Eglamore spar with her fellow medium-in-training George Parley, and then Annie watches Jones very easily beat Eglamore in a similar duel.
Antimony/Annie accompanies Kat when the other girl asks her mother if there is a space she can claim as her own lab. Anja gives them the key to her old unit located further inside the court. Before journeying there, the girls discuss Jones and Mr. Eglamore in Kat's room. While they are in the train station, older children harass Antimony for carrying around her "teddy." In a fit of slight temper, Antimony allows Reynardine to show them that is much more than a simple stuffed animal. When questioned by Kat about whether that was a good idea, Antimony replies smugly that she doesn't care. Upon reaching the unit, Antimony picks up Robot in his temporary mouse body, as he traveled here separately with Shadow 2. The group then goes inside and discovers a locked trapped door. After counseling Reynardine on the proper way to pick a lock (instead of his favored method of smashing the lock with the absorbed lockpicks), she descends with Kat and the others, providing light with her blinker stone. After finding flood lights to illuminate a bright room, Antimony heads back up the passageway to plug them in. She races back after hearing Kat's shriek, only to find that her friend is ecstatic after finding elaborately and beautifully designed robots. As Kat dismantles a bot to discover how it works, Antimony has a picnic lunch. She suggests that Kat simply plug Robot's CPU into a similar unit, despite the fact that her friend can find no evidence that the robots ever worked at all. All involved are stunned when the robot springs to life and brandishes its sword. She is pushed back by Reynardine when a colossal robo-beast climbs out of the darkness to do battle with Robot. Kat and Reynardine express their confusion at the scripted nature of the fight. After the show is complete, Robot slashes through a wall with his sword and reveals a passageway to a shrine to the woman haunting the Annan Waters, her name revealed to be Jeanne. Antimony and Kat discuss the significance of this shrine with Reynardine. He states flatly that the creator of the shrine and the robots outside was a coward, one who the beautiful woman in the painting the shrine is centered around could never love. Kat dislikes this sentiment, but Antimony can't dismiss it as foolish and cruel quite as easily as her friend does.does.
Power Station[]
A few nights later, Antimony and Kat sneak out with several of their yearmates to explore in the Court, namely some sort of power plant in the middle of a lake. They are led there by a boy named Jack. After arriving at their destination, the group's discussion is interrupted by the arrival of the two telepathic girls she’d met earlier, Zeta (better known as Zimmy) and Gamma Czarnecki, who at first do not realize that they are real and not figments of Zimmy's mind. Antimony calms a distressed Zimmy as best she can and learns that the plant is causing Zimmy's curse to be even more vicious. Zimmy, in a fit of spite and jealousy, tells the Polish-speaking Gamma telepathically that the others think she is stupid and ugly. Antimony is quick to correct her in this, explaining that Margo had actually been complimenting her. They all then witness the plant drain the lake and fire a beam of energy of into the distance. It then begins pouring rain. While the others are mostly amused, Zimmy is frantically enraged that the rain does not have its usual cleansing effect, and she drags Antimony and Jack Hyland into her hellish mind. Antimony appears directly beside Zimmy and demands that they find Kat even before the find Gamma, who can free them. Zimmy reluctantly agrees, but only if Antimony uses her ability which is much like Gamma's (if less effective) to drive away the figment's of Zimmy's mind. Kat finds them after Antimony makes a careless remark and has to restrain a distraught Zimmy. Satisfied that her friend is okay, Antimony escorts Zimmy to Gamma in an abandoned store. However, Gamma reveals that Kat never entered Zimmy's mind, and destroys the false Kat, much to Antimony's horror. This ends their imprisonment, however, and they return to the real world. Antimony shakes off her distress relatively quickly after Zimmy informs her that the horrors are only as real as she let's them be and she confirms that Kat is alright. While Antimony is busy with this, Jack grabs Zimmy, a look of horror on his face. He apparently was dragged in as well, and came out the worse for it.
Acceptance of Coyote's Invitation[]
Having been given permission (or rather the freedom to make her own choices) by Jones, Antimony prepares to make a trip into the forest to meet with Coyote. As she dons her formal attire, she chastises Reynardine for allowing his doll body to get so dirty, as it was a gift from her mother. After accepting well wishes from Kat, she tells Reynardine to follow Kat's orders (her first being that he will have to be bathed), and departs to meet with Jones and Eglamore. Eglamore is reluctant to let her leave the safety of the Court without any armor, and when she firmly rejects the idea, he insists that she must at least switch her uniform's tie out for a clip on so as not to have a literal noose around her neck. Jones dryly points out that it might not be appropriate for him to be undressing a student, and he is deeply embarrassed, fleeing the room with enough force to break the doorknob off the door. Jones advises Antimony to ask Coyote any questions she has about the Court, then escorts her to the gate leading out of the Court. Eglamore, now in full ceremonial dress as Protector of the Court. As they cross the bridge, he gives Antimony a small beacon stick, which if snapped will alert him that she is in danger. He will then be able to locate her and be at her side in five seconds or less. At the edge of the forest, Ysengrin flatly refuses to allow Eglamore to enter with them. The man questions Antimony as to whether she is comfortable with that, which she confirms. Ysengrin proceeds to sneer and taunt Eglamore about taking orders from her. Antimony quickly cuts him back down to size by ordering him to bring her to Coyote, much to the amusement of Eglamore.
Antimony is then escorted through the forest to the side of a river, seeing numerous shadowmen along the way. Shortly after taking a seat, Coyote reveals himself in fantastic display of illusion and power, creating a massive body out of natural aspects such as the sun, the moon, and the forest itself. Antimony expresses her delight at the show, and Coyote then asks what she knows of him. She admits that while she knows many tales from her mother, but she believed them simply to be stories. He asks which was her favorite and boastfully tells it again, before recognizing that Antimony has been distracted by memories of her mother. In a rare moment of seriousness, he expresses his own similar sentiments of grief. After thanking him, Antimony questions how he came to be so far from home (North America). He explains that he came because he heard of two canine spirits who were living in Europe, one being a trickster much like himself. After finding them, they traveled to Gillitie Woods. While the place was magnificent, the humans and creatures had already begun to fight, and Coyote created the chasm between the two with his claws. Antimony expresses surprise that he is truly powerful enough to do such a thing, and as proof he pulls the moon out of the sky. Antimony pokes it to confirm it is not just an illusion. Coyote then swallows the moon and it reappears in the sky. Antimony questions the reality of the experience, at which Coyote grins and says that it must, since she experienced it. They then discuss how the bridge over the Annan Waters came to be, namely because some humans wish to leave the Court to enter the forest as new beings by means of the Test. The conversation then turns to Reynardine and Coyote's interest in him. Antimony learns that Reynardine loved her mother and, after receiving the power to do so from Coyote, possessed a human so as to woo her, essentially killing the man. Coyote laments at the imperfections in his gifts. such as Reynardine's possession killing the host and Ysengrin's weakened body due to his control of the forest's trees.
When Antimony tries to question him further, he laughs and insists he can't tell her everything at once. He dismisses her with an invitation to return again, then has Ysengrin escort her back to the forest edge. Upon returning to the Court, Antimony takes Kat to an observatory and asks her to check if anything odd has happened to the moon that night. Kat finds no records of any peculiar events, but is dumbfounded when she looks through the telescope and sees a massive finger print pressed into the dust of the moon. Antimony grins guiltily and says that she might need to explain a few things.
Mort and the Blinker Stone[]
A few days later, Antimony is helping Kat set up her lab. Kat is unhappy that Antimony and Reynardine are now awkward around each other, due to the fact that Antimony now knows about his past. Anja Donlan then arrives to see how their doing, and offers to help Antimony learn how to use her blinker stone. Antimony gains the ability to find her blinker stone and summon it instantaneously into her hand no matter the difference, and it is discovered that she is naturally gifted at looking at the world through the ether. Antimony then questions Anja on whether she is a magician, due to her binding of Reynardine and skill with blinker stones. Anja explains that magic (or etheric science, as the Court calls it) is a force that not only is currently unexplainable by science, it is something that can never be explained. For example, a blinker stone is a common crystal. Examined closely, there is nothing special about it, even when in use. As such, despite its effectiveness when combined with new technology, it is frowned on by the Court. Antimony grows bored when Kat and Anja begin discuss technicalities of the combined magic-computer system that the Donlans use and decides to explore some more in her etheric form by means of her blinker stone. When she attempts to pet a napping Reynardine in this form, he gives her a shock by letting his own etheric form of a glowing fox pop out of his body. He tells her with a grin that it is not wise to spy on other etheric beings with a blinker stone, as they will likely sense you. Shaken, Antimony falls back into her body. After a moment to recover, she asks about the symbol that triggers the program to trap Reynardine. Anja explains that is simply an expansion of symbols being used to ward of evil that has been used by humans for the entirety of their existence. She then asks Antimony who gave her the blinker stone, correctly guessing that it was a boy. Surprised, Antimony asks her how she knew and is informed that blinker stones are gift between couples. Antimony is less than pleased by this, and takes Kat to confront Mort. She believes that Mort was secretly trying to claim and control her, yelling at the child ghost. Kat is stunned at her reaction and berates her for so rudely returning the gift, especially one from a boy who likes her. Antimony angrily says that Mort is not a boy, he is just a ghost. Mort appears and quietly explains that he wasn't the one who really wanted to give Antimony the stone. Muut, the owl-headed psychopomp, was not allowed to meddle in mortal affairs and circumvented this rule by giving Mort the stone to give to Antimony. Confused, she questions him on why a blinker stone would be something the guide wanted her to have. Mort shrugs and asks how someone who is "just a ghost" would know before disappearing, leaving her blinker stone float in midair. Antimony, realizing how mean she has been, tries to apologize, but Kat suggests that he probably doesn't want to hear it right at that moment.
Antimony decides that she needs to question Muut directly. She and Kat go to a lab and kill an ant to summon Ketrak, the psychopomp for insects. She then asks him to fetch Muut for her. The guide appears and chastises her for wasting a life, to which she retorts that if she had a better way then he should tell her. She asks why he would bend the rules, something he normally would not do. He informs her that the Ghost of the Annan Waters is a trapped spirit that the guides have had no luck helping. Knowing of Antimony's skill at guiding such spirits and her desire to help everyone, the psychopomp took advantage of this. He proven correct when Antimony tells him that they have discovered her name, which the guides did not even know. Annoyed that he did not simply ask for her help, he questions whether she would have agreed to a request from them. She does not respond to the question, angrily looking away. Then she asks again why he gave her a blinker stone. He explains that it was a good first step for her to begin entering the etheric world so as to act as an anchor for Jeanne. He prepares to depart when Kat asks why Antimony is so angry with the guides, and after confirmation from Antimony, Muut explains that when Surma died, none of the guides came for her. Antimony had to take her into the ether herself. Kat boldly walks up to the tall and well-muscled guide and punches him. Antimony thanks her for her support, then asks Muut to deliver an apology note to Mort for her.
Medium Training[]
She continues her training as a medium with Parley and Andrew under Jones' tutelage. However, simulations are made much easier by the fact that Andrew's ability automatically completes them after they've barely started. After one such easy win, the three trainees change out of their training clothes and don their uniforms. Antimony finds Andrew in the hall and questions why he allows Parley to treat him so roughly. He admits that he finds her very attractive. Reynardine and Antimony are amused by his forwardness, and tease him when he refuses to believe that Parley likes him as well. The three trainees and Reynardine then join Jones back in the simulator and view an artistic interpretation the birth of the Court from the Seed Bismuth. When Jones mentions Diego, Antimony's curiosity is peaked and she asks whether a woman named Jeanne was present. Jones says that there is no record of her and questions Antimony reason for asking. She hurriedly deflects the inquiry by making one of her own, asking for the identity of the massive man who reminds her greatly of the robo-beast in the outer chamber of Diego's shrine. Jones continues to give names of the humans involved, while not-so-subtly giving Andrew the chocolates and a few roses from the bouquet the simulation tech gave her. She then shoves the boy into Parley, who snaps at him. However, when she recognizes his nervous stammering for romantic embarrassment, she quiets and the whole group suddenly vanishes to reappear...in Parley's bedroom. Her psychic ability was triggered by her sudden surge of emotion, and combined with Andrew's ability to create order, they were brought to the exact place Parley wished to be in that moment (much to her embarrassment). Shrieking, she drives them all out of the room, but briefly comes back out to snatch the flowers and chocolate from a stunned Andrew. Antimony and Jones walk away from the dumbfounded boy, and Antimony asks if Jones arranged for the tech to give her the flowers specifically so she could arrange the event. Jones flatly states that the lab tech is in madly in love with her. Reynardine grins at her "modesty." Jones then questions Antimony again about her interest in the apparently non-existent woman known as Jeanne. She reluctantly begins to explain, before Jones stops her and asks that she get the whole story. She then departs.
Reynardine and Antimony walk towards their next destination, discussing Parley and Andrew's romance as well as Antimony's explosive reaction when she thought Mort had tricked her. Reynard gleefully comments that she has a fire in her, one that belonged to her mother. This creates a brief moment of awkwardness before Antimony pushes on and asks him what he knows about Jones. They are interrupted by Jack Hyland, the boy who was dragged into Zimmy's mind during the late night outing. He starts out talking to Antimony pleasantly enough, but begins to aggressively question her about Zimmy. Reynardine transforms into a massive snarling wolf and drives the boy away.
Camping Trip[]
Soon after, Kat and Antimony's class are taken on a camping trip in a large park in the Court. While on the train there, Antimony converse with Reynardine through her blinker stone, as he was left behind. Upon arrival, the two cheery groundskeepers Bob and Marcia Sutton greet the students before riding off on a quad bike, calling back that walking is just as fun. A long time after that, the students arrive near the campsite to find Mr. Eglamore chopping wood, much to Kat's delight. Paz, a student who speaks to animals, is delighted to see a cow, only to be disappointed when it is revealed to be a robot cow. The group then moves to the tents in the trees beyond. Antimony spots Jack wandering around the site, and he grins eerily at her. After choosing a tent and leaving their stuff, Kat and Antimony discuss his unsurprising but unpleasant presence. Kat promises to defend Antimony. She then asks whether the park is anything like the forest, and Antimony replies that there are very few similarities. The forest is particularly wild, while the park is almost flawlessly neat, save for a clump of very overgrown grass that covers a monument to the first Protector of the Court and his Orjak. Bob the groundskeeper then reveals he has met Kat and Antimony before in the decontamination habitat with the cherry tree (a rather embarrassing moment for Antimony). He explains that the habitats are used to sever connections between samples of plants from Gillitie Woods and the magic of the forest. As an example, he shows them a bound dog (likely one who attacked the court while Kat and Antimony's parents attended the school) and the wooden arm that Ysengrin grew in place of Robot's missing one.
That night, the adults retreat into the main house, leaving the students out in the cold. When they attempt to start a fire, the laser cows immediately extinguish their attempts. Antimony uses her blinker stone to start a fire that does not register to the cows, but provides warmth to her fellows. She then returns to her tent
In the morning, an annoyingly cheerful Eglamore wakes the students. Antimony's blinker stone is missing, and when she searches for it with her mind, she discovers that Jack has stolen it. She examines him while in her etheric form and sees a white spider beginning to weave a small web on the boy. While he cannot see her, he does sense her presence, and she quickly takes the stone from his grasp. She warns Kat to stay away from him.
Later, after an archery contest, Bob and Eglamore are called away on an emergency, leaving a reluctant Marcia to deal with the kids. She whispers about a ghost to Bob, who apologetically says that they will be back as soon as they can. Marcia remains worried until she sees that William Winsbury and Janet Llanwellyn have purposely shot a tree in the archery contest. Furious, she commands all the students except Janet to return to the tents while Janet cleans up the mess. However, the girl never returns. Kat and William question Marcia, but she is not particularly forthcoming. When discussing this with Antimony, Kat becomes angry when she sees Jack fiddling with a downed laser cow. However, he was simply removing a rock from its joint. Despite his good deed, he goes on to insult Antimony, infuriating Kat. Antimony holds her back and they return to the tent. His words have had an effect. Kat is frustrated when a fellow student asks her if Antimony can start another fire despite both of them being present, and Antimony worries that she is keeping Kat from having friends by being so socially restrained. They decide that they will join their classmates around the fire. However, throughout the night, six more students disappear. Antimony is disinclined to believe that this is the work of a ghost and instead deduces that the adults are playing a prank. She asks Kat to hold her blinker stone and allow herself to be captured, which Kat delightedly agrees to. After Kat is captured by a tree creature, Antimony uses her stone to look at the room where she is held with several other students, then creates illusory words to instruct Kat about her plan.
A short time later, a student pounds on the door of the house, telling Marcia that Antimony tried to attack the ghost and accidentally set the trees on fire. The woman rushes out in a panic and calls Eglamore and Bob back to help her. However, when the adults reach the sight of the fire, Antimony reveals that the fire is an illusion and that the trees are fine. She calmly asks for confirmation of her suspicions that Marcia is dryad and that the adults were playing a prank. After they admit to her being correct, the ask why she made them come all they way out to the monument. She matter-of-factly informs them that it was so the students could take over the house. Kat has covered the tree in the house with a tarp, making it impossible for Marcia to reenter the house that way. After walking back to the house, Jack allows Antimony to enter, but has the laser cows formed in a circular perimeter around the house. He directs them to create a laser grid that keeps the adults out, and the students cheerfully inform them of the location of the tents while they go inside to eat and sleep. The Suttons take it with good humor, although Eglamore does not appear amused.
Sky Watcher and the Angel[]
After returning to the school, Antimony and Kat are discussing the awkwardness that remains between Andrew and Parley when the king of the Court robots arrives in full fanfare, having been summoned by Sky Watcher after the small robot visits the Diego's shrine to Jeanne. The King demands to enter the "tomb." After confirming the authenticity of the shrine he comes out having drawn a sad face on his faceplate. He then implores Kat to help the robots solve a major problem, asking her to follow him. Antimony follows as well, and after spotting a depiction of one of the tic-toc birds, questions a courtier on its meaning. The robot informs her that the birds are a technology created by some divine being long before the creation of the court, not more creations of Diego as Kat hypothesized. After entering the robot sections of the Court, Antimony smiles and waves to the helpful Administratorbot who guided her to Robot's CPU. He is quite clearly confused, not recognizing her when she is not wearing her extremely high quality robot disguise.
Robot King then leads them into a non-robotic room filled with books and papers. He explains that, prior to the discovery of the tomb, this was the only collection of Diego's original works. The most prized of these possessions is a tiny robot who has a still-intact recording of several key events in Diego's life. It is revealed that, as Reynardine predicted, Diego loved Jeanne unrequitedly. She had been separated from her tree elf lover by the chasm and the Annan Waters, and flies into a rage when Diego suggests that he might replace the elf. She destroys all of the tiny robots Diego has created for her, declaring her hatred for the man. Hurt, Diego worked with Sir Young, the first Court Protector, to make the Annan Waters completely unable to be crossed. However, this required a sacrifice, and Diego required it to be Jeanne. She is restrained and lowered into the chasm. Several hours later, her former friend Steadman shoots an arrow created specially by Diego down into the chasm, apparently killing her. Sir Young then commands all records of Jeanne and the plan to be destroyed.
The final scene shown is Diego on his death bed. He places blame on Young for his actions, and mournfully recalls Jeanne's death, alone and waiting when she died while he did nothing (a phrase repeated by all robots when questioned about Jeanne). His last act is to call to his children, and a robot reaches out to comfort him. There is no response, and the record ends.
The Robot King turns to Kat and asks for her help interpreting these records. Both Kat and Antimony are deeply horrified at the actions Diego took. They spend several minutes weeping at his treachery before Kat tells the robots that Diego was not a good person and that love makes people act in ways no one can imagine.
Return to the Forest[]
Some time afterwards, Antimony takes another trip into the forest. For the first time, she uses her blinker stone on her own to create the sigil in the sky, although it comes out a bit misshapen. Despite this, what appears to be some kind of goblin shows up to take her to Coyote, sycophantically kissing up Antimony's arm till he meets the blade of a very annoyed Eglamore. He is unwilling to let Antimony enter the forest with an unrecognized entity. However, the goblin subtly reveals to Antimony that he is, in fact, Coyote. She hurriedly agrees to go with him and drags the creature away from Eglamore and into the forest.
Once safely into the woods, she questions Coyote as to why he came to fetch her himself instead of having Ysengrin fetch her as usual. He tells her to simply be quiet and watch through some bushes. They see Ysengrin use one of his arms like a harpoon to pull a fish from the lake. After landing the meal, his wolf body separates from his massive wooden one. He is revealed to be highly emaciated and lacking much fur beyond that on his face and head. He is exhausted by the simply action of walking to the fish and basically collapses to the ground. Antimony scolds Coyote for making fun of Ysengrin and having her watch what is obviously a painful secret for Ysengrin. Coyote chuckles, then tells her to stand her ground and shoves her out of the bushes. Ysengrin, mortified and enraged that she has witnessed him in this state, snarls and snaps at her as her rejoins with his wooden body. Not knowing that she has come to the forest officially, he accuses her of trespassing and spying. However, Coyote then appears and pretends he had nothing to do with the situation, instead chastising Ysengrin for not bringing Antimony to him directly. Even after leaving Ysengrin with Antimony on his back, Coyote refuses to acknowledge his role. Before she can really lay into him, they arrive at their destination: a hollow in the roots of a tree holding Reynardine's original body. Coyote preserved it, keeping it forever young and healthy should he wish to return to it. Antimony mentally notes that he did not do the same for Ysengrin, who has now caught up. Coyote then directs her in a blinker stone exercise to view himself and Ysengrin in their etheric forms. Antimony comments on Ysengrin's particular beauty in this form. Then she looks at Reynardine's body and sees that it is as cold and gray as dead thing. Coyote comments that this is what much of the Court looks like, and that it must be terribly depressing for Reynardine and Antimony. Although Antimony denies it, it is clear she came to the forest to escape from Diego's disturbing act of revenge. Coyote laughingly asks if it has something to do with the cut on her cheek left by Jeanne's rapier on her ethereal form, something she had not noticed before. Coyote then teaches her how to affect physical things with her etheric form, having her pick a flower, which she quickly drops due to exhaustion. Coyote says that one day she will be able to fly in her physical body with this talent, but for now she needed rest. He insists that Ysengrin take her back. For a few moments they travel in silence. Antimony then apologizes for intruding. Ysengrin tells her never to apologize for things she had no control over, having realized that Coyote manipulated them both. Moments later, Coyote appears again and dismisses Ysengrin so that he can escort Antimony himself.
Antimony expresses her displeasure once again, although Coyote brushes it off as always, saying that what she saw was important. She had seen Ysengrin as others saw him (the powerful man-shaped body), Ysengrin as he saw himself (the weak wolf), and Ysengrin as he truly was (the beautiful etheric form). He tells her to keep the real Ysengrin in mind, but before she can ask which he means, he blurts out that he has an apology gift for her. He then snaps a tooth out of his mouth and places it in the hand of a highly disturbed Antimony. It transforms into a blade that Coyote says could slice through the earth itself. Antimony is more worried abot his missing tooth. He looks around, selects a tooth-sized pebble, and creates a new one before taking the form of the goblin from before. He takes Antimony back to Eglamore, who is still annoyed at the creature's behavior. As the two humans cross the bridge, Antimony asks when she might start learning how to wield a sword.
Upon her return, she asks Reynardine if he can howl due to his wolf body. He informs her that a fox call is much more glorious, and demonstrates a blood-curdling squeal accompanied by a very distressing face. Antimony is clearly disturbed.
Jack's Return[]
One day, while walking to class with Kat, a commotion draws their attention and Jack Hyland suddenly leaps down some stairs to fall at their feet. Upon recognizing Antimony, he grins and hands her a note before continuing his headlong flight by leaping out a window. Moments later, two security guards. While one is clearly frustrated at their near miss, the other cheerfully informs the crowd of students that this was nothing to cause concern before both walk back the way they came. The students immediately begin chattering about Jack's appearance, since he has apparently been missing for a significant amount of time. Antimony decides to open the note from him in the privacy of her room, much to the disappointment of the others.
After finishing for the day and changing out of their uniforms, Kat and Antimony open the note with Reynardine. Jack has requested that Antimony return to the building on the lake near the power plant, bringing only Reynardine with her. Kat is less than pleased with this plan, and Reynardine has to agree with her, reminding them that Jack has been tainted by "that demon girl." Antimony chides him for calling Zimmy a demon, but when Kat flatly agrees with him, Antimony reluctantly does as well. However, she feels like she should have been helping Jack instead of avoiding him. While Kat would rather leave him to deal with on his own, she relents, warning Reynardine that she will turn him into a football if Antimony is hurt. He retorts that the only one getting hurt tonight will be Jack if he makes one wrong move. They then not-so-subtly suggest that there would be no need to worry for her safety if she would stop meddling so much in business that was not hers. Antimony glares at them.
After donning some clothes better suited for sneaking around, Antimony ventures out of her dorm with Reynardine. As they travel, they discuss Kat's new bitter outlook of the world since the revelation of Diego's misdeeds. Reynardine suggests that she just needs time. Kat is a kind-hearted girl, but strong, and will recover given the opportunity. They locate Jack who has built a makeshift bridge from a window over the top of the wall surrounding the lake. Without explaining his plan, he leads Antimony and Reynardine down to the shore and prepares to launch an inflatable raft onto the lake. Antimony is reluctant to join him, but he explains that it is the only way to get to the power plant in the center of the lake. Antimony questions why he would want to go there and why her presence is necessary. He explains that he is determined to find out what happened the night he was pulled into Zimmy's mind. He is unable to locate Zimmy, so he sees the plant as his only remaining option. As for Antimony's presence, she is the only other person he knows who had a similar experience. He saw Antimony and Zimmy walking when they were looking for Gamma, and tried to call out, but was unheard. Still nervous but believing his story, she gets in the boat. She asks what exactly Jack saw in Zimmy's mind, and after a brief attempt to explain, he gives up. Reynardine says that it must be difficult to see the world through Zimmy's eyes. Jack surprises the other two by referring to Reynardine by name. Apparently he has hacked the school computers and looked at all records available in his attempt to find Zimmy. He also discovered that the Court puts trackers in the food they are served, so he has not eaten since learning this. Antimony suggests that it would make more sense to put the trackers in their Court-provided clothes, but when he begins to consider shucking all his clothes, Reynardine warns him against such foolishness.
Weak from lack of food and likely from previous exhaustion, Jack struggles to continue rowing. Antimony takes her etheric form and demonstrates her enhanced ability to interact with the physical world, pushing the boat along at great speed. Jack reveals that he can now see her in this form, something he was previously incapable of. The etheric spider Antimony noticed before is now much bigger and has built significant webs on Jack's body.
After they reach the island, they sneak inside the plant. When they come across a robotic guard, Jack brutally smashes it. Antimony is horrified, but when she stops to see if she can help it, he coldly states that it was just a robot. He then proceeds to set up motion sensors on a wall to warn him if someone comes towards them. They locate the control room, but the door is locked. Antimony stops Jack as he searches for a heavy object, stating bitterly that he needn't smash anything else. She reaches through the door with her etheric form and presses the door release, to the delight of Jack. They go inside, and Jack begins working on a computer while Antimony and Reynardine look around. Reynardine is particularly confused about the purpose of the building. Antimony figures out that the station is an ether collector and purifier, which Jack confirms. Reynardine is horrified and a questions the reason behind this. When Antimony asks Jack if he's found an answer in the computer, he responds that he wasn't look for information. He was trying to start the station up to draw Zimmy out of hiding. However, when the station starts, alarms go off and it becomes clear that security will be on the scene very soon, having tracked Antimony when they couldn't find Jack. Antimony tries to convince Jack to let them help him, but he ignores her, and Reynardine says that they must leave him. As all three flee, Jack pauses and activates a device. His "motion sensors" are actually placed specifically to form a symbol that binds and hurts Reynardine. He intends to leave Reynardine as a distraction for security, as they've been waiting for him to slip up. He tries to make Antimony abandon Reynardine, but she refuses. Disgusted, he literally flies out an upper story window and disappears. Authorities arrive as Antimony looks helplessly at the convulsing Reynardine.
After a moment's hesitation, Antimony begs the guards for help. After recognizing both Reynardine and the binding symbol, they suggest calling Anja and/or Eglamore, but Antimony hurriedly asks that instead Ms. Jones be called. Before she can even finish the sentence, Jones smashes one of the machines forming the symbol, freeing Reynardine. After rushing to ensure he is okay, Antimony nervously thanks Jones for her help and begins to explain when Jones interrupts, thanking her for her help in locating Jack. The guards applaud Jones on her clever plan. After a moment's confusion, Antimony catches on to Jones deception and awkwardly plays along. They ask whether she knows where Jack has gone, and she directs them to the building on the lake and warns them that Jack can apparently fly now. Jones then has the station manned with technicians who will continue the startup process, wanting to see the outcome of Jack's original plan. She then takes Antimony and Reynardine on to a boat across the lake.
Antimony questions Reynardine on how he feels, and he responds lewdly, convincing her that he has recovered. Satisfied, she updates Jones on Jack's mental state. Despite Antimony's reservations, Jones asks her people to begin charging the station. While the process begins, Jones explains what little she knows about Zimmy to Antimony. Upon reaching the shore, Jones jumps directly over the side into deep water, unwilling to risk her inhuman weight on the rickety dock. She then punches a hole large enough for them to walk through into the wall, which is several feet thick with rebar inside. Antimony cautiously questions her about what she is, and is told that it is not an appropriate time to discuss that. Jones then directs her to continue handling the situation with Jack, holding a hand out towards the door to the roof.
Escape from Zimmyngham[]
Antimony goes through the door and enters directly into Zimmy's mind. Spotting the girl, she tries to speak to her, but Zimmy immediately races away. Turning a corner, Antimony run's into Gamma, who appears to believe that she is simply a very confused Zimmy. However, she knows where Jack is, so they walk together. Gamma chatters away telepathically, still believing that Antimony is Zimmy, and Antimony starts to feel ill and nearly refers to herself as Zimmy. Soon, they find Zimmy standing by a normal-looking Jack. Gamma says that he is not a real person, simply a memory of one. Antimony forces the two apart in a move much like Zimmy, then realizes her actions and apologizes with confusion. As Jack backs away, another Jack covered in spider webs pops out of a darkened doorway and drags the normal one inside. All three girls run after them, emerging in front of a building where multiple Jacks stare out the windows as the spider-webbed Jack tries to convince the normal one to come into the building so that they will be powerful in the real world. Hearing this, Gamma realizes they are in one of Zimmy's illusion and is scared when Antimony tries to pull her inside the spider nest to help Jack. Zimmy snaps at her to leave Gamma alone, as she is obviously terrified. Antimony glares, then runs inside. Gamma runs after her, calling her Zimmy again. Gamma and Zimmy follow Antimony inside and find her trying to convince the normal Jack to escape while the spider Jack lures him closer. The spider has been collecting the memories of Jack to increase it's power, and this is the last one. Suddenly, Antimony sees Gamma clinging to Zimmy. She growls, then throws herself shrieking at Zimmy, her eyes now red and her hair turning black.
Suddenly, it begins to rain, causing the spider Jack to steam. It shouts angrily and tries to grab the normal Jack, but it vanishes before he can succeed. The rain the washes away the rest of the illusion, showing that Antimony and Zimmy got mixed up, believing themselves to be each other. Zimmy turns to Jack, who tries to ask her out. She reaches out to him and crushes the etheric spider on his head. For a moment, he remains on his feet, then collapses. About to walk away, Gamma forces her to talk to Antimony. Zimmy explains that Jack will be fine, he simply hasn't slept since their first encounter on top of his recent days of not eating. She then hesitantly says to tell him that she is sorry for not trying to help him sooner. Antimony says that she will be telling him the same thing herself. She then asks if Zimmy will be alright, since she saw a multitude of similar spiders. Zimmy tells her that normally they a just a minor nuisance, and that Jack was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, that fact that he didn't go completely insane suggests that he has some greater ability. As Zimmy and Gamma depart, Jones and Reynardine approach. Jones says that Jack will not be punished, as he was not in control of himself. She then explains that she had her people return the etheric energy the station had collected to the lake water and then created the rain, since it had calmed Zimmy before. She chides Antimony for not coming to her sooner about Jack, although she admits that part of the difficulty was Zimmy's isolation. She then corrects Antimony's belief that she is not in trouble for her behavior.
After Kat's crisis of faith reaches it's peak and she flees her lab with Robot still trapped in a nonfunctional body, Antimony arrives and tries to comfort Robot, although she is clearly worried herself. However, when Kat returns in a much better mood, Antimony is delighted, especially with her friend's new haircut. However, she is very confused when she is invited to come meet City Face.
Investigating Jeanne[]
Some time later, the girls are attempting to drop Antimony's blinker stone into the chasm between the Woods and the Court so that she may observe Jeanne through it. However, the stone's trajectory always carries it too far out and it lands in the Annan Waters. Since the girls cannot go farther than the foot of the stairs without triggering the alarm, Antimony asks Andrew to throw the stone for them. His ability allows him to make the stone land exactly where it's needed...after striking an unfortunate crow to halt its forward motion, much to the horror of Kat and Andrew. However, Antimony is pleased to be able to begin exploring in her etheric form. She finds Jeanne's remains, and then realises that the ghost is standing behind her. Scared of what the ghost might do, Antimony tries to escape back to her body. However, Jeanne is holding her blinker stone and Antimony is bound to the bottom of the chasm.
Thankfully, back on the steps, Parley has suddenly teleported to where the other three are standing. She is frustrated at this unexpected interruption (having been watching a movie with her friends), and attempts to chide Antimony for being out on the steps. However, as soon as she places her hand on Antimony's shoulder, her etheric form is dragged into the chasm with Antimony's. Jeanne pauses in her assault, seeing the radiant, love-filled heart within Parley's chest. The ghost reaches out and begins to show them images of her life.
Jeanne was a fencer within the Court, but before the chasm was created, she spent a much of her time visiting her elf lover. However, Diego was always disconcertingly near and many members on both sides of the conflict disapproved. Eventually, when Coyote clawed the earth to make the chasm, she and her lover were separated. However, the elf used a hawk to deliver messages, while Jeanne had her friend Steadman shoot arrows across the chasm with her own messages attached. The images then skip forward to when she was lowered into the chasm, and it is revealed that she was not alone by the Annan Waters. Her lover was on the opposite bank, and began to swim across. It is then shown that Steadman fired Diego's arrow not at Jeanne, but at her lover. She watched him die, and her soul was bound by her pain, her hatred, and Diego's arrow to guard the Waters from any who would cross.
Back in the present, Jeanne puts her blade to a tearful Parley's throat, furious that the girl would come before her so happy. She deems it an injustice that Parley should be allowed that while she was murdered with her happiness and love stolen from her, and resolves to take those things from Parley as well. Antimony and Parley throw themselves out of the way of her first slash, and Antimony desperately shouts for Parley to knock the blinker stone away from Jeanne. Parley ducks past the ghost and kicks the stone out of her hand. Antimony grabs it, and both girls shoot back into their bodies. Both collapse and continue weeping, much to the distress of Kat and Andrew. Antimony tells Kat about the unfairness (both done to and by Jeanne) through her sobs. Parley, who has heard nothing of Jeanne up to this point, asks for an explanation. By the end of it, she and Antimony have recovered, and Parley has been inspired to train enough to be able to duel the much superior Jeanne, as well as to admit her love for Andrew. While Kat is delighted by this new romance, Antimony appears to be relatively unphased and wants to develop a plan immediately. Kat drags her away while she protests, still oblivious to Parley and Andrew's wish to be alone.
Flight from the Court[]
Later, Antimony is getting the full story of what happened between Reynardine and her mother from Anja. She learns that Reynardine was considered a high risk because Coyote wanted to give him the same levels of power that Coyote did. While Coyote had made a binding promise to leave anyone in the Court alone, Reynardine had made no such oath and would have been incredibly dangerous under Coyote's control. So Surma, the current court medium, was asked to lure him to the Court and away from Coyote. In the Court, Coyote cannot contact Reynardine due to his promise. As such, now that Reynardine is in the Court, he must stay there. Antimony will not be allowed to bring him with her when she goes on summer vacation with the Donlans.
Appearing to be slightly put out, Antimony excuses herself from Anja and Kat to finish packing and complete some last-minute homework. She runs into Jack in a nearby courtyard. They have not seen each other since the events with Zimmy, and she inquires into his health. He tells her that he is doing well, and that his time under the control of the spider appears to have made him even smarter. He thanks her and takes her hand in his, much to her discomfort. She stands and moves away, and they awkwardly discuss summer plans. Antimony eventually excuses herself, saying that she promised to help Kat with homework (a very different story than the one she told the Donlan women). Jack moves as if to kiss her goodbye, and sharply shoves her hand between them for a handshake. He awkwardly accepts this, and they part.
Antimony returns to the dorms, but instead of going to her room, she enters Kat's and takes her homework book. Then she goes to her room, where Reynardine is critiquing her own homework. Upon spotting Kat's notebook, he scolds her for cheating once again, apparently a common occurrence. Antimony snaps that Kat gave her permission. The argument continues to escalate until Reynardine states that he would've done a much better job at raising her than her father. Antimony freezes, furious. Reynardine continues to degrade her father, saying that he was emotionless and incapable of loving Antimony or her mother and lamenting that he tricked "[his] poor Surma" into marrying him. As he is about to continue his rant, Antimony coldly interrupts him to tell him that Surma never loved him, that it was all a trick. A stunned Reynardine tries to stammer a refutation of this statement, but Antimony (in a particularly vindictive act) commands him to speak the truth, and he is unable to say that Surma truly loved him. He attempts to flee into his plush form, but she grabs him and forces him to remain animate. She smiles nastily as she mocks him, saying that if he was truly smarter than her father, he would not have been tricked and abandoned by Surma. Then she states that it was clear her father loved her mother because all he could do was work on a cure for her illness.
Reynardine mutters her response, and Antimony demands a response. He turns and shouts that Antimony is the reason her mother died. He had previously said that she had a fire that belonged to his mother, and he was not being poetic. When Antimony was born, she had taken a piece of her mother's spirit, and as she grew, her piece drew more and more of her mother's spirit away. By the time Surma died, there was no spirit left within her. Not only had Antimony caused her death, she was the reason no guide would claim her mother. And according to Reynardine, everyone close to her already knew this.
Antimony collapses on the floor, unable to process this. She asks if the Donlans, Mr. Eglamore, her father had known the cause. Reynardine, suddenly realizing how much he has hurt her, haltingly confirms this. Antimony races out of her room, running through the Court and out the gates to flee into the Woods. The alarms go off as she crosses the bridge, but when Mr. Eglamore runs after her she sends a roaring torrent of fire back at him. He manages to ward it off, but is slowed enough that Antimony escapes. Unarmed and unarmored without an invitiation to enter the Woods, he is forced to retreat.
Antimony crouches within the trees, weeping, until Ysengrin comes and carries her farther in. After a period of silence, she tries to explain her intrusion. He cuts her off, saying that she is crying and fleeing because she is being weak, something he has no time for. For a moment she is angered by this, but then realizes the truth of the statement and rests her head on his fur again. She asks why she has never seen any other denizens of the forest. He tells her that the are afraid of her because she comes from the Court. She protests that she would never hurt them, but Ysengrin says that they have know way of knowing that. Emotionally and physically exhausted, Antimony falls asleep.
She dreams of being back in the hospital. She enters her mother's room and sees her father kneeling dejectedly at Surma's bedside. Both adults appear to be crying. Upon realizing her presence, her father stands and exits the room without speaking. Surma assures her young daughter that he still loves her. A coyote skull suddenly appears and ends the dream.
Antimony wakes up leaning against a log. Coyote swirls in and cheerfully asks about her dreams about her mother. She tells him to stay out of her dreams. He begins to ask her why she has come when Ms. Jones appears to bring Antimony back. When Coyote states that Antimony will not be going anywhere she does not wish to, Jones appears to be willing to force the issue. Coyote and Ysengrin face off with Jones, but Antimony breaks in, telling Coyote how Reynardine had been tricked. While Ysengrin is shocked, Coyote is unphase, having recognized the ruse at its inception. He admits that he was tempted to bring Reynardine back, but after seeing him with Antimony, he knew that Reynardine stayed out of love for her, not because he was truly trapped. He laughs as he says that Reynardine's heart must have broken to see her away from Surma, knowing what it meant. Antimony is shocked that he knew, confused about why such a thing would happen. Coyote pauses, disturbed. He admonishes Jones for not telling Antimony that she is not entirely human.
Antimony is shocked by this news. Coyote questions her on several aspects of her life. Is she not abnormally skilled at manipulating the ether? Did she not grow stronger as her mother weakened? Were the two not together always, unable to bear being apart? This was no coincidence. Antimony is the distant descendant of some kind of fire elemental. Coyote laughs at how the union that started her bloodline must have gone. It is the reason that her temper sometimes flares beyond reason. He muses that perhaps an extended stay in the forest would help her learn to control these feelings. Antimony hesitantly agrees. Jones i not pleased by this, but Coyote gives her no choice. Antimony asks if she can stay, just for the summer break. Jones reluctantly agrees. Antimony begins to list all the people she would like Jones to talk to about this, but Jones cuts her short, telling her that she put many people in danger. She hopes that the stay is worth it. She then agrees to watch Reynardine, but in the middle of her sentence the world appears to freeze.
Antimony hesitantly reaches for the woman, but Coyote slips between them and questions her on the whereabouts of his tooth. Antimony informs him that she left it in her room. Coyote is pleased, then asks for her right hand. He then places a bind of magic around her wrist that he explains will slice straight through it if she tells anyone (even Ysengrin) about the blade. A stunned Antimony tries to protest the extreme measure, but Coyote dismisses both her and the time freeze. Jones finishes her sentence, stating that she will return periodically to check on Antimony. Still a bit distressed, Antimony accepts this. Ysengrin then lifts her up and walks off into the forest. He informs her that as long as she does what Coyote asked, the bind will not hurt her. She admits her nervousness about the stay. Ysengrin assures her that she will be treated kindly. She observes wryly that any kindness will be due to the insistence of Coyote, which Ysengrin cannot dispute.
Ysengrin also takes time to apologize for his previous statements. While he still believes she was being weak, he know believes she had a good reason to be. He tells her to use the knowledge to make her stronger, and that she did not take her mother's life. Surma gave it to her, and that is a gift beyond any other. Antimony's eyes fill with tears, and she hugs him fiercely. He awkwardly disentangles himself and places her on the ground, before informing her that she is stronger now, enough to stand on her own and gain even more strength. Antimony turns to walk across a log bridge to her home for the summer. Just before she enters, she turns back. Ysengrin tells her to show them she is not afraid.
With that, Antimony pushes back a wall of leaves and vines, and her eighth year comes to an end.
Second Summer ("Annie in the Forest")[]
Moments later, the story picks up with Antimony staring into the heart of an elven village, with its inhabitants staring back. Coyote appears and explains to them that Antimony will be staying with them for the summer and asks that she be treated as on of their own. He then calls forward Khepi Anwyn, the powerfully-built and heavily-pregnant matriarch of a local family. She crushes Antimony to her breast in a hug, much to the surprise of the girl. The woman then proceeds to drag her off to her new home. However, noticing that the crowd is still gawking at her, Khepi shouts at them to get back to their business. She comforts Antimony, saying that the green-skinned and green-haired elves have never seen someone with pale skin and hair like flame. She then brings Antimony to her home, explaining that she and her husband are the head of the Anwyn family, and that the group who have followed them here are her many children. Antimony awkwardly says hello. None of them respond. Instead, all of them enter the house. However, the house is raised off the ground, and while the elves can jump the ten feet to the platform above, Antimony is left on the ground. Khepi shows her the hauling rope that she uses since she is currently pregnant and unable to jump herself. Despite this, she is still surprisingly agile, swinging her whole body up unto the ledge when she can reach it with one hand. She directs her children to haul Antimony up while she thunders deeper into the house. Antimony holds onto the rope tightly and clumsily climbs onto the ledge. One of the Anwyn boys catches her eye and smiles at her, causing her to blush.
Khepi reappears loaded down with brooms, mops, and other cleaning supplies, informing Antimony that everyone in the house works for their dinner. If Antimony is to live there, she will live like it is her home and treat it well. No one eats before chores are done. She then crushes all her complaining children in a hug, telling Antimony that the will show her what to do.
Antimony mops the floor, watching the Anwyns (particularly the older boy) leap around the house performing chores. Later, a very grubby and obviously tired Antimony sits alone at the end of the dinner table. And considers Coyote's bind. She then notices the Anwyn boy watching her and blushes again while covering the bind.
In bed that night, Antimony quietly cries, thinking of Kat, Reynardine, and her mother. Suddenly her door opens, and the Anwyn boy enters. She is suddenly very nervous, and pulls the sheets up to her blushing face. However, he has simply come to wrap a cloth around her bind, stating that it might help her forget that it is there. He then leaves, and Antimony is left very confused and still very red.
The next day, Jones has returned, bringing Antimony non-uniform clothes and makeup, much to the girl's pleasure. As she puts the makeup on, she complains a bit about having to clean the house immediately upon arrival. Jones does not respond. Antimony hesitantly asks about Reynardine and Kat. According to Jones both were very upset, Kat especially. Mr. Eglamore had also questioned the safety of the plan, but Jones had decided that Antimony was unlikely to be in danger. With that, she leaves the forest.
Later, at a lecture or school of some kind, Antimony is once again sitting alone in the back. She sees three elf girls giggling to themselves. One suddenly turns around, her lips and eyes covered in paint in mockery of Antimony's makeup. Antimony then eats lunch alone. However, the Anwyn boy finds her, and calls down from a tree to ask why she wears the paints on her face. She explains that it is makeup, a human practice to enhance beauty. He once again causes her to blush by saying she is pretty enough as is, but he accepts that it is a human custom. He then introduces himself as Kamlen. Antimony thanks him for the cloth to hide the bind, and he smiles at her. Then she admits that she doesn't think that his siblings like her very much. He calls them chuckleheads, saying that they'd rather be afraid of her than try to confront her head-on. However, spots Ysengrin among the trees and admits his own fear of the wolf. He invites Antimony to meet him at Jumper's Pool when she has finished her business with Ysengrin.
Antimony then seeks out Ysengrin. Coyote has asked him to be mindful of her, which she finds very sweet of both of them. She then says that she thinks Jones is mad at her. Ysengrin tells her that Jones does not have feelings to hurt. Curious, Antimony asks what he knows about her. He says simply that she is immortal, having walked the earth long before man and being something entirely different from both creatures of the ether and mortal men.
He then begins to question her about how her stay is going. She admits to feelings of rejection, feeling that Ysengrin does nothing to assuage. She asks if Ysengrin or Coyote could speak to the elves, which Ysengrin flatly refuses to do. He will not allow her to run from her problems here as she did in the Court. He then asks if there is truly nothing she enjoys here, which prompts a very flowery vision of Kamlen in Antimony's mind. She asks Ysengrin to direct her to Jumper's Pool.
Upon arriving, she discovers that Jumper's Pool is a large, waterfall-fed lake surrounded by high cliffs. A shirtless Kamlen greets her from the waters below, much to her pleasure. However, upon reaching the lake shore, she finds an elf girl who Kamlen introduces as his love, Irial.
Antimony awkwardly sits with Irial as Kamlen performs dives. When she notices Irial's examination of her, she turns away. Irial kindly asks if Antimony thought that Kamlen was flirting with her. Antimony protests, but Irial explains that she understands, Kamlen being an overly-kind person. She then asks to play with Antimony's hair, finding it very beautiful. Antimony agrees, and while Irial braids her hair, a group of young elves appears. Irial invites Antimony to stay the night with them, as everyone is excited to meet her. Antimony agrees, pleased to be accepted.
When night has fallen, Antimony has been fully accepted in the group, and she answers questions about court life and things like robots. Then one girl questions her about a love back home, to which Antimony mistakenly answers Kat. Clarifying, the girl asks if Antimony likes a boy. After a moment's consideration of the boys she knows, Antimony almost randomly selects Jack. They tease her a bit, and Irial suggests that if she really wants a boy to like her, she should ignore him and make him chase her. Kamlen laughingly protests to these tricks and demands to be told if they are used on him. While the banter continues, a girl brings Antimony a drink. She tries it and finds it to be powerful alcohol. However, still feeling a bit alone and wanting to fit in, she continues to drink it regardless. She becomes very drunk, her vision becoming highly distorted. Eventually she fires multiple flares of magical fire into the sky and collapses, much to the distress of her new elf friends. They argue with the girl who supplied her with the drink as Antimony blacks out.
When she awakens, she has been returned home. She recognizes her nurse as the girl who gave her the drink, Sareed. The girl is incredibly remorseful, not having known that the elves' achewater would have such a powerful effect on her. However, Antimony's head is pounding, and she rapidly falls back asleep.
The second time Antimony awakens, Sareed asks her how she feels. Antimony is quiet for a second, then quietly begins to weep. She is overwhelmed with grief at having caused her mothers death. Before Sareed can comfort her, she has fallen asleep again.
Antimony wakes up a final time to witness Sareed weaving a small plant's branches together with magic. She comments on its beauty. Sareed hurries to get her a drink, which Antimony looks at suspiciously before the confirmation that it is just regular water. After a sip, she realizes how thirsty she really is and drains the cup before asking for more. She then asks if tree elf houses are made with the magic Sareed was using on the plants. The other girl confirms this, saying that she wishes to become an architect when she is older. Sareed then asks about Antimony's own magic, wondering about the fire she created the night before, all the elves being impressed despite their distress at her collapse.
They sit in awkward silence for a moment before Antimony asks why Sareed is at her bedside. The girl turns away before answering that because she caused Antimony's pain, she must be the one to help her, according to tradition. However, if Antimony does not wish her to be there, she will leave. Antimony quickly tells her that she is quite willing to have her there. They spend a long time after that talking and becoming friends.
Awhile later, Antimony believes that she has recovered enough for a walk, which Sareed agrees to. They chat happily as they wander the tree elf village. Then, as the enter the forest beyond, Ysengrin appears, having heard of Antimony's illness and wanting to confirm that she is well. Seeing that Sareed is frightened, Antimony tells her new friend that she will meet her later. Sareed agrees, wanting to show Antimony how to make some new boots. Ysengrin and Antimony then spend some time together, with the wolf shedding his tree body to relax with her in the grass. They talk about how Antimony is doing in her summer home while their etheric forms play in the air above.
Upon returning to the village, Antimony spots Kamlen. He greets her, pleased to see that she has recovered but annoyed that Sareed has apparently abandoned her. After Antimony explains why Sareed has left, Kamlen tells her that everyone was very mad at her the night before. Khepi was still threatening to chew the girl's leg off. Antimony says that Sareed has been very kind and that she enjoyed the night before despite the accident.
Upon returning to the house, Kamlen jumps to the entrance platform and greets Sareed. Both move to pull the hauling rope for Antimony, but she dismisses them. She uses her etheric form to pull herself up, and both the elves smile at her success before all three continue on into the house.
Year 9[]
After spending the remainder of the summer in the forest, Antimony returns to the Court. Upon entering her new dorm (located underwater), she finds Reynardine looking sadly out a porthole. After a brief moment of uncertainty, they embrace. Reynardine, very pleased to see her, notes her elf garb and the smell of the forest. The are discussing the Anwyn family (who are friends of Reynardine as well) when Antimony remembers Coyote's bind. She removes the cloth given to her by Kamlen and the binding snakes off her arm to vanish into thin air. Alarmed, Reynardine questions her as to why Coyote would bind her. She explains that he did not wish for her to tell anyone about his tooth. Disgusted at Coyote's manipulations and maneuvering, he informs her that he kept the tooth with him. He then awkwardly says that he returned Kat's homework after Antimony. He apologizes for his brutal revelation, to which Antimony responds that not only is she glad she knows, she knows that she pushed him toit and apologizes as well. She then offers to let him return to the forest. He asks her not to offer, wishing to stay and care for her, both for her sake and in her mother's honor. She hugs him, then asks about the location of the new dorms. Reynardine nervously states that he saw something swimming outside the structure, then mentions that Jones has moved all of Antimony's things here under his watchful eye. Antimony casually asks if anyone else has arrived, and Reynardine informs her that Kat has not moved in yet, although her room is next to Antimony's. Pleased, Antimony fiddles with a nearby panel while she wait's for Kat to appear.
However, upon her arrival, Kat responds to Antimony's excited greeting with a rather bland hello and goes to her new room. Confused, Antimony runs to her own room to retrieve a pair of boots she made for Kat in the tree elf style (likely with help from Sareed). She presents them proudly. Kat once again responds with very little emotion, and pushes past her to retrieve more of her things. Antimony stops her and asks if she is alright, apologizing for not joining her for summer break. After a moment of silence, Kat says that when Antimony ran away, she felt a lot of things. Guilt for somehow making her leave, then worry when she discovered the real reason, even more worry upon discovering where she was staying, anger and sadness at being abandoned, and more guilt for feeling those things. After all that, she was unsure how to feel about Antimony. Antimony remorsefully apologizes again, and Kat throw her hands up in exasperation. She recognizes that Antimony did not plan the flight to the forest, but she says that sometimes it is very difficult to be Antimony's friend. With that, she exits the dorms to gather more luggage.
A short time later, Robot appears and begins acting strangely, kicking over Kat's bag and acting with much less than his normal intelligence. Kat is confused till Antimony appears to "rescue" her, requesting her help to fix their mechanical friend. Unamused by the ploy, Kat walks away. Disappointed, Antimony resolves to come up with an even more complex plot to make Kat her friend again while Robot worries about being an inconvenience to Kat.
From there, Antimony creates several schemes involving Mort, Shadow 2, Basil, Red, and a variety of ridiculous situations. Eventually, Kat loses her temper. Hurt by the outburst, Antimony walks away dejectedly. Kat does the same, returning to the dorms. However, while crossing the vast expanse of water the dorms float in, she feels some regret, knowing that Antimony is only trying to apologize. However, a splashing noise distracts her, and she turns to see a crab-like creature the size of a house looming out of the water next to her. Briefly stunned, she recovers and alls out to Antimony that she is actually impressed by this attempt. She then makes a long apology of her own to the creature till she sees Antimony on the bridge. Kat smiles and asks her friend how she managed this trick. However, after seeing the look of horror on Antimony's face, she realizes that this is not another attempt at apologizing. Shrieking, the girls flee inside. Having reached safety, Kat is horrified that she actually touched the creature, while Antimony wonders what it could be. Their break is short-lived, however, as Kat realizes that what she thought was a pool in the lobby is actually a moon pool...an entrance to the outer waters large enough for the creature to use. Antimony calls fire to her hand, pushing Kat behind her. Reynardine then enters, alarmed by all the eexcitement Antimony desperately tries to warn him of the danger. He is unimpressed. Given a moment of peace, the creature uses a (relatively) small claw to punch some keys on the panel that Antimony was previously playing with. The computer then speaks, expressing displeasure at all the noise and fire. Reynardine then introduces the creature as Lindsey. Lindsey apologizes (through the keyboard and computer) for not introducing herself earlier, but as an employee of the court she was busy. While Kat is clearly still disturbed, Antimony is intrigued. Lindsey then expresses her belief that the girls should be friends again. Kat smiles nervously and thanks her for the advice as she drags Antimony into one of their rooms. Behind a closed door, Kat shivers in disgust, still focused on Lindsey's unconventional appearance. AAntimonyapologizes one final time, and Kat smiles, saying that she is no longer angry before fangirling over Antimony's "Princess Mononoke look."
After the reconciliation, the girls spend time catching up and exchanging gifts. Kat is thrilled by the boots, which are spelled to always fit her, and Antimony is pleased with the béret Kat bought her. They embrace, at which point Kat notices the rather pungent odor that Antimony has built up living in the forest. She requests that she shower before the hug again, much to Reynardine's dismay. That evening, the three of them also watch Princess Mononoke together, which appears to be a rather life-changing experience for the fox-turned-wolf.
Revival of the Ancient[]
A few days later, Antimony attempts to show Kat how to project her spirit outwards. The other girl has difficulty with this, losing focus and mentally dissecting some nearby machinery. They end up discussing where the Court came from. Court folk say that the Founders built it, while residents of the Forest only say "It grew from the Seed Bismuth." This reminds Kat of her recent idea to grow robots, and they go to the room where the plans for Diego's robots are stored. After finding a usable schematic, they are disappointed to discover that it appears to be total gibberish surrounding the image of a heart that is in the place of a power source. They decide to look at one of the ancient robots from the shrine arena.
After some work, Kat discovers the heart so crucial to Diego's designs. It is covered in the same scrawlings, which baffle Kat. Antimony suggests that the robots are less robots and more golems, entities brought to life by a set of instructions. This would suggest an etheric rather than technological source of power, which Kat has difficulty accepting. Antimony explains that modern robots are not so different from a golem. This gives Kat some ideas, and she spends the next several hours experimenting. A robot then brings her a printed version of their code in the form of a small cube, apparently the only way that it can be shown outside of conceptual space. Upon examination, Kat is astounded and delighted at its complexity. She immediately begins tinkering to create something based on the instructions, and the robots a greatly surprised by her ability to understand it at all. The code is not in anything even resembling a human language. Kat says that it is the bridge that will allow her to eventual understand Diego's work, and more importantly, she knows how to reactivate one of the old robots. The robots nearby begin to chatter until Robot silences them, telling them to let her work.
After a full day's work, Kat has created a repair for the damage done to the heart of the robot examined early. It springs to life, grabbing Kat and demanding to know where the tomb is. Antimony prepares to strike it with flame, but Robot moves faster, smashing the elder robot into a wall. It immediately loses interest in the girl and exits the building to search. Kat yells for Robot to stop him, which he does. Surprisingly, when the ancient is restrained, he complements Robot on his fantastic design. When Kat and Antimony appear, he is also pleased to learn that Robots have become friends with humans. He then apologizes for attacking Kat, having been startled by his awakening. He then requests that he be taken to the shrine.
Once in the arena, he explains that this was meant to be the tomb for his colleagues and himself. After Diego's death, they had no means of creating more of themselves and decided their time was over. They created the first robots, who they considered their children and who he is very proud of, as they have exceeded their wildest dreams. When Antimony questions why he would wish for a life of servitude for their creations, and he explains that for a robot, to move is to be alive and life is reward enough for them. To be powered down is more of a slavery to them then to serve the humans they love. After his explanation, Kat realizes that she has basically raised him from the dead. He confirms this and applauds her for this accomplishment, as they were unable to do anything of the kind themselves. He then asks her to return him to his deactivated state, feeling he has no place in the new world. Kat cannot believe he would actually request such a thing, but reluctantly agrees. Before she does this, Antimony questions him about the origins of the Court, and she is surprised when he responds as the creatures of the forest do. Kat then breaks her repair, and he dies. Kat, clearly upset by this turn of events, says that she needs some air, and the girls leave.
Robot remains with the other robot, and declares that Kat the Angel has called forth the spirits of the dead, holding the power of life and death.
Time With Friends[]
Antimony, Kat, and several of their friends make plans to sneak out of the dorms after curfew and spend some time relaxing. Since the Court can track the movements of all its students, Jack Hyland uses his experience avoiding the court and his technical skill to create devices that will hide the students and instead transmit the location of some robots who have agreed to help Kat. The girls successfully escape and meet up with the boys in a lounge nearby, where they meet Lindsey's husband Bud. He cheerfully supports this bit of youthful rebellion and has escorted the boys willingly, much to Kat's admiration.
Kat then notices Antimony regarding Jack across the room and insists that she go talk to him. She does so and they begin to chat pleasantly while their friends begin to tell stories. Eventually they get around to discussing etheric abilities and Antimony's blinker stone. Antimony explains that it allows her to see those with etheric abilities like Bud, who is actually (and deceptively) powerful, despite currently dwelling in a bucket. Jack asks if he can try using the stone, jokingly stating that he won't steal it this time, and Antimony allows this despite some initial reluctance. They then move to an upstairs balcony, although Antimony states that Bud is still watching them etherically, unaware that she can see him as well.
A pause comes in the conversation, and they appear to share a moment, coming close enough to kiss. Antimony then says flatly that she doesn't actually like Jack very much. To her surprise, he is deeply relieved. She is briefly insulted, but is then stunned when he reveals that he is in love with Zimmy and had only been trying to decide if those feelings were real or not. She expresses worry about his mental state and mentions that Zimmy and Gamma appear to be involved. Jack laughs at this simplistic description, then questions exactly why antimony would do something so cruel on purpose. Antimony's temper flares and she snaps that he deserved it for hurting Reynardine and abandoning her. She continues to rage as he nonchalantly condemns this petty revenge scheme, but when he begins joking about bringing Zimmy home to meet his parents, she realizes what she is doing and apologizes for her behavior. Jack then suggests that she find some way to deal with her deeper issues, and they begin to talk and joke comfortably again. Eventually they go downstairs to rejoin their sleeping friends at dawn, and Antimony offers to kiss him. He smiles and declines, and they hug before parting.
Antimony then joins Kat (who has been dealing with her own emotions that night) on a chair and they snuggle up together to get some sleep. As she falls asleep, she slips onto the etheric plane and sees Bud chatting happily with Lindsey about the evening and reminiscing about the trouble the teens' parents caused in their time. They then kiss in a tender (and horrifying) moment, and Antimony quickly retreats.
Training[]
Reynardine and Kat accompany Antimony to a training session with Andrew, Parley, and Robot. Andrew meets up with them shortly before Parley blips into existence next to them to give a hurried warning. She then disappears before coming around the corner with her friends, who tease her for hanging around with younger students. She expresses boredom and scorn at the prospect before shoving them along. She then reappears to apologize profusely and kiss Andrew before disappearing once again, much to Antimony's amusement.
Upon arriving in the gym and meeting Robot and Shadow 2, Antimony suggests that he should stand up for himself occasionally and talk to Parley about her behavior. He smiles and says that he doesn't mind since they have a special relationship. He then gestures directly to where Parley appears at that very moment, much to her delight.
Parley then expresses her readiness to train for her battle with Jeanne. Antimony warns her that it will be very dangerous and that a battle isn't necessary if Parley is unsure. Parley is determined, however, and she and Robot begin to spar. This continues till Kat comments that Robot appears to be moving sluggishly. He admits with embarrassment that he has been holding back, and Parley insists that he go all out. This results in multiple instantaneous defeats by Robot. She is thrilled by this challnge however, and begins to use her ability to teleport away from Robot's strikes. She is much more succesful, but has doubts as to whether her long sword is the proper weapon for such a battle. Antimony then has the idea to have Parley use Coyote's tooth. Parley is a bit discomfited by the weapons appearance and the eerie laughter it emits, but begins to test it. Kat and Anitmony warn her against touching the sharp edge of the blade, as they have tested it and found it to be sharp enough to slice through ball bearings and iron girders. Disbelieving that it could be much sharper than a normal sword, Parley takes a swing at Robot...and accidentally slices him in half. Horrified, she drops the blade, which slices through the floor before cutting Shadow away from the flat surface. A brief panic ensues, but Kat quickly asks an incredibly remorseful Parley to take her and Robot to her workshop. Parley agrees, bringing Andrew for support while Antimony remains with Reynardine and the newly three-dimensional shadow.
Antimony finds Shadow some clothes very similar to Robot's, and the two are reunited a short time later. Having been deeply worried and realizing his true feelings for his friend, Robot hugs Shadow fiercely. Antimony and Reynardine happily watch the touching scene and wonder how Ysengrin would feel about such a union.
Foley House[]
Now that Shadow has a three-dimensional body and physical needs, Antimony makes a case to Jones to place him within the Court without him being exploited by the higher powers. After some brief deliberation, Jones decides to take him to Foley House, which is largely populated by students from Gillitie Woods. They take the train through the court, with Robot following them across the rooftops.
Upon arriving, Antimony spots the red-headed fairy she has encountered before in a classroom. Jones suggests that Antimony speak with her, as she (and the not-so-stealthy Robot) can take care of Shadow and the classes are apparently very interesting. However, when Antimony enters the class, the teacher ignores her completely, continuing to spout complex equations and write on the board. Red looks up briefly, then continues with her typing like all the other students. After a moment's thought, Antimony summons her blinker stone and enters the etheric plane, where she is startled to find a raucous party is being held by the students.
Red introduces her to the others, who enthusiastically greet her. Antimony expresses confusion, having believed they were in a lesson. Red scornfully states that they don't need their minds to learn, simply leaving their bodies to do the task.The students are horrified to realize that Antimony is still attached to her body by the blinker stone and snap the etheric cord. Antimony flies free and is caught by a handsome by silent boy. When she questions his muteness, Red laughs and flicks him, forcing him to reveal his true form, a rather flabby and scaly one, as he was formerly a fish. A toy plane flies by, created by a shy boy who reveals that he was a badger. The other students then begin to show their previous forms and homes, such as an undine fairy's waterfall and a former deer's antlers. This escalates until Red asks Antimony can do any etheric tricks. She proceeds to cloak herself in flames, to the delight of Red and many others. She then shows them that she can affect the real world in her etheric form, something that even the skilled students cannot do.
However, Red's friend Blue becomes jealous that Red has stopped paying attention to her. She petulantly gets the attention of the teacher, a mature fairie who has been napping in her etheric form under her desk and is not pleased to have been woken. Blue then decides to make things more interesting and begins to summon a Gol-Shogeg worm. Antimony panics, but the other students laugh it off. However, once the massive and deadly worm appears, they all shriek and scatter except for Red, who appears annoyed and bored. When the Gol-Shogeg catches a dramatically swooning Blue, Antimony is horrified and rushes to her side. An impromptu funeral suddenly appears, but Red is not impressed. Angered, Antimony yells at Red, accidentally using the nickname (Red) that so far has been private. Everyone freezes, and Antimony is suddenly disoriented. The students and the teacher all begin to congratulate Red. Antimony is still confused, having realized that the Gol-Shogeg was fake, with no such creature even existing. She asks if she accidentally used Red's correct name, and is informed that she actually named Red, which gives her adult privileges. However, when a fawning Blue asks to spend time with her, Red promptly snubs her old friend. This initiates a brawl between the two that the others see as a touching sign of incredible friendship. They then mob Antimony, hoping that she will name them as well. She quickly retreats to her body and leaves the classroom with a friendly wave from Red.
Antimony runs into Jones and Shadow, who have finished arranging matters for Shadow to join the house. While Jones assumed that Antimony knew not to name the students, she assures her that she hasn't actually done anything wrong. Shadow then happily tells Antimony about his new class, and Jones receives a phone call. However, a moment later she hands the phone to Antimony. She hesitantly answers, and the person on the other end simply says her name. She is stunned to realize that it is her long-missing father on the phone.
Response[]
After her father calls, those close to both Antimony and her father have a broad range of responses. However, Antimony initially states that it really isn't a big deal. However, after Anja firmly escorts Kat and Mr. Eglamore out of the room, her husband gives Antimony some water and tells her to relax her hands. Antimony then realizes that her palms are bleeding from where she has dug her nails into them. Angry with herself, she drinks the water to hide her embarrassed blush, but begins to sob a moment later and struggles to regain her calm demeanor. Donald calmly goes about his business, drawing no attention to her momentary breakdown. He asks her to write down exactly what her father said, having had no luck tracing the call. He then summons a portable door into the wall next to him so that they can leave without drawing the attention of Kat or Eglamore. Antimony suddenly realizes that she doesn't know very much about him, despite being the father of her closest friend.
As the walk, he explains to her that he and her father used coded messages all the time. Everything he said actually had a different meaning. Antimony is hurt by this, since that meant that even her name was part of the code and her father hadn't really needed to contact her specifically. Seeing this, Donald tells Antimony a bit about his friendship with Anthony as children. He explains that the tiniest details meant a great deal to her father, often causing great distress beneath his outward calmness. If he had really wanted to ignore Antimony, she likely would never have known that he had contacted the Court. He had asked to speak to her because he wanted to hear her voice. While still uncertain about her feelings, Antimony is glad for this story that humanizes her father into a person.
Donald and Antimony then set up for a rocket launch which will carry the supplies Anthony requested to a satellite he and Donald had launched when they were younger. The satellite will be able to deliver the supplies to him. While they wait for the right time for launch, Antimony thinks back on her time at the hospital with her father.
A short time later, while discusses more stories about Donald and Anthony's youth, the time comes for the launch. Antimony launches the rocket, and Donald summons a telescope. They watch the rocket and the satellite meet before flying off. Once more saddened by this impersonal interaction, Antimony walks away. Donald says that he has appreciated the time they spent together and that he is glad that she is Kat's friend, much to Antimony's pleasure. They then return to the others, who Anja has successfully distracted with Plan Theta (making cookies).
Coma[]
Antimony collapses some time later and spends several days in the hospital in a coma. Her friends are constantly at her side, but there is no apparent reason for her unconscious state. Eventually Gamma and Zimmy come, and everyone except Kat are bound in sleep. While Kat initially wants Zimmy to leave, eventually she relents and reluctantly asks Zimmy to help. Gamma smiles and leaves the room, allowing Zimmy's powers to run wild.
Zimmy examines Antimony's etheric history, seeing her feelings for Kamlen, her binding by Coyote, and her admiration for Jones, as well as her feelings of comfort and friendship for Kat. She also sees that Antimony has been hiding the fact that she's been cheating from Kat, despite saying that Kat has agreed to the arrangement. When she attempts to remove Antimony's mask so she can see her true form, Antimony puts up a very weak fight, and Zimmy goes deeper. She finds the fire elemental spirit at Antimony's core has been pierced by long spears of bone that extend far off into the distance. Zimmy then discovers that the source of these bones is Anthony. Kat is displeased to here this, and Zimmy informs her that while she can't tell where Anthony is, she can make him stop. Zimmy then follows the spears back to their origin, burning like Antimony's etheric form and taking on the scar left by Jeanne. Laughingly, she punches Anthony in the face, and everything vanishes in a flash of light.
However, Zimmy is now separated from her body, and her darker visions start to appear with influence by Antimony's mind. She sees Jack declare his love for her and hears Antimony call her a lunatic. Angrily, she turns to the masked Antimony clinging to her and tells her that her father is a jerk. The porcelain mask breaks, and Antimony violently throws Zimmy out of her mind and back into her body.
Antimony and Kat both wake after Zimmy has left with Gamma, confused as to what actually happened. However, when Kat questions Antimony as to whether she thinks her father had anything to do with it, Antimony dismisses it without a second thought. Kat offers her makeup, but after some hesitation, Antimony decides to wait before covering her face.
Year 10/Year 9 Repeat[]
In the first day of Year 10, it is revealed that her father has taken a job as a teacher in the Court. He shames her almost immediately by demanding that she remove her "ridiculous" makeup and making the class wait in silence till she returns. He then refuses to give her a textbook. After a grueling session of teaching, he asks Antimony to remain behind. He harshly rebuffs her attempts to find out what happened to him before expressing his disappointment and revealing that he has discovered her excessive cheating. He then states that she will repeat Year 9, cease all activities involving the forest, and give Reynardine into his possession. Stunned, embarrassed, and unwilling as always to speak against her father, she agrees. As she is not in Year 10, she is forced to move out of the Year 10 dorm, and as the Year 9 dorm was filled Antimony is forced to live alone, though the apartment in question seems to consist of one large blank white room that can only be accessed from the roof of the building.
She subsequently cuts her hair, in the process also severing her anger using her blinker stone, because she's unwilling to deal with it.
After Coyote throws a temper tantrum and starts destroying buildings in the Court, Anthony reverses his decision to ban Antimony from the Forest and she visits with Andrew Smith and one of the Forest transfer students.
She attempts to justify her severing of her emotions to Ysengrin who does not buy it and destroys her blinker stone to force her to deal with her problems instead of avoiding them.