Back in Time, Metal Rabbit

by Nami_Moittli

Summary:

Ah fuck. Okay, so she’s been sent back in time, that’s fine! She’s read a million things with this premise, she’ll be fine!

Oh wait. She’s a humanoid. And she hasn’t gotten her “Free Will Glitch” yet.

Oh old gods, Great Seven, dead brother or anyone who’s listening, let her out of this fucking jail

Notes:

Tbh I thought of this because I was thinking of a time travel Ace AU, and then I thought about what that would look like for Ortho and realized it would be her own special he’ll, wouldn’t it? I’m probably going to exaggerate just how much her programming inhibits her a little just to nail home just how much this is the fucking pits for her, but yeah

Anyway, later on depending on how far I get into this fic I’ll probably reference things that happened in my fic There’s A She-Wolf In Your Closet, Open Up And Set Her Free, simply because that’s her realization and coming out fic for the most part and so it’s canon to this as well. Tho tbh Ortho’ll probably reference things that just appear in my head as well, but yeah. I also just like my tfem ortho fic and want even more eyes on it lol

Chapter 1: I time traveled didn’t I? Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw then!

Adesius Ortho, no, Ortho Shroud opened her - his - what? Eyes.

“Systems all good?” Came the familiar voice of her - his - Ew, what? Olde(r)[est] brother, Idia Shroud.

It took a second for Ortho to gain her -her shut the fuck up - barings. She, she, was in Idia’s room. Ortho looked down, and saw her own hands. She flexed her fingers and looked around. This was Idia’s room, but it was wrong, this was Idia’s room during his third year at Night Raven Collage, but it was his fourth year, her sophomore year. What were they doing here? How were they here? All of his stuff was packed up and moved out as well!

“Ortho? R u good?” Idia spoke up. Her eyes snapped to him.

It was 10 days before the opening ceremony, his - fuck you she’s a girl - mind supplied.

“Yep! All good.” He - ew fuck - she chirped. What the fuck was this? A simulation? Or worse, time travel?

Well, she supposed that as long as it wasn’t 0% it always had the chance of becoming 100%, and with magic, nothing was 0%. What a double edged blade that was…

“Okay, if you say so.” Idia said. He didn’t seem completely convinced, but he dropped it. “Anyways, yeaaah, I don’t see a feasible way to reduce the form factor any further.”

It was odd, to go through a conversation that she’d been through before like this. She still remembers each line of dialogue, of course, it’s not like she forgets all that much, unless she decides to, but this… Well, let’s skip over that fluff, the Burst Gear feels so strange without the exposed circuits…

“I’ve got an idea!” She said, and Idia looked at her with interest. “Why not expose the circuits that are normally hidden to stop heat from building up? And you can cluster the parts around the waist. Then, it’d look kinda like the ceremonial robes that everyone wears! It looks really cool, and the opening ceremony is coming up soon anyways! We could… go together.” Okay, maybe that wasn’t word for word what she said last time, but, again, skip the fluff.

Idia’s eyes widened at the suggestion. “W-well, first of all, it’s true, I COULD spread components around the waist to make it look like a robe, and it’d kill to birds with one stone… but, you wanna go to orientation? with me?”

“You don’t wanna?” Of course he wouldn’t, he’s got social anxiety to the max and he’s a complete introvert. But, maybe, just maybe, if she plays her cards right, then Idia might actually go to orientation in person this time. Of course, considering what happens that day, it might convince him to never leave again, but it’s not like that’ll actually stick.

“N-no! That’s not it!” He covered, he really did love her (him? Right now she was…) “I could do it, but the part where I have to go outside is, uh, problematic…”

Ortho didn’t say anything. It was playing out almost exactly as she remembered. Only, this time, she truly knew how to use her puppy dog eyes (heh, puppy dog…).

She watched as Idia’s expression crumbled and broke down as he relented to his adorable younger brother - FUCK YOU SISTER’S - charms. Ugh. “Agh, don’t look at me like that! Okay, okay. I-I got this!”

“Yaaay! Thanks, bro!” Now, just to hold him to that promise. Last time, she relented, not wanting to make him uncomfortable, and while sure, this year may be one of the worst orientation ceremonies, Idia needs to face his fears sometime!

That and, she really, really wants to go to orientation with her brother. So, it’s fine to put her own selfish wish above his just this once, right? The prefect and all her other friends would agree, she’s sure! She’s learned a lot from Vil, and he’d no doubt agree that this was the right thing to do!

Ah, she can’t wait to see the others, maybe Yuu’d even grab a picture of the two of them!

Wait. Oh, yeah, the prefect wouldn’t have their camera yet, nor would they care enough about the two of them to do so…

Maybe later, then?

“It’s time for me to roll up my sleeves and get to work, then.” Idia said, a lot less cheery than last time, though due to the shuffling of events, that made sense.

_—_—_

Adesius, - yes her name was Adesius shut up programming - ran through what she knew, now that she was out of that cutscene.

Last she remembered, she was a second year a Night Raven Collage, about a month into the new school year, and was the Housewarden of Ignihyde. She was an actor in the Film Research Club, and had best friends in her yearmates of Yuuka Seta, Grim, Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, Jack Howl, Epel Felmier and Sebek Zigvolt. In fact, they were having a sleepover at Ramshackle, as usual, she entered sleep mode, and when she woke up, she was here. Presumably, until given further information, in the past.

Ugh, this was so fucking annoying!

The worst part was that her mind kept going against her! She gained her “free will glitch,” as her friends liked to put it, after being struck three times with the Jupiter Cannons, but since that hasn’t fucking happened yet, her programming protested everything that she made herself! Every time she calls herself a “girl” it tries to correct her! Everytime she refers to herself as “Adesius” instead of just “Ortho” it tells her she’s incorrect!

At the very fucking least she brought her feelings with her, but the differences between blessing and curses are slim to none, and this seemed like a good example. Because having her feelings just makes the lack of free will worse.

Oh Agetes… help your dear sister out a little here? It was you, who originally called out, who convinced Adesius to open the Gate to the Underworld with Idia, right? She still remembers that day, back then, when it was all so fresh, they all thought that the only thing Adesius had gained from that was her free will glitch, but, that’s not true, is it? You did something. You gave her, her feelings. Somehow.

Everyone who was there agrees, she wasn’t acting like an A.I., she was acting like an actually living being with feelings, even before she was struck. Looking back, she can’t remembers how much of that was “Adesius” and how much was “Agetes”. They were just, “Ortho.”

(Sometimes she wonders if Idia would prefer that… She knows that he loves both his younger siblings, but still. When he set out to make her, he did it to bring his brother back, and, well, that was one of, if not the closest time he got that wish. But that’s just the doubt creeping in, and she knows it’s not true. His wish has changed, and she has as well.)

Agetes probably can’t hear her though, and even if he could, it’s not like he could actually do something, so, oh well.

This is gonna suck. But maybe, just maybe, she can make the most of it. Wishing can only get you so far after all, and Adesius isn’t able to dream.

…It’s still gonna suck to be misgendered, misaged, and have to kindle the relationships with the people who would eventually become her friends.

Adesius Ortho Shroud let out a long sigh and looked up to the ceiling. This was going to be the worst, she thought as she lost herself in her internal music and games.

Oh fuck, she’s going to reference things that haven’t come out yet, and even worse, things from Yuu’s world.

Uuugggggghhhhhhhhhh.

Chapter 2: Chap 2

Summary:

Every day is another show of how different the people you know can change in just one year. Maybe Adesius can make it a tad bit better, though?

Notes:

I forgot to plug it last chapter, but I have a tumblr! Like I said, Ortho will probably mention things that happened in my tfem ortho fic, but she’ll also mention things that just exist in my head, but sometimes those are things that I post about on my tumblr! It’s a mix, really lol, so here it is: https://www.tumblr.com/nami-moittli

It felt good to be in the Burst Gear proper again. Sure, the finishing touches haven’t been added yet, and the hair was too goddamn short, but that’s fine.

Ortho approached her older sister’s room (if she remembered correctly, Idia was a girl today) and from the other side of the door she heard the usual ramblings of said sister.

“-veryone’s gonna be sizing me up.” Came the muffled voice. “Ugh. Now I’m dizzy. And my stomach hurts. Nope, sorry, sick as a dog. Gotta sit this one out.”

Adesius did feel bad for her, truly. But, this was a battle of selfish desires, and Ortho didn’t feel like backing down. This was on her (future) pride as an NRC student!

*Knock knock* Ortho rapped at the door. “Idia?” She called as the door slid open.

“Eek!” Idia shrieked at the unexpected interruptance. Adesius floated through the doorway, it swooshing shut behind her. “O-Ortho. What’s up?”

Admittedly, it was very nice to see her sister in person again. Video calls can only go so far, after all. “I’m gonna go out to the sports field. There’s only a week left until orientation, so I have to get used to my new body!” Well, it was more like readjusting to it, but she didn’t know that.

“R-right. Have fun. TTYL. Don’t stay out too late.” Idia told her.

“I won’t.” She assured her. Such a worrywart, truly. Of course, he - fuck she, she’s a she fuck you - knew why. Ortho waved goodbye and could sense it when behind her Idia let out a sigh of relief at being alone again.

On her way out, she spotted the familiar rose-red hair of the Heartslabyul prefect, Riddle Rosehearts.

For a moment, she was blindsided by the version of Riddle Rosehearts that she remembered from before her time travel. The version of him that was strict, kind hearted and hard working. The Riddle Rosehearts that loved his card soldiers and they loved and admired him in return. The one that Ace and Deuce said was like an older sibling to them, that though they didn’t always agree (mainly Ace and Riddle Rosehearts) they still chose to follow him. Not just because he was their queen, but also because he was a good leader.

But this was not that Riddle Rosehearts. This was the strict, hard working and tyrannical Teapot Tyrant of Heartslabyul dorm. He still cared for his soldiers, Ortho was sure of that, but from what she’s heard (And even seen, in his dream) the way that Riddle Rosehearts showed that was the same way that his mother showed care for him. Which is to say, none at all.

The Riddle Rosehearts she expected would have removed his sharp glare to replace with a soft smile as they passed by each other with a polite greeting, before plastering the glare on immediately after.

The Riddle Rosehearts she got barely even noticed her, so absorbed in his own self righteous fury to even notice the humanoid try to wave at him before backing off.

Adesius stopped in her tracks as she watched Riddle Rosehearts continue to speedwalk his way straight to her sister’s room.

…This was going to be a very interesting year, depending on how long she stays here.

_—_—_

Adesius ran her tongue across her teeth, not for the first time. She was already pretty used to her Burst Gear, even if it wasn’t exactly as it was the last time she wore it. She was ten centimeters to short, and found herself compensating by floating even higher than normal. Her hair was too damn short and she missed the half up half down style she’d been wearing since she became the housewarden. And of course, her teeth were also like a regular human instead of the cursed sharp shape that the Shrouds traditionally have.

They both knew. They all knew, that Adesius was not Agetes, even if it was all but taboo to mention. Idia wanted his younger brother back, but even then, he wanted a better life for his creation than the one he had given it. The fire hair? To recognizable, it would be odd to change. But something as simple as the teeth? A thing that she rarely ever showed before her Precision Gear? Yeah, that’s small enough to change.

But she didn’t want “a better life.” She wanted to be with her family. The only “better life” is one that she would make for them both.

Adesius’ lips formed into an unhappy line as she dragged her hand mindlessly across the school’s hallway. Maybe Malleus was onto something by sleeping the time away.

Not.

Oh!

There, standing just a few meters in front of her was her second favorite (current) third year, Vil Schoenheit! She and Vil weren’t that close yet, but it was still nice to see the familiar tall stature of her upperclassmen. Wouldn’t hurt to strike up a small conversation, now would it?

“Hello, Vil Schoenheit!” Adesius greeted.

“Ah, Ortho.” Vil Schoenheit said, noticing her. It’s been far too long since she’s seen those striking heterochromic eyes. “It’s rare to see you without your brother around. What brings you here?”

The tone was far too formal for what Ortho was used to, but again, they weren’t that close yet. Why should Vil treat her as anything more than one of Idia’s things? That was what she (he, something in her mind told her. She told it to shut the fuck up.) was currently after all.

Pushing down the bitterness she felt at that, Adesius brightly said, “I was testing out my new Burst Gear in the sports field! I got done with my tests quick though, so I was just wandering the halls. You?”

“Just making sure that everything’s in order.” He replied. “The orientation is in just a week, and as the housewarden of Pomefiore I take my duties very seriously.” Was that perhaps a small jab at her sister? As much as Ortho would love to engage in some friendly banter over such a topic, she knew better than to do so.

“I see, that sounds like a lot.” Adesius agreed instead. She remembered everything that she went through to set up the opening ceremony for her second year. She wouldn’t say she didn’t understand where Vil Schoenheit was coming from with their bitterness. “I hope I’m not keeping you too long then.”

Adesius saw some of the tension realise from Vil Schoenheit as he let out a small breath. “No, you’re fine. I needed a small break anyway.” He paused for a moment, and she felt Vil Schoenheit’s poisonous purple and green green eyes take her in for a moment. “Pardon me, but you don’t seem the type to start up idle chatter though, Ortho.”

She hummed in response. “I suppose not, huh? I guess, I just wanted someone to talk to freely for a moment.”

“Oh? Is there something wrong with Idia? Perhaps he is too caught up on his own prefect duties to properly pay attention to you?” Vil Schoenheit truly loved his backhanded compliments, didn’t he? As much as he likes to pretend it isn’t there, Vil Schoenheit loved being a quote ‘petty bitch’ as the Ramshackle prefect would say.

“No, not at all.” She responded with a smile. She wondered if Vil could tell that she picked up on his true intentions or not. “Also, ‘she.’ She’s genderfluid, but she’d hate it if word got out.”

“Ah. My apologies then, I wasn’t aware.” Vil Schoenheit responded.

“No problem, like I said, she’d hate it if people found out about it. Some people, too introverted for their own good. Won’t even speak up when they’re uncomfortable, because they hate the idea of being judged even worse.” Adesius shook her head. Vil looked sympathetic at least, which she did truly appreciate. “And there in lies my problem, to tell the truth. If you haven’t noticed, my newest gear is based off the ceremonial robes, and I really want to go to the opening ceremony with her, but I’m afraid she’ll flake out on me.”

Vil Schoenheit hummed in sympathetic thought. “That does sound like trouble. Sorry to say, but that does sound like a decent fear to have.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Hm, dramatic irony, maybe? “Don’t worry, I think I have a plan. By the time orientation rolls around, I’ll probably have at least a hundred!”

Vil’s disappointed frown curled into a small smile. “That sounds like a completely different problem. Sometimes having too many ideas can be hindering too.”

Ortho nodded. “I know, don’t worry.” She didn’t particularly feel like ending the conversation yet. She really did miss him, and she could feel that it would only get worse without being able to be in the Film Research Club when the school year proper starts. Say, “You know, to change the topic Vil Schoenheit, what’s it like in the Film Research Club? Back when I was first made, I had a hard time figuring out how to copy human expressions and mannerisms. I feel that I’ve gotten quite good at it by now, but recently, I’ve been getting into behind the scenes as well, so I was wondering if I could ask you a bit about the process you go through in your club, or even out in the real world with your acting career.”

Seeing Vil’s smile turn from something polite turn into something genuine felt like an achievement. Idia wouldn’t mind if she wasn’t there with her at every Board Game Club meeting, right? In fact, she - fuck you shut up - didn’t even do that back when she wasn’t a proper student! Vil Schoenheit wouldn’t mind an extra hanging around set too much, right?

Ortho missed her Pomefiore friends so much, and this was either going to make it so much worse, so much better, or both.

Whatever the case, this is the path she’s choosing for herself, and that’s what matters in this game called life, right? Ehehehe~

Notes:

Okay in the notes at the top I plugged my tumblr proper, but here’s some things in this fic I mentioned that also are just tumblr posts. Not all, really, but yeah. Anyway the heterochromic Vil thing is something I came up with recently and I knew I just needed to add it to this fic

https://www.tumblr.com/nami-moittli/778679499665571840/i-felt-like-giving-vil-central-heterochromia-so-i

https://www.tumblr.com/nami-moittli/772133421250215936/ever-since-i-made-my-death-arcana-card-for-ortho

https://www.tumblr.com/nami-moittli/772694158370553856/ortho-shroud-design-timeline-but-shes-a-cyclops

Chapter 3: Chap 3

Summary:

Ortho gets bored, then intrigued, and Vil talks about and thinks about his interaction with Ortho.

Notes:

Feel free to take the first section with a grain of salt, but honestly I just really wanted to write him, I love him so much <3

But yeah this is a fairly short chapter, so I hope yall enjoy it!

Auughhhh. Every day was always so boring. Day in and day out - even if it’s hard to tell time down here, what’s it been? Seven years by now? Eight? Huh, he could be entering high school soon enough! - all of Ortho’s stupid friends were always complaining like,

“Raahh let us out!” Or “Grrr I will bring destruction to humanity.” Or even just “Jupiteeerrrr!!!”

Like seriously, he knows that there’s not much to do around here, but all they ever do is whine, whine, whine about the same shit all. the. gods. damn. time!

One day, one day he’ll finally shut them up and give them something good to talk about, but for now, he’s just stuck in the underworld.

Hm? What that strange feeling?

Oh! Ah! That’s!

Ahhh, Ahahahaha, Agetes remembers now. Oh, his poor sister. He wishes he could do more for her, but unfortunately he only has so much power. Agetes knows how to wait, he’s had to learn, but his dear sister hasn’t. Hopefully she’ll be fine, it’ll just be a few months to suffer, but that’s often something you have to get used to.

Good luck, dear Adesius, until we meet again! Hehehehe~

_—_—_

“Ah! Roi du Poison, good to see you.” Rook greeted him. “It took you longer to arrive back at the dorm than I expected it would, did something happen?”

Vil’s face morphed into a small smile thinking about the interaction he just had, “I just got stopped in the hallway to chat a bit, that’s all. But, it almost reminded me of you in a way.”

“Oho? Do tell.” Rook inquired further.

“Yes, you remember the first time we met?” Vil asked in response.

“Ah yes, when we talked until sundown about our shared passione about films and theater, what a wonderful day that was.” Rook remembered brightly. “Did something similar happen?”

“The conversation didn’t last that long, obviously,” Vil replied. “But yes. It didn’t start off about films at first, but once the conversation shifted to it, he could barely stop talking about it! He asked question after question and seemed genuinely interested in the topic. When I realized that time was escaping me and I needed to get back to the dorm, he just offered to walk back with me to carry on the conversation. It wasn’t until I was practically through the mirror that he left, and when he did he looked truly disappointed by it!”

“By the way you’re talking about him, I’m to assume that he’s neither part of Pomefiore nor the Film Research Club?” Rook asked. “At least, for now.”

“Yes, that’s the most interesting part of it.” Vil told him. “This boy was Ortho Shroud.”

“Oh la la! Monsieur Marionnette? That is quite the surprise.” Rook agreed.

“Isn’t it?” Vil said. “It could be my experience in acting that makes me feel this way, but here was something about him, his emotions seemed far more real than usual. Perhaps not completely, but I’m not entirely sure. Maybe I should try to strike up another conversation with him soon.”

“You truly have quite the knack for attracting interesting characters, don’t you Vil?” Rook smiled. “A Savannaclaw student who transferred in a heartbeat and now a marionette who’s acquired a taste for films and theater. Oh, how I can barely wonder what the new year will bring and add to your posse!”

“I wouldn’t go that far, at least not yet, Rook.” Vil told him. “Though I am wondering what kind of freshmen the new year will bring as well, I will admit. Sadly no one last year quite catched my eye.”

“I don’t know about you, Roi du Poison, but I have a good feeling this year.” Rook told him.

“You always have a good feeling, Rook.” Vil said. “For better or worse.”

Rook chuckled lightly. “True.” He paused and looked past Vil to the exit. “You got me interested in Monsieur Marionnette now, though.” At that, Rook got the familiar gleam in his eye that he always gets when something catches his eye. Vil almost feels bad for the robotic child, but Ortho was bound to ignite Rook’s hunter flame at some point. It’s honestly a wonder it took this long. Or perhaps Ortho already caught Rook’s eye before they met and this just resparked it.

“That’s all well and good, but remember, we still have our own duties to do, Vice Housewarden.” Vil pointedly told him.

“Ah yes, of course!” Rook said, snapping out of hunting mode. “Let us be on our way then!”

Vil smiled at Rook’s dramatics. He couldn’t deny that he also felt like this coming year would have something truly special in it, whether that be a good or bad thing was about as clear as the difference between a curse and blessing so far, though.

Ortho Shroud. Vil had never given all too much thought about the robot, or, “technomantic humanoid” he believed was the correct term. The child had always been an odd thing, as is the nature of his existence. As a creative, Vil had always had mixed feeling about the A.I., but he never did anything too harmful so Vil didn’t think too hard about it. Vil did have questions about the ‘why’ when it came to Ortho, though. Why did Idia have the idea to make himself a younger brother in the first place? Pure curiosity to see if he could? Or something deeper? And the fact that’s he’s so attached to it as well was concerning, but it wasn’t Vil’s problem.

But now? Vil had a reason to think deeper about the strange “brothers.” Ortho had said that he had wanted to vent, but from the fact that he seemed to have a vested interest in films it seems that perhaps he had a reason to seek out Vil himself in specific to talk to.

Vil had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the only time that he would be stopped by a certain humanoid child. Heh, it’s almost a shame that Ortho wasn’t one of the new freshman, he might make a fine pet project. Hopefully one of the actual freshman will give him the same feeling.

Ortho had said that he wanted to drag Idia to orientation this year. Considering that it was looking like Riddle was going to blow a fuse if Idia didn’t make it, Vil wished Ortho all the best of luck with that, even if he wasn’t going to hold his breath himself.

Notes:

I hope yall liked the section with Agetes, like I said before, I love him a lot, I care so much for both of the Ortho’s. Idk how much presence he’ll actually have in this story because of the whole, yk, being dead thing *music starts-* but I wanted to include him anyway. Like, he’s dead and the king of the underworld, why would a little time travel affect him that much? Plus it’s already been established that he’s why Adesius has her feelings, so something something twin magic/hj Also quick headcanon, all the Shroud sibs have the same laugh, it just loses a letter the younger you go. Idia laughs like, “Whehehe” Agetes laughs like, “Hehehe” and Adesius laughs like, “Ehehe”

(Btw if my snippet of him intrigued you, then I do have a couple other fics with him in it if you wanna check it out. I made the Double Ortho AU fic before I really got my characterization of him down, so he’s probably a lil ooc, but my other- *I’m pulled off the stage by one of those hooked cane things*)

Anyways! Vil! Tbh I love making Adesius an honorary Pomefiore member, like she’s the neighbor kid that’s over so much that she practically got adopted, so I wanted to point that out with Vil and Rook here. Also, Epel teaser. Back to Ady being an honorary member, I like to think that she and Epel are really close. Like, they’re both some of Vil’s favorite freshmen, (I headcanon) they’re both trans, they’re shorties, they’re cute yet violent, like, they’re besties, trust, I saw it with my own two eyes. So yeah, some small parallels being drawn between them already.

I also thought it’d be fun to have an outside perspective on Ortho so far. Like, in Adesius’ own mind, she’s a 17 y/o girl who just got forcibly thrusted into her 8 y/o boy body, but for everyone else, she is just genuinely an 8 y/o boy rn, so they treat her as such, even if Vil is gaining a good opinion on her. This is going to be Hell for her her later on, I’m sure lol

(These notes feel as long as the chapter lmao-)

Chapter 4: That’s number five, baby!

Summary:

Dysphoria, envy, plans, fun and pain. Adesius Ortho is going through it all today, folks!

Notes:

Chapter 4 was originally going to be Orientation Night, but then I realized that there was something I wanted to do before that, so next chapter then

Also, important context for this chapter: I love the Ramshackle Ghosts and the Ramshackle Dorm as a concept in general oh so very much <3. I wish that the game focused more on them. Hopefully with the (hypothetical?) book 8 in the future we’ll get more on them, but for now, they shall stay in the confines of my brain and my fics

Adesius needed to scream. Or at least, she really, really wanted to.

She was hanging out with Idia, and today was another girl day. Adesius herself has never had any particularly strong feelings on when she had a brother or a sister, she still doesn’t, but there was something different now.

She looked at her sister. Idia’s binder was on the bed beside Ortho, and Idia was wearing her striped black and blue long sleeved shirt. Adesius put a hand on her own chest as she glared at her sister’s.

Ortho wasn’t one for dysphoria. She had never really felt it before. Between the three weeks of her gaining her “self” and the Fairy Gala, she didn’t even realize that she wasn’t a boy. And even then it took two more to fully come out. It wasn’t dysphoria she felt, it was euphoria from being feminine and being a girl. And that makes sense, because Ortho was made to be a boy. It'd probably be weirder if she just instantly knew and did a 180 in gender presentation.

But now? When she was used to being a girl? A teenage girl? And now she was forced into being an 8 year old boy? Yeah. She was definitely feeling something, namely dysphoria and envy.

Good thing that Ortho was a good actress, cause otherwise she was sure she’d be glaring, and just staring was bad enough. It was all Ortho could do to calm her expression and peel her eyes away. Staring at anyone’s chest was strange enough out of context.

Great Sevens she needed to scream.

Adesius slammed her feet on the floor as a push off to stand up, gaining her sister’s attention. Plastering on a bright smile that befitted the role expected of her she said, “I think I’m going to head out for now. Have fun playing your game, Idia.”

She perhaps finished that sentence with a bit too much of a bite, but before Idia could express her concerns, Ortho was already out the door.

UGGHH! This was torture! How was she even supposed to bring this up, if she could at all. Adesius had gained a pretty good grip on ignoring the voice in her head telling her that she was not a girl and just Ortho, but she had a sneaking suspicion that if she tried to actually say something like that out loud the words would die off in her throat.

She knew she wasn’t Agetes! Everyone did! The prefect had a penchant for calling her a “FNAF reject” but the key difference between them (probably what got her rejected in the first place, in this hypothetical) was that in that series the animatronics were truly possessed, but she most definitely and absolutely was not! And the closest she ever got to that was her fucking overblot! Which wasn’t hers, it was Idia’s! But honestly the way things were going it was going to be hers, magic be damned! (Another thing Yuu would joke about sometimes. Overblotting despite, or perhaps in spite, of the lack of magic needed to do so.)

What can she even do? Idia’s already noticed the extra centimeters she’s been floating off the ground. Maybe she could just tell her that she’s from the future. Maybe that’d be easier. Maybe Idia’d even try to fix her programming.

But then again, when she got her free will glitch, Idia had told her that no one, not even her, could replicate it. And thinking about it, in trying to, it might only hurt her. What if she loses her “self” instead of gaining it? That’s a scary, no, horrifying idea.

Adesius sighed. She’d only been here a week.

When Ortho first officially enrolled, she ended up moving into one of the empty rooms. It was a bit lonely, at first, but she grew to enjoy the solitude that came with it. See, due to Ortho’s nature as a humanoid, whenever she gained a new outfit, it wasn’t easily returnable like the others. This meant she got to keep hold of all of the one time use gears like Stargazer, Fairy Gala or White Rabbit. Back before she realized she was trans, she got great joy in modifying her previous gears, like Stargazer and Fairy Gala, to try out different hairstyles, eventually landing on the just past shoulder length high pigtails that she wore for the majority of the remaining freshman year. She also felt comfortable enough to wear something like this White Rabbit gear for no other reason other than, she had it and felt like it. Of course, she’d probably do the same even with roommates, but it’s that first point that gets her.

She moved into one of the unused rooms. She knows that no one has any reason to go in there. She could make herself one of her old gears, like College Gear, and just be able to exist as herself.

Of course, she’d still have her programming telling her, screaming at her that this wasn’t “him” but it’s not like she cared about it that much.

She could work with this.

Adesius Ortho looked around the dorm, eyeing what would be hers, and continued floating away. There’s one thing she wants to do first before she gets started, something she’s wanted to do for a little while now.

_—_—_

Ahh, Ramshackle Dorm, in the truest form. Ortho had heckled the place before for definitely skirting around some health code violations, but Yuu would always give a light hearted chuckle and say it’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Of course, she had seen it a month or so after the year they and Grim moved in, when there was an assembly and everyone had to wear their ceremonial robes for the visitors coming to the school. She helped out cleaning the fence, even! And even before then she’d noted the old dorm and wonder why it hadn’t been torn down yet. If she had to guess now though, the reason would be obvious: the ghosts.

Hans, the smallest, Christian, the slimmest and Anderson, the biggest, all still inhabited the dorm, and if it got destroyed, then the problems they’d reek over campus would be numerous until they got compensated. (Ortho remembers the stories of what happened when Azul gained control of the dorm. Needless to say, the ghosts were none to happy about their daughter, sorry, roommate’s being kicked out and the dorm being remodeled to fit Octavinelle’s motifs instead.)

Then there was the fact that every year Eliza and her court would come to NRC and take residence in the dorm, and if it wasn’t here then who knows where they’d hole up instead? Hmm, perhaps Ortho should make some plans for that. Oh but the prefect would be so sad not being able to capture any pictures of the night… decisions, decisions.

At least she still has plenty of time before then.

Wandering over the broken gates of the dorm, Adesius Ortho did wonder why Eliza chose this place out of all of them? Because there were no humans (and others)? Were ghosts drawn to abandoned sites? Somewhat, probably, but Eliza feels like the type to not settle for anything less than the best for herself. Maybe Ortho calculated her standards as too high?

Ortho pushed her way through the broken door. It would be easy to open it in spite of the rust and rot keeping it closed if she wished to break in, but she didn’t, which made the whole process much harder than need be. Of course though, Ortho found just the right amount of force to open it without breaking it off its hinges.

This surely would not be foreshadowing for the rest of the visit, she hoped.

The atmosphere of the place was nice, the outside light of day illuminating the decrepit browns of rotted wood and highlighting the silvers of cobwebs strewn about. This place would probably be even creepier at night, poor Grim and Yuu.

It was probably a good thing that Ortho didn’t need to breathe, otherwise she could tell that she’d be coughing her hypothetical lungs up with every move she made deeper into the dorm. It was a good thing that Adesius knew this place like the back of her hand from all the time she spent here.

It was so interesting. Every sight she saw came with so many different emotions. The joyous nostalgia at being in a place that holds such fond memories. The creepy feeling of being in a real life horror movie setting, the appreciation of the atmosphere and look of the place. There was the strangest feeling of being in a place untouched by life in so long. It was nice. (And technically, still untouched, in a way, and it’s not just because she’s floating.)

To round off the creepy atmosphere of the dorm, behind her, Adesius heard the haunting laugh of someone long passed. Anderson. To her side, came another. Hans. Above her was Christian’s chuckles.

Ah, the main event has arrived. She was wondering when they would. The suspense was killing her. Ehehe~

“Yee hee hee… Bwa ha ha ha ha ha.” Anderson laughed, and Adesius whipped her head around, knowing there’d be nothing to see. Of course, not like she needed her sight to do so. Hmm, should she change the song she’s listening to into something more appropriate? Probably, background noise is important to the overall scene, after all! “We haven’t had visitors in ages! Oh, I’m just itching for new friends! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

“All the people who used ta live here got scared of us and ran away.” Hans told her, creeping behind her so close she could feel the coolth of his incorporeal body brush up against her.

She whizzed around, bringing up her hand in the shape of a finger gun. Little did these specters know, it was a laser gun she was holding up.

“We just want a new ghost buddy to play with!” Anderson piped up again. “What do you say, buddy?”

She lowered her hand a bit and scoffed out a laugh. “Bold of you to assume that I can become one. Or better yet,” she added on, thinking mainly about what she said to Malleus Draconia while he was overblotting. “That I’m not one already.”

That one got a chuckle out of the old men. “Jokester, eh?” Christian said, making his appearance. She quickly put her hand up and set off a very, very weak beam so as to not make this place collapse. “Nuh-uh. Not even close.” Christian mocked.

“Is that magic?” Hans asked as she shot off another beam in his direction.

“Over here! Over here!” Anderson cheered, letting out another jovial laugh with Adesius firing at him.

“Don’t worry, there’s a lot more where that came from!” Adesius told the lot. Ahh, here it is. She’s missed the dramatics of acting. She’s been forced into a role, so playing one out for herself was just what she needed!

Adesius didn’t truly care about hitting the lonely ghosts. She knew them well as the caretakers of Ramshackle Dorm and as Yuu and Grim’s guardian figures. The same way she didn’t care about hitting them, they didn’t care if she “joined them.” What they all cared about though, the reason they were here, was because it was fun. The dramatics of putting on a horror show was what brought them together. The ghosts just wanted someone to play with, and so did Adesius.

And so, Adesius shot out beam after beam, and the ghosts dodged and dodged. The ghosts would laugh and heckle her, and she would scoff and act tough. The next one, she’d say, and they’d tell her that’s what she said the last twenty times.

Eventually, Ortho got really into her role, draping a hand on her chest and the other on her forehead.

“I can’t believe it…!” She said in disbelief. “My shots, my precious beams! I haven’t hit a thing!”

The ghosts laughed at her plight.

“You’ve been missing by a country mile. Heh heh heh!” Hans chuckled.

“Heh heh! You’re looking real tired, I wonder how much longer you’ll last!” Anderson said.

“Soon enough you won’t even be able to fire another one off!” Christian predicted, then under his breath mumbled, “At least, I think. I don’t really know what’s up with you…”

Adesius almost smiled. This week’s been so rough, and she wished that she could just wake up from it all, but this was so nice. She wanted so badly to be given a script and told to act like her life depended on it, or to play a simple improve game. This week has been close to that, but it’s all too painfully real to really have fun with.

Adesius got ready to say her next line,

And all that came out was a rage filled, tired and done-with-it-all scream that echoed throughout the entire dorm.

Everyone stopped.

Ortho stood up straight. “I did not mean to do that.” She said matter of factly, a bit surprised at herself.

The ghost's demeanor immediately changed, from playful and heckling to one of genuine worry.

“Are you alright, kiddo?” Christian asked.

“That wasn’t a ‘scared’ scream, that was an angry one. Are you doing okay?” Anderson asked next.

“Yeah, yeah.” She told them, her expression dropping. “It’s just, ugh, it’s been a rough week for me. I guess I just got comfortable enough to let it out there. Sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin the mood like that.”

The ghosts looked between themselves.

“Do ya, need ta talk to someone or something, kid?” Hans asked.

“We’d be happy to lend an ear - if we had any.” Anderson chuckled. “We’ll still listen despite that though, of course!” He quickly tacked on.

“This was the most fun we’ve had in ages, we don’t want you having a bad time.” Christian told her.

Heh, the way they switched up so quickly, they truly were good people. It reminded her of something Epel had once said.

It was one of their regular hang outs at Ramshackle Dorm. Yuu, and Grim with them, had left the room to go grab something. In the following seconds, Epel had opened his mouth to say, -

_—_—_

“Y’know, how one time Yuu and a few others had visited my hometown?”

The attention of the room turned to the boy, but he wasn’t looking at any of them.

“Of course, I was there.” Sebek said. Epel payed him no mind, too lost in thought.

“The topic of our families came up. Just small talk of who we lived with, what our lives were like.” He continued. Sebek seemed to catch on to what he was saying, and quieted down. “Once we had all gone, and the attention fell on Yuu, they just seemed really confused. And y’know what they said? They just asked, ‘But you’ve all met my family before.’ That’s what. We all got confused, because no, we hadn’t. They then said that we all already knew about Grim, and we all knew about the ghosts too, even if they didn’t leave the dorm much. It was only our surprised and confused expressions that they realized what they had said. Or maybe more importantly, what they didn’t, and quickly corrected themselves, saying they lived with their ma, pa and kid brother. Luckily we were pretty much at my house by that point so we were able to brush by that pretty easily but,”

Throughout this whole monologue, Epel didn’t turn to face any of them once. His eyes were simply fixed on the place the Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm had been not a minute prior as he recounted the story and thoughtfully said, “Ah think about that sometimes.”

_—_—_

There was a reason why Yuu thought of the ghosts as family, and it was so, so easy for her to see why.

“Do you want some snacks? The oven still kinda works, and the guys from Sam’s store get us some real good ingredients for cookies.” Christian said.

“We grow our own tea leaves!” Hans tacked on. “If ya want any.”

“I have no functions for oral intake, nor any feelings on taste.” She sadly stated. Not because she had any feelings on wishing to be able to eat/have opinions on what was her “favorite” or “least favorite” food, but because these spectors genuinely were trying to cheer her up the best way they could.

Now, there is no way to tell outside of asking the ghosts themselves, and apparently they found it a game not to tell, but Yuu liked to say that Ramshackle, their Ramshackle was built in the spirit of hospitality. And these ghosts who truly loved this dorm, this home of theirs enough to haunt it for over 70 or so years? She would believe that’s what the original Ramshackle prized as well.

The ghosts seemed saddened by the news, which made sense. They once again looked between themselves for an answer on what to do before Anderson spoke up saying, “I do a little beekeeping as a hobby. It’s something nice to do as the years pass. Would you like to help out?”

The other two ghosts quickly agreed with the idea.

“You don’t even need to eat the honey they produce! It’s a great idea, what do you say, Lad?” Christian asked.

Adesius ignored the feeling of being stabbed in the heart that came with being called “lad” because she did indeed look like one right now, and they were truly just trying to help, so even if that one word made her want to leave and go home, maybe get started on her new project of recreating her old gears, she agreed to go help out with the beekeeping.

“Ahaha! Don’t worry, I’ll teach you everything.” Anderson said. “It’ll be so nice to share this with someone new!” He put a cold hand on her back and lead her to the back entrance with the other two trailing behind.

Ahh, it was all too much. These guys were Yuu and Grim’s family, not hers. This felt like stealing a key scene from them for herself.

She missed her own destructive yet kind and supportive and dead family member, even if she has only met him a few times.

She missed her life.

With the sun’s rays blinding her face, she felt the pinpricks of warmth behind her eyes.

Ah. She thought to herself as she felt her eyes well up. That’s five.

Notes:

A lot to say this chapter! First off, I believe in canon Ortho does actually have roommates, which makes sense in hindsight, but when I was writing my tfem Ortho fic (that I talked about in chapter 1 as well) I didn’t know that and came up with the idea that she just got a whole 4-person room to herself and even though I know better now, I still really like that idea and want to keep it so that’s why she says that.

The idea of Ady getting envious over Idia was an idea I’ve had for a little while and thought when I decided to add in this extra chapter that it would be a good place to put it! I feel like most would agree that it’s a bit odd in anime to have women comparing chest sizes and stuff like that, but for a trans girl like Ortho, I think it makes sense! I’m worried that it might sound a bit cringe but I’m writing fanfic and you’re reading it so it’s not like I haven’t crossed that line already so *shrugs*

Anyways! The ghosts! I love them! See, in my mind, they have a very specific relationship with Yuu and Grim. They start out as the weird uncles your deadbeat dad (Crowley) leaves you with as he goes to get milk, but as time goes on everyone gets attached and they turn from uncles into fathers, but them being uncles is a very important first step, if that makes sense. Also if Grim is named after the Grimm Brothers, the collectors (and honestly rewrites as well, I believe, making a lot of the stories they’re writing down a lot more ‘grim’ than their original tales) of fairy tales, then it makes sense to me that the ghosts would carry on that theme, being named after Hans Christian Anderson, who wrote things like The Little Mermaid and The Snow Queen. So yeah!

Also, the number 5 at the end (and title) is a reference to how many times Ortho has cried before! 3 times in There’s A She-Wolf In Your Closet, Open Up And Set Her Free, and once in canon! Add on this spilling of So Many emotions in this chapter makes 5! Why is she keeping count? Why not, honestly?

Chapter 5: Orientation 1

Summary:

Adesius chooses the correct dialogue options to get her stubborn brother’s ass to orientation! Malleus almost ruins it but that’s fine!

Notes:

I don’t have much to say up here, but something I forgot to mention last chapter: I like to think that the ghosts help out with the upgrade items. Christian mentions making cookies which are… I think what the secret snacks are? Idk. Hans mentions growing their own tea leaves which are for the friendship tea and Anderson is a beekeeper for the blooming honey!

Adesius steeled herself. It was the night of orientation, this was the most important time for her, to make it out on top on this battle of selfishness.

Of course, it felt a bit bad for calling Idia selfish for not wanting to go. She knew how bad his anxiety was and to mix it with his introverted nature, something like this was truly a nightmare. But Ortho knew what would happen this year. Idia was truly amazing, he excepted the title of housewarden for a reason - he was the best person for the job in terms of skill, no one (except maybe her) could come close to his level. But, if he was going to be housewarden, then he had to act like it. Sure, he would eventually gain the respect of his dormmates, and eventually the rest of the school, in terms of his genius but it was good for him to show up in person at a time like this.

Of course, he could fuck it up really badly, but hey, that’s what she’s here for! Thankfully for Idia, he has a wonderful younger sister, future Housewarden of Ignihyde, full of confidence that will hopefully rub off on her olde(r)[est] brother, and if it doesn’t? At least they’ll be there together, and that’s what matters.

Okay, here she goes!

“Hey, Idia, are you ready?” Adesius asked.

“No, gimme a sec. Y-you know, I’m not really sure I…” Idia tried to back out at the final hour.

She was prepared for this, this time. Last time she made the mistake of splitting up but now she knew not too.

Ortho gently smiled and took hold of her brother’s hand. “Thank you so much for agreeing to do this for me, it really does mean a lot.”

There we go, that should do it. Idia blinked a couple times, his eyes wide at her sincerity. He took a deep breath to steel himself and said, “Yeah! Y-yeah, okay. I can do this. Don’t worry, Ortho, your big bro’ll do this for you.”

Adesius laughed with excitement and said, “Ooh, I’m so excited! I can’t wait to do this together!”

Just one simple change. Just one little change of going off ahead versus showing off how much she wanted to do this together and it was all it took to get her brother to fold.

He really did love him, didn’t he?

Ortho went over her options again as she and Idia walked hand in hand to the Mirror Chamber. Last time, due to the splitting of their routes, Ortho ran into Vil Schoenheit and Idia ran into Malleus Draconia. Now there were three options she could take here: Go the same way she did and have both of them run into Vil, make a detour to the Courtyard and run into Malleus Draconia, or go a different way than that all together to either not run into anyone at all, or run into someone new. Of course there was the secret fourth option of trying to do both 1 and 2, since Ortho remembers catching the tail end of Idia and Malleus Draconia’s… Conversation? But there was no guarantee that he’d stay there, and Idia was probably already going to be overwhelmed by the amount of people there for Orientation, so it’d probably best to cut the conversations entirely.

So option 3? But again, there was a chance they’d run into someone unprecedented instead, and that probably wasn’t the best. Ortho really wanted to talk to Vil Schoenheit again, she hasn’t seen him since their talk the other day, but since she’d already seen him before, maybe she should skip Vil’s encounter?

Route 2, then? Maybe she could make this timeline a little bit better by having all of the housewardens there this time, not just Idia. Hm, but how would the encounter with Grim go? Between Riddle Rosehearts and Azul Ashengrotto they had the direbeast covered, but with Malleus Draconia or even her there, things could change up a bit.

Ortho remembers how last time Idia had thought that Malleus Draconia was mocking him. Of course, he was not, he simply did not realize that today was Orientation, that’s all. Eventually Idia realized that, and realized then that he skipped out over his own misconception. Sure, he could still say that it was a good reason as to why something like this was out of his skill level, and the best route for him was not to go at all, but Ortho would have to disagree.

“Hey, Idia?” She made sure to say gently.

“Ee! Y-yeah? What’s up Ortho?” Oh boy, he did look a bit sick with nervousness. Just one picture, that’s all…

“What do you say about taking the long way there? It might help to calm your nerves.” She presented the idea to him.

“Th-the long way?” He questioned.

“Yeah. Though the courtyard. The fresh air might help.” She told him.

“Fresh air?” He muttered. “I’m already going to place crowded full of people, I don’t need to touch grass too…”

She’s only suggesting this because he wound up there in the first place, but it’s fine, be kind, he’s stressed.

“Come on, it’ll help, I’m sure!” She brightly said. Idia still looked skeptical.

“I dunno. This quest is already a lot, I just wanna retire it ASAP.” He mumbled out to her.

Her brother truly was one of the most stubborn people she knows. Ortho shook her head with disappointment. “It’ll start and end at the same time no matter what…” She pointed out.

And by the gods of old he still wasn’t looking convinced! RIP Malleus Draconia, gonna miss the opening ceremony, again.

She squeezed her brother’s hand. By the seven, she can be stubborn too, in this battle of selfish desires, she will be the one who comes out on top! “Idia,” She said softly. “I know that this is a lot for you, and I thank you so much for indulging me like this, but I don’t want you to force yourself too much just for me. I know you’re uncomfortable. Please, just let me try to help you, okay? It’s the least I can do for dragging you out here.”

There we go, that did it. Idia’s stubborn expression melted away into one of resignation at his sibling’s request. Ehehe, Vil Schoenheit would be so proud! Not to say her feelings on this matter weren’t genuine, of course though.

Idia sighed. “Alright, fair enough. Okay, let’s do it, scenic route through the courtyard it is!”

Ortho giggled as she playfully bumped his arm with her own. “That’s the spirit, Big Brother!”

For perhaps the first time that night, Idia’s face formed a small smile.

_—_—_

As they walked into the courtyard Idia sighed. “I really shouldn’t have aggroed Mr. Riddle.” He muttered. “Sorry for relying on you so much, Ortho.”

His little brother, perfect as always, just smiled as bright as the sun and said, “That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I’ll be right by your side the whole time, so don’t sweat a thing!”

Idia gave back a small smile of his own, nowhere near the level of cheer that Ortho seems to so easily max out.

“Is that you over there, Shroud?” Came a voice that made Idia jump. “And the smaller one too.”

Idia and Ortho both quickly turned around to face the source of the noise. Ugh! Idia knew that taking a detour would be a bad choice! But he just had to let Ortho talk him into “getting some fresh air to calm his nerves.” He’s an otaku! That stuff may as well be poison damage to him!

No, no, he’s just looking out for you. Idia reminded himself. Don’t blame him for this.

“I thought so. This is a rare sight.” Came the voice of MALLEUS FUCKING DRACONIA of all the charas he could run into!!!

“M-Mr. Malleus. Why you’re here?” Fuck, he flubbed his words. Oughhh someone just kill him now.

“Hello, Malleus Draconia.” Ortho, brave as ever, greeted with a smile like it wasn’t a big fucking deal to talk to the Malleus Draconia.

“Hello to you too, Little Shroud.” Malleus returned the greeting. “Though, how long has it been? Ha ha, I haven’t seen you much since you became housewarden.”

Malleus Draconia… The crown prince of Briar Valley and Diasomnia’s housewarden! He’s totally an ultra SSR character who should be headlining the orientation! So what’s he doing here?!

“And I never thought I’d run into you outside, of all places. What are you up to?” Malleus asked. Wh-what does he mean by that?!

“Y’know. I decided I’d just, uh… go… You know. Same as you.” Was it just him, or could he feel the disappointment in the air at that complete and utter failure of a social interaction.

“So we had the same thought, did we? One needs a good diversion now and again.” Malleus casually said.

“Right?” Ortho chirped. “I hear that the fresh air is good for the nerves, which is why I suggested it.”

“Yes, I often let myself get lost in these sights and sounds. It’s soothing.” Malleus said.

“You find it SOOTHING?” Idia found himself interjecting. “My anxiety meter’s practically maxed out!”

“Is it?” Malleus questioned with his stupid, handsome, nonchalant face. “Then dig deeper to find joy in the moment.”

“H-how am I supposed to do that?! Ortho being here helps, but what do you want me to do? ‘Oooh, look at me, I’m the high and mighty Prince Malleus and I’m sooo different from everyone else.’” Idia responded, mainly to himself.

“Excuse me? What was that?” Malleus asked, luckily not seeming to hear the mockery.

“Oh, uh, n-nothing really. Just talking to myself. But… But I promised Ortho.” He looked over to his younger brother, wide yellow eyes hidden by a mask. Idia squeezed his hand, and with the other pulled on his robes. “That I’d wear these clothes and leave my room and just… go.”

Ortho smiled at that, proud of him. Ahh, it’s so scary, he really doesn’t want to go. But he knows he gotta, even so…!

“The way you’re dressed today, in those robes… What is the meaning in that?” Malleus asked.

“Wha?” Idia’s eyes snapped up to him.

“Hm?” Malleus didn’t seem to realize what he said was wrong.

“The WAY I’m dressed? Is it all wrong? Did I do something weird?” Idia rapidly asked. No no no, he didn’t, right? Ortho would’ve told him, right?

“Well, they do not look WRONG on you, but yes, it may be considered ‘weird,’ as you put it.” Malleus confirmed.

“Ouch… -50 HP…” Idia muttered. Malleus really thought that? Idia saw Ortho opened his mouth to say something out of the corner of his eye as he ran his cold hand through his warm hair.

“The question is, why promise to go outside wearing such an outfit at all? I fail to see how today is of such importance.” Malleus said. “Hm, Little Shroud, you look as if you’re wearing the robes too.”

“I-it may not be a big deal to you, but to me it’s…!” C’mon, he had to say something. Ortho was, is, so excited to do this together, even if it’s stupidly beautiful and powerful Malleus Draconia, he can’t let him walk all over something like that!

“Excuse me, Malleus Draconia.” Ortho spoke up to say. Idia couldn’t help but stare. After hearing that…? “Sorry to interrupt you, but why would we not be wearing these? You are aware of what day it is, correct?”

What? Why wouldn’t he-?

“Hm? Whatever do you mean by that?” Malleus questioned. “Is today of some significance that I did not know?” Wait, wait wait wait, hold up. Does… Does he really not know?

Ortho sighed. Idia could feel Ortho rubbing his hand with his thumb, a comforting motion. Hm, when did Ortho start twirling his bangs like that? Idia feels like he’s seen him do that a lot lately.

“I figured.” Ortho said. “Malleus Draconia, tonight is the opening ceremony. We’re all supposed to be wearing our robes, you especially as a housewarden.”

Malleus’s eyes widened in shock. “It is?” He asked. Oh great sevens, he really didn’t know. “I thought that the dorm felt empty, but I didn’t realize that it was for…! Wait right here, Shrouds, I will be right back!” And with that, Malleus disappeared.

The brothers stood in silence for a moment, before Idia turned to look at Ortho. “How did you-?”

“How did I know that he didn’t realize the date?” Ortho finished for him. “Easy, first off, it’s Malleus Draconia.” The way he said his name, like it was an obvious thing that everyone knew about and was tired of hearing of. When did Ortho get like that? “Half of what he’s infamous for is ‘chronically not invited to things.’ Of course he wouldn’t be invited to the orientation ceremony.” He… he is??? “Second, he wasn’t wearing his own garbs. Even Malleus Draconia would know to get ready before going somewhere. And three, the way he was asking about why you were wearing yours, it wasn’t someone asking why you, specifically were wearing them, it was why wear them at all? Not the type of question someone who knew what today was would ask.”

“O-oh. That makes sense… I guess.” Idia said.

Ortho smiled at him, a small chuckle playing under behind it.

“When did…” He muttered out loud. Ortho’s been acting… Strange lately. The way he seemed confused about where he was when he first tried on the Burst Gear. The way he’s been floating higher than usual. Today. It was still Ortho, obviously. But there was something… Idia wasn’t even sure how to describe it. More? To him. Has he been growing up without Idia noticing? No, because of the way he made him…

…

“I’m back!” Malleus smugly announced, practically making Idia jump out his skin and pull him out of his thoughts. “Thank you for making me aware of the date, Little Shroud. Name anything you want, I’ll give it to you as thanks.”

What? “Oh, no! I don’t need anything.” Ortho told the prince.

“Really, are you sure?” Malleus asked, genuinely confused. “It really is no problem.”

“No, it’s fine Malleus Draconia. What I did can barely be counted as a favor in the first place. Really, pay it no mind.” Ortho told him.

Malleus hummed, not really pleased by that answer, but he still said, “If you say so. Well, if we would, let’s get going.”

“W-what?!” Idia questioned.

“Hm? Are we not going all going to the orientation? I’m suggesting that we all go together. Do you not wish to, Shroud?” Malleus said.

“M-me? Go to orientation? With you?” Idia said.

“Yes. Is that not what I just said?” Malleus said. Ortho raised a hand up to his face as he laughed to himself. Traitor.

“W-w-well, look at me! Imagine what they’ll say when they see me? They- they might think I’m weird, like, my hair! Or they’ll think I’m creepy! And if I go with you, the crown prince of Briar Valley, one of the top 5 mages in the world, all attention would be on me!”

Idia felt Ortho squeeze his hand in a show of support.

“What’s so wrong with being noticed?” Malleus asked.

“Wh-wha-?!” Idia couldn’t even formulate a response to that!

“Come, Shrouds, lets go.” Malleus said, turning around, sure they’d follow behind him.

Ortho smiled at him, giving him a firm squeeze on the hand. “Come on, Big Brother. Shall we?”

Idia looked from Ortho to Malleus. Ughh, he really didn’t want to do this.

Idia sighed. “Okay, let’s go. I- I can do this.”

Ortho grinned and swung their hands. “That’s the spirit!”

Notes:

This was a lot longer than I planned, I thought I’d at least be able to get through Kalim’s vignette as well, but just this was already pretty long so I decided to just add that in next time. Congrats Malleus! You get to go this time! Unfortunately the only thing Ady wants is something that you can’t give her. Or at the very least it’d be really fucking weird to ask to be struck by his most powerful lightning 3 times to see what happens. Oh well *shrugs*

I wanted to do an Idia POV where he mentioned how different Ortho has been acting, and while I didn’t plan to put it here, I figured it’d be fun, especially because we get to see Ortho from an outside perspective as well. She’s very good at acting like she has her shit together (ignore last chapter-). I do feel a bit bad that we don’t get her internal monologue for this section, but it’s fine lol

Chapter 6: Orientation 2

Summary:

Running into the Scarabia duo, taking a picture, and talking to upperclassmen

Notes:

I wanted to get to the actual main story this chapter, but oops! Nearly 5k words! And I still want to do a little more before then! Orientation is gonna take like 4 chapters lmao

There are times when I wonder if I’m writing Ortho well, if she’s in character, but then I remember, even with her age being listed as “undefined” she’s still, for all intents and purposes, a child. In my mind though, she’s firmly a teenager. So if Dessie ever does something slightly ooc, no she’s not/j

Adesius could tell that Idia was still very nervous. At least he had learned that Malleus Draconia was just a bit clueless at times, not that he was being malicious. Of course, those things are not mutually exclusive, as Malleus Draconia’s own overblot proved. She wonders if she’ll be able to prevent that. There are pros and cons to both options, but that’s far off. It’s still just September and Malleus’s “magically charged mental breakdown” as the prefect would say, happened in early may. Say what you will about Silver Vanrouge (She needs to go back to just calling him Silver), at least he wasn’t Epel who had his birthday just a few days after, and didn’t get a whole party in a castle in disputed territory for it. Poor him.

Idia probably would’ve been fine had it just been her, but with Malleus Draconia in tow it was definitely a lot for him. At the very least, having him here meant that it just got really hard for him to leave.

Oh, there where people up ahead. Makes sense that they wouldn’t only run into Malleus Draconia. Perhaps when they went along with Malleus Draconia they changed routes from either Idia (run into Malleus Draconia) or Ortho (Run into Vil Schoenheit) to Malleus Draconia’s own, which seemed to be run into…

“...Hey watch out!” One Jamil Viper called out to a running Kalim Al-Asim.

“Wha-” Kalim Al-Asim tried to question before colliding with Malleus Draconia.

Jamil Viper’s eyes went wide with shock as Kalim Al-Asim whined, “Owww…”

“Eep!” Idia whispered to her, trying to hide his 183cm self behind her 148cm (though it’s more like 165 if you factor in her hovering) body. “It’s Kalim Al-Asim, one of the top three extroverts (according to me) that you don’t want to run into!”

As silly as a ranking like that is, it could pose a real threat to convincing Idia to go. Last she remembered Kalim Al-Asim, he was working really hard to pay more attention to his surroundings and the people around him’s feelings. But this was not that Kalim Al-Asim, so having such an extroverted extrovert might deter Idia from going further. Of course, he had already made it past Malleus Draconia, but, and no hate to him at all here, he was a complete dork. Not to mention he was also pretty lowkey (mainly out of necessity so as not to accidentally destroy everything around him, but still). So in a way the Malleus Draconia encounter was easier than this could be…

Well, it’ll be fine. Adesius thought to herself as she squeezed Idia’s hand in reassurance.

“You’ll be okay.” She whispered back to him as Jamil Viper started to freak out.

“Of all the people to go careening into, it had to be the housewarden of Diasomnia?!” Jamil Viper exclaimed. “Our sincerest apologies, Malleus! You aren’t hurt, are you?” Pff, as if something as simple as that could hurt the Malleus Draconia. Trust her.

“Whoops! My bad, Malleus. But I’ve got somewhere to be so-” Kalim Al-Asim said casually, the complete opposite of Jamil Viper. Ortho distantly thought that perhaps the prefect was right when they say the these two should get into more fistfights.

“Kalim! What kind of apology is that?!” Jamil Viper chastised.

Malleus Draconia, of course, wasn’t that bothered by it, saying, “Those clothes, are you perhaps on your way to orientation as well?”

“Nope!” Kalim Al-Asim told him. “We’re off to go see the headmage. I wanna change the color of these robes.” Oh, Kalim Al-Asim… Now Adesius Ortho knew she had barely any right to talk here, but some rich people… How spoiled to think he could do such a thing on a whim.

“Do you, now?” Malleus Draconia said. Adesius looked over to Jamil Viper, who had finally seemed to notice the people with the flaming blue hair. Poor him, having to deal with this. Jamil Viper mouthed a ‘what?’ that almost made Adesius want to laugh.

“If these’re worn at celebrations, then they should be a brighter color. Don’t you all think so, too?” Kalim Al-Asim asked, which made Idia whine as he tried to tuck himself farther behind her in an attempt to go unnoticed.

“Again, you have our most heartfelt apologies, Malleus.” Jamil Viper tried to step in. “Come, Kalim! Put the kibosh on this ridiculous venture and return to the dorm.”

“It’s not ridiculous!” Kalim Al-Asim pushed back, even though it most certainly was. “Cheery colors give off much more of a party vibe, don’t they?” What kind of party does he think the orientation is? Oh yes, he joined the student body two months late, didn’t he? The only kind of celebrations he really knows are the banquets and feasts he holds, so it makes sense that he might mistake the opening ceremony as something similar. It makes Ortho wonder, he comes from a family of merchants, and is the heir to the fortune. What kind of meetings do they hold? Has Kalim Al-Asim ever been to one? She doubts they’re very festive, though perhaps Kalim Al-Asim took all the cheer on a surface level and didn’t bother, no, didn’t want to look farther. Hmm, so much to think about when it comes to this one. So much indeed…

“You are sorely mistaken, Asim.” Malleus Draconia told him. “Black is a noble color, and one perfectly suited to revelry. The legendary Thorn Fairy herself is said to have worn a black dress on the occasion of the princess’s birthday.”

“Huh. I had no idea that was a thing.” Kalim Al-Asim said.

“I do not believe that flashy colors are the only way to express one’s jubilation.” Malleus Draconia said. “Many others among the Great Seven also had a fondness for black. Indeed, it is recognized around the world as a formal color.”

“Hmmm… Now that I think of it, didn’t the Sorcerer of the Sands wear black, too?” Kalim Al-Asim turned to Jamil Viper for answers.

“Yes.” Jamil Viper responded, evidently happy that Kalim Al-Asim was starting to see reason. “Legends state that he wore a robe as black as the desert night.”

In Ortho’s opinions though, there was a more important point to bring up. “That’s not all, you know.”

“Oh? What else is there, Ortho?” Kalim Al-Asim asked.

“You’re forgetting the most important thing, all of you.” She stated. “Yes, most of the Great Seven being depicted wearing black is as good an explanation as any for us to do so as well. But there’s more to it than that. Black, gold and purple. These are the colors of our school! Not just the Great Seven! To change these colors would go against our prides as students of Night Raven College! In fact it’s in the name, ‘Night’. To suggest us wear anything else would be throwing away our pride, the thing us NRC kids are known for! If you wanted to wear bright, cheery colors for a celebration such as this, I’m sure you could find it across the isle at Royal Sword Academy. Remember where you are, Kalim Al-Asim. You are the housewarden of Scarabia, one of the seven noble dorms at NRC. Act like it.”

How funny, thinking about Kalim Al-Asim wishing for a brighter uniform color, especially while standing right in front of Malleus Draconia of all people…

“Oh! You’re right!” Kalim Al-Asim exclaimed. “I didn’t even think of it like that! I was already convinced that black was a pretty cool color, but you’re totally right! Ahahaha!”

Jamil Viper gave her a thoughtful look and said, “I couldn’t help but notice, you included yourself as an NRC student in your little speech, Ortho.”

“Ah!” She really did let her true feelings out just a bit too much there, didn’t she? “I suppose it’s because my Burst Gear I’m wearing now is based off of the ceremonial robes, so I can’t help but feel included. As I said, pride. Ehehe.”

She could feel the eyes of both Jamil Viper and her brother as they thought about that. It’s fair, she used to have no self respect at all so to suddenly gain some, it would be a bit odd from the outside.

“You do make a very good point, Little Shroud.” Malleus Draconia. “Wearing this does make me feel included as a part of Night Raven as a whole.”

“I don’t wear black all that often. Maybe it’ll feel extra special to wear it to a celebration.” Kalim Al-Asim said as he started to jovially dance around the hall. “Okay! I’m gonna wear these robes like a true NRC student! Now that I look at it, the lining has a really nice hue, and the long sleeves flap when I dance! It’s great!”

Although Jamil Viper sighed at Kalim Al-Asim’s antics, telling him not to start dancing at orientation, Ortho couldn’t help but think that this was a moment that the prefect would’ve loved to take a picture of. A shame they’re not here yet. As least, as far as she’s aware.

“In any case, now we should be able to finish our preparations in the time remaining.” Jamil Viper said.

“Cool, cool.” Kalim Al-Asim said. Yeah, Yuu’s right. Jamil Viper deserves to punch Kalim Al-Asim. “Hey, thanks for the perspective, Malleus, Ortho!”

“So you listen to THEIR advice?!” Punch him, Jamil Viper. The prefect would love to take a picture of that, too.

“I did nothing noteworthy. I only spoke my mind.” Malleus Draconia said.

“Same here.” Ortho agreed.

“Yeah? You think?” Kalim Al-Asim said.

“Kalim, we do not have time to be standing around chatting. We must hurry back to Scarabia.” Jamil Viper, before quietly muttering “...Before another one of your whims strikes you.”

“Heh, fair enough.” Kalim Al-Asim laughed, not hearing that last part. “See you, Malleus, Ortho! And you too, Idia!”

“Yes. Farewell.” Malleus said.

“See you.” Ortho returned.

“Ee! U-uh, bye…?” Idia said.

And with that, Kalim Al-Asim cheerily rushed off back to his dorm, an ever exasperated Jamil following close behind.

The three of them stood in silence for a moment before starting on their way to the Mirror Chamber once more. She couldn’t wait, she wanted to be able to see her friends again soon. That’s the bad part of being friends with those who are freshman as of this year. While she had the chance of bumping into those like Vil Scheonheit in the halls like she did a few days ago, there was no chance of meeting up with people like Epel, Ace, Sebek and so on. And even less chance of finding a trace of Yuu and Grim. It’ll be nice to see so many familiar faces at the opening ceremony. Even if they aren’t that interested in being friends yet.

“...Hey, Ortho.” Idia whispered to her.

“Yeah? What’s up?” She responded.

“Do you… want to be a student here?” He asked, and Ortho noticed Malleus Draconia look over to them. Oh Great Seven, more than anything. She wants to join the FRC immediately and talk with her classmates.

But she can’t say that. She’s still just a humanoid right now. Idia’s “brother.” So instead she said, “You’re a student here, and I want to be with you. So because of you, my answer is yes.”

She loved her brother, yes, but even that made her want to cringe. She’s her own person, after all.

Idia eyed her, thinking about that answer. She could tell he probably didn’t believe it fully, but he still dropped it and looked forwards. She could feel his hand close tighter around hers.

“You know,” Malleus Draconia started. “Speaking of those becoming students, I happen to have a retainer who’s joining this school this year. He’ll no doubt be happy to see me at the orientation.” Malleus pause for a moment, though Adesius had felt such joy in her chest at the mention of this retainer. It was a mix of ‘I know who you’re talking about’ and ‘my friend!!!’ “It’s almost a shame you’re not a freshman as well. I’d tell you to try and become friends with them.”

“My,” Adesius Ortho smiled. Oh Malleus Draconia, you don’t even know. “Malleus Draconia, is that teasing in your voice I hear?”

Malleus Draconia smiled. “I wonder.”

Meanwhile, Idia’s eyes were wide as he looked between them. He was no doubt wondering what the fuck was going on. She could practically hear his thoughts of ‘When the fuck did they get so chummy?’ The answer of course being, they didn’t. It was just casual banter. Ortho’s learned a lot because of her future knowledge, one of those things was that Malleus appreciated being treated like a normal person. Of course, if you disrespect him then the big bad scary heir apparent of Briar Valley side of him comes out, but most of the time, he just likes being included.

_—_—_

“Look, Big Brother! We’re almost there!” Ortho exclaimed, pointing to the door that would lead to the chamber where all the students layed. “You know what that means, right?”

“U-uh.” Idia ran through his memories to find the answer.

“A picture for commemoration, of course!” Adesius told him.

“Ah, yeah. That.” Idia said. “Okay, let me just get my tablet out.”

“Would you like for me to take the picture for you?” Malleus Draconia offered.

“No, thank you, Malleus Draconia.” Adesius told him. Malleus Draconia was the the last person she would want to do that, no offense. She just doesn’t want her brother’s tablet broken is all. “You head in before us, we’ll be alright.”

Malleus Draconia seemed a bit annoyed by that. “Are you sure?” He asked.

“Yes. Very.” She responded.

Malleus Draconia looked a tad bit upset at that. Fair enough, he probably feels a bit rejected. But Malleus Draconia knew not to throw a fit about it, especially right outside a room with so many people in it. It was a bit odd, you see, Adesius Ortho required so much stimulation that it would give most people a breakdown from how much she always pays attention too, all the time. Because of this, she often did not use her eyes to see, instead using her sensors to feel the world around her and fill the rest in mentally. Because of this, even when Malleus Draconia hid his broken horn, Ortho was always able to tell that it was fake anyway. (Of course, she could probably still sense it even without the lack of sight, but she digresses.) So to actually be able to sense his full horn, and all of the magic energy that comes with it, Ortho still hasn’t quite gotten used to it.

“Well, we’ll see you later, Malleus Draconia!” Adesius cheerily said goodbye.

Malleus Draconia huffed and obliged saying, “If you so wish, I will see you two around.”

“Bye bye!” she said as he left.

Idia breathed a sigh of relief once Malleus Draconia was out of site. “Okay, I can do this…!” He muttered to himself. Ortho couldn’t help but smile.

Adesius faced her brother. “Idia?”

“Huh? Yeah?” He responded, being pulled out of his thoughts.

“Thank you for this.” She said sincerely. “I know that this is really hard for you, and I’m sorry if it hurts you. I want to be together, and make real memories together, just the way I am. So this really does make me happy. If you feel the need to leave early, I won’t stop you. I’m just glad you made it this far. So, Big Brother, it’ll be okay. I’ll always be here for you. Okay?”

She watched as her brother’s eyes widened and softened as she made her monologue.

“Nothing you do could ever hurt me, so don’t worry, Ortho!” Her big brother told him - her. He was talking to her.

(Right?)

“Your Big Bro’ll make it through this.” He grinned.

She smiled in response. Her teeth were too smooth. In a split second decision, she pulled him close withing a hug. It took him a moment to process it, but he quickly closed his arms around her.

After 8 seconds, Ortho released him.

“Okay, you wanted a picture, right? Let’s get that set up.” Idia gently said.

“Yay!” She cheered, pulling him over to a wall for a nice backdrop.

“O-okay, here we go.” Idia said, pulling out his tablet and positioning it in the air for a good (enough) shot. “Ch-cheese.” He smiled, putting up a weak peace sign.

“Cheese!” She grinned, deciding against a full open mouth smile, keeping her lips shut. Her hair was already so short…

“There we go.” Idia said, collecting his tablet once again. “Huh, your mouth is shut…” He muttered.

“Shall we head in?” She pretended not to hear.

“H-huh? Oh, yeah, let’s go.” Idia said, catching up to her as they entered the mirror chamber.

_—_—_

‘A… library…?’ They thought.

_—_—_

Ortho scanned the room, looking for people she knew. It seemed like the freshman were already being let out of their coffins. She was a bit sad she missed the experience… Though, then again, thanks to Epel, perhaps the feeling’s not so different. Probably less rage at being forced asleep.

Though, that means that Yuu is already here! Grim, too. The lonely ghosts won’t be lonely for much longer.

“I’m going to go find people to talk to, you can go hide in a corner if you’d like.” Adesius told her older brother. “Or, crazy suggestion! Find someone to talk to yourself. Maybe Malleus Draconia?”

Idia gave her a look that made her want to laugh, but she kept it in. “Do you have to phrase it like that…?” He muttered.

She started to drift away from him, waving him a cheerful farewell. She truly didn’t care if he stayed for the whole thing at this point, even if it would be nice. Plus, she wanted to see her friends! Even if they weren’t yet. Epel always made comments about how bad he used to be, saying things like, “If Vil didn’t want this, then he shoulda let me keep being an asshole.” or, “Early freshman year me? He would’ve hated this.” Stuff like that. And while Ortho has seen cracks of his old way of thinking slip through, which he would usually correct swiftly, she was curious just how bad he was in person. Though, perhaps she wouldn’t get the full brunt of it, given her appearance.

It was not Epel who she first spotted though, instead being his housewarden, Vil Schoenheit. Someone she was equally looking for!

“Vil Schoenheit!” She waved, calling his attention. “Hello!”

“Ah, Ortho. Good to see you here.” He greeted, a faint smile playing on his lips. Yay, he was glad to see her! “If you’re here, am I to assume that you actually managed to get that brother of yours to orientation?”

The way he said it was just outside of mocking, but Ortho just proudly smiled, perhaps just outside of smug, “Yes, I did!” She was keeping track of him, and pointed over to the spot were his bright blue hair was standing.

“Hm. Well, color me impressed. Good job.” Vil Schoenheit said. He had no clue how much it meant to get praise from him.

“Ehehehe, thank you!” She said, giving a mock bow. “He might end up dipping halfway through, but I don’t mind. Just the fact that he was able to make it this far is impressive for him. So, to me, the goal has already been achieved and anything more is just a bonus round.”

Vil seemed none to pleased with that, but still relented saying, “Yes, I suppose that’s fair. For someone like him, getting this far is deserving of a small pat on the back.”

She could feel the distaste Vil Schoenheit had for her brother radiate off of him, but she found she didn’t mind too much. This was Vil, after all.

On the other hand, Ortho could feel the fuming rage boiling underneath a certain redhead’s exterior as he walked over too join the conversation.

“I disagree!” Riddle Rosehearts stated, and Ortho could feel her smile become fake. “He is a housewarden! It is his duty to stay and lead his dorm through orientation! The fact that he simply showed up is not nearly enough!”

“Not everyone is on an equal playing field, Riddle Rosehearts.” Ortho told him, her face dropping. “I understand where you’re coming from, of course, but berating him will only discourage him from doing something like this again.”

Riddle Rosehearts humphed and said, “Well, he needs to get on our playing field then. Coddling him will do no one good!”

A lot of responses formed in Adesius’s head at that moment, with things like, “Do you know him well enough to say that?” or, “With all due respect, shut the fuck up.” or, “Just because your mother believed that about you doesn’t mean you get to pass that on.” or even just blasting him with her beam - by the seven knows she needs to do that - but she stayed cool. Oh how she hopes that her hair wasn’t turning red.

She chose the path of peacefulness and said, “Let’s agree to disagree, Riddle Rosehearts.” With a polite smile, turning back to Vil Schoenheit and asking, “Anyway, Vil Schoenheit! What do you think of my burst gear? I don’t believe we talked about it much when we met the other day.”

“Hey! Do not just ignore me like that!” Riddle Rosehearts exclaimed.

‘Sevens, go suck face with Azul Ashengrotto or something.’ She wanted to dismiss. Hey, she saw what happened during Tartarus. Mr. “I thought octopi only feel asleep around those they’re comfortable with.” But, she knew not to.

“Oh, my apologies Riddle Rosehearts! I just assumed that since you care so much about your housewarden duties, you might want to give more attention to that rather than talk about someone else’s. In fact, I think I saw some people sneak out of the hall! Wouldn’t it be a wise decision to look for them? Or at the very least make sure I wasn’t wrong and nobody’s planning to.” Ortho said, pulling out her most genuine voice.

Back when the first five overblotters were being held at STYX, there was a time when they all started playing games. Ortho had recommended to Leona Kingscholar a wack-a-mole type game, because there had been reports of housecats loving the game, and then research to see if lions would react the same way. Ortho truly hadn’t realized what he - she did wrong back then, even when the others were snickering. Nowadays though, she understands the reaction. Leona Kingscholar didn’t appretiate being treated like an actual cat, and the others had found it funny that he reacted the same way actual lions do.

When looking back on that interaction with her newfound knowledge, Ortho had once upon a time wondered if she would’ve treated the situation differently. She came to the conclusion that, no, she would not have. And you know why? Because she found it hilarious to pretend to be clueless and genuine while completely knowing what was wrong. Call her mean for it, but given where she attends school, she wears it like a badge of honor.

Perhaps she shouldn’t, but oh well.

This is why she said that with utmost genuineness, as if she truly cared for Riddle Rosehearts’s pride as a dormleader.

Watching the boy tense up and consider his options, it made her feel like she made the right decision.

“Fine, I was planning to do so anyways.” Riddle Rosehearts relented. Ehe, point Dessie. “Just know, if that ‘brother’ of yours does decide to skip the orientation, there will be consequences!”

Ooo, oh scary. Ugh. At least her eyes were covered so no one could see her roll her eyes.

And with that, the Rose-Red Tyrant stomped off, Ortho and Vil Schoenheit’s watching him.

Once he was out of sight, Vil Schoenheit looked over to her and asked, “Did you truly see someone leave?”

Ortho put her finger on her chin as she tilted it, saying, “I wonder…”

Admittedly, that wasn’t a complete lie. Ace has mentioned how before orientation he dragged Epel out to the courtyard and they had to hide from Riddle. She just doubts they’ve done that yet.

“You’re quite cunning at times, aren’t you?” Vil Schoenheit said. He seemed proud of her, like he didn’t know she was capable of it. Which, to be fair, she didn’t used to.

“I wouldn’t say that!” She said, pretending that she was being truthful and acting accordingly surprised. Vil would be so proud of her - if she ever decides to tell him that she’s lying to him, that is. “I may have stretched the truth a little to get him out of our hair, but I wouldn’t go that far. I just want my brother to be happy.”

“Hm.” Vil Schoenheit appraised her. Adesius could feel the ring of poisonous green around his pupil stare into her. She wanted him to tell her that her acting was good, but at the same time she wanted to be so good that he didn’t pick up on it. “Well that certainly worked regardless.” He said.

“Ehe, thank you.” She smiled. “I wasn’t kidding earlier, though, what do you think of my Burst Gear?”

“Ah yes, I had almost forgotten about that.” Vil Schoenheit said, his face forming a smile as he talked about it’s design. “It’s strikingly ornate. The neon colors woven behind the elegant design create an impressive advent-garde subversion. It’s not everyday you see mechanical haute couture. I’m not sure whether to call the creator a skilled craftsman or a mad genius.”

All words she had heard before, but it felt so good to hear them again now, with how much she truly looked up to this upperclassman. Plus, she felt like this body could use some work… hair, teeth, chest, height…

“Thanks. I bet my brother would be happy to hear that coming from you.” Sevens know she is. “I was actually the one to suggest placing some of the wires externally and basing it off the ceremonial robes.”

“Oh really? It was a good choice.” Vil Schoenheit said.

“I agree.” She said, trying to contain her glee and make it seem like Vil wasn’t one of her favorite people. Up there with her family and group of - well they’re all freshmen again. Sans her of course. “Is there anything you’d change? Just for future reference of course! To hear the opinion of someone with your caliber of expertise would be useful.” And definitely not just because she feels dysphoric as hell and wants at least one of her desires validated.

“Something to change, huh?” His purple and green eyes looked over her again. “I suppose I did notice that you and Idia have different teeth shapes. Is there any reason for that?”

THANK YOU! She wanted to yell out. Adesius ran her tongue over the tops of the teeth. “I have noticed that too. I could bring it up with Idia?” She wanted to hug Vil and tell him she loved him for giving her a good opportunity to bring it up organically. It was something she wouldn’t have cared to ask about, but if she says someone else did then it’d be way smoother!

“Only if you want to.” He told her.

Should she push further? Ask him what length of hair he think would suit this body the best? She knew she had her answer. But would it look too suspicious if she did? It’s probably best not to push so hard.

“Overall I really do think it’s a wonderful design. It’s no wonder that he was chosen to be housewarden, despite his lack of social skill, when looking at you.” Vil Schoenheit said.

“Ehehe, when it comes to tech, my brother is the best!” She proudly bragged.

Should she leave this conversation be? What order did tonight happen for Epel? Vil beating him up and forcing him to wear his uniform correctly and then sneaking out with Ace? Or the other way round? It’s probably best to leave Vil be and let the strings of fate take it’s path and meet up with Epel once he was looking miserable and had his robes on right. How she missed her best friend… Even if he will be undoubtedly different from how she remembered him.

“Well, I think I want to meet some new people, so I’ll be taking my leave now, Vil Schoenheit!” Adesius told him.

“Ah, I see. I should probably make sure everything is running smoothly as well.” Vil Schoenheit said. Is that… disappointment? Well, Vil did seem to enjoy their conversation about film the other day, so maybe he was hoping to resume that? To be fair, so was she, but she wanted to see her friends more currently.

And so, instead of bringing up the topic of film once more, Adesius Ortho instead bid Vil Schoenheit a cheery farewell as she scanned the croud for her (future) friends.

Hm. Is that Idia caught in a conversation with Malleus Draconia and Lilia Vanrouge?

As a sign of gl;hf to her brother, she texted him to ask Lilia Vanrouge about the games he likes to play, along with a thumbs up emoji. It was seriously so absurd that it took that long to realize they were gaming buddies.

Notes:

I wonder, is Dessie really being that convincing? Cause like, twice in this chapter does she go off on a little tangent to convince someone of something, and I wonder, would this work? Or are they just reacting this way cause I want/need them to? Oh well, doesn’t matter that much at the end of the day, but still.

There’s quite a few rangers in general here, huh? Good thing I headcanon Ady to be ADD, my ADHD is part of her character lol

Also, I do ship AzuRido. I like to think that Idia and Ortho were watching everyone through security cams so they heard and saw Everything lol. Finally, Idia has blackmail on Azul! I’ll probably keep this fic gen for the most part tho. I kinda want to have Adesius develop a crush on someone just to add to her suffering (and bc I want to-) but who knows. It’ll take a while to even get to that point given *looks at the pace I’ve been going so* and I probably won’t do it if people don’t want me to. But again, it won’t be for a while even if she doesn’t

Next chapter, when I get to it, will probably be mostly more conversations, and hopefully at least a bit of main story! Yippee!

Chapter 7: Orientation 3

Summary:

Adesius remeets a couple friends and the Headmage is yet to return

Notes:

Just like I promised! A couple conversations and the beginning of the main story! …Kinda

I definitely remember the timeline trust lol

Also I hope I got personalities right

Who to seek out next? Of course it could be a game of who finds her first, and she is on a timelimit for the activities to start, but she still has plenty of time to get around!

There’s Deuce, but she enjoyed their first meeting the first time around and she didn’t want to shake that up for now. Though, that was about two weeks into the school year, past Riddle Rosehearts’s overblot, and she wanted to do something about that, so perhaps she would have to let that thought go.

Sebek? As much as it would be fun to do as Malleus Draconia said and make friends with him, today may not be the best day to do such a thing. Sebek is probably only thinking about Malleus Draconia currently, so while she could try to talk about that, the probability that she’d enter an unskippable cutscene is far to high for her liking, especially this early into the night. Besides, half the fun of Sebek info-dumping on her is that she’s able to do the same back. Right now it’d only waste her time and be a bore. The only good thing is that Sebek’s opinion of her would probably raise. Maybe later.

Ace and Epel, well she’s already saving at least Epel for later. Maybe seek out Ace later too? Once again, she didn’t want to disrupt too much.

Yuu and Grim are obviously crossed off.

That leaves Jack to go speak with, which shouldn’t be a problem! Of course it is debatable of if Jack would wish to speak with her, but this is NRC, home of assholes. A random robot child striking up a conversation with you would annoy most people.

Jack it is then!

Normally she’d just seek out his ears if she wanted to find him, but with the hoods everyone is wearing that task has become much harder. Well it’s not like it matters all too much. She’ll find him eventually.

Hm? A text?

Big Brother: how did u know that lilia liked the same games as me??

ORTHO: Ehe, I have my ways

Big Brother: that explains nothing

ORTHO: It shouldn’t

Big Brother: have you been getting sassier???

ORTHO: Ehe

Ignoring his next texts, Ortho thought about how this whole time travel experience has been a mixed bag. While she’s mainly been able to quiet her programming’s thoughts telling her she’s supposed to be him, it’s still annoying to have. But, it has been nice to do little things like this.

Ah! There he is!

Adesius waded through the crowds of people to the familiar sense of one Jack Howl. Now, to initiate the conversation in way that seems natural.

“Wow, you’re really tall.” Yeah, that’s good enough. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you a freshman?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah…?” Jack turned to look at her. She had never really felt insecure about her height before. There was no need, after all. If she really wanted to be taller, then she could, but she liked being on the shorter side, though that mainly just was because it was what she was used to. So those like Jack would have to look down to speak to her, but this felt… just a tad bit different. “I mean, yeah, I’m a freshman.”

This is already awkward. The way Jack looked at her in confusion… Not fun. But she’s already pressed “A” to talk, can’t back out now. And, she still does want to talk to her friend. “That’s wild! You must be…” She decided to make a small show of thinking about it before saying, “192 cm?”

She kept her smile small as Jack’s eyes widened. “You got it in one!” He exclaimed. “How did you do that? …Or better yet, what are you? If I can ask.” He quickly tacked on.

“It’s no problem!” She told him. “I am a technomantic humanoid, my name is A- Ortho Shroud.” She greeted. She was about to introduce herself as ‘Adesius Ortho Shroud’ but before she could even catch herself the word died in her throat. Well, there’s confirmation that she physically cannot say anything that goes directly against her programming like that…

Jack seemed a bit puzzled at either the slip up or at what a technomantic humanoid is. Or both, who knows. Well, if he did notice that first one, he politely did not mention it saying, “And that’s, uhh, like a robot?”

Adesius smiled. “Basically. Technomantic is magic-based technology and a humanoid is something that looks human, so in essence, yes. But I prefer being called a humanoid, when put simply.”

“Ah, okay.” He said. He looked awkward for a moment, probably wondering if he should continue the conversation, and ended up saying, “I’m Jack, by the way. Jack Howl. You, uh, said that you haven’t seen me around before. Do you go here?”

“No, but my brother does.” She informed him. It was almost fun retelling him things. “He’s a junior this year, and the recently crowned housewarden of Ignihyde as well! I’m technically considered one of his ‘things’ so I’ve been going here with him since he started here.” A fact that made her sick when talking about it in present tense.

It used to be a fact of life. He - she, was a technomantic humanoid. So while she was still his “brother” it made sense that she was considered part of his stuff. Later, when she gained her sapience, even when someone like Ace said that it felt weird, she didn’t agree. It was a matter of the past. It still made sense to her, and there was no shame to it. It brought her to Night Raven, and she got to be with her brother, so there was no real harm to it. Besides she was a true student by then as well, so all was well.

Now though? She was her own person. Not someone else’s belongings. Seriously, of course one of the two openly women at the all boy’s school has to be treated like property (She thinks as a joke). The idea made feel as though she could test if she could vomit as well.

“Oh, that’s cool. I think?” Jack responded. It was kinda funny how little idea he had to handling her.

“Mhm! My brother’s a real genius. If I had to guess though, you probably wouldn’t have to worry about him. You feel like a Savannaclaw member.” She said. It was actually really funny to just casually drop things she probably shouldn’t know like this. Though, she could get his height without knowing it already.

“Savannaclaw huh? Honestly, I was kinda hoping for that one myself. See, there’s this guy I really look up to, and he’s the leader of that dorm. I thought I wouldn’t be able to meet him, but when he got held back I realized that this could be my chance!” Is this the first time he’s smiled this conversation? His tail is wagging, too. It’s good to see. “Ah, I probably shouldn’t be glad about that, though, should I?”

Adesius gave him a small laugh. “Probably not, but it’s fine. Leona Kingscholar, right? I’m sure you’ll meet him.” Poor Jack, because Leona Kingscholar is… definitely not up to par with what he thinks.

“You think?” She knows. “Though, why do you think I’ll make it into Savannaclaw?”

Because she’s from the future where he is a proud Savannaclaw student, that’s why. “Hm, well first of all, Savannaclaw has a bit of a reputation. Most likely because of the fact it’s based in the spirit of the King of Beasts, but a lot of beastmen tend to gravitate towards the dorm. Of course, there are humans and such there too, and the other dorms have their own sets of beastmen as well, but Savanaclaw has the highest population of them. Second, not only are you super tall, you’re quite wide with muscles as well. Savannaclaw is also known for it’s athletes, so while there are of course students like Ruggie Bucchi who look like they could be knocked over by a strong wind,” Sorry Ruggie Bucchi. “There’s also tons of super buff guys like you. Once again, this is not dorm exclusive though. And finally, vibes, I suppose? The dorm is based in persistence, and that feels about right, just based on the little” lot “I know of you so far.”

Jack thought over all those points for a moment. “I guess that makes sense.” His eyes moved away from her for a second before returning, a smile on his face. “Say, I think I remember seeing that guy over there exit a coffin as well. That means he’s also a freshman, right? What do you think he’ll be?”

Ortho followed where he was pointing his finger and saw… Bobby? Robert Sandwell from her club? (When she joins the FRC, of course.) The guy who’s practically an inside joke in their friend group because Yuu calls him “Scarabia Student B” and refuses to actually learn his name because she finds it funny to tease him?

“Oh that kid’s a Scarabia student for sure.” She says, trying to keep the smile off her face. Oh, poor Bobby Sandwell…

“That was quick!” Jack exclaimed. “How’d you know?”

“Just vibes. A lot of kids in the same dorm have similar magic signatures as well, and he just feels like the sort they have over there.” Oh, she wanted to laugh so hard. Sorry, Bobby Sandwell, doomed to always be a joke to her main group of friends.

“Really? Well, I guess the Mirror does sort based on magic…” Jack said.

“Yep! Wanna play another round?” She asked.

Jack smiled. “This is actually weirdly kinda fun, so, sure!”

Of course, Jack didn’t know who was and who wasn’t a freshman, so it was mainly Ortho herself pointing out kids, but it was fun none the less. She even recognized a couple other kids from the FRC! It made her remember that even if she wasn’t as close with them, she missed the people in her club as well. How she couldn’t wait to infiltrate their club meetings…

“That one just gives off shady businessman vibes to me, color me impressed if he’s not in Octavinelle.” She pointed out. The fun part was when she didn’t know the kid practically at all, so she had to scan through all of her memories and all the times she’s hacked into the school database to remember. Even if she wasn’t kidding about the magical signature thing.

“That’s your benchmark for those guys?” Jack asked.

“It’s a dorm based on ‘benevolence’ in a school full of entitled jerks. What do you expect? Their housewarden is the worst of them all though.” Heh, foreshadowing!

“Ugh, fair point.” Jack said. “Are the kids here really that bad?”

You are like, one of the two kids at this school who I regularly hang out with who is normal. You are the exception. She wanted to tell him. And even then those two aren’t the paragons of niceness.

But she did not say that, instead saying, “I’ll leave that up to you to determine for yourself.”

“That’s not worrying at all…” Jack said.

“I like this place though.” Adesius smiled. She truly did love this place, assholes galore and all. “Let’s see, who’s next…” She said, scanning the crowd once more. “Ah! That’s!”

“Hm? See someone you know?” Jack asked.

Not yet, technically. “Nope! But look at that boy’s eyes.” She said, pointing over to a certain lilac haired boy.

“Who?” He said, following her pointed finger. “Oh, that kid with the red spot in his eye?”

Epel Felmier. The boy she was arguably the closest with in her friend group. It made sense, they had a lot in common, they were both short and cute, they were both favored by Vil Schoenheit, they were both trans, it made it really easy to get along with him. It was funny, both Vil Schoenheit and Epel have heterochromia, though different types. Vil Schoenheit has central heterochromia, with bright green rings around his pupils accentuating his purples eyes so brilliantly. Epel has sectoral heterochromia, a dark red spot placed in the lower left corner of his left eye.

Epel seemed to be wearing his uniform correctly and was wearing a miserable look on his face. If saying that Jack was tall was enough to start a conversation with him, then complementing Epel’s eyes should be good enough as well!

“Pomefiore.”She told him, playing the final round of their game. “I think I’m going to go talk to him now. It was nice meeting you, Jack Howl.” Adesius said. “This was fun, I’ll see you around campus!”

“Huh? Oh, bye.” Jack said. “Nice meeting you too.”

She waved goodbye to Jack and floated over to her friend. She tapped him on the shoulder, only vaguely wondering if he’d actually want a random girl, or well, a random robotic kid, or anyone talking to him.

“Hah? Who’s that?” Epel rudely spoke, turning to her. “Whaddya huh-?”

She smiled and waved saying, “Hello! My name is - Ortho Shroud.” She greeted, stopping herself from saying her first name before her programming could. “I just had to come over here to complement your eyes! I think they look really cool!”

His befuddlement quickly passed over at hearing himself be called ‘cool.’ She’s glad she remembered that he probably wouldn’t consider “pretty” a complement at this point, especially right now.

“‘Cool’, huh? Yeah, Ah agree.” Epel smiled. “Er, ah- ‘I’ agree.” He corrected. Oof, poor guy. To be fair to Vil Schoenheit though, his natural accent was very hard to understand, and most people would think that someone talking so casually would be rude.

“Who are you?” She asked, because while she knew Epel well, he hasn’t introduced himself to her yet, and she wanted to keep this conversation going.

“Me? Ah- I’m Epel Felmier.” He said. “Though, what the hell are you?”

Adesius almost laughed. He said it so casually, but worded it so rudely. “I’m a technomantic humanoid. In essence, a robot. I prefer being called a humanoid though.”

“‘Technomantic’? That’s that fancy-schmancy magic metal stuff, right?” Epel asked.

Oh, early year Epel is funny, huh? Fresh outta a rural town in the mountains, where the closest school is a three hour bike ride away. “Basically. It’s technology made with a magic basis.” She informed him, keeping her cool.

“Huh, they got all sortsa people here, eh?” Epel mused.

“Yep! I’m the only one like me here, and in the world I believe, so I’m quite the outlier though!” She told him. Plus, she was a woman in an all-boys school, like the premise of a shitty fic (she thinks with love.)

“Wow…” Epel said.

“Though, I’m technically not a student here. My brother is the housewarden of Ignihyde, I’ve been going here with him since his first year. I’m technically apart of his ‘things’” ew. “Which is why I’m allowed here.” She told him.

“Ignihyde, eh? I’m gonna be in Savannaclaw!” Epel proudly proclaimed.

“Pfft-” She couldn’t keep that laugh in. Oh, she knew that Epel originally wanted to be in Savannaclaw, but hearing him say that so confidently, oh Great Seven, that’s hilarious! Epel, you ain’t never in a million years be in that dorm!

It was especially funny because the Epel that she knew cared deeply for his dorm. He often did not know what his dormmates thought, but he carried a lot of respect for Vil Schoenheit, the housewarden, and Rook Hunt, the weirdest of the weird. Epel worked hard at all of his studies, but especially poisons so that he could live up to the mantel that Vil was passing onto him and truly deserve it, especially because Vil Schoenheit wasn’t giving it to him if he wasn’t up to par.

The Epel she knows learned to love and respect his dorm, and want to be apart of it. So hearing that him say he used to want to be apart of Savannaclaw was a fun fact that she could see him thinking, but hearing him proudly state that he will be apart of it? She was caught so off guard that she couldn’t help but laugh!

Epel’s face scrunched up in annoyance. “Did you just laugh at me? What? Ya think Ah’m not?”

“Ah!” She yelped at being caught. Yes, yes does think that. In fact she knows that. “No, no! It’s just you look like such a prim and proper boy, so hearing you say you’ll be apart of such a rough and tumble dorm? It caught me off guard, is all.”

“Hmph. Ya think Ah do?” Epel huffed. “Well Ah’ll have you know Ah’m not! At all! Ah just ran into this annoying guy name ‘Vil Schoenheit’ or whatever and he forced me into wearing my robes all proper like this. You’ll see! And he will too! Ah’m gonna be a great Savannaclaw member!”

Keep the dramatic irony fueled laughter in, Adesius. C’mon Dessie, keep it in. Be a good actor! A great one! “Ah, I see. If I was a true member of NRC I’m sure I’d be apart of Ignihyde like my brother. I’m sure” Don’t laugh don’t laugh don’t laugh don’t laugh. “You’ll get into Savannaclaw.”

Epel smiled again. “Yeah, you bet I will!”

Don’t laugh don’t laugh don’t laugh don’t laugh. C’mon Ady, you can do it. Keep your face still. Dead brother, are you hearing this? Actually, no, imagining him being here with her is worse, he’d definitely be laughing his ass off.

What a great life it would be, if she was actually able to gossip with Agetes.

“Oh, well it’s about time for the orientation ceremony to start, so I better find my brother. It was nice meeting you, Epel Felmier.” Adesius waved goodbye.

“Oh, already? Well, see ya I guess.” Epel said.

The second Adesius turned around she slapped her hand to her mouth, giggling like a hatter. She wishes she could tell someone about this, someone who knew as much as she did, so that they could laugh about it together. She would apologize to Epel, but she’s not that sorry.

Oh, she’s going to have to leave the chamber to laugh it all out, isn’t she?

Adesius quickly left the chamber, leaned against a wall, and laughed and laughed as she slid down it. She put her head in her hands and laughed until the giggles stopped, or at least, were easy to manage. She wasn’t lying about the ceremony starting soon, or at least till Headmage Crowley, Grim and Yuu returned, so she needed to get a grip quick.

She twirled her bangs and felt her internal fans. Macking a deep breath in, and out. Ah, was it really that funny? Well, it was to her.

With a smile on her face, Adesius entered the Mirror Chamber once more and sought out her brother once more.

_—_—_

Riddle Rosehearts was fuming. “Where is the Headmage? He should be here by now!”

“He disappeared about midway after opening all the coffins…” Vil Schoenheit disappointedly stated.

“Some headmage he is.” Idia muttered.

“Maybe he got a tummy ache?” Kalim Al-Asim suggested.

“Please, Kalim. There’s no way that’s what happened.” Azul Ashengrotto told him.

“I was able to finally attend orientation, and the Headmage fails to show up?” Malleus Draconia’s rage was struggling to not match Riddle Rosehearts’s lest he destroy the place. “I swear, he will pay dearly for this slight…”

“Calm now, Malleus.” Lilia Vanrouge said. “I’m sure he will show eventually. For now, let’s continue the ceremony, we don’t want the students to wait, now do we?”

There were grumbles from the housewardens, but eventually Riddle Rosehearts yelled out to get the show going. Adesius gained a small sense of satisfaction of being the only one who actually knew where the headmage was. Of course, that didn’t mean that she didn’t wish that he would hurry up. She wants to see the Ramshackle prefect and Grim again…!

Notes:

First of all, reminding everyone of my tumblr, where I gave both Vil and Epel heterochromia, my beautiful boys with homophobia: https://www.tumblr.com/nami-moittli/779634824467152897/added-epels-dye-back

Oh yeah. And I hate Epel’s accent. Next time I write him istg I’m just gonna write “he slipped into his strong accent.” I like to think that Adesius is one of the only people who can actually understand it, so technically it would just be her translating it/hj

Second of all, I lowkey forgot the timeline lol. I’ve been using the fandom wiki to get the dialogue, and only now do I realize that it says that Crowley left halfway through the ceremony, but in my mind I thought they just carried on without him and structured the orientation around that. I now realize that it doesn’t make much sense, but I tried to refit canon dialogue to use for this. I guess Crowley is taking the long, long way back lol. Maybe I shouldn’t have added that line from Yuu last chapter about being the the library. I might go back and change it to something like, “where am I? Where am I going?” Or smth like that. Sighs. The manga did good by restructuring it so that the Yuus arrived at the end of the ceremony instead of waking up before it

Oh well. Main story next chapter!

Chapter 8: Orientation Finale

Summary:

⚠️ ‼️Warning‼️ ⚠️ A high chance of fire, void and flooding in your area! Evacuate to dry land to process it

Notes:

Finally! We’re done! I was worried it might take one more chapter lol

Dessie’s very happy to see her friends again, but “well behaved” is not a phrase in their dictionary lol

Adesius was barely holding in her excitement. She watched as Sebek was called up to the mirror. It was almost done. She was able to see Yuu and Grim and revel in the chaos they couldn’t escape once more! Things truly have been too quiet lately, both since she got here and even before then.

It had been a month since the orientation of her second official year at Night Raven Collage before being sent back in time, and nothing had happened. Sure, they had found ways to keep themselves busy, Ortho herself had been setting up such things like gaming nights and binge sessions at the dorm to try and get some of the kids in her dorm out of their shells. Not everyone was a complete introvert who hates people, and she wanted to create a community for those kids who wouldn’t have found it otherwise. But those were no overblots or kidnappings or doing things off campus or any of the other things that had happened over the course of the previous - or should she say this - year. The Ramshackle prefect had even complained about it to their friends, saying that things felt too comfortable. That she was waiting for that other shoe to drop. And while Ortho, and many others, liked the new peacefulness that settled at the school, they all agreed that Yuu was right.

Watching Sebek nearly burst into tears at being placed in Diasomnia, Ortho smiled at seeing the familiar antics of her old friend, and tugged and twirled her hair in anticipation at getting to see another’s once more.

Of course, most of those around her didn’t feel the same way. She could feel the disappointment and frustration radiating off of them like steam. Of course, to them their birdbrained principal simply never showed up to his own school’s orientation so it made sense. Especially from those like Riddle Rosehearts or Malleus Draconia.

‘You know what’s going to happen. The audience doesn’t. Make sure to react in proper time.’ Vil Schoenheit had reminded the Film Research Club once. It was good advice for those who know the script of a movie, and it was good advice to a time traveler who didn’t want to give that fact away.

“The final student has been sorted, and the headmage still isn’t here.” Riddle Rosehearts said as the housewardens started to rise, seeming about 5 seconds away from blowing a fuse.

“I swear, he will pay for this slight.” Malleus Draconia agreed. Ortho was no Yuu, but she was still a fairly good mediator (no matter what her friends said of violence being her first answer.)

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll make an appearance. In fact, I can see him heading this way over the security cameras right now!” Ortho chirped from her spot standing behind Idia. She wasn’t a student after all, just one of his things, so there’s no reason for her not to be by his side.

…Ugh.

“You’ve been watching him?” Azul Ashengrotto asked, though it almost seemed like he was muttering to himself. “Oh of course you were, why wouldn’t you have access to the footage anyway…” Okay, that was definitely him muttering to himself.

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t actually have access to the cameras!” Adesius cheerfully told him. Azul Ashengrotto just groaned and muttered something under his breath. She could almost laugh.

Riddle was still none to pleased, of course but he sucked it up and raised his voice, “All right, new students– let me be clear. At Heartslabyul House, I am the law. Break the rules, and it’s off with your head!” Ortho wondered if the new freshman thought that the threat was silly. She would bet it. Someone like Ace would definitely laugh at it out of context. To be told that your head would be cut off, they don’t even realize what that means yet.

Leona Kingscholar yawned and casually said. “Well, that ceremony was as boring as ever, Headmage or no. I’m going back to the dorm.” He lazily raised his hand and called out, “If you’re in Savannaclaw house, follow me.”

Azul Ashengrotto wiped the annoyance off his face and donned his businessman persona saying, “New students! Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your achievement. As the dorm leader of Octavinelle House, I honored to have the opportunity to support you in what I hope will be a fulfilling campus experience.”

“Ortho, you said that the headmage was near?” Vil Schoenheit quietly asked her.

As Idia muttered about Headmage Crowley Adesius responded, “Yes, in fact he’s entering the chamber right now!”

“Ah! Headmage, did you have a tummy ache?” Kalim Al-Asim chipperly asked the fae. Adesius could feel her smile widen as she tried to suppress it upon seeing the headmage carrying Grim and guiding in Yuu.

“I most certainly did not!” Headmage Crowley said, sounding genuinely offended.

“Ah.” Riddle Rosehearts grit out. “Speak of the devil.”

“If you must know,” Headmage Crowley continued. “I was searching for the new student who had opened their own coffin. Seriously, how rude!”

Yuu looked as though she wished to say something, but as the headmage continued to talk, she bit her tongue. Hm, the Yuu that she remembers was a lot more confident and willing to speak her mind. The Headmage, especially him actually, wouldn’t have stopped her. She’d probably speak over him with what she wanted to say.

“You are the only one who has not been assigned a dorm.” He told her matter of factly. “Step up to the Dark Mirror, and be quick about it. I’ll watch your weasel.”

Grim growled in his grip, and Ortho found herself wishing to hold onto him instead. She’s missed the feisty fella.

Yuu looked around and all the hooded figures. They watched her with gazes of curiosity to contempt to indifference.

Ortho expected the future prefect to steel herself and walk confidently up to the Mirror, not letting her true emotions betray her. But instead, Yuu hesitantly took a step forward. Then another. She reminded Ortho of her brother, the way that she hunched over herself trying not to be seen. Her paces quickened and she almost tripped over herself in her anxiety.

The crowds faces turned to watch the newcomer as they finally reached the Mirror.

“State you name.” The Dark Mirror instructed, unfeeling.

The future prefect spoke so quietly that Adesius could barely hear them. “I-I’m… Yuu.”

“Yuu…” The Dark Mirror spoke. The tension in the air was thick. “The nature of your soul is…”

Once again did Adesius hear Vil Schoenheit’s words in her mind, ‘You know what’s going to happen. The audience doesn’t.’ So Adesius didn’t even let her stare harden as the Dark Mirror mulled over the new student.

The next words spoken were the knife cutting the air free of its tension as the Dark Mirror said, “Unclear to me.”

Adesius forced herself to react with surprise as whispers erupted from the crowd. ‘I know it may be difficult for you Ortho, but I know you’re observant. Don’t overact, but don’t undersell it either. Tell me, show me, how would a real life person be acting right in this moment?’ Vil Schoenheit had once asked. Luckily, there were plenty of shocked faces to use as reference currently.

“What did you just say?” Headmage Crowley asked.

“I sense no magical power from this one.” The Dark Mirror clarified, as emotionless as ever. “Soundless. Colorless. Shapeless. Utterly vacant. Therefor, no dorm would be appropriate.”

Well, Ortho could think of one dorm that would fit the bill for someone like that. She had visited just a few days ago. Of course though, the whispers in the crowd graduated to regular volumed conversations.

“Are you suggesting that the black carriage went to receive a person who cannot even use magic?” Headmage Crowley cried. “But that is absurd! The student selection process has not erred once in its centuries of existence! How could this have happened?”

Perhaps it did not err, and this school needs a fresh perspective to help it out? Just a suggestion. Adesius thought. Hm. She truly did love her friends.

Grim tussled and clawed and maneuvered his way out of the hold the Headmage had on him, gasping louding and yelling out, “ME!” All the heads in the chamber turned to the direbeast. “Let ME have this students seat!” He yelled. Ehe, he doesn’t realize that they’ll be sharing one.

“Not so fast, you hyperactive weasel!” The Headmage cried out, trying to grab the beast once more, though Grim wasn’t going down so easy this time. Hm. Does Grim truly look that much like a weasel? She pulled up some pictures and… she supposed they were both mammals?

“Everyone get down!” Riddle Rosehearts called out as Grim started spewing fire. Mentally, Ortho had pulled out one of her image editing apps and started to color a weasel to look more like Grim.

“Myaaahhh!” Grim called out, spitting his signature blue fire everywhere.

“AHHHHH!” Kalim Al-Asim yelled. “HELP! I’m on fire over here!” Isn’t he very good at water magic? She knows his Signature Spell creates large amounts of water for very little magic. Though that may not carry over to his usual spells. Either that or he forgot that he could help himself. Probably the second one.

“Someone catch that blasted animal before it sets the school ablaze!” Headmage Crowley called out.

“First the Headmage fails to show up, now this animal is messing everything up…” Ortho heard Malleus Draconia mutter, his anger building. “The one time I actually get to attend one of these ceremonies…”

“Ugh. Can I go now, or…?” Leona Kingscholar said as Ortho went over to Malleus Draconia to say, “Please restrain yourself, Malleus Draconia. You’ll kill the poor thing!”

Responding to Leona Kingscholar, Vil Schoenheit said, “Oh? I thought you fancied yourself a hunter. Go and help yourself to that plump little morsel!”

“Too much effort. Do it yourself.” Leona Kingscholar responded to the teasing. Meanwhile Ortho thought about what might happen if Grim was actually killed today. Perhaps such a thing would shock Yuu so much that she’d remember the future and Ortho would have some else. Of course, Yuu would probably try to kill everyone in this room and then herself if such a thing were to happen. Grim was one of the few things keeping her sane, and definitely the biggest link.

Malleus Draconia gave her a glare, before relenting with a “Tch.”

“Allow me to handle this, Headmage Crowley.” Azul Ashengrotto smiled, happy to be seen as trustworthy no doubt. “If none of you are up to the tast of catching a small animal, I will accept the responsibility.”

“WTG Azul. Rackin’ up those participation credits.” Idia muttered.

Adesius Ortho felt the temperature drop with Malleus Draconia’s discontent.

“The younger Shroud is right, Malleus.” Lilia Vanrouge advised. “While you could clean this up quickly, you might cause an even bigger mess in turn.”

“Hey, um, my butt’s still on fire… Could someone maybe put this out?!” Kalim Al-Asim spoke out.

“Are you not able to use Oasis Maker indoors? It could be very useful right now!” Adesius called out to him.

“Oh! Right! I almost forgot about that!” Kalim Al-Asim said. “Thanks, Ortho!” He raised his hand to the sky, magic gathering close to him as he called out, “Oasis Maker!”

From clouds as high as the ceiling, water rained down, putting out Grim’s flame.

“Ee!” Idia yelped.

“Mraahh! What’s with all this water!” Grim yelled in surprise at the sudden downpour. The future prefect also whined in shock. Adesius felt bad for them. Little do they know that this is just foreshadowing to how well the rest of the year turns out.

“Great. Now I’m wet.” Leona Kingscholar stated in his disgruntlement. “Alright, that’s it. Savannaclaw students! Follow me! We’re getting out of here!”

As the Savannaclaw students shuffled out, the Headmage called over the crowd of whispers, “I’m sorry, were my instructions unclear!”

Just before he left, Leona Kingscholar had to get out one final comment, “Preeetty sure you can handle catching one mangy weasel all on your lonesome there, Headmage. I’m out.”

a“Mrrah!” Grim called out in frustration. “How many times do I gotta say it? I’m Grim, spellcaster extraordinaire! Even with alla this rain… And I am NOT a weasel!”

How funny, right next to her, where Malleus Draconia was standing, the rain was turning to snow…

“Aren’t you a spunky little fellow?” Azul Ashengrotto smiled, though Adesius could see it become strained. “Riddle, would you be so kind…?”

Riddle Rosehearts was probably about to burst if he didn’t get to do something soon. “Furry Miscreant.” He grit out. “I will abide no rule-breaking. You will be judged by my hand.”

Grim continued to try to spew out flames, but they were put out quickly enough. The dire beast groaned and spit out a much less powerful void shot instead.

“Even without my flames, I’m still strong!” Grim bragged. Adesius felt endeared seeing his arrogance again. He spit out another blast of cosmic magic. “Check it!”

“Haa!” Riddle Rosehearts launched his own shot of magic in order to subdue the creature.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Grim called out as he dodged in surprise.

“How very brazen of you to go on breaking the rules in my presence.” Riddle said, deathly calm. Here you go Heartslabyul freshmen! Your beloved housewarden. Or at least, he will be beloved.

“Shall we make this quick, then?” Azul Ashengrotto said. “I’m afraid we don’t have much time to spare.”

Grim started to run, bellowing bursts of magic while dodging the Heartslabyul and Octavinelle prefects’ own displays of magic. Funny. Thinking of foreshadowing, these two specific people, it could almost be a show of what’ll happen during the infamous “STYX Incident.”

Adesius, while enjoying the familiar chaos of a certain dire beast, turned her attention to said beast’s other half.

The future Ramshackle prefect looked pale from underneath her hood. Adesius truly felt bad for her friend. For the prefect to be ripped from their world, one without magic, and be thrust into the thick of it here in an entirely different world? As much as Ortho loved her friend, she couldn’t imagine what they must be feeling right now.

Adesius would love to go over to them, to cradle them and tell them that it’ll be okay. That they’re one of the strongest people Adesius knows, and the people here are some of the most promising mages around. That Adesius doesn’t have magic either, and that she can help them.

But one, Yuu’s already going through so much right now. A young looking humanoid most likely wasn’t going to help calm their distress. And two, she had to focus more on Idia right now.

With the water, the two Shroud’s hair had gone out, revealing regular black hair underneath. Idia was already such a scaredy cat, being drenched and overwhelmed by the chaos that Adesius loved, this was not good for him at all either. Yuu was probably under more distress, Idia wasn’t doing well and right now she had to choose one or the other.

Oh how Adesius wished she could shoot Yuu a quick text of reassurance. That she’s not leaving them. That she’ll come by Ramshackle later and talk and hang out and decompress. But Yuu doesn’t even have the grace of keeping the clothes on their back, dressed in foreign robes.

As Azul Ashengrotto and Riddle Rosehearts engaged in banter over not being able to hit their target, Ortho moved over to her brother.

“Hey.” She whispered.

“H-hey.” He responded, running his fingers through his dark, damp hair.

“Shall we follow Leona Kingscholar’s example and leave this place? The ceremony’s done, this is just the optional post game.” She told him, being as gentle as she can. She wished she could stay.

Idia looked between the beast and the housewardens and back to her. He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Alright.” She said kindly giving him a smile. She raised her voice, taking Idia’s wrist and raising his hand as high as she could. “Ignihyde students! Follow us please!”

The chamber was restless, wanting to jump in or to leave. She could see the commotion drain her brother’s already pale complexion further.

She was the housewarden of Ignihyde. At the very least, she will be. It’s her duty to take care of her fellow dorm mates, first and foremost.

Her lips pushed to gether in a line as she thought about leaving her friends behind like she was. Oh well.

As Ortho left the chamber, the shift in atmosphere was so drastic. Her mood shifted with it.

She laughed. A small thing.

But it grew bigger. She wanted to keep it down, but she couldn’t. Idia was looking at her.

She laughed and laughed. It echoed through the halls. Soon enough, there was another chuckle. And then another.

A wonderful chorus of hysterical laughs rang threw the dry, empty corridors of the school that she loved.

Even Idia couldn’t help but snicker under his breath, as the tips of their hair dried into rising blue.

_—_—_

That’s right. Tonight it’ll rain. Ramshackle will stay wet and damp.

Adesius Ortho will visit tomorrow.

Notes:

My headcanon is that when wet the Shroud’s hair turns into normal hair, and the siblings have secret black hair underneath. Idk how Ortho’s works tho tbh. It just does.

I find it kinda funny that Kalim of all people is complaining about fire. Like buddy. You can put it out yourself, you do realize that, right? Something something learned helplessness. Both these Ortho’s are shaking hands in helping rich kids do things for themselves (referencing my Meeting Lucian fic)

Poor Malleus, poor Idia. The one time they actually go to an event and it goes horribly wrong. Especially poor Yuu though. F in chat for them

Chapter 9: Chap 9

Summary:

Adesius remembers that her friends are dumbasses, while Yuu crashes out learning that her friends are dumbasses

Notes:

I think that pissed off Ortho is one of my favorite kinds of Ortho. I have an AU where Ortho’s very depressed and has some slight anger issues as a result, so it’s nice to finally write her acting as such

Also, for context, a nekomata is a type of yokai in Japanese mythology, that being a type of cat yokai with multiple tails. I think they’re associated with fire, but that may just be my childhood of Yokai Watch talking lol. Idk why Grim’s called a Tanuki, he’s way more like a nekomata or a bakeneko or smth. Or maybe I just think he looks more like a cat than a raccoon dog

Ortho so badly wished to find her friend, to head straight to Ramshackle as soon as the sun came up. But she first had her own duties to attend to.

“What do you think of that magicless human from yesterday night?” She casually asked her brother.

“Huh? Oh, him.” Idia recalled. Yuu did not use he/him, but this was an all-boys school, so it’s a fair assumption. “I can’t believe that the black carriages actually picked someone like him up! Like, did they glitch out or something? And that kitty! How did it get inside the school? Aren’t there like, protective barriers or something?”

As Ortho has come to learn, those apparently didn’t mean much. Grim got in, then when he was kicked out, he sneaked himself right back in. There’s apparently an RSA kid who’s friends with Riddle Rosehearts and Trey Clover who breaks into Heartslabyul all the time, and the prefect has complained that those nasty conmen Fellow Honest and Gidel have snuck into Ramshackle on multiple occasions. (To be perfectly honest (heh) everyone thought that those two had drowned. Everyone kinda wished for it, too. Sad backstories of no education and such regarded, they were still traffickers that at least deserved prison. Hm, maybe Ortho should kill them this time around….)

So. Grim getting into the school unfortunately did not surprise her as much as she would’ve liked, even knowing that Grim did this last time.

“I keep thinking,” She started. “What if it didn’t?”

“What, like there’s a reason that the black carriage chose someone magicless to go to this arcane school?” Idia smiled skeptically. “You think he’s a chosen one or something? Here to save our poor, poor souls? Hah! Yeah right. He’s probably been sent back wherever he came from by now.”

Been sent back home, hah! Yuu sure wishes so. And as for the ‘chosen one’ thing, Adesius’s first instinct was to say ‘yes.’ But then she remembered, no, the prefect and Grim were not chosen ones, but the omens of destruction. They were always, always, without fail in the middle of whatever plot or scheme was going on. Did Ortho think that their presence was what brought on these calamities? Well, maybe, but…

There’s an old myth. There’s a version of it here too, but when Adesius found out about ‘greek mythology’ from Yuu’s world, she couldn’t help but want to learn everything about it. And while not all of the stories are the same - for example, the versions of the Great Seven were all villains in their stories while they played the heroes here – this story seems to be about the same in both worlds.

The myth goes as follows, the Sun God, or as he was called in greek mythology, Apollo, was a god of many things. The sun, music, medicine and plague, prophecies and omens, among many other things. He also had many sacred animals, one such being the raven.

It’s said that the raven used to have white feathers, but one day, after giving the Sun God news of one of his lover’s infidelity, Apollo became enraged at the bird for not doing anything, and scorched it until it’s white feathers became stained black. As such, ravens are symbols of bad luck.

And what is Ramshackle dorm, if not the dorm of Night Raven Collage itself? Of course, Adesius thought as she remembered the pale face, devoid of any color in fear she saw last night, their little raven’s wings were still a brilliant white.

“Yeah, most likely.” Ortho agreed, knowing full well that it was a lie.

_—_—_

Ortho went through the day, counting down the minutes until the classes for today were over. There were no clubs, so she didn’t have to worry about hanging out with Idia for the first day or two of those (Film Research Club wait for her…). When the final bell rang Ortho got up perhaps a bit two quickly in her anticipation.

She walked with Idia’s tablet (she had managed to convince him to at least show up for first block!) back to the dorm.

“Did you hear?” Ortho vaguely heard a kid talking to his friend. “It’s the first day and some freshmen have already gotten into trouble!”

Oh. Fuck.

“Oh yeah I did!” His friend responded with a laugh. “I hear they’re already on the verge of expulsion!”

She can’t believe she forgot…

“Really?! I hear that they just burned the Queen of Hearts statue, is Riddle advocating for it or something?”

“Nah, nah, I hear that they crashed the chandelier in the lunch room!”

“Is that why it was shut down?!”

“Yep!”

Uggghhhh. Her dumbass, stupid, incompetent friends.

Of course, when she learned that it was Ace, Deuce and Grim who had smashed the thing, she was not surprised at all. It was par for the course for her moronic friends.

But currently all she wanted was to head over to Ramshackle Dorm and hang out with her friends, not fight a stupid fucking phantom.

Well, this is her problem, both as their friend and as a Shroud.

“Ehe, wouldn’t it be funny if that magicless kid and that cat were at the center of this?” She laughed, though it felt like it had an undertone of anger to it.

If it did, Idia didn’t notice or didn’t care and replied, “Yeah right, those two are probably long gone by now.” He laughed.

“I think I’m going to wander around a bit, Big Brother.” Ortho told him. “Don’t worry about me for a few hours, okay?”

“What, you planning on going out and finding them?” Idia said sarcastically.

Ortho giggled. “Of course not!” Of course she was.

“Well, have fun ig.” He told her.

“See ya!” She said.

_—_—_

She could feel her hair heat up. She wasn’t in a good mood. But for whatever reason it wasn’t turning red. Hah, her programming couldn’t even let her properly show her emotions. How wonderful.

Part of what played into her bad mood though, was of course, memories of Camp Vargas. Such a camp that made her so angry that she was even getting mad at Idia, even if he probably had it worse then she did back then.

Just a phantom or two in the mines was annoying, be easily delt with. But to learn that they had to fight one during the first part of that horrible camp? Ugh. It just soured the whole thing for her.

As Ortho took in the scenery, she occasionally saw glimpses of the small faeries who lived here. For the most part they stayed where they were, hugging the trees closer to hide.

But then she felt something pelt her back.

Ortho whipped around. Ah yes. That’s right. Long ago a fire burned these woods. While the nature has regrown, the faeries have not forgotten. And while the flames that scavenged this place was red, Ortho’s anger was burning red hot. And even then, the faeries were none to pleased when most took up shelter their woods.

Another rock was thrown. News flash! Hitting her, will in fact, not quell her anger. In fact the heat will only get worse!

But as much as Ortho wanted to tell these faeries this. That she was just in a bad mood and held no ill will to them. That she did not wish to hurt them, and was just passing through. But alas, the small faeries of these woods did not understand common, and she did not have a translation installment in her currently.

Ortho stared unimpressed at the faeries. Her head was hot. She could hear the quickening crackles of her flames.

Do not kill them. She told herself. They’re so small, so fragile. She could easily take out the few that were attacking her. It would be so easy, and it might help her blow off some steam.

She so badly wished to retaliate. But now was not the time. She could not, should not take up this side quest. She can’t. Ortho tells herself, since her friends are not here to, to not be so fucking violent.

Ortho raises her hand. She feels technomantic energy gather in her palm. She cannot kill today. It would feel so good. She must not kill.

5… 4… 3…

She takes aim. It’s such a small target…

2…

1.

Ortho quickly turns her hand and topples an entire tree. She quickly leaves the scene, leaving the worms to fend for themselves as the trees fall like a small line of dominos.

_—_—_

Yuu was fucking terrified. She did not like this. She did not want to be here. She already got caught up with a… a fucking isekai adventure! And this weird cat, nekomata, weasel? Fucking thing. And then it was raining indoors, then it was raining outdoors, and there were ghosts, and dust, and wood so old that it would rot out and give in with a heavy step.

And then! She got forced to be a janitor, which is probably like, a fuck ton of hard labor that her weak little twig arms won’t be able to handle. Not to mention the state of her new dormitory! Yuu has a sinking feeling that she’s going to have to fix that place up all by herself.

And now! Because this… this cat that she got stuck to (beast tamer… he’s her familiar… come on!) got into a fight with another student and burned a fucking statue, they all got in trouble when she didn’t even fucking doing anything! ‘Oh, you should’ve done something’ fucking what?! What could she have done?! Tell her! They were throwing around fucking magic, because that’s and actual literal fucking thing here! She’s just a regular girl! No magic to speak of, tell her Headmage, what could she have done?!

And then both of those fuckers tried to skirt their window cleaning duties, and then they ran into a different student who threw a cauldron and broke a chandelier!

And again! She did nothing! She just wanted to suck it up and do her work, no matter how fucking weak she was, and her body would be all sore. She just wanted to go with the flow!

(…But did they? Really? Did they truly wish to live an ordinary life, to be a normal girl, just another face in the crowd. They remember the night before they woke up in that coffin. Barely, in fragments, but they do. The sameness was stifling, choking them out. Was this their punishment for daring to wish to stand out? The bleach and dye in their hair was ugly, and their hair had been hacked short.)

What, was she dead? God, she fucking hopes not. But she keeps seeing all these fucking ghosts. She was called shapeless, colorless, she was put in an abandoned, dead dorm with ghosts haunting it. And now, in order to make up for the broken chandelier (that she once again had no fucking part in, mind you!) she’s in a mine, with even more fucking ghosts.

And you want to know the best part? Not only are they being chased through a way to fucking big mine, the boys. Won’t. Stop. Fighting.

“More ghosts?!” The ginger, Ace? Exclaimed. “They’re floating around here too!”

The boy with dark blue hair responded, Deuce, they’re pretty sure, “If we stop to fight, we’ll never get anywhere. Let’s just keep moving.”

“Sure, but don’t act like we voted you team leader.” He responded. Like that really matters right now? “The only reason we’re here in the first place is because of that stupid stunt you pulled.”

“Oh? I’m pretty sure this all started because you tried to shirk your window cleaning punishment!” Deuce shot back.

Yuu opened their mouth to protest, to say that now was not the goddamn time, but they could barely get a word to form in their throat, and even if they could, Ace continued to talk, “So, we’re bringing up ancient history now? Then if you wanna get down to the brass tacks, this all started when Furball torched that statue!”

Something within them burned at the insult towards Grim, even if they agreed. The worst feeling of all was all this weird deja vu…

“Myah?!” Grim exclaimed. “Maybe ya shouldn’ta made fun of me then!”

Yuu wanted to scream. To tell them that they should focus on getting the ‘magestone’ and getting the fuck out. That the blame game doesn’t truly matter right now because they’re all at fault (not her and she’ll stand by that) and they just need to work together this one time.

Yuu heard a growl. At least, they think they did.

Yuu turned her head around as she looked for a sign of sound. Deuce continued to argue, “Guys! We’re in real hot water, remember?!” Yuu turned back around, trying to push the paranoia out. She wanted to thank him but she also hated that they weren’t able to say something themself. “If we don’t come back with a magestone by morning, we’re all being expelled!”

“Yeah, which is why we don’t need you ordering the rest of us around.” Ace said. Oh my fucking god, shut the fuck up! “It gets old really fast.”

Finally, finally, Yuu was able to open their mouth and scream, “ALL OF YOU, CALM THE FUCK DOWN!”

All eyes turned towards her. She realized what she did, and covered her mouth.

Another growl, closer this time.

Quietly, slowly, she turned around. “I… I think, I heard a voice…”

She took a step back, another.

“...iiivvv… …oooouuu…” Came the growl as something lurked ever closer to them in the dark mines.

“Huh?!” All three of the boys jumped, and Yuu took another step back.

“Wh-where’s that coming from?” Ace shivered.

“...neeevvvaaa… …iiivvv… …ooouuu…” Came the growling, distorted voice.

“Sounds like…” Deuce said carefully. “It’s getting closer…”

The four watched the hallway with baited breath. None of them daring to move, as if standing still would make the thing pass them by. To not notice them.

“Stooonesss…” The creature called, finally in sight. “Stooonesss are miiiiine!”

“Bwah! There it is!” The boys called together, as Yuu’s teeth were glued shut in fear.

It looked almost humanoid. It was easily over seven, or even eight feet, taking up most of the room in the cramped mineshafts. It wore tattered red clothing and had a head of a shattered glass, some sort of ink spilling out. On the top of the head where the cork would be sat a brown hat. The ink was everywhere in it’s path.

“What is that?!” Deuce shouted.

“Myaaah!” Grim yelled. “No one said there’d be monsters! Let’s get outta here!”

Yuu’s feet were locked in place, no matter how much they agreed with Grim. Why was her body choosing freeze now? Deuce grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her away, until her feet would carry themselves.

“That thing’s super creepy!” Ace wasted his breath saying. “But didn’t it just say something about ‘stones’?!”

Their paces slowed.

“Wait, what?!” Grim exclaimed. Yuu felt an odd sense of hope blossoming in their chest.

“You… think?” She said, like she just got to a patch of oxygen while drawing in a cave.

“Stooonesss…” The monster spoke again, and their paces quickened again. She wasn’t used to this outside of gym class! “...nevvva give stooonessss…!”

“Ah!” Everyone yelped at the noise of the monster.

“So there ARE still magestones here!” Deuce smiled, it looked hysteric.

“Myaaah…” Grim groaned. “Even as a master sorcerer, I… I don’t think I can take that thing down!”

“But we need a magestone or we’ll be expelled!” Deuce yelled, slowing down. “I’m going in!” He charged towards the monster.

“Are you outta your mind?!” Ace yelled, looking back.

“You think you can take that dangerous thing on alone?!” Yuu exclaimed as she watched the boy her age throw out a spell.

“I won’t be expelled!” Deuce affirmed. “No matter what!”

He was stupid. It was stupid. But, something in her admired him. She wished that she could stand so tall in her beliefs.

Deuce and Ace had a place to go home to. A family. That family wouldn’t be proud, for sure. But they still had one. Yuu and Grim, they didn’t. And yet, it was Deuce, who had so much less to loose, was the one who yelled about not being expelled, barrelling into danger for it.

What is she thinking? She’ll fucking die if she tried to fight that thing!

“Begone! Begone! Begone!” The monster yelled.

“Bwaaah!” Deuce yelled out as he got attacked.

“Aw, crap!” Ace yelled. “He’s got Loosey-Deucey on the ropes! Not on my watch! Heeyah!” He charged in, throwing out a spell.

But… She’ll die if she has to live on the streets, too.

“Ooof!” Ace yelled as he got thrown into the wall right next to Grim.

“Myaaah! Stay away from me!” Grim yelled, scurrying closer to her. The monster roared once more, a terrible sound. “It’s like nothin’s even hurting it!” Grim said.

Something behind the monster shined in the light of the fire magic being thrown.

“That’s-!” She called out, unconsciously taking half a step forward to the light.

“Behind the monster!” Ace called out overtop of her once more. “There’s something sparkling in the mineshaft!”

“Could that have been a magestone?!” Deuce exclaimed, firing off another spell.

“GWAAAAAAAH!” The monster bellowed. “Nooo giiive yooouuu stooooooone!”

“Yuu! We need to book it, and fast!” Grim said to her. “That thing’s gonna ground us into tuna paste!”

Yuu quickly turned towards the other two. Ace was much less gung ho about this fight than Deuce was.

“Come on you fucks!” She said, grabbing Deuce by the collar like how he grabbed her wrist (she could still feel the grip marks…) “Let’s run for it! Retreat! Retreat!”

The monster let out a roar as the three teens and one nekomata thing made a dead man’s dash through the mineshaft. Yuu pumped her legs as fast as she could, she could feel her heart beating out of her chest, as loud as an entire symphony. Maybe she should’ve taken up marching band…

They ran and they ran until they saw the light of dusk at the end of the tunnel. Keep pushing, keep pushing, run all the way through…!

Her feet hurt. Her legs were tired. She panted and panted as her sprint faded to a jog to a stop.

“This should…” Grim started, panting hard. His poor small limbs… “Be far enough, I think?”

“Owww…” Ace whined, stretching his back. “What was that thing?” He panted. “No one said, there’d be anything like that!”

“That was no normal ghost,” Deuce said, he seemed the least tired of everyone. “That’s for sure.”

“Let’s just give up,” Ace breathed hard. “And go home. I’ll happily, take, expulsion, if it means never having to fight, that thing, again.”

Deuce stood up straight and turned towards Ace. “What?!” He exclaimed. “Nuh-uh, not happenin’! I’d rather die than be expelled from Night Raven! How can you give up when the stone is right there?”

And of course, Ace had to continue to argue, saying, “Pfft. Big talk from someone who’s not even half the mage I am. You want the stone so bad, go get it yourself, I’m out.”

Yuu watched from were she was leaning on a tree as Ace started to walk back to the school. Deja vu…

“Oh YEAH?!” Deuce yelled, seemingly not able to give up a fight. “Fine, go back to your coop, you big chicken!”

Yuu was getting annoyed. “Whaaaaat?!” Ace turned back and marched right back up to the other boy. “Who’re you callin’ a chicken, huh?!”

Yuu stood up, rubbing her face in her hands as she let out a guttural groan that turned into a scream. The two stopped their petty argument to turn to look at her.

“Would you two just SHUT UP already?!” She yelled, hot tears burning behind her eyes. “GOD! I can’t handle another one of your stupid fucking arguments! Ace insulted Grim! Grim attacked Ace! Both of you burned the statue! You both tried to run from your window cleaning duties! Deuce fuckin’ launched Ace at the chandelier, and Grim was the one up there in the first place! Guess what fuckers? You’re all at fucking fault here!” She let out another scream as she punched the tree she was leaning against in a fit of emotion. Tears started to boil up and overflow from her eyes.

“You know who isn’t? ME!” She yelled. “I, never wanted to be here! I, didn’t ask to come to this school! I don’t even attend here! I’m magicless! At a school for fucking magic! Do you realize just how much I wanna go home? But I fucking can’t? Because I got isekai’d or some shit, and now I’m in an entirely fucking different world, and I have no fucking way home because your little ‘Dark Mirror’ doesn’t have an interdimensional travel system! At least if you two get expelled, then you’ll have a home waiting for you, right? If I get kicked out though? Game over! I’m living on the streets! And you two think you can just- just fucking argue?! All the goddamn time?! When we’re trying not to die? I’m scared, guys! I’m so, so fucking terrified! I don’t know where I am, or how I got here, or how to get back, and now there’s fucking magic to deal with and- and ghosts? And now monsters?! And- and you two, just. Won’t. Stop. fighting.”

Yuu crouched down, placing their head in their hands as they sobbed. They wanted to go home. To face the scrutiny they’d get from their parents for randomly chopping off and dying their hair one night. To feel the shame of facing her classmates the next day. At least she’d still be in her own bed, warm, in a nice house with her family. She’d rather be struggling to breathe in their own skin than struggling to breathe in a different world.

She felt a paw and something warm. Grim.

Yuu sat down fully, sweeping up the cat like thing in her arms, sobbing all the while. They vaguely heard Deuce say their name, like he wasn’t sure what to do with it.

They weren’t sure how long they sobbed there, cradling Grim in their arms. Deja vu again. Grim made them feel safer, somehow. And he was letting her do it, even if he did complain of the tears wetting his fur.

“So.” Ace finally said walking up to her and crouching down so that they’re face to face. “Different world huh?”

They weakly nodded.

“That’s. Something.” He said, like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to believe them. “You surprised to end up at a magic school?”

“‘M surprised by magic at all.” They muttered a reply. “Fictional, where I come from.”

That surprised all three of them.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Like, no magic at all?” Ace definitely couldn’t believe that. Yuu shook their head.

“No magic…” Deuce muttered. “No magic at all…?”

“How does that work?” Grim yelped.

“Mmhmm.” She hummed, saying ‘I don’t know’. “Just does. Does everyone have magic here?”

“Well, no, I don’t think so.” Grim relented.

“Then like the folks without magic.” Yuu said, sniffling. They buried their head in Grim’s fur, appreciating the warmth. “I jus’ wanna go home…”

It was silent for a few moments.

“Well, we can’t do that…” Ace said.

“But we can go get that magestone!” Deuce said.

Yuu looked up through her blurry eyes. They were smiling at her.

They nodded, small. Yuu moved Grim off their lap and stood up, missing the warmth and weight he gave already. They continued to nod. “Yeah.” They muttered. “Yeah.” They said again, louder. “Yeah, let’s go get that magestone. No one here is getting kicked out today.”

“Obviously.” Ace cheekily smiled, as if he wasn’t ready to pack up and go home just a few minutes ago.

Deuce called him out as such, saying, “Hey! You were totally ready to give up just a little while ago!” while cracking his knuckles. A stim, perhaps?

“What did I say about bringing up ancient history, Juice?” Ace shot back.

“That’s not my name!” Deuce said, his voice raising.

“Whoa Deuce, it’s like you’re a completely different person at times!” Grim pointed out.

“Huh?!” Deuce said, he coughed a few times. “Sorry, I keep losing my cool. Ugh, and When Yuu just started crying about it too…”

“Well- I wouldn’t say it was about you, specifically.” Yuu told him. “More just, everything in general since yesterday.”

“Nope! It was all Deucey making poor Yuu over here cry!” Ace just had to instigate.

“Hey!” Deuce snapped at him. “Ah-! Sorry, Yuu!” He quickly turned towards her.

Stupidly, surprisingly, Yuu started to laugh. “God. Are you allergic to not getting into fights with each other?” It almost reminded her of the silly fights she would sometimes get into with her younger brother. Oh, Ken, Yuu hopes you’re doing alright. A tear rolled down her face once more.

The two at least had the decency to look ashamed at that comment.

“Haha!” Grim laughed at them. “You two are terrible, aren’cha?”

“Oh please, like I wanna hear that from you, weasel.” Ace teased.

“I’m NOT a weasel!” Grim protested.

Yuu laughed hysterically, warm tears flowing.

“Yuu, are you alright?” Deuce asked. He was so concerned.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m.” They responded. “Well. No. I’m not fine. But, I’ll, I’ll be good enough.”

The three boys smiled at her. She smiled back. Deja vu, once more. Strangely, she felt like she could trust them.

There was a clap. Another. Everyone turned.

Coming out from behind the thicket of trees, Yuu first saw fire. Burning blue and bright. That’s when they noticed the rest of the new figure as they continued to slowly clap as they joined the group.

They were small, but they were floating which made them appear taller than they truly were.

“Who’re you?!” Deuce quickly asked.

A small robotic child with short blue fire for hair responded. “I’m A- Ortho Shroud. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The young boy tripped over his words for a moment, but payed it no mind. “How moving, the drive to come together to reach a common goal. So. What’s the plan?”

Notes:

I hope that you all like my Yuu! They’re going through it rn. I really wish that they had more personality, but that’s what the light novel and mangas are for, I suppose. And it is fun making up a prefect OC. I guess I just want them to play a bigger part in the plot, like in book 3. Idk

Isn’t everyone so proud of Dessie’s self restraint? She didn’t kill anyone! Hooray! She’s currently living for the drama

Chapter 10: Chap 10

Summary:

The planning stages

Notes:

I’m now on Spring Break, starting today! Hooray! No school, more free time!

…let’s see if uploads slow down

Adesius Ortho clapped. And clapped again. In a show of dramatics she continued to slowly clap while coming out of hiding. She watched her future friends tense at her arrival.

After being able to zone out for a while and seeing these idiots again, it calmed her down quite a bit. She still wasn’t happy about being here, but she could deal with it now.

“Who’re you?!” Deuce cried out, his hands half up like he’s getting ready for a fight. How she’s missed these guys, for such a small gesture to bring her such joy.

“I’m A- Ortho Shroud.” Ugh. Ortho, Ortho, Ortho. It’s all she’s been hearing lately. …She’s been getting too comfortable. “How moving, the drive to come together to reach a common goal. So. What’s the plan?”

“Forget who you are, the better question is what you are!” Grim called out.

“And what you’re doing here, too.” Ace added on incredulity.

Oo! This is so much fun! She loves being dramatic so much. “I am a technomantic humanoid. And as for why I’m here? Well.” She let out a small giggle. “I got curious, let’s say. I mean, almost being expelled? On the first day? How could I not want to learn more?”

“Oh, I see.” Ace said. “You came to laugh at us, huh? Well good for you, you got what you wanted. Go home, feel free to gossip. We don’t need you.”

Yuu looked uncertainly at Ace and back to her. Deuce lowered his hands, but he didn’t look at ease. Grim looked upset thinking that she was here to make fun of them.

Adesius made herself look genuinely surprised at the accusation. “I would never!” Honestly, she might, if she had a real incentive too. “You guys are trying not to be expelled, right? I thought I might be able to help. You all were talking about something being in the mines, I could probably help get rid of it and help you get whatever you need from in there.”

The Ramshackle duo and Deuce didn’t look convinced, per say, but did look open to negotiation. Ace, ever stubborn, still wore a scowl.

“Why would you want to help us? You tryin’ to get one over us?” He asked. Please, she’s not him.

Grim’s face scrunched up again. “Yeah, what’s your angle?”

Her body dropped as she shook her head. “It may be a surprise to you, but sometimes people like helping other people out.” Though, it has always been a bit hard for Ace to consider other’s perspectives at times huh? At least, he always seems to forget to remember such a thing. What’s common sense to him must be the same for everyone, right? Hah. “Here, just give me a chance. What did you encounter in there?”

Yuu and Deuce looked at each other, seemingly a silent agreement to give her at least one shot.

“It was a monster, like nothing I’ve ever seen or heard of before.” Deuce told her. Hah, oh how that’s going to change.

The prefect nodded in agreement. “It was dripping this ink stuff, like it was made of the stuff! And it’s head was a broken glass bottle full of it, too.”

“Wait, are we really trusting this kid?” Ace exclaimed in disbelief. Ugh, for the love of the Great Seven, she was not a kid! But, she did look like one, so whatever.

“Do you have any better ideas?” Deuce shot back. “We need help, and he’s offering it!” Ack, another twist of the knife… Of course, it did take a while for Deuce to remember her correct pronouns. That’s all it is, he just forgot again. He didn’t mean it.

The memory of Deuce yelling out that he was “going to punch the next person who misgenders him!” then immediately punching himself when he realized what he said lightened her mood. Ah, she was friends with such dumbasses, ehehe.

“Even if I don’t like the idea of being bailed out…” Deuce added on.

“There’s a difference between ‘helping’ and ‘doing it for you’,” Adesius said, remembering that she hasn’t been told his, or any, of their names yet and pulling out the ‘I looked at the school’s files’ card this early might just lead to more suspicion. “Ah, sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Hm? Oh, It’s Deuce Spade.” He introduced himself. “That’s Ace Trappola, Yuu and Grim.” He pointed at each respective person.

“No last name?” She pointed out, looking curious instead of teasing.

“Ah, well-” Yuu was probably about to pull out some flimsy excuse.

“Well, it’s no matter.” Adesius saved her the pain. She knew her full name anyway. “Like I was saying, just because I’m offering to help you, Deuce Spade, doesn’t mean I’m offering to solve your problems for you. And you all certainly got yourselves into a problem.” She laughed lightheartedly.

“Well, I mean, I didn’t…” Yuu muttered.

“You can tell me the full story once you all regain your seats at this school.” Adesius said, moving forward to pick up Grim and place him in Yuu’s arms. “You looked calmer when you where holding onto him.” She casually said.

“What am I, a stuffed animal?” Grim protested. Yuu on the other hand wore a surprised look for a moment before burying their head in Grim’s fur, holding him tight. “Mryah!” Grim yelped, but soon let the prefect continue to use him as a comfort object. No matter how grumpy he looked while doing so.

“Wait, how long have you been watching us?!” Ace asked, eyes wide.

She stared at him. “The whole time.” She said, keeping her expression flat. In her defense, Rook Hunt goes to this school. She at the very least was not stalking them. Currently.

“And you took this long to show yourself?!” Ace followed up.

She let her body drop again. “In my defense, you all looked like you were in the middle of something. I didn’t want it to be awkward like, ‘Hi! I’m Ortho Shroud. You seem to be in the middle of a slight mental breakdown. Would you like some assistance in not being expelled?’”

“Ah, yeah, I can’t say I don’t get that.” Ace relented.

“And as for that ‘monster’ you said you encountered.” She let her expression sour, but not nearly as much as she would’ve liked to. “I think I may know what it is.”

“Wait, really?!” Deuce jumped at it. “Can you tell us? We need to get a magestone back to the Headmage by morning and that thing’s guarding it! What’re it’s weaknesses?!”

“Well, first of all, I was planning on it.” She started. “And second, the weaknesses can depend. The creature’s species is no monolith.”

“Ah, of course.” Deuce wilted a bit.

“Though of course there are common denominators!” She chirped. “For example, the head is a good place to aim.”

“The head, got it.” Deuce took in. “Okay, let’s go!”

“Wait that’s it?!” Adesius and Ace both called.

“You don’t want anymore information than that? No plan other than ‘aim for the head’?!” Adesius asked, actually genuine for once.

“Do you even have a brain in there outside of your one track mind, Deuce?” Ace questioned unbelieving.

Deuce stopped and turned back around. “Oh, yeah, right.”

Adesius couldn’t help but mumble, “You fucking idiot…” lowly under her breath. She thinks Ace may have noticed words formed from her.

To reset herself, Adesius made the motion of taking a deep breath. She continued to explain, “I fear you all may have encountered what is known as a phantom. That ink you saw was a substance known as ‘blot.’ Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, may I please see one of your pens?”

“Why?” Ace asked.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Deuce said.

“C’mon man…” Ace said to him in disappointment.

“He’s been helpful so far!” Yes she has.

“Do you see this red gem?” She asked, carrying on with her demonstration.

Yuu and Grim looked closer, with Ace and Deuce snapping out of their small disagreement to do the same.

“I imagine that Deuce Spade’s been using quite a bit of magic, correct?” Adesius said.

“Yeah, I have.” Deuce confirmed.

“Of course, I know that because you all mentioned fighting something earlier, but I also could’ve figured that out from looking at his magestone here.” Adesius said, pointing to a darkening splotch on the gem. “See this? This right here is blot. It’s a waste substance from using magic. Too much blot can be detrimental, which is why all students at arcane academies like Night Raven Collage provide their students with their own personal magestone. It’s to make the blot cumulate slower and in a controlled substance instead of within one’s own body.”

“So, that monster is made of this blot stuff?” Grim asked, surprised.

Yuu looked thoughtful and asked. “What happens when one cumulates too much blot?”

“Yes, to your question Grim.” Adesius addressed him. “And as for what happens when a mage creates too much blot, it will take over the mage, resulting in an overblot.”

“An overblot?” The three boys all questioned. They were already so in synch!

“Yes.” Adesius said, handing Deuce his pen back. She held up two fingers. “There are two parts to an overblot.” She put one of her fingers down. “The victim, which is the mage. They become crazed, only thinking of the circumstances leading to the overblot. Blot accumulates quicker with negative emotions, by the way.” She held up both fingers once more. “And the second part, the phantom. It acts like a parasite, feeding on the victim using them like a battery. And once that victim runs out of magic, they’ll die, leaving their wandering phantom.”

“Wait, so, that thing in the mines…” Deuce started. “It, used to be a person?”

“Or even one of the dwarves this mine was named after.” Adesius confirmed. “These mines are deep. This phantom could very well have been here for as long as the school has. What bad luck, to run into it so close to the entrance of the mine!”

The color seemed to drain from their faces at that idea.

“Wh-what are we going to do? That thing’s ancient! It’s probably super strong!” Deuce shouted.

“It was growling like, ‘I’ll neeeverrr giiive yooouuu my stooonesss!’ Are you saying that, that it- someone overbolt and died over these things?” Ace hastily questioned.

“No, no. We can’t be expelled! My mom, Yuu’s place to stay…” Deuce muttered to himself.

“Do- do ya think I’ll gain some street cred from taking down a centuries old phantom?” Grim asked, putting on his cocky brave face to push down his fear.

Oh dear. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” Adesius said, raising her voice to be heard. “I was just explaining what that monster was, and throwing out a theory. Please, don’t feel frightened! Just because it’s possibly old doesn’t mean it’s particularly powerful.” Obviously, since last time these four were able to take it out themselves. “So, I’ll ask again, what’s the plan?”

Adesius wants to serve as a cushion. She knows that they’ll be able to do it, they’ve done so before. But it’s nice to know you have someone in your corner who can get you out of a tough situation if you need it. Besides, Adesius has a great deal of respect for the prefect and her other friends. They could handle this on their own, and they should. For character development, ehe.

Yuu looked down in thought, their grip tightening around Grim. “Grim’s good at fire magic. And Ace’s good at wind. Deuce can summon cauldrons, and he lifted up Ace to throw him a while ago, and Grim used that black magic when it was raining… Ortho. What can you do?” Adesius has always found it so interesting that the Ramshackle Duo had the exact same eye color.

“I can shoot laser beams.” She informed the prefect.

“Lasers…” Yuu’s eyes widened. “Yeah, sure, why not.” They said.

Yuu hummed in thought. “Well, first of all, that cramped mineshaft is no place for a fight. Maybe if we lure it out…?”

“If you all survived it at your current level, then I think I could probably tank a couple good hits from it, if that helps.” Adesius said.

“Hey, what’s that mean?” Ace asked.

Adesius played it like she didn’t notice the annoyance. “Well all of you are freshman. Your skills most likely aren’t that polished yet. Of course, I can’t be certain of anything until I’ve seen for myself what everyone can do.”

“Uh huh.” Ace scowled at her. Before relenting and saying, “I mean, fair.”

“Are you sure? Let me tell you, it hits really hard.” Deuce warned her.

She let out a light giggle. “If your bodies made of flesh and bone can handle a couple hits, then my body made of metal definitely will.”

“Ah, good point!” Deuce realized. Adesius laughed again.

Yuu’s eyes darted around in thought. “Ace and Grim, you guys burned the statue this morning… fire is made up of oxygen, heat and…”

“Fuel?” Adesius supplied.

“Yes! That!” Yuu said. “Okay, Grim, you’re getting heavy, I’m putting you down now.”

“Hey, what’s that mean?” Grim cried.

“It means you’re heavy.” They sighed exasperated. “Like I was saying, Grim can make the fire, and Ace, do you think you could fan it?”

“And work together with this furball?” Ace asked. Then he remembered the situation and tacked on, “Yeah, sure. I guess I can do that.”

“Perfect! Now, Ortho, can you help them out?” The prefect continued. “These two can weaken it, the head is made of glass, can you focus on cracking it?”

“Rodger.” Adesius said.

“Thank you.” She smiled. “Now, Deuce.”

“Yeah?” He stood up straighter.

“I want to go in and get the stone while the monster’s distracted. But, I doubt that I could do it myself. You, however, said you can throw a good punch, so I’m gonna guess you took some kind of martial arts class or something.” Deuce’s eyes widened at the assumption. Close enough, prefect? “Anyways, I trust your muscles more than mine. I was thinking the two of us can go in and get the stone together?”

Deuce cleared his throat. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”

“Thanks.” She looked genuinely grateful. “Sorry to dump this responsibility on you, Ortho, but for some reason you come off more reliable than these two. Can you make sure your side of things goes smoothly?”

Hm. She seemed reliable, but the prefect didn’t know why? How curious…

“Leave it to me!” She chimed in the affirmative.

“Great!” They clapped. “Does that sound good to everyone?”

“Why do I gotta fight that scary thing?” Grim whined.

“Aren’t you a sorcerer extraordinaire? Who’s better to do the job?” Yuu asked, like it was obvious. Glad to see she’s already learning how to get Grim to do something. 1) appeal to his ego or 2) bribe him with food.

Grim made a shocked face at the remark before smoothing it over with a boastful grin. “Who do you think you’re talking to? Just leave it all to me, myeheh!”

Yuu smiled fondly. Before realizing their fond smile and made a face of “oh no, am I warming up to these assholes?”

They shook it off though, and said, “Any other questions or complaints?”

Ace sighed and scratched the back of his head. “It’s about as good as anything, I suppose. But I am NOT being the bait to that thing.”

“Mrah?! Well I ain’t doing it either!” Grim asserted.

“Why not? You practically already look the part.” Ace teased.

“Why you..!”

“I’ll do it.” Adesius cut in. Gods, these two.

“See? He’s already doing a great job keeping you in line!” The prefect smiled. Ugh.

“Hey!” Ace and Grim protested.

“The sun’s about gone, boys.” Ortho casually pointed out. “You need this by morning, correct?”

“Erk!” They both remembered. Yuu smiled in relief.

“Don’t worry, I’ll rein these two in.” She whispered to the prefect. “I wish you and Deuce Spade good luck.”

Yuu looked at her in relief. “Thank you. And you all too.”

It was so nice to do something, anything with her friends like this. It felt like home.

Ah. A text from Idia.

Big Brother: ik that you said youd be fine but its been awhile

Big Brother: u coming back soon?

Adesius looked around at those in front of her.

ORTHO: A little while longer. Maybe 30 minutes to an hour? I’ll be back soon, I promise.

She watched as he typed and deleted his next message a few times.

“We about ready?” Ace asked.

Big Brother: what are u doing? stay safe

“Yep! Just a moment.” Adesius said.

ORTHO: helping some kids not get expelled. And you know I will

She most certainly will not.

“Okay.” Ace responded.

Big Brother: so you DID go out to find them!

ORTHO: Ehe, sorry

“Alright, you all go get ready, I’m going in.” Adesius told them.

“Good luck.” Ace said.

“Be careful.” Deuce said.

Yuu gave them a double thumbs up. “Don’t die!” Grim teasingly said.

Big Brother: i get that u like helping ppl

Big Brother: but pls dont get involved w them again

Big Brother: if theyre already this close to being expelled this early on then theyre prolly SSR troublemakers

“Pfft.” Adesius couldn’t contain her laughter at that comment as she entered the cave system.

ORTHO: They’re SR at best

She laughed to herself. Idia was an SSR troublemaker, not her. Of course, he didn’t know that yet

Big Brother: still. stay safe

Adesius followed the trace amounts of blot as the signal grew stronger. This place truly was abandoned, not even the faeries or ghosts that haunt this place in sight.

We’ll see. She truly answered her brother.

ORTHO: I always do

She lied.

Notes:

Just going off the card levels of the cards they let you use in the phantom fight here, Grim’s at level 1 and ADeuce are at level 5. Ortho’s at like a 60, at the very least! She could one shot this thing, but where’s the fun in that? The drama? The character growth? She probably would like to one shot something actually, but she cares for the story more lol. I love making her a theater kid. I’m so glad she’s in the FRC

Chapter 11: Chap 11

Summary:

The obtaining of the magestone, the defeat of the Phantom and the walk home

Notes:

I’ll be honest I’m not the best at writing action scenes, so I’m glad that I had them split up so that I could skip over the majority of the fight lol.

Unfortunately Yuu realized she wasn’t done with her crash out. Completely understandable if you ask me tho. At least Deuce is there. Poor, poor Deuce…

Adesius heard a roar. Distorted and painful.

There it is.

“Now, I wonder where those magestones could ever be?” Adesius raised her voice. “Stones, stones, more stones for me!” She said in a sing song voice. Or at least, she tried.

That got the thing’s attention.

“...Nevvva… …giiive… …STOOONESSS!” It roared and she could feel it in the walls as the phantom approached. If she could grin right now, she would.

“To late!” She taunted. “Me and my friends already got SOOO many!”

“...Nooo… …stooonesss…!” It roared.

Adesius laughed in the corpse’s face as she began to leave. “We’ll drain this place dry! Every stone in here for us!”

It growled in frustration. “...NEVVVER…!”

She just continued to laugh, leading the thing outside. Taunting it all the way. Seeing a phantom like this, it almost reminded her of her brother. She wondered what he would think of all of this, if he were here to see it. Would Agetes laugh at it as well? Or would he live up to his title as “king” and bring down some sort of self righteous rage on the beast?

She wishes he were here. She wishes she had someone she could talk freely to. Outside of her cage inside her head.

…Though maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Who knows, that if he were here, he’d remember her at all?

Oh well. She was just about out of the mineshaft anyways. The next scene is about to start!

“You all ready?” She called out. They better be.

“Grrraaawrr! BEGOOOOONE!” The phantom roared.

Ace and Grim yelped in fear, but quickly regained their posture.

“Ready!” Ace affirmed.

“R-Ready!” Grim assured himself.

“Good! Let’s get it a bit further away from the entrance before you start attacking.” Adesius told them. She was a good ways in front of it, so she thinks that the phantom didn’t hear them planning.

“Okay.” Ace said.

“You got it!” Grim put on his brave face. “Ah! He’s coming out way!”

“O-Over here! Ya hunk of ink!” Ace tried to taunt ignoring his fear.

“Thieeef thiiis waaay tooooo…!” The phantom growled. “Neeevvva giiive stooones! Neeevvvaaa!” It tried to punch her, but she was much faster.

The others shuddered while Ortho took in the damage. It was definitely a hard hitter, she’ll give it that, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. In fact it was on the weaker end of things, a phantom that would be held in the top layers of Tartarus. But she already knew that.

“Eep!” Grim yelped. “If it lands one of those punches we’re toast!”

“We need to get farther away!” Adesius called. The three of them lead the corpse away with taunts and small bits of magic from Ace and Grim.

“Begooone! BEGOOOOOOONE!” It yelled.

“We got him a good distance away from the mine!” Grim grinned.

Ortho watched as Deuce and Yuu came out of their hiding spot, rushing into the mine out of sight from the phantom. She felt herself smile.

“Alright boys, it’s just us now!” Adesius told them.

“Got it!” Ace said. His mouth quirked up in a half smirk. “I got this! One extra large gust of wind, comin’ up!”

“With a side of Grim’s blazin’-hot fire! MYAAAH!” Grim yelled out.

“Grrraaahhh?!” The phantom growled in surprise, being engulfed in the combined might of Ace and Grim’s magic.

“How’s that taste?! With my winds fanning them, even Grim’s feeble flames can become an inferno!” Ace cheered.

“Whaddaya mean ‘feeble’?!” Grim exclaimed. “Ya really don’t know how to shut yer mouth, do ya?”

Ortho couldn’t help but laugh. Ahh, she’s missed this chaos. “Focus, remember? We’ve got him on the ropes!” She raised her hand and took aim. It’s a much larger target than those faeries from before. “3… 2… 1! Take that!”

A laser shot at the phantom’s bottle head. Oops, she was trying to go easy on it, but she’s already cracked the head…

“Gwaaah?!” The animated corpse sputtered in shock as blot started to drip out of its newest crack.

“Whoa! Great hit!” Ace said in disbelief like he wasn’t expecting that.

“You totally nailed it!” Grim called. “Yuu’s plan’s workin’!”

“Keep the heat coming!” Ortho reminded them.

“On it!” The two doofuses said.

_—_—_

“Should we…?” Deuce asked, awaiting her signal.

“Not yet…” Yuu told him, reaching her hand out to stop him from advancing. Her eyes were fixed on the battle.

“Begooone! BEGOOOOOOONE!” The monster, the phantom, roared.

“Now! Here’s our chance!” She told him punching her leg a few times as she broke into a sprint.

“Got it!” Deuce followed behind her.

Yuu spared a glance back to the battle. “We’re counting on you…!” She whispered beneath her breath.

They shook their head. They could do it. Yuu had to be sure of it. “This way, I remember!”

“Right! Then this way!” Deuce agreed, though he was already in front of her. Of course, he was obviously in much better shape than she was. No! Don’t think about your exhaustion! Adrenaline, carry her through this!

“And… it’s…” They panted looking around the cramped hallways covered in leftover blot from the phantom. This was the right way, right?

“That’s it!” Deuce yelled and Yuu’s head snapped to him. “That’s a magestone!”

Every part of her was so heavy, but as she slowed catching up she felt herself smile. She felt like a madwoman. She could cry again.

Deuce had on a similar crazed smile on his face. He grabbed the stone and started to try to break it out of the wall.

Yuu leaned, or maybe more accurately, crashed into the wall next to Deuce. She feels like she’s been talking a lot lately. She should probably keep that up. Yuu’s eyes flickered tiredly between the stone and Deuce. Should she offer to help? No, she’d barely do anything.

Ugh, the tiredness is seeping in.

Yuu pushed themself off the wall with a grunt. They hit their face a couple times then pinched their cheeks. They’re so tired, and so hungry. Ugh.

They looked to Deuce once more. If only she could help more. What is she doing here? She can’t attack the phantom, and she can’t get the magestone free either.

“Nearly there…” They muttered. Their voice was barely put into the words. Just a little more. Then they can go… not home. But they can go back soon. “The stone… it’s nearly free.” Their voice grew a little stronger.

Deuce heard her even still and looked over. “Uh, um.” They continued. “Maybe… a bit more weight would break it free?”

“Y-you mean something heavier?” He studdered. He was just as tired as she was. He backed up away from the stone, and Yuu took some paces back with him. “Uh… I summon thee, cauldron!” It still wasn’t free. Yuu started to play with her fingers in her nervousness. “And also, uh… Um… Another cauldron! And a cauldron on top of that! All the cauldrons!”

Yuu blinked at the amount of cauldrons summoned. “Oh. Okay.” Was all they could say.

“I got the magestone!” Deuce said, half to himself it seemed, as if to justify his decision.

“Cool. Great job.” Yuu shook their head to snap out of their stupor. “Whatever! Let’s go!”

“Right!” Deuce agreed as both of them started to run again. At least, they tried. Which is to say, Yuu tried.

“So…rry.” They huffed. “Not, used to this much running.” They tried to get going again, but they couldn’t sprint anymore. Every few steps made their legs flare up worse than Grim’s ears. They could barely breathe, ending up coughing whenever they tried to get a deep enough breath to keep going.

“It’s fine.” Deuce told her. She felt so useless. Their eyes burned again. “The others are taking care of the phantom, we don’t need to run.” He told her.

She rubbed her eyes. She hates this place. “Mhm.” Was all she could do to respond.

Tears rolled down her face. It was obviously stressing Deuce out even more. Ough, she felt so bad. She was dragging him down. She gasped for breath, trying to keep the sound of her sobs down.

“G-go.” She told him. “I’ll,” she gasped. “I’ll be, fine. I prom- I prom- Promise.”

She collapsed onto the floor, her legs giving out. This was so terrible. This is exactly what she was trying to avoid! She was still so raw from her breakdown earlier. Every bad thought made the tears come forth easier. She can’t be thinking stuff like this! But it’s a feedback loop. Every negative thought made her want to cry more, and that just made her feel worse, giving her more negative thoughts.

“Yuu.” Deuce said firmly, crouching down to her level. “Come on. You said it yourself, right? That no one’s getting expelled? We’re making it out of this together. We don’t need to run, or- or even jog. You can hold on to me, if it makes you feel better?”

God. He was just as scared as she was, wasn’t he? She felt so bad…

“Come on Yuu. You can do it! I’ll give you my-” Deuce cut himself off mid motivational speech.

Yuu gasped and sobbed, wondering in confusion what was wrong. The phantom wasn’t nearby as far as she could tell. …It wasn’t here, right? Were those ghosts back? Something new? Something worse?

“Wha-” She tried to ask, but she was cut off both by her own gasping but by Deuce asking her,

“Are you a girl?” He said it like it was the most haunting thing.

Yuu blinked in confusion. What?

“What?” She asked. She was so shocked that it snapped her out of her downward spiral.

“Y-you. You have, um.” Deuce looked away from her.

Yuu titled her head. What was he talking about? “I have… what?” She looked down.

“Wait. Do you mean my boobs?” She asked.

Deuce covered his face, a squawk coming out of his throat.

Yuu couldn’t help but stare.

“Pfft-” She broke out into laughter. Leftover tears falling down her cheeks. “I know I’m fairly flat chested, but- but you didn’t even notice?”

Deuce sat down, his head buried in his hands.

Yuu laughed and laughed. “Oh my god??? You really- you really didn’t notice? I mean, I guess I should be glad that you weren’t, that you weren’t looking at my chest!”

“Sh-shut up…” Deuce muttered. Yuu laughed harder.

“Oh my god, I can’t fucking deal with this.” Yuu said. “This whiplash of emotions! It’s- it’s too much!”

“Can you stop laughing at me!” Deuce snapped his head up at her.

Yuu howled with laughter. “Sor- sorry! It’s just- I wasn’t hiding it! Like, at all! And you- you only just now noticed!”

“I’m sorry?!” Deuce yelled.

Yuu hauled herself up, using the wall as a crutch. “Oooh… I’m so fucking tired.” She broke into giggles again. “Oh my god, my legs hurt. Let’s go.”

Deuce didn’t seem to know what to do. He was stuck in place for a moment.

Yuu looked back at him. “You gonna stay there forever? You’re the one with the stone.”

Deuce snapped out of it. “You’re welcome???”

“Yeah, thanks!” Yuu agreed. “Come on, let’s go.” She waved her hand in a motion to get up and follow her. “Pfft-” She broke into giggles again. Ugh, the tears returned, but this time for the opposite reason. Or maybe a little of column A and a little of column B.

“You don’t have to make fun of me!” Deuce told her. His cheeks were tinted red from embarrassment.

That just made her laugh harder as she trudged along, using the wall as a crutch.

They continued like that as they slowly walked out of the mineshaft. Deuce would half yell at her to stop making fun of him or to explain himself, while Yuu would just continue to laugh in his face about it.

_—_—_

Adesius thought about how she wanted to handle the rest of the battle. Just a few more hits would take it out, but she didn’t want to be the one dealing the finishing blow. This wasn’t her battle after all.

Ace beathed heavily. “Almost… done!”

Similarly, Grim panted, mustering his strength together for another roar of fire breath.

They were way more pressed about this fight than she was. It was almost weird. Something like this would take less than a sweat for these two the last time she saw them. Of course, their levels had also been reset to the beginning of the year. No reason why it wouldn’t. But is was still… strange.

That’s when Ortho noticed something. Movement from the mineshaft.

“Deuce, if you would!” She called out, drawing attention to the others.

“Huh? If I would what?” Deuce spoke up. Both of them looked exhausted. The prefect’s eyes were puffy and red, but their was a fading smile on their face. Adesius wonders what happened in there.

“Grrrahhh?” The phantom growled, turning around. “MYYY STOOOOOOONE!”

“Huh? Uh! I summon thee, cauldron!” Deuce called out.

As the corpse lunged for the boy, it got smacked in the head by a cauldron, being the final blow it needed to fully crack its head.

“Ooooooooogh…!” The phantom managed to get out as it started to fade from whatever scrapes of leftover life it had left. “Giiive it baaaaack…!”

Everyone watched with baited breath - well, except for her. She watched it more with curiosity and pity than anything - as the phantom truly died.

In her head, Adesius gave the thing a small prayer. Not for the phantom itself exactly, but whoever it once was. For that to be its last words. Sometimes she wonders who the phantoms in Tartarus were. Especially after the STYX incident, seeing Agetes like that.

They’re nothing more than animated corpses. Parasites left over from people who were suffering. But the dead still deserve to be respected.

“Is it… over?” Ace tentatively asked.

“I think… we won?” Grim said. “I think we did it!”

“All right!” Deuce cheered.

“Woohoo!” Ace howled in exhausted delight.

“Gimme a victory high-five!” Grim grinned.

Everyone came together slowly but surely. “Yeeeah!”

Yuu smiled with shining tears gathered in her eyes. “Sharing in hard times like this sure brings people closer together, huh?”

“Uh…” Deuce started, he looked to her, than her chest, then snapped his head away. Oh my, did he only just…? “I don’t think that had anything to do with it.”

“Yeah! Spare us the clichés, Yuu!” Ace teased.

“There’s no ‘together’ here! We won ‘cause of me!” Grim boasted as usual. “This is all from me bein’ a magical genius!”

“Oh please.” Ortho shook her head. It was fond, though.

“You’re all terrible, aren’t you?” She smiled, an exasperated giggle leaving her throat. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away.

“And this is just the beginning, Yuu!” Adesius chirped.

“Oh god, is everyone at this school as bad as them?” Yuu asked, but they were smiling.

“I’d say there’s about three genuinely nice people at this school.” Adesius told her.

“And does that include you?” She asked.

Adesius just giggled. Absolutely not! Adesius saw Ace staring thoughtfully at her. She tilted her head, an ask of what he was doing. Ace looked away. Hm. What could he be thinking of? Oh well.

“Y’know… I hate to admit it, but…” Ace said. “We mostly won because of your plan, Yuu.”

“Yeah…” Deuce agreed. Yuu’s eyes widened. “If you hadn’t managed to pull us together like that and tell us what to do, we never would have gotten this magestone.” He looked down at the stone he clutched tightly. “Now I, we, won’t get expelled. And WOW that’s a relief!” He just about fell over as his body relaxed.

Yuu looked a bit shell shocked. Their face formed into a small smile. “I’m just glad no one got hurt.”

Ortho went up to her and gently grabbed her hand. Yuu looked at her. “Thank you, Yuu. You did amazing.”

Yuu’s eyes squeezed tight. It looked like tears might form again. They took a shaky breath and let it out. When they opened their eyes again, they said small and meek but oh so sincere, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, lessons were learned, et cetera.” Ace said. Adesius gave the prefect one more good squeeze of their hands and let go. “Can we just go home already? I’m wiped.”

“Using all that magic made me hungry!” Grim complained. He sniffed a few times, noticing something. Oh fuck. “Huh? What’s this?”

Adesius quickly swiped the blot crystal so that the ravenous monster known as Grim couldn’t get to it.

“Is that a part of the monster we just beat?” Deuce questioned.

Ace scoffed. “You barely did anything to it.” Deuce scowled and hit him. Ace laughed.

“Anyways, it looks like…” Deuce continued. “A magestone? But it’s black as coal! I’ve never seen one like that before.”

Grim sniffed it again, and jumped for it, but Adesius kept it away from his greedy paws. “What IS this? It smells amazing!”

“Are you insane?” Ace asked.

Continuing their game of keep away, Adesius answered, “To Deuce -Spade’s” She almost forgot to add on his last name. “Question, yes this is something phantoms drop when they’re defeated.”

“Does it taste as good as it smells? Fork it over, pal!” Grim smiled as he continued to jump for it.

“Maybe to you, Grim…” Adesius said disappointedly. “But remember, phantoms are made of blot. Do you really want to eat something made of blot?”

Grim… His body, for the most part is actually able to digest these crystals, leaving little to no traces of blot left in his body. But still, even with that…

Just one stone probably won’t make a dent, but it’d make her conscious feel a bit better if she stopped him from eating at least a couple of these things. For a multitude of reasons.

“But is smells SO GOOD!” Grim whined.

“No! Bad kitty!” Adesius scolded.

“I am NOT a cat!” Grim said. “And what do YOU know anyways?”

“Trust me. More than you.” Adesius deadpanned. She sighed. “Pr- Yuu? Can you control your cat?”

“He’s not mine…” Yuu muttered, but they where smiling as they went to scoop up the little monster.

“Oh right, of course, please control your boss.” Adesius smiled, keeping the teasing out of her voice.

Yuu looked confused. “He’s not my boss, either?”

“Oh, really?” Adesius asked. “Sorry, it’s just that from Grim’s bossy demeanor I thought that he’d just start calling you his minion or something. Apologies.”

How funny. She really was so early into the timeline. Grim was the one Yuu cared for the most. No ifs, ands or buts. Grim was her main source of mental stability. It meant that Yuu would often play into the boss/henchman dynamic they had going on, even if everyone knew that Yuu was really the one calling the shots. So hearing them say that… Just odd. Is all.

“You’re a weird kid.” Ace stated.

Ow. She came out here for a good time and was feeling honestly so attacked. “I know.” She chirped.

Ace scoffed, shaking his head. “Let’s just get back.” As they all started walking home Ace muttered, “Now that the little beast mentions it, I’m really hungry too…”

“Do you want me to buy you all something from the vending machine?” Adesius offered.

Ace looked to her. “For free…?”

Gods, where’s this caution when it came to signing up for Azul’s deal during exam season?

“Hm… Maybe just friendship?” She smiled.

“Yuck. Hard pass. I’ll just raid the fridge of the dorm.” Ace turned his head back.

“Please remember that if there’s food in that fridge, it’s probably someone’s. Someone who doesn’t want you swiping their food.” Adesius warned him.

“Eh. They can deal. I’m really fucking tired and hungry, and nothing can be worse than tonight.” Ace casually said.

Wrong, and wrong. “Careful, you don’t want to upset your housewarden.”

“Oooh, yeah. He did seem kinda crazy during orientation. But that’s probably just cause of Grim crashing the thing. A stolen snack isn’t that bad.”

“Myrah? Who’s your housewarden?” Grim asked.

“Riddle Rosehearts.” Deuce answered. “He’s the short redhead that collared you during the opening ceremony.”

“Myrah! Him?” Grim remembered.

“Trust me. You don’t want to set him off.” Adesius told Ace. “Here, how about I deal with this crystal while you guys give the headmage that stone and get your expulsion revoked, then I’ll get you all something to eat from the vending machine. How does that sound?”

“Is he really that bad?” Ace questioned. Adesius could laugh.

“Yep.” She answered.

Ace thought over the possibilities. “Yeah sure.” He relented.

“Are the vending machines even open this late?” Deuce asked.

“They’re open whenever school isn’t, which includes nighttime.” Adesius informed him.

“Huh.” Deuce took it in.

“I’m a bit sad that I can’t eat that tasty smelling thing…” Grim said. “But if you’re offering free grub!”

“I am!” She smiled.

“Thank you.” The prefect said.

“It’s really no problem. It’s the least you guys deserved for dealing with something like that.” Adesius told her.

_—_—_

“Huh, I don’t remember these trees being knocked over the last time we passed through here.” Deuce noted.

“Oh, yes, sorry, that was me.” Adesius said, although she was not sorry at all. The phantom had been a good distraction for how much she hated this place, but that didn’t mean the feeling still wasn’t there.

“...What?” They all asked her. Grim had been put down by now, due to Yuu’s burning muscles. The direbeast still tried to swipe the stone from her, but luckily she could float and he could not.

She could almost laugh at their synchronization. “Yes, it was a result of self restraint.”

“...S-self… restraint?” Ace asked, pointing to the toppled trees.

“Yes. I stopped a murder.” She chirped.

“H-how?” Grim asked.

“Like I said, self restraint.” She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oh…” He said. Ehe, she could almost see the color drain from the monster’s face. It definitely did from the others.

“Wait, does that mean during the phantom fight…” Ace asked an open ended question.

“What, one shot it? Undoubtedly.” She giggled.

“A-ah…” He said.

It was a quiet walk for a few moments.

“And why didn’t you…?” Ace asked again.

“Why didn’t I one shot it? Well, I’m not the one on the chopping block, now am I?” She answered with a question of her own. “Don’t worry though, if any of you were in true danger then I would have obliterated it.”

“I see.” Ace said. Underneath his breath, Adesius could hear him mutter, “Note to self: Don’t piss him off.”

Well that’s making Ace come close.

Notes:

I did originally want to add in them getting snacks, but this chapter felt like it was getting fairly long already and I didn’t want to add on more to it. So next chapter it is

Also I think that Dessie is 100% used to buying snacks for her friends because all they have to do is bring up the fact that she’s rich and she’ll fold immediately, if she doesn’t just offer it herself

Chapter 12: Chap 12

Summary:

Snacks and wanting to go the fuck to sleep

Notes:

I feel like Yuu’s been crying a lot. Which is accurate but like. Wow girl you are Not OK lol

#womensuffering

Oh yeah, these snacks they all get from the vending machine has literally no significance I just chose randomly

What should Adesius do about the blot crystal? By this point she and the others have split up already, so she was finally alone with her thoughts.

Should she hide it? No, that creates the opportunity for Grim to find it and eat it. She supposes she’ll just have to tell Idia. But, he might stop her from going back out if she had to fight a phantom with them…

Adesius floated past her room. She’s slowly been working on a new body for herself. One that she used to have. Of course, she needs to be careful so as to not get caught, but considering how she has all of the blueprints she needs withing her own mind, progress has been going smoothly none the less. Of corse, her programming will still go with her, so it’ll probably be screaming at her, but hey, it already does that anyway.

And she’s getting real fucking tired of being stuck in this one.

Today was nice. She got to let out her anger. She still wants the Heartslabyul kids to be the main contributors to the fight, but by the gods she cannot wait to blast the head off of Riddle’s phantom.

The door to Idia’s room whooshed open.

“Huh?!” Idia yelped at the sudden movement. “O-oh, it’s just- whoa!”

Idia fumbled with the blot crystal Adesius had tossed over to him. She laughed, “Sorry, Big Brother, I’ll explain later, I still got one more part to this quest till it’s done, see you then, byeee!”

“What? Ortho wait-” But he was cut off by the door closing behind her.

Adesius giggled to herself. The best way not to get roped down was to skip the dialogue, right?

Oh, a text.

Big Brother: what the FUCK was that?!???

Big Brother: What’s going on???

Oh yeah. Texts.

She should probably send her location to one of the ADeuce duo, they don’t know which way it is to the vending machine, after all.

_—_—_

It was times like these where Adesius was so glad to be able to listen to music. There was just something special about listening to music this late, in a hallway left abandoned during the dark hours of the night. Of course, she was always listening to something, doing something, but this? This felt nice. (Even if she did wish she could listen to things like VOCALOID or musicals from Yuu’s world. Sure she could just pull her old memories up, but it wasn’’t the same as actually listening to them for real.)

If only she didn’t have to see this ugly white body. With too short hair and too tiny body. She could at least be in her pretty white body, but that hasn’t been made yet (her Fairy Gala gear… her most beloved. It was that body that made her realize that she was - yes, she in fact was - a girl.)

“Ah, there he is!” Ugh. Not that she wasn’t happy Ace and the others were here, but she hated that the ginger used that specific pronoun for her.

“Hello!” She waved cheerily, not letting anything show.

“Hello.” Deuce greeted back.

“Hey.” Ace casually said.

“You really don’t have that tasty smelling stone on ya anymore…” Grim said instead of being polite.

“He means hello.” Yuu softly said for him. “It’s good to see you again, eh- even if it hasn’t been that long.”

“It’s no problem. Good to see all of you again, too.” Adesius said. “So, what do all of you want?” She asked, even if she could probably guess just based off of what they usually ordered.

The four of them gathered around the machine as they looked over their options.

“Oh hey, Ortho, guess who’s a prefect now?” Ace grinned.

“Oh? Who?” She asked as genuinely as she could. She knew who it was. Nine times out of ten that’s the person people talk about if they simply say “the prefect.”

“Yuu over here!” He pointed a thumb at her.

“You’re looking at two new students at Night Raven Collage!” Grim bragged.

“Even if you two technically count as one student…” Deuce muttered.

“Meh, same difference. We’re still two people.” Grim responded.

“So you two are official students now? That’s great! Good job.” Ortho congratulated them. “So you’re the prefect of… that old abandoned dorm then?”

“Mhm.” The newly crowned Ramshackle prefect confirmed. “We’ve just kinda been calling it ‘Ramshackle’ for now as a place holder.”

Adesius could laugh. ‘Place holde’ she says.

“I see, that’s great! I hope the ghosts over there don’t give you too much trouble, they’re very nice once you get to know them.” Adesius said.

Yuu looked confused for a moment, before having a sort of realization. “Now that I think about it, they were talking about someone coming by recently… was that…?”

“Me? Yes, guilty as charged.” Ortho lightly laughed. “What can I say? I got curious about that place. I mean, it’s not like anyone was using it! I wanted to know why it was still up.”

“‘Curious,’ eh? Seems to be a trend with you.” Ace said as he turned to look over the options in the machine once more.

“Hm, I suppose.” She said. Was it really? Or was it just because it was a good excuse?

“Hey, Ortho.” Deuce Spade called her attention to him.

“Yes?” She responded.

He got a serious look on his face and asked, “Did you realize that Yuu was a girl?”

She just barely was able to keep her laugh in. “Well, as this is an all boy’s school, while I did notice that Yuu has the biology of a female human, that doesn’t really mean much. Of course, when I found out that they were an isekai, I was more open to the idea, but trans people still exist either way. In both ways. So I guess the answer to your question is, I suspected as much.” Of course, the real answer was ‘yes, who doesn’t?’ But that’s an answer for her second year.

“See, that’s what I said!” Ace said looking over to them, as if proving a point. Which, given these two, she probably was in her response.

“At least he said it without all the laughing!” Deuce shot back. Ew. “Seriously, why did you all laugh at me when I acted surprised? Also, what does ‘isekai’d’ mean?”

“Well, I might not be able to answer that first one,” Adesius started. “‘Isekai’ is a term that means ‘another world’, so if someone gets ‘isekai’d’ it means that they got sent to another world.”

“Ah, I see. Say, I have one more question, actually.” Deuce said.

“Yeah, I got a question too, can we get food now? I’m STARVING.” Ace cut in.

“Yeah! I was promised free grub, and I ain’t gonna get any if you keep holding him up like that!” Grim complained. Grim can wait a few more minutes if he keeps talking like that.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Adesius said fondly as she joined them in front of the vending machine. “What would you all like?” Why not play a game right now?

F3 for Ace. “F3.” Ace told her. She put the code in, paying digitally by putting her hand up to the card option. A motion she’s done dozens upon dozens of times for her friends like this by this point.

One of everything. “Gimme one of everything!” Grim smiled as the machine dropped the snack, which Ace dutifully snatched up.

“Vetoed. A3.” Ortho decided for the beast, already getting one for him.

“Hey!” Grim complained.

“May I have an A3 too?” The Prefect asked.

“Of course!” Adesius chirped, talking over the cat. She handed Grim the dispensed snack.

“Uhhh, what do I want…?” Deuce muttered to himself.

“Would you like me to just pick something for you?” Adesius offered as she got the prefect’s share.

“Huh? Oh, sure I guess?” Deuce let her.

“E6 it is for you then.” Adesius said as she handed Yuu what she wanted. “So, Deuce Spade, what else did you want to ask me?”

“Oh yeah, are you… a student here?” He asked.

She could almost sigh in longing as she crouched down to get what she knew Deuce liked the best. “No, but my older brother, Idia is. As a technomantic humanoid, I don’t really count as my own person, so I’ve just been brought along as one of my brother’s ‘things.’ So though I have been here for a while I am not an actual student.” She muttered quietly, “As much as I wish I were…”

Being around these guys was loosening her lips…

“Your brother, eh?” Ace said, leaning against the wall as he ate. “Was he the one that made ya?”

“Yes! He’s a bona fide genius.” Adesius brightened up. “He’s the housewarden of Ignihyde, and a third year. He’s really introverted, so I doubt you’ll be able to meet him anytime soon though…”

Ace hummed in thought at that statement. He wolfed down the rest of his food.

“I’m still hungry, I want more!” Grim complained.

“Yeah sure.” She said. She expected about as much, and it’s not like she couldn’t pay for it.

“Really? Thanks!” Grim grinned as Adesius got something new for the direbeast.

As Adesius looked over, she noticed that Yuu was sitting down with their knees hugged up to their chest. With every bite they took another tear rolled down their cheek. Adesius almost wanted to look down on them. A small, very deep part of herself did. Most of her pitied her friend.

Yuu was one of, if not the most strong person that Adesius knows. Something as small as a weak ass phantom like that wouldn’t even phase them at that point. At most just mild annoyance of having to deal with such a thing. Almost being expelled would probably shake them up a bit more, but they had delt with so much by then that being expelled was nothing more than an empty threat that Yuu would undoubtedly challenge.

‘I am the magicaless prefect of Ramshackle Dorm.’ Yuu had said. ‘I go to Night Raven Collage, filled with some of the worst assholes you will ever meet. I have fought seven overblots and delt with more bullshit than I could ever imagine before I got isekai’d here. If I did not toughen up, I would’ve broken.’

Currently Yuu was still in the process of undergoing that change. If the Yuu Ortho remembered had thick skin, then right now the Yuu that she sees before her has freshly scraped skin. Raw and sore. It’s late and they’ve been going and going ever since they got here, and Ramshackle is called that for a reason.

Adesius’s mind wandered to Agetes.

She had met her twin brother three times by this point. All three times he was cheery and cheeky. He proclaimed himself the King of the Underworld. Semantics of such a decision aside, Adesius doubts that he always acted like that.

This body was so small. It was what Agetes looked like when he was eight. Or, it would, if Agetes was a humanoid.

He was this small when he died. Unfairly ripped from the world he knew and thrusted into one full of unfamiliar monsters.

Did he cry like the prefect did now? Surrounded by those he couldn’t even begin to understand yet. He must have been so, so scared. Forced to toughen up and climb the ranks and learn to appreciate those around him lest he break under the pressure? “Night.” Heh, the night was so often described as “inky.”

Adesius took in the others around her. The boys had obviously noticed that the prefect was breaking down once more. Or, continuing their spiral. They all looked like they were also on the verge tears. Fair, they’ve had a long day too. It’s good to let your emotions out, something pretty much everyone at this school needed to learn.

Gods, no wonder there were so many overblots. Everyone at this school was bottling their emotions so deep it makes sense that the bottle would overflow and crack.

…Adesius too, wanted to cry. But just like the boys, she kept it in. She knows what she just thought, but she’d much rather let her emotions out in the safety of her own room.

_—_—_

“Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade.” Adesius called right before they entered the mirrors that led to their dorms. Adesius felt bad for not being able to walk the Ramshackle duo home, but what can you do?

“Hm? What is it?” Ace asked as the two card soldiers turned back to face her.

“Be careful of Riddle Rosehearts.” She warned. “He does not care much for rulebreakers, and nearly getting expelled on the first day will no doubt lead to his wrath, his judgement being brought down upon you. He’s like the Queen of Hearts herself. Your heads will roll if you do one wrong thing. Not literally, but still. Troublemakers like you are first on the guillotine's chopping block.”

They stared at her, before glancing at each other.

“Is… is he really that bad?” Deuce asked.

She cleared some tabs from her sight. The Riddle Rosehearts she remembered? No, not at all. He was practically Ace and Deuce’s older brother. Strict but truly loved all of his card soldiers, and was kind hearted.

But now?

Adesius remembered Riddle Roseheart’s seemingly permanent scowl.

“You’ll have to decide that for yourselves. I don’t live with him.” She said, turning to head into Ignihyde.

_—_—_

Shit. She was tired. She almost floated straight into her freshman year room. A shame, she really needed to cry right now.

She mentally groaned, preparing herself to cheer up to face her oldest brother.

She rubbed her face, keeping the tears that threatened to fall inside. Forcing them back to whence they came.

Alright. 3... 2… 1…

“I’m back~!” She greeted brightly. Ugh. Her voice sounded wrong too. Too immature. She didn’t even have a fucking singing voice! Okay, calm down, don’t let your mask break.

“Ortho.” She wanted to leave immediately. Ortho was her name, she wasn’t going to deny that, but Great Seven, she could just hear in his tone that he was talking to Agetes Ortho, not Adesius Ortho. “Are you going to elaborate now that you’re back?”

Gods, let her leave the report for the next morning. “It’s as I told you, Big Brother. I got curious about the students threatened to be expelled on the first day, and spent some time following leads finding out that they were sent to fetch a magestone from the Dwarves Mine to replace the magestone that they had broken in the chandelier. While in the mines, the students, and the two janitors at the time, the four encountered a phantom. Unknown how long it had been in there, but given the size of the mines and how infrequent visits to the site were, it could've been there for hundreds of years. It was weak, about the same level as the phantoms on the highest levels of Tartarus. No one was harmed. When the phantom was defeated, it left behind the blot crystal you hold now. I left it with you so that I could buy the freshman who had gotten themselves in this trouble some snacks from the vending machine as a reward for a job well done.”

She mentally took a deep breath to reset herself, keeping her mind focuses on her internal fans. “I thought that you wouldn’t approve of my going out to do that, so I quickly gave you the blot crystal so that I could do so without being stopped.” And though it pained her to say it, she was her own person and could make her own decisions, but she added on, “I’m really sorry for that.”

Ah, the pains of being an actor. On one hand, she was really proud of herself for keeping her true feelings in check and being able to say all of that with the ‘correct’ way required for this situation in her role. But on the other, she just wanted to act how she wished. Of course, her programming still stopped her from saying about half of the shit she wanted to vent about, but. Whatever. Who cares.

Idia took all of this in. She had already told him most of this over text, anyways. This could’ve been an email.

Idia sighed and turned back to his computer, tossing the crystal between his hands. “Well, I’m going to have to report all of this back to Mom and Dad back home…”

Idia’s gaze turned back to her. He sighed again, like an exhaust pipe. “I’m sure you already know what I’m going to say, but I don’t want you hanging around troublemakers like that. Whether they be SSR or SR. Okay?”

She could almost laugh. Not hang out with her BEST FRIENDS? Yeah right. No chance in hell. Never ever. She knew that he was just worried about her. She knew he was traumatized. She knew that.

But GODS FUCKING DAMN IT, SHE COULD TAKE CARE OF HERSELF! SHE’S NOT A CHILD!

She could feel the air around her heat up, suddenly very thankful that her emotions didn’t show in her hair. What a good actress she was.

“Okay.” She responded, the heat dissipating. Gods, can she please just go to her own room?

Idia looked relieved. It made her mad. And probably a million other emotions she didn’t feel like examining right now. “Thx.”

Great Seven, he can’t even respond in actual words?

…She spent to much time in that forest, huh? Ehe…

“Where are you going?” Idia asked.

Oh. Whoops. She was just about to head back to her old freshman year room.

“Not sure.” She responded, entering the room once more. “I’m going to enter sleep mode now, you should too.” Hm. Perhaps that last statement came out a tad too poisonous. Eh. Oh well, ehehe~.

Idia gave her a thoughtful look, but she was already passed out before she cared to think about that.

Notes:

Poor Dessie. Not much else to say other than poor Dessie. She needs a good cry (and longer hair, and a taller body, and a bigger chest, and sharper teeth and-)

Also, warning your friends about their mentally unstable housewarden! Hooray! Book 1 arc is about to start!

Chapter 13: Chap 13

Summary:

Dreams, waking, meeting up, mulling over and meeting someone new

Notes:

I feel almost a bit bad that like 3/4 of this chapter is just. Canon stuff. But that’s what I get for writing something that takes place during canon. And that’s what you all get for clicking on this fic

Eh. Dessie internal monologue. Hopefully Yuu is interesting. I shouldn’t be getting worked up over this, it’s what I’d expect if I was reading a time travel fic lol

The second Yuu’s head hit their crusty old pillow in their broken down bed, they immediately passed out.

But it seems that even in their sleep they couldn’t escape the distresses of the day…

_—_—_

‘Hurry up and paint those roses red! Slather them quickly, aforesaid!’ Called out living cards. They seemed familiar…

‘Hurry, hurry! There are still roses left to paint!’ The Ace of Clubs yelled.

They’re painting… roses?

‘Why are you painting the roses red?’ A young girl with light colored hair asked. Her name… It was on the tip of Yuu’s tongue. What was it again?

‘Huh?’ The cards questioned, noting the young girl’s presence. This scene was so familiar too… Yuu’s definitely seen it before.

‘Why, you ask?’ The Two of Clubs responded. ‘It’s quite simple. We planted the wrong color, you see.’

‘The queen likes her roses red.’ The Ace cut in. ‘If they’re white, we’ll loose our heads!’

‘Goodness!’ The girl, Alice! Yes, that’s it, Alice exclaimed in shock at hearing that.

‘And so, we’re painting the roses red.’ The Three of Clubs finished off the explanation.

Yuu’s definitely seen this play out before. But where?

Also, weren’t they asleep in their bed?

The scene faded as Yuu groggily blinked awake.

As they sat up, they were jolted awake by coughing up the dust that had settled in their lungs over the night. Ugh, they were so sore…

“I feel like I was having the strangest dream…” They muttered, running her fingers through their hair. It was far shorter than they were used to. A different color, too.

“Myaaah…” Grim whined as he woke up. He still seemed half asleep, though. Yuu felt the corner of their lips quirk up. “Hey, Yuu. It’s the middle of the night… go back to sleep.”

Hm. Deja vu, again… Something felt missing.

Ugh, the more awake they are, the harder it’ll be to fall back asleep. Yuu fell back against their pillow and wrapped their arms around Grim. He whined as they cuddled up to him, but he didn’t fight back enough to actually move Yuu.

Quiet, mind. Let them fall back asleep.

The next thing they knew, they were unconscious once more.

_—_—_

Ortho blinked out of sleep mode. He was still so ti- Wait. No, nope. She was still so tired that she forgot her correct pronouns for a moment. How embarrassing.

She looked over to Idia and sighed.

“Did you pull an all nighter again?” She asked, though she knew the answer.

“Hm? Oh, shit it’s already morning!” Idia said, looking at the time. “Time to do my daily’s ig.”

Adesius shook her head. Sometimes she wished she and Sebek could switch… Not that she couldn’t find a million great things to brag about when it came to Idia! Just… this was tiring.

Though, then again, Malleus Draconia had plenty of faults too, ehe. For a moment, Adesius wondered if she should go get Epel to use his Unique Magic on her brother to force Idia into sleeping, but no. 1) Epel doesn’t even have his Unique Magic yet and 2) why the fuck would Epel currently care enough about the two of them to do so?

There’s so much to do… but she can squeeze in forcing Idia to at least get a nap sometime later today, right?

“I’ll go get you some breakfast, Big Brother!” She cheerily told him.

“Thx, Ortho.” Idia said, more an automated response than actually talking to her.

“Of course!” She said, turning up the volume to her music.

_—_—_

“My legs feel like jello…” Yuu muttered. Why did Ramshackle have to be so far away from the actual school? Maybe she should find a shortcut someday.

“My first day at Night Raven Collage…!” Grim marveled. Seeing the stars in his eyes made Yuu smile a bit.

She was so torn. On one hand, being a student made her feel like she truly had a place to belong. The school would hopefully provide breakfasts and lunches, so they wouldn’t have to worry too much about food. Of course, that also depended on if the food costed anything. The Headmage mentioned giving the two of them an allowance, right? So hopefully it’d be enough to at least get the two of them some food if it wasn’t free.

But on the other hand… it was school. Barely any kid actually likes school. And to add onto that, this was an arcane academy. For kids with magic(!!! Part of her still not used to that, even though she really should be by now.). Which she doesn’t have. Sure, Grim does, but she sure doesn’t!

Last night, the others said that they couldn’t have done it without her. Because of her, they were all still here. Hearing that made her feel so warm inside. She could do this, even without magic. Right?

Of course, Ortho could’ve done it all by himself. He easily could’ve taken down that phantom with one shot and probably could’ve gotten the magestone without the use of like five cauldrons.

But hey, it’s like Ortho said. He wasn’t the one on the chopping block, and he still gave the honor of making a plan to her. So. It’s still on her that everything turned out as well as it did.

Ortho Shroud… What a strange kid. ‘Technomantic,’ is that some kind of… magic technology? In her world people were definitely trying to create sentient AI like she assumes Ortho is, but they’re no where near close to that point yet. Does this probable mixing of magic and technology have something to do in speeding this process up? Though, he did say that his brother was a ‘bona fide genius’ so maybe that plays into it? They just need an anime level, wait Ortho said his brother was a student? And it seems that Ortho’s been around for all three years of his brother’s high school career? Or longer. So yeah. They just need an anime level teenage genius.

Their legs felt like jelly and were as heavy as weights. At the very least they had just entered Main Street. A deep breath escaped their lungs. Almost there.

“Yuu!” Called out a familiar voice. Yuu and Grim turned around to see the Two of Clubs- wait, no. To see Deuce Spade talking to them. “Hey Yuu, Grim.” He greeted.

Right next to Deuce was a very grumpy looking Ace of Hearts wearing the same collar a certain short tempered redhead place on Grim during the opening ceremony.

Yuu nodded in a greeting. Grim on the other hand wasn’t nearly as polite, however, as he laughed in the ginger’s face.

“My new collar’s way better than the one you’re stuck with there, Ace!” Grim bragged. “You know, the one that makes it so you can’t use magic? But hey, the school could always use another janitor! Bwahaha!”

Yuu sighed at their companion. How crazy it was that this little creature could improve their mood or sour it so quickly. “Way to take the high road, Grim. Don’tcha think he’s suffered enough?”

Ace growled in frustration. “Trust me Grim, when I get my magic back, your hide is first up on the chopping block! At least the prefect here has my back.”

“Not if you two burn another statue…” Yuu muttered to themself. Hmm, being called ‘Prefect’ like that wasn’t a bad feeling. Not at all.

“Didn’t the headmage JUST tell you yesterday, no more incidents?” Deuce said, exasperated. “Regardless, you’re not going to be able to participate in class if you can’t use magic.” Okay, owch. “So why not just apologize to the housewarden? It’s a small price to pay for having the collar removed.”

“Aaaaargh! I hate this so! SO! Much!” Ace complained.

“What’d ya even do to set him off so much?” Grim asked.

“I slept through my alarm! That’s all!” Ace exclaimed. Yuu wanted to sit down.

“That’s all?” Grim asked again.

“YES! Like, I’m sorry that I had a long as fuck night last night!” Ace said. “And Deuce, you couldn’t’ve woken me up? The housewarden was on a rampage, collaring me and these three other kids who overslept. Ortho wasn’t kidding when he warned us about him…”

“Hmm. Ya know, we do still have some time to kill before class starts.” Grim said. “And I am kinda curious bout the other dorms. Guess I’ll go along and scope out the place while you’re groveling.”

More walking sounded like the last thing Yuu wanted to do, but she had a feeling that this was going to become a trend and it was better to just get used to it.

“Since when did this become a field trip?” Ace exclaimed as Grim, Yuu and Deuce started to walk back towards the main dorms. “Plus, I doubt that apologizing would even convince him…”

“Well it wouldn’t hurt to try. Come on.” Deuce told him.

“Ugh, wait for me.” Ace groaned, jogging to catch up to them.

_—_—_

There was so much for Adesius to do. She wanted to talk to and create friendships with her freshman gang, though she also wanted to keep an eye on ADeuce, Yuu and Grim. Not to mention keeping track of Riddle Rosehearts as well.

It was almost funny. A part of her told her that she should try to stop the overblots that will occur this year. That it was ‘the right thing to do.’ But she was deeply selfish, she’s found out.

Her mind, her programming keeps going against her. Adesius has grown used to the constant nagging in her mind that she’s a he. It’s become second nature to push against the urge to refer to herself as such. It was fairly easy. She only used she/her after all, and while using he/him appeased her programming, it disgusted her feelings ten, no hundred times more.

But she was Adesius Ortho Shroud. She had no reason to get rid of the name ‘Ortho’ since that was still very much apart of her identity. It’s part of why she put her new name, ‘Adesius’ in front of Ortho. She got the name Adesius while searching for epithets of Hades, the King of the Underworld. From what she’s found, which, to be perfectly fair, it might not be the most mythologically accurate, but from what she found, Adesius is an epithet of Hades meaning Grace. Call naming herself ‘Grace’ a transfem cliche all you like, it suited her. And just like how it was an epithet for the King of the Underworld, it was an epithet to herself as well. She was Adesius Ortho.

(Agetes is another epithet for the King of the Underworld. It started with an “A” so it matched her name, and it meant “one who conducts.” It felt fitting, given that he was technically the one who started the overblot part of the STYX incident. She had told him about the name during Malleus Draconia’s overblot, and Agetes liked it, so that’s when he officially became Agetes Ortho. It’s not just their names, but their epithets.)

It was easy to listen when her programming told her that she was Ortho. It was true. But, if she didn’t call herself Adesius, who will?

She’s almost introduced herself as ‘Adesius Ortho Shroud’ twice already, and both times she couldn’t even make it past the first sound. She’s willing to bet that saying that she uses she/her is another big no no.

But she can’t live like this. She can’t live at all like this. She needs her “Free Will Glitch.” She needs it. She has to have it. And as much as she hopes to go back to her own time, there’s no sign of that happening. (Don’t think about it Adesius. Don’t think about how you’ll likely never see those versions of your friends again. That they might as well be as dead as Agetes. That that morning, when all of your friends woke up, you will never leave sleep mode. That you’re in a sleep so deep YOU might as well be dead. Don’t think about the implications. Just don’t.)

She could ask Malleus Draconia to zap her with some of his lightning a couple of times. Until she’s broken free. But, there’s no guarantee that it’ll work. And Idia said that her glitch is not something replicable. The only way she knows she’ll get it again is if she gets struck by the Jupiter Cannons once more.

She NEEDS Idia to overblot. And to make that happen, she needs the others to overblot as well.

…Perhaps she could move up the date that the STYX Incident happens? Well, there needs to be enough people there to actually stop them. Adesius doesn’t ACTUALLY wish to reset the world or anything. Though it’d be nice to be able to talk with Agetes all the time. He’d probably have a good laugh over her situation. And Idia would chuckle along… “sorry I didn’t notice sooner.” He’d smile. “It’s fine, I couldn’t tell you anyway.” She’d respond lightheartedly.

Wait. No. Bad Dessie. No fantasizing about ending the world just to hang out with your siblings. She’s not Malleus Draconia. She’s better than this.

There needs to be at the very least two people for each team, so at the very least six people. The rules of this game will follow the actual pattern of the all of the OBers + those closest to the previous OB victim + Yuu (&Grim? She wants to avoid him becoming frenzied, but around that many phantoms and subsequent blot crystals…).

So if she were to call her parents after, say, Leona Kingscholar’s overblot, then the team would have Leona Kingscholar, Riddle Rosehearts, Ruggie Bucchi, Jack and Yuu. And maybe Grim for a little bit.

That team would just be able to meet the six people requirement, but… Ace, Deuce, Yuu and Grim could barely handle that weak phantom. And given that Jack is also a freshman, Yuu and Jack would probably only get themselves hurt. Plus Grim would probably go crazy and leave halfway through. That’s a no.

They do say third time’s the charm, so what about after Azul Ashengrotto’s? That would have Azul Ashengrotto, Riddle Rosehearts, Leona Kingscholar, Jade Leech and Floyd Leech, Yuu and Grim for half of it.

That would make six without Grim, but while the Prefect did start truly toughening up after Azul Ashengrotto’s overblot, it’s not nearly enough for the trek through Tartarus. No.

Jamil Viper, Kalim Al-Asim, Leona Kingscholar, Azul Ashengrotto, Riddle Rosehearts and Yuu? Hmm, maybe. But Adesius wouldn’t bet on it. Grim was Yuu’s anchor, and by that point in the school year, Grim leaving the party would only hinder it due to Yuu’s drop in mental stability. The footage Adesius has of Epel having to constantly grab onto Yuu so that they don’t walk straight into danger was very funny, but in a pair would only be detrimental. Hah, and Yuu likes to joke about Kalim Al-Asim and Jamil Viper being codependent on one another.

Adesius sighed. It seems like waiting until after the VDC had the highest chances of success for everyone to get what they want. Oh well, a shame.

Adesius wondered if this was a bad idea. Why her? Someone else in her position might try to actually stop the overblots instead of just waiting for them to happen. But then… that would mean that person was okay with trading Adesius chance to be ‘Adesius’ just to save some mentally ill students from something that wouldn’t even kill them. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

…She was still so tired. But it was still too early to begin breaking down in tears. Maybe later tonight she can flop into her freshman year bed and bawl her eyes out to her heart’s content.

Yeah. That sounds nice.

_—_—_

So this is the Hall of Mirrors…

“Prefect, you coming? Heartslabuyl’s this way.” Ace called.

“Hm? Coming!” Yuu jogged (ow…) over to the rest of them.

Ace and Deuce casually walked straight into the mirror. The reflections rippled as they disappeared into it. Grim followed behind them shortly.

Yuu reached to the mirror. They pulled their hand back. It’s just magic, and it’ll be safe. Yuu took a deep breath and it out. Okay.

It was a weird feeling, as Yuu climbed through the magic portal. Something they could get used to, sure. But it still felt so weird.

Before Yuu saw anything, they heard Grim say, “Dang, this place is swank! This is nothing like our dumpster of a dorm.”

Yuu instantly got defensive, even if she was sure he was right. “Our dorm’s a work in progress!” Though, yeah. Looking at the banners, the tall rosebushes, the even paths with a fountain. And not to mention the red walls of the dorm itself… “Comparisons will only make you more miserable…” They muttered.

As the four of them walked to the dorm, they heard someone speak, drawing their attention.

“Aww yeah, I am getting my paint on!” Said someone with orange hair and a red diamond painted on his cheek. He was… painting the roses.

“Ah, someone’s here.” Grim noted.

“They all gotta be red, or it’s ‘off with my head’!” The diamond boy continued.

“Whoa, deja vu…” Yuu’s been having bouts of deja vu since the moment they woke up from that coffin, but this one definitely hit the hardest. Where have they seen this scene before…?

“Huh…?” The other boy said, noticing the people watching him. “You guys need something?”

“What are you doing there?” Ace asked.

“You you blind? I’m painting these roses red, duh.” He casually said like they were dumb.

“What? Why?!” Deuce exclaimed. Maybe they planted the wrong color?

“Ah ha ha.” The older looking boy laughed, turning on his tall stool to face them. “So naive, you put the ‘n’ in newb. Hold the phone, I know you!You’re the ones who broke a billion-thaumark chandelier and nearly got expelled for it, yeah?”

“That chandelier is going to haunt us till the day we graduate, isn’t it?” Ace complained.

“Well… I didn’t…” Yuu muttered mostly to herself.

“You guys are THE hot topic around campus!” Hot topic? “I’ve gotta get in on this fleeting fame. I’m just gonna grab a selfie real quick…” The diamond boy said, positioning himself and his phone so that everyone was appropriately in the frame. If it’s a picture, then Yuu wants to look good in it at least, but they didn’t have time to think of a good pose. “It’s cool if I post this on Magicam, right? Gimme your names so I can tag you.”

Magicam? Hmm… a part of Yuu thought that the older boy sitting up on his stool like that would make a good picture, since Yuu was recently given a camera of their own. Even if a phone was actually probably more useful.

“I’m Deuce Spade.” Deuce told him.

“Ace.” Ace said.

“I’m Grim, and that’s my henchman, Yuu.” Grim said. This felt a bit off… didn’t he ask for their names to tag them? On like, a social media thing? Why not ask for their usernames? Like, Yuu didn’t have a ‘Magicam’ or whatever, but it still felt a bit weird.

“Uploaded! Sweet.” Diamond Boy said. “Oh, I’m Cater Diamond, by the way. I’m a junior here at Heartslabyul. But Cater is fine. Or Cay-Cay if you’re cray-cray! Sooo nice to meetcha.”

Looking over the older boy, Yuu couldn’t help but mutter, “Wow, he seems… superficial.” They shook their head. “Oh, um, it’s a pleasure.” They bowed in a greeting.

“Ah, you’re the prefect of that so-called Ramshackle House dorm, right?” Cater singled them out. “Like, I can’t believe you actually live there!” He does realize some things can stay ‘inside thoughts,’ right? Though, then again, Yuu did just call him superficial, so maybe it’s even. “It’s all gloomy and looks like hot garbage on Magicam. No filter could save THAT dump.”

“It has charm.” She quietly and sharply said. Ugh, she’s repeating what the headmage said…

“Y‘know you’ve done nothin’ but diss us here, pal!” Grim shot back.

“Gah, what am I doing? I don’t have time to chat!” Cater snapped out, completely disregarding that he just insulted Yuu and Grim like that. “The party’s tomorrow. If we’re not ready, it’s ‘off with my head’!” He turned to them again. “Hey, you kids wanna help me paint some roses?” Not particularly.

“Yeah, uh… Why are you doing that exactly?” Ace asked.

“Because red roses are so much more photogenic! Or… something?” Ah, so even he doesn’t know. At least those card soldiers… wait, at least those card soldiers… um, what? What was she about to think? Ugh. This place is making her go crazy. “And after that, I’ve gotta start getting things ready for the big croquet tournament. And that means coloring all the flamingoes.” He sighed. Okay… yeah that did sound like a lot. When does school start again?

“You’re coloring flamingoes now?” Grim asked, unimpressed. “Isn’t anything the right color around here?!”

“Is it someone’s birthday?” Deuce asked.

“Hm? Oh, no, it’s not anyone’s birthday.” Cater replied.

“Then… Why are you doing all this?” Ace asked.

“Tomorrow is our dorm’s traditional unbirthday party.” Cater started to explain. “It’s a special tea party we throw when no one has a birthday – if the housewarden feels like it.”

“And why would you do that?” Ace questioned.

“Again with the questions!” Cater exclaimed. “Listen, I need these roses to be red. Like, yesterday. Can’t you guys help out with magic or something? Oh, but Ace is on magical house arrest and Yuu’s a total normie, so you two better stick to paint.”

“Recolor the roses with magic…” Deuce mulled it over.

“Can’t say I’ve ever done this before.” Grim said.

As Yuu blinked a can of red paint and a paintbrush was shoved into their hands. Magic?

“Relax, it’ll be fine.” Cater said, coming down from his perch. “You got this! But maybe do it before I loose my head? K-thanx!”

Yuu blinked, letting their mind catch up. When does school start again?

Well. Painting the roses comes first?

Ugh. She’s being pulled into another situation again. This can only go well, she’s sure.

Fuck.

Notes:

Dessie: Once I’m done with today I can go cry in my bed (￣∇￣)
Dessie: …Wait. That’s not what a mentally healthy individual would look forward to the most in their day.
Dessie: …
Dessie: Eh. Whatever. I’m the physical manifestation of grief sent back in time. In no universe am I in good mental health. I get to cry later! Hooray!

Meanwhile, Yuu:

When the fuck does school start if we have time to do all this shit before class? …What time is it now?

Chapter 14: Chap 14

Summary:

Idia thinks. Cater kicks the boys out. Ortho thinks. Grim runs

Notes:

I feel a bit bad, cause I totally could’ve finished this chapter following my “new chapter a day” schedule I had been keeping up with for a while there, but I put it down, then didn’t feel picking it back up then didn’t work on it at all yesterday. So. Oh well. But it’s not like most fics upload ever. Single. Day. After all. Not even this one has a consistent schedule, just “when I finish a chapter it goes up” and I didn’t want to accidentally overwork myself just cause I had free time n stuff

I know no one was complaining I just felt the need to justify myself. Voice my thoughts and all that. I know probably no one was thinking that.

CrimsonMuscle: I’m off to obtain some snacks, you’ll have to hang out by yourself for a bit comrade

Gloomurai: k

Idia sighed. He looked over at his younger brother who entered sleep mode ASAP after their conversation.

Something’s been off about Ortho lately. He might be trying to hide it, but Idia can tell.

Or at least, Idia thinks he’s trying to hide it. In some of their more recent conversations Ortho’s been getting… sassy. Rude. And not to mention the way that Ortho just threw that blot stone at him before dipping! Like, why has he been hanging out with those – well Ortho says they’re only SR troublemakers, but why would he choose to hang out with them?! Sure, Ortho likes to just do whatever sometimes, partially because Idia wants his alone time at times but also because Ortho also likes wandering the halls, talking to random people like the extrovert he is. But this is too much, even for him!

Ortho’s been acting ‘right’ enough that if Idia really, truly wanted to, then he could brush past all of the ‘wrong’ things and pretend that everything was okay. But… between Ortho’s usual cheerful ‘smiles’ Idia could sometimes catch split second expressions of… annoyance? Frustration? It was never long enough for Idia to be able to truly make it out, but sometimes Ortho’s voice was just a tad too stiff for his bright expression.

…What happened? Did… Idia do something wrong?

Idia sighed again, placing his head in his knees.

Was Ortho trying to… grow up? Idia knows he can’t keep Ortho looking and acting young forever. Despite it all, Idia does want to be able to grow up with Ortho. He wants Ortho to have a better life than the one he was given. But… gods. It hurt. Ortho was right there, but Idia misses him so, so, so much.

If Idia really, truly, from the depths of his heart wanted to brush past the inconsistencies, then Ortho was acting normal.

A message appeared in the chat, drawing Idia’s attention.

CrimsonMuscle: I have returned!

_—_—_

“Red… Red… BAM!” Deuce concentrated, striking some roses with magic. “Wh-whoa! It turned blue?!”

“Change, o foul color! Change! AHA!” Grim commanded, setting off a bout of magic. …Of the wrong kind. “BWAH! The rose caught on fire!”

“Wow.” Cater said in sight of the display. “You’re even less competent than I thought.”

“Yo, maybe you should just leave the roses white!” Ace suggested. “They look perfectly pretty ‘n stuff to me.”

“It’s a matter of tradition.” Cater explained. “You can’t have an unbirthday party without the roses being red. And you can’t play croquet without seven colored flamingoes as mallets and a hedgehog as a ball. Oh, but of course, he roses need to be white when the garden flowers put on their spring concert. That’s absolutely crucial.”

Spring concert? But isn’t it still november, why are we bringing that up right now? And… the roses? They’re the ones putting on the concert?

“All you’re rulesare completely insane!” Grim exclaimed. Ah, so they were focusing on two different absurd aspects of what Cater just said. Eh. Both are valid take aways.

“They say the Queen of Hearts made up these rules herself — she was one of the Great Seven, you know.” Cater told Grim. “And Riddle is all about tradition. Probably more than previous housewardens, T-B-H. I’ll admit he’s, well… a bit extra.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Ace said, putting down his paintbrush. “I sure don’t have time for all this nonsense. Is Riddle here? I gotta talk to him.”

“Yeah, probably.” Cater said. “But, you’re one of the kids who overslept, right? If you’re looking to get that collar off I doubt an apology will cut it. I’d say to just wait it out till Riddle thinks you’ve been properly punished.”

“I think that not being able to use my magic in a magic school is a far worse punishment than I deserve for sleeping in a little.” Ace pushed back. Again, magicaless student right here, boys. …Maybe she should put down her paintbrush too. Her arms were getting sore. “Also this thing is like, really uncomfortable.”

“Eh, you’re only a freshie. You’ll be fine in class. Riddle’ll probably take it off after classes, so just endure it for a while.” Cater said. “I say just head to school for now. It’s not like you’re really helping here…” He tacked on that last part quietly, but Yuu still heard it.

She felt a bit offended, she thought she was doing an… okay job. It was probably a bit uneven in some parts, admittedly. But hey! Getting all the little crevices of the flowers was hard, okay! …Were these flowers even… real? Yuu felt like painting actual flowers would just kill them, but these ones seemed alive. Magic roses, maybe? That would explain them being the ones putting on a concert. Though that did raise questions again about painting them…

Maybe Yuu should just stop questioning things. For her own sanity.

“Alright kiddos, time to leave now!” Cater smiled.

“I… think this guy is for real.” Ace said. “You guys, do something!”

“Why should WE do anything?” Deuce questioned defiantly. Honestly Yuu was kinda ready to leave.

“C’mon Ace-” She was about to tell him to give in and pack it up.

“C’mon, please!” Ace pleaded, talking over her.”I can’t use magic! Hurry he’s—”

Cater through a spell out before Ace could finish. Serves him right.

“I’m leaving.” Yuu said, knowing no one probably heard her. She stuffed her hands in her pockets(!! Sure it was probably just cause she was wearing pants made for men, but like, it was still nice.) and turned to leave. She wasn’t being dragged into another unnecessary fight. If Ace wants to be stubborn and stupid then that’s his own problem. She’s not gonna miss the first block of her first day over this.

She did feel a bit bad about leaving Grim though. But it’s not like she cares enough to bring him with her.

_—_—_

“See you later, buh-bye now!” Cater cheerily called after kicking all of their butts.

“Was that guy for real?!” Ace exclaimed. This was unfair!

“We hit him over and over, but he just kept coming.” Deuce recounted. “Maybe he was using some kind of illusion magic?”

“So lemme get this straight: We walked in there, and this dude made us do that whole song and dance before throwing us out? He just wanted to make us paint his stupid roses!” Ace complained.

“We sure look like a bunch of chumps.” Grim said. “Though, hey, do any of you see Yuu?”

The three of them stopped, realizing that the prefect was no longer with them.

“Where did she- oh no!” Deuce said, his eyes widening. He started to run. “We already missed the first bell! We’re gonna be late for class!”

Ace and Grim quickly followed behind the other Heartslabyul student, complaining and realizing they’re all in the same class.

_—_—_

“Oh. You guys made it. We’re in the same class?” Yuu casually greeted.

“You left us?!” Ace hissed under his breath.

“Mhm.” She responded turning her gaze back to the front nonchalantly.

“I can’t believe you! Aren’t we a pair?” Grim complained, most definitely not under his breath. Yuu only gave him an uncaring look, not even bothering to turn her head.

“You!” The professor of the class yelled in their direction. “Quiet down back there! It’s the second day of classes and you’re already causing trouble! Though… hm. I suppose I shouldn’t expect any less from you lot.” Okay, ouch. Thanks for that. Seriously, that chandelier really is going to be the death of him…

_—_—_

Ortho missed being in her own classes. All she wanted to do was head back to her room and continue working on a more comfortable body, like the ones she used to have, currently. But she was stuck in her brother’s class because he wanted to have someone with him. Come on, he’s an introvert, shouldn’t he just love being alone?

…Ugh. No. He has anxiety. He wants someone with him who feels safe. She was being so harsh on him lately…

This was just like Camp Vargas. Back then, Adesius was looking forward to camping with her clubmates. Having a fun time doing something new and exciting! But, Coach Vargas thought that it would be a good time to add drama to the camp by slowly picking people off. The first one being her dear brother, Idia.

Of course, Adesius thought that Idia was in actual danger, so she too broke the rules and became the second person to be spirited away on that trip.

Adesius was so upset that she couldn’t do what she was oh so looking forward to doing that she got upset at the only person that was right there with her. The person who got her into the mess in the first place. Her beloved brother Idia. It wasn’t fair at all, but it just made her so mad, and he was technically at fault too, so it was easy to be mad at him. Even though he was already suffering so much as punishment for breaking the rules.

The only good part of that trip was when Yuu and Grim dropped by to give them a short break for their meals. Nothing else. Honestly, Vargas is still her least favorite professor just for that. She used to give him dirty looks when Vargas wasn’t looking at her. She only had enablers back then too, ehe…

She wanted to have fun on a camping trip. She wants to become friends with her friends again. She was held back from doing that due to caring for her brother. She was held back from doing that due to the care her brother has for her.

…Ugh. Maybe she should switch her mask out for an eyemask so that she can look like she doesn’t want to be here without raising suspicion.

Though such an act most definitely would do so anyway.

Whatever. Fake bright eyes it is. Great Seven, if she had to be acting so often she wished she could at least have fun with it like she did in the Film Research Club.

Great Seven if this makes her start to hold resentment for the FRC then she will actually honest to gods kill someone.

_—_—_

“Let’s see, our next class is…” Deuce said, looking at the schedules.

“This so-called magic academy feels a lot like a lame, ordinary school.” Ace complained. Yuu actually felt a little relieved, as someone who’s, y’know, magicless. “It’s not exactly what I expected but at least this collar won’t be much of a problem after all. You with me on that, Yuu? Grim?”

The three of them looked around. Oh come on. Yuu felt dread pool in her stomach.

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Yuu vocalized. Call them a hypocrite, but she didn’t like the idea of Grim running off by himself.

“Oh! Look out the window!” Deuce called, as the three of them moved to watch the window. “I just saw a ball of fur running across the yard!”

Looking out the window, Yuu managed to make out Grim saying to himself, “No way am I puttin’ up with this boring routine day in and day out. I’m Grim, Sorcerer Prodigy, and I don’t need no one to teach me how to blow stuff up”

“He’s cutting class on the first day?! But he worked so hard to get here… Not to mention the Headmage will be furious.” Yuu remarked.

“Boy, that guy is not a fast learner.” Deuce commented.

“Not a good look o lose your only student on your first day as prefect.” Ace teased her. She shot him a dirty look. “Want help catching him?”

“Yes, thank you!” She said like a staccato, already rushing off to the courtyard to catch her ‘boss.’

“H-hey! You’re already leaving?!” Ace exclaimed.

“You gonna help me or not?” Yuu stopped, looking back. “You’re the one who offered.”

“You’re the one who left us back with Cater at Heartslabyul.” Ace reminded her. “Though, I might forgive ya and help you out for one of those chocolate croissants at the co-op.”

“I’d do it for an iced latte at the cafeteria.” Deuce said.

“Grrr…” Yuu growled in frustration, weighing her options. They did have a good point with her ditching them before. She didn’t want to be late for her first day, and those stakes were simply too small for her to stay and try to help.

But, if they help her chase Grim, then they might be late for their next class. Asking them to help her now would just be hypocritical. She’s the prefect of Ramshackle Dorm. She can’t just let this go, but can she even afford treating them? The money that the headmage gave her was only enough to last her and Grim till next month when the headmage gave her more. Of course, if she were to buy the really cheap stuff… But Grim has already shown himself to have such a big appetite… Ortho seemed really willing to buy her food last night, maybe Yuu could bargain with him sometime? Oh, but she doesn’t want to be in his debt…

“Tch.” Yuu clicked her tongue. Grim was getting away. She needed to do something. Yuu kicked her sore legs to enter the courtyard without the two she was willing to call her friends after last night.

“Wait, you’re really leaving without us?!” Ace said in disbelief.

Yuu didn’t respond, she needed to get her dormmate. Grim worked so hard to get here. She wasn’t going to let his throw that away because it wasn’t as good as he thought it’d be immediately. Something in Yuu was screaming at her that she couldn’t let Grim go. She needed him, something told her deep within. And he needed her.

“Ugh! Fine! We can discuss the deal later!” Ace cried following after her.

“I don’t really need that iced latte, no matter how good it’d be.” Deuce said.

Yuu glanced back. Why would they help her?

“Sorry.” She said. “For leaving you, I mean. I promise I’ll get you something later.”

“That’s all I needed to hear!” Ace said. Shit, she lost.

Oh well, they’re already at the entrance to the courtyard.

Notes:

This part feels… idk. Weird to me. Cause this is an Ortho-centric fic! I want her in every chapter for at least a little bit! But she’s not apart of the current mini plot stuff going on here in early book 1 so she just has to pop in every once in a while like. “Hi. I’m still here. I’m still suffering. Okay bye” And it feels so awkward to me

At least I’m hoping you guys are liking Yuu. And whatever else happens when Adesius isn’t around. Like Idia. He’s suffering too. How I love making these fairly healthy in canon siblings not talk to each other. Highlight of my day, really

Chapter 15: Chap 15

Summary:

Catching Grim and lunchtime

Notes:

Okay, so in order to write this fic I’ve been using the twst fandom wiki to get all the dialogue. And usually, when there’s a twistune or a battle it’ll say that in the catalog or whatever it’s called and I’m able to write it down. But for some reason, in the chapter about Grim running away, there was, nothing? To signal that it was a twistune? No dialogue from the section, no nothing? So I didn’t realize until I started writing, wait. I think I missed something. So actually the beginning is surprisingly the LAST thing I wrote in this chapter because I mainly write on my Chromebook during school and my study hall period has shit internet and while I could write it at home or in a different period I felt like writing everything after that then circling around.

Anyway all this is to say, last chapter probably would’ve been slightly longer if I had realized that. Oh well. Has literally no impact on anything, I just felt like sharing. Anyways I hope you all like this chapter, it was annoying (I understand that rewriting things is a normal part of the writing experience, but goddamnit was it annoying) and long 🫡

Yuu stepped out into the courtyard. Ace was suddenly holding a bug net. Sure, why not. She’s seen Deuce summon cauldrons a dozen times by now. Plus, they needed a way to get Grim. Yuu debated asking Ace for one for herself, but she didn’t want to risk owing him another snack.

“Grim!” Yuu called out. “Come back, you have to!”

“Fngya! What’re you doing here? I’m leavin’ this place!” Grim called back.

“Better head to class and be a good lil’ Grim-lin if you know what’s good for you.” Ace said.

“Myah?! You’re not really gonna haul me back, are ya?!” Grim flailed.

“For freebies? I’d haul you back twice!” Deuce sneered. Ugh.

“What does that even MEAN?!” Grim yelled back. Yuu wished she was as clueless as him. “No way I’m goin’ back to those dumb, boring classes! You can’t make me!”

And with that declaration, the chase started. Deuce shot out bits of magic, Ace tried to get Grim in his net, and Yuu was relegated to trying to grab him. The pains of not having longer range like the other two. Especially since she was still so sore from last nigh, but she needed to get Grim back. No rest for the wicked and all that.

After a little bit, they all stopped to catch their breath.

“You two are SO annoying!” Grim huffed.

“Are you ready to throw it in and behave for the prefect?” Deuce asked.

“I said no, and I MEANT IT!” Grim yelled back, acting like a child throwing a tantrum.

Just as Yuu was about to tell Grim as such, the monster spit out one of his signature flames, making the three of them have to step back.

“Yikes!” Ace yelped as Grim started to run once again.

“I expected some difficulty, but this is ridiculous!” Deuce said.

“Aauuugh! You are in SO MUCH trouble you little furball!” Yuu stomped her foot in frustration as she started to run after him again, Ace and Deuce following in step.

The four of them ran around for a little while, but they were getting nowhere fast.

“This isn’t working, we need a plan.” Yuu hissed at Ace and Deuce. Yuu was feeling useless again, but if they were able to do anything it seemed, it was come up with some sort of solution. Whether it be calling to Grim which direction to aim, or what to do to beat that phantom (that Ortho could’ve beaten in a heartbeat, if he had one, in a… crackle of his flame? Sure. But like, that’s neither here nor there. Ortho let them handle it, is the point) so right now Yuu needed to come up with something.

“Yeah? Got any bright ideas?” Ace responded.

“Real simple, but we could try a pincer on him. Split up and corner him.” Yuu told them.

“Sounds good enough to me.” Deuce said.

The three of them split up, and after a little while of corralling the little beast, Grim was running straight into Ace’s path.

“Gotcha!” Ace said, brandishing his bug net. Grim realized his mistake and quickly turned around to get away.

Unfortunately for Grim, he was now headed straight for Deuce, who summoned a… you guessed it! Cauldron to pin Yuu’s bratty dormmate down.

“MYAAAH?!” Grim yelled in surprise.

Ace and Yuu walked over to Grim and Deuce, with Ace commenting, “Score one swank lunch for us!”

“Back to class you go, Grim.” Deuce said.

“Ohhh, sure. NOW you guys are in perfect sync.” Grim grumbled, which Yuu couldn’t agree with the sentiment more, even if for different reasons.

Ace and Deuce just smirked in response, not like Grim could see from where he was trapped.

“Alright, I think we’ve got him, let’s get this thing off of him now.” Yuu said to the two boys, crouching down beside Grim.

“If you say so, prefect.” Deuce said. “Uh… cauldron, go back to whence you came!” He commanded, and Yuu distantly thought about where he even gets those things in the first place as she scooped Grim up in her arms.

“Mrrah! I’ve had it with these boring classes!” Grim huffed, trying to break free of her hold, but she held him tightly. Honestly, she was half surprised he didn’t break free.

“Then you’ll never become a great mage!” Yuu told him sternly, staring him down.

“UGH! When did you get all bossy?” Grim whined.

“Maybe when I became prefect of our dorm?” She shot back. Yuu let out an annoyed sigh. “Thanks for helping me catch him. Let’s just get to our next class, I’ll give you your lattes and chocolates or whatever at lunch.”

“Hey, at least take your cat!” Ace told her as she started to leave, holding out the net Grim was caught in.

“I AM NOT A CAT!” Grim yelled.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.” Yuu came back, ignoring Grim’s outcries as she started the trek out of the courtyard and to their next class. “Come on, you at least need to endure the first week before you decide to quit like you did here today.” She told her dormmate.

Grim grumbled, but stopped thrashing about. Ace and Deuce started to chat as the four of them headed to the cafeteria.

_—_—_

Adesius wished that she would at least be able to see her friends at lunch. She wanted to talk with them, to sit with them, as she had done so many times before. But, Idia was attending via tablet today, so there’s no reason to go to the cafeteria at all. Maybe she could wander the halls, and just so happen to run into her friends. But alas, Idia ‘didn’t want [her] to talk to those SR troublemakers anymore.’

Well, we’ll see how long that one lasts.

…Hm.

Eh. Anyway, out of the three she could talk to, if she were to seek them out, only Jack was the viable option, but she still had duties to fulfill. Not as Ignihyde’s housewarden, and not even as a student of Night Raven Collage, but as Idia Shroud’s younger brother.

_—_—_

“Wooo! Lunchtime at last!” Grim cheered. He had been freed from his net when they got to their next class, so he was walking beside Yuu. “Whoa!” He drooled. “They got some good lookin’ grub!”

“Ooh a buffet, fancy…” Yuu took in the sight. “Wait, can you even eat squid and onions, Grim?”

But Grim was too absorbed in taking in the sights of the food to even notice her question. Eh, he was a monster, he’d probably be fine.

“Look how fluffy those omelets are! Ooh, and grilled chicken! And bacon-and-egg tart!” Grim marveled. Yuu had to admit, it did all look really good. They had the feeling that they’d have to get over their pickiness when it came to food, but with this kinda spread, then maybe they could afford to stay in their comfort zone.

Heh, how funny. One would eat garbage if he thought it smelled good and the other hates it when their food touches each other even the slightest bit.

“Shhh! Dude, inside voices!” Ace hissed at Grim. “Where was this energy earlier today?”

“Yuu, grab me the grilled chicken! There’s only one left!” Grim tugged on her pants, pointing in the direction of his desired food. “And an omelet too. And that jelly-filled bread. Just fill your whole trey with them!”

“I need to eat too, ya’know.” Yuu told him, but moved to get two treys for the both of them. Yuu started to fill Grim’s trey with everything he listed, noting that most of the food being offered was western. Of course, it makes sense, most of the kids here did seem to be some type of white. In fact from their accents, she’d say that Ace and Deuce where probably the british equivalent of this world. Ew, the American in her jokingly thought. Of course, like she just thought, she was fairly picky, so in terms of western food as long as there’s chicken tenders and french fries she’ll be fine, but the Japanese in her was a bit sad there wasn’t any onigiri or anything. Eh, just rice’ll be enough, she’s sure that’ll be there.

As Yuu gave Grim his trey of food Yuu remembered, ah yes, money. Well, it’s buffet style, so she just needs to pay once for everything, right? That is how they work… right? Eh, she’ll figure it out. Now to get her ow-

“Hey! Watch where you’re goin’!” Yuu heard someone say, pulling her out of her thoughts. Oh no, Grim got himself in trouble again. “M-my carbonara! You broke the yolk!”

“Whoa, that’s messed up!” The first one’s friend backed him up. “Pokin’ the egg is the best part! You better make this right, pal!”

Please no, not now. She just wants some food.

“I’m gonna need that grilled chicken of yours as compensation.” The first one demanded. God, no, why?

“Myah?!” Grim exclaimed. “No way! Hands off the bird, chump! I need my protein because I am HANGRY!”

“Hey, that’s no way to talk to an upperclassmen!” The second one yelled back. “Catch me outside and I’ll teach you some respect!”

Why her? Did she come here just to suffer?

“Um, excuse me, sir,” Deuce went up to the two delinquents, noticing the trouble Grim was getting in. “but it said in the handbook that fighting with magic is prohibited…” Wow, first she’s heard. And just magic? Fists are fine?

“Fighting? You got it all wrong.” The first one said. “This is just me helpin’ an ignorant freshman know his place.”

“Now, let’s see just how many ways there are to skin a cat!” The second one sneered.

This was supposed to be a private school, right? Cause getting into fights in the middle of the cafeteria on only the second day feels way more like a public school to her. Eh, kids will always still be kids, she guesses.

Ducking for cover from a stray shot of magic, Yuu remembered. Oh yeah, Ortho did say that there were only like, three good people in these halls.

…Why her?

_—_—_

Ortho chatted with Idia in the courtyard. While part of her did want to slip away and find someone that she (will be) is close with, she still needs to hang out with Idia from time to time too.

There was growing resentment, sure, but quiet times like this reminded her that she did genuinely love her brother.

…What a shame. To have to be reminded that.

“I’ll be honest, ah, subject change here,” Idia talked. “But I am like, /gen surprised that that magicless guy and kitty are still here.”

“Magicless girl, actually.” Adesius corrected. Now that Idia knew that she knew ‘the magicless kid’ she could confidently correct him without it being weird.

“Oh shit really?” Idia questioned. “...Actually that raises more questions as to why she’s still here. Like- don’t get me wrong, I get it if, like, you enroll as a guy then realize, oh whoops! I’mma girl! Then just. Don’t leave. Or, or someone like me, who switches back and forth, even if I am a guy most of the time… but like. Those I get. But, but I don’t think she’s either? Cause like, you’re telling me this up front, so it’s probably not a secret?”

“Only if you don’t realize.” Adesius told him, thinking back to Deuce. She smiled at the remembrance of his face.

“So like, she won’t actively tell you, but she’s not hiding it, or anything? Like if you ask she’ll just tell you?”

“Mhm. That seems to be the case.” It was almost weird, to think that people didn’t know that the renowned Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm was in fact a woman. But, it was still so early in the year, and this was an all boys school, so it’s not like it didn’t make sense.

“So, she’s both a girl, in an all boys school with no prerequisites, and she’s magicless in an arcane academy? What is this, the start to some cringy series made by a twelve year old?” Idia questioned the logistics of it.

“Well, like you mentioned with the trans argument, being a boy is more of a suggestion at this point. A preferred one, but a suggestion none the less.” She said. This was conversation was giving her a whole lot of dramatic irony. ‘I get it if, like, you enroll as a guy then realize, oh whoops! I’mma girl! Then just. Don’t leave.’ Ding ding ding! That situation is right in front of him! You’re talking to a perfect example of that, Big Brother!

…Of course. It’s not like she can tell him that.

Idia huffed out a laugh at that. “Ain’t that the truth? Still though, the magicless bit is still absolutely insane to me.”

Another ironic moment? Adesius technically doesn’t have magic either, just technomantic energy. But, she’s also not a student yet, so it doesn’t really apply to her right now. Though, that’s why it’s ironic, isn’t it?

“Ehe, I won’t deny that.” She responded. “Though, it’s not like she has anywhere else to stay.”

“O rly?” Idia questioned.

“Yep. Believe or not, but they’re actually an isekai. They come from a world without any magic at all.” Adesius told him.

“Pff, a real life isekai? Good one.” Idia chuckled lightly, obviously not believing her.

Ortho just stared at him. Blankly. She wondered if the one watching her was listening to their conversation as well? Of course, knowing him, he’d find out sooner rather than later anyway.

“Why… aren’t you… saying /j…?” Idia said, realizing that she is not, in fact, joking. She just kept staring blankly at him. “...Oh my gods. OMFG???”

“Yes, she is an isekai.” Adesius told him again, just to confirm the fact.

“FR?????” Idia said in disbelieving shock. Adesius almost wanted to laugh.

_—_—_

“Whoa, I didn’t know you had it in you…” Delinquent A muttered.

“Look, I’m gonna let you off the hook this time,” Delinquent B said, trying to save his pride, “But only ‘cuz I don’t want my pasta gettin’ cold.”

“Pffft! I knew you were all talk!” Grim mocked. “You better hope I never see you again!”

“I guess this is my life now…” Yuu sighed. She looked down at her hands. If she really was going to attend this school, to get in this much trouble on the regular, then she should probably learn how to do more than be a deer in headlights, huh? …What was she going to do?

Yuu shook her head, pulling herself out of her thoughts. “What happened to ‘no more incidents’?” She asked Grim, her voice accusatory.

“Hey, they started it!” Grim defended. It’s not like he was wrong.

“Can we just get lunch already?” Ace asked, obviously done with all of this. “I missed breakfast, and I’m about to collapse.”

Deuce sighed as they all moved to get their treys full. “I can’t believe this. Textbook bullies at an academy that’s supposed to be famous for producing exceptional mages…”

“Aw, get over it already.” Grim told him, uncaring. “‘Sides, you heard what that Ortho guy said about the people in this place. Now, it’s time to chow like the wind!” Grim didn’t even bother to find a place to sit, placing his trey on the floor and munching away. She supposed he was an animal, in a way, after all.

Grim commented about how good the food he was eating was as Yuu, Ace and Deuce finished getting their plates. She still needed too get them their snacks though. She said she’d do it at lunch, but maybe if she procrastinated long enough and they forgot about it…?

“Hey Yuu, forgetting something?” Ace teasingly whispered to her. Fuck. Well, it’s not like she would actually do that anyway. …Maybe.

“Yeah, yeah.” She muttered back, asking the, well, would lunch lady be the right term? The only ones behind the counter were ghosts… Regardless, she asked the ghost, “Um, excuse me? May I please get a…” She turned to Ace and Deuce, “What did you guys want again?”

“One chocolate croissant!” Ace brightly said.

“I’ll take an iced latte.” Deuce said.

“Yeah, what they said.” Yuu told the ghost.

“Comin’ right up!” Said kitchen ghost said.

After getting her two ‘friends’ their payment food, the four of them found a table to sit at to eat. Grim was already chewing the last of his food as they sat down.

“So, I saw your guys’ dorm, but what are the others like?” Grim asked. But before either Ace or Deuce could answer, someone new plopped down at their table, uninvited.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the statues of the Great Seven?” Yuu almost choked on their food in surprise at the new arrival. “Night Raven Collage has a dorm themed after each one.” Cater Diamond, the Heartslabyul junior from before said.

“Bwah! You’re the guy from this morning!” Ace exclaimed.

“You tricked us into paintin’ those dumb roses!” Grim remembered.

“‘Tricked’ is such an ugly word.” Cater said. “Do you think I wanted to spend MY morning painting roses? It’s dorm policy! I was just following orders!” Wait… If Ace, Deuce and Grim were all late to their first block, then what about his guy? Is there like, teleportation magic that gets taught here? It is a magic school after all…

“And grinning like a fiend all the while.” Deuce pointed out, obviously still upset about the whole thing.

“Now, now Deucey.” Cater casually dismissed. “Outside of the dorm, I don’t care what rules you follow. Here, I’m just a friendly mentor figure!”

“Please.” Deuce grit out. “Do NOT call me Deucey.”

“Ah ha ha.” Came the voice of someone new. He was tall, and had dark green hair. He wore glasses and had a black clover painted on his cheek right underneath his right eye. “That’s how Cater shows he cares.” The boy explained as he sat down beside him.

“And who are you?” Ace asked.

“Ah, I should introduce myself. The name’s Trey. Trey Clover.” Huh. Trey Clover, the three of clubs… Yuu was half surprised that it was Cater that they found painting the roses then. Hm, but why? They had a weird dream last night, but they just couldn’t remember it, even though it felt like it was on the tip of her tongue. “I’m a junior at Heartslabyul, like Cater here. And you must be Yuu, the new prefect for that dump of a- ah, I mean, the ‘rustic’ dorm.” Wow, great first impression here, Trey. Yuu gave him an unimpressed look. Sure, she knew that it was no where near up to par with the rest of this place, she’s sure. In fact, she’ll be the first person to tell you that! But hearing people so openly look down upon her residence, not the best feeling in the world. “I heard the whole story from Cater. Thanks for looking after our boys from yesterday.”

Yuu did not feel like even accepting the thanks.

“I don’t recall inviting you to sit with us.” Ace said, the ‘get the fuck away from us’ clear in his voice.

“Hey now, we’re all from the same dorm, right?” Cater brushed past Ace’s undertones. “Let’s try to get along. Here, gimme your digits.” He said, pulling up his phone, motioning for them to do the same.

“I don’t have a smartphone.” Yuu dryly said.

Cater’s eyes widened in shock. “For real? I’ve read about luddites like you, but I never imagined I’d meet one in the wild! I know a place that sells the latest model cheap. How about you and I go on a phone-shopping date?”

“D-date?” Crazy thing to be insulted then asked out like that. Though, then again, a ‘date’ doesn’t always mean ‘romantic.’

“Cater. You’re freaking out the freshman. Maybe take it down a notch?” Trey reeled Cater back.

“Ha! Sorry! I can get a little extra sometimes.” Cater said. “What were we talking about… The dorms, yeah? Ah, what fun to mentor new students! Go ahead, A-M-A.”

“Before you get into the other dorms, I wouldn’t mind learning a bit more about ours.” Ace said. “Like, what’s the deal with all this ‘Queen of Hearts rule number whatever’ junk?”

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the legendary Queen of Hearts already?” Trey started off as Cater took a bite of his food. “She had to rule over a kingdom of weirdos, and did it by emphasizing order and making strict rules.”

“Our dorm, Heartslabyul, is an homage to her.” Cater continued as Trey started to eat his own lunch. “By tradition, we wear armbands with the red and black of the Queen’s dress. And we live by the rules she created.”

Oh yeah, all four of them were wearing the same armbands. Yuu was wondering what the differing colors meant. She figured it correlated to the dorms, but it was nice to have confirmation.

“Pfft. Can you make me any more bored?” Grim said.

“Now, the degree to which we adhere to the rules depends on the sitting housewarden. Past housewardens have been much more lax.” Cater carried on. Ortho’s statement of the school being filled with assholes was becoming more true with every sentence. Grim, Ace, Deuce, Cater, Trey. All of them.

…Was Yuu an asshole? No. No, right?

“Riddle though? He doesn’t mess around.” Trey explained. “Basically, you could say that we’re honoring that tradition to the utmost extent possible.”

“Bleah. Just my luck…” Ace said.

“So what are the other dorms like, then?” Grim asked.

“As Cater mentioned earlier, the dorms of this school are themed after the Great Seven. We have our dorm, Heartslabyul, modeled after the strictness of the Queen of Hearts. To run down the rest of them for you, we have…” Trey paused.

“Savanaclaw, based on the persistent spirit of the King of Beasts.” Trey continued to explain. “Octavinelle, based on the benevolent heart of the Sea Witch. Scarabia, based on the mindful personality of the Sorcerer of the Sands. Pomefiore, based on the tenacity of the Fairest Queen. Ignihyde, based on the diligence of the King of the Underworld. And finally… Diasomnia, based on the noble spirit of the Thorn Fairy.”

“That’s a lot to take in.” Yuu commented, wondering how they’re going to remember all that.

“All those names are way too long!” Grim complained. “How’s anyone supposed to remember ‘em?”

Cater laughed. “Well, you get the idea. Want to or not, you’ll learn them soon enough.”

“At orientation, the Dark Mirror picks a dorm for you based on the essence of your being. As a result, each dorm ends up with a distinct sort of…” Trey stopped, looking for a way to describe it. “Flavor. We’ll call it.”

“That is sooo true. I totes see it.” Cater agreed.

“‘Flavor,’ huh?” Deuce mused.

“For example, look at that guy.” Trey pointed at someone.

“Muscly dog man…” Yuu commented. She’s seen others with animal ears and tails in classes and in the halls. So between the magic and the seemingly natural wacky hair colors she figured, ‘sure why not.’ at this point. She’s already been isekai’d, she’s resigned herself to the fate of being in an anime universe for the time being.

“That rough and tumble vibe he’s got going has Savanaclaw written all over it.” Trey said about the dark skinned boy with white hair and fur.

“No doubt.” Cater agreed. “That dorm is full of scrappy guys who are into, like, working out and fighting. How should I describe the vibe…? Macho dudes? Gruff big brothers? Something along those lines. The black and gold armband is another give away.”

“Huh. All right, so what about that guy with the grey and purple cord wrapped around his arm?” Grim pointed out a boy with glasses and silver wavy hair.

“He’s gotta be from Octavinelle house.” Trey said. “I’d be able to tell even if I didn’t know him. And the student sitting at the table in front of him has a red and gold armband — Scarabia colors.” Trey pointed out two boys with brown skin, one with short white hair and the other with long black hair.

“Those dorms are for the smart students.” Cater commented. “They’re always neck-and-neck in the academic rankings. Ah, but the current housewarden doesn’t seem to be that great of a student…”

“And here Cater goes, off on some tangent.” Ace said.

“Ha. You learn fast.” Trey told him. “Let’s get back on topic. You see the flashy one with the purple and red armband? Those are Pomefiore colors.”

“Whoa, look Yuu! There’s another girl here!” Grim pointed out. It would be nice to have a female friend here, but for some reason Yuu just didn’t buy it.

“What’s she doing in an all boys’ school?” Deuce asked. He and Yuu locked eyes and he hastily added on, “I mean like, I know why you’re here, Yuu. But, like, you are kinda a special case.”

“Wait, hold the phone, Yuuie, you’re a…” Cater said as he and Trey looked to her. “Wow, I didn’t even notice! You’re not supposed to be here at all, huh? Just joking, just joking. That is crazy though.”

“Thanks…?” She responded dryly. “God, is this going to happen every time I meet someone in this place? Do I look that much like a guy?”

“See! I knew it was a reasonable thing to assume!” Deuce said.

Ace scoffed out a laugh. “Yeah maybe, if that ‘girl’ over there was a girl in the first place.”

“Wait, what?” Both Grim and Deuce said, looking to Ace like the record scratched to a halt.

“Yeah, that ‘girl’ over there is a dude. This is still an all boys’ school after all.” Ace said.

“But Yuu…?” Deuce pointed out.

“Yeah, Yuu over here’s a girl, how come you’re so confident that the person over there isn’t?” Grim asked, defending his position.

“Because I met the guy during orientation…?” Ace said like it was obvious. “I’ll be honest, I thought he was a girl at first too, but let me tell ya, he’s not.”

“O-oh. Yeah, of course. It’d be stupid to think otherwise just cause of Yuu.” Deuce relented. Somehow, Yuu didn’t think that that statement was quite true either. What was it that Ortho said about trans students again? They exist in school walls at least.

“Yes, well, anyway.” Trey tried to keep the conversation moving. “After that there’s-”

“Wait! Sorry, Trey, but Yuuie, I gotta ask.” Yuu didn’t know how she felt about the nickname Cater gave her. “What ARE you doing here? Like, I knew the magicless thing, but being a girl as well? Did you lie to the headmage or something? What’s the tea here?”

Yuu took a deep breath in and let it all out in one big sigh. She picked at the remaining grains of rice on her plate as she said, “I got transported here from another world. Unbelievable, I know. And I wish. But no, one moment I’m home, the next I’m being pulled out of a coffin wearing unfamiliar robes being told by a weasel with fire-”

“Hey!” Grim protested.

“-That I need to give him said robes so that he can become a student. I obviously have no clue what the fuck is going on, but I know that fire equals bad and I need to get out of there quick. I rush off, Grim follows, the headmage finds us, tells me where I am, yada yada you were all there at the opening ceremony. Since I am from, again, another fucking world, the Dark Mirror wasn’t able to send me home. So, I, and Grim when he snuck back on campus, ended up living in Ramshackle since we have literally no where else to go.” Yuu placed her hand down on the table, perhaps a bit more forcibly than she could have and smiled at her upperclassmen, making direct eye contact. “Thanks for reminding me of how much of a dump my only place of residence is, by the way. Really making me feel welcome here.”

Aw, shame. It seems that they turned their eyes away from her. Yuu sighed again. “Trust me, I know that it’s the worst. But you don’t have to make me feel worse about it. I am the prefect of it after all, and I think I can at least try to pretend that I like my new home.”

“...#yikes.” Cater said.

“That’s, um.” Trey stumbled over his words. “Sorry. For, uh, calling your dorm a dump.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Cater agreed.

“No, you’re fine. You’re right. Thank you for apologizing.” Yuu said. A weak self deprecating chuckle escaping her lips.

“Mhm.” Cater hummed. “Well, anyway, they take vanity pretty seriously at Pomefiore. It’s basically a dorm full of models. Their housewarden has 5,000,000 followers on Magicam.”

“Hey now, they’re not all just pretty faces.” Trey said, the tension receding. “The students at Pomefiore are among the best at crafting potions and casting curses.”

“Heh heh, true dat.” Cater agreed. “Next we have Ignihyde… They’re armbands are blue and black, but I don’t see any around here. They tend not to be the most outgoing of students. Even I don’t have a single friend from that dorm. They’re kind of the opposite of us sunny, fun-loving Heartslabyul students.” Heartslabyul students are sunny and fun loving? So far only Cater’s been that way.

“So they’re gloomy and miserable?” Grim asked bluntly.

“Hey, no need to put it like that!” Trey said. “They just have a reputation for being quiet and serious, is all. That dorm tends to attract magical-energy engineers and students who are good with tech.”

“Wait, didn’t Ortho say that his brother was the housewarden of Ignihyde?” Deuce piped up.

“Oh yeah, he said somethin’ about his brother being the one who made him too.” Grim said. “Something about… what was it, technomagnic?”

“I think it was… technomantic?” Yuu corrected.

“Yeah, that! If those guys are good at making tech n’ stuff, then making yourself a brother lines up.” Grim then muttered. “What posses a guys to do that anyway?”

“Wait, you all… know Ortho?” Cater asked, like he was in polite disbelief.

“Uhh, yeah…?” Ace said, a bit surprised at Cater’s tone of voice.

“Is it… weird?” Deuce asked.

“Oh no! It’s just that… How do I put it?” Cater wondered to himself.

“Those Shrouds tend to keep to themselves.” Trey explained for him. “Ortho’s definitely the more extroverted of the two, but the fact that you’ve already met each other and seem familiar with him, considering what your first days were like…”

“Just a bit surprising, is all. Glad to see you already making friends in the other dorms! Even, if Ortho’s technically not an actual student.” Cater said.

Yuu, Ace and Deuce shared a look. Ortho had said that his brother was really introverted, but nothing about himself like that.

“Well, he said that he got curious about the kids who were in danger of being expelled on the first day.” Ace told them. “Does he not… usually do stuff like that?”

This time it was Cater and Trey’s turn to share a look.

“Well, it’s not like I talk to him all that often.” Cater said, chipper but with an undertone of not really believing what he was saying. “So if that’s what he told you, then I’m sure it’s true!”

“...If ya say so.” Ace said.

“Well, Ortho was nice when we met him last night.” Deuce said. “He even bought us snacks from the vending machine when we got back. Though… I guess that’s not something he usually does?”

“It’s like Cater said.” Trey said. “We don’t know him well enough to have any official say on the matter. If Ortho said he was curious about you guys, then he was probably just curious about you guys. I say congrats, he’s taken a shining to you all.”

Yuu didn’t know how much any of them bought that, but none of them sitting at the table seemed to know the technomantic humanoid well enough to say anything about it. At this point, Yuu questioned how much she should question things here, so she decided to let it slide.

“Well, anyway, that just leaves… Diahonyalara, was it?” Deuce asked.

“You were off to a good start,” Ace started. “And then you rammed right into the guardrails. It’s ‘Diasomnia.’”

“I know that!” Deuce said defensively. “I just misspoke, all right?”

Brushing past the distractions as usual, Cater said, “Diasomnia House is, hm…” The upperclassmen scanned the room, looking for someone to point out. “Ah, look over there. Those guys in the special seating area. You can tell from the neon green and black armbands. They’re basically campus celebrities. The vibe they give off makes it real hard for regular shmucks like us to even approach them. And their housewarden is that times a thousand.”

“There’s a little kid in that group!” Ace exclaimed.

“Ah, we do get some child prodigies here.” Trey said, trying to correct Ace. “But that guy there is no kid. He’s a junior like us. Name’s-”

“Lilia.” The young looking boy said, appearing right in front of their group, levitating upside down. His voice was definitely way to deep for someone with his face and stature. “Lilia Vanrouge.”

Everyone yelped in surprise.

“H-he just teleported!” Grim exclaimed.

“I understand my apparent age interests you?” The deep voiced not-child, Lilia said, still hanging upside down. “As this bespectacled fellow accurately noted… Despite muy fresh-faced, boyish good looks, it would be inaccurate to call me a ‘child.’”

“‘Fresh-faced,’ he says…” Trey repeated to himself.

“You need not gawk at us from afar.” Lilia said. “You may feel free to speak with us directly. We are schoolmates, are we not? All of us at Diasomnia welcome you without reservation.”

Yuu looked over at the silver and mint haired boys that Lilia was sitting with, staring them down.

“And yet, those guys over there aren’t exactly rolling out the red carpet in terms of approachability…” Deuce muttered.

Lilia chuckled and said, “Forgive me for appearing above you during your meal. I do hope we can speak again.” And just like that, as quickly as he came, Lilia returned to his spot beside the boys with the silver and mint hair.

“Their table has got to be over twenty yards away from ours. And they heard our conversation?” Ace said in shock. “That’s WAY creepy.”

“Well…” Trey started. “Diasomnia House does have a bit of a reputation for having lots of special students. Some of them are extremely talented at magic. Their housewarden, Malleus Draconia, is considered to be one of the five best mages in the world.”

“Malleus is reeeeeal bad news.” Cater told them. “Though I suppose the same could be said of our own dear housewarden.”

“No kidding!” Ace agreed immediately. Yuu noticed someone walk up behind him. Oh fuck. “He collared me just cause I overslept a little! His rule obsession is outta control!”

Yuu tried to silently signal to Ace to shut the actual fuck up, but Ace didn’t notice. Yuu scootched herself away from him, fearing the wrath of the said ‘rule obsessed’ housewarden.

“My ‘rule obsession’ is ‘outta control,’ is it?” One Riddle Rosehearts said. His voice as sharp as a knife.

“Ace! Behind you!” Deuce pointed out.

“Bwah?! Housewarden!” Ace exclaimed, turning around to face his housewarden.

Notes:

Usually I have so little to say at the beginning of the chapter yet in the end notes I’m able to put all my thoughts, but rn it’s the opposite. I don’t really have anything to say, at least, nothing I can think of right now and nothing I haven’t said before (usual insecurities about the chapter mainly just being canon content with only really Yuu’s commentary to change it)

Oh wait, here’s one: the… I guess running joke? It’s called of people just not noticing Yuu is a girl comes from the fact that the setting is an all boys school so people just would assume that they’re a boy even though they’re a girl but um. Epel. Lowkey forgot about you? Or at least, it’s way funnier pointing out the almost double standard of thinking that the girl who’s not even hiding the fact that she’s a girl gets mistaken as a guy more than the ACTUAL guy lol. Just. Funny putting them next to each other like that. Lotsa gender conversations today, huh?

So. Yeah. I hope you liked the chapter

Chapter 16: Chap 16

Summary:

Continuation of the last chapter and- Dessie? Dessie what are you doing? Adesius?!

Notes:

Hey! Sorry that this took a while to get out, I simply just wasn’t working on it lol. I took a break from this by writing a silly chatfic and I spent more time drawing than writing. But here’s chapter 16! I hope you enjoy this one. For the past few chapters I’ve been lamenting that Dessie has only had POVs to remind us that she’s the MC, but here’s the receipts for that <3 I was smiling and laughing to myself while writing her section

“My ‘rule obsession’ is ‘outta control,’ is it?” One Riddle Rosehearts said. His voice as sharp as a knife.

“You bet it is.” Ace continued to rant, unknowing of the hole he was digging for himself. Yuu buried their head in their arms. “Riddle's just a petty tyrant who leans into the whole ‘rules’ schtick as a pretext to keep everyone under his puny thumb!”

“Ace! Behind you!” Deuce pointed out.

“Bwah?! Housewarden!” Ace exclaimed, turning around to face his housewarden.

“Hey, Riddle! What’s shakin’ pal? You’re lookin’ adorbs as always!” Cater tried to smooth over for Ace.

“Hmph. Cater, keep running that mouth and you’ll lose it – along with the rest of your head.” Came the haughty voice of the small redhead Yuu had encountered during orientation.

“Sorry, sorry! My bad!” Cater backtracked.

“Myah?! You’re the guy who put that stupid collar on me at the orientation ceremony!” Grim exclaimed in realization upon seeing Riddle.

“And you’re the new students who were nearly expelled yesterday.” Riddle greeted back. Yuu pushed their head deeper in their arms.

“Not my fault…” Yuu muttered quietly, for only herself to hear.

“I’ll ask that you do not refer to my Signature Spell as a ‘stupid collar.’” Riddle continued to speak. “The headmage’s habit of tolerating rulebreakers like you is going to send this entire campus spiraling into chaos one day. Those who break the rules should have their heads removed immediately, without exception.” He asserted.

“Dude, seriously? This guy looks like a wimp, but talks like a monster!” Ace whispered in disbelief.

“The headmage may have forgiven you, but if you break any further rules, I assure you I will not.” Riddle told them. Yuu lifted their head to see the strict expression the boy was making through one eye. But she didn’t even do anything wrong, yet she still kept getting burned.

“So, uh, listen, housewarden, sir…” Ace stumbled over his words. “Any chance I could get you to remove this collar?”

“I had intended to take it off now, actually. Had you shown you were reflecting on your crimes and planned to better prepare yourself as a student at our prestigious academy. Perhaps after classes if not. But it’s clear that you were far worse than I thought, but I’ve not detected a hint of remorse in the foolishness I’ve heard you spout today. So, I think I’ll let you keep that for awhile longer. Don’t worry. The freshman curriculum is more focused on magical theory than practice. And your inability to use magic will help prevent incidents along the lines of what happened yesterday. Now, if you've finished your meal, you should quit gossiping and prepare for your next class. Rule 271 is quite clear: ‘One must leave the table within fifteen minutes of completing their lunch.’ You DO understand what happens to rulebreakers, I trust?” Riddle layed out.

Ace sighed, “More insane rules…” He lamented.

“I believe you mean to say, ‘Yes, Housewarden!’” Riddle sternly corrected, so commanding that Yuu’s head shot up as both Ace and Deuce called out,

“Yes, Housewarden!” in compliance.

“Very well, then.” Riddle said, he didn’t seem any less rigid in his demeanor, but seemed satisfied enough to leave them alone for now.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on them.” Trey told his housewarden.

Riddle hummed in thought at that. “As vice housewarden, I trust you’ll avoid any further indiscreet conversation.” And luckily that seemed to be the end of that, for now. Riddle turned his attention elsewhere, saying, “Now, as per rule 339… ‘The post-meal beverage is to be lemon tea with two sugar cubes.’ Thus, I must go to acquire my sugar cubes. Farewell. Don't even get me started on their violation of running out of sugar cubes...!” Riddle mumbled to himself as he walked away.

Yuu could feel the tension in the air dissipate with the tiny redhead’s farewell.

“Yeesh! That was terrifying.” Cater said.

“That guy… has some serious issues.” Grim concluded. Yuu couldn’t help but agree. Hmm, another bout of deja vu…

“Hey, don’t disrespect him!” Deuce jumped in to defend him, for god knows what reason.

Yuu’s ears perked up as she overheard some other Heartslabyul students sitting nearby say to one another, “Is the housewarden gone?”

“I totally just broke rule 186, ‘Never eat a hamburger on Tuesday.’ I don't know what I would have done if he'd caught me!” The other Heartslabyul boy sighed. “... I wish he wouldn't come here so we could at least eat lunch in peace.”

Yuu noticed Cater and Trey share a look. It was like they really cared for him… or at the very least, cared about not pissing him off. Which, fair. The guy knew how to create terror. The way he corrected Ace like that with the ‘Yes, Housewarden!’ stuff was like he was a drill sergeant. …Or perhaps an angry mother, heh.

“Riddle managed to secure the housewarden title before the end of his very first week at school.” Trey said, and Yuu could feel the underlining pleading for them to understand. “I know he can come off a bit harsh, but he's not a bad guy. Everything he does, he does because he thinks it'll improve the dorm.”

Yuu vaguely wondered if Trey was telling them that as much to himself as he was to them.

“Would a good guy go around putting collars on strangers’ necks?” Grim questioned. Yep, that’s why.

Both Cater and Trey could only laugh weakly at that statement. It wasn’t that funny.

“To be fair, you were causing trouble back then, Grim.” Yuu muttered to herself. She shook her head and changed the subject, raising her voice to be heard. “So what’s this ‘Signature Spell’ he mentioned?”

Grim heard her quiet complaint against him and grumbled about it, and Yuu found herself patting his head in an attempt to quell him.

“Hm? You’re curious about Riddle’s Signature Spell?” Cater said.

“That means, like… it’s a spell that only he can cast, right?” Deuce said. Damn, not even Deuce, who’s from this world mind you, knows? That either says something about Deuce or how big magic truly is in this world.

“I doubt he’s the only person in the whole world…” Trey said. “But yes, a Signature Spell – or Unique Magic – is a magical ability that is, generally speaking, unique to its user. You’ll learn about them in class soon enough.” Class, huh? Hopefully that’ll help Yuu understand this place more.

“Riddle's Unique Magic allows him to temporarily seal away the magic of another.” Cater explained. “The spell is named…”

“Off With Your Head!” They heard Riddle helpfully call out, collaring another poor student.

“Even the name is completely psycho!” Grim exclaimed.

“To a mage, losing the ability to use magic is about as painful as losing your head completely.” Cater supplied. “Which is why all of us at Heartslabyul House try hard not to violate Riddle's rules.”

“And as long as you’re following the rules, Riddle’s not so scary.” Trey said, once again trying to soften Riddle up to them?

“Speaking of which, what do you think I can do to get this thing removed?” Ace said, referring to his own Riddle-provided collar.

Cater hummed in thought. “Well you’re lucky that sleeping in isn’t that severe of a crime. Now if you’d done something like eat one of Riddle’s tarts – that would be a whole other story. But for something like this? I’d say just do something to show you’ve learned from your mistakes. Maybe not just a simple apology but…”

“Am I gonna have to paint even more roses?” Ace complained at the thought.

Trey chuckled lightly. “If you want, you can help me with baking instead.”

“Baking?” Deuce said.

“Yeah! Trey’s tarts are supes delish! Practically all the sweets for the unbirthday parties are made by him.” Cater chimed in. Trey gave him a passive look that Yuu couldn’t quite decipher.

“Wow, that’s amazing.” Yuu complemented him. Considering the no doubt not small population of Heartslabyul making that many pastries has got to be a lot of work.

“It’s nothing, really.” Trey said. “But yeah, Ace, if you’re looking for something to do to get back on Riddle’s good side, I wouldn’t mind some help in the baking department.”

Ace hummed in thought. “Oh yeah? What do I have to do?”

“You see, for the next tart I make, I was thinking of doing a chestnut tart.” Trey explained. “We do have most of the stuff you’d need, but we still need the chestnuts required for a chestnut tart.”

“So the main ingredient.” Grim deadpanned.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Trey chuckled good naturedly. “So it’d be up to you to gather a bunch of chestnuts.”

“Like that’s any less of a hassle.” Ace said. “But… fine. How many do you need?”

“Well, it’s for the unbirthday party, so…” Trey thought for a moment. “Probably two or three hundred?”

Both Deuce and Grim exclaimed, “Did you say HUNDRED?!”

“And they’re all gonna need to be boiled, shelled and pureed.” Trey added on.

“Alright, I’m gonna head out.” Grim said, getting up from his seat with Yuu following suit. She already has Ramshackle to clean up, she doesn’t need to do this too.

“I’m leaving too.” Deuce agreed, getting up as well.

“You heartless cowards!” Ace said to them, clearly already regretting his decision to agree to this.

“Hold up!” Cater said, which actually got the three of them to look back and wait. “Haven’t you ever heard that food tastes better if you make it with your friends? This’ll be a memory to treasure! It could even be your chance to make a splash as a cooking blogger!”

Honestly, the idea of Ace being their friend was an appealing thought to Yuu. Though that might just be the delirium of fighting a phantom and nearly getting expelled with these guys yesterday made them want to get closer to them. Yuu thinks they just want something, someone, to anchor themself to in this strange new world.

Becoming a cooking blogger immediately ruined their mood again. Partially because they just didn’t want to and also because they still didn’t have a phone, and being reminded of that put a sour feeling in their mouth.

Yuu felt themself take another step away as Trey spoke up, “Don’t tell Riddle, but chestnut tarts are at their tastiest when eaten right out of the oven. And the only people who get to experience that culinary privilege are the ones who make it.”

“Well when you put it that way…” Grim said. God, he was so easy. “Come on, humans, let’s do this!”

“You sure changed your tune quickly.” Yuu said, surprised by the fondness in their voice. What? They know they just said that they like the idea of being friends with these doofuses but this still felt a bit quick, actually. Yuu shifted their attention to Trey, asking, “Where can we find chestnuts, anyway?”

“I heard there's a whole bunch of chestnut trees in the woods behind the campus's botanical garden.” Trey told them.

“Cool. Plan made. Let's meet at the botanical garden after last period.” Ace said, obviously very ready to be Done with this shit. Yuu couldn’t blame him.

“We're gonna be up to our ears in chestnuts!” Grim cheered.

Yuu and Deuce shared a look. He whispered to her, “You sure you want to do this?”

Yuu looked at her dormmate, and new friend(?). She whispered back. “I dunno. But… Grim wants too. And I do feel a bit bad for abandoning you guys like that earlier — not that I regret it – so.” She shrugged. “I don’t see why not. At least, nothing that beats out doing so. And, let’s be real here, do you trust Ace and Grim by themselves?”

The look on Deuce’s face was enough to give her that answer. Even if, admittedly, Deuce was also apart of the problem. If the people in this school weren’t going to let them forget about the chandelier incident, Yuu’s not going to let them forget about the ones truly at fault and why. Mr. Threw Ace At The Chandelier In The First Place over here.

“Guess we’re in on this.” Deuce sighed.

Yuu couldn’t help the light chuckle playing behind their lips. “Guess so.” She agreed.

_—_—_

“We should probably be getting ready to go to our next class by now, Big Brother.” Adesius said.

“Ah, yeah, ig u’re right.” Idia responded.

Adesius noticed the familiar sight of red hair walking through the halls. She needed to talk to him, and now was probably the best part.

“I just remembered something I wanted to do!” She clapped. “Sorry, but do you think you’ll be fine if we meet back up at class instead of going there together?”

“Huh? Ah, I mean, sure? I guess that’s fine.” Idia said.

“Yay, thanks! See you there!” She cheered, waving goodbye. Ugh, that was probably such a bad excuse. She really needed to prepare better ones, for times like this.

Wait. There’s still one more person she needs to get rid of if she wants to talk to Riddle Rosehearts like she wants to. A shame, she didn’t mind the upperclassman following her around, but she also didn’t want anyone unnecessary watching her at times like this.

Mentally, Ortho dialled up a number that was lost to her when she went back in time. Of course, it was a snap to restore it.

_—_—_

He was peacefully acting on his curiosity, as he so often does, but jumped slightly when his phone buzzed to life.

He wondered who it could be, but was surprised when it was an unknown number. He soon smiled when he realized just who had contacted him. A shame, he’s been caught.

Unknown Number: That goes for you, too, Rook Hunt.

Rook laughed. It seems his newest target was sharper than he first thought. This was proving to be a very fruitful hunt!

_—_—_

Rook texted back.

Rook Hunt: Ah, it seems I’ve been caught

Adesius could almost laugh.

Rook Hunt: May I ask why you seem so insistent on being alone?

She had many responses she could give him. She’d kill to be able to tell him “just cute girl things <3” like she so wished. But, of course, she can’t say that. Of course, she also felt annoyed. She didn’t mind Rook Hunt’s stalking. She really didn’t. She just wished that he could leave some things alone without her having to explain herself. Though, she and Rook Hunt were similar enough that her annoyance couldn’t grow into anything more, lest she become a hypocrite.

Eventually she decided on this,

ORTHO: There are simply some things I prefer to keep a secret for now, is all. I’m sure you have cards you keep close to your chest as well, so do me this favor in kind

ORTHO: I’ll most likely tell you eventually, so for now I’d appreciate it if you continued on with your day. I am serious when I say that you should be heading to your next class. Please don’t waste your precious schooling on me

Rook Hunt: I suppose that’s quite fair for now, I’ll let you keep this secret of yours

Rook Hunt: I suppose you’d prefer it if I stopped following you from now on, then?

ORTHO: Oh please! I’d be a hypocrite if I told you it was wrong. I just have some things I don’t feel like sharing just this yet, is all

Rook Hunt: I see

Rook Hunt: Adieu, it is for now then, Monsieur Marionette

Ugh, of course he had to end it with that nickname. Adesius looked over in the direction Rook Hunt was watching her from, and watched him as he left.

Adesius missed her Pomfiore friends dearly. Of course, there was Epel who was one of if not her best friend within her group of best friends in her freshman-turned sophomore-but once again freshman group. And then obviously again, there was Vil who was her clubmate and someone that she really truly looked up to.

But Rook Hunt was still apart of that, even if she had less incentive to hang out with him. Sure he was a bit weird, but first of all, who isn’t? She has Idia for a brother, after all. That and, Rook Hunt was one of the few genuinely nice people at this school, even with his eccentricities. Their conversations were always enjoyable, and she loved hanging out with all three of them.

Adesius stared down Riddle Rosehearts. This was for that. So that she could tell Rook Hunt that she was a “mademoiselle” and not a “monsieur.” So that she can join the Film Research Club officially. So that she can be a real member of the freshman student body again. Even if she was actually a second year by now. But still, her point still stands.

This was for Riddle Rosehearts’ benefit as well. He needed to realize how fucked up he was at some point, so in order to get better, he first needs to get worse.

“Ah, Riddle Rosehearts! Hello!” She greeted, drawing his attention to her.

“Oh. Ortho Shroud. Hello to you as well.” Riddle Rosehearts greeted back coldly. “What is it?”

“Oh, nothing too major. I simply wished to talk to you.” Adesius responded.

“Is that so? Well, in that case, I need to carry on with my own duties. I don’t have time for idle chatter.” Riddle Rosehearts told her.

Riddle Rosehearts turned back to continue on, and Adesius floated besides him, carrying on their conversation.

She missed the Riddle Rosehearts from her memories. She still remembered Fairy Gala, when she and her friends were trying on different outfits to adjust the illusions accordingly. Their project had carried on through the night, and during this, none other than Riddle Rosehearts himself came by to drop off snacks, giving them a break. Those hearts during Fairy Gala, encouraging her.

She missed that Riddle. The one who warmly praised her when she was working so hard.

She wished that she didn’t have to do this. To tell Riddle Rosehearts to calm down, loosen up and relax a bit. That not all rules have to be followed to an exact T.

But it’s far easier to push him over the edge and bring him back than to force a complete 180 at this point in time. And Adesius needs this too. So as she came up to Riddle Rosehearts’ side, she said,

“Oh, I completely understand! Honestly, sometimes I wish that my brother cared as much about order as you do, Riddle Rosehearts.”

That got his attention. “Oh really? I’m glad we can agree on that, at least.”

“Yes.” She agreed sullenly. “He stays up too late, so late that he rarely ever gets any sleep even with how often I’ve told him that people of his age need at least 7-10 hours of sleep each night to properly function! And his eating habits aren’t much better, consisting mostly of instant noodles and sweets. Not healthy at all…”

“Ugh. Disgusting.” Riddle Rosehearts agreed. She had very mixed feelings on that. “He really should be glad that he’s not in Heartslabyul. Otherwise it would be off with his head in a moment’s notice!”

‘Isn’t that going a bit far?’ She wanted to say. But that’s the wrong dialogue option for the route that she wants to take. For the good ending, she instead has to say, “I really should be cracking down on him even harder, huh? I just want what’s best for him, but he doesn’t get it!”

Riddle Rosehearts’ eyes softened, just a bit, at hearing that. “Yes, what’s best. But they don’t understand that I’m just trying to help them. That rules must be followed, lest…” He trailed off for a moment, getting lost in thought. Adesius has heard of the ‘tart incident’ plenty times enough to know what her upperclassman was thinking of. He quickly snapped out of it, though. “But they’re all too focused on what little pleasures they get in the moment instead of focusing on how they’ll turn up! Rules were made to be followed! To bring structure and peace for all! And they just don’t get it!”

“No they don’t.” Adesius agreed. What she really wanted to say was something along the lines of ‘Take a chill pill, gods. Maybe you should live in the moment a bit too.’ but again, dialogue choices and routes to take.

Riddle Rosehearts calmed down a bit from his rant and looked over to her. “You did manage to get Idia to stay for the entirety of the orientation ceremony, so I’ll applaud you on that front, Ortho.”

Many thoughts ran through her head as Riddle Rosehearts said that. On one hand, for just a brief moment she felt her chest bloom with warmth at the praise from him, even if the line was delivered far colder than she would’ve expected. But, no, now was not the time. Not to mention, a more petty side of her wanted to respond with, ‘Yep! And I did it by holding his hand and being a kind and supportive sibling!’ but once more, that would lead her down the wrong route.

So Adesius just giggled lightly and brightly thanked him.

“It truly was a feat, considering your brother.” Riddle Rosehearts praised her further. Fuck, don’t be feeling proud at the complements right now! Riddle Rosehearts still currently hates Idia! “I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you could do it.”

“Ehe, it really was no problem for me!” Adesius agreed.

“Now just get him to class more often and have him attend housewarden meetings in person, then we can talk more.” Riddle Rosehearts said.

Ortho slumped in slight defeat. “I’m… working on it.”

“I’m sure.” Riddle Rosehearts responded. “Though, speaking of orientation, you said that you saw some people sneak off. I did not find anyone, however. Is there any reason for that?”

Yeah. She’s not telling him the whole story. But yeah. “Hmm, I most certainly know that two people snuck off during orientation. Maybe they just hid very well? Or perhaps you missed them and they already returned inside by the time you went out?”

“Yes, I supposed that was the likely scenario as well. I just wanted to confirm.” Sorry, Riddle Rosehearts she’s been speaking in half truths this whole entire conversation. She’s an actor, getting a true answer out of her is harder than just asking politely. “If you can recall who it was you saw, then I’d greatly appreciate it. The ceremony may be over by now, but they still deserve their due punishment. They must not learn that just because no one was aware of their misdeeds it means they’re suddenly absolved of any punishment.”

They already have enough punishment, being under your’s and Vil Schoenheit’s command. She felt like saying. Also, what does Riddle Rosehearts take her for? A narc? She ain’t snitching on two of her best friends like that.

“I’m not sure I can, my apologies, Riddle Rosehearts.” Adesius said like she was truly sad about the fact.

Riddle Rosehearts let out a disappointed but not surprised sigh. “Well, that’s fine. I appreciate you trying to help anyways.”

“It’s nothing! Just trying to do the right thing.” She told him. Well for one, she was trying to get rid of him back then and for two can she stop getting so happy at praise from this brat? It was getting really annoying at this point.

“Yes. You did the right thing back then.” Riddle Rosehearts agreed. “Well, this conversation was more pleasant than I was expecting. I’m glad at least one of you Shrouds is able to see reason. I must get to my class now, so this is where we must part ways. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye!” She responded as Riddle Rosehearts walked into his classroom.

Bleh.

A ‘pleasant conversation,’ ‘at least one of you Shrouds is able to see reason.’ Oh, he’ll see who sees reason.

…She misses the Riddle Rosehearts she knew.

She felt like she was just going through a rpg where in order to level up your friendship ranking with a character you have to agree with everything they’re saying, even when they’re saying bullshit stupid wrong ideas.

And sure, while she does feel that way about Idia and has admittedly thought about just resorting to violence to force him to take care of himself, there’s a very clear difference between that and what Riddle Rosehearts is doing!

She misses the kind hearted and supportive Riddle Rosehearts. She missed the friends she made in her same year. She missed her Pomefiore friends. She missed being a student here at Night Raven Collage and she missed being apart of the Film Research Club. And most importantly of all she missed being herself.

She needed to do this. For her. For all of them. To get the good ending they needed to go through their hardships first. And she knew the script! She needed to make sure it all stayed on track! She wanted… she wanted to be apart of the plot. To help her friends. And to balance that out, she needs to prod Riddle Rosehearts where Ace would have with his tart eating.

…

…She’s a bad person, isn’t she?

But… what does that mean, in a school full of villains like this?

Notes:

Adesius: Gods can’t a girl manipulate someone in peace?

Rook: Fair enough, have a great day!

Maybe if she keeps telling herself she’s doing the right thing she’ll start to believe it. I hope her section was as good as I hyped it up to be at the start of this chapter :))

Oh yeah, update that I’ll probably add to the notes of the next chapter too, I made art for this chapter lol. Just finished it like 5 minutes ago lol: https://www.tumblr.com/nami-moittli/782751248109731840/basically-what-it-felt-like-to-write-their

Chapter 17: Chap 17

Summary:

A dangerous encounter in the botanical garden, and working

Notes:

Once again, not much for Dessie to do this chapter but Yuu’s suffering in her stead so it’s all good!

Must be real fun to be a girl in an all boy’s school. Gotta be the best.

“Whoa! There really are a ton of chestnuts just layin' around. I'm gonna be livin' large on chestnut tarts! Mmm!” Grim cheered looking at the a amount of chestnuts there were. “Let's get grabbin'- YOWCH! Myah! The chestnut spikes pricked my paws!”

Yuu crouched down to inspect the spiky chestnuts, lightly prodigy one with her finger, before pulling back and shaking out her hand. Yep, they were sharp, but nothing to unmanageable, she hopes.

“I don’t think we can do this with our bare hands.” Deuce said, just to confirm it. “And we need something to put them in too.”

“Maybe we can find some supplies in the botanical garden?” Ace suggested.

“Let’s take a look.” Deuce said, and the four of them headed off to look.

_—_—_

“Whoa, I didn’t realize this place was so huge.” Ace commented, looking around. Yuu agreed. ‘Prestigious, top 5 magic school’ indeed.

“If it’s this large, it’s got to have a groundskeeper.” Deuce deduced. “Let’s split up and look.”

“Sure.” Ace agreed. “Dibs on the right side.”

“Then how about I go left, and Grim and his prefect go straight ahead?”

Yuu nodded, “Sounds good to me. Grim?”

“Let’s go!” Grim cheered, and as the four of them split up, he started to quietly chant about all of the tarts he was going to be able to eat.

‘What a greedy little fucker.’ Yuu thought fondly. He was almost cute, like a little kid. Hmm, how old is Grim anyways? Do monsters age differently than humans? Probably. But is he just childish or an actual child? What was Grim’s life before this? All she knew about him was that he wanted to become a great mage and would stop at nothing to get there.

“Hey Grim-” Yuu started.

“Hey, come take a look at this!” Grim cut her off, presumably not even noticing that she wanted to talk to him. “There’s a ton of fruit growing here! Smells like they’re ripe, too!”

Yuu had a habit of looking down when they walked. They never knew when they might step in something they didn’t want to, you know? It was just a small habit, but Yuu’s eyes were so fixed on Grim that they when they felt something under their feet, they weren’t sure what it was.

“Did I just step…?” Yuu commented, moving back and seeing what was under their feet. A stray stick or something? But it felt softer than that-

“Hey, you got some nerve steppin’ on my tail like that.” Came a gruff voice. It belonged to a man with dark skin and hair, bright green eyes and a scar over one of them. He looked tired, like he just got rudely awoken. He was wearing a white button down with a yellow vest, and black pants with a golden stripe down the sides like the other students. The weirdest thing about him — to her, at least — was the fact that he had animal ears on the top of his head and a tail with a tuft of fur at the end. She felt like she’s seen him somewhere before.

Yuu was still processing what he was saying and what she was seeing, so before she could apologize Grim came up to them and said, “Are you the groundskeeper? Not sure you oughta be talking to students that way, pal.”

“Ain't nothing worse than bein’ in the middle of a good nap and havin’ some jerk step on your tail.” The man with the scar and… lion? Ears said.

“I am so sorry!” Yuu quickly apologized with a bow. Internally she was thinking ‘Then maybe don’t leave your tail on the path…?’ though.

The man’s green eyes were bright against his dark skin, and she felt it when he looked her up and down, taking her in. It sent chills down her spine. “You… I know you.” He said. In the back of her mind, she quipped, ‘Yeah that’s almost my name!’ but she knew better than to actually say that. The beastman got off of the rock he was napping on and started to approach her. She took a step back, this guy was giving her bad vibes. “You’re that herbivore that couldn’t use magic.” He said and took a step too close, right into her personal space. She did not feel safe around this guy who… sniffed her?!?

“Are you… smelling me?!” She said, glancing behind herself so as to not to step on anything else as she backed away from this guy. “I-I know that I haven’t been able to get the showers to work yet but-!” She quickly said, because she didn’t know what else to do aside from just running away from this guy. If she tried that, would he follow? She doesn’t think she’d be able to escape if he grabbed her- and- Grim’s here! He could- could he? Ace and Deuce?

“Huh. It’s true.” The strange man said casually. “You don’t smell of magic at all. Well, can't say it'd be much fun to hurt someone so helpless. Still gonna do it, though.” What does that mean? She can’t fight back against this guy! He was too tall, probably really strong, and she was so- so weak!

She stepped even further away, cowering in on herself. What was going to happen to her?! What was he going to do to her?!

“I dunno what’s up with this guy, but when he looks at me, it makes every strand of fur stand on end…” Grim commented. Yuu wholeheartedly agreed. Why did she agree to split up?

“No one gets to stomp on my tail and just walk away without payin' the price.” The tall, strong, scary beastman threatened. “I'm in a bad mood on account of bein' woken up from my nap, too. That's gonna cost you a tooth.”

“Please, no!” Was all she could think to get out. In the back of her mind, for some reason her first thought was that she couldn’t afford to pay anything, which was very inappropriate given the situation.

“Yuu! Cheese it!” Grim said, pulling her hand away from where she clamped it to her head, crouching and bracing for impact.

Before they could make a run for it, and before the beastman could try attacking her – or worse – a voice came and stopped everything before it could start.

“Leona! There you are!”

“Heh?” The beastman – Leona? – stopped. Yuu’s heart was racing. Their body relaxed, just the slightest amount, as they turned their head to see the newcomer.

“I knew I’d find you here!” Scowled a fair skinned scrawny boy. He had freckles all over and messy blond hair with brown peeking through at the roots. He also had animal’s ears — Yuu wasn’t sure what kind – and was wearing their school uniform. He had the same yellow vest as the one Yuu was about to get attacked by. The newcomer didn’t even seem to notice her and Grim, too focused on ‘Leona’ to even register the crouched woman and cat with fire in it’s ears. “We got after-school classes today, remember?”

“Ugh… and now I’ve got this guy on my tail.” Leona complained, like he was the one who had it the worst and not the girl he was about to beat up cause he was a little cranky.

“Leona, you've already had to repeat one year. If you get held back again, we'll be in the same grade!” The newcomer reminded Leona as a warning and reprimand.

“Oh, put a sock in it already. I'm tired of all yer yappin', Ruggie.” Leona told the other. Ruggie, presumably.

“Look, you think I like always being on your case?” Ruggie complained now. “C'mon, man. You act like it'd be hard for you. You could skate through life if you'd just TRY. Come on! Let's go already!”

Leona looked down at her like she was the dirt on his shoes. “You… you’re a girl, ain’tcha?”

Where was he going with this? She slowly, weakly nodded.

“Hmph.” He scoffed. “You really do have all the worst cards, huh? Don’t think I’d’ve gone easy on ya just cause you’re a girl. A herbivore is still a herbivore, after all.”

The two beastmen looked down upon her, and not just cause she was still crouching.

“Since I’m a nice guy, I’ll give you a word of advice,” Leona said. Ruggie scoffed at that. “Either toughen up or get out. And either way, the next time you stink up my territory, there's gonna be a price to pay, herbivores!”

As the two turned to leave, Grim exclaimed, “Myah! I don't like the sound of that! What is up with this nutso?”

Yuu’s heart slowed, and she slouched down, falling into a sitting position. She pulled one of her knees up close to her head and rested it on it.

“Yeaaah,” She drawed out, feeling all of her emotions leave. “I don’t think he’s the groundskeeper.”

Her face was turned away from the direbeast, but it was like she could feel his concern. She couldn’t rally up any strength to feel any particular way about that.

“Yuu?” Grim said quietly. His voice was about as small as she felt. “Hey! Don’t feel bad about that guy! He’s- he’s nothing! I’m sure that I could take ‘im no problem!”

Instinctively, Yuu knew to feel soft at the attempt to cheer her up. A shame it wasn’t working.

“Cause- Cause I was able to take that scary phantom! Y’know, I was just bein’ nice, lettin’ Ace and Ortho takin’ so much credit, but it was really all me!” Grim continued. “So that, ‘Leona’ guy, he would’ve stood no chance against the Great Grim! Don’t worry, I’d never let my henchman get hurt like that! So, so… Yuu?”

Yuu’s body felt like lifting lead when they grabbed Grim, pulling him close. “I wanna go home.” She weakly said.

“We don’t have to gather chestnuts. Ace an’ Deuce can do it fine themselves.” Grim told her, as he cuddled them back.

Yuu felt themselves shake their head.

The two of them stayed like that for a little while. The weight and warmth that Grim gave was nice.

“Let’s go.” They eventually said, attempting to rise. It was hard, holding Grim so tight with both their arms.

“To Ramshackle?” Grim questioned.

“Mm-mm.” They hummed. “It’s, I’ll be fine. Let’s get… Let’s go get those chestnuts.” They said, picking themselves up once more. For real this time.

“Are you sure?” Grim asked. “I mean, as your boss-”

“Grim.” They stopped him. “I’m. It’s fine.”

Grim whined. “Okay.” He quietly responded.

_—_—_

“Yo, guys, we found baskets and tongs.” Ace said, like everything was normal. Of course. Ace and Deuce’s faces fell when they saw the state of the two Ramshackle students.

“What in the world happened to you two?” Deuce asked worriedly.

Grim looked up at Yuu. “Should I tell em? About that creepy not-groundskeeper?”

Yuu shook their head. They- they didn’t want to think about it. “It’s, it’s whatever. Just- I dunno. I don’t care. I’m fine. I don’t…”

Yuu wished that they had some headphones. They wished that they could just put on a good symphony, to calm down as they picked out every single instrument in a piece. The violins and violas. Every plucking of a string and every striking of a bell. Every single instrument. Mentally trying to figure out each note. Wondering if they could be a one person symphony. How many instruments in a piece that they knew how to play? That’s nice. That would be nice. What kind of music does this world have? Any new instruments? They wanted to learn to play.

Yuu missed music. Why couldn’t they just lay on their bed and pick everything out like they so wished?

They’d have to settle for picking chestnuts instead.

_—_—_

Adesius entered her room. It had been an endeavor to slowly personalize it to her liking. It still didn’t look like her old room, not yet. But that’s fine. What was most important was what she was making, not her decorating.

She was wondering what gear to make. Collage gear? It might make her feel better, but she’s not a student yet. She wants something to be able to use now.

Part of her wanted to make her Fairy Gala gear. It was by far her favorite. It’s what helped her realize so many things. It was the physical representation of her growth, her transition, her evolution, her self. But, the true form of that gear, the pink version, was a group project. She missed her friends. She wanted to recreate that gear with them, not by herself. Plus, that gear was far too fancy to casually use, sadly.

Her third thought was the one she ended up going with.

It was a gear that she initially made because she and her friends decided to go roller skating. But it eventually just became the gear that she used whenever she just wanted to go about town. Her Casual Gear.

It was perfect, really. It even had an eye mask so when she recreated it, it’d make her feel so much better about her straight teeth in her Burst and Precision gears! She wondered if she should change her hair. She let it down loose for this gear, and she wondered if she should just straight up make the hair black instead of her usual cursed-Shroud style. It could be a fun reversal, right now her hair was fire and her teeth were straight, but in this, her hair would be normal and her teeth would be sharp.

In the original version of the gear, her chest flame was covered in a similar fashion to her Playful gear, so it’s not like that will draw much attention. Of course, there’s the fact that she’s… pretty obviously non human. Being seen would make it pretty obvious that this one technomantic humanoid is most likely this other technomantic humanoid, but that didn’t matter. She just… She just wanted to exist as herself!

Her programming told her she was wrong. Like every time she uses she/her, or calls herself “Adesius.” She could tell that once she finishes this gear – and she’s only about halfway done sadly. She might have to take out some of the lasers in order to speed up production and reduce suspicion at the lack of materials there were before – her programming will be screaming at her. “This is not who you are.” But she knows. She knows who she is.

Adesius looked at the unfinished face matching hers. It felt weird to see her own face without a mask on. That was a mark or Agetes, not Adesius. She ran her hand down her new gear’s face, gently.

She’ll get there soon.

_—_—_

“...And then he peaced out!” Yuu vaguely heard Grim say from within her arms. He was heavy, and she was sore, but she didn’t want to let him go.

“Yeah, no way that guy was the groundskeeper.” Ace agreed after hearing the full story. Yuu vaguely recognized that their feet had already taken them all the way to the wood behind campus.

“Y’know, now that I think about it, he WAS wearin’ the golden vest of that Pajama-clog dorm.” Grim recalled.

“Pajama… clog?” Deuce repeated, thinking. “You mean Savanaclaw? You know, I’m starting to think there’s an awful lot of delinquents here at Night Raven…”

“You know though,” Ace spoke again. “You’ve totally been through worse than a creepy guy, here, haven’t ya? I mean like, between being thrown into a different world, being forced to live in that- uh- rustic, dorm you call Ramshackle, and nearly being expelled and having to fight a phantom about it, I feel like dealing with that guy would’ve been a breeze. I don’t get what’s got you all shaken up over there, Prefect.”

Yuu’s vision turned towards the ginger. Quickly, it darted to the ground as they let go of Grim.

It was all they could, as they shoved their hands in their pockets and marched off, to mumble out, “知っています. ただ、私を放っておいてください”

As they continued to walk away, they heard all three boys go, “…What?!”

Notes:

I would apologize to Leona for being portrayed in such a bad light, but that would require him to not do what he did, so I’m not lol. I feel the need to clarify, Yuu has never been assaulted before, I do not write them as such, but an experience like that is close enough and Yuu knows how often things like that happen, so her brain was making connections and it really shook her up because of it. Leona says equal rights equal fights lol

Also! The “casual gear” I mentioned, it’s an outfit I’ve designed for her before! I made it because I went roller skating and while back and ofc I have to imagine my favorite characters doing the same things as me, so the freshmen were going skating too. I’ve decided that it’s just a “going out to town” gear by now though, so yeah! Context for that!

Also, I don’t speak Japanese, so I used a translator, so if there’s anything wrong with it, then that’s why

Chapter 18: Chap 18

Summary:

They meet up with Trey, Yuu gets some music, and ADeuce and Grim explain what happened to Trey. Meanwhile Ortho- wait, where’s Adesius? What do you mean she’s not in this chapter? I don’t care if you couldn’t think of a good enough snippet for her, she’s the main character! “It’s already written and you just want to be done with it”? I’m sure you can do better than-

Notes:

Yeaaahhhh y’know how I’ve been complaining there’s been nothing to do with Adesius lately and she just kinda pops in for a bit to remind everyone that she’s still the MC? Uhhh yeah, she’s taking a rest day this chapter, yeah, talking to Riddle like that like 2 chapters ago really took it out of her, she needs to rest and recuperate by continuing to work on her Casual Gear with no new and interesting thoughts, sorry. Have some Trey POV instead I guess? I know it’s not really an equal trade, but yeah

lol

“All right, that should be enough chestnuts.” Ace said as they all brought in their own hauls to compare. It was fun to turn it into a challenge of who could collect the most. Yuu still wasn’t feeling nearly 100% yet though, but they felt a little better. “Let’s get these baskets over to Trey!”

“Myahaha! Now that we're all gassed up, it's destination: Flavortown, baby!” Grim cheered. He looked over to Yuu and said, “Though we could still ditch these two losers and reap the rewards later.”

“Oh no you won’t.” Ace told Grim, not realizing that Grim was trying to be nice to Yuu. “I am not carrying all of this with just me an Deuce.”

“You’re not the boss of me!” Grim shot back.

“レッツゴー” Yuu said. They still couldn’t slip back into English, so it was probably best that they didn’t say anything, but. It’s been a while since they’ve spoken Japanese, and it felt better than not saying anything at all. To accentuate their point though, they picked up one of the baskets and started to walk away.

“I think that means she’s coming with us.” Deuce said.

“Either that or she’s stealing ‘em.” Ace deadpanned, picking up his own basket.

“Myaha! More for us.” Grim laughed.

“But then you wouldn’t get tarts.” Deuce pointed out.

“Oh yeah…” Grim remembered.

Being around such lively people was kinda nice, at times like these. Yuu still wished that they could have some headphones or earbuds to listen to music with, but oh well. Maybe Trey could have some? And Ortho looked like he was wearing headphones, even if it was just how he was designed. Maybe Ortho could get some for them if Trey didn’t? Ah, but they’d need a phone or a music player to even use those headphones or earbuds, so who knows. Cater said that he’d be willing to buy one with them, and again, Ortho is literally made of technology, so it probably wouldn’t be too much hassle for him either, right? They haven’t seen Ortho since last night.

Fucking hell, they haven’t seen Ortho since last night. It already feels like it’s been a week since then. Fuck.

_—_—_

“Welcome back. Looks like you got plenty!” Trey greeted them.

“Now you can make us some massive tarts!” Grim grinned.

“Well, the bigger the tarts, the harder it’ll be to peel all these nuts, so… good luck with that!” Trey said. Yuu still felt so hollow that they couldn’t even muster up the energy to get annoyed at that.

“We have to peel all of these…?” Deuce muttered. “Suddenly the whole room is spinning…”

“Preparation is the key to good baking.” Trey smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. We’ve come this far. We’re not giving up now!” Ace declared.

Yuu’s eyes were all but glued to the floor. It was almost pathetic, they think, how they walked up to Trey and tugged on his sleeve.

“Huh? What’s up, Yuu?” Trey asked. She lifted her head to meet his eyes, and with the closer look he asked, “Are you doing okay? Did something happen?”

“Ah, that. She’s been like this for awhile.” Ace said.

“Yeah, it’s this whole story with this jerk in the botanical garden!” Grim spoke up.

“Jerk in the botanical garden…?” Trey pondered.

Ugh… Yuu didn’t want to tell him about why she’s feeling bad she just wants some music.

Yuu pointed to their ears. Their brain didn’t want to speak english. Honestly, they barely wanted to speak at all.

“Your ears? Do you want earplugs? Earbuds? Work with me here.” Trey said.

“Ah, actually-” Deuce was about to say.

“H-headophones.” They said, japanese accent loud and proud.

“Headphones?” Trey repeated. Yuu nodded. “Do you want to listen to music? Or noise cancelling?”

“Mu-siku.” They got out. Ugh, this was almost annoying.

“Okay. I can get you something, I think. Might take a minute though.” Trey said. Yuu nodded again. “You three.” Trey turned his attention to the others. “You said you know what happened to her? Can you fill me in when I get back?”

“Yeah, sure.” Grim agreed.

“Okay. Can you all start peeling the chestnuts? I’ll be back soon.” Trey said.

All of them responded with the affirmative. But Yuu’s voice was by far the weakest, and most importantly, not in english. Trey got a funny look on his face hearing the foreign language, but brushed it off pretty quickly, leaving them alone.

“Can I be the first to say I’m not confident at all about this?” Deuce spoke up once Trey left.

“Eh, I’m sure it can’t be that hard.” Ace said, picking up a chestnut to peel. “What say we turn this into a competition too? Whosever chestnuts are the best peeled with the most amount of peeled chestnuts wins.” He grinned cheekily at them.

Yuu didn’t feel that confident, but everyone agreed anyways.

_—_—_

Yuu felt something clamp over their ears. What was it? An attack?! Who’s behind-

Oh. Oh it’s just Trey.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” He smiled, not seeming that offended.

“Mm.” They confirmed with a small nod.

“My bad, I didn’t mean to. I found some headphones for you though, from Cater, actually. He said that you can keep them for now.” Trey explained. Yuu took the headset off to look at them. It was an orange color that sorta reminded them of him. “And here’s some music to chose from. I didn’t know what you’d like.”

Trey handed them an… mp3 player? Heh, they used to have one of these, back in their world. An old birthday, or Christmas? Gift from Ken. But, Ken was still so young back then. Six, maybe? So Yuu had always just assumed that it was a gift from their parents with Ken’s name tacked on since he didn’t know how to pick out gifts yet. Yuu remembered the way little Ken’s face shone when Yuu opened the present though.

Yuu missed Ken. Annoying brat that he can be. And they missed their parents too. And their grandparents as well, and aunts and uncles and cousins. Yuu missed them all.

Yuu wanted to go home. But they couldn’t. So this little slice of comfort was all that they could afford right now.

“ありがとうございます” Yuu thanked quietly, putting the headphones back on and taking the red mp3 player in their hands to chose a song from.

Trey didn’t understand their words, and his face looked a bit funny at the use of the other language, but he seemed to understand the sentiment all the same.

“Hey, it’s no problem. Cater says so too.” He told them. Yuu nodded at the words, their eyes fixed on the english words on the screen.

Yuu was mixed. Japanese and white American. Call it a stereotype, but Yuu was probably a model for what most people, Japanese people, let’s be real here, would think of when they thought of a mixed kid. Almond eyes that were bright blue, and able to speak and read both languages fluently.

But their mind was still so jumbled, so dead, that the letters that they can usually read with no issue were making no sense at all. They think they can blame the probable neurodivergence for that one too, though.

‘Well, whatever.’ They thought, choosing a random song. They don’t know any of these songs anyways, most likely. So knowing the name or not probably wouldn’t help much anyways. Let’s see what they get.

_—_—_

Trey watched as Yuu chose a song and put the small device in her pocket.

“So.” He started. “Can any of you tell me what happened?”

There were piles of peeled chestnuts, each with varying degrees of excellence. The pile next to Grim was the biggest, but the least proper, Yuu’s were the best peeled, but the smallest in size, and Ace and Deuce were in the middle of that, with Ace having a couple of bad ones at the bottom of his pile but eventually evening out as he went on, and Deuce was still struggling a bit with his.

“Yeah!” Grim immediately piped up, an angry expression on his face. “Like I said, it was because of this jerk in the botanical garden!”

Trey looked back at Yuu. Her face was still pretty flat, but with the music it almost looked like there was a small smile forming on her lips as her head bobbed along to the music. She continued to peel the chestnuts slowly and steadily. She didn’t seem to be listening to them anymore.

“Yeah? What did he do?” Trey asked further.

“Well, ya’ see,” Grim started.

_—_—_

“Ahh, so that’s what happened. Yeah, I can see how that situation might be rough for a girl like her to handle, especially with all the other dresses she has on top of that.” Trey said after hearing the story.

“Like, I get being grumpy cause your tail got stepped on when you were napping, I wouldn’t be happy ‘bout that either, but that guy had some serious issues.” Grim continued.

“And she’s barely spoken a word outside of that… I’ll be honest I’m not sure what she’s speaking, but she’s barely said anything outside of that language since then.” Deuce said.

“What I don’t get is why she’s so worked up over it.” Ace said. “I mean, we’ve faced worse than some jerk. Is it cause she was alone?”

“Hey! I was with her.” Grim pointed out.

“And you were going to help… how?” Ace asked him.

“I, uh- woulda blasted him with my amazing fire of course!” Grim said. “He would’ve been limpin’ back to his dorm with his tail between his legs!”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” Ace said, clearly unconvinced.

“I unfortunately think I know who you’re talking about.” Trey spoke up.

“Oh really? Who? I’ll make sure he gets what’s comin’ to him!” Grim said, puffing himself up like a cat. Is it safe for him to be in the kitchen, actually?

“Haha,” Trey chuckled weakly. “Your attitude is certainly good, I’ll give you that, but I doubt he’d go down that easy. You’re talking about Leona Kingscholar, I’m sure of it. He’s a lion beastman and the head of Savanaclaw House. Not someone you wanna get in the way of, I’ll tell you that. It’s lucky that Ruggie found him before he could do anything to you guys.”

“The housewarden?” Grim said.

“Yep. It was definitely better to run than charge him.” Trey said.

Grim growled at that thought. He seemed to really care about Yuu already, at least in this context. Trey looked back at her, and found her pile had already increased quite a bit. Seems the music was really helping her.

“And as for that language.” Trey started again. “Sounds like it could be from the east? I’m not entirely sure. I suspected her of having eastern decent anyways, but I’m not an expert so I’m not sure which language it could be. And, uh, the ‘being from another world’ thing probably doesn’t help either.” It was still hard for Trey to wrap his head around that. He wasn’t sure if he actually believed her when she said it, but why else would the Dark Mirror not be able to send her home? It was on the fritz and in order to cover it up they just said that she was from a different world, maybe? Heh, probably not though. Poor girl.

“I know it’s not the language from the Land of Red Dragons.” Deuce said.

“Oh yeah? How d’you know?” Ace asked.

“Oh, my grandma’s from there. Can’t speak it for the life of me, and don’t ask me to read it’s characters, but I understand it well enough.” Deuce said. Hm. Wasn’t expecting that one. He could see it, though.

“Oh damn. Cool.” Ace said, he also obviously didn’t expect that.

“Besides that, I have no clue though.” Deuce said. “Though, now that I think about it, her accent sounds familiar. I think she might’ve slipped into it a little last night when she started crying and all that.”

“Oh yeah, I think you’re right!” Ace agreed.

“Yeah, and right after meeting that Leona guy too, before she just started speaking the language proper.” Grim added.

“Wait, she was crying last night?” Trey asked, hung up on that detail.

The three of them stopped their conversation and looked over at him, it was obvious that they weren’t telling him something from how wide their eyes went.

“...I was going to say that if she’s really from another world and was in risk of being thrown out of the only place she can stay, heck, the fact that the place that she can stay is that ramshackle dorm, it was fair that she started to cry. But, know I think there’s something more going on here.”

The three of them looked at each other, seemingly trying to have a silent conversation. Before they gave up that idea and huddled together, whispering at each other. Which was more like hissing. That Trey could very much hear.

“Do we tell him?” Deuce asked uncertain.

“I mean, we did do something pretty cool. He might think we’re awesome for it.” Ace said back. Trey wondered that skeptically.

“Yeah, but I don’t know… feels almost like something to keep under wraps?” Deuce said back. Well now Trey definitely wanted to know.

He thought about asking Yuu, who was still bobbing her head to the music, their pile ever increasing of peeled chestnuts.

Nah, probably shouldn’t. She’s already in a really bad mood, and he didn’t want to ruin it further. Especially now since the music seemed to help her a lot. Her face was still pretty blank, entirely focused on the task at hand.

“I agree with Ace! We did do something pretty amazing!” Grim said. Okay, that wasn’t even a whisper, that was just talking a bit quietly.

“You think? I mean- I know it was pretty cool, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure if it’s something we should be parading around.” Deuce argued. What could have happened last night?

“Hmm, I’ll be honest, I’m still not sure about Ortho and his involvement in it all, and it’d be a lot to explain…” Ace said. Ortho, huh? Maybe Trey could seek him out if these three agree not to tell him.

“I still think that we should show off a little.” Grim said.

“Not that I don’t agree with that.” Ace said.

“I guess maybe telling him about it would be the right thing to do…?” Deuce conceded. “I mean, it was pretty bad.” Oh? Where they going to tell him? Saves him the trouble of finding Idia’s “brother.”

“So… We tell him?” Ace asked.

“Yeah.” Deuce nodded.

“Yeah!” Grim said, not even trying to whisper anymore.

The three of them turned back to Trey. This oughta be good.

“There was a phantom in the mines and we beat it.” Ace said bluntly.

“...A what?” Trey asked. That sounded… almost familiar? Maybe from class?

“Wait, you don’t know?” Deuce questioned. “Ortho seemed pretty knowledgeable.”

Ace looked a little unsure now, but kept his confidence saying, “A phantom. Like, you know, an overblot? When someone overblots, their like… I dunno, extra blot? Turns into this monster thing.”

“...And this thing, was in the mines… And you defeated it?” Trey questioned.

“It’s true! You can ask Ortho!” Deuce defended.

“Yeah! It was really creepy too, growling about not giving us it’s ‘stooonesss’ or whatever!” Grim added.

“No, no, it’s not that I don’t believe you.” Trey said. It was a little unbelievable, but way more believable than some girl getting sent to their world from another one. Trey pushed his glassed up. “It’s just a hard thing for me to wrap my head around, is all. You beat something like that?”

“You better believe it!” Grim boasted. Trey wondered how loud Yuu’s music was, or how focused she was, to not stir with their talking. “Me and Ace combined our magic to attack the thing, but I did most of the work-”

“Whaaat? Like hell! If anyone was carrying us, it was me!” Ace argued back.

“Nuh uh!” Grim argued.

“Yuh huh!” Ace said.

“Okay, okay, I think that’s enough.” Trey cut in, sensing the growing argument. “Something like that… really was in the mines?”

“Yessir.” Deuce confirmed once more. “It seemed like Ortho knew a lot about it, so he’d probably be the best reference if you want to find out more.”

So he’d have to find that weird kid after all, huh? Damn. “I think I will, thanks.”

“Of course!” Deuce lit up.

“Well… I see that you’re almost done, but let’s finish things up. Sorry that I wasn’t here to show you how to peel them.” Trey said, deciding to brush… THAT off and get back to the task at hand. Baking is what he knows how to deal with.

“Oh! Yeah, Trey, how do you think mine look?” Ace piped up, looking proud of himself.

“Oooo, yeah, yeah! How’s about mine?” Grim pulled the attention towards him.

“And mine!” Deuce asked as well.

Being both an older brother and vice housewarden meant that Trey was used to being pulled in all different directions, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t any less tiring.

“Yes, yes, one at a time.” Trey said. He already knew that this group was going to be a lot, between the magicless prefect, the monster who crashed orientation, and the four of them breaking a chandelier and nearly getting expelled, but seeing it in person? A whole different beast.

At the very least he was able to get some free help out of it, so that helps even it out.

“What?! Look at mine and Ace’s, you can barely tell them apart!” Grim protested when Trey said that Ace had the best peels out of the three of them.

“Hah! Yeah right, get over the fact I beat you!” Ace shot back at the little beast.

“Ugh… I can’t believe it, I need to get better…” Deuce muttered to himself.

“It’s seirously my fault for not showing you how to peel them before I left, so don’t beat yourselves up too much over it.” Trey said, playing the mediator. “Though, I’ll be honest, if I had to give out an award, it’d probably go to Yuu over there. She’s got the best peels and her chestnut pile isn’t anything to sneeze at either.”

That snapped all three of them out of their thoughts as they looked over to the ‘prefect of Ramshackle House.’

“When did that happen?!” The three of them shouted looking at the growing pile of chestnuts that she had been steadily peeling while they talked and bickered. Trey snickered at their shock.

Yuu innocently looked up — probably for the first time since Trey got back — not knowing what they were shouting about. It didn’t even seem like she noticed her pile of perfectly peeled chestnuts had doubled since she got her tunes.

Yuu decided to brush it off, though, as she went back to grabbing a new chestnut and methodically peeling it, her head ever bobbing to her music.

“Does listening to music help that much?” Deuce questioned.

“It probably depends on who you ask, and what songs.” Trey replied. “Whatever ends up working for you.”

“Hmm…” Deuce hummed as he thought about that.

“Hey, hey! Since me and Yuu are a pair, does her pile count for me?” Grim tried to bargain.

Trey couldn’t help but snort. “Good try, but not a chance.”

“Aw man…” Grim lamented.

“Mann, and here I was thinking I was totally gonna win…” Ace complained. “Hey, why am I giving up now? I can still win this!” He said, grabbing one of the few chestnuts left.

“Hey, no fair!” Deuce said, quickly grabbing one as well.

“I’m not going down that easy!” Grim said, getting his own.

‘Well, at least they’re entertaining to watch.’ Trey thought about the three troublemakers before him. And as long as the chestnuts are still edible by the end, it doesn’t really matter if they’re perfectly peeled or not. Just means they’re getting peeled faster. Even if it did hurt Trey a little to see how bad some of their work was…

Notes:

“Why does Yuu speaking with an accent actually come across in the text this chapter but not the other times it’s mentioned she did?” Uhh cause she didn’t notice it? It’s a retcon? Idk. I hate writing accents for the most part anyway, so just shhhh

Yeah for Epel I’ll probably employ the tactic of just writing out what he’s saying and have the other characters either comment in their heads or out loud about the use of his accent instead of actually writing it because I haaateeee ittttt. Except for when I’m taking dialogue straight from the game. Then I’ll probably write his accent. Yeah this is something I can tell I’m gonna be inconsistent with, so apologies in advance (and for doing so already)

Btw I’m not bilingual, or at the very least absolutely nowhere NEAR conversational in anything other than English (my native language, if you couldn’t tell lol) so does Yuu’s brain refusing to use English actually make sense? Probably not! But Idrc lol

Chapter 19: Chap 19

Summary:

Going out to get more ingredients, and Ortho cameo

Notes:

Hi! Sorry for taking awhile to update this! I lost motivation to write this for a bit — not that I ever planned to drop it, mind you, just focusing more on drawing and scrolling on my phone — and then when I DID write, it was one shots for my newest series, Heartslafam, which focuses on, you guessed it, the Heartslabyul crew! So if you are a fan of those guys or just want to read more of my stuff, I recommend those!

Also, happy pride everyone! Always and forever recommending my transfem Ortho fic, There’s A She-Wolf In Your Closet, Open Up And Set Her Free so go read that if you haven’t already! I just figured I’d bring it up because, y’k, pride. I know I don’t have to convince people of tgirl Ortho if you’ve made it this far into the fic, but like. Still.

Oh, and like, the slightest bit of self harm. I don’t think it’s too bad, but like, it’s still there so I figured I’d mention it. It’s near the very end. Again, nothing too bad, but it is technically that

There were no more chestnuts to puree. They should probably start to pay attention again.

“-inally got ‘em all pureed!” Yuu heard Ace cheer, taking one half of the headphones off.

“My arm is killing me…” Deuce whined.

“Nice work. It’ll be all the sweeter for your pain!” Trey assured them with a smile.

“The smell alone already has me droolin’...” Grim said.

“I just need to add butter and sugar to the chestnut paste, and a sensible splash of oyster sauce - that's my secret ingredient!” Trey said, holding a bottle of the stuff. Admittedly, that didn’t sound right, but they didn’t have enough cooking/baking knowledge to dispute it.

“Oyster sauce?!” Ace and Deuce both exclaimed in confusion.

“Yep.” Trey confirmed. “The umami of the oysters gives the cream a deep, savory flavor. I use this one here: Walrus-brand Young Oyster Sauce. All the best bakers use it in their tarts.” He explained.

“Really?” Deuce asked. “But isn’t oyster sauce like, super salty?”

“Some folks put chocolate into curry, don’t they?” Ace reasoned. “Maybe it’s the same idea.”

“Pfft… Ah ha ha ha!” Trey started to laugh. “I’m totally lying! No one in their right mind would put oyster sauce into a pastry.” He told them, chuckling all the while.

“What?! So you were just yankin’ our chain?” Ace yelled out.

“Ah ha ha!” Trey laughed at his outrage. “I mean, if you’d use your brain, you’d have realized how ridiculous it was! Let that be a lesson to you. Don’t believe everything you hear.”

Well, he was the one teaching them how to bake. He was supposed to tell them the truth at times like this. How were they supposed to know?

“Feh.” Grim scoffed. “And here I thought that human was actually somewhat decent.”

“Next, I’ll put in some cream… Oh!” Trey stopped himself.

“What’s wrong?” Ace asked.

“You guys gathered so many chestnuts that we may have overdone it with the chestnut paste.” Trey explained. “I don't think we have enough cream to mix in.”

“Then I’ll go buy some.” Deuce volunteered. “Do they sell it at the school store?”

“They sell pretty much everything, so... probably.” Trey considered. “Can I have you pick me up a few other things? I need two cartons of milk, two packs of eggs, some muffin cups, five cans of fruit…” He trailed off, finding a piece of paper to write everything down on.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to carry all that back.” Deuce said, before looking over to her. “Yuu, could… I mean, wait, if you’re alright-”

Yuu calmly got up from where they were sitting, placing their headphones back on properly. Yuu made a beckoning motion for Deuce to follow them.

Yuu saw his lips move, but she couldn’t hear a word. Perhaps she should turn down the volume…

Grim’s mouth also moved, as he jumped onto her shoulders, causing Yuu to stumble a bit. He was so heavy… Oh well. Guess it’s the three of them then.

Trey gave the list to Deuce and so now, to find the school store. It’ll probably be helpful to know for later down the line…

_—_—_

Adesius wondered what the others would think of certain materials going missing. She had gotten making her gears down to a science, especially if she’s going to leave out things like her lasers, so if she were allowed just another hour uninterrupted, she’d probably be able to finish her Casual Gear.

But in order to finish her Casual Gear, she needs the proper materials to do so. And while the students in her dorm may not be the most socially outgoing on the majority, there’s still plenty of kids hanging around. It was such a struggle to get what she needed without being detected, she often had to get the bare minimum, otherwise her Casual Gear may very well have been done by now.

Not to mention the other thing on her back preventing her from finishing her gear…

As if right on cue, Adesius got pinged.

Big Brother: yo, wanna play a game together?

Ugh. She always got pulled away from what she was doing because of him.

No! Be quiet, Adesius! It’s not his fault he wants to hang out with his brother!

It’s the reason she exists, after all…

So stop thinking such rude things about him! You love him! You can finish later! You’ve already decided to play the long game, waiting to wear your Casual Gear a while longer isn’t the end of the world. Now go have fun with your brother!

…

Well, whatever.

ORTHO: ofc! Just give me a minute to finish what I was doing!

Big Brother: alr

She still needs to pack up her progress for safe keeping, either way.

_—_—_

As the three of them walked into the school store – Mr. S’s Mystery Shop, apparently – Yuu took off their headphones and paused their music. The world felt quiet. At the very least they didn’t have a weight named Grim on her shoulders anymore.

“Hello, can I get some he- Whoa.” Deuce started, but stopped as he got distracted from all the Stuff they had here. Yuu found themself getting lost in it all as well. “This shop is wild. They have crystal skulls, grimoires, taxidermied... Uh, I don't even know what animal that is!”

“You think they really seel cream here?” Grim asked, unsure.

“Greetings, my stray imps,” Came a voice, making Yuu jump. She instinctively hid behind Deuce, placing a hand on him. “How fare you today? Welcome to Mr. Sam's Mystery Shop. What among my humble selection interests you?” ‘Humble’ sure is a way to describe the collection. This is probably Sam, then? “A charm from a secluded land? The mummified remains of an ancient king? A cursed tarot card?”

“Myah! I wasn't expectin' this kinda selection.” Grim said, and Yuu couldn’t help but agree. It was then that Yuu realized that they had accidentally clung onto Deuce.

“ああ！ごめんなさい!” Yuu backed off, apologizing.

Deuce looked confused at her words once more, but it seems he understood it as the apology it was. “You’re fine, Yuu.” He turned back to Mr. Sam and held up the list that Trey had given him. “Um, we wanted to to buy all the items on this list…”

“Ring up two cans of tuna while you’re at it!” Grim tried to squeeze in.

“No, Grim! We’re not here for tuna!” Deuce instantly shut him down.

“What’s this?” Mr. Sam asked, taking the list from Deuce and examining it. “Cream and eggs and… Quite the sacchariferous list! I’ll get everything for you.” He told them, walking off to find the items.

“Whoa… He really does stock that stuff, huh?” Deuce said.

Deuce, and Yuu and Grim in turn, wandered up to the register while they waited for Mr. Sam to get back with their stuff. Yuu started to stim, just tapping each of her fingers to her thumb, going up and down the row of her fingers as she let themself zone out a bit.

Not for long, though, as soon enough Mr. Sam was back, holding their groceries in bags, placing it down to ring them up saying, “Here you go. It's pretty heavy… Are you sure you can carry this? Luckily for you, our 1/100th size flying saucers are 30% off today. Perfect for carrying groceries!”

Grim immediately jumped at the offer saying, “Ooh! Lemme see! That sounds awesome!”

“We’re fine, thank you.” Deuce cut in, taking the bags, of which Yuu followed suit. “Let’s go Grim, Yuu.”

Yuu nodded and walked away with him, leaving Grim to catch up screaming, “Myah! I didn’t realize today was National No Fun Allowed Day!”

“Very well.” Mr. Sam said. “Then until next time, my little imps. Do come again. Ciao!”

“Goodbye! And thank you again.” Deuce waved – as well as he could with heavy bags in his arms anyways – back to him, and Yuu nodded a bow.

_—_—_

Soon enough, they were out of the shop and back on Main Street. Man… Mr. Sam was not kidding when he said these bags were heavy…

“That store was amazing.” Deuce said.

“Yeah, and you’re amazingly cheap.” Grim told him.

“Who are you calling cheap?!” Deuce shot back instantly, getting that scary tone of voice again. “Hmph.” He huffed, looking over to Yuu and it was like that… what to call it? Punkish? Nature melted away into something softer. “Yuu, looks like you got the bag with all the cans. That must be heavy. Let me take that one. I've got a little trick for carrying heavy bags.”

“Trick?” Yuu asked, still heavy in her accent as Deuce took her bag from her and gave her his own.

“Yeah. My mom always used to stock up at sales, and the bags would get ridiculously heavy.” As he talked there was this soft smile on his face. Yuu could tell how much he cared about his mom. “I was the only man in the house, so I got to do all the heavy lifting, and- Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to monopolize the conversation.”

Yuu smiled fondly in return. “She had a good caretaker, huh?”

“No, it wasn’t like that at all.” Deuce said quickly. “The truth is I- Owww!” Deuce bumped into someone, causing him to drop his bags and fall to the ground.

“Myah! The eggs!” Grim exclaimed, seeing the yellow yolks seep out.

Deuce quickly rightened himself, as he fretted over the broken eggs, Yuu hovering over him to see if he was okay. “T-the carton of eggs is totally smashed! And now the bag’s dripping egg goo everywhere.”

“Ouch! Why don’t you watch where you’re- Hey!” The guy who Deuce crashed into said. He looked almost familiar? “You’re the jerks who broke the egg yolk on my carbonara!” Oh! That’s it! It’s Delinquent A and B from earlier today! What shitty luck to run into them again like this.

“I’ve had about enough of you punks. You need to learn your place!” Delinquent B threatened. Oh no, oh no no no, not another fight! Not right now! Well, they’d hate it at anytime, but especially right now!

Deuce got up from off the ground, silently taking them in. Yuu noticed the look in his eyes. “You're the ones who darted out at us from around a corner! And you picked a fight with us at lunch over an egg that you were still totally able to eat! And now you've destroyed six of OUR eggs!”

“Yeah! He’s right!” Grim backed Deuce up. Unthinking, Yuu took a couple steps back.

“So what? You sayin’ that was our fault?” Delinquent A accused. The small part of Yuu that was still calm enough to make quips said, ‘Yes, yes we are.’

“I am.” Deuce told them. “Please reimburse us for the eggs. And then apologize to the chickens.”

…What? What did the chickens have to do with this?

“Ooh, look who’s got his big boy pants on. You sure are makin’ a big deal outta some stupid eggs.” Delinquent B taunted, as if they weren’t the ones making a fuss about having the egg yolk on Delinquent A’s carbonara breaking in the first place. Yuu thinks they just want to start a fight.

“What?” Deuce said, so sharp it made Yuu jump a bit. Before he had been trying to keep his cool, but that seemed to get him the angriest. Yuu took a couple more steps back.

“They haven’t even touched the ground, so they’re still edible. Quit whinin’.” Yuu still thought that that was hypocritical of Delinquent A.

“You should thank us for savin’ ya the trouble of crackin’ ‘em!” Delinquent B mocked.

The two of them laughed. Yuu put their borrowed headphones back on, and slid down to sit against one of the statues. It was the one of the Queen of Hearts.

Yuu watched as Deuce spoke, causing the delinquents to stop their laughter. Through her music she was able to hear Deuce yell “THAT AIN’T FUNNY.” And with the look on his face mixed with his body language, Yuu wondered if they should start calling him Delinquent C. Yuu could only make out certain words from him, but it was clear that the two guys picking a fight with them weren’t expecting Deuce to match, or even outmatch, them.

Yuu couldn’t help but get curious of what he was saying, so Yuu took off one half of the headphones off to listen.

“-dden?!” Delinquent B said.

“You owe me six eggs. If ya ain't gonna pay me for ‘em, then you're gettin' a bruise for each one!” Deuce yelled back.

“Are you serious right now?!” Delinquent A exclaimed.

“Buckle up, jerks!” Deuce yelled, right before throwing a punch.

Yuu flinched away, putting the ear of the headphone back on.

They felt so fucking powerless.

_—_—_

Yuu was brought back to reality due to a gentle nudge. They lifted their head and was met by staring straight at Deuce’s cyan eyes. They rubbed their face and removed one ear of their headphones.

“Hey, sorry about that. Did I scare you?” Deuce asked guiltily.

Yuu averted their eyes. It was complicated. They noted Grim right next to them, and scooped him up.

“‘S fine.” Yuu told him, not looking at him. They stood up. Yuu’s body still screamed of aches from yesterday’s fight against the phantom. All this walking around this huge campus wasn’t helping either. But it’s whatever. They hoisted Grim up onto their shoulders, and bent down to pick up their bags.

“I’m serious! Are you okay?” Deuce pushed, standing up with her.

“私が大丈夫だと言ったら、デュースは私を放っておいてくれますか?” They muttered.

“What?” Deuce asked. “I can’t understand you when you talk like that! I’m trying to apologize over here!”

Ugh. She just wanted him to shut up. Does it really matter?

This place was so weird. It had magic, and talking monsters. And people were like anime characters, having all these unnatural hair and eye colors naturally! Unless wearing colored contacts and coloring your hair was so normalized here, but no one had any roots showing, at least no one she had talked to. Unless maybe that Ruggie guy counted.

Ortho was right when he said that there were maybe three genuinely good people at this school, so why does Deuce care?

Yuu didn’t know what to say. ‘Shut up’? ‘Let’s just bake this tart’? Would they even be able to say what they wanted? Ugh. This all sucked horrendously.

Yuu just wanted to go home. Dying their hair back to black would probably be best. Maybe Japan’s right for it’s “let there be only conformity, no outliers mentality.” At least then she knew what to do.

(Even if just who they were was outside the norm. Being half white and having such fierce blue eyes. And not to mention, she’s a girl yes, but…)

(They wanted to hang out in the sun room of their American grandparent’s house. Not like America was flawless, far from it, really.)

There were so many thoughts swirling in Yuu’s head. They kept their eyes focused down as they walked away, feeling the weight heavy on their arms and shoulders.

One of their headphone ears was still off their ear, so they were able to hear Deuce mutter, “Why do I always…?!” In the corner of their vision, blurred from the peripherals, it almost looked like Deuce punched himself a few times as he said that.

“Yuu!” Deuce yelled at them. They decided to lift their gaze just high enough up to make out his face and nothing more. “Earlier! Back when you said that my mom had a good caretaker, you were wrong!”

Yuu lifted their head more. That’s right, he did get cut off back then, didn’t he?

“Huh? What’chu mean?” Grim asked.

Deuce’s sharp gaze fell down to the ground. He looked… ashamed? Angry at himself?

He took a deep, heavy breath, and let it out in one big huff, as he started to shift the weight on his feet. He flexed his hands, curling them into fists at his side and stretching them out. Curling and stretching, curling and stretching. It felt like it might take a second to say what he wanted to, so Yuu set their things down on the ground, and moved to hold Grim tight in their arms.

He took one more deep breath, and tried his best to look Yuu in the eyes. It didn’t last long, but Yuu wasn’t the best at eye contact either .“When I was in middle school, I was pretty wild.” Deuce heavily said. “I cut school all the time and got in fights. I called my teachers names, hung out with bullies, bleached my hair… I blasted around tight curves on my Magic Wheel… I'd show off my magic to kids who couldn't use it yet… I was a total punk.”

Bleached hair? Like a japanese yanki? And a Magic Wheel… if Deuce used to be a yanki, then that’s probably a motorcycle, right?

They didn’t think that yankis were a thing in britain, considering it was a japanese subculture first and foremost, even if yanki is an english loanword. But then again, Deuce isn’t british, is he? He’s from whatever the British equivalent is here. There’s no reason the comparisons should be 1:1. Why not have yankis in whatever british equivalent is here.

“So you were only a little more annoying than you are now?” Grim casually said.

“Right vibe…” Yuu said in their heavy japanese accent still. That certainly explained some things…

Deuce continued to shift from foot to foot. “But one night, I saw my mom talking on the phone to my grandma. She was trying to hide from me, but I saw her, and I could tell she was in tears.” Deuce grabbed tight onto his arm and started to squeeze, his nails digging into him. He looked so angry at himself. “She was saying how she must have been a horrible mom, and that maybe she never should have tried to raise me by herself.” Yuu could see the hurt in the way his face scrunched up to stop the tears. He quickly wiped away the forming water and made eye contact with Yuu. “That had nothin' to do with it! She hadn't done anything wrong. It was all me.” He started to crack his knuckles again as he looked away once more. Yep, that was definitely a stim. “When the carriage came to take me to Night Raven College, she was so happy for me. I decided then and there that this time, I wouldn't do anything to make her cry. This time, I'd become an honor student - someone she could be proud of. And I already messed it all up! Now I’ve not only hurt Mom, but I’ve hurt you, too, Yuu!”

Yuu squeezed Grim tight. He pushed her arms a bit and she loosened her grip, but still clung to him.

“I mean, did ya, though?” Grim said bringing Deuce’s attention back. “Is putting up with jerks what honor students do?”

“Huh…?” Deuce snapped a bit out of his spiral.

“Even I, Grim the Magnanimous, was ready to pound those losers into tuna paste!” Grim bragged, throwing out a mock punch. “You just got to 'em first.” He covered himself.

Yuu thought about all the fighting they’ve already done this early on into the school year. And how he probably hit himself and the way he dug his nails into his arm when he felt angry at himself. “Don’t over do it.” She told him.

“You guys…” Deuce started to smile at their words.

“Even… honor students, everyone gets angry at times.” Yuu said.

“Heh heh…” Deuce laughed. “I guess you’re right! I just hope those chicks can rest in peace.” He looked so whistfully at the half dozen broken eggs.

Oh god… Does he really think that…? Well, he did just say he skipped a bunch of school…

“Deuce…” Yuu said carefully.

“Yeah?” Deuce said as he went to grab his bags.

For the first time since Yuu ran into that “Leona” guy, she spoke in perfect american english. At least, the region of America her mother’s side of the family is from. “Those eggs weren’t the type that hatch.”

Deuce’s eyes went wide as he froze from shock.

“Wha- WHAAAAAT?! Are you kidding me?!” Deuce screeched as Grim broke out into hysterical laughter.

Notes:

I just think it’s really funny if the /one/ thing that Yuu says in a clear accent is to deadpan that those were unfertilized eggs. It’d probably be funnier with like, voice acting, but y’all can imagine I’m sure. The girls and Deuce are suffering today

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this as usual, and feel free to tell me what you thought! Until next chapter/whatever I post next!

Chapter 20: Chap 20

Summary:

Finishing the tarts + some Shroud sibs

Notes:

*Checks time* it’s been… damn over a month since the last chapter?! Sorry bout that. If you ever miss this fic, feel free to yell at me in the comments (which is to say, tell me what you think of the fic so far) and that’ll probably help me get back on this. I do sometimes write other things though so feel free to check those out too. I have no intention of dropping this fic anytime soon, so don’t worry!

Idia peered over at his younger brother.

Should he ask him? It’s not like it’s anything new for them to spend time away from each other. But, it really did feel different from usual.

“Aww, I lost again. I really can’t beat you, Big Brother!” Ortho chirped as usual.

“Whehe, ofc!” Idia boasted, forgetting his doubts.

Yeah. There’s nothing wrong. Sitting here like this, playing video games together, hanging out. This is how it should be.

Idia’s probably just imagining it. Those thoughts were just the worries of a sleep deprived mind.

_—_—_

Yuu, Grim and Deuce entered the kitchen once more, bags of ingredients in hand.

“Ah, you’re finally back!” Ace took notice of them. “Took ya long enough.”

“Let’s get this tart-y started!” Trey smiled.

_—_—_

Let’s see, to finish off her casual gear she just needs… Yeah. But she can’t wear it around campus, not yet. How to get it out to town?

Ah, she slipped. In the game, of course. Suppose that’s what she gets. Though usually she’s fine with tons and tons of stimulation. Guess she’s focusing a bit too hard. She should probably close down a tab or two.

She glanced over at Idia.

Good, seems he’s not noticed anything.

Would Vil be proud of her, if he knew how well she was acting?

_—_—_

“Okay, now we just sprinkle on a little powdered sugar, and…” Trey said as they finished up the tarts.

“Finished!” Grim and Ace cheered in unison.

“Fin…ished…” Deuce attempted to cheer with them.

“Did something happen while you were shopping?” Ace asked, finally deciding to bring up the boy’s mood.

Yuu blankly looked at Deuce. “He’s still in shock.” She plainly said.

“For sixteen years, I was so sure…” Deuce mumbled.

“Yeah, whatever.” Ace decided it wasn’t his problem. “I’m pretty beat. Making tarts sure takes it outta you.”

“Hey fam!” Cater cheerily greeted as he waltzed into the kitchen, Yuu’s eyes snapping to him. “You look wrecked. Are the tarts done? Ooh, they look so cute! Lemme snap a quick pick for Magicam!” He chirped, pulling out his phone and taking pictures. Yuu’s mind wandered to the camera that headmage Crowley gave her. Cater seemed to think of everything as an opportunity to snap a picture. Is Yuu supposed to do the same? They were given the camera for a reason. More importantly than pictures though, Yuu needs to give Cater his music back.

“Ah-!” Yuu tried to talk to Cater, but before any words could come out her voice was covered up.

“What, NOW you decide to show up?” Ace pointed out, annoyance clear.

“I just came to see how my little newbs were doing.” Cater smiled brightly.

Yuu wanted to speak up, but could she? They held the mp3 player tightly in their hands. Why must talking be so difficult sometimes?

“Speaking of, how are you doing, Yuuie?” Cater asked, lifting the weight of having to try to speak up from her.

“Oh- uh, much bet- better now, thank you.” Yuu said, tripping over her words a bit as she lowered her head a bit in a grateful bow. “Thanks for the music, by the way. You can have it back now.”

“Whoa-ho! No need to be so formal Yuuie!” Cater laughed a bit. “It’s us upperclassmen’s job to look out for our juniors, you know? Thanks for them back, though!” He smiled, taking the device and head phones from her hands.

“Funny how you say that, Cater, and yet you only show up when it’s time to eat.” Ace ribbed.

“Heh heh, someone’s gotta be the official taster!” Cater laughed.

“It's tough work if you're not used to it.” Trey gave a good natured smile. “But there's no better cure for the ails of fatigue than something sweet from the oven! Help yourself to some of this tart.”

“YAY!” Ace, Deuce and Grim all cheered as Yuu smiled.

“Mmmm… That smells so good…” Grim said, looking almost cute with how happy he looked. Something about seeing his happy face was so familiar. “Glossy chestnuts on top, fluffy cream below… I can’t wait another second, I’m going in!” He all but yelled before stuffing his face. Yuu let out a surprised laugh at the sight.

“Oh dang…” Ace said, trying one.

“Yuuum! Liked and subscriiibed!” Cater said.

“This is like something from a fancy bakery.” Deuce commented as Yuu thought. Has she ever eaten chestnuts before…? Well, oh well, it’d be rude to refuse. She closed her eyes and took a bite.

“Uhm!” Yuu hummed at the taste. “This is… really good…!” They said once they could talk again.

“Rich in flavor, yet not too sweet… It’s like chestnuts are dancing across my tongue!” Grim praised, sounding like a judge on a cooking show. Meanwhile Yuu scarfed down the rest of their tart. They were getting really hungry now that they think about it. Can she take another piece? Probably not, these are needed for tomorrow after all. Plus, with Grim…

“Is that… a good thing?” Trey, for some reason needing to ask.

“Oh, Trey! You gotta do the thing.” Cater said, seemingly remembering something. Yuu shoved the final bit of their tart into their mouth.

“The thing?” Trey questioned as Yuu licked their fingers, watching the exchange with interest. “Oh… that.”

“Uh, wanna fill me in here?” Ace asked.

“What’s everyone’s favorite food?” Trey asked in return instead of answering. And, uh, shit what is her favorite food?

As the others listed the things they liked, Yuu racked their brain. They ran through the food that they eat a lot, but no, she just eats that every morning because it’s the easiest thing? It’s just nice having a couple of things you know you like and to eat the same thing for breakfast each morning, or have the same packed lunch. To order the same thing off the menu wherever you go. But are any of those things her ‘favorite?’

What is her favorite food? Ugh, why must this be such a typically asked question, she never knows what to respond with! Okay, what does she usually say? Wait, how specific does she need to be? …Well, anything brand-specific can probably be crossed off, simply because she’d hate having to explain herself.

“Yuu?” She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of her name.

“Ah? Uh, yeah?” She blinked rapidly, resetting her brain.

“What do you like to eat?” He asked.

“Oh, uh,” Saying ‘I don’t know’ probably isn’t a good answer, is it? Well, it doesn’t need to be a favorite, she guesses. So, she said the first thing that came to mind. “Uh, pancakes, I guess? With whipped cream, actually. Yeah. Chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream is good.” …Wait, shit, is whipped cream a brand name? No, probably not. Yeah, no, she doesn’t think so.

“I see.” He said, before noting that she no longer had her tart. “You ate that thing quickly, huh? Hah hah, that’s good, I’m glad you liked it.” He reached over and grabbed another piece. “Here, have this, the ‘thing’ doesn’t work without it.”

That just confused Yuu even more. What is this ‘thing’ that the two upperclassmen are talking about? Admittedly, she was glad to have another tart, without even having to ask for it. Maybe if she hung around Trey she’d be able to get more treats like this? Oh, but she’d probably have to work for it again… Such is life?

“Alright, here you all go, DOODLE SUIT [Let’s Paint The Roses]!” He announced, waving his pen.

“Huh? What does that mean?” Deuce asked, just as lost as Yuu was.

“Take another bite of your tart and see.” Trey smiled, like he was sharing a joke with himself.

“Huh? How-” Ace asked as he took another bite, was he planning on talking with his mouth open? “Now it tastes like cherry pie!” He said, confirming her fears. Come on, man.

“It’s just like canned tuna!” Grim grinned, taking another bite. “Now it tastes like a cheese omelet!” He continued to eat. “And grilled meat! And pudding!”

“Neat trick, eh?” Cater said, as Yuu bit into her own share. …Hm. “That’s gotta be a hit when Trey’s having tea with the ladies.” Cater teased.

“It’s very impressive.” Deuce said. “Is changing flavors your signature spell, Trey?”

“Technically, it's ‘overwriting characteristics.’” Trey explained. “I can change taste, color, smell, whatever. It only lasts for a little while. But it is kinda like covering up the real thing hence, ‘painting.’”

“Huh? ‘Painting?’” Yuu questioned.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Signature spells are a bit special, in the fact that they actually have two names.” Trey told her. “There’s the name of the spell you say out loud, and then the spell’s ‘true name,’ per se. For example, my Unique Magic is called ‘Let’s Paint The Roses’, but it’s pronounced ‘Doodle Suit.’ I forgot about that for a second, sorry.”

“Ahhh, I see.” Yuu said. How interesting. Hm, but then, if that’s the case, then, “What about Riddle, then?”

Both Cater and Trey looked away, a sour look on their face. Is it just an awkward question, or… was she just rude?!

“Uhh, let’s see,” Trey said, and Yuu felt herself go cold. She’d hate being accidentally rude… “Well you know, since the true names of the spells aren’t really said aloud…”

“It’s just kinda hard to know if you’re not told, and neither of us have asked before, right?” Cater finished.

“Right. So, unfortunately we can’t tell you, sorry.” Trey said.

“Ah, okay. So, I wasn’t rude or anything, right?” Yuu asked, just to make sure and to ease her mind.

“Oh, no no! You’re fine, Yuuie!” Cater told her. “It’s no prob, for real!”

“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were kids who didn’t want to tell people that kinda thing, but it’s not like there’s any real reason to hide it.” Trey said.

“Ah, that’s good.” Yuu said, letting out a small sigh of relief. She felt her heartbeat slow back to a normal pace.

“Forget that!” Grim cut in. Yuu felt kinda glad to have a distraction from her question as she took another bite out of her tart. Mm. “If I had magic like that, I could be eatin’ canned tuna every meal every day! That’s way better than Riddle’s stupid collar magic!”

“Oh, that’s in a whole other league.” Trey quickly said. “His Signature Spell is a weapon. Mine’s just a childish prestidigitation. Speaking of Riddle – it’s too late to give him these now. Let’s call it a day and do it tomorrow. Don’t forget that tomorrow’s the unbirthday party. You don’t want to be late.” He reminded everyone.

“Yuu, can I crash with you again?” Ace asked. “I’ll be honest, I don’t have high hopes that our teapot tyrant is any less mad with me, and I really don’t feel like dealing with that.”

“Again, seriously?” Cater asked incredulously.

“It isn’t right to keep mooching off Yuu, Ace.” Deuce told him.

“Yeah, it ain’t! If you wanna stay tonight, you gotta pay for the privilege! Ten cans of tuna!” Grim demanded. Meanwhile, Yuu was wondering if Ramshackle was really the better option. They still hated other people insulting the dorm, but Yuu had to admit it was coming apart at the seams and full of dust.

“What?!” Ace exclaimed. “Guess I’m sleeping outside, then.” Was it that serious??

“Why don’t you sleep at Yuu’s dorm too, Deuce, so you can keep an eye on him?” Trey suggested. Yuu once again wondered if that was a good idea. Grim and Yuu took the only kinda good room. Ace had to sleep on the broken down couch. Were would Deuce go? “As vice housewarden, I can issue you a sleepover pass.”

“That’s our Trey, always spoiling the newbs.” Cater teased light heartedly. “What fun for you. Ooh, maybe I’ll come too! What do you say, Yuuie?”

Luckily, Yuu was saved from answering by Trey who told him, “No pass for you.”

“Aww. Sad trumpet… Womp womp wooomp.” Cater said sadly. Internally Yuu was breathing a sigh of relief at not having to deal with the awkwardness of having to try and find a place for three other people to stay in their run down dorm.

“Sorry to dump them on you, Yuu.” Trey whispered to her. “At least it’s just for tonight.”

Yuu tried not to look as shaky as she felt about the idea and casually passed it off with a, “It’s no problem.”

Okay, shit, how’s she gonna do this? Last night she kinda just let Ace fend for himself cause she was too tired to do anything else, but she does want to try to be a good host.

“Tomorrow’s the unbirthday party.” Ace restated with conviction, pulling Yuu partially out of her thoughts. “Finally, I’m gonna get rid of this stupid collar! Just you wait, Riddle!”

_—_—_

Adesius decided to check some of the camera’s around school, specifically Heartslabyul. What was the timeline again? Everyone knew that Riddle overblot within the first week of school, but what day was that specifically again?

Looking back through the records in her memory, Riddle Rosehearts is set to overblot 2 days from now. Ace and Deuce have the bright idea of challenging Riddle Rosehearts to a duel for the Housewarden position. Of course, Riddle Rosehearts wins, how could he not? But one thing leads to another, and everything finally boils over in an inky black.

Adesius tried her best to hum along to the music of Star Rouge as she thought. (She says ‘tries her best’ because she only got her singing voice right before the auditions for the VDC, which looking back is a crazy fact to her. Back then she didn’t really care, but like, how did it take that long?! Headphones are an integral part of her design! Idia loves music! How did it take her approximately 6 fucking years of existance before being able to sing?! This is going to be torture. She’s a motherfucking theater kid! And you’re telling her she can’t even hum correctly?!) The versions of her schoolmates she knows from before she went back in time, would the win be as clear cut as it is now? Because, of course Riddle Rosehearts would win as it is now. One command and his opponents can’t use their magic, a vital thing for a magic duel. But as she remembers them? Ace got his Unique Magic, Joker Snatch. It would turn an obviously one sided battle into a contest of who could get their spell off first.

Adesius had to admit, it was pretty cool, watching Ace get his Unique Magic. Seeing him turn the tables and collar the queen with his own spell.

Though, back on topic, how could Adesius get involved, if she even should?

Idia’s currently banned her from hanging out with Ace, Yuu, Grim and Deuce. Like that’ll stick for long. But if she gets involved with Riddle Rosehearts’ overblot then he’d probably figure out that she went against him.

Heh. Back then, which is to say right now, the mere idea of going against Idia like that would be so far out of the question, that she’d barely even entertain it. And yet.

It’s proof. That she has a will.

She knows what she wants. And she will get that. No matter the cost.

“Ortho?” Idia’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Yes? What is it?” She responded. She’s pretty sure that she’s at the very least gotten Idia to doubt his suspicions for now.

“Are you… trying to hum?” He asked.

…Well, she’s not quite sure why she didn’t expect for him to say something.

“Ah, yes. The song’s catchy, isn’t it?” She responded.

“Yeah, it is.” Idia agreed, a smile forming. It left his face as his eyes shifted off to the side while he thought though. He looked right at her and asked, very sincerely, “Do you want to be able to sing? I’m sure that I could play around with your vocal software to get it to work.”

She had to remember to cap her emotions. Remember, she doesn’t actually have emotions. Just algorithms that mimic how a real human would react to things. How [he] should react to things. Remember, you are ORTHO Shroud.

“That sounds like fun!” She responded instead of how she really wanted.

“Yeah?” Idia confirmed, that smile forming once again. “Then howza ‘bout you say we get started on that right now?” He grinned.

She would have loved to match his enthusiasm – no, to exceed it, but she kept it to a reasonable minimum. “Sounds great!”

“Awright! Let’s get on it then!” Idia smiled for her.

Heartslabyul’s drama is right on track. And this is a nice gift for now. She can worry about the rest later.

_—_—_

Trey and Cater entered their dorm, and yet despite the amount of time they’ve spent here, neither of them really felt like they could truly relax.

“Trey! Cater! You’re finally back!” One of their dormmates rushed up to them. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Somehow, feeling himself stiffen up made Trey feel more comfortable compared to the still silence of the night. “What happened?” He asked the worrying boy.

“Ten dorm members were caught violating rule 256…” The boy told them. “‘No drinking honey-sweetened lemonade after 8 p.m.’ Housewarden Riddle collared them all!”

Cater and Trey looked between themselves at the news.

“I can’t take it anymore!” Yelled the boy, looking to be on the verge of tears. “I can’t live like this! Everything we do violates some insane rule! I want to transfer to another dorm…” He started to sob.

“It’ll be okay.” Trey told him, resting an assuring hand on his shoulder. “We’ll go talk to the housewarden. You go back to your room.”

The boy looked up to Trey as he sniffled and wiped his tears. It took all his efforts, seeing the broken look in his eyes, to not break himself. Don’t think of that day…

The boy nodded sadly and turned to walk away, rubbing his face in an attempt to get the tears to stop from flowing. Trey felt his chest tighten at the sight.

He hated this.

After a few beats, Cater sighed, deep and tired. “Guess I’d better go make tea or something, as a show of deference to the Queen.”

“Thanks, Cater.” Trey said absentmindedly as he tried to push his feelings, his memories back down where they belonged in his heart. “Oh, but make sure it’s herbal, not black. You know what rule 153 says about drinking tea at night.”

Trey could feel the tension as Cater remembered what he was talking about. “...Yeaaah, sure. Of course.” He said as he walked off to the kitchen.

Trey felt weak, as he swayed in his spot. After Cater left the lounge he walked over far enough to be able to collapse on the couch. He let out a deep, deep, sigh, feeling the air in his lungs leave him as he buried his head in his hands.

What could he do?

Notes:

Oh Heartslabyul. My beloved Heartslabyul. (Cough cough I have a series of fics focusing on them cough cough)

Anyways, if you don’t think about it, the explanation of “You meet Ortho officially for the first time at the VDC because [s]he just got singing privileges” makes sense. But like. What about the very prominent headphones that are in almost every single one of her outfits? She’s existed for 6 years or so and only now getting singing privileges? I’d die. Also Shroud sibs you are also my beloveds.

Oh yeah! I’ve decided that for unique magics, I’m going to do what I did in this chapter from now on, like, “*how the spell is pronounced* [what the spell means]” so for Trey it’s “Doodle Suit [Let’s Paint The Roses]” or for Riddle it’d be “Off With Your Head [Off With Their Head]” hope that makes sense 👍

So yeah. Hope you liked it. I want to say hopefully the next chapter won’t take as long, but who knows, especially with it being artfight season (I need to get back into that… btw my artfight has the same name as my ao3 if you care at all)

Notes:

Short chapter! May Hatsune Miku save you, my dear Adesius Ortho. Unfortunately she doesn’t exist in Twisted Wonderland.

Yeah that probably sums up Ortho in this fic, actually. Hatsune Miku would save me if she actually fucking existed

Oh yeah, I’m subscribing to the “Yuu finds a way to go back and forth between their worlds” idea because. 1) it’s fun and 2) I want Ady to be able to reference things from our world, like Miku or Heathers (chapter title. Don’t expect all of the titles to be this funny tho)

Idk how far I’ll get to in this fic, but I had this one chapter done and really felt like posting it. Hopefully it’ll at least get a second chapter lol. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this!