Curiosity killed the cat

by Pluto (Plut0_e)

Summary:

Has been renamed
-----

Cheka's dreams aren't usually this weird. Most of the time they're comprised of random things, like that one park Mama and Papa took him to with Unca! But this one is weird. Like, Really Weird. He stares into blank space, and, for some reason, he does not feel afraid.

"Hello?" A voice calls, feminine, and definitely not his. Cheka whirls around, hackles raised to come face to someone else in front of him in his dream. "Hiya?" Cheka says peering up at the lady, not that he can see much of her. It's foggy for some reason.

"Who're you?" Cheka asks, tilting his head to the side curiously.

The figure pauses for a moment, before sticking out her hand and saying "I'm Avery Yumei. What's your name?"

Cheka takes her hand and says "I'm Cheka!"

and then he wakes up.

----

 

‘Wait so Cheka? As in Cheka Kingscholar?’ he hears suddenly and he shrieks in surprise

 

---

 

Yeah this is mostly self indulgent coming from a pretty new writer. don't expect a lot lol.

Notes:

• Inspired by Futatsudomoe by Anonymous
• Inspired by Lost in Translation by Broken_Synchronicity
• Inspired by Sinful Wonderland by ZenDis
• Inspired by [Restricted Work] by WickedBee (Log in to access.)
• Inspired by Cheka's Adventure in Gift Giving by PocketsizedDinosaur
• Inspired by Worst Two Weeks of my Life by Kingdom_Nerds
• Inspired by mirror images (and how they hurt you) by PencilofAwesomeness
• Inspired by Coup of The Century by Kyuubiluver342
• Inspired by Babysitting by Luna_Moon22
• Inspired by on the run (from what you fear most) by hlcyn
• Inspired by [Restricted Work] by BestWishes2u (Log in to access.)

I am open to Constructive criticism and ideas.

Most of this is inspired by other works and I may take elements from them? Idk if that counts as plagiarism but I'll post it anyway because Idk if anyone cares

Also, I am so sorry if Cheka does not at all think like a normal 8-year-old, but, to be fair, he’s kinda merged with Avery now

-v-|l|l|

Chapter 1: What am I doing with my life?

. . .

 

Cheka Kingscholar was two when he realized that he wasn’t the only one in his body

Really, it was a lot more complicated than that, but the fact of the matter is that there is Cheka Kingscholar, but there is also Avery Yumei.

Avery lived a boring life, as far as she was concerned at least. She had had a loving family and had gotten into the high school she wanted, and then she had died.

But Avery was also like any other otaku. She had loved watching anime and spending away her life’s worth on games, one of which was Twisted Wonderland.

And now, she was here.

 

. . .

 

They are a quieter child than most, they cry less for one thing.

Avery knows that this isn’t normal.

Cheka whines that people will notice.

In the end, they do nothing at all.

 

. . .

 

Everything has a weird energy. And they mean everything. People, the plants, the walls even the water. People feel different depending on the person.

Actually, people feel like a bunch of inanimate objects into one.

Father the King feels like lying down on a rock on a hot sunny day.

The Queen mother feels of danger, of steel and blood, but also of the soft warmth of a lantern.
Leona feels of dirt and sand. With the blistering heat of a drought. They know why.

They feel of fire, but also of life. Ash, and wet dirt. Heat and dryness, with cold and the feeling of being submerged underwater.

 

. . .

 

The first assassination (Or kidnapping?) comes only a month after they realize who they are.

A week before anything happens Avery gets the feeling that they’re being watched.

And then the Shadowy person kills the nanny who was taking care of them and takes off with them.

They do the only thing they can, wail loudly, the first time they’ve done so ever since Cheka found Avery in the depths of his mind

In a panic, Avery yanks on the weird energy inside them and shoves it at the Shadow. Physically, it doesn’t do anything, but it shocks them enough for the guards to catch them and apprehend them.

. . .

 

Turns out, everyone here mainly speaks Japanese (or Common as they call it).

Avery doesn’t know why no one speaks English, and Cheka can’t find anything about it in the mini-library his parents have situated in his room but no one here seems to be able to speak it or read it.

(They had gotten a few weird looks while trying to figure this out, but they hoped it would just be chalked up to kids being kids and not their 2-and-a-half-year-old Crown prince being able to speak a foreign language)

 

. . .

 

Their ‘first word’ ends up being “Uncle” Or “Oji-tan” upon Cheka’s insistence. ‘Stupid children and their hero-worship’ Avery murmurs, rolling her eyes at the back of their shared mind.

Leona; their witness, also rolls his eyes and murmurs something about getting them back to their actual caretakers.

Cheka likes to think that he was touched. Avery is not so sure.

 

. . .

 

Cheka finds out that English is a dead language when one of their nannies sings ‘Once upon a Dream’ in English and calls it Old Trade.

Avery mourns the loss of her old life.

 

. . .

 

Cheka asks their Mom for a journal with a lock. When she asks why, they tell her they want to practice writing.

 

They spend the night writing down everything they can remember in English.

 

. . .

 

When they turn four Leona their uncle leaves for Night Raven College.

Despite his prickly nature, they end up missing him a lot.

It’s only then that they decide they want to go to NRC.

 

. . .

 

Their father(?) frowns disapprovingly when they ask a year later. It’s not that he doesn’t like NRC, even though he’d rather they go to RSA it’s just that while they are a ‘prodigy’ (Turns out, when you come from a world into one with magic, you can feel the unfamiliar energy and therefore, use it better) they are also four years old.

Cheka, the four-year-old he is, resolves to keep on asking him until he finally lets them go,

Avery agrees and nudges him toward the magic books in the main library.

 

. . .

 

They aren’t allowed in the library so Cheka sneaks them in. They’re actually pretty good at sneaking. They’ll only be in to get books, and then they’ll have to sneak back into their room to not alarm the guards.

‘You think they let us sneak off on purpose?’ Avery murmurs skeptically. Cheka shrugs in response ‘They let us go didn’t they?’

 

. . .

 

The old books in ‘Old Trade’ are the most interesting. The ones about runes, incantations, glyphs, and voodoo magic. They’re all supposed to be banned though. So, technically they’re breaking the law, but they need the knowledge.

 

. . .

 

While sneaking around, they overhear servants talking. They whisper about the second prince and how he’s a danger to them all.

Cheka quietly seethes in anger because he knows Leona would never do something like that to them.

They have to leave when Cheka’s lashing tail knocks over a flower pot.

 

. . .

 

“Is Leona Oji-tan a bad person?” Cheka asks at dinner, projecting as much innocence as they can muster. Looks like those acting classes paid off.

“Of course not,” Father replies, frowning. “Where did you hear something like that?”

They tell him about the servants.

 

. . .

 

They don’t see the servants again.

 

. . .

 

Magic seems to be a combination of control, intent, and magical prowess.

When they try to light a candle with magic, They almost burn down the whole garden by accident.

Uncle Leona actually scolds them about the dangers of using magic without a magestone (Look! It’s not her fault they forgot!) when he has to run damage control (on his break too) and then shoves them off to their father.

Cheka is sufficiently cowed.

Avery is amused.

 

. . .

 

The next time they try using magic properly, it’s in the bathroom.

They turn on the water in the sink and Avery reaches for the unfamiliar thing they now know as magic and focuses it towards the sink water, watching in fascination as it changes its scent and colour somehow. The magic surrounds the water as it forms into a clump.

Cheka turns off the sink and then turns all of his attention onto the water that’s now floating in the air. Carefully they work together to shape the water into a hollow bubble, The water is uneven, somehow.

‘It looks like it’s boiling’ Cheka whispers ‘Should we stop?’

Avery shrugs “What’s the worst that can happen-” She murmurs before the ‘bubble’ explodes in their face.

 

. . .

 

It explodes a lot more.

‘Mom’s Gonna be so mad’ Cheka sulks as they observe the damage. Thankfully it’s just that everything is absolutely soaked. ‘Should we tell them a pipe exploded or something?' Avery says, snickering at him. Meanie. This is half her fault anyway.

 

. . .

 

Their tutor- whose name they don’t know- raises an eyebrow when they breeze through the grade 8 level work she’s given them but otherwise doesn’t say anything to them as she hands them their homework.

They finished early today, but that just means they have more time to mess around with their magic.

 

. . .

 

Cheka and Avery both yell out in triumph as they finally manage to conjure A hollow sphere of water with magic. It doesn’t explode. In the grand scheme of things it probably didn’t matter a lot, but to them, it was everything.

To Avery, it was confirmation it all wasn’t just a fever dream, confirmation that she could matter in the universe.

To Cheka, it means that he can be a strong ruler one day.

>(‘Huh.’ Avery muses absently, ‘I forgot about that part.’

Cheka gasps ‘How could you forget??’ He wails indignantly)

 

. . .

 

When they show their parents what they can do, Cheka’s puffy tail swishing side to side excitedly, Their mother beams at them and their father (Farena? Falena? They’ll have to remember to ask) almost puffs up in pride.

They write a letter to their uncle, describing what they’ve found out they can do.

They don’t get a reply.

They hope he read it.

 

. . .

 

Because Cheka is the crown prince, he gets politics/etiquette classes.

Usually, when this happens, Avery escapes to the deepest corners of their mind. She’d had enough of politics in their old lifetime.

(She ignores the fact that this will be a daily occurrence from now on since they are the crown prince. She’s just grateful that Cheka is all too willing to take the crown prince's responsibilities.)

 

. . .

 

Cheka gets into Spelldrive.

Fucking magic Quidditch. For the life of her, Avery cannot think of why he would willingly subject them to this.

Oh well. At least they’ll be able to learn how to fly on a broom.

As far as she’s concerned (which isn’t much but you don’t live in the same head as a Magift fanatic without picking up the rules) It’s basically just Quidditch, but half the players are on the ground and you use magic to move the disk around.

She suspects this new obsession is because Leona also likes spell drive.

 

. . .

 

Somehow- Cheka manages to bully Leona into playing spell drive with them on the winter break.

He agrees, albeit reluctantly, to play with them if they leave him alone afterward.

Well. They asked for this.

 

. . .

 

By the end of the game, Cheka is on the ground wheezing, and Leona looks on amused and perhaps even begrudgingly proud?

Ha. We almost beat him. Well. not really but they were going to 20. They had 10.

....Yeah he probably went easy on them

 

. . .

 

Alchemy is the easiest to do. It’s just like Chemistry to Avery but with a couple more ingredients and a little bit of magic.

 

. . .

 

By the time they were eight. They had been more than ready to go to NRC.

Their father had sighed and melodramatically muttered something about them growing too fast, but he had looked proud.

Their mother had pulled them into a hug and murmured about how proud they were of them.

 

And then they had been off to Night Raven College.

. . .

Chapter 2: Why the ever-loving fuck did we think this was a good idea?

Summary:

Ahahahahaha IswearIdidn'tmeantomakey'allwaitthislong

Almost the entirety of the prolouge!
(Sometimes, I forget the Mirror Chamber arc isn't the only part of the prolouge)

Notes:

Thoughts- 'Hello!
Actual communication - "Hi?"

(Since I have no idea how ao3 works the thoughts may or may not be italicized depending on whether or not it decides to be difficult)

. . .

 

When they wake up again, they’re in a cushioned, enclosed space that they can only assume is the coffin that they passed out in. Honestly, Avery’s just glad neither of them are claustrophobic. They slowly raise their arms, placing their hands on the sides of the coffin. The funny thing is, they’re small enough that they can almost stretch their arms out. Or the coffin is just really big for some reason. There are magic signatures everywhere. Avery searches for anyone they might know this year, but there are so many. The only ones they end up locating are Sebek- whose magic is glaringly loud and obnoxious and feels like static- and ‘Yuu’, who has no magic, feels like a literal hole in the universe.

Ok, let me explain, so, you know how it feels when you blast music at max volume and then the power goes out? Yeah, that’s how ‘Yuu’ feels like. (Otherwise known as deafening silence)

The rest of them kind of blend in with each other and maybe. If they took some time to focus, they’d be able to tell who they were, but as it is, it’s kind of hard to.

“Might as well get comfy while we wait.” Cheka murmurs out loud, ‘But the floor’s probably so dirty’ Avery whines, cringing at the thought. ‘Well, I don’t want to stand here in heels for like, an hour’ Cheka hisses back. Avery doesn’t get why he hates heels. They’re just shoes but higher? But she doesn’t complain when they slide down the floor. They sit with their knees to their chest and their head resting on their knees, tail tucked between their legs. Avery sighs and shuts their eyes

 

. . .

 

They’re only there for a few more minutes when they feel a new magical signature coming closer and start hearing a scuffling noise outside; they perk up, ears and all, and begin to strain their ears to hear. They hear a rattling noise and some muffled mumbling and then a loud and obnoxious voice muttering “ I’d better hurry up and find that uniform before someone spots me.” Huzzah! It’s Grim!

“Urgghh- this lid weighs a ton” Grim hisses.

“Try this on for size!”

Suddenly the noise stops and they can hear Grim backing up, his paw steps echoing softly. They watch with morbid curiosity as his magic begins to pool up near his mouth, heating up and bubbling in what must be his throat until it’s ready to be released and-

“Mya-ha!” ‘How is no one hearing this?’ Cheka murmurs absently as they ‘watch’ the fire magic spread out and burn through the enchantments embedded in the coffin lids.

‘Who knows’ Avery shrugs mentally while ‘Yuu’ screams as their coffin burns.

‘Should.. We help them?’ Cheka asks hesitantly. Avery shrugs and begins to chant ‘unlock, unlock, unlock’ at the door while shoving magic at it. Cheka rolls his eyes and they push open the door.

(Hey, they don't know why it works ok? It just does, don't ask them, they don't have the braincells.)

They’re met with a face full of blue flames.

Wow.

Rude.

The only reason they hadn’t been burnt to a crisp was thanks to the ceremonial robes, (which, like the dorm uniforms are imbued with magic and wards against magic attacks) and their totally very great survival instincts. They had brought their arms up in front of their face to take most of the damage.

“Shit-” The other voice- Not Grim- So ‘Yuu’- cursed “Hey! Kid, you ok?” They ask worriedly patting away the extra flames.

‘Yuu’, is at least a head taller than them, they have chocolate brown eyes, very pretty, and either black or dark brown hair. It’s hard to tell with the lighting and the ceremonial robe. Their voice sounds absolutely shitty though. Like they just got run over by a truck. They still can’t tell what gender Yuu is.

“We’re- I’m ok!” They say, projecting cheerfulness “Thank you- uh-”

“Yuu Levine.” They introduce themselves, sticking out their hand for Cheka to Shake.

Hm. Levine

Levan…

…

“I’m Cheka!” They say grinning, taking their hand and shaking it before letting go and turning their attention to Grim.

“Bah! You’ve got a lot of nerve ignoring me humans! I’m the Great Grim! Now gimme your uniform and be quick about it!” Grim yowls, tail lashing. Aww. little kitty got tired of being ignored.

“What the fuck.” Yuu mutters under their breath. “What the fuck” they repeat distantly.

“Hey! C’mon! Hurry up! I haven’t got all day” The kitty says, ears flattening against his head.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Avery whispers to Yuu

“....He’s trying to murder us?” Yuu says in disbelief and they shrug “Doesn’t mean he can’t be cute.”

“Alright, that’s it!” Grim yowls, teeth bared, as he prepares for another fireball.

“Shi-ooot- he’s going to do the fireball thing again, let's get outta here,” Yuu mutters, grabbing their hand and sprinting towards the door.

“Nyah! Get back here! You can’t run from the Great Grim!” He yowled, scrambling after them. Unfortunately for him, his legs are short

 

. . .

 

Running to the library would be a bad idea (Obviously, it’s flammable), so that's why they weren’t planning to go into the library. A foolproof plan.

Except for the fact that neither Avery, Cheka, or Yuu had any idea where they were going.

Or where the library was so they could avoid it, and going in the direction of the hall of mirrors would be a no-go because that’s where the dorm leaders are coming from, and while Avery loves Riddle with all of her heart, she does know that he would collar them unfairly without a second thought if it looked like they were doing something illegal.

So they ended up at the library.

A place full of books.

With an arson cat chasing them.

‘If Crowley doesn’t get his ass over here we’re so, so fucked.’ Avery says mildly as Cheka starts dragging Yuu through, the labyrinth of bookshelves that is the library. ‘I’m just hoping these books are fireproof’ He murmurs, peering over their shoulder to see where the cat is.

Grim, is still behind them, much to their chagrin. “It’s still behind us,” They inform Yuu.

Ok no seriously, who decided that the ceremonial robes needed fucking heels.

 

. . .

 

“Myah! Foolish humans! Did’ya really think you could get away from ME?”

‘Well, I mean yeah, eventually’ Avery murmurs.

‘Emphasis on eventually.’ Cheka says, rolling his eyes.

‘Wha- Hey! We’re supposed to be on the same side!'

“Unless you wanna get burnt to a crisp you’d better- Me-YEOW! What the fuck! That hurts!” He gets cut off by a whip wrapping around his middle and yanking him towards our saviour- (‘ick-.’

‘Shhhhh be grateful- he did save us’)- the Crow guy- Crowley.

“Consider it tough love,” the man says before turning towards us.

Oh dear.

“Ah, I've found you at last. Splendid. I trust you're one of this year's new students? My, were you ever eager to make your debut.” He says, looking down at them, studying them, staring them down, his glowing yellow pinprick eyes staring them down, through their mortal shell into their souls. 'Don’t be dramatic Avery. He’s probably looking at Yuu.'

'We’re BEHIND YUU HE’S LOOKING AT US-'

“And bringing a poorly trained familiar with you? That is a clear violation of the school's rules.” He says, tutting softly, looking at us disappointedly.

'Wow. He didn’t even let us speak.'

Unfortunately for Yuu (Haha) whatever protest they had is drowned out by the fire cat still within the crow’s grasp.

“As if I'd serve some lowly human!” He yowled in protest. “Now lemme go!”

“Yes, yes. Rebellious familiars always say that. Do be quiet for a bit, won't you?” The Crow-man says dismissively, before turning to address Yuu, who’s staring right back at him like he’s grown a second head. To be fair, he does look pretty weird.

“Dear me. Of all the students I've dealt with, you're the first with temerity enough to open their own gate and step out of it. Does the very notion of patience elude you?” He pauses for dramatic effect, cutting Yuu off when they try to speak again. “No matter. Your orientation has already begun. Let us return to the Mirror Chamber.” He says, turns around with a flourish of his feather-cape thingy, and walks off, expecting them to follow.

We shrug and prod lightly at Yuu’s side, “I can explain while we walk.” Cheka says, whispering to them

“Thanks” They murmur in reply as they begin trailing after Crow-man.

 

. . .

 

“Step up to the Dark Mirror, and be quick about it. I'll watch your weasel.” Crow-man tells them.

“I can go first if you want” Cheka murmurs to Yuu, even though the very thought of it makes Avery die inside.

Yuu nods though, which means their fates are sealed, So they step forward to the mirror.

They can feel the stares as they walk towards the mirror. Their sheepish expression is met with a raised eyebrow and Leona’s questioning stare. He sighs exasperatedly and rolls his eyes when they do a vague shrugging movement. They ignore him and everyone else and focuses on the mirror in the centre of the room. (‘Think he’s gonna ask?’ Cheka murmurs anxiously. Avery sighs. ‘probably.')

“State thy name” The mirror states, the mask looks like its staring through us. ‘It scares me. Why does it scare me.’ Avery murmurs (half) jokingly

“Cheka Kingscholar.” They say confidently.

“The nature of thy souls are…” It paused, as if thinking, before continuing “Determined, and Loyal, one would do well in Savannaclaw. However the other belongs to Ignihide. Neither one belongs in the other.” It muses.

“Interesting.” It pauses again. The silence is deafening. They can hear that ringing noise in their ears.

Uh oh. They’re becoming the Twisted wonderland version of- What’s it called?- a hat stall?- so- a Mirror stall.

The silence stretches on for some more time as the mirror studies them, It’s pupilless eyes staring into their souls

“Thy has the raw magical power and the noble blood of the souls who belong in Diasomnia, therefore, Diasomnia would be the closest fit for thy souls.”

There’s some polite clapping from where they assume the new Diasomnia students are. They don’t see a Lilia or a Malleus, but they do see a Crocodile man. They walk over towards him hurriedly, wanting to get the stares off of them.

Sebek

Sobek

Wwwwait a damn minute.

‘……CHEKA HE’S LOOKING AT US LOOK AWAY-’

…

They in fact do not look away.

“Hi! Your eyes look cool!” They chirp quietly beaming at him, watching as his eyes widened in surprise and his magic did this confused, sputtering thing before puffing up defensively.

‘God fucking dammit.’

The crocodile man opens his mouth before someone cuts him off

 

“Shut the fuck up man! The last person’s going now!” Poor person. Probably tired of Crocs shit.

“State thy name” The mirror rumbles

 

. . .

 

“Mrwah! Let me have this student's spot!” The Not-a-cat yowls as he wriggles out the Crow-Man’s Lasso thing, scrambling onto the platform of the mirror as Yuu (And the rest of the student body) backs up.

“Not so fast, you hyperactive weasel!” Crowman yelps, striking out with his… whip thing, aiming to recapture Grim, who, like the little kitty he is, nimbly darts away.

“Unlike that human, I can actually use magic! So let me be a student here! Look, I'll show you!” He declares, his magic puffing up and bubbling up near his throat.

Riddle seems to notice that the not-a-cat-or-a-raccoon-maybe-a-chimera thing seems to be attacking, likely either from social cues or from the fact that the not-a-cat-or-a-raccoon-maybe-a-chimera has opened his mouth that is now smoking.

Judging from the fact that Riddle has no idea what normal people think, I’d say it’s the second one.

“EVERYONE, GET DOWN.” Strawberry Shortcake says alarmed? Or maybe mad. It’s hard to tell. ‘Isn’t he always mad?’ Cheka mutters as they back up, behind Crocs, because chances are, he’s better at magic than they are.

‘..Not after his overblot?’

‘...Is this after his overblot?’

‘... that's fair.’

Grim lets out a breath of flames- and oh look, Kalim’s on fire! How unfortunate. Regrettably, his cries for help are drowned out by the screaming of terrified children. And they aren’t talking about themself. Damn

“Someone catch the blasted beast before it burns the school down!” Crow-man manages to yell over the crowd. (No, seriously how)

Instead of going to help them track it down, they turn to Crocs.

“...So… What’s your name? I’m Cheka!” They say cheerily, grinning up at him.

There is some silence as they stare at each other, mostly ignoring the chaos going around in the background before he shouts “I AM SEBEK ZIGVOLT, HUMAN CHILD. A PROUD RETAINER OF THE GREAT MALLEUS DRACONIA! OUR HOUSEWARDEN!”

Holy shit he’s loud- They can hear him clearly over the cacophony the game really wasn’t lying when they said he was loud. Their ears are ringing. Flattening their ears does not help.

“Wow!” They crow, appearing undeterred by his loudness. “So.. you came here to bodyguard him?” They ask, tilting their head. Does that sentence make sense? Probably not. Do either of them care? Also no.

Crocs seems to puff up, the closest thing to beaming that they will probably ever witness. Like a Choco puff. Hmm.. Croco puff.

Oh.

Oh no.

Back away from that thought.

Cursed, cursed thoughts.

“Yes! Human child! I am a bodyguard in training!” He boasts. Aw. he’s sparkling.

Their ears prick up, “Oooh! So you know how to fight? That’s so cool!” Cheka exclaims, awed. Their tail is wagging. Avery stills it.

“Of course I do-!” Unfortunately for the three of them, their conversation is ended with an “OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”

No, none of them got collared. That 'honor' goes to Grim. The poor cat hangs from his scruff in Azul’s grip with a clunky ass collar on his head. He looks like he’s genuinely struggling to breathe.

 

'...Hey do you think Riddle has a-'

'No.' Cheka whines, 'I don’t want to think about it.'

…Oh hey! Lilia’s here!

 

. . .

 

“Ah. Just as I'd expected.” Bats sighs disappointedly, crossing his arms. “I figured I'd come down and see for myself whether Malleus had made an appearance, but once again, he was evidently not informed that his presence was required at an official ceremony.”

“You have my sincerest apologies, I assure you, this oversight was in no way intended to be a snub.” Azul frowns ‘apologetically’, his voice even, not portraying any underlying emotions.

‘How... Do people actually fall for his scams? Everything about him seems shady’ Cheka says, frowning

Avery shrugs ‘My guess is either that everyone's REALLY desperate when exams rolls around or he's just that good as his job’

Riddle grimaces, It isn’t obvious, a twitch of his lip, they only see it because they're trying to study his face to figure out what he's thinking. “I mean, you must admit, he's not exactly the easiest person to strike up a conversation with.” He says plainly, like it’s obvious

(‘That's such a terrible excuse’ Avery muses. 'I would've said it had gotten to hectic with the ceremony and everything or something or I was expecting someone else to do it'

‘It still doesn't change the fact that they're purposely excluding him from things.’ Cheka reminds her lightly, frowning slightly.

'Well, yeah, but they could at least try to pretend they aren't, this just seems... I don't know, pathetic? mean? Something like that.')

Lilia sighs, looking defeated. “No matter. All who were assigned to House Diasomnia, follow me.” He says, turning towards us, somehow managing to sound light and nonchalant, with an underlying tone of bitterness. “I just hope he doesn't sulk about this.”

. . .

Notes:

No because tell me why I just connected the dots about Sebek in like december when I finally read The Kane Chronicles.

Update!: Edited the last part of the chapter slightly! Also I'm probably going to be rewriting the first chapter since I feel unsatisfied with it so chapter 3 might take a bit longer.