Chapter 1: Full Moon, Full Life
Chapter Text
Rumble… rumble…
The world around him was rumbling. The walls were shaking, the floor trembling, life though a giant outside was trying to break the building down one floor at a time. He’d been sound asleep when the rumbling first began, and as he’d opened his eyes the world around him was bathed in an ethereal green glow. The lights weren’t on, in fact they weren’t working at all. His lamp, his TV, the overhead light, even his alarm clock was off, too. Every electronic in his room refused to cooperate with him.
What time was it? Where… was he?
He couldn’t decipher the building he was in, but there was something about it that felt… familiar. He’d been here before. He’d been here for a while, in fact. So much so that even in the darkness he could still navigate the room and change into his regular clothes. He hardly had enough time to change when the door to his room violently swung open.
He found himself running. He was being dragged through the halls with a pair of legs accompanying his own. Dark, empty, but not at all quiet. The building rumbled violently, throwing both him and the person he was with off balance. They were running upwards, stairs flying past beneath their feet. He didn’t recognize the girl he was running with. Her face was a blur, and her voice felt far away and unclear. She sounded like she was calling out to him through the speaker of a broken walkie-talkie, and every time he looked at her face it looked like it was smudged away by a bad pencil eraser. He tried hard to focus on her features, to focus on her voice, but all he could focus on was the moon.
That venomous moon.
It was large. So large, so round, and so eerily bright. It bathed the whole world in a toxic green glow. He saw it through his bedroom window, and saw it again peeking through every window he passed by through the hallway. It was mesmerizing. He found his feet stopping as his arm slipped from her grip.
“Wha…re… doing? Our li…es… in danger…!”
She shouted at him, pleaded with him to keep running. She sounded angry, demanding. He couldn’t understand what she was saying. Every word was choked away by the light of that moon. It captivated him, strangled his vision. It choked away all reason to fear. Looking up at that moon… he felt at peace.
"...I don't really care.”
He felt his lips moving. The words came from him even without him thinking about it. His voice was perfectly clear in his own ears.
“Is dying that scary to you?"
Makoto’s eyes snapped opened as he was startled awake by a rumbling in real life. A large, furry mass was leaping up and down on his chest, jolting him from his slumber. A cat, more specifically his cat, a twisted little feline monster with large, round eyes, a pitchfork shaped tail, and tufts of blue flame rippling out of his ears, was staring at him with a look of panic.
“Oi, Yuki! We slept in!” Grim shouted, “C’mon, c’mon, get up already! We gotta go or else the teach’s gonna have our hides again!”
Makoto shooed Grim off his chest with a wave of his hand as he sat up in bed. He looked over at the alarm clock sitting on his side table. He should have woken up 20 minutes ago, but there was still enough time for him to get ready.
These dreams have been haunting him for months. Every night it felt like he was seeing visions of the past, but most of the time they weren’t familiar at all. He’d see visions of old rulers, lost princesses, fallen kings, and forgotten gods, wreaking havoc on the world, smiting down the weak and powerless. But then there were those dreams, ones that have been becoming more and more frequent, ones that felt much more familiar to him. Those were the ones that were the hardest to wake up from.
It was always in these dreams that he’d see that moon. That bright, venomous moon.
His name was Makoto Yuki, age 17. Here he was in the middle of Twisted Wonderland, but this world wasn’t his own. He was born in Japan, 1993; he belonged to another time and another world entirely, and by all metrics he was an ordinary high school student of his era. With short, raven blue hair, and long bangs that covered his right eye, you wouldn’t be able to tell that he didn’t belong at Night Raven College at all from his appearance alone.
Though he knew where he came from, and that this world wasn’t where he belonged, it as the why he couldn’t place. Why was he in this strange new world? And how did he get here? There was a gap in his memories, a hole that he couldn’t fill or recollect, no matter how hard he tried. In fact, a whole year of his life was completely missing from his internal timeline.
The last thing he remembered was sitting on a train with his headphones on, blasting his favorite tunes and drowning out the world around him as he made his way across the island on a high-speed rail. He remembered the train was running later than usual, as just earlier that day someone threw himself onto the track and took his own life. It was a tragedy, but it happened so often that he'd become entirely numb to it. It was late by the time he'd finally been able to depart. He remembered looking out at the deep black ocean, watching the waves as they reflected the light of the bright, nearly full moon on every ripple of their body. The moon wasn’t green then, it was as pale and lonely as it always was. He remembered stepping out of the tram as it stopped at Iwatodai station, just a few blocks away from his destination. He looked down at a map in his hand as clock above his head struck midnight, and then… everything went dark. That was where the memories of his old world stopped, and he found himself opening his eyes from the darkness and being met with the inner lid of a velvet blue coffin. That was where his quest to find his way home and recover his lost memories began.
He found work as the prefect of the abandoned “Ramshackle Dorm”, and it gave him some purpose in the meantime. Night Raven College was an elite school of magic, and life at this institution was far more exciting than any school in his still-living memories. Students would pick fights with each other and duel it out with spells instead of their fists, and as him and Grim trekked their way across campus others would soar by overhead on the back of a broomstick. It was far beyond the realm of ordinary for him, but he adjusted to it quickly. So quick, in fact, you wouldn’t be able to tell he couldn’t use magic at all on first glance.
Almost a whole year had passed since was enrolled as a student and a prefect of this school, and in that time he was at the epicenter of disasters time and time again. Overblot rampages shook his world, threatening to ruin everything he’d come to know by the hand of cataclysmic magic beyond his wildest imagination. In this world it was unprecedented for this kind of calamity to regularly occur, and yet somehow it felt… natural to him to take control of the situation and face down these enemies. It felt fulfilling. It felt… familiar. It felt like every time he called out to his allies and commanded them in combat, he was one step closer to remembering who he used to be. Though as familiar as the motions felt, he still couldn’t put the pieces together. Every step he took to recovering his sense of self was like walking deeper into a fog. He felt familiarity but couldn't understand why it felt so familiar, nor what he'd done to make it feel so natural.
All he could do… was keep carrying on. Keep living this life to its fullest as long as he could.
Him and Grim had barely made it to their first period class in time. Their feet stepped in through the door just as the last bell rang. The day went by as normal as it ever had. His fellow classmates were giddy with excitement as finals were lurking just around the corner, and then they’d finally be released for summer vacation. The excitement was lost on him, though. How could he be excited when he had no home to return to?
First period, second period, then third.
His third period was P.E. It was by far the most normal class he had, with the exception of having an extreme fitness fanatic as his instructor. It was an exhausting period of his day, but at least he was physically able to keep up with his instructions better than most of his class. It was a free period after their warm-ups that day. Coach Vargas encouraged them to pick a sport to play together. Makoto and Grim found themselves lazily kicking a soccer ball around with Ace and Deuce – two of their friends that they shared the same class with.
“So, you guys got any plans for summer break yet?” Ace asked, bouncing the soccer ball on his knees before kicking it over toward Deuce. “I’m super psyched to finally get a real break for a change! I felt like I didn’t get a chance to rest at all ‘cuz of what happened during the winter break, so I’m gonna veg out twice as hard to make up for it.”
Deuce leapt up and knocked the ball up with his head before it flew over him, “I don’t have any plans yet. I think I'm mostly gonna be helping out my mom with work, but I wanna try talking to some of the mechanics in town about interning with them.”
“We’re going on break and all you can think about is work? Lame-ass.” Ace teased.
“Hey- it’s not just work. I’ve been wanting to learn how to do repairs better for a while now, especially on Magical Wheels and cars. I’m actually really looking forward to talking around, I think it might be fun to get some hands-on experience in the business.” Deuce said, kicking the ball over to Makoto.
“Man, this sucks! You guys got these big homes and big plans, and we’re gonna be stuck here all summer long doin' nothing but cleaning up the campus!” Grim complained, flopping to the ground with his ears tilted back. “Three months of nonstop cleaning is BULLSHIT!! I wanna go somewhere fun for summer too, ya know!”
“Oh yeah, that’s right… I forgot, you guys don’t have anywhere else to go. Sorry, didn’t mean to rub it in.” Deuce said, looking at the both of them sympathetically, “I’d offer you a room at my place to get away for a bit, but we don’t really have a lot of free space. All we really have is a couch and the floor.”
“Hey, Yuki, if ya want you can come stay with me!” Ace offered. “Since my bro’s moved out now we have an extra room you can stay in. Plus, I live near the capital, so there’s a ton of stuff I can show ya around the area!”
"Oh, sure, you offer Yuki a space but not me. I see how it is." Grim said with a huff, crossing his arms across his tiny chest.
"Sorry, Grim. My mom's allergic to smelly cats~" Ace snickered.
"I TOLD YOU I'M NOT A CAT!!" Grim yelled.
Makoto stopped the ball with his foot as it bounced over to him. He hadn’t really thought about what he’d do this summer. He honestly didn’t think he’d even be here long enough to see the summer come. All he’d been doing was cruising through this year of his life, taking on all the hardships and absurdities as they’d come. Yet still… he felt lost.
“I’ll have to think about it.” He replied, kicking the ball back over to Ace again.
Ace stopped the ball with his foot, his expression turning oddly serious. “Hey, Yuki. Look, I know you’ve been trying to find a way home and to recover your memories and all that, but… have you thought about just staying here?”
Deuce looked at him in astonishment, “Ace, what’re you saying? Going back to his world’s been the whole reason he’s stayed here-”
“I KNOW THAT!” He shouted, stomping on the ball and looking at the ground, “And I’m not saying he can’t keep trying, all I’m trying to say is… I dunno. Just- you’ve been here in Twisted Wonderland for almost a whole year, and the Headmage hasn’t done jack shit to actually figure out how to get you home, has he?”
Makoto stayed silent. They both knew what the answer was.
“…Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Ace sighed, scrubbing his hand through his hair in frustration, “That’s what I mean. Like, I know he’s supposed to be helping you and everything, but I dunno, I just feel like you’re not any closer to getting home now than you were months ago. So like… what if it’s not possible for you to go home and he just hasn’t told ya yet? What’re you gonna do if he says that?”
“…I don’t know.” Makoto quietly replied, “I haven’t really thought about it.”
“Exactly. That’s all I’m trying to say, that I think we should start thinkin' about it. Cuz you’ve got no home, no family, no nothing out here. When you and Grim graduate – if you graduate – the Headmage isn’t gonna just let you squat in that dorm anymore. So, I think we should find you somewhere to live for real just in case things don’t work out.”
“That’s not a bad idea, actually…” Deuce replied, “I know I’d feel like crap if you guys ended up on the streets or something just ‘cuz you didn’t have a place to go. It’s not like you asked to be brought here in the first place. At least I assume you didn’t.”
“Exactly! That’s why I’m sayin’ maybe you could stay with me ‘n my folks! We could hang out, see some sights and do things together, and maybe when we graduate we can get an apartment or something and split the rent. Pretty good idea, right?” Ace said with a hopeful smile.
Makoto still didn’t know what to say. He knew Ace had a point, but he couldn’t bring himself to dedicate to such a plan.
“Ya know, if it came down to it, you could sleep on our couch,” Deuce offered, “It’s pretty comfy, and me ‘n mom can find you some work in Clock Town real easy. There’s tons of places that need extra hands around town.”
Ace shot a glare at Deuce.
“I’m just trying to give him some options.” Deuce said.
“I’m out here trying to show him a good time and you’re trying to cozy up to him. You wanna offer him a spot on your bed all cuddled up and snuggly next?” Ace snapped.
“Wha-? I didn’t say anything like that! I’m just trying to be nice, what’s your problem?!” Deuce retorted.
“…I said I’ll think about it.” Makoto said. It was really all he could say.
The sound of a shrill whistle echoing through the field made all four of the group flinch, bringing their conversation to a halt.
“Hey, Yuki and Grim!” Coach Vargas called over to them, “The Headmage wants to see you in his office! Go get your butts changed and head on up there!”
“The Headmage…? Wait, do you think he-?” Deuce started.
“Who fuckin’ knows.” Ace cut him off, annoyance creeping into his voice. He trudged across the field and put a hand firmly on Makoto’s shoulder, “Hey. I’m serious, man. If you get up there and all he has to tell you is bad news, just know the offer’s open. Just say the word, and I’ll call my folks and tell ‘em what’s up, and we can get you all situated, alright?”
Makoto nodded. “Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.”
Ace watched as Makoto and Grim walked across the field and collect their things, Grim releasing a spell to switch Makoto’s outfit from his gym clothes to his school uniform, and then they left towards the main school building. Ace took in a deep breath, sighing heavily.
“You’re the shittiest wingman I know, Deuce.” He said, throwing the ball back towards the other freshman. Deuce threw up his arms and caught the ball before it hit him.
“Wha-! What’s that supposed to mean?!” He shouted as Ace walked away from him across the field, “Hey! What did I do?!”
Chapter 2: An Unpleasant Premonition
Chapter Text
“What’dya think the headmage wants from us this time, Yuki?” Grim asked as he trotted alongside his human companion through the hallowed halls of the school’s main building. The halls were silent, empty, and their footsteps echoed eerily against the domesticated stone chasms they called a school. “D’ya think he’s actually found a way to get ya home this time?”
Makoto shrugged silently in response. He was thinking back to what Ace said, thinking about how adamant he was on him having a plan in case things were destined to never work out. Ace always had some kind of ulterior motive whenever he suggested something, but even still he knew that he was right. Even so, he just couldn’t bring himself to give him a straight answer. He had unfinished business left on his plate, and he wouldn’t feel right about anything until he was able to recover his lost memories. All he wanted at this point was to be able to remember what happened to him, and why he was there. He didn’t even care if this world was all he’d know for the rest of his life. He just wanted the truth.
“Hey, ya wanna know what I’m thinkin’?” Grim said with a grin, “I’m hopin’ he's gonna give us a proper reward for keepin’ that Malleus punk in check when he went all crazy overblot on us!”
Makoto didn't respond, and his silence prompted Grim to continue, “Think about it though! This whole year’s been nothin’ but back to back trouble, but we beat ‘em all down! We beat that tyrant Riddle, we beat that lazy prince Leona, we beat that shady businessman Azul, that two-timing Jamil, that pretentious Vil, that good for nothing Idia, and now we beat one of the strongest mages in the world, Malleus himself! I, the great and powerful Grim, beat MALLEUS and saved the day like BANG! POW! KABOOM~! That’s gotta be worth something BIG! Like- like at least a MILLION tuna cans!” He cheered, hopping around excitedly.
“Who knows? Since it’s our headmaster, it could be anything.” Makoto replied in his usual apathetic tone.
Grim’s cheerful smile faded, turning into a frown, and then a scowl, “He better not be givin’ us more work… I bet you’re right, he’s just gonna be givin’ us more work!”
“I didn’t say that.”
“I DEMAND a reward, damnit! I’m gonna give that son of a bitch headmage a piece of my mind!”
It never mattered what he said, Grim would always take anything as a point of conflict. He was just a passenger on this journey, with Grim’s loud mouth leading the way.
The principal of the college, Headmage Crowley, perked his head up as the door of his office swung open. “Ah! Our dear Ramshackle prefect and Grim. Thank you for coming on such short notice, I was worried for a moment that you weren’t going to show!” He greeted with a smile as he stood up from his desk.
“Yeah, yeah, so what’s the big deal? Every time you summon us here it always means nothing but trouble, ya know.” Grim complained, crossing his little paws across his feline chest.
“Trouble! How rude!” Crowley scoffed, “Trouble is only trouble if you make it so, and I think you both should know that well. Whenever mischief turns to chaos on this campus, it’s always you two that are at the epicenter of it.”
“If you’re talkin’ about the overblots, that’s not our fault! It’s not like we TRIED to make ‘em go all crazy berserker mode on us!” Grim whined. “Which speakin’ of, I demand a reward for all the hard work we’ve been doing! We beat MALLEUS for pete’s sake! That’s a victory worth celebrating, ya know!”
“A reward?” Crowley hummed thoughtfully and rubbed his chin with a metal-clawed finger, “Well… I don’t want to encourage any more violence on campus, Seven knows we have enough of a problem with it already, but I will admit that thanks to you both our precious school was liberated from what could have been a truly catastrophic disaster.”
“Yeah! YEAH! Exactly! You get it! C’mon, give us the goods! We’ve earned it!” Grim demanded, pumping his fists in the air.
“Now, not so fast! A reward you will get, I’ll make absolutely sure of it, since I’m such a generous person after all. But before you are rewarded, there is a very important matter I must discuss with you both. Please, have a seat.” He invited, waving his staff toward two chairs before his desk. Makoto sat as he was requested, though Grim hesitated before leaping up onto the chair before him.
“Somethin’ even more important than shuttin’ down overblots? I find that hard to believe.” Grim huffed.
“I think you’ll be surprised, dear Grim.” He said, gently patting the feline on his head and striding to the center of the room. He clacked the head of his cane sharply against the stone floor, jolting both of his guests to attention. “Now, before I tell you what the situation is, I must stress this greatly: what I’m about to inform you of is an incredibly sensitive matter. So sensitive, in fact, that I must ask that you do not speak a word of this to any other person. You may not speak of it to your friends, nor staff, nor any of the dormitory headwardens. Is this understood?”
Grim’s brow creased in a mix of confusion and annoyance, “What’s with all the seriousness all of a sudden? Nothing you have to say is ever that important.”
“Everything I say is important! It’s not my fault that you lot always disregard what I have to say and blatantly ignore the severity of situations!” He snapped, clenching his fist in righteous fury, “You youth are so fickle, breaking rules and disregarding commands to follow the flow of your own whims!” He stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat, “Ahem… But alas, this is different. This is very, very different. I must have you swear now, on your lives, that you will obey this command. Do you swear to me that you will keep this a secret?”
Makoto blinked at Crowley blankly. Usually his melodrama was something he could easily brush off, but, there was a part of him that wanted to believe him about the severity of the situation this time. “That’s fine. We won’t tell anyone,” he agreed, “So, what is it?”
Crowley’s lips curled into a smile, the glow of his eyes behind his mask narrowing into slits like a wily fox that just made the deal of a lifetime, “Thank you for your cooperation. Now then-” He snapped his fingers, and a ripple of magical energy swirled around the room, coating the walls, floor, and ceiling in a glistening sheen of magical energy before quickly fading away. “What is to be said in this room shall not be spoken nor written to any other being, neither living nor non-living, in any way, shape, or form. You, Grim and Yuki Makoto, shall absolutely, positively, not inform anyone about what we are about to discuss.”
“Fnuh? What’re you doing?” Grim asked, feeling more uneasy by the moment.
“This is just a little insurance. Please, don’t worry too much about it,” Crowley said with a smile. “Now, there is one last thing I’d like to ask before I explain the situation to you both… do you believe in the concept of ‘fate’?”
Makoto pondered the question for a moment before shaking his head. “Not really. I believe that… from the moment you’re born you’re in control of your life and your own purpose – that every decision you make you’re to be held accountable for, regardless of what the outcome is.”
“I see… and what makes you believe that so strongly?” Crowley inquired.
Yuki glanced down at the floor, narrowing his eyes before shaking his head, “…I don’t know.”
“Hm… Perhaps that belief was cemented from something important that you’ve forgotten. However, it’s a fair belief indeed. It’s always important to take responsibility for one’s actions.” Crowley offered. Makoto shrugged again in response, prompting Crowley to then turn to face his furry companion instead, “And what about you, Grim? Do you believe in fate?”
“Feh, I don’t care about that kinda stuff! If fate exists, then it means I, the Great and Mighty Grim, am destined to be the most powerful mage of all time! And if fate doesn’t exist, then I’m going to keep working hard to make myself that mage someday!” Grim grinned widely, puffing out his chest with pride.
Crowley chuckled at his enthusiasm, “I admire your enthusiasm, Grim. It’s that kind of attitude that will get you far in this world. But, let me tell you something, boys… I do believe in fate. I believe that things always happen for a reason. Perhaps the future is what we make it, and our decisions help mold that future into existence, but regardless of what we accomplish, our endings will always be the same… There is no way to escape our eventual, eternal fate. Memento Mori.”
“Mem-en-to Mori?” Grim repeated, tilting his head to the side. Something about that phrase rang a bell in Yuki’s mind.
“‘Remember that you are mortal... Remember that you will die.’” Yuki murmured. “It’s a latin phrase.”
Crowley pointed at him definitively, “Precisely! I’m glad to see you’re well read. Ironically enough, the reason I brought you both here today is not to resign ourselves to our fate, but instead to escape it.”
He walked back around and seated himself at his desk, steepling his metal-clawed fingers together. “A few years ago, before you both arrived, I was visiting with a former graduate who had opened a fortune-telling shop down at Foothill Town. I came to congratulate him on his achievement, and he offered me a free reading as his way of giving thanks. It was to be a routine fortune, but it turned into something… a bit more than that.” Crowley paused, closing his eyes before glancing down at the papers littering his desk, “What he foretold was a prophesy, one that would consume the entire college if it was not addressed in time. I won’t bore you with the little details, what I will say is this… There are seven people – “seven twisted souls” – at this college that are not supposed to be here. And, according to the prophecy, if they are not taken care of, then all of this school… is doomed.”
“D-Doomed?” Grim balked, “How is it doomed?”
“Fire and brimstone! Chaos and calamity! Riots and destruction! Everything terrible that you can imagine! All of it and worse! …At least, that’s how he described it to me, but truthfully I have no idea what exactly will happen. All I know is that according to the prophesy the existence of these seven people here is going to bring destruction and ruin to the entire college. It will mean the end of this school as we know it.”
“The end… of this school…? W-Well, we can’t have that! I still got years left before I can graduate! My path to being a master magician has only just begun!” Grim exclaimed.
“Of course, of course! And I cannot allow a calamity of these proportions take away my precious college! That is why I’m reaching out to the both of you for help.” Crowley cheerfully explained with open hands.
Grim paused, mumbling under his breath as he counted on his fingers, “Riddle, Leona, Azul… Hold on a second! Wouldn’t the ‘twisted souls’ be the people that went all crazy overblot on us? There’s seven of ‘em, ya know! We kick 'em out, and everything'll be way better without them! Case closed!”
“I had that thought as well… but, I don’t think it would be wise to remove them from the student body on such a whim.” Crowley said, shaking his head.
“Why not?! They’ve already caused enough trouble, haven’t they? What could be more twisted than that? If ya kick ‘em out then your problems are all solved!” Grim said.
“And what if your theory is wrong?” Crowley pressed, “What if they aren’t the ones that the prophesy foretold? What if they’re removed and our precious school falls apart because we chose unwisely? What if they were meant to help stop the prophesy from furthering, and without them we’re truly lost from preventing the end of it all? Furthermore, a ‘person not meant to be here’ could very well include the both of you.” He pointed at the both of them from across his desk, “You, Yuki, a person from another world, and you, Grim, a monster that invaded our campus on a whim and is only here because of your human chaperone. If anyone should ‘not belong’ on this campus, the both of you could easily make the top of the list of suspects.”
Grim’s eyes widened and he threw up his paws defensively, “F-Fnuh?! N-No way! You can’t kick us out! Not after all the times we saved your behinds! Right, Yuki?!”
“He’s not wrong, though.” Makoto muttered, “We’re not supposed to be here. It’s only because of me that you’re able to be a student at all, and this world isn’t where I’m supposed to be.”
Grim looked up at him, his ears tilted down and his eyes starting to water, “B-But… but we-! I-I’m supposed to be a great magician one day…! I’m so close to finally making my dream real…!”
“…This is the reason that you mentioned ‘fate’ before, isn’t it?” Makoto continued, “You think that Grim and I are here for a reason - that fate made us coming here not an accident. We’re the most obvious suspects, but this ‘prophesy’ doesn’t refer to us as the ones that ‘don’t belong’.”
Crowley nodded with a smile, “You’re quite astute, Yuki. That is exactly what I believe. For the prophesy has a very important line to be noted: ‘One of both man and beast will right what is wrong.’ A student that is made of two halves – one average, non-magical human, and one very magical beast. You are the ones that will ‘right what is wrong’ and keep this school from collapsing. I’m certain of this more than anything. So, what I need is for the both of you to investigate the student body, much like how you did during the Interdorm Magical Shift Tournament. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground for any kind of ‘suspicious activity’ and tell me if you see or hear anything out of the ordinary. Is that clear?”
“Yessir! But, ah… how are we supposed to investigate people if we can’t talk about this to anyone? Last time we had those guys from Heartslabyul helpin’ us track people down!” Grim said.
“You’ll figure it out, I’m sure of it!” Crowley cheerfully replied, before his smile faded, “It’s because the suspects are unknown that this operation must be done in secret. Those who ‘should not be here’ could be anyone, from any grade and any dorm. I’m depending on the both of you to uphold this oath, for the sake of the entire school. If even a word of this prophesy is leaked, it could cause mass hysteria and pandemonium. We must avoid this at all costs.”
Yuki sighed softly and rubbed the back of his head, “Whatever. Sounds like we don’t have much of a choice, so we’ll do what we can to figure it out.”
“Wonderful, wonderful! Thank you both very much for understanding. I’ll be checking in on your investigation’s progress at the end of the week, but should you make any significant discoveries, I want you to report them to me immediately.”
Crowley snapped his fingers, and the shimmer of magic coating the room glimmered again before fading away for good. “Now then! That is all, so you may return to your studies now. Off you go!”
Makoto and Grim stood up from their seats and headed to the door, but suddenly Grim whirled around and scowled, “Hey- hey! You gave us more work and you didn’t even give us our reward for last time! I’m not gonna do anything until I get the prize I deserve!”
Crowley blinked a few times in surprise before smiling patiently, “O-Ohhhh~! That’s right! Your grand reward for defeating Malleus and stopping his reign of terror. Of course I didn’t forget! Well… I’ll be sure to repay you at the end of this week! There will be a great reward waiting for you, indeed, once we reconvene on our investigation’s progress. I’ll be sure to make it quite worth your while.”
Grim grinned widely and put his paws on his hips, “You better! I expect a feast for the ages and nothing less! C’mon, Yuki! We’ve got perps to catch!”
“Before you boys leave, I have more one thing that I’d like to give you to help you get started on your investigation,” Crowley snapped his fingers, and a binder with a thick, ornate cover materialized in the air and floated before them. “This is a compendium of everyone that is currently living and working on campus. Every student, every staff member, and every ghost that works on campus has a file contained in that binder. I’ve removed the more private information from your viewing, but I don’t think I need to tell you that this is still strictly confidential. I expect the both of you not to use anything that you read in it for any sort of nefarious purposes. If I find out you are doing anything devious with this information, even as small as spreading a rumor, there will be very grave consequences.”
Makoto plucked the binder from the air and flipped it open. Sure enough, there were files inside on every person he’d ever seen and ever met. Here, he could learn anything that he wanted about anyone, from their allergies and vaccinations right down to their shoe size and pant length.
“Understood. Thank you for the information.” Makoto said. He gave a small, polite bow and turned to leave the office, stopping in the doorway before exiting and looking back. “By the way... have you learned anything yet about my home world, yet?” He asked.
Headmaster Crowley stiffened in his seat at the question, “Well, you see… I have nothing solidly concrete as of yet. However, I do have a theory that perhaps this prophesy might be a part of what’s keeping you tied to our world. Since it refers to you both quite specifically, I believe that once we get to the bottom of this case, we will finally have some of the answers that we’ve been searching for.”
It was a hollow response, as vague and dismissive as ever, as it has been with every favor they’ve had to do for him in the past. Makoto gave a nod in understanding, then stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind him.
He’d think about taking up Ace on his offer later.
“Hey, hey! Is it really true that there's info on everyone in there? Even us?!” Grim excitedly asked, bouncing up as high as he could to try and get a better view of what was inside, “C’mon, lemmie see! I wanna see what he’s got written down about me! Oh- oh! Or we can look up Ace and Deuce and see if they've got any dirt we can hold over their heads~ No, wait! We could look up anyone and get blackmail on ‘em~” He snickered, his eyes gleaming mischievously.
“I’m not doing that.” Makoto replied matter-of-factly before snapping the folder closed and shoving it down into his book bag.
“H-Hey, I was just kidding! Well, kinda, I DO wanna see what he’s got on my file though! Pleeeaaase? C’mon, lemmie just take a peek~!” He whined, pawing at Makoto’s bag to try and get inside.
Makoto swatted his paws away and zipped his bag closed, “We can look at it later when we’re back at our dorm. Come on.”
Grim sighed dejectedly, “You never let me have any fun…”
Chapter 3: The Beginning
Chapter Text
The moment Makoto stepped within the boundaries of Ramshackle dorm, he felt a hard tug on the strap of his book bag. A large, furry lump had buried its head into the inner pocket of his bag. He’d been swatting that head away from his belongings all day long, but this time he just let it do its digging. Grim popped his head out of the bag, holding a thick, hardcover binder in his paws and waving it triumphantly over his head.
“YAY~! The day’s finally over! Now we can finally, actually look at this binder! I’ve been waiting all day for this, ya know~!” Grim cheered as he danced around with the binder held over his head, hopping around from foot to foot as he paraded ahead toward the front door of their dorm. Makoto unlocked the front door and pushed it open, and Grim scrambled inside like an excited toddler, heading straight for the living room. Yuki took his time in the foyer, untying and kicking off his shoes, hanging up his school jacket, and loosening his necktie.
Today had been no longer than any other day, but it felt like the hours had stretched on for longer than they had any right to. All throughout their classes, all Makoto and Grim could think about was the binder that they were given from Headmaster Crowley. Curiosity had been burning hot inside Makoto, a silent impulse that compelled him to pull it out and flip it open all throughout his class periods, but he had leagues better impulse control than Grim did. Multiple times out of the corner of his eye he’d see tiny paws trying to sneakily reach into his book bag, even trying once to sneak out of class with it while excusing himself with a bathroom break. Makoto found himself more exhausted than usual after keeping his feline companion wrangled in line all day long.
Makoto made a quick detour to the kitchen before making his way back to the living room, where Grim was excitedly waiting for him to return before the grand moment of truth. Grim’s wide toothy grin quickly turned into a pout as he saw what he was holding in his arms.
“Aw, c’mon! You’re gonna go to the kitchen but you won’t even bring me back a can of tuna?! I’ve been waiting all day for this, so we gotta make this moment perfect! It’s like getting treats ready for a movie, ya know!” Grim huffed, hopping off the sofa and walking away to retrieve his own food.
Makoto didn’t respond. He tossed the bag of chips to the table and cracked open his can of soda before collapsing down onto the sofa. As he waited, he thought back about the conversation he had with Ace and Deuce during P.E.
It would be so easy for him and Grim to leave their responsibilities behind and see more of the world with them. Makoto would be lying if he said it wasn’t tempting to consider. In a way, they both reminded him of someone that he’d forgotten, someone very important to him. Every part of the first year group gave him that feeling in some way or another.
Ace pressed him about what the headmage said the minute they were let out of class for lunch. He told him the truth – that he basically had no new news to report, that he was just as aimlessly lost as he always was. Him and Deuce gave him a look of pity, but he wasn’t heartbroken by the news. Still, it was nice of them to reassure him that things would still work out in the end. Ace made sure to remind him that his offer was still open. He told him again that he’d have to think about it.
Right on cue, Grim raced back into the living room with a can of tuna clutched in his little paws. He quickly hopped up onto the sofa and pulled back the tab. “Okay! Let’s see what’s going on in there already! Minion, would you like to do the honors~?”
Makoto rolled his eyes. For such a small creature, Grim sure was demanding. He set his soda onto the table and grabbed up the binder, flipping it open to its first page.
“Night Raven College Student and Staff Ledger” was what the first page read. Makoto flipped the page over, and was greeted with a view of something very different than what he was expecting. A slightly yellowed piece of parchment was carefully filed in a protective sleeve. The parchment didn’t seem to be that old, so it must have been yellowed on purpose for aesthetics. There were several stanzas of poetry written on it in elegant calligraphic ink.
Doors once locked to other worlds
Shall soon be found wide open,
Oceans of blot shall rise and fall,
And tainted hearts ‘a broken.
Seven twisted souls lie in wait,
They seek to meet their truest fate,
Find the key to set them free,
Right the wrongs the others bring,
A being both of man and beast,
Shall be the one to find their peace,
Should failure come to quell their wake,
Then death and ruin the souls shall make.
“What’s with this weird flowery writing?” Grim asked, cocking his head to the side as he stuffed a pawful of tuna into his mouth.
“This must be the prophesy.” Makoto said, placing a finger to his chin in thought. “When people get their readings done, fortune tellers often use poetry and obtuse, mysterious language so you’ll read between the lines and derive your own meanings from the text.”
“That’s stupid. How’re we supposed to figure out who to catch if they don’t even give us a hint? If that fortune teller was so smart then he coulda at least given us a mugshot or something, ya know.” Grim complained.
It wasn’t like they were left completely aimless, there was merit to Crowley’s concerns all over the text.
“‘Doors once locked to other worlds shall soon be found wide open’… This must be referring to me, since I came here from another world… and ‘oceans of blot, rising and falling’ might refer to the overblot victims. They rose and they fell, every last one of them. Everything that’s happened to us is all written down years before either of us came into the picture, and then it became real. It makes sense that the headmaster’s taking this seriously.” He said.
Although the setup made sense, Makoto had to admit that they weren’t being left with much else to go on. In a school full to the brim with bad apples, anyone could be considered a “suspicious person”. He flipped the parchment over to inspect the other side, and there he found more stanzas of poetry written one after another:
Beware the jack of diamonds, son of the blackened king,
He wears so many faces, but hides his own beneath,
His wicked tongue curses the world when he begins to sing.
Beware the half-blood reaper, who serves the queen of crows,
All-seeing eyes that pierce the night, his identity’s exposed,
His shining scythe and rings of light shall vanquish all his foes.
Beware the nightwalker, he who stalks under twilight,
He treads a half-dead corpse, a broken mirror is his mind,
Those who meet his eyes are trapped within a crooked blight.
Beware the midnight artist, whose heart is black as ink,
From wells of dark he conjures life, to them he is their king,
Your portrait is all that he needs to steal what is distinct.
Beware the haunted oracle, who communes oft with death,
Snow white hair and skin of fair, necrosis grips his breath,
A duel’s an impossibility, you’ll be met with quite a mess.
Beware the operator, with eyes of smoldering flame,
Words are weapons that he wields, quite easy to shift blame,
When stricken by his veiled curse, the mystery’s in the pain.
Beware the skulking shadow, born of the creeping fog,
There is no key that can be used to send them back abroad,
Pride’s a heavy crown they wear, they think themself a God.
Makoto’s brow furrowed. The stanzas were written in a different handwriting this time, and he recognized it as Crowley’s. These must have been his attempt at gathering information before he handed the job off to him. Finally, they were given a hint on what to look for, but the more they learned the less he felt he knew.
“We might not have a face or a name, but we have some description of what they’re like.” He said, placing the poem down on the table. He ran his finger under the highlighted titles in the text. “There’s a second half of the prophesy. Crowley-san must have done his homework. These are titles and descriptions that were given to each of the people we’re supposed to find.”
Grim narrowed his eyes at the papers, licking the last flakes of tuna from his chops, “Ohhh… okay, I get it now! So we just gotta find someone in this book that matches each description! That’ll be easy!” He tossed the now empty can of tuna onto the table and grabbed for the folder, dragging it over onto his lap. “You deal with those riddles, an’ I’ll look at the student roster!”
“We’re working on this together, so I’m going to look at those in a minute, too.” Makoto reminded him.
Beneath the prophetic poem he found a stack of papers buried underneath. Receipts that had been stapled together, and several documents that looked like blank template pages that were meant to hold a student’s information. At the top of each template the title and description for each of the “souls” was written again. The rest of the pages were filled with a frantic smattering of notes - theories dissecting each word of the poem to decipher their physical characteristics and personalities, which dorms the suspects lived in, and the potential danger level each of them might have associated with them. At the bottom of the stack there was one last sheet of paper that was covered in notes about the school itself. He found little interest in most of the text, but there were a few lines that stood out to him.
“Night Raven College can hold 700 students maximum.
Every dorm can only hold up to 100 students at a time.
Many students are held back every year, so most dorms are under capacity.
Heartslabyul is currently the only dorm at max capacity.”
Useful to know. Seeing nothing else to investigate, he set the pages aside alongside the prophetic parchment. Grim had already flipped into the part of the folder that held the student and staff rosters. The student roster was divided by year, then class, then by number, starting with the freshmen in class A. This was the class him, Grim, Ace, and Deuce shared together. Grim immediately flipped past the students in the lower numbers until he got to pages with people he knew.
The first file he found was Makoto’s own, but then he flipped past and landed on Ace’s next. Makoto noticed that there really was a wealth of information that the headmaster kept on every student there. Name, sex, hair color, eye color, height, weight, birthday, blood type, health conditions, allergies, body measurements, home address, phone number, emergency contact information… Makoto couldn’t help but wonder why he would even have some of this information, let alone how he would even get it. There was an entire page dedicated to the physiology of the student and where they lived, who they lived with, and how to contact them most efficiently. There were notes on what jobs their parents and siblings had, what their phone numbers and email addresses were, what the best way to contact them was, what classes they were taking, what their grades were, what clubs they went to, what elemental magic they favored, what their unique magic was, what frequent purchases they made, on-campus delivery logs, longstanding service subscriptions… nothing but pages upon pages of information. Makoto could see now why the headmaster didn’t want any of this information to get leaked. It would be a great way to ruin someone's life, and also it would be a terrible look for him if people realized just how much information he had on them.
Grim frowned, flipping page after page expectantly. “What, that’s it? Man, there’s no dirt in here, this is just lame normal stuff! I’m already bored.” He huffed, shoving the binder away and haphazardly tossing it into Makoto’s lap. “Minion, you can have fun looking through all those pages, I’m gonna go take a nap.”
Makoto grabbed Grim by his scruff before he could walk away. “No you don’t. This is a job for both of us.”
“C’moooon, look at all those pages! It’s gonna take FOREVER to get through them all!” Grim complained.
“I know. That’s why we’re going to break the job down and make it easier for us to get started.” He said. Makoto opened up the rings on the spine of the binder and started pulling out the forepages of specific students, then setting them aside facedown on the table into separate piles. “We’re going to separate everyone here by dorm. Help me put them together where they belong.”
“Ehh? Why’re we doin’ that?”
“We’re looking for seven people and there’s seven dorms on campus. It's not a guarantee, but chances are good that there’s going to be one person per dorm, and I think the headmaster knew that. If we break the school down by dorm, then all we have to do is find the odd man out in each dorm,” Makoto explained, “The ‘jack of diamonds’ is a card you can find in any standard deck and Heartslabyul’s entire theme is assigning their dorm members to different card suites. Let’s start there, and maybe the ‘jack of diamonds’ will lead us to some of the others.”
Grim’s eyes lit up with excitement, and he quickly sat back down on the sofa, “Good idea! Since we’ll be there, we can talk to Ace and Deuce and maybe they can rat out who this ‘jack’ person hiding there really is!”
“The headmaster told us not to tell anyone about our mission.” Makoto reminded him.
“Ah, c’mon. Do you really think Ace or Deuce is one of the people ‘out of place’ at this school?” Grim said.
Makoto shrugged, “Not really, but it's a possibility. I’m saying it more so if we get in trouble for it, you know it was your idea.”
Chapter 4: Deep Breath, Deep Breath
Chapter Text
Beware the Jack of Diamonds, son of the blackened king,
He wears so many faces, but hides his own beneath,
His wicked tongue curses the world when he begins to sing.
Going after the “Jack of Diamonds” was the best starting place Makoto could think of, but investigating Heartslabyul was not going to be easy. There were one hundred students living in the dorm, including their housewarden Riddle, and that meant there were lots of potential suspects lurking around every corner.
Despite being warned to keep their operation a secret, Makoto and Grim knew that their mission was basically impossible with only the two of them working together. They needed more numbers, and what the headmage didn't know wouldn't hurt them, they figured. As long as their numbers were low enough, they could keep things running without the word getting out too far. They knew at least a few people in each dorm, and that was enough to give them the edge they needed in this investigation. Their plan was simple: reach out to their “contacts” in each of the dorms and give them the basics on what's going on, and then the work will be divided among each of them and they will be able to get their job done faster. As long as they kept the fallout contained, they should hopefully finish this operation in time for summer break.
Step one was to find Ace and Deuce. The two had been with them since day one, and even if they had their moments of conflict, they had proven themselves more than trustworthy in their eyes. So, the moment they stepped within Heartslabyul’s dorm, they made their way toward the infinite hedgemaze, where a group of students were busy at work painting the roses in sparkling white and red.
Ace twirled his magical pen between his fingers, pointing it forward as glimmering flashes of light sparkled around the gorgeous white roses. Their petals shimmered, enveloped in a crimson glow, and in the blink of an eye they had shifted from white to a perfect red. He grinned triumphantly, blowing on the edge of his wand like the barrel of a smoking revolver.
“Hey, you’re actually gettin’ pretty good at that!” Grim shouted to him. The feline clung to Makoto’s shoulder as the two of them approached Ace from behind, “You used to suck at paintin’ even a single rose red without a paintbrush.”
Ace perked up and gave them a wave. “I know, right? It took, like, a year for me to get it right, but now I can do a whole bush’s worth of roses at once, just like Riddle can!”
“Eeehhh, give or take~” Grim teased, “Why are ya only painting some of these roses white and some of them red, anyway? Ain't it usually only one color at a time?”
“Usually, yeah. It was Cater's idea, actually. For the welcome party at the start of the year, the roses are supposed to alternate between red and white, but there's no rule on what color they should be at the end of the year. Cater said before they’d have this big, wild party and make a huge mess out of the garden as like a tradition or something. But this year he figured it'd save a lotta time and energy if we painted them in alternate flowers now, then we won't have to deal with it when we all get back from summer break.” He explained. He then tucked his pen away shifted his gaze to Makoto instead, “Aaaanyway. You guys said you needed my help with something on the phone earlier? What’s up?”
“It’s a long story, and we're gonna need Deuce here first before I give you the run-down. You know where he is?” Makoto asked.
“Ah, yeah, he got stuck with flamingo-feeding duty again, so he’s probably over at their pens. Wanna come get him with me~? You’ve GOTTA see his flamingo-feeding outfit!” Ace snickered.
Makoto shrugged, and Grim piped up before he could respond, “We ain’t got time to waste lookin’ at his dorky ass! We’re on a mission, so time’s ‘a wastin’!”
Ace quirked a brow, “A mission, huh? Ehh, whatever you guys say. If ya wanna wait inside the main building then, I’ll bring him in for ya. Which by the way, Trey said he’s teaching some folks how to make his recipes today, so there’s gonna be lots of goodies lying around. If you get inside and save me a slice of cherry pie, I’ll be your best friend~” Ace pointed fingerguns at the both of them with a wink before scooting away to collect Deuce.
Heartslabyul really did feel like a second home for Makoto and Grim. Out of all the dorms, they’d gotten the closest with the residents of this dorm more than any of the others. Several students greeted them as they walked through the garden and made their way to the dormitory’s main building. As they opened the door, the sweet, heavenly aroma of fresh baked sweets enveloped them like a large, warm blanket.
It was lively inside the main building today, with lots of students standing around and chatting with paper plates of sweets in their hands. There were a couple tables set up to the side with pristine white lattice tablecloths spread over top of them, and from corner to corner across each of their surfaces there was a spread of treats piled high on plates in a wild arrangement of colors. Scones, tarts, pies, cakes, breads, cupcakes, muffins, and cookies of all shapes, sizes, and flavors were all left out in the open for anyone to grab. Some of them looked a bit burnt, and some looked a bit undercooked, but most of them actually looked halfway decent. A sign saying, “Eat me!” hung from the edge of the edge of the tables, inviting anyone nearby to take what they wanted. Many dorm residents had gathered around the tables, grabbing paper plates and piling high all the sweets their hearts desired before heading back out into the garden, retreating into their rooms, or mingling with their friends before going back for seconds.
Grim’s eyes sparkled at the sight of free food and he quickly leapt off from Makoto’s shoulder, shoving his way into the crowd to collect as much loot as he could before the table was emptied. The decadent aroma of sweets was enticing, but Makoto wasn’t interested in dealing with a crowd that size right now. Instead, he decided to let Grim take what he wanted as he walked over to one of the lounge chairs near the fireplace and took a seat on it. Grim darted around, frantically snatched up everything his paws could reach and drawing the ire of nearly every member of the dorm all at once. It was a comedic sight, but if things got out of hand he might have to step in before someone violently lost their temper at him.
“Howdy.”
Makoto glanced up at the sound of the voice. One of the dorm residents, one he didn’t recognize, approached the table and gave him a nod in greeting as he set down a couple empty cups, saucers, and a steaming kettle on the table between them.
“Lotta ruckus out here today, eh? Don't mind me, I'm jus' settin' up for later.” He said.
“Am I in your way?” Makoto asked.
“Nah. Not yet anyway,” the student replied. “Me ‘n my buddies ‘r gonna be havin’ a study session out here in a bit, that's all. We do it every weekend.”
Makoto nodded in understanding. The student took a seat on the loveseat to his right and filled the cup in front of him with fragrant, fresh-brewed floral tea. “The name’s Matt, by the way. You’re the prefect of that run-down ol’ dorm down on campus, right?”
Makoto nodded again, “Yeah. My name’s Yuki Makoto. Nice to meet you.”
Matt flashed him a grin, “The pleasure's mine. You want some tea?” He offered.
“No thanks. I’m just waiting for someone.” Makoto declined.
“Eh, no skin off my back.” Matt replied, setting the kettle back down on the table and plucking up his cup to take a sip from it. Makoto eyed him curiously as the conversation lulled between them.
Matt seemed to be around the same height as him, maybe slightly taller but not by much. He had a stocky build, chubby, but with clear muscle definition barely hiding beneath. His hair was short with long bangs, and cherry red in color. He had a round face, and his skin was tan with a smattering of freckles across his cheeks and neck. On his right cheek, right beneath his mint-green eye, he had a red diamond painted on his skin.
“Beware the Jack of Diamonds”… that phrase echoed in the back of his mind. But, Makoto knew it was impossible to identify if he was the “Jack of Diamonds” he had been warned about. Cater was a diamond suite card soldier, too, after all. There were as many diamonds in this dorm as there were hearts, clubs, and spades. Anyone could be the “jack of diamonds” as far as he was concerned; everyone was suspicious.
Grim finally made his way out from the crowd and set his plate of sweets down on the table, looking quite proud of himself for his haul. He plucked a palm-sized, slightly overcooked tart off the plate and noisily chomped into it. “Mmm~! Yuki, you gotta try one 'a these! Not these ones though, cuz everything on this plate's all mine! Nyahahaha~!” He laughed.
“Heh. Ain’t never seen a feline with an appetite like that b'fore. You must be up to your eyeballs in food bills takin' care 'a him, partner.” Matt remarked.
“I'm a natural gourmand, ya know! There's a lotta good food out there, so it's up to me to sample one of everything to find the best of the best!” Grim paused to lap up the crumbs sticking to his toebeans before eyeing Matt up and down, “By the way, are you a freshman or something? I’ve never seen you around here before.”
Matt chuckled, “Nah, I’m a third year, actually. I’m jus’ not always around these parts. I got friends here ‘n there, so I’m usually with them instead.”
Grim narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but then perked up as the door to the lobby opened up again. However instead of seeing Ace and Deuce, two more new faces entered the room.
A weathered and haggard looking young man with long black hair and grey, overgrown roots, and a taller boy with round glasses carrying a baseball bat over his shoulder made their way across the lobby floor. The boy with the greying hair was wearing the Octavinelle dorm uniform, and the boy with the round glasses was wearing the Savanaclaw uniform.
The boy with the glasses took a deep breath in before sighing loudly in satisfaction, “Ahhhh… man, it always smells so good here in Heartslabyul~ I wish it could smell like this all the time back in my dorm.”
“There’s some goodies on the table over ‘ere if ya want some. Trey said it’s free eats for whoever wants ‘em.” Matt called over to him, motioning toward a table covered in platters of sweets from corner to corner nearby.
The boy with the glasses perked up immediately and trotted over to the table to inspect what was still available. He got a few sideways glances from the Heartslabyul dorm members, but surprisingly none of them paid him much mind otherwise.
The boy with the greying hair approached the table that Makoto, Grim, and Matt were sitting beside. His expression was darkened from the rim of his hat, intensifying his stare as he looked between Makoto and Matt silently before taking a seat on the sofa beside the redhead. He sighed, taking his hat off and placing it on the armrest as Matt filled up the cup in front of him. His body language reminded him a lot of Floyd, minus the eccentric and borderline manic attitude.
Marcus looked to be slightly taller than Matt, with a lean but decently muscular build. Without the hat to shadow his face, Makoto could see dark circles running under his eyes, and a large, jagged scar slicing through his eyebrow, with a smaller one chipped across the bottom of his jaw. He had the exact same eye color as Matt, an off-color mint green.
He stared at Makoto for a long moment, seeming almost to be sizing him up, before turning his attention away from him and nodding his head in the direction of the table. “Is there something going on today?”
“Sorta. Vice head's teachin' some new blood the ropes on how t’ make his recipes for the dorm parties, ya know since he’s gonna be leavin' next year.” Matt replied.
"Hm." He hummed, plucking up his cup and softly blowing on it before taking a sip of its contents.
There was a sort of aura the man exuded that made Makoto feel more than a bit uneasy, and he could tell that Grim was feeling the same thing. It could be just that he wasn't welcome here in their inner circle, but Makoto wondered if maybe it was something else. Before he could contemplate further, the Savanaclaw student joined them at the table, setting down a plate with a few piles of cookies and slices of sweet bread on them, “Dude, Marcus, you gotta try this marble bread! I dunno what they put in it, but it's the bomb!” He said merrily.
Marcus, the boy with the greying hair, looked at the plate of sweets for a moment before shrugging, “I'll get some in a bit.”
“There's not gonna be some in a bit,” the Savanaclaw snickered, “You're missing out~ I'll save you a slice, okay?” He looked around for an empty seat, finding none, Makoto uncrossed his legs and stood up from his chair.
“I can move.” He offered, gesturing to his now empty seat.
The Savanaclaw student smiled, moving past him and taking his seat, “Thanks! I appreciate it- WAIT!” He suddenly exclaimed, double taking with widened eyes and shooting back up out of his seat when he realized who he was looking at, “WAIT, NO WAY, IT'S YOU!” Makoto and Grim both jumped and blinked in surprise at his exclamation. “Oh my god, holy shit- sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm just- I'm just such a huge fan of your work! I don't mean to geek out on ya, I probably look like such a weirdo right now.”
Makoto blinked in confusion, “My... 'work’?”
“Yeah! You know, like- ow!” Kaz frowned as Marcus roughly jabbed him with his foot. Marcus glared at him coldly, and Kaz blinked a few times before turning back to him, “Right, right, sorry, I forgot. We, uh, never really met before, have we? I’m Kaz, Kaz Guerrero. It’s nice to meet you!”
Kaz was tall and lanky compared to his other two companions. He had slightly darker skin, and short but shaggy dark brown hair. He had bandages on his nose and chin, and there were long smudges of dark makeup on his cheeks under his eyes, like the kind of eye black that baseball players and American football players would wear back on Earth. His eyes were a very pale blue, and his pupils almost looked hollow, making his gaze much more piercing than Marcus's, though not quite as intimidating. He was very lively and expressive, but there was a subtle sort of maturity in his face, something that he shared with his other two companions. All three of them looked like they could pass as university students if they tried.
Makoto nodded in greeting, “I’m Yuki Makoto, nice to meet you too. What did you mean about ‘my work’ though?”
“Y-You know, like, uh… you stopped all those O.B.’s earlier this year! It’s basically the talk of the school!” Kaz hastily explained, “I was there when Leona’s happened. I wasn’t really a fan of what he was doing during that tournament either, so I’m glad that you helped stop it before things got too serious.”
Grim grinned widely and put a paw on his hip proudly, “Yeah, that’s right! We totally beat his butt back where it belonged! It’s so nice to finally get some recognition for our achievements around here, nyahaha!”
Kaz looked down at Grim and smiled, patting his head like a cat, “You’re lucky you got a real smart leader to help take baddies like that down, little man~ You’re a good stand-in for him to fight with.” He glanced up at Makoto intensely, “So, like, is it true that you can’t use magic at all? And that you can’t remember anything from your past?”
“Um… Sort of.” Makoto awkwardly scratched at his cheek, “I remember most of my past, like my childhood and my parents… it’s just the last year of my life that I’m missing. Whatever might explain me being here instead of my own world is all I can’t remember.”
“Oh shit. So, you really can’t remember…” Kaz trailed off, “That really sucks, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you’ll be able to remember them soon.”
“’Them’?” Makoto repeated quizzically.
“Y-You know! Like your friends and all! You had a lot of them before you came here, at least I assume anyway.” He nervously chuckled, “Sorry, I didn’t- I’m making a lot of assumptions about you I guess. You’re really cool though, and you’ve done a lotta cool stuff around here. I think I’m just a little starstruck.”
Something was off about the way that Kaz was speaking. It seemed like he was trying to cover up for something that he wasn’t letting on to, but Makoto couldn’t tell what it was. In fact, this whole mix-matched friend group seemed more than a little suspicious. Something about them made Makoto feel like they didn’t belong here at all. Could it be that they were some of the Twisted Souls that he was looking for…? But then again, maybe it was him overthinking things…
“Hey, Yuki! Over here!”
Makoto heard his name from across the room, and there in the doorway were Ace and Deuce waving them over.
“Excuse me, my, uh, friends are here now.” Makoto said.
“Oh! Yeah, for sure! Dude, it was so nice to meet you, you have a good one!” Kaz beamed, giving him a wave as he left the table. Marcus and Matt gave him a small wave as well as him and Grim left the table to regroup with Ace and Deuce.
“Chattin’ up the study group over there?” Ace greeted as Makoto and Grim approached them by the door.
“More like they chatted up me,” Makoto remarked, “Are they here often? I don’t recognize them at all.”
Deuce glanced over at the trio at the lounge area, “Them? Sometimes, yeah. They do group study sessions together out here in the lobby, but I think they switch dorms every weekend. Sometimes I see them out here in the afternoon, but I’ve seen them in Savanaclaw and Octavinelle too. It’s funny, I know one of them is supposed to be from our dorm, but I never see him around most of the time. I don’t think I even know his name.”
“His name’s Matt, I think. I only know because whenever we have Unbirthday Parties, his seat’s almost always empty. It’s kinda a joke around the dorm that we should make a new rule specifically for when he shows up, since it’s so infrequent.” Ace said with a grin.
“Hmmm… That’s pretty suspicious...” Grim said, rubbing his chin suspiciously.
“Eh. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. The only suspicious thing is why Riddle hasn’t brought the hammer down on his head for ditching so often.” Ace remarked, folding his arms behind his head, “Anyway, Deuce is here now. So, what’s all this about a ‘mission’ you guys are on again?”
“Oh! Right!” Grim snapped to attention and turned to face the both of them, “So, you remember the other day when the Headmage called us up to the front office? Well he told Yuki about how he didn’t have a way for him to get home yet, but there was something else he told us too. He told us that _____ ____ _______, and it says there’s _____ ______ __ ____ ______ ____ _____ ________ __ __ ____. So we gotta catch ‘em or else ___ _____ _______ __ ______!” Grim said. He stopped for a moment and blinked, confused by his own words the moment they left his mouth.
“…What?” Deuce blinked and rubbed the inside of his ear with his pinkie, “Sorry, could you say that again? I didn't catch that the first time around.”
“I-I said…! There’s _____ _____ __ ____ ______ ____ _____ _______ __ __ ____!” Grim said again, his ears tilting down nervously, “W-what…?! Why can’t I-?!” Grim tried again to say the words in his mind, but the moment they left his lips, all that came out was empty air. A chill ran down his spine and he clasped his paws over his mouth in shock, dropping his half-empty plate of sweets to the floor.
“The hell are you doing, dude? Is this some kinda joke or something?” Ace said, frowning at Grim’s display.
“N-No! I’m trying to tell you that we need to find the _____ _______ _____! E-Eek!! Yuki! What’s going on?!” Grim balked, looking at Makoto for some kind of support.
Makoto furrowed his brow. Grim was a trickster, but this wasn’t a prank. Something was wrong… but what was it?
He thought back to when they were in the headmaster’s office. There was a strange flash of magic that illuminated the room, and he could feel a strange tingle on the back of his tongue when he saw it. He called it “a little insurance” then… this must be what he meant.
“Hold on.” Makoto started, clearing his throat, “We’re… doing a favor for the headmaster.” He said carefully, “He told us that something is… wrong. Here, in the school. So now we need to… investigate the dorms for any people that seem... like they’re out of place.”
“Hey! That's it!” Grim exclaimed, “How’d you do that?!”
“I think the headmaster did... this.” He said, gesturing at Grim, “When we saw him, he told us that we couldn’t actually tell anyone about what he wanted us to do. I don't know what he did, but I think he might have put some kind of spell or curse on us. That might be what's making it so Grim can't say what he wants to say. It's censoring anything that’s directly related to what the headmaster told us to do.” Makoto continued.
“Wait, are you serious? He can just do that?” Ace said, stunned. “What’d Grim say that got censored, then?”
“If he can't say it, then I don't think I can say it either. He told us we can’t mention the _____ _______ _____ or that __ __ ____ ____ ____ ___ _____ __ __ ______ or else there could be panic about it.”
Grim jumped and pointed at Makoto, “That’s it! You tried saying it too, right?!”
“Yeah, I did. So, that’s exactly what it is.” He confirmed.
“Dude, that's friggin' scary, what the hell...” Ace shuddered. “So, lemmie get this straight. The Headmage gave you a 'mission' that's so secretive you can't even talk about it? Like literally can't talk about it? How are we supposed to help if you can't even tell us what's going on?”
“I'll have to dance around the language, but I'll do what I can.” Makoto said.
“I mean, yeah, I guess, but that'd be kinda annoying to deal with after a while.” He sighed, tapping his foot as he mulled the thought over “Hmm… I wonder, if it's magic that's making it so you can't say it outright, maybe Riddle can do something to dispel it. His spellcasting is pretty elite, and his unique magic cuts off magic people try to cast. Maybe he can do something about it to make our lives easier.” Ace offered.
“That's not a bad idea.” Deuce agreed. “I don't know where he is right now, but we could ask Cater or Trey and they might know.”
Makoto shrugged, “We could try, but I don't think we should ask for Cater's help. At least not yet.”
“Huh? Why not?” Deuce asked.
“Oh-! That's right, diamonds!” Grim gasped, “Cater's on our prime list of suspects! He can't know anything about our mission, he could be one of the people we're looking for!”
“Something about diamonds, now?” Ace scratched the back of his head with a frown, “Agh, whatever. You're the investigators, so you’re the boss. Let's just ask Trey then, he'll probably know where Riddle is at least. He always does.”
A decision was made between them, and the four boys started off in the direction of the kitchen, on toward their next objective.
“…Hey, uh... Maybe I heard them wrong but did he... did he just-?”
“...I don’t know.”
“H-How did they-? I mean none of us told any-”
“I don’t know, I said. But if they know what we think they know… then we’re gonna be in a real world of shit.”
“Is it, ya know... safe for us to keep laying low…? Should we... do something about them...?”
“…Hey. Tail them. Find out what they know. Whatever you do, don’t let them see you.”
“Can do, buddy~”
Chapter 5: Troubled
Chapter Text
The sharp clack of a heart-shaped collar clamped tight around Makoto and Grim’s throats. Grim grunted in discomfort as it snapped shut around him, but Makoto hardly felt a thing as the spell took effect. Riddle twirled his staff around before tapping the end of it on the ground.
“There. Go ahead and try to speak freely,” Riddle commanded.
“Okay…” Grim hesitated, clearing his throat, “S-So… the headmaster told us we have to look out for the _____ _______ _____!” He shouted, the words falling short as they escaped his mouth.
“Tsk… Well, I didn’t think that would work, but it was a theory worth testing.” Riddle sighed, “My unique magic isn’t designed to dispel curses, but instead to cut off the flow of magic from the person wearing the collar. Outside spells are unaffected by it after all.” He waved his hand toward the two of them, and the collars vanished in a flash of light.
“Grrr… damn it! That rotten headmage, why would he go and make our lives so difficult when we’re supposed to be helping him, anyway?!” Grim raged, stomping his foot in frustration.
“It’s a very powerful curse as well, to be expected from someone of his caliber. I don’t think I have the power necessary to dispel it, not yet anyway.” Riddle apologized, then scowling at the two of them with a frown, "I will say, I don’t very well appreciate you lot approaching me about this. If the headmage himself has placed this spell upon you, then he did so for a reason. I'd be undermining his authority if I tried break it. You have some nerve trying to get me to break the rules.”
“L-Listen, okay?! We ain’t doin’ this cuz we want to! And this has to do with your dorm, too!” Grim hastily explained, waving his paws in front of him defensively.
“My dorm? Explain yourself. The headmage hasn’t said anything about situations in my dorm requiring my attention.” Riddle ordered.
“Nnghhh… I can’t say it though with this stupid curse censoring everything I say! Minion, you do it!” Grim commanded.
Makoto looked around the room. Trey had led them to Riddle, as they thought he would, but then he quickly left to continue supervising the freshmen in the kitchen. Riddle had just returned back to the dorm after retrieving some supplies for their end-of-the-year celebration, and when they explained that they needed privacy to address the situation at hand, he led the group of freshmen aside to his personal dorm room – the most private place in the whole building. The only people there aside from himself were Grim, Ace, Deuce, and, of course, Riddle himself. The housewarden of Heartslabyul, the Rose-Red Tyrant.
This group of people should be enough.
“It’s a bit difficult to explain, but I have something that might help.” Makoto said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a yellowed piece of parchment paper carefully laminated in plastic. He handed it over to Riddle, who took it and quickly looked over what it read.
“…What is this?” Riddle asked, his brow furrowing now not from anger but instead from confusion. Ace and Deuce hovered over his shoulders to get a look at the parchment for themselves.
“This is something the headmaster gave us. He got it years ago, from a fortune teller that used to attend this school. He said that he’s taking it very seriously, so he wants us to investigate it for him. Specifically, he wants us to investigate the student body to find the _____ _______ _____ that are mentioned in the text.” Makoto explained, pointing to the line “seven twisted souls” to elaborate on what he could not say.
“I see…” Riddle hummed, flipping the parchment over and examining the stanzas on the other side. “He told you to investigate this, and yet he placed a curse on you so that you could not speak of it. Did he say why?”
“He said that if word got out, it might cause chaos in the student body. But, Grim and I can only get so far on our own, so we’re looking for people that can help us with our investigation. We’re trusting you with this information, so please keep it a secret for us.” Makoto said.
Riddle nodded in understanding and handed the parchment back, “He's not wrong, I can most definitely see why he'd be concerned with causing panic amongst the student body. I understand that you were instructed to keep this from me, but I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. You have my word, I won’t tell a soul about your investigation.” He turned around to face Ace and Deuce, who jumped back as they met his gaze, “You two. This is an order from your headwarden. You’ve been entrusted with something extremely important: insider knowledge, and the trust of both me and the prefect of Ramshackle dorm. From here on, you’re to be assisting Yuki and Grim with their investigation to the best of your ability. If one word of this prophesy or this investigation is exposed due to your negligence, there will be far worse than just your head to pay the price. Do I make myself clear?”
Ace and Deuce straightened up, clicking their heels together and raising their hands in salute, “Yes, Housewarden!” They shouted like obedient card soldiers.
“Good. At ease, soldiers.” Riddle commanded, and the two freshmen breathed out a sigh as they relaxed their stances. Riddle turned back to Makoto and Grim. “As for you, Yuki... I'm not sure if this might be relevant, but I do have some information that you might find interesting. We had an... incident of sorts that I’ve been personally investigating for some time now. One of our dorm members was attacked while he was on campus."
Ace and Deuce looked at Riddle in shock, "Attacked?!" They exclaimed simultaneously.
"Yes. I didn't want to alarm the rest of the dorm, so I requested that the people closest to the victim to be as discreet as possible. The unusual part about it is that the person that was attacked didn't sustain any injuries, at least none that were physical. Instead, he was hit with a spell that damaged his mind. Many of his memories were... erased.” Riddle explained.
Makoto and Grim shared a glance, and Grim pumped his paws into little fists, "This is our lead, Yuki! This is totally the work of one of THEM! Riddle! Can we interrogate the person that got attacked?"
"I believe so, yes. But, keep in mind that this issue I consider to be one of extreme confidentiality. Do not tell anyone of who the victim was or what happened to him. Understood?" Riddle said, looking between the group seriously.
With all in agreement, Makoto, Grim, Ace, and Deuce were led out of the room with Riddle leading them onward. They were lead through the hall to one of the first year dorm rooms. Riddle knocked on the door, and the freshman that opened it violently spluttered a mouthful of his beverage as he saw his housewarden on the other side. “S-Sir!” He shouted, immediately straightening up to attention.
“At ease. Is everyone in currently? I’d like to speak with one of your roommates.” Riddle inquired.
“Oh- you mean-? Y-Yeah, he’s in. Uh, here, c-come on in.” He sheepishly invited, Riddle strutting right past him with the rest of the investigation team in tow. Inside, the other residents of the room were busy studying, reading, and lazily watching videos on their phone. As they all looked up to see their housewarden, they immediately shot up to attention. Riddle approached the boy sitting at his desk and studying, tapping on the desk to get his attention.
“Do you have a moment? I’d like you to meet someone that might be able to help with your... situation.” Riddle explained. The student pulled off his headphones and glanced back to the group that followed his dorm head in before looking back to Riddle and nodding solemnly.
“Yuki, I’d like you to meet one of our freshmen. He’s actually at the top of his grade in our dorm for his year. Or at least, he was. Since the 'incident' occurred, now he’s struggling in all of his classes simultaneously.”
“Yeah yeah, okay before ya go explainin' what happened and all, I got somethin' I wanna ask ya real quick,” Grim said with a frown, “You sure ya got hit with memory-erasing magic? Cuz from what I heard, it sounds like you just worked yourself too hard and passed out from overexertion. I’d know all about that, me bein’ a genius an’ all~”
“T-that’s not it at all!” The Heartslabyul freshman stuttered, “I study all the time, sure, but I do it because I actually like to learn. I’ve been at the top of my grade since middle school, I skipped a grade to get into NRC early. I do extra credit for my classes every time it’s available! I- I wanna get into AP courses next year! This is just how I am… I've never had this happen before, and t-there’s nothing weird or fishy about it, I swear!!” He shouted. Tears welled up into his eyes, and his breath turned into shaky sniffles.
His roommate wrapped an arm around the freshman’s shoulders as he broke down into sobs. “We're pretty sure somebody did something to him, there's no way he did this to himself. We think someone hit him with some kind of memory-erasing magic because it’s the only explanation we could think of.”
Makoto narrowed his eyes. “Does he have any enemies? Someone that might want to sabotage him?”
“Well that’s the thing, we don’t have any idea on who did it or why. He doesn’t have any enemies that we know of… maybe some other freshmen that also take their studies seriously and want the number one spot, but he hasn’t gotten into any fights over it so we don’t have any leads.”
Riddled nodded in agreement, “This is what they reported to me as well. For their information, could you please go over a timeline of events for them? They’re going to be conducting a formal investigation on the incident.”
The freshman sniffled and rubbed his eyes on his sleeve, taking a drink from his water bottle as he struggled to regain his composure. “I-It was… right before I had a test for my magical history class. I felt really confident in my studies, and I was helping my friend here catch up on his notes so he could do well too. It was kinda late, but I can’t remember what time it was… but we still had a few more things to go over, so I left the dorm so I could hit up the Mystery Shop before it closed so I could get some snacks for us to munch on while we wrapped up…”
“…and then he just… didn’t come back.” His roommate continued, “He was gone for like an hour, and I thought it was kinda weird for him to be taking so long. I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer. I thought maybe he left his phone on silent, so I waited a little bit longer. I kept waiting and waiting, and when I looked at the clock it was almost midnight, and he still didn’t come back. I kept calling him over and over again but he never picked up. I got worried something bad might’ve happened, so I left to go look for him. I couldn’t find him anywhere in the dorm, not in the lounge, the kitchen, and not in any of the washrooms either. I went out towards the Mystery Shop and…” he stopped for a moment, his face paling as he recollected the visions from that night, “He was… passed out on the ground. He looked pale like a corpse, and his mouth was... stuck open, like a ghost had sucked his soul right out of him. His eyes were all bloodshot and vacant, and there were these dark lines around his eyes... He didn’t even look like he was breathing, I thought he was actually dead, but he still had a heartbeat so I called our dorm head and we booked him into the medbay as soon as we could.”
Riddle nodded in agreement, “I remember that call. I woke up Cater and Trey, and we admitted him to the infirmary ASAP. We told Headmage Crowley what happened in the morning, but before we did, we launched an investigation on the scene of the attack. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any traces of who could have attacked him. There were no signs of a struggle, no traces of lingering magic on his body or the ground, and no tracks we could trace either. It really was like he was ambushed by a ghost… which would have been even more unusual, since the only ghosts on campus are employed by the school. He would have been more likely to have run into security that late at night than some sort of wayward malevolent spirit.”
Makoto and Grim looked between each other in knowing. This had to been an attack from one of the “twisted souls” they were told to look for. It couldn’t have been done by anyone else.
“So what happened next?” Makoto asked.
“Well… he woke up.” The roommate continued, “He was, like… comatose for a couple days, but he just woke up and acted like nothing had happened. He wasn’t sick - well he had a headache – but he wasn’t nauseous or anything.”
“I was so confused…” The freshman shakily sighed, “I-I didn’t know why I was in the infirmary at all. I just woke up one day and… I was just there. He asked me what happened, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I couldn’t- I still don’t- I just can’t remember… any of what happened that night at all. I remember leaving to go get snacks, but then everything after that was just… gone. And not only that, but all my studies! Everything I learned in all of my classes! All of it was just... poof! It was like… at least half a year of my life was just completely erased. All my hard work, everything… just gone. Just… just like that…” he trailed off, tears welling in his eyes once again.
Makoto felt a kinship with the student. They both had something in common, losing so much of their lives in the blink of an eye, for seemingly no reason at all. The difference between them was someone did this to this student on purpose, which means someone can be held accountable for it. He put a finger to his chin in thought, looking over to Riddle, “I don’t know much about magic, but I’m going to assume that memory erasing magic is considered a high level spell for someone to cast, right?”
“That’s correct,” Riddled replied, “It’s considered a forbidden magic technique; it’s not something that we’re taught how to perform ourselves, instead we’re taught how to ward it off and defend against it. This is something you both will learn next year, in fact,” he explained to Ace and Deuce, “Since he’s a freshman, he wouldn’t have learned the technique yet, which might explain why he was a target and not someone from a higher grade. The only reason someone on campus might use it is if they were an elite mage, if they specifically studied forbidden magical techniques, or if it was part of their unique magic. Those are the only conclusions that I was able to come to.”
“That’s what I wanted to know.” Makoto said, shoving his hands back into his pockets.
“So, we coulda been victims just as easily as this guy? Scary…” Ace whispered.
“You’d think that a counterspell would be something they’d teach us right off the bat around here. Then again, it’s not like people have easy access to that kind of magic if it’s a forbidden technique…” Deuce murmured back.
“So, the perpetrator would have to be either a high-level junior, senior, or a staff member… or someone with the right kind of unique magic. That narrows it down a bit.” Makoto looked back toward the distraught freshman and his roommate, “We’ll see what we can find out. If you hear of any more incidents like this happening, report it to your dorm head and we’ll look into it, too.”
The freshman rubbed his eyes, his brows furrowing in anger, “If you… find out who did this to me… I need you to tell me. I wanna make them pay for ruining my life like this.”
Makoto nodded, and the group was lead out of the room shortly after. In the hallway, Riddle sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, "This case has been bothering me for a while now. I can't stand to think of who could have targeted one of my dorm members for seemingly no reason at all. I don't have anything else to go on other than what you've heard, so until now I've just been stuck. Do you think this might be relevant to your investigation?” Riddle asked.
“It’s possible. We don’t know what these people want or what they’re after yet. We’ll have to keep an eye out and see if it’s related.” He replied.
“Geez… the stakes really raised all of a sudden." Ace sighed, "No wonder the headmage didn’t want this getting out, if this is really related to that prophesy, then yeah, anyone in their right mind would start freaking out.”
“We’ve got this.” Deuce asserted. “It doesn’t sit right with me, knowing these people are going around and hurting others that’re just trying to be the best students they can be. I’m gonna find them and make sure they face justice for what they’ve done.”
Riddled nodded firmly in agreement. “I agree. Knowing these people are purposefully sabotaging the ones I was entrusted to care for makes me furious. If you’re going to be investigating the other dorms, then perhaps it’d be lucrative to inform the other housewardens of what’s going on. It’s possible that there’s been more incidents like this in the other dorms that I’m unaware of.”
“Hold it! Hold everything!” Grim shouted, “The headmage told us that we can’t tell ANYBODY about our investigation, and that includes you housewardens! If you go spillin’ the beans at one of your meetings, he’s gonna know that word’s getting out, and we’re all gonna be screwed!”
“I’m aware of that.” Riddle said with a frown, “I still don’t like the idea of going behind the headmage’s back like this, but… if it’s for the safety and well-being of the student body, then an exception must be made. I’ll reach out to the other housewardens in secret, and we can hold an impromptu meeting without the headmage present. Let’s hold this meeting in Ramshackle, Yuki. It’s a neutral ground between all the dorms, and you can explain the rest of your operation there, if you wish.”
Makoto nodded. "Call them all to our dorm tonight, after curfew begins. Nobody will question if the dorm heads left on a business call, and the headmaster should be off-campus by then, so we should be able to speak freely."
"Understood. I'll start contacting the rest of them at once." Riddle confirmed.
Their operation had quickly evolved within the span of a few minutes. A prophesy, a curse placed upon them by the headmage himself, seven mysterious individuals hiding somewhere in the school, and now students were being attacked, losing their memories and falling unconscious without a trace of who or what caused it. Makoto knew these links had to be tied together somehow, he just had to see how the pieces linked together.
dragonflyflight on Chapter 3 Tue 19 Aug 2025 03:46PM UTC
Last Edited Tue 19 Aug 2025 03:46PM UTC
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ThatLethalSoul on Chapter 3 Tue 19 Aug 2025 06:07PM UTC
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