Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Remy laid quietly on the bed listening to Yuu breath. When they had gotten back to the dorm the rat Grim tried to join Yuu in bed. Remy quickly put a stop to that. He absolutely refused to share a bed with anyone but Yuu.
Grim had complained, of course, but in the end he settled on the comfy looking armchair that sat next to the unlit fireplace.
Remy closed his eyes as he tried to sleep before he noticed a weak presence approaching the dorm. Getting up, he looked out the window to see Ace walking up the pathway. Now, Imaginary Friends did not like to wander too far from their hosts as it weakened them but he decided to risk it since he knew Ace couldn't hurt him.
Quietly leaving the room, he quickly made it downstairs and to the front door before Ace could knock. Yanking the door open, he startled Ace as he demanded "What do you want now, Trump card? My host sleeps and you shall not wake him up."
Ace just gaped at Remy. Truth be told the strange bipedal blue cat scared him especially after seeing him kill that monster so brutally. Ace gathered his courage as he said "Look, can I stay here tonight? I got kicked out of my dorm and I have no where else to go."
Remy stared for a moment. "No."
As he started to close the door Ace quickly started talking, "Wait wait wait! Just one night please! My Housewarden is insane!"
Remy just sighed. At this rate the idiot might wake Yuu up and he couldn't have that. Leaning against the doorframe, he asked "So what did you do?"
"How do you know I did something?" Ace curiously asked.
"Because in the short time I have known you I have determined that you are an idiot. So what did you do?" Remy informed Ace as the ghosts appeared behind him to hear the story.
Though a bit miffed by what Remy said, Ace decided to ignore it and tell his side of the story. "It all started when I got back to my dorm. I was a bit hungry you see so I looked in the fridge and there were three huge tarts. I decided to eat just one little slice. Nothing much when my Housewarden appeared behind me, quoted some rule, and collared me. So I ran out of there and came here."
Remy blinked slowly before he started closing the door.
"Wait! Don't you feel sorry for me? I was unjustly collared." Ace whispered yelled as he pushed on the door.
The three ghosts started giggling behind Remy. Bob eyed the red head as he said "Sounds to me you got what you deserve."
"Yeah," Ceasar piped in. "An Ace of Hearts stole the queen's tart and got off with his head."
Eleazar fanned himself "You're lucky it wasn't the real Queen of Hearts, boy, or you wouldn't have a head to complain." Tapping his skeletal chin, he added "Weren't you the one going on about how cool the Queen of Hearts was? How having a tyrant for a leader was better than a goody-two shoes?"
Ace gawked at them in shock. "How do you know that? I only said that to Grim and Yuu!"
Chuckling, Bob said, "What do you think we ghosts do all day? It gets boring in an abandoned dorm. We love nothing more than to eavesdrop on you livings."
Remy tilted his head. "Weren't you busy cleaning during that time?"
The three looked at each other before grinning. "Do you really think we're the only ghosts here?" Ceasar said as the three vanished with a laugh.
"OK that was creepy." Ace said before looking at Remy again. "Can I now please stay here tonight?"
Giving up, Remy allowed Ace in closing and locking the door behind him. Walking to the lounge Remy pointed at the couch. "You may sleep here tonight. If I catch you waking up Yuu you will rue the day you ever met me. Got it?"
Pouting, Ace sat down on the couch. "No room I can crash in?"
"Beggers can't be choosers, Ace. Besides, only Yuu's room is clean and it's bad enough the rat shares it." Remy turned to head upstairs. "Now goodnight and try to not imagine how many invisible ghosts are watching you."
Ace quickly looked around in horror. "Dude that's not funny!"
Pausing halfway up the stairs, Remy coldly smiled at Ace. "It is to me."

Chapter Text

Yuu slowly woke up, stretching his limbs as his joints popped pleasantly. The sun was filtering in through the windows on the peaceful morning. Looking over, Yuu was surprised to see Remy was gone.
Sitting up, Yuu looked around his room. Only a sleeping Grim was with him. Growing concerned, Yuu tiptoed out of the room closing the door softly behind him.
As he headed for the stairs he heard voices. Hearing Remy's voice brought relief to him. Yuu wasn't ready for Remy to leave him just yet.
As Yuu peaked over the banister he was surprised to see Ace and Deuce were in his living room. Around Ace's neck was a familiar red and black heart-shaped collar. "Morning guys! What are you doing here?"
The three turned to look up at Yuu. Remy immediately appeared at Yuu's side. "Did they wake you up?"
Ace and Deuce both paled slightly before Yuu denied it, having woken up on his own.
As Yuu walked down the stairs he asked Ace "Why are you wearing that collar?"
Ace immediately launched into his tale of woe hoping for more sympathy. Unfortunately for him, though Yuu was a kind young man, he had little sympathy for him. "You couldn't of just toasted some bread? Didn't you think those tarts belonged to someone?"
Deuce nodded along. "Prefect's right Ace. You can't just go stealing someone's food."
"Ugh!" Ace said as he sat back down on the couch. "Seriously? No sympathy whatsoever? For a mage, having your magic cut off hurts! I feel so weak and helpless."
Yuu just raised an eyebrow at him. "As the only magicless one here living on the mercy of others I feel nothing for you Ace. It's totally wrong to steal someone else's food."
"But there were three of them. Big ones too. He could have spared a single slice." Ace tried to counter but all three just shook their heads at him.
"You're gonna have to suck it up, admit you were wrong, and apologize." Yuu said firmly.
"All right, all right." Ace griped. "Fine. I get that I should apologize. But you're coming with me, Yuu. This was your idea, after all."
Remy glared at Ace from behind Yuu. Ace gulped but refused to take back what he said. Even Deuce stepped slightly away while eyeing Remy.
Yuu sighed. "Ok."
Remy through his paws in the air.
"But," Yuu added, "you're also going to need an apology tart."
"Huh?" Both Ace and Deuce said while Remy actually looked impressed.
"When you eat someone's food you have to replace it. It is only polite." Yuu stated as Remy clapped.
"With what?" Ace asked in disbelief.
The three ghosts appeared "Fortunately for you livings we have restocked the kitchen. You got all the mixings for egg tarts." Bob said as he floated close to Yuu.
Yuu looked delighted. "For real!? We got food!" Smiling brightly at the three ghosts, Yuu said "You guys are the best."
The three looked like they were blushing. "Aw shucks," Eleazar said, "we just thought you younguns would appreciate not having to get to school early just for a meal."
Remy was more cautious. "Where did you get this food?"
Ceasar chuckled. "We ghosts have our ways. Now hurry up, you got some tarts to make.

They arrived in the kitchen shortly after. Yuu asked the ghosts if they happened to have gotten any small tart shells. Fortunately the ghosts had thought of everything and had gotten two dozen. They had figured that the boys would make apology tarts and had gotten some.
Yuu got out some sugar, some eggs, some evaporated milk, some water, and the tart shells. Placing a pot on the stove he combined the water and sugar. Telling Ace to stir until the sugar dissolved, he beat four eggs together in a large bowl then added the milk. After Ace said the sugar was dissolved Yuu combined all of the ingredients together telling Ace to mix well.
Deuce, who stood to the side watching, asked "Uh Yuu? I'm no cook but shouldn't you preheat the oven?"
"Good question Deuce." Yuu said as he placed the tart shells near Ace. "It would take too long to bake these the traditional way. Luckily we got the Great Remy to help us out!"
The two boys looked at Remy who totally did not look happy to help.
Looking through the drawers, Yuu found a sieve and another bowl. He had Ace help pour the mixture through the sieve into the new bowl. They then poured the mixture into each of the tart shells. Once done Yuu turned to Remy.
Remy rolled his eyes before coming over. Staring at the tarts he waved his hands over them harnessing fire. He heated the tarts rapidly, quickly baking the tarts. The kitchen soon smelled delicious and three stomachs growled.
"Should we taste test them?" Ace asked.
"Really Ace?" Yuu asked as Remy cooled the tarts.
"What! We gotta make sure they taste good." Ace reseaoned as he hungrily looked at the golden tarts.
Yuu just shook his head as he carefully grabbed three tarts. Handing one to both Ace and Deuce he grabbed the final third one. The three took a bite and then groaned.
"So good!" Ace and Deuce said as one as they scarfed down the rest of their tart.
Yuu took a bit more time, enjoying his tart as he made sure Ace didn't grab another. "Well I say the tarts are a success. Shall we divide the tarts and go?"
"Huh?" Ace dumbly asked.
Yuu rolled his eyes. "We divide the tarts. Half for you as an apology and half for me when I go greet your Housewarden. I would like to make a good impression when I officially meet your Housewarden."
"Why so many though? We could just give him one and eat the rest." Ace said as he watched Yuu grab two baskets the ever helpful ghosts provided.
Remy smacked the back of Ace's head while Yuu's back was turned. "You're quite the little piggy aren't you?"
Ace jumped away from Remy as Yuu turned back around. "I meant we could share them and stuff. Yeah."
"Nice try Ace." Yuu said as he finished loading the tarts in their basket. Done, Yuu said "Ready to go? We got time before our first class for you to apologize."
Ace sighed as he grabbed one of the baskets and trudged towards the door.
As they left Yuu asked "Are we forgetting something?"
Remy was quick to say "No."
Yuu suddenly stopped. "We forgot Grim!" Ignoring Remy's quiet "Dammit!" Yuu was about to run back inside when they heard a scream. The front door flew open as Grim was tossed out. The door slammed shut to the sound of ghostly laughter.
Grim slowly sat up, an angry look on his face. "What was that for! I was enjoying a good dream too."
Yuu quickly took out one of the tarts leaving an even ten in each basket. He handed it to Grim who gladly ate it. "We're going with Ace so he can apologize to his Housewarden."
"Hmmm? Why?" Grim asked as he looked at Ace only to gasp and point as he spotted the collar.
Ace just grumbled as he once again told his story only to receive no sympathy, again, as Grim not only told him he was in the wrong but that he got what he deserved.
And so they arrived at the Mirror Chamber and stood before the Heartslabyul mirror.

Chapter Text

Yuu and Remy stared in awe at the sight of Heartslabyul dorm. The towering dorm with its red and black theme resembled an English castle. Tall green hedges circled the dorm and a beautiful fountain stood before them.
Ace and Deuce walked on, used to the sight already. "Come on, the sooner we do this the sooner I get my collar off."
"And the sooner we get to watch Ace apologize too," Grim chipped in as he pranced forward.
Ace growled at him. "Since when did this become a field trip?! This is the worst!"
As they started going through the hedge maze they heard someone saying. "Aww yeah, I am getting my paint on!"
Grim perked up. "Someone's here?"
Walking around a corner, they saw a guy with orange-red hair painting white roses red. In his off hand he held a blinged out phone. "They all gotta be red, or it's "off with my head"!"
Remy leaned close to whisper in Yuu's ear "Alice in Wonderland much?" Yuu nodded.
"Huh...? You guys need something?" The stranger asked as he turned to look at the quintet. "Hold the phone, I know you! You're the ones who broke a billion-thaumark chandelier and nearly got expelled for it, yeah?" He looked excited as Ace and Deuce groaned.
"That chandelier is gonna haunt us till the day we graduate, isn't it?" Ace muttered as the guy rushed over to them.
"And you! You're the one who ate the housewarden's tart that same night! You guys are THE hot topic around campus! I've gotta get in on this fleeting fame. I'm just gonna grab a selfie real quick... It's cool if I post this on Magicam, right? Gimme your names so I can tag you." He said as he held up his phone. Yuu and Remy quickly ducked out of the way. Yuu because the extroverted guy was beginning to freak him out and Remy because he didn't show up in pictures and didn't want to bother explaining it to a stranger.
The guy finishes his selfie before noticing he didn't get everyone. "Camera shy huh?" He giggled as both Ace and Deuce told him their names.
"Uploaded! Sweet. 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! Soooo nice to meetcha!" Cater said as he gave them a peace sign. Noticing Yuu he exclaimed "Ah, you're the prefect of that so-called Ramshackle House dorm, right? Like, I can't believe you actually live there! It's all gloomy and looks like hot garbage on Magicam. No filter could salvage THAT dump."
Grim snapped out a "Hey" as Yuu just sighed. It was a work in progress.
"Gah, what am I doing? I don't have time to chat! The party's tomorrow. If we're not ready, it's "off with my head"! Hey, you kids wanna help me paint some roses?" Cater asked as he gestured towards the partly painted roses.
"Yeah, uh... Why are you doing that exactly?" Ace asked.
"Because red roses are so much more photogenic! Or...something...? And after that, I've gotta start getting things ready for the big croquet tournament. And that means coloring all the flamingos. *sigh*" Cater hurriedly explained.
"You're colorin' flamingos now? Isn't anything the right color around here?!" Grim asked as he had never heard of such weird things.
Yuu suddenly had an epiphany. Turning to Cater he asked "Are you guys getting ready for an Unbirthday party?"
Cater looked shocked. "Uh, yeah how did you know that?"
While Yuu froze, Remy answered for him. "Everybody who knows a little about the Queen of Hearts should know about the famous Unbirthday parties. And seeing as how you're painting the roses and flamingos and there were tarts the evidence points to an Unbirthday Party."
The others stared before Cater shrugged. "You're right. Those tarts little Acey ruined were for Heartslabyul's famous Unbirthday party." Shaking his head he said "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 is a total normie, so you two better stick to paint."
Remy crossed his arms in a giant x. "Nope! We are on a mission to greet the queen. You may keep the tart theif but Yuu and I are leaving." With that Remy grabbed Yuu and dragged him away ignoring Cater trying to call them back.
"You didn't want to paint the roses red?" Yuu asked as they entered the dorm.
"Manual labor is a no go for me." Remy said as he stopped in what could only be an entrance hall. "Let's just be neighborly and give the Queen his tarts and leave. Ace is a big boy, he could tell that weirdo no and follow us inside."
They soon asked a nearby student where their housewarden was and was pointed down the hall to a tearoom. Inside sat the same short red headed boy at a table looking at some papers. He glanced up when they entered. Standing, he said "Can I help you?"
Yuu was only slightly taller than the guy but his mere presence intimidated him. Clutching the basket tightly he thrust it out towards the guy and hurriedly said "Hello. My name is Yuu and this is my familiar Remy and these are for you."
The guy looked at the basket before slowly taking it. Looking inside, he saw ten small golden tarts. "Not that I don't appreciate the gesture but why are you giving me tarts?"
At this point Yuu had gone mute. Remy, recognizing what was happening, stepped in. "Where we're from if one goes to someone's house or in this case dorm uninvited one should bring a token with them which is usually food. We came because one of your residents ate a tart and sought shelter at our dorm. We helped make some apology tarts and made enough for some greeting tarts too." Pointing at the basket he added "They're egg tarts. They're really good so I hope you like them."
The guy frowned considering for a moment. "Very well. I thank you for your greeting tarts. I am Riddle Rosehearts the Housewarden of Heartslabyul." He finished with a short bow.
"Great!" Remy clapped his hands as Yuu still stayed quiet. "You know, I heard you guys got a lot of rules you follow. Do you have a spare rule book we could borrow? I'm sure we'll be hanging around some of your students a lot and I would just hate to unintentionally break any rules."
Riddle looked surprised. "Of course. I just wished my own residents showed as much interest." Setting the basket down he reached into his bag. "Here, you may borrow my spare. I already have all 810 rules memorized."
That seemed to snapped Yuu out of his mute cosplay. "810! You memorized all of them?"
Riddle raised an eyebrow at Yuu. "But of course. It is my duty as the ruler of Heartslabyul to know each and every one of our queen's rules."
Remy took the book and stared at it. He too had no idea what he was getting himself into when he asked for the book.
Riddle looked at Yuu's outfit. "Why are you not dressed in your uniform? All students must wear their school uniform when attending class."
"The crow never gave us any." Remy replied while he handed Yuu the book.
Riddle didn't look surprised. "Might I suggest you go to Professor Crewel's class? He should have a spare uniform or at the least provide you with some."
Yuu smiled and thanked Riddle as they bid him goodbye. Time was starting to run short. Luckily they had Crewel for their first class.
As they left they decided to head on without their companions. If they waited too long they would be late for class. Remy didn't complain and so they headed off to Professor Crewel's class.

Chapter Text

Yuu and Remy finally arrived at their first class. Knocking on the door, Yuu pushed it open to reveal a large room more akin to a laboratory than a classroom.
Sitting at the desk was a rather attractive man with his hair half white and half black. With the coloring and the fur coat he was a handsome gender-swapped Cruella de Vil.
"Don't just stand there, puppies, come in." He said as he stood up. In his hand he held a pointer with a dog collar hanging from it.
Yuu and Remy walked up to him. "Professor Crewel sir, I was told to come to you for my uniform?"
"You may call me Master Crewel, puppy." Crewel said as he studied Yuu's hair. "Hm, that's quite the unusual coat of fur. Do make sure that you arrive properly groomed." He took out a soft measuring tape and quickly took Yuu's measurements. Once finished, he had Yuu take a seat while he disappeared into his office.
While they waited, more students slowly trickled in. Yuu nervously took out his rule book to occupy himself and avoid looking at the new people. Remy just watched the students take their seat and socialize. A few looked at Remy in curiosity before turning away.
Crewel soon returned and gestured for Yuu to join him in his office.
Once inside he handed Yuu a uniform. "This is the closest to your size. It'll do for now while I make you some new ones. That blasted crow really should of given me a heads up but what can you do."
When Crewel turned his back, Yuu quickly changed. Now in a proper school uniform he noticed his vest was gray.
"Since you're not part of one of the seven dorms you do not have an assigned color." Crewel said as he turned back around to examine Yuu. "Now back to your seat puppy."
Yuu and Remy headed back to the main room and sat in the same seats as before. There was more students now except their friends hadn't shown up yet. "Wonder where the guys are?" Yuu asked as he looked around.
Remy groaned. "Getting into trouble most likely. I swear those three share a single brain cell."
A few more minutes passed before the bell rang just as the trio ran inside. Seeing Yuu and Remy they took the seats next to them.
Ace leaned close to Yuu, "Where were you two?"
"We gave Riddle our tarts and then came to class early to get a uniform." Yuu whispered back. "Why do you three look so rumpled?"
The trio looked dusty like they had rolled on the ground.
"Did you at least give Riddle your apology tarts?" Remy asked as he looked over the three.
Ace's face turned red. "Get this, that jerk of an upperclassmen spilled paint on my tarts ruining them. He then kicked us out since we weren't following rule 53 "Stolen items must be replaced.""
Remy scoffed. "You should have listened to us. You could of helped that guy after delivering your tarts. Now you're stuck in that collar."
Before Ace could reply, Crewel slapped his desk with his pointer. "Settle down puppies. Now's the time to listen not bark." After the class settled he continued "We're going to start with the basics. And by that, I mean beating the names and distinguishing characteristics of one hundred herbs and poisons into your tiny brains. The mycelia are another matter. But eventually, I'm hopeful you'll be able to take a walk without putting anything poisonous into your gaping maws. For now, I realize you have all the self-control of voracious hounds. But I will not abide a single student failing this class. Expect to be drilled accordingly." He finished with a whack to his palm with his pointer.
Deuce looked confused "Huh. So... does anyone know what a mycelia is?"
Ace looked bored "I've never been one for like, memorizing what things are, ya know?"
Grim grumbled to himself "All I care about is how to tell the yummy plants from the yucky ones."
Yuu looked at Remy who just shook his head. "I can't tell which one has the braincell right now."

Class ended soon and they headed for the next class. On the way, Ace explained what happened after Yuu and Remy left. "So we're painting those roses, right when suddenly that Cater guy knocked a bucket of paint right on top of my tarts. And get this, he's like "oops my bad". Can you believe that! Then he starts on about how I need to return what I stole but I can't cause he ruined it! Then he points his pen at us and tosses us out of the dorm. We couldn't do anything to that guy!"
Yuu patted Ace on the back. "We'll just try again later. Only this time ignore any upperclassmen trying to get you to do their chores."
They arrived at their next class. It resembled more of a college class with multiple levels of desks. In the corner of the room stood a large cat tree.
An older man with a black and white cat stood in front of the classroom. To Yuu, he resembled Lady Tremaine from Cinderella.
"I am your History of Magic teacher, Mozus Trein. And this is my familiar, Lucius. You are here to learn the rich history of magic, and how it has sculpted the world which you now so easily take for granted."
His cat meowed.
"I grade based on classroom behavior as well as the quality of work. Don't let me catch you sleeping. Now, let us open our books to page fifteen. This section concerns the magestones discovered in the Dwarfs' Mine…"
Lucius meowed.
Deuce helped point out where the books were then Yuu tried to follow along. It would be more interesting if the teacher didn't speak in a monotone voice with only the cat interjecting every now and then.
Ace yawned as Deuce repeated words to himself as he scribbled notes.
"Maaan... When do we get to the classes where we blow stuff up with magic?" Grim asked as he yawned.
Remy just hummed as he tried to figure out if the cat was speaking.

The ringing of the bell jerked most students awake. Yuu was slightly proud of himself for managing to stay awake. He had to help nudge the trio who appeared to have all their energy gone.
They went to their next class that was located outside.
"I'm Coach Vargas, and physically educating your feeble little bodies is my responsibility. Great sorcery begins with a great physique! Behold the muscles you can build with a diet of raw eggs! A great mage needs a great physical constitution! So gimme twenty laps, and a hundred push-ups!" Boomed a man that could be Gaston's son.
"Bleah. The forced exercise is bad enough, but meatheads like this guy drive me nuts." Ace muttered as they lined up on the track.
Deuce looked excited. "Finally! A subject I'm good at!"
Grim looked the opposite of excited. "Explain to me the appeal of runnin' around in circles! Do I look like a hamster?"
As Coach Vargas blew his whistle they all took off. Even Remy who was none to pleased. "I doubt that guy will let me sit this out. There is a downside to being seen."
Yuu merely smiled. While they weren't athletic like Deuce they were in shape so the running wasn't too bad as long as they paced themselves unlike the guys in the lead. Almost all those guys had animal ears and tails. Yuu found that interesting but was too shy to ask any of them about it. Maybe he'll borrow a book from the library to learn about the various peoples that inhabited this world.

After class was over and they changed back into their school uniforms Deuce lead the way as he looked at the schedule. "Let's see, our next class is..."
"This so-called magic academy feels a lot like a lame, ordinary school. 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, Grim? ...Hm?" Ace said as he looked at where he thought Grim was.
The now quartet saw that Grim was gone.
"Oh! Look out the window! I just saw a ball of fur running across the yard!" Deuce exclaimed as he pointed out the window.
Yuu looked out to see Grim running away on all fours.
"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!" They heard Grim yell as he kept running.
"Boy, that guy is not a fast learner." Deuce muttered.
Meanwhile Ace had a shit-eating grin on his face. "Not a good look to lose your only student on your first day as prefect. Want help catching him?"
Remy suddenly yanked the schedule out of Deuce's hands. "Nope. There is no need. Our "next class" is lunch. That rat can just go hungry. Besides, he's the one that wanted so badly to join this school. If he can't handle it then that is on him." Grabbing Yuu's arm he said "Let's go."
Yuu gave one last glance out the window before Remy tugged him away.

Chapter Text

The quartet soon arrived at the cafeteria. Looking up, Yuu saw the chandelier was fixed.
Yuu got in line with others. He listened as Ace and Deuce talked about whether or not Grim was gonna show up.
"Whether he shows back up or not is of no consequence to you." Remy said as he handed Yuu a tray. As he helped pick out some foods for Yuu to eat he added "It's his choice Yuu so don't feel bad."
Yuu sighed as Remy lead him to an empty table. Ace and Deuce were right behind him with their trays laden with food.
As they got settled, they heard an unwelcome voice. "Hey Freshies! How's it going?"
"Bwah! You're that guy from this morning!" Ace yelled as he pointed at Cater.
As Cater was about to sit down he was suddenly grabbed by the back of his jacket by an unimpressed Remy. "Did we say you can join us?"
Cater grinned nervously as he said "Hey hey it's just Cay Cay! No need to be all mad." Glancing at Ace he asked "Are you guys still mad about this morning? It was totally an accident!"
"Accident my ass!" Ace snapped as Remy continued to hold Cater. "You ruined my apology tarts and then tossed me out."
Cater began to slightly sweat. "No need to fret, Freshies, I know just the man to help you out!"
A new voice asked "You're not volunteering me for something are you?"
Everyone turned and saw a tall green haired guy with a black clover on his face. "Ah, I should introduce myself. The name's Trey. Trey Clover. I'm a junior at Heartslabyul, like Cater here. And you must be Yuu, the new prefect from that dump of a- ah, I mean, the "rustic" dorm". I heard the whole story from Cater. Thanks for looking out for our boys yesterday."
Remy finally released Cater to stand close to Yuu as both Trey and Cater sat down.
"I don't recall inviting you to sit with us..." Ace grumbled as he started eating his food.
"Hey now, we're all from the same dorm, right? Let's try to get along. Here, gimme your digits." Cater asked as he turned to Yuu.
Yuu shrugged. "Sorry, my phone is dead and I haven't been able to get it working again."
Cater looked surprised. "Wow, bummer. I know a place that sells the latest models cheap. How about you and I go on a phone-shopping date?" When Remy gave him the stink-eye Cater quickly said "JK! No need to sic your familiar on me, heh..."
Trey just looked exasperated "Cater. You're freaking out the freshmen. Maybe take it down a notch?"
Cater laughed nervously as he clutched his phone to his chest. "Ok how about a change of topic! What do you Freshies want to know. Big brother Cater is here for you!"
"Ok I'll bite. What's the deal with all this "Queen of Hearts rule number whatever" junk?" Ace said.
"I'm sure you're familiar with the legendary Queen of Hearts already? She had to rule over a kingdom of weirdos, and did it by emphasizing order and making strict rules." Trey began.
Cater was quick to add "Our dorm, Heartslabyul, is an homage to her. By tradition, we wear armbands with the red and black of the Queen's dress. And we live by the rules she created." Twirling his fork in the air, he added, "Now, the degree to which we adhere to the rules depends on the sitting housewarden. Past wardens have been much more lax."
"Riddle though?" Trey continued "He doesn’t mess around. Basically, you could say that we're honoring that tradition to the utmost extent possible."
"Bleah. Just my luck…" Ace complained.
The others went back to eating for a bit before a commotion was heard at the doors. Looking up, they saw Grim burst through the doors. "I can't believe you guys are eating without me!" He ran over and jumped on their table. "You guys are jerks! I want to eat too!"
Remy swatted at Grim who quickly jumped back. "Quiet rat. You're the one who ran off. Didn't you say something about not needing these boring classes? Well rats who skip out on classes don't get to eat so skoot off."
Grim growled at Remy. "Those classes are just so boring, though. We haven't cast one spell all day."
Trey adjusted his glasses. "First year classes are mostly non-magical your first semester. You study the foundation of magic first before you can start learning new spells."
"BORING!" Grim yelled as he tried to steal some food from Ace. As Ace defended his meal, Grim saw Cater. "Ah! You again! You tricked us into paintin' those dumb roses!"
"Tricked" is such an ugly word. Do you think I wanted to spend MY morning painting roses? It's dorm policy! I was just following orders." Cater said nonchalantly.
"And grinning like a fiend all the while." Deuce commented.
"Now, now, Deucey. Outside of the dorm, I don't care what rules you follow. Here, I'm just a friendly mentor figure!" Cater grinned.
Deuce looked disgusted. "Please. Do NOT call me Deucey."
Trey laughed "Ah ha ha. That's how Cater shows he cares."
Grim turned to Trey. "And who are you, glasses?"
"The name's Trey Clover." Trey said. "Are you going to get yourself a tray?"
Grim perked up and made to jump off the table but Remy caught him. Holding him right in front of Yuu Remy said "Your actions today made Yuu look bad. Apologize."
When Grim looked like he would argue Yuu said "You'll never become a great mage if you keep skipping classes, Grim. Wasn't it your dream to become a student here? Didn't you break in to this school, cause all sorts of mayhem, and helped get a new magestone just for the chance to be accepted here?" Grim looked very guilty. "If you promise to try your best and stop running away then you can go get a tray and join us. If you're going to keep running off and refuse to go to class then you should just leave."
Remy placed Grim down on the floor. Everyone watched as he sat for a moment thinking. Then he quietly said "I want to learn."
Yuu nodded. "Then go get a tray and join us."
Grim rubbed a paw over his eyes before running off to the buffet table.
"Bit harsh, huh Yuu?" Ace asked.
Yuu sniffed. "No it wasn't. Sometimes you just have to grow up. Remy is right. It's his decision not mine. I can't help someone who won't help himself."
Grim was quick to join with a tray laden down with food. As he began scarfing down his food he asked "So, I saw you guys' dorm, but what are the other ones like?"
"I'm sure you're familiar with the statues of the Great Seven? Night Raven College has a dorm themed after each one." Cater explained.
Trey took over "We have our dorm, Heartslabyul, modeled after the strictness of the Queen of Hearts. Savanaclaw, based on the persistent spirit of the King of Beasts. 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."
Yuu blinked in surprise. "That's a lot to take in."
"All those names are way too long! How's anyone supposed to remember 'em?" Grim asked as he chewed on an omelet.
"Ah ha ha! Well, you get the idea. Want to or not, you'll learn them soon enough." Cater laughed.
"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... flavor, we'll call it." Trey explained.
Remy eyed the four Heartslabyul students. "Like how your dorm's full of assholes?"
"Remy!" Yuu whacked Remy on his shoulder.
Remy shrugged. "Ace was a total dick to Grim and then refused to accept his punishment and Cater here conscripted the idiot trio to do his chores while sabotaging Ace. How is that not asshole behavior?"
Everyone stared at Remy. No one said anything and it got awkward real fast.
Surprisingly Deuce was the one to break the tension. "So... you were saying something about flavor?"
Trey quickly jumped on the question. "Yeah, that's right. For example, look at that guy."
He pointed at a tall buff guy with white hair and white wolf ears and tail.
"That rough-and-tumble vibe he's got has Savanaclaw House written all over it." Trey added as Yuu secretly wanted to pet the guy's fluffy tail.
"No doubt. 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 giveaway." Cater commented.
Grim started looking around. "Huh. All right, so what about that guy with the grey and purple cord wrapped around his arm?"
Yuu looked and saw the silvery white haired boy from the opening ceremony. He sat with a pair of teal haired twins, one wearing his uniform neatly and the other messily.
Trey nodded. "He's gotta be from Octavinelle House. And the student sitting at the table in front of him has a red and gold armband—Scarabia colors."
Cater added "Those dorms are for the smart students. They're always neck-and-neck in the academic rankings. Ah, but the current housewarden of Scarabia doesn't seem to be all that great of a student..."
Trey agreed. "You see the flashy one with the purple and red armband? Those are Pomefiore colors."
"Whoa!" Grim almost dropped his food in shock. "The girl with the potions book, I really like her!"
Both Yuu and Remy stared at Grim. "That is a boy, Grim." Remy said as he slightly worried about Grim.
"You're such a moron. There aren't girls officially enrolled here." Ace said as Grim growled at him.
"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." Cater said as he scrolled on his phone.
Trey rolled his eyes. "Hey now, they're not all just pretty faces. The students at Pomefiore are among the best at potions and casting curses."
"Heh heh. True dat. Next, we have Ignihyde... Their armbands are blue and black, but I don't see any around here." Cater said as he scanned the cafeteria. "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 polar opposite of us sunny, fun-loving Heartslabyuls."
"So they're gloomy and miserable?" Grim asked as Remy added "And not assholes?"
"Hey, no need to put it like that! 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." Looking at Yuu he added "You might want to ask one of them for help with your phone. If anyone can fix it it's an Ignihyde student."
Yuu nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll try after school today."
"So that just leaves... Diahonyalara, was it?" Deuce asked.
Ace cheekily grinned at Deuce. "You were off to a good start, and then you rammed right into the guardrails. It's "Diasomnia.""
"I know that! I just misspoke, all right?" Deuce said as he blushed.
Cater giggled at Deuce. "Diasomnia House is, hm... 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 schmucks like us to even approach them. And their housewarden is that times a thousand."
Everyone turned to look and saw three students at a table on a higher level. Remy noticeably tensed as he caught sight of the fae with a deep voice. Yuu softly pet him to try to calm him down as he started to look pointy.
"There's a little kid in that group!" Ace exclaimed.
Remy shook his head. "That is no child."
Trey glanced at Remy. "Ah, we do get some child prodigies here. But that guy there is no kid. He's a junior like us. Name's-"
Above their heads that deep voice said "Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge"
Yuu had to jerk Remy's arm back as he started to lash out at the upside down floating fae. Lilia grinned at Remy as if daring him to try.
Floating down to stand by Yuu, ignoring the trembling Remy, he said "I understand my apparent age interests you? As this bespectacled fellow accurately noted... Despite my fresh-faced, boyish good looks, it would be inaccurate to call me a "child.""
Trey looked awkward. "Fresh-faced," he says..."
Holding out his arms, Lilia added "You need not gawk at us from afar. You may feel free to speak with us directly. We are schoolmates, are we not? All of us at Diasomnia House welcome you without reservation."
The group glanced at the other two Diasomnia students only to see both glaring at them.
"And yet, those guys over there aren't exactly rolling out the red carpet in terms of approachability..." Deuce muttered.
Lilia chuckled. "Forgive me for appearing above you during your meal. I do hope we can speak again." With that he teleported away.
"Their table has got to be over twenty yards away from ours. And they overheard our conversation? That's WAY creepy!" Ace whispered in alarm as he glanced back at the Diasomnia table. Lilia merely wiggled his fingers at them from across the room.
"Well... 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." Trey continued.
"So you exclude him due to jealousy?" Remy asked as he relaxed now that the fae was away.
The others stared at him in confusion.
"Despite him being a Housewarden he wasn't invited to the opening ceremony." Remy said as he watched the Juniors look nervous while the Freshmen looked confused.
Cater stuttered as he said " Well, Malleus is reeeeeal bad news. Though I suppose the same could be said of our own dear housewarden."
"No kidding! He collared me for eating one slice of tart! All his rule obsession is outta control!" Ace complained as Riddle just happened to walk up behind him.
"My "rule obsession" is "outta control," is it?" Riddle asked quietly.
The others stared in shock as Ace kept going. "You bet it is. Riddle's just a petty tyrant who leans into the whole "rules" schtick as a pretext to keep everyone under his puny thumb!"
To the side, Remy grinned as he rubbed his paws together.
Deuce, good boy that he is, whispered to Ace "Ace! Behind you!"
Ace glanced behind him only for his eyes to widen in shock. "Bwah?! Housewarden!"

Chapter Text

"Hey, Riddle! What's shakin', pal? You're lookin' adorbs, as always!" Cater tried to distract his queen.
Riddle's gray eyes briefly turned to Cater. "Hmph. Cater, keep running that mouth and you'll lose it - along with the rest of your head."
Cater lowered his head. "Sorry, sorry! My bad!"
Grim pointed a paw at Riddle. "Myah?! You're the guy who put that stupid collar on me at the orientation ceremony!"
"I'll ask that you not refer to my signature spell as a "stupid collar." 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." Riddle stated at he folded his arms.
"Dude, seriously? This guy looks like a wimp, but talks like a monster!" Ace muttered as both Yuu and Remy shook their heads at him.
"The headmage may have forgiven you, but if you break any further rules, I assure you I will not." Riddle continued. Whether he didn't hear Ace or simply chose to ignore him we'll never know.
"So, uh, listen, housewarden, sir... Any chance I could get you to remove this collar?" Ace said to Riddle. Yuu couldn't believe the utter gall.
Riddle glanced at Yuu. "I was told this morning you had made me some replacement tarts yet I never received any." Turning back to Ace he added "I then thought to remove it once you'd taken an opportunity to reflect upon your crimes. But I've not detected so much as a hint of remorse in the foolishness I've heard you spout today. So I think I'll let you keep that for a while. 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?"
Ace sighed "More insane rules."
"I believe you mean to say, "Yes, Housewarden!"" Riddle snapped.
Ace and Deuce sat up straight. "Yes, Housewarden!"
"Very well, then." Riddle said as he turned to Trey.
Trey tried to give Riddle a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them."
Riddle turned to leave. "Hmm. As vice housewarden, I trust you'll avoid any further indiscreet conversation. 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...!"
As he stormed off Yuu heard several Heartslabyul students in the cafeteria whisper about him. One even commented on his meal choice being against the rules. Throughout it all Trey and Cater looked awkward.
"Yeesh! That was terrifying." Cater said as he picked at what was left of his lunch.
"That guy... has some serious issues." Grim pointed out.
Remy nodded along. "On that we can agree little rat." Ignoring Grim's "Hey!" Remy said "That boy has all the signs of a controlling home life."
Trey slightly flinched. "Riddle managed to secure the housewarden title before the end of his very first week at school. 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."
Grim just stared at Trey in disbelief "Would a good guy go around putting collars on strangers' necks?"
Yuu thumped Grim on the head. "You totally deserved your collar."
"Grrrrr... But that collar really hurt, and it shut off all my magic! That's just rude!" Grim rubbed his neck remembering the collar.
Ace gave Grim a deadpanned look. "Tell me about it."
"So why did Riddle call that spell his signature spell?" Remy asked. "Can't anyone learn that spell?"
"I doubt he's the only person in the whole world... But yes, a signature spell is a magical ability that is, generally speaking, unique to its user. You'll learn about them in class soon enough." Trey answered.
"Riddle's signature spell allows him to temporarily seal away the magic of another. The spell is named... Off with your head!" Cater grinned as the trio gulped.
Grim trembled. "Even the name is completely psycho!"
Cater continued "To a mage, losing the ability to use magic is about as painful as losing your head completely. Which is why all of us at Heartslabyul House try hard not to violate Riddle's rules."
"And as long as you are following the rules, Riddle isn't so scary." Trey finished.
Ace ruffled his hair. Glaring at Cater, he asked "Speaking of which - are you still not gonna let me into the dorm until I have a tart, Cater? Even though it's totally your fault my replacement tarts got ruined."
Trey turned to Cater "What's this now? You didn't tell me you ruined someone's tart."
Ace slammed his fist on the table "Yeah me and Yuu worked hard to make those tarts this morning. Yuu gave me the ingredients too. But this guy conned us into helping him paint roses and he spilled paint on my tarts."
"Cater..." Trey just looked disappointed.
"Uh so... Hey did you know Trey made the original tart you ate?" Cater deflected.
Ace looked surprised. "You made those tarts, Trey? That's incredible! That was like something you'd find at a bakery!"
"Heh. I appreciate that." Trey scratched his cheek. "I don't mind helping you make a new tart. We do have most of the stuff you'd need, but... I'm afraid I'll need some help from you in return."
"Like what?"
"Well, it's for the unbirthday party, so... I'll need about two or three hundred chestnuts. Riddle was really wanting to try a chestnut tart so I figured I'd make some for the party."
The trio yelled "Two or three hundred!"
Yuu turned to Ace. "It wouldn't be too much trouble just to make a tart ourselves."
"Besides," Remy added as he played with the straps of Yuu's book bag. "Are you sure there isn't any rules about what flavor tarts are or are not allowed at an Unbirthday party? As many strange rules as the Queen of Hearts had it wouldn't surprise me that there were rules about tart flavors."
Trey just shook his head. "I don't think there are any rules about tart flavors? I've only memorized the first three hundred and fifty rules."
"So there's still four hundred and sixty you don't know." Remy stated as he pulled out the borrowed rule book.
"I'm sure we're fine. But I would appreciate some help. Plus, if you help, you'll get to have freshly made tarts to eat." Trey offered. "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... Come on, humans, let's do this!" Grim cheered.
"I heard there's a whole bunch of chestnut trees in the woods behind the campus's botanical garden." Trey told the quintet.
"Cool. Trey's other tart was so good these ones are sure to be delicious. Let's meet at the botanical garden after last period." Ace said as Deuce and Grim nodded. He looked over at Yuu and Remy. "You two gonna help too?"
Yuu looked a bit conflicted. "I was gonna head over to Ignihyde to find someone to help with my phone..."
Remy snapped the rule book he'd been riffling through shut. "We can do that afterwards or tomorrow. This might be interesting so let's tag along." He turned to Trey "Any idea where we can get some tongs or gloves and some buckets?"
"In the greenhouse you'll find a tool closet. It should have all you need." Trey said as he began to gather his tray.
The others followed his example, cleaning up before heading to their next class.

Chapter Text

With classes over for the day, the quintet arrived at the woods behind the school. Grim ran ahead excitedly. "Whoa! There really are a ton of chestnuts just layin' around. I'm gonna be livin' large on chestnut tarts! Mmm! Let's get grabbin'- YOWCH! Myah! The chestnut spines pricked my paws!" He clutched his little paw as Remy snickered at his pain.
Yuu smacked Remy and went over to check Grim's paw. "This is why we need gloves or tongs. Chestnut's have a prickly shell for defense." He rubbed Grim affectionately as Remy glared over his shoulder.
"Yeah Grim. So stop running off on us ok?" Ace said as he started walking towards the nearby greenhouse.
As the quintet entered they were all amazed by how large and beautiful it was. It was almost like stepping into another world.
"Whoa, I didn't realize this place was so huge." Ace exclaimed as he looked up at the high ceiling.
Deuce looked a little worried. "If it's this large, it's got to have a groundskeeper. Let's split up and look."
"Ok," Ace agreed. "I'll go right, Deuce you take the left and you guys take the middle."
"Ok." Yuu said as he started walking. Remy stayed at his left side while Grim led the way.
Grim ran up to one of the nearby trees "Hey, come take a look at this! There's a ton of fruit growing here! Smells like they're ripe, too!"
As Yuu started to follow Grim he was suddenly yanked back by Remy. Remy held a finger over his mouth then he pointed down. Right where Yuu was about to step lay a tail. A lion's tail. Yuu paled slightly. The tail lay stretched across the pathway. Yuu couldn't see the rest of the body due to the thick bushes. Remy carefully guided Yuu around the tail and they quickly walked off.
Grim, seeing this, also stayed quiet until they walked a good distance away. "Was that a lion? Why would a lion be in here?"
Remy stroked his chin. "That might have been one of those beastmen. The ones with ears and tails of animals. I couldn't tell but the rat's right. There wouldn't be a lion in a greenhouse."
Yuu held his chest as his heart was still pounding. "Well whatever the case thanks Remy. It would have been bad had I stepped on that tail."
"That's what I'm here for my friend." Remy stated. He was very pleased Yuu appreciated him. Suddenly, Remy heard the sounds of bells jingling. He turned and saw by some flowers floated what looked like fairies.
Spotting them as well, Yuu gasped. "Oh my gosh! They're so pretty! I wish my phone was working I would love to take a picture. "
"Don't you have that ghost camera?" Grim asked.
"Oh! I do!" Yuu said as he had completely forgotten about it.
Before he could reach into his bag, Remy stopped him. "Maybe you should ask first? Last thing I want is for you to piss off some fairies and get cursed or something."
"Good call, Remy. I got ahead of myself." Yuu felt a little embarrassed.
Grim just looked confused. "I don't get what's the big deal but you do you I guess."
Yuu started to slowly approach the three fairies that were sitting on some flowers. As the three looked up at him he stopped and lowered himself to the ground. He didn't want to intimidate them. "Hello there. Do you mind if I take your picture? You three are just so pretty."
The three fairies looked at each other before giggling. The sound of bells tinkling sounded as they spoke to each other. They turned back and started speaking to him but Yuu didn't understand them.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand you? Would you answer with either a nod for yes or a headshake for no? Please." Yuu said.
The three looked at each other before nodding and then getting into poses. Yuu eagerly took a picture. As it printed out he showed it to them. "Looks great guys! Thanks."
The fairies nodded as they looked at their picture.
Yuu had a sudden thought. "Hey, my friends and I are gonna pick some chestnuts to make some tarts. Would you like me to bring you guys one?"
The fairies looked excited as they all eagerly nodded.
Just then, they heard Ace yelled, "Yo, guys, we found baskets and tongs."
"Ok!" Yuu yelled back as he headed back to the entrance, taking a different path to avoid the maybe lion. The fairies tagged along too. "Oh, do you want to come with us?" Yuu asked as they landed on his shoulders. The three nodded as they giggled. For once, Remy didn't glare at someone touching Yuu.
Grim was quick to notice this. "Hey! How come you ain't glaring at them?"
Remy shrugged. "I don't might cute fairies. So long as they don't try to steal Yuu I'll allow it."
They soon met up at the entrance again where both Ace and Deuce waited.
"Took you long enough!" Ace grumbled before he noticed the fairies. "What's with the fairies?"
"I asked them for a picture and then offered them some tarts after we make them." Yuu said as they left the greenhouse and headed for the trees.
As they grabbed a pair of tongs, the three fairies took flight. The one with slightly bigger wings swirled up a tiny tornado that swooped up dozen of chestnuts. The other two used their magic to deshell them before they dropped them in the buckets.
The quintet just stood their gawking. The fairies merely bowed at the boys, giggling to themselves. Yuu was quick to start clapping prompting the others to join.
"Wow, I had no idea fairies could do that." Deuce said.
"They made it look so easy!" Ace added as he looked at the filled buckets.
"Looks like we didn't need the tongs after all!" Grim said as he quickly grabbed a chestnut to eat.
Ace quickly slapped him away as they gathered up the buckets. The fairies landed on Yuu's shoulders again as they headed off to the kitchens.

Trey was laying out the ingredients as he preheated the oven. Humming a simple tune, he was just wondering when the freshmen would arrive with the most important ingredient when the quintet burst through the doors.
"Please excuse us!" Deuce quickly said as he laid a bucket filled with deshelled chestnuts on the counter.
"Welcome back. Looks like you got plenty!" Trey stared at the chestnuts. "I'm surprised you were able to deshell them so quickly."
Ace pointed at Yuu. "Yuu made some friends. Thank them for the chestnuts."
Trey turned in surprise to see three fairies sitting on Yuu's shoulders. "That's odd... usually the greenhouse fairies ignore students."
Yuu had to stop himself from shrugging. He didn't want to upset the fairies. "I asked for a picture and then promised them a tart. I guess they want to make sure they get their tart."
Trey looked back at the buckets. "We certainly have enough here for extra tarts." He grabbed some bowls. "Let's start pureeing then shall we?"
Dividing the chestnuts the boys started crushing the chestnuts. Remy decided to look over the rulebook while the rest worked. He was betting to himself that he was going to find something in here that would upset everyone.
"There! Finally got 'em all pureed!" Ace tiredly rubbed his arms.
"My arm is killing me..." Deuce groaned.
Trey laughed. "Nice work. It'll be all the sweeter for your pain!"
Grim licked his lips. "The smell alone already has me droolin'..."
"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 grinned as he proudly held up a bottle that read Walrus-brand Young Oyster Sauce.
The three fairies immediately began loudly talking, the sound of loud bells ringing echoed in the kitchen.
Trey looked a little surprised at the fairies that were glaring at him.
Remy piped up with a laugh "Nice try glasses. You ain't fooling the ladies like you did the idiot trio."
Ace, Deuce, and Grim looked confused as Yuu decided to have mercy on them. "Trey is obviously teasing you."
"What?! So you were just yankin' our chain?" Ace snapped.
Trey started to laugh. "Pfft... Ah ha ha ha! I'm totally lying! No one in their right mind would put oyster sauce into a pastry." He wiped at his eyes as he put the bottle away. "I mean, if you'd used your brain, you'd have realized how ridiculous it was! Let that be a lesson to you. Don't believe everything you hear."
"Feh. And here I thought that human was actually somewhat decent." Grim grumbled.
"Next, I'll put in the cream… Oh!" Trey suddenly exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Ace asked.
Trey looked sheepish. "You guys gathered so many chestnuts that we may have overdone it with the chestnut paste. I don't think we have enough cream to mix in."
Deuce eagarly volunteered. "Then I'll go buy some. Do they sell it at the school store?"
"They sell pretty much everything, so... probably. 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..." Trey began to write a list.
"I don't think I'll be able to carry all that back. Yuu, could you come with me?" Deuce asked as Trey handed him the list.
"I don't mind." Yuu said before he turned to the fairies. "Do you want to come with us or stay here?" The fairies just pointed at Yuu. "Ok." Turning back to Deuce he said "Let's go then."
"Don't forget me!" Grim said as he ran after them. "I'm comin' too! I'm getting dizzy from all this stirrin'. I need a break!"

Chapter Text

The group, now consisting of Yuu, Remy, Grim, Deuce, and the three fairies headed down the main street for the school store.
They soon arrived at Mister S's Mystery Shop.
Deuce opened the door. "Hello, can I get some he- Whoa. This shop is wild. They have crystal skulls, grimoires, taxidermied... Uh, I don't even know what animal that is!"
The fairies left Yuu to fly around and examine all the strange objects that littered the store. Yuu followed after them along with Remy while Grim stayed closer to Deuce.
"You think they really sell cream here?" Grim asked as he looked at a skull.
A mysterious voice rang out behind them "Greetings, my stray imps, how fare you today? Welcome to Mr. Sam's Mystery Shop. What among my humble selection interests you? A charm from a secluded land? The mummified remains of an ancient king? A cursed tarot card?"
Grim looked stunned. "Myah! I wasn't expectin' this kinda selection."
Deuce was a bit overwhelmed, "Um, we wanted to buy all the items on this list..."
Grim quickly added "Ring up two cans of tuna while you're at it!"
"No, Grim! We're not here for tuna!" Deuce snapped.
"Tch! Stingy!" Grim complained as he stuck his tongue out at Deuce.
"What's this?" Mister S grabbed the list and looked in over. "Cream and eggs and... Quite the sacchariferous list! I'll get everything for you."
"Whoa... He really does stock that stuff, huh?" Deuce stated in surprise.
Yuu looked away from the fairies that were playing with some figurines on the shelf to stare at where Mister S disappeared through a door behind the counter.
Mister S was quick to return, laying out his items. "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 perked up in curiosity. "Ooh, lemme see! That sounds awesome!"
Deuce was quick to decline. "We're fine, thank you. Let's go, Grim."
Grim stomped his little hindpaws. "Myah! I didn't realize today was National No Fun Allowed Day!"
Mister S chuckled good naturally. "Very well. Then until next time, my little imps. Do come again! Ciao!"
Yuu turned to the fairies. "Ready guys?" The three looked disappointed but nodded.
Mister S looked at the fairies with a bit of surprise. "My my little imp it's not everyday you see fairies hanging around teenage boys. Hmmmm," he rubbed his chin. "I've got a translator bell on sale that'll let you be able to understand what these fine ladies are saying."
The three fairies perked up and nodded at Yuu.
Yuu looked very disappointed. "I'm sorry Mister S. I don't have any money at the moment... I don't even know where to get a job here if any exist on campus."
Remy crossed his arms. "The crow tried to give us some work but I suspect we still wouldn't have money."
Mister S nodded. "You right about that! Our ol' headmage is as stingy as it gets." He chuckled. "Nothing brightens my day more than making him spend his thaumarks."
The three fairies seemed to droop a bit in disappointment.
Mister S turned to the side as if listening to something. "Hmmm... say little imp, you wouldn't happen to have a certain magic tool that fixes things right?"
Yuu looked confused. "I do... how did you-"
"Because," Mister S interrupted, "I got a few things that need fixing around here and if you'll help me out, and if these fine ladies wouldn't mind giving me a little bit of pixie dust, I'll give you a translator bell. How about that?"
Yuu looked at the fairies. "Do you girls want to do that? If you're not comfortable we could figure something else out."
The fairies quickly huddled. The sounds of bells rang out quickly before they came to a conclusion. They turned back to Yuu and nodded.
Yuu smiled at them before turning to Mister S who was watching the exchange with interest. "It's a deal Mister S."
Grinning widely, Mister S held out his hand. "It's a deal, little imp." They quickly shook hands. Yuu could of sworn he felt something. "Come by tomorrow morning before class with the hammer. I'll be eagarly waiting." He glanced over at the fairies. "Bring your pixie dust tomorrow as well, ok?"
The fairies nodded as they flew over to Yuu and sat on his shoulders.
Mister S reached under his counter and pulled out a small silver bell. He handed it over to Yuu.
Holding the bell in his hands, Yuu asked "Now what?"
A higher pitched voice answered "Now you can hear us!"
Yuu looked at his right shoulder.
One of the fairies stood up. "Hi Yuu! Nice to officially meet ya! I'm Ava!"
The fairy sitting next to her waved. "I'm Blenda!"
Yuu felt a tap on his left cheek. Turning, he saw the last fairy wave at him. "And I'm Mixie!"
Yuu grinned. "That's so cool! I can understand you."
"Great, cause I still can't." Remy said. He waved his hand as Yuu started to say something. "Don't worry, I'm not too interested in knowing what they're saying. You can translate the important things for me."
"Well little imp, I do believe your friends are waiting for you outside. Don't want to keep them waiting, now do you?" Mister S said.
Yuu nodded as he and his companies quickly left. As they exited out onto main street they heard Deuce yell "THAT AIN'T FUNNY. You don't get to call my eggs stupid. You don't get to call ANY eggs stupid! Those eggs may not have gotten to be chicks, but they were gonna make some amazing tarts! Do you get it yet? DO YOU?!"
Yuu, Remy, and the fairies stared in shock. Deuce and Grim were facing off against two Heartslabyul upperclassmen in the middle of the street. Yuu rushed up to stand by Grim. "What's going on?"
Grim pointed at the upperclassmen "These two jerks bumped into us and broke our eggs. Now they refuse to apologize or reimburse us."
Jerk number one meanly laughed. "They haven't even touched the ground, so they're still edible. Quit whinin'."
Jerk number two added "You should thank us for savin' ya the trouble of crackin' 'em!"
Deuce trembled. His hands curled into fists. "You owe me six eggs. If ya ain't gonna pay me for em, then you're gettin' a bruise for each one!"
Jerk number one looked stunned. "Are you serious right now?!"
Deuce grinned. "Grit your teeth bastards."
The whole group proceeded to watch Deuce beat the ever loving shit out of his two upperclassmen. Why it never occurred to any of the three to use magic, Yuu didn't know but it was still brutal. Remy cheered and laughed while the girls looked horrified.
Ava clutched Yuu's shirt. "Your friend's more ruthless than I thought."
"Yeah, I had him pegged as a well meaning goof." Mixie commented.
"This guy's outta his mind!" Jerk number one shouted as he jerked away from Deuce.
"Bwah! L-let's get outta here!" Jerk number two screamed as he started to run of.
Both screamed "We're sorry 'bout the chickens" as they ran off together.
Deuce breathed heavily as he watched them leave. "Next time you eat an egg, you better apologize a hundred times, you buncha chumps!"
No one said anything, just watched him like he was as wild animal. Remy grinned as he clapped. "Well done! I can't believe you had it in you." He glanced down at the bag with eggs. "Shame they broke the eggs. That's such a waste."
Deuce appeared to snap out of whatever state he was in. "Urk! I did it again, didn't I...? ARGH! I was dead-set on becoming an honor student this time, too!" He clutched his hair.
Grim looked at Deuce in confusion. "Huh?"
Deuce sighed. "When I was in middle school, I was pretty wild. 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."
Personally, Yuu couldn't imagine it. The Deuce he knew was nothing like the one being described.
Deuce continued his tale. "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. She was saying how she must have been a horrible mom, and that maybe she never should have tried to raise me by herself. That had nothin' to do with it! She hadn't done anything wrong. It was all me. 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!"
Grim shook his head. "I mean, did ya, though? Is putting up with jerks what honor students do?"
Deuce looked confused.
Yuu spoke up next. "Grim's right! You gave them a chance to make it up to you. They're the ones who refused and even laughed about what they did. I may not like violence but those two deserved it."
Remy and Grim both nodded. The fairies chose to remain neutral.
"Even I, Grim the Magnanimous, was ready to pound those losers into tuna paste! You just got to 'em first."
"Heh heh... I guess you're right! I just hope those chicks can rest in peace." Deuce solemnly said as he looked at the fallen eggs.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Is he serious?" Blenda asked.
Yuu looked awkward. "Uh, Deuce? You do realize that those eggs were unfertilized, right?"
Deuce looked shocked. "Wha- WHAAAAAT?! Are you kidding me?!"

Chapter Text

Ace looked up from where he'd been leaning on the counter. "Ah, you're finally back! Took ya long enough."
The group walked into the kitchen, placing the items on the counter.
Trey grinned. "Let's get this tart-y started!"
Several people groaned except for Deuce who seemed weirdly out of it.

Trey added the final ingredient. "Okay, now we just sprinkle on a little powdered sugar, and..."
"Finished!" Both Ace and Grim cheered.
Deuce gave a far less enthusiastic "Fin...ished..."
Ace looked concerned as he whispered to Yuu "Did something happen to him while you were shopping?"
Remy, who as always stood right next to Yuu and so heard Ace answered with a giggle. "Don't mind him. He just had his little world blown."
"For sixteen years, I was so sure..." Deuce moaned.
Ace decided it wasn't his problem "Yeah, whatever. I'm pretty beat. Making tarts sure takes it outta you."
Just then, Cater peeked into the kitchen. "Hey fam! You look wrecked. Are the tarts done? Ooh, those look sooo cute! Lemme snap a quick pic for Magicam!"
Seeing Cater instantly pissed Ace off. "What, NOW you decide to show up? You're the reason we're having to do this in the first place! The least you could of done was help!"
Cater kept typing on his phone. "But I did help. I introduced you to Trey."
Trey shook his head, used to his fellow third years actions. "It's tough work if you're not used to it. But there's no better cure for the ails of fatigue than something sweet from the oven!" He gestured at the tarts. "Help yourself to some of this tart."
Everybody cheered. Even Deuce seemed to perk up.
"Pretty funny how you managed to show right when it was ready to eat, Cater." Ace commented as he grabbed a plate.
Cater giggled, "Heh heh. Someone's gotta be the official taster!"
Grim breathed deeply. "Mmmm... That smells so good... Glossy chestnuts on top, fluffy cream below... I can't wait another second, I'm going in!"
Everyone had a plate. The fairies shared a plate together since they were only about the size of a human's palm.
"Oh, dang..." Ace moaned.
"Yuuum! Liked and subscriiibed!" Cater exclaimed. Strangely, Yuu noticed that he barely took a bite. Just the smallest of nibbles.
"This is like something from a fancy bakery." Deuce said.
Grim took large bites out of his. Licking his lips he said "Rich in flavor, yet not too sweet... It's like chestnuts are dancing across my tongue!"
Trey looked a bit confused. "Is that... a good thing?"
Remy also looked confused. "I've never heard him speak so well... mayhaps Grim, you should be a food critic." Yuu nodded as he enjoyed his tart. He had never eaten a chestnut tart before.
Cater turned to Trey. "Oh, Trey! You gotta do the thing."
"What thing?" Ace asked.
Trey stared at Cater for a moment before it seemed to click for him. "The thing? Oh... That." Turning to everyone else, he asked "What's everyone's favorite food?"
Ace replied "Me? Probably cherry pie. Or hamburgers."
Grim started listing foods. "Canned tuna's at the top of my list. Then maybe cheese omelets, roast meat, pudding..."
Deuce cut in "If I had to pick, I guess I'd say... omelet rice?"
"You know I like a nice lamb chop with diablo sauce." Cater winked.
Yuu thought about it for a moment. "Well I like brisket and deviled eggs."
Trey looked at Remy. "I don't eat so ignore me." Remy pointed at the fairies "Ask them instead."
"You don't eat?" Trey looked shocked. As Remy just shrugged, he looked at the fairies.
Ava turned to Yuu "Let him know we want no part in whatever he's planning. This tart is already fantastic!"
Yuu answered for the fairies "They said the tart is already perfect as is. So leave them out of whatever your planning."
The others looked at Yuu in shock. "You can understand them!"
Yuu started. "Oh, that's right. I didn't tell you. Mister S had a translator bell. He gave it to me in exchange for me helping him out tomorrow morning." Yuu pointed to the translator bell he had hung on his belt loop.
Trey finally nodded. "All right, very well... Let's "Paint the Roses"!"
Deuce looked confused. "Huh? What does that mean?"
Trey grinned mischievously "Take another bite of your tart and see."
Ace took a bite"Huh? How- Now it tastes like cherry pie!"
Grim also took a bite. "It's just like canned tuna! *munch* *munch* Now it tastes like a cheese omelet! And grilled meat! *munch* *munch* And pudding!"
Cater grinned as he too took a larger bite. "Neat trick, eh? That's gotta be a hit when Trey's having tea with the ladies."
Seeing the others trying their tart, Yuu finally took another bite. He suddenly gagged. "Ugh! That is the wrong texture for that!" Remy quickly handed Yuu a glass of water while glaring daggers at Trey. The fairies looked at Yuu in sympathy.
Trey nervously chuckled. "Sorry Yuu, my signature spell sometimes doesn't have the best results if the texture is off to the recipient."
"Regardless, it's very impressive. Is changing flavors your signature spell, Trey?" Deuce asked.
"Technically, it's "overwriting characteristics." 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"." Trey explained.
Remy looked at Trey with calculating eyes. That sounded way too overpowered.
Grim stared with amazement. "If I had magic like that, I could be eatin' canned tuna every meal of every day! That's way better than Riddle's stupid collar magic!"
Trey quickly disagreed. "Oh, that's in a whole other league. His signature spell is a weapon. Mine's just 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."
Ace finished his tart. "Hey Yuu, can I crash with you again? It doesn't sound like I'll be allowed back in my own dorm tonight."
Cater looked annoyed. "Again, seriously?"
Deuce looked at Ace with annoyance. "It isn't right to keep mooching off of Yuu, Ace."
Grim held out his paw. "Yeah, it ain't! If you wanna stay tonight, you gotta pay for the privilege! Ten cans of tuna!"
"What?! Guess I'm sleeping outside, then." Ace complained.
Yuu chuckled. "I don't mind you staying, Ace. Just remember we don't have any other room ready except mine and Remy isn't gonna let you in unless you wanna sleep on the floor."
Trey turned to Deuce. "Why don't you go and stay at Yuu's dorm too, Deuce, so you can keep an eye on him? As vice housewarden, I can issue you a sleepover pass."
Remy narrowed his eyes as he muttered "Who put you in charge, glasses." Yuu patted Remy's arm.
"That's our Trey, always spoiling the newbs. What fun for you. Ooh, maybe I'll come too! What do you say, Yuu?" Cater playfully said. He didn't notice Remy tensing.
Trey boycotted that idea. "No pass for you."
"Aww. Sad trumpet... Womp womp wooomp." Cater whined.
Trey turned back to Yuu. "Sorry to dump them all on you, Yuu. At least it's just for tonight."
Yuu grinned. "It's ok. I've never really had a sleepover before. This'll be fun!"
The Heartslabyul boys looked surprised. "Never?" Ace asked.
Yuu shook his head. "I've never really had any friends besides Remy."
Cater looked at Yuu with pity. "Hashtag tragic backstory."
Ace patted Yuu's arm. "Tomorrow's the unbirthday party." He looked at Trey. "Is Yuu allow to come too?"
Trey nodded. "You're allowed to invite people. Yuu, Remy, and Grim are more than welcomed."
Yuu looked at the fairies. "Can they come too?"
Trey glanced at the fairies. "I don't see why not."
Ava spoke up for the others. "Sorry Yuu. We'll be busy tomorrow. Thanks for thinking of us, though."
Yuu translated. "They'll be too busy tomorrow."
Trey just nodded.
Ace looked determined as they began to leave. "Finally, I'm gonna get rid of this stupid collar! Just you wait, Riddle!"

Chapter Text

As the group left the school Ace looked over at Yuu and the fairies. "So you can understand them, huh?"
Yuu nodded as he patted his translator bell. "Yep." He pointed at the blond fairy. "This is Ava." Next he pointed at the brunette "This is Blenda." The last one he pointed at had red hair. "And this is Mixie." The three fairies waved.
Ace, Deuce, and Grim all waved back. "So you stayed back at Mister S's cause you was getting the bell?" Grim asked as he floated closer to the fairies.
Yuu nodded. "That's right. I was just about to follow you guys when Mister S called me back."
"Huh, convenient." Ace commented.
Yuu shrugged. "Well whatever, I'm just happy I can understand the girls. I'm sure they were tired of charades."
All three fairies nodded.
As the group got to a where the path either turned to the greenhouses or turned to Ramshackle dorm the fairies flew off of Yuu. "Well we gotta head back if we want to give Mister S his pixie dust." Ava said. "It was fun, Yuu. Be sure to come visit us anytime."
Yuu nodded as they left leaving a trail of gold dust in their wake.
"They're gone!" Grim shouted as he pointed at the disappearing fairies.
"They got stuff to do, Grim. We'll see them again." Yuu said.
The quintet soon arrived at the dorm. As they approached the entrance the door slowly creaked open. Remy quickly stood in front of Yuu but he relaxed as he saw the ghost peeking out.
"Hey there fellows!" Bob waved at the group. "Are we having a sleepover?"
Yuu grinned up at Bob. "We sure are. How'd you guess?"
The three ghosts grinned at each other before Bob answered "Oh, we just have our ways."
Ace shivered slightly before muttering "Just how many invisible ghosts are following us around."
The three seemed to hear Ace as they cackled before vanishing from sight.
Ace turned to Yuu. "How many ghosts do you think haunt this place?"
Yuu shrugged. "Don't know but I would think the school ghosts would need a place to stay."
Deuce looked shocked. "There are dozens of ghosts working at this school!"
Yuu shrugged as he walked inside. "Then I guess there are dozens that live here."
The others except Remy slowly followed Yuu inside. Yuu led everyone to the living room. Sitting down, Yuu asked "So what now."
Ace shrugged "You're the host."
Deuce was more helpful "We can play some card games?"
Ace grinned as he pulled out a deck.
Grim looked confused "Why do you have that on you?"
Ace began to shuffle, adding a few tricks to Yuu's amazement "You never know when you'll need some playing cards. My big brother taught me all sorts of tricks."
"You have a big brother?" Yuu asked. Remy sat on the arm of Yuu's chair to observe.
Ace nodded. "Yep I got an elder brother named Jack. He's about seven years older than me. He attended Night Raven College and was also in Heartslabyul dorm."
Remy raised an eyebrow. "Then shouldn't you have known all about your dorm?"
Ace scowled at Remy. "Hey he didn't have a tyrant for a Housewarden when he attended. Plus he doesn't tell me everything." Ace looked at his deck. "What game do you guys want to play? Poker?"
"What's that?"Grim asked. As Ace explained it Grim looked more confused. "That sounds too hard. Got any easy games?"
"Like Go Fish?" Yuu asked.
Ace shook his head. "That's more of a two person game." He turned back to Grim "I guess we could play Old Maid. That's an easy game. Just don't get caught with the old maid."
Deuce nodded. "Yeah, a simple game sounds good."
Yuu agreed. As they started playing Yuu asked Deuce if he had any siblings.
Deuce shook his head. "Naw. It's just me and my mom." He drew a card. "How about you?"
Yuu shook his head. "Just me, Remy, and my parents."
"Do you miss them?"Grim asked. He got a sour look on his face as he drew.
"Naw," Yuu answered "my folks are almost never around. They work constantly. So it's really been just me and Remy."
Ace glanced over at Remy who was not playing. "So, now that we got some time, could you explain more about Imaginary Friends? We don't really have that here."
Remy looked amused "You guys don't have Imaginary Friends?"
Deuce shrugged "Not like you. Imaginary friends to us are imaginary. Not real. We get older and we stop imagining a friend."
Remy stood up to slowly pace the room. "I suspected something like this. Normally none of you should be able to see or hear me. Yet you clearly do. I believe it is because this world has magic. Our homeworld has no magic except for select Imaginary Friends."
"So not all Imaginary Friends have magic?" Deuce interrupted.
Remy gave Deuce a light glare. "Correct. All Imaginary Friends have a special ability that they can use. Mine just so happens to be magic based."
Grim groaned as he lost the round. Ace reshuffled before asking "Have you always been so powerful?"
Remy stared off into space for a moment. "No. I used to be able to use mere parlor tricks. An occasional breeze or a tiny flame. My long-term bonding to Yuu has merely made me stronger." He glanced away from the group before sitting back down.
The others sensed he didn't want to talk anymore about it.
The group continued to play with Grim losing most of the time. He just had no pokerface.
Finally Yuu announced he had to go to bed. He needed to get up extra early to head over to Mister S's. "You guys can either clean up a room to use or stay here. I fixed up the couches so they're more comfortable."
Ace started to moan but shut up when he saw Remy staring at him.
Yuu, Remy, and Grim headed off to bed while Ace and Deuce stayed downstairs playing some more card games.

A small clock Yuu had fixed with his magic hammer rang softly as midnight struck.
Remy stood at the window staring off into the dark. He thought about what he had told the group. It was true, he had become stronger and stronger the longer he stayed with Yuu. What he didn't tell the group was that something else had changed about him. He felt a strangeness inside him. A hunger he had never felt. He slowly pulled the black stone he had gotten from the beast of Dwarf's Mine. He stared at it for a long time. The inky black almost like the void. Rubbing the stone between his paws, Remy wondered why the stone was so alluring. Why he felt a craving for it when nothing else had ever made him feel this way.
A flash of light behind him caused Remy to spin around, the stone forgotten. He quickly glanced at Yuu to make sure he was safe. Yuu slept peacefully.
He glanced at Grim. He too slept peacefully. Finally his eyes landed on the mirror. He had been more joking when he told Yuu it was cursed.
But what if...
Remy slowly put the stone back in his pocket as he approached the mirror. Looking at the Mirror, he saw the room behind him reflected back. He himself had no reflection. This wasn't unusual. He did not show up in pictures either.
Scoffing at himself for letting his imagination get the best of him Remy turned away from the mirror.
"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!"
Remy spun back as he heard an angry woman's voice shout so loud it rung in his ears. Remy quickly glanced around but there was no woman, angry or otherwise. So where..?
He glanced at the mirror one last time. Was it just him or did it seem to shine brighter.
Remy slowly backed away, refusing to turn his back to it. He knows he heard a voice but since the other occupants never stirred he was the only one who heard it.
Something was wrong with that mirror and Remy wasn't going to let it hurt him or Yuu.

Chapter Text

Yuu woke up slowly. He wanted to continue laying in bed but a quick glance at the clock showed he needed to get up. Sitting up with a stretch he spotted Remy sitting at the foot of his bed staring at the mirror.
"You ok?" Yuu quietly asked Remy.
Remy just kept staring at the mirror.
Getting out of bed, Yuu approached Remy. Remy didn't even turn to look at him. He just stared at the mirror. Yuu, too, turned to look at the mirror but whatever had Remy so transfixed eluded Yuu.
Yuu gently reached out to touch Remy's shoulder. Remy suddenly grabbed his hand roughly and took a deep breath. Yuu held completely still. "You ok?"
Remy turned away from the mirror. He looked up at Yuu. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"
Yuu just gave Remy a concerned look. "You weren't answering me and you just kept staring at the mirror." Yuu glanced back at the mirror. "Does it bother you?"
Remy gave the mirror a bored look. "Why would it? It's just glass."
Yuu nodded and turned to get dress missing Remy mutter "Just a looking glass that won't best me!"
Yuu finished getting dressed and quietly left the room. Remy slowly followed.
They made it downstairs to see Ace and Deuce sprawled over the couches asleep. Yuu walked through the living room to the entrance hall. Putting on his shoes he opened the door and he and Remy walked out.
The air outside felt brisk. A fog drapped the ground giving the area around the dorm a spooky feeling. The gravestones that stood in the yard peeked out of the fog.
Remy hummed.
Yuu turned to see what had grabbed his attention to see Remy looking up at the dorm. Yuu startled to see indistinguishable faces peering out of every window, watching him.
"It appears our dormmates are quite curious about you." Remy stated as he turned to walk away.
As Yuu had glanced away to look at Remy when he turned back to see the windows they were now empty. Noticeably spooked, Yuu turned to quickly follow Remy, ignoring the quiet ghostly laughter he heard following him. "You sure it's not you they are curious about?"
Remy stopped at the gates. Not turning his back, he answered "You are a living soul that shines bright to them. As beings of the dark, the other so to speak, you lure them in. You treat them like people, same as the fairies. Are you truly so surprised that such beings are interested in you?"
Yuu didn't really understand. Was this why some of the others seemed surprised when the fairies hung around him? Yuu looked over at Remy. He was acting odd this morning. "Are you sure you're ok?"
Remy stood still for a bit before he finally answered "We got to get to Mister S's. Come Yuu." He walked out the gate leaving behind a confused and concerned Yuu.

"Well good morning my little imps!" Mister S threw open his front door as Yuu and Remy approached.
"Good morning Mister S." Yuu greeted him as Remy gave a half-hearted wave.
Mister S held his door open, ushering in the pair. "Right this way little imps." On the counter top sat several contraptions the Yuu had no idea what they were for. "These are what I need you to fix for me."
You looked at one that had several buttons on the front. "What are they?"
Mister S waved his hand "Never you mind that little imp."
Yuu handed Remy his bookbag after he pulled out his magic hammer. Taking the bag, Remy went to sit down on the piano bench.
Yuu looked over at Mister S. "Have the girls come by yet?"
Mister S grinned. "Sure have. They also mentioned they had somewhere to be so they wanted to give me the pixie dust early."
Remy riffled through Yuu's bag, ignoring their conversation. He found the rulebook and started flipping through it. He was determined to be proven right about any rules concerning tarts. As he was looking through the five hundreds he saw a shadow moving in the corner of his eye. He glanced over to see nothing. He looked away only for the shadow to come back. Sighing he called out to Mister S "Will you keep your little shadows away, they're distracting me."
Mister S looked surprised. "You can see my little friends, little imp?"
Remy merely shrugged. "Like sees like I suppose." He turned back to his book while the shadows whispered among themselves.
As Remy turned the page he found what he was looking for. "Rule 562: One must never bring a chestnut tart to an unbirthday tea party." Remy grinned. He knew he was right. Stupid glasses and the phone addict didn't know anything. Now the real question was whether or not Remy should tell anyone. On the one hand, if he didn't tell anyone, he would get to see the disaster unfold as Riddle would no doubt flip out and go full melt down. But Yuu may get caught in the crossfire as the kind stupid boy that he was would probably try to defend Ace. On the other hand, if he did warn Ace, he would have the privilege of rubbing it in those Heartslabyul boys' faces that he was right with the bonus of saving the day and making Yuu proud of him.
Remy clutched the book to his chest as he weighed the pros and cons.
Yuu finished his task. "Good job, little imp. That hammer sure is useful." Mister S clapped Yuu on the shoulder.
Yuu sheepishly smiled. "Yeah, it's a real life saver. I'm so happy the ghosts found it and gave it to me. It's made fixing the dorm so much easier."
"Yuu we got to go, quick." Remy yelled as he gathered up Yuu's bookbag and headed for the door.
Yuu waved goodbye to Mister S as he ran up to Remy. "What's going on?"
Remy took off for the mirror chamber. "Your idiot friends broke rule 562 of the Queen of Hearts: One must never bring a chestnut tart to an unbirthday tea party. I did warn them about checking the rules but neither set of tweedles listened to me."
Yuu paled as he picked up the pace. By now his friends would have arrived at their dorm. "What are we gonna do?"
Remy shrugged. "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

The trio of Ace, Deuce, and Grim had just finished painting the final roses as the trumpet blared.
"All hail our leader, the red sovereign himself... Housewarden Riddle!" One of the trumpet players shouted to the assembly.
Out of the dorm strode Riddle Rosehearts. He wore a fancy white outfit that looked elegant on him. Atop his head sat a crown off center.
"We salute you, Housewarden Riddle!" The assembly shouted as everyone stood.
Riddle's gray eyes glanced around. "Hm. The garden roses are red, the tablecloths are white... This seems a proper unbirthday indeed." He turned to Trey. "Is there a dormouse asleep in the teapot, as there should be?"
Trey smiled at his friend and leader. "Of course. And should it become necessary, we've also prepared the jam to spread on his nose."
Riddle sat upon his throne. "Very good."
"Myah! Those are some fancy duds!" Grim exclaimed as he pointed at Riddle.
Cater giggled. "These are Heartslabyul dorm clothes. Aren't they fierce? At the forefront of fashion, and they look great on Magicam." He waved his phone at the trio. "One of the Queen's rules mandates formal dress on party days. As a show of kindness from a beloved mentor, I'll help coordinate your outfits." With a wave of his pen the trio's outfits changed. Ace and Deuce wore the white Heartslabyul dorm outfits with different accents of red and black. Grim's ratty looking white and black ribbon was now a fancy red and black ribbon.
All three admired themselves as Cater said "Now, let's tear this party up! And don't forget to give Riddle the tart."
"WAIT!"
The four turned to see Yuu and Remy running up to them.
"Just in time, prefect! Here, I'll help you get dressed as the traditional Alice!" Cater said as he waved his pen. Yuu's outfit turned into a light blue suit with a white apron and black bow on top of his head.
Yuu paused to stare at himself as Remy growled at Cater. "You best not think to change my outfit, Phone Addict."
Cater gulped slightly before shaking his head. "Familiars do not have to adhere to the dress code, kay? So no growlies please!"
"Why was you guys running anyways?" Grim asked as he played with his new ribbon.
Yuu seemed to snap out of his daze. "That's right!" He turned to Ace. "You can't give your tart to Riddle."
Ace frowned. "Why not?"
"You'll be breaking rule number 562 "one must never bring a chestnut tart to an unbirthday tea party". Remy just discovered it so we ran here as fast as we could to warn you." Yuu explained.
The group looked shocked. Ace spun towards Cater. "Is this a prank?! You sabotage my first tarts and now you try to get me in even more trouble?"
Cater vehemently shook his head. "No way! I'm being serious right now. Neither Trey nor I knew. Heck, after we got back to the dorm we learned like ten more students got collared. We want this party to suceed."
Ace calmed down. "We need to warn Trey."
Cater agreed as he ran off to Trey. The quintet watched as Cater led Trey over to them.
Trey looked at the group. "What's this you need to tell me? I really need to stay near Riddle just in case."
"We can't serve chestnut tarts. It'll be breaking rule number 562." Yuu handed Trey the rule book pointing out the rule.
As Trey read it he grew pale. He swayed slightly in place as horror came over his face. If he had served those tarts...
Deuce looked around at the group. "So what do we do now? There's no time to make more tarts and the party has already started."
The group grew silent as each one tried to think of something.
Remy took back the book. "Seriously, do I have to think of everything." He pointed at Trey. "You have a cheat spell for this. Just use your signature spell to make the tarts taste like chocolate. The tarts are naturally brown so no one will know the difference."
"That's a great idea Remy." Yuu cheered as Remy beamed.
The rest of the group nodded as they turned to Trey. Trey had a hopeful look on his face. "That just may work. Excellent idea Remy."
Ace grinned. "Yeah, I'll just tell Riddle I made him a chocolate tart instead of a chestnut tart then, he'll be happy and I'll finally get this collar off!"

Trey retook his place at Riddle's side. "Before we begin the croquet tournament, let us make a toast. Does everyone have their teacup? On this most significantly unauspicious of days, I bid all in attendance... a very merry unbirthday!"
"To a very merry unbirthday!" The assembly toasted.
Ace walked up to Riddle holding his bespelled tart. "Uh, housewarden, sir..."
Riddle glanced over at Ace. "Ah, it's you. The tart thief."
"Yeah, so, I wanted to apologize for eating that tart. We made you a new tart to replace it." Ace said as he placed his tart in front of Riddle.
Riddle eyed the tart. "Hmm? And what kind of tart is it?"
Ace nervously replied "It's a chocolate tart."
"Chocolate tart?" Riddle slowly said. The group nervously waited as they stood within hearing distance.
Ace began to sweat. "Yep a chocolate tart."
Riddle stared for a moment. The group began to wonder if there was a rule against chocolate tarts. Finally, Riddle said. "An acceptable choice. You're forgiven."
Ace's collar disappeared and he and the group breathed a sigh of relief. Ace rubbed his neck as he thanked Riddle. Riddle nodded and turned back to his tea.
Ace rejoined his group as they began to enjoy the tea and treats. The atmosphere of the party was a bit strained since so many students were wearing collars.

Chapter Text

The party had moved over to the croquet field. Riddle was using a pink flamingo as a mallet to hit a pink hedgehog through the hoops. He appeared to be very good at it.
The quintet was off to the side nearest to the hedge maze. "I hope they don't hurt the animals?" Yuu worried as he watched the strangeness. It was one thing to see it on a movie than to see it in real life.
Ace shrugged. "I think the animals are spelled or something to not feel pain. If it really hurt them they would lash out." Ace then led the way deeper into the maze. He wasn't in the mood to play games. Despite getting his collar off he didn't feel like playing.
Ace kicked at the ground. "Man this party stinks. There's too many people collared."
"They're really racking up those collars. Quite the impressive collection." A mischievous voice said above the group.
Everyone looked up to see a purple haired head floating above them.
"BWAH?!" Everyone minus Remy yelled.
"Myah! A ghost head!" Grim yelled as he jumped behind Yuu.
The floating head grinned. "Oops! Fur-got my body." The rest of him faded into existence. He was an oddly dressed young man. He had purple cat ears and tail and wore jeans with all sorts of random phrases stitched on like "upside down" and "this way" and "that way". He wore a purple belt with the words "can you stand on your head". All in all he reminded Yuu of the Cheshire cat albeit more purple than pink.
Deuce was the first to speak. "What? Er, so you do have a body, then? Who are you?"
The catboy raised his arms up with his hands positioned to resembled a clawed hand. "The name's Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. Am I a cat? Am I a purrrson? A mimsy borogove, perhaps? A mome rath with a knack for magic?"
Ace shook his head. "Uh, look, Ar... Arte... Run the name by me again?"
The catboy giggled. "Heh heh. People usually just call me Che'nya. Let's just say I'm not from the other side of the looking glass."
Yuu would admit this fellow fascinated him. Out of all of Lewis Carroll's characters the Cheshire cat was his favorite. "How come you're not dressed up in your uniform or is there a rule that allows cats not to dress up?"
Che'nya looked amused. "Interesting conclusion little Alice." He vanished only to reappear next to Yuu. For once Remy didn't tense up or act aggressive. He seemed to know the catboy meant no harm. "I wonder if you're no more mad than everyone else here?"
Ace seemed to be in no mood. "After the insanity that teapot tyrant put me through, I'm not in the mood for whatever this is. Just leave me alone."
Che'nya waved his tail playfully back and forth. Yuu had a strong desire to pet that tail. "Riddle the teapot tyrant... Heh heh. Well, I can't dismiss that perspective as wrong. He's always been quite strict."
Deuce looked intrigued. "Do you know something about him?"
Che'nya turned to Deuce. "Perhaps there are things that I know, and perhaps there are things that I don't."
Grim growled. "That's not an answer!"
Che'nya grinned at Grim as he teased. "Is there something you wish to know about Riddle?"
Ace suddenly looked interested. "Yeah, what created such a control freak?"
Che'nya looked way too amused. "I believe his four-eyed friend may have the answer."
Deuce thought about it for a moment. "Four-eyed friend? You mean Trey?"
"He's known Riddle since we were all little boys. If you want to know more about Riddle, I would begin my quest there." Che'nya said as he began to disappear slowly.
"They're childhood friends? I didn't really get that impression." Deuce commented.
"If you're so perceptive, then what are you asking me for? Buh-bye!" Che'nya finished disappearing as the sound of his laughter trailed away.
The Heartslabyul duo tried to call him back but he was gone.
"I tell ya, no one makes any sense around here." Grim stated as he put his little paws where his hips would be.
Yuu giggled. "You have to be mad to understand this dorm." Remy rolled his eyes. Great his child was fanboying out.
"So let's go see what Trey has to say, then..." Deuce suggested.
"What about classes? We already missed the first two periods." Yuu asked as this was the first time he thought about it. He felt guilty about missing classes so early into the school year.
Ace was quick to reassure him. "Don't worry about it. Heartslabyul's unbirthday party is a school tradition. All Heartslabyul students and their guests are excused from classes until lunch. You won't get in trouble for missing out the first half of the day."
Yuu breathed a sigh of relief. Remy looked over at him in bemusement. "You do realize that this school year doesn't really matter? We won't be staying in this world forever and I doubt the credits will transfer over to our homeworld. If anything you should be more upset about missing a year of school back home."
As Yuu looked horrified about what Remy said the rest of the group led the way back to the party.

The unbirthday party ended around lunch time. The students cleaned up as fast as they could then ran off to enjoy the free time lunch gave them before their next classes.
The quintet spotted Trey leaving the dorm carrying the cookbook he had used to make the tarts.
"Hey Trey, wait up!" Yuu yelled as the group ran towards Trey.
Trey turned back to the group. "Oh, hello guys." He turned to Remy. "I have to thank you again for suggesting I use my signature spell to change the tart flavor. If you hadn't suggested that, who knows what Riddle would have done."
Remy shrugged. "It was no problem."
Yuu smiled. "I'm just glad the party was a success and Ace got his collar removed."
Ace decided to interject. "Yeah yeah it all ended happily ever after blah blah. We still got a problem with the way Housewarden Riddle is handling all of this. Did you see the number of collars at the party? That can't be good for Riddle to be using that much magic. Plus it's only a matter of time before me or Deuce break some obscure rule and get collared again."
Deuce rubbed his neck as if imagining a collar. "I don't want to experience that! So tell us what's up with Riddle. Che'nya told us you know him."
Trey looked surprised. "Che'nya was here, huh. I wondered if he would show up." Trey sighed. "Let's walk and talk. I wanted to turn this cookbook in before afternoon classes."
The group walked through the mirror, returning to the school. The hallways were mostly empty since most students were at the cafeteria eating lunch.
As they walked Trey began to talk "These sorts of strict rules... They're what created Riddle. His parents were famous magical healers. Everyone where we're from knew their names. His mom was especially talented, and she really wanted Riddle to live up to her legacy. So, from the moment Riddle woke up to when his head hit the pillow at the end of the night... Every aspect of his life was planned, down to the minute, by the education program she made for him. What he ate, what he wore, what soap he used, who his friends were - every last detail had been predetermined for him. And to please his parents, Riddle obediently completed every task they'd laid out for him. He mastered his signature spell by age ten. He's been the top student in all of his classes. I can't even imagine how hard he must have had it."
"That's horrible." Yuu said. He couldn't imagine living like this. Honestly he preferred having parents who mostly left him alone than having parents that controlled his life to such an extent.
Trey solemnly nodded. "Riddle sees the enforcement of strict rules as a service to his dorm members. In his eyes, being bound by rigid guidelines - by fear - is a fast-track to personal growth. Because that's how it worked for him. And on the flip side, he sees the violation of those rules as an inexcusable offense."
Ace pursed his lips in thought. "I guess that makes sense, since rules made him who he is."
By this time they had arrived at the library. They were the only ones there. They didn't even see a librarian working. No doubt taking their lunch break.
Trey shoved his book in the return hole. "Look, I totally get why you see Riddle as a tyrant, and why you disapprove of his methods. But for me... I can't hold that against him, you know?"
The group stood quietly together contemplating what they had learned. Ace, pot stirer that he is, broke the silence "...... All right, now I get it. It's YOUR fault Riddle's like this."
Everyone, even Remy, shouted "WHAT?!"
Ace continued. "Riddle didn't get to choose his parents. But you know what his parents did to him, and you know it was wrong, right?"
Trey was still confused. "I mean, yeah..."
Ace was standing proud on his soapbox. "Well, now Riddle's making the exact same mistake that his parents did. You're going easy on him because he had it rough as a kid? Don't you see where that's leading? You're letting him make a pariah out of himself!"
Deuce tried to talk Ace down while Trey stood silent. "Ace, man, come on..."
Ace merely talked louder. "So why don't you say something? Are you just afraid you'll "lose your head" too? That's pathetic! You guys are supposed to be childhood friends?! Then act like it."
Behind them, the voice of their useless headmage yelled out "You there! Be quiet! You are in a library!"
Everyone startled. Grim exclaimed. "You're yellin' louder 'n any of us, though!"
Crowley appeared slightly chastised. "Oh! *Ahem* Yes, my apologies. But let us strive to maintain the library as a quiet place for reading."
Remy bristled. "What are you doing here, crow?"
Crowley puffed up and placed his hands on his hips. "I'm researching methods to send you back home. Precisely as I promised I would. Oh, but I AM gracious! And the library is, of course, an ideal place for serious research. It's not as if I came here just to secure the newest book in that popular series of novels. No, certainly not."
Yuu, who at first was elated to hear what Crowley was doing suddenly appeared shocked to hear him mention goofing off. Now, normally Yuu respects all authority figures. He would never question an elder. But, after what Remy had said earlier his worldview was being destroyed. He had spent his entire life working hard to maintain good grades so he can earn scholarships and get into a good collage and leave his crummy rural hometown. His academic life was in jeopardy and this useless crow was goofing off.
Yuu had a dark look come over his face. "Excuse me?" Crowley stopped whatever he was about to say to look at Yuu in shock. "Are you not here to research how to fix your mistake? Your screwup that led to me being here? Your fuckup that is ruining my life!" Even Remy looked shocked. Yuu suddenly grabbed Crowley by his coat while everyone else watched on in horror as the usually calm quiet Yuu snapped as he started to shake Crowley. "GIVE ME BACK MY LIFE YOU FUCKING CROW!"
Crowley managed to escape the suddenly crazy Yuu and Remy hugged Yuu to calm him down. "*Ahem* Incidentally, what are you all discussing with such grim faces?" He decided to try to change topics but made sure to keep his distance from Yuu. It really was the quiet ones you should be wary of.
Deuce, still eying Yuu like a ticking time bomb, started to explained "Well, since you asked..."

Crowley rubbed his chin in thought. "So you're worried about your Housewarden. All the magic he's using collaring his dormmates is cause for concern. Hmmm..." Crowley patomimed thinking. "And you don't want to just cut your loses and switch dorms?"
Ace looked to be considering that suggestion before changing his mind. "A transfer, huh...? That'd make me feel like I was running away with my tail between my legs."
Crowley clapped his hands. "Then it sounds like you should challenge Mr. Rosehearts for leadership of the dorm."
Everyone was shocked. This even snapped Yuu out of his existential crisis.
"Why do you look so shocked? As leader, you would be able to dictate how strictly your dorm follows the Queen of Hearts rules and you would be able to order Riddle to release everyone from their collars. Doesn't that sound marvelous?"
"That sounds insane!" Ace exclaimed.
Crowley appeared almost offended. "There is nothing remotely "insane" about it. After all, that's how Mr. Rosehearts got the position."
Deuce asked "What exactly is the process by which housewardens are selected at Night Raven College?"
Crowley was only too happy to hear himself talk. "There are several ways. You could be appointed by the previous housewarden, for example, or duel the current warden and win. A duel is certainly one of the simpler methods."
Ace looked slightly like he was considering it. "But isn't fighting with magic against the rules?"
Crowley shook his head. "In general, yes. A duel initiated through a formal procedure and conducted in the presence of the headmage is another matter entirely. The right to challenge a housewarden is bestowed upon all students when enrolling at Night Raven. So what do you say, Mr. Trappola? Will you challenge Mr. Rosehearts?"
Before Ace could agree Yuu interjected. "Wait, Ace! You're still a first year and you know your magic isn't up to Riddle's level. Plus Riddle has a one-hit K.O. move with his signature spell. There is no way you could win. This is just going to push Riddle to a breaking point."
Ace paused to consider Yuu's words. Crowley was quick to goad him. "Come now, Mister Trappola. Are you going to let someone without magic tell you you're not capable?" Ace looked conflicted while Yuu stared at Crowley in disbelief. Did he want to encourage this? "I thought you were mage enough to take on Mister Rosehearts. But if you're not..."
Ace looked determined. "No, I want to challenge Riddle."
"Ha ha ha! Nothing beats a good, civilized duel! Now, the paperwork should be prepared and filed on the morrow, and the duel scheduled accordingly." Crowley cheered as he ran off.
Yuu looked at Ace in disappointment. "I can't believe you let that crow goad you."
Ace looked mad. "Why don't you try believing in me? The headmage does."
Remy put himself between Ace and Yuu. "He doesn’t. Not really. He just wants to see you get your ass kicked. The whole point of this was to try to find a way to get Riddle to realize he is on a path of self-destruction. This will more than likely push him over the edge. And when that happens," Remy got right in Ace's face. "I hope you will be prepared." With those ominous words Remy and Yuu left the stunned Heartslabyul group and Grim behind.

Chapter Text

The second half of school finally ended. It had been a bit of a stressful day for Yuu. Ace had at first ignored him right back but that didn't last long. Remy had to sit between Yuu and the other freshmen. Poor Deuce and Grim were caught in the middle.
As the final bell rang Yuu gathered his stuff and started to leave, ignoring whatever asinine excuse Ace tried to make to justify his stupidity.
Grim was bold enough to approach Yuu. "Are we heading back to the dorm?"
Yuu gave Grim a slight smile. After all, he wasn't mad at Grim. "You can if you'd like but I'm going to go visit Ignihyde to see about getting my phone fixed. Now that I'm not helping other people with their problems I can finally solve my own."
Grim kept floating along with Yuu and Remy. "Couldn't you use that hammer of yours?"
Yuu shook his head. "No, it doesn't really work like that."
They made it to the Hall of Mirrors. Glancing at the seven different mirrors, Yuu spotted the one he wanted. The dorm's name was atop the mirror like every other dorm mirror. It also had the Ignihyde symbol of a cerberus. Yuu and his two companies went through the mirror.
It was quite different from Heartslabyul dorm. It was like they were in a large cavern with blue flames lighting the way. The dorm itself was upside down on the ceiling. A ceiling being held up by massive skeletons. A stone staircase lead the way up to the dorm circling a pillar that went through the dorm.
"Mwah! This place is creepy! What's with the skeletons and the whole place being upside down?" Grim exclaimed as he looked around.
Yuu started walking up the stairs. "We're not gonna get much from standing around gawking. Come on."
Remy easily kept pace with Grim trailing behind.
They got to the top and went inside. While the outside looked to be made of stone the inside was futuristic. Massive computers lined the walls and comfy looking couches littered the floors. A few Ignihyde students were playing a video game together at a large TV set up in the middle of the room.
"I wonder where the housewarden is?" Yuu asked as he stood in the doorway. Now that he was here he felt a bit out of his element. He didn't know a single person here and his shyness was coming back to haunt him.
"You're looking for big brother?" An electronic voice asked behind them.
The trio turned to see the strangest looking person yet. He had blue flames for hair and his body seemed to be a made of metal.
"Big brother?" Yuu asked.
The mysterious boy nodded. "Yes, my big brother. He's Ignihyde's housewarden."
"That's cool and all but who are you?" Grim asked.
"Oh, apologies, I am Ortho. You are Grim a first year who was not chosen to attend Night Raven College yet earned his place here." Ortho turned to Yuu next. "And you are Yuu with his familiar Remy." He paused for a moment. "I am detecting strange readings from you. More data is needed."
Remy eyed the strange kid. "You a robot or a cyborg, kid?"
Ortho was still scanning Remy. "I am a technomantic humanoid. But please, call me Ortho." Ortho's eyes looked down at Remy's pockets. "I am detecting a large concentration of blot coming from your pockets. May I please see what is causing this anomaly?"
Yuu looked over at Remy. "What's he talking about."
Remy reluctantly reached into his pocket, withdrawing a familiar black stone.
Yuu looked surprised "I forgot you had that. I'm surprised you still got it."
Grim sniffed the air. "That rock smells tasty!" Grim licked his lips. "Can I have it?"
Ortho was quick to intervene. "I would not recommend eating a blot stone. The sheer concentration of blot would negatively effect you. More than likely it will cause you to overblot."
"Overblot?" The trio asked.
Ortho studied the blot stone in Remy's paw. "I need to inform my brother about this. Please follow me." Ortho floated away, leading the group down a hallway. After a few twists and turns they arrived at a door. Ortho opened it. "Big brother, some guests have arrived. They also have a blot stone with them."
Inside the room a nervous voice sounded "Blot stone? Wtf is someone doing with a blot stone. Ugh! This totally sucks. I was just about to join a raid too."
The trio entered the room behind Ortho. The room was messy with food wrappers littering the floor. The bed was rumpled and various clothes were strewn about. Various video game and anime memorabilia decorated the walls though non of them were familiar to Yuu.
Sitting on a gamer chair in front of a large computer set up was a tall, lanky flaming blue haired guy. His skin was very pale and he had blue lips and yellow eyes. He looked away from his game to stare at the trio. "Ortho why did you bring the boss level npc here?"
Ortho wasn't bothered by his brother's strange speech. "These guys came here looking for you. I discovered the familiar Remy was carrying around a blot stone."
Idia sighed. "Seriously where did you people even find one of those?"
Remy, blunt as ever, answered him with an unkind grin. "When I tore a strange beast with an ink jar for a head into pieces."
Ignihyde's housewarden epped and curled up in his chair, tossing the hood of his hoodie over his head. "Wtf! Ortho what kind of boss level threat did you bring here!"
While Yuu could understand the guy's lingo he was confused as to why he was using it outside of gaming. "The headmage sent us on a mission to go to Dwarf's Mine to retrieve a magestone. We encountered a strange creature with an ink jar for a head. We killed it and it left behind that stone."
The housewarden moaned. "Why me? I don't want to have to deal with this?"
Ortho looked at his big brother. "But, Idia, who else is there to handle this? You don't want to contact home do you?"
The newly named Idia groaned. "No anything but that." He glanced over at Remy. "Ortho take the stone. We'll make sure it gets taken care of properly."
Ortho nodded as he held out his hand for the stone. Remy paused as he starred at the stone. Yuu looked at Remy questioningly. "Remy?"
Remy seemed to snap out of his daze and slowly handed the stone over. Ortho immediately brought it to Idia, setting it on the desk.
Ortho turned back to the trio. "So why were you looking for big brother?"
Yuu pulled out his phone. "I came here to see if anything could be done about my phone. See I'm from a different world and my phone stopped working when I got here."
Ortho took the phone and gave it to Idia who looked mildly interested. "Looks like this thing doesn't use any magic tech. Totally pleb."
Yuu shrugged. "No surprise, our world doesn't really have magic. Remy here is the only person I know back home who can use magic."
Both Idia and Ortho looked surprised. "Seriously? How lame dude. I can't imagine living in a world full of boring npcs." Idia had removed the phone cover and was looking inside it. "Hmm, this is gonna take a bit to integrate to this world's system." He gave Remy a nervous look. "When I get it integrated I'll have Ortho deliver it."
Yuu smiled. "That's great! I miss being able to connect online and play games."
Idia looked interested. "Games? What do you like to play?"
Yuu shrugged. "Depends on my mood. I usually play jrpgs, rpgs, mmorpgs, and occasionally a cozy farming sim." Yuu looked excited. "I can't wait to see what kind of games this place has!"
Grim looked dizzy. "Too many letters, Yuu. I didn't get any of that."
Remy shrugged "I concur. I've never cared for those new fangled video games. What's wrong with a board game or a card game?"
Idia mumbled to himself "So one of the new freshmen isn't a complete newb. Too bad his party is full of non-gamers."
Ortho seemed to grin with his eyes. "Big brother, maybe once Yuu gets all set up he can join you online."
Yuu smiled at Ortho. "I wouldn't mind that. It's more fun to play with other players. Plus, you probably know all the latest and coolest games."
Idia seemed to puff up slightly while Ortho boasted about his brother. "My big brother is a top gamer. He's always at the top of leaderboards."
Yuu felt excited. "I can't wait to join you then."
After that, Idia promised it wouldn't be too long and Ortho escorted the trio out.
After the trio left, Ortho returned to his brother. "Idia, I'm surprised they managed to not only find a blot monster but defeat it."
Idia grunted. "Agreed. Based on scans of the freshmen group non of them are impressive. However," on his computer screen he brought up scans of Remy. "That boss level familiar would no doubt have very little trouble with a blot monster." Idia typed a few notes into the information tab he had of Remy. "I wonder what type of creature it is?"
Ortho hummed as he reviewed all footage of Remy he had collected. "Unknown. My scans of him are incomplete. I did notice he was reluctant to give me the blot stone. I wonder how it affected him?"
Idia typed some more. "Unknown. We'll need to monitor just in case."
Ortho nodded. "Big brother, the monster Grim also reacted strangely to the blot stone."
"How so?" Idia said as he kept typing.
"He said the stone smelled tasty and indicated he wished to eat it."
Idia stopped typing. "Eat it? What kind of monster is he?"
Ortho replied. "Unknown. None of my scans can give me a clue as to what he is. Perhaps a chimera or an experiment?"
Idia glanced at the blot stone sitting on his desk. He would have to contact someone back home about this. A group of freshmen should not have been able to stumble upon a random blot monster. Idia sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "What a pain..."

Chapter Text

Thursday came and Yuu arrived at his homeroom with Master Crewel.
Crewel stood at the front of the class. "Tomorrow, puppies, is Club Day where you will spend the day researching and trying out various clubs to join. As long as you keep your grades up you may join up to three different clubs though it is recommended that freshmen only join one for now as some clubs are quite demanding." Crewel laid his hand on a stack of papers sitting on his desk. "This is a list of all the clubs. When I call your name you are to come up here and grab one paper."
Grim groaned as he whispered to Yuu "Myah, I don't want to join a club. That sounds like too much work!"
Yuu scratched Grim behind the ear while Remy glared in disapproval. "Don't think like that, Grim. Who know you may end up liking your club and making friends."
Grim grumbled "Not likely."
Yuu just smiled as he waited for his name to be called. The class was numbered in alphabetical order except for Grim and Yuu since they enrolled a day late. Grim was number thirty-two while Yuu was thirty-three. Remy did not get a number since he was registered as Yuu's familiar.
"Grim." Crewel called out. Grim floated to Crewel's desk and grabbed a sheet. After he sat back down, Yuu was called.
Standing, Yuu walked over to Crewel's desk with Remy following along. He took his own sheet then sat down.
Yuu looked at the list of clubs. Band, Basketball, Board Game, Film Studies, Football, Gargoyle Research Society, Hockey, Horse-Riding, Spelldrive, Mountain Lovers, Science, and Track and Field. Yuu was a bit surprised there wasn't an art club or a cooking club. Then again, clubs had to have a sponsor to help provide equipment so maybe no teacher was interested. There was no art or home economics teacher so it made sense.
Crewel slapped his desk with his pointer to get the students attention. "You will have all day tomorrow to go over and research each club. For now turn to page thirty-eight in your textbook."

Before Yuu knew it, it was lunch time. The day had been awkward with Yuu not talking to Ace. Poor Deuce was trying not to favor either side while Grim stuck with Yuu. After all, he shared a dorm with Yuu. It wouldn't do to upset his dormmate.
As Yuu and Grim got their trays Yuu discovered a problem. Besides the Heartslabyul gang, he didn't know anyone. Yuu froze with indecision. It would be too awkward to sit with the Heartslabyul gang since he wasn't talking to Ace yet there was no open table. Yuu didn't want to sit with people he didn't know.
Luckily, a white haired kid wearing some kind of head wrap started waving at Yuu. Yuu approached cautiously. The white haired kid cheerfully said. "Hey ya! Your familiar helped me out at the opening ceremony."
Yuu was totally confused. That did not sound like the Remy he knew.
Remy suddenly hummed. "Right, you're the kid whose ass was set on fire."
The guy with long dark hair sitting next to the white haired kid suddenly started chocking on his meal.
The white haired guy just laughed. "Ha, yeah that's me. I never got the chance to thank you! Come, join us."
Yuu gratefully sat down across from the cheerful guy.
"My name's Kalim Al-Asim and this is my best friend Jamil Viper." The cheerful guy said as he gestured to his dark haired companion.
Jamil quietly nodded.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Yuu and this is Grim and my familiar Remy." Yuu said as indicated his friends.
Kalim leaned forward excitedly. "It's so nice to meet you." He looked at Remy. "I've never seen anyone like you before?"
Remy shrugged. "You could say I'm one of a kind."
Kalim laughed as he took a bite of his food.
Yuu ate a bit before deciding to break the silence. "So, we learned we gotta join a club tomorrow. Any suggestions?"
Kalim smiled brightly. "I'm in the Band club. It's great! There is only three of us so we just hang out. We have snacks and play any song we want."
"Snacks!" Grim excitedly perked up.
Kalim nodded. "Yeah me and Cater bring snacks all the time though I wouldn't eat any of Lilia's homemade snacks. When he brings premade snacks it's fine but ones he cooked... best not to eat those."
Remy tensed. "Lilia Vanrouge?"
Kalim nodded. "Yeah, that Lilia."
Remy quickly shook his head at Yuu. Yuu, remembering Remy didn't like Lilia quickly said "As fun as that sounds, it's not for me." He looked away from Kalim who looked a little sad. "What about you?"
Jamil glanced over at Yuu. "I'm part of the Basketball club."
Remy snorted. "Any sports club is sadly not for Yuu." Yuu just shrugged. It was true. While he was in shape he was not coordinated enough for any sport.
Jamil shrugged indifferently.
"Well I'm interested in any club where I get to eat!" Grim stated as he caught Kalim's attention. "I don't gotta do anything in your club, do I?"
Kalim appeared thoughtful. "Well we do play songs. I play the drums while Cater plays electric guitar and Lilia electric bass though Lilia can play like a ton of other instruments. Can you play an instrument?"
Grim grumbled. "I never played one."
Kalim looked shocked. "That's unbelievable! You should totally come see the Band club tomorrow. We can teach you if you'd like."
Grim looked interested. "As long as there's food." He then crossed his little arms. "Too bad there is no food club."
Jamil quietly commented. "The Science club sometimes cooks." Grim turned his full attention towards him. "The Science club is jokingly called the "Everything Club" due to all the different activities they do."
"But they don't cook all the time?" Grim asked.
Jamil shook his head. "No they don't."
Yuu patted Grim on the head. "Don't worry, Grim, I'm sure you'll find a good club to join tomorrow."
"What about you?" Kalim asked.
Yuu took a moment to think about it. "I don't know. I'll have to check out each one and see which fits me best, I guess."
Kalim then turned to Remy. Remy merely raised his paw. "I go where Yuu goes. It matters not to me." Strangely, Remy noticed Jamil had an odd look in his eyes when Remy said that.
The rest of lunch passed rather quickly as Yuu enjoyed the company of the two Scarabia boys.

The day came to an end and the next day began. Friday was Club Day. It was also the day before Ace and Riddle's duel according to Deuce who kept the Ramshackle dorm trio updated.
Yuu tried not to think about it as he walked along main street where various booths were. He ignored all sport clubs including the horse-riding club. Grim was running to each booth asking if they had food in their club. The confused looks people were giving Grim brought a smile to Remy's face.
Yuu approached the first booth that he knew wasn't a sport club. The sign read Board Game Club. Behind the booth sitting at a table were Idia and Ortho playing some strange looking game with honeycomb shaped tiles. Yuu got close enough to watch them when Grim jumped on their table. "Hey you! Got any food in this club?"
Idia almost came out of his skin in fright. "Aieee! What are you doing?"
Ortho looked much calmer. "Hello again monster Grim. This is the Board Game Club. While we do occasionally offer snacks we primarily play various board and card games so we try not to have sticky fingers."
Grim stomped his hindpaw on Idia's side of the game much to his distress. "Boo that's lame." Grim jumped down and went to accost the next booth that read Film Studies Club which seemed to be run by a beautiful man.
"I'm sorry about Grim. He's still getting used to how humans work." Yuu apologized. "Is it just you two in this club?"
Ortho shook his head. "Oh no. We have one more member but he couldn't be here today. Are you interested in joining us?"
"I'm keeping my options open for now." Yuu quickly said.
Ortho just nodded while Yuu went to catch up with Grim only to see him being held by the nape of his neck by the beautiful man. "Uncouth potato! You need to learn to mind your manners!"
"Myah! Yuu help!" Grim shouted as he struggled to get free.
The beautiful man looked up to give Yuu a cold look. "Is this potato yours?"
Remy couldn't help himself. "He's more of a turd than a potato. Potatoes are versatile vegetables while Grim here has little to no use."
Yuu slapped Remy's shoulder. "Please ignore my familiar. Grim here is my dormmate and I'm afraid he's still learning how to behave around humans. Please forgive him."
The beautiful man hmphed and dropped Grim who ran off to the next booth. "I am Vil Schoenheit and I am the founder and president of this club." He looked Yuu up and down. "You have potential spudling but you still have a long way to go for perfection."
Yuu was confused. "Doesn't your club study movies or something?"
Vil scoffed. "My club is more than watching movies. We perform plays and study the art of acting." Vil considered Yuu for a moment. "You don't know who I am, do you?"
Yuu took a step back. "Sorry, I come from another world so if you're someone famous I don't know you."
Vil looked interested. "How odd. So, spudling, are you interested in joining my club? All potential members must audition. If you fail you'll be a stage hand."
Yuu shook his head quickly. "Thank you but I don't believe this is the right club for me."
"Pity," Vil said as he retook his seat. "We could always use more stage hands."
Yuu and Remy quickly left. "What a primadonna." Remy said as they approached the next booth. The booth read Gargoyle Research Society and had a small statue of a gargoyle and some pictures of Gothic looking buildings littered with gargoyles. No one was manning the booth. Only a sign-up sheet that was blank.
"That's a bit odd. You'd think someone would be here to at least explain their club?" Yuu said as he looked at the pictures.
Remy shrugged. "Probably a recluse." Remy then thought about it. "You might want to keep this club in mind."
Yuu looked confused. "Really? Why?"
Remy shrugged. "Might be a great way to make a new friend. This guy, whoever he is, is no doubt an introvert like you. He clearly wants people to join but is too shy to put himself out there. Just saying it's easier to make friends one on one and looking at this sign-up sheet he's all alone."
Yuu felt a pang in his heart for the unknown guy. He understood what it felt like to be alone. "It's still early but I think you're right. We'll come back after we check out every other club. If the sign-up sheet is still empty then I'll sign up."
"And if you find another club you like?" Remy asked.
"Master Crewel said we could join up to three clubs." Yuu reminded Remy. Remy simply conceded.
Together they went to the next booth which read Spelldrive Club.
At the booth was a lion beastman and a hyena beastman.
The hyena beastman looked up at their approach. "Shi shi shi! Lookie who's here Leona. It's the magicless kid and his catman familiar."
The lion beastman named Leona opened his eyes. "Hmmm so it is." He sniffed the air. "Yep, not a drop of magic. This is the wrong club for you. Gotta have magic to play."
Yuu tried to not be offended. It was true, he was magicless and this was starting to sound like a sport's club. "What is Spelldrive?"
The hyena beastman laughed again. "Shi shi shi. You don't know what Spelldrive is?"
Both Leona and his hyena henchman suddenly stiffened as Remy released his aura. Remy leaned forward on the table. "Do you have a problem with my master, hyena? Shouldn't a scavenger like you learn not mess with predators?"
The hyena beastman gulped. "Ah no. Nope no problem."
Remy starred at him for a moment, unblinking. He finally leaned back. "Good."
Yuu patted Remy on the back. "Sorry about Remy. He's very protective. I'm Yuu and this is my familiar Remy."
Leona was still eying Remy cautiously. He sniffed the air and didn't appear to like what he smelled. "Name's Leona Kingscholar. I'm Savanaclaw's Housewarden and the captain of Night Raven College Spelldrive team." He yawned. "Ruggie, tell them about Spelldrive."
Ruggie's ears were laying flat on his head. "Spelldrive is a sport played by competing teams of seven people. Basically, players battle for control of a disc and earn points by drivin' it into the enemy team's goal. The team with the most points wins! Both sides fly on brooms and use their magic against each other."
"Does Night Raven compete against other schools?" Yuu asked.
Ruggie gave a quick glance at Remy before answering. "Yeah. Our main rival is Royal Sword Academy. Each dorm also has their own team and we'll compete against each other early October."
"That's cool." Yuu said. "Well thanks for the info. Remy and I should get going, bye." The two left the two beastmen behind who seemed glad to see their backs.
Yuu approached the next booth which read Mountain Lovers Club. Only one person was manning the booth and he was quite unique looking with his heterochromatic eyes and teal hair with a long black streak on the right side of his face.
The teal haired man looked up with a smile that made Remy tense. "Well hello there. You must be Prefect Yuu and his familiar Remy. Are you interested in my club?"
Yuu was a bit startled. "Um hi. Would you mind telling me about your club?"
The teal haired man smiled. "Certainly. My name is Jade Leech and I am the founder and sole member of this club. Activities include hiking through mountains, picking wild plants, and examining/petting mountain animals."
Yuu scrunched his brows together. "Wild animals let you pet them."
Jade just kept smiling. "They do when you capture them."
Remy gave Jade a strange look. "Well as interesting as this is we still got some other clubs to go over before we decide."
Jade looked disappointed. "Well keep my club in your thoughts. I would love to have more members. I just love exploring the surface world."
Yuu paused in his backing away. "Surface world?"
Jade put on a sad look. "Yes. You see I'm a merman. I've become quite entranced with the surface world ever since I came to Night Raven College. Sadly my fellow mermen in Octavinelle do not appear to share my enthusiasm."
Yuu's eyes widened. Poor Jade was like the little mermaid. Remy just scowled. He had a bad feeling about this. "Well... we still got one more club to look at before we decide..." Yuu said as he felt sorry for Jade.
Jade seemed to cheer up slightly. "Well I hope to see you back but, please, don't feel obligated."
Remy ended up dragging Yuu away. That guy had manipulator written all over him. Too bad Yuu was blind to such things.
The final booth read Science Club and Trey and a blond wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a feather on it were manning the booth. Trey looked up. "Hello Yuu. Remy. Haven't seen you two since the library incident."
Yuu pouted. "Yeah incident..."
Remy took charge. "So I hear people call this the Everything Club."
The blond laughed. "Oui! That is what people say."
Trey agreed. "Activities include growing plants, chemistry experiments, and cooking. Professor Crewel is our club advisor."
"Did Grim come by?" Yuu asked.
Trey nervously shifted his glasses. "Yes he did but I think Rook here accidentally scared him off."
Rook placed his hand over his heart. "Non... I did not mean to frighten Monsieur Hirsute. I merely tried to explain the beauty of our club."
Yuu gave Rook an odd look. He wondered if Rook was from this world's version of France. "Well I guess he probably went to find the Band club. Kalim mentioned they have snacks and Grim is food motivated."
Rook suddenly had a notebook in his hands and started writing something down. "I see. So Monsieur Hirsute is easily attracted to food."
Remy started grinning. "Are you planning to hunt the rat? Just so you know he also sleeps deeply making him easy to catch."
Yuu slapped Remy's arm. "Remy stop picking on Grim. And don't encourage people to hunt him."
Remy merely sniff even as Rook added to his notes.
Yuu stepped back from the booth. "Well I guess we should check out the Band club just to make sure Grim is ok before we decide."
Rook sighed. "Ah Monsieur Curieux and Monsieur Magicien must you leave so soon?"
"Uh, what did you call us?" Yuu asked as he couldn't speak French.
Rook smiled. "Merely Sir Curious and Sir Magician. I've observed you are a very curious young man while your familiar dresses as a stage magician."
"Wait when were you watching..." Yuu began before Rook interrupted.
"Were you not on your way to the Band Club? Better hurry and see Monsieur Hirsute."
Yuu decided he really didn't want to know. He and Remy left looking for the Band club. Various signs pointed inside the main building and led them to an auditorium. Harsh electric music played and someone scream singing could be heard.
Yuu and Remy peeked inside to see Cater and Kalim playing their instruments while Lilia held onto a microphone and was screaming into it. Sitting in the front row holding one ear closed with one paw and stuffing his face with snacks with the other paw was Grim.
Remy turned to Yuu. "Can we please not go in? My ears are ringing. Besides, the rat looks happy and nothing is on fire."
Yuu sighed. "Sure. This definitely isn't my kind of club."
The two walked back outside and sat down on a bench to go over their options.
"The only clubs that were interesting were the Gargoyle Research Society, the Mountain Lovers Club, and the Science Club." Yuu began.
Remy sulked. "The Science club has that weirdo stalker Rook."
"I don't think he's a stalker..." Yuu said.
Remy glared over at him. "He carries a notebook to write notes he has on people down, he spies on us where even I can't notice him, and he gives weird nicknames. Need I go on?"
Yuu deflated. "So no to the Science club?"
Remy nodded. "No to the Science club."
"Well what about the Mountain Lovers Club?" Yuu asked.
Remy gave Yuu another look. "I didn't like that guy. He was scummy. Trust me on this."
Yuu bit his lip. "That seems a bit mean..."
Remy leaned closer. "That guy treated his face like a mask. He changed how he appeared in order to manipulate you. No to the Mountain Lovers Club."
Yuu sighed. He had always trusted Remy. He'd be foolish to stop now. "No to the Mountain Lovers Club." Yuu looked up at Remy. "So that leaves the Gargoyle Research Society which we have no information on. No idea who runs it or what they do."
Remy shrugged. "Despite how mysterious it is it's still better than the weirdo or the liar."
Yuu reluctantly nodded as he stood up and walked back to the Gargoyle Research Society club. They arrived to find it the same. No new names on the sign-up sheet and no one manning the booth. Yuu took out his pen and wrote his name. Finished he looked at Remy. "Now what? I don't know how to contact the guy and I don't have my phone yet."
Remy rubbed his chin. "Write down next to your name your dorm and put down to stop by the dorm to go over what all the club does."
Yuu agreed and wrote down what Remy suggested. "I guess that's it." Yuu said as they started walking off. "We got the whole day ahead of us."
Remy agreed. "How about we go do something fun?"

Chapter Text

Deuce entered the greenhouse. He had looked all over the school, trying to find Yuu. He had asked around, luckily Yuu always traveled with Remy and Remy was hard to forget.
As he walked up the main path he heard the sounds of bells ringing. Then he heard Yuu's voice. "Is the frosting good?" More bells ringing. "That's good."
Deuce peered past a bush and saw Yuu, Remy, and the three fairies. Yuu and Remy sat on the ground while the the fairies sat on a toadstool together sharing a cupcake. On the ground between Yuu and Remy was a plate of cupcakes and a teapot. Remy suddenly snapped his head towards Deuce. Yuu looked over and also spotted Deuce. "Hey Deuce. Want to join us?"
Deuce approached and sat down. Grabbing a cupcake he took a bite.
"So what's up?" Yuu asked as he poured a cup of tea for Deuce.
"I looked all over for you." Deuce said as took a drink. "I'm surprised to find you here, having a tea party."
Yuu shrugged. "Well, after we joined a club we just explored the school before heading to the cafeteria. The cafeteria ghosts gave us a plate of cupcakes and a pot of tea. So we brought it to the girls to share. Right girls?" Yuu asked the fairies.
The three fairies nodded as they held up tiny acorn shells they were using as teacups.
Deuce shook his head. "Only you Yuu. So what club did you end up joining? I joined the Track and Field Club."
Yuu leaned back on his hands. "I joined the Gargoyle Research Society Club."
Deuce looked confused. "The what? What kind of club is that?"
Yuu shrugged. "No clue."
Deuce was even more confused. "How do you not know? Didn't you ask whoever was running the booth?"
Yuu started to sport a shit-eating grin. "Nope. There was no one running the booth."
Deuce was dumbfounded. "So how did you join the club if there was no one there?"
Remy was lying on his stomach with his feet in the air. "They left a sign-up sheet. Yuu signed his name and left instructions on where to find us."
"Ok..." Deuce began. "So anyway I wanted to talk about something important."
Yuu leaned forward. "What's wrong?"
Deuce fiddled with his teacup. "Look, Ace's duel is tomorrow morning. I want you to come."
Yuu grimaced. "I don't want to watch Ace get his ass whooped. You know Riddle is going to win, right."
"Ace might win." Deuce said. "I've been helping him practice."
Remy chuckled. "You think three days is enough to defeat the Teapot Tyrant?"
Deuce deflated a bit. "Well, regardless, can you two and Grim still come? I don't like seeing my friends fight. I'm ready for all of us to get past this."
Yuu bit his lower lip. On the one hand, he didn't want to see Ace get humiliated. On the other hand, he was tired of not being able to hang out with all his friends. He missed the sleepovers and the adventures they had. Yuu made up his mind. "Ok, we'll be there."
Remy groaned. "I guess we can give him a "told you so" before trying to cheer him up."
Deuce grinned. "Ok! Great, I'll see you guys tomorrow then." Deuce then finished his cup and took off.
Ava gave Yuu a deadpanned stare. "You're too soft, Yuu."
Blenda and Mixie nodded.
Yuu just signed. "Well, anyway, hopefully we can all be friends again after the duel tomorrow."

Later the Ramshackle trio was settling in for the night. Grim had gorged on some tuna cans and took off upstairs to sleep. Yuu had gone on a fixing spree around the dorm with his magic hammer. He fixed up all the bathrooms and most of the bedrooms before getting tired and deciding to relax on the couch. Yuu and Remy had found an old checkers board and decided to play together in the living room. It was late at night when a knocking was heard at the front door.
Yuu and Remy looked towards the front door. "Who could that be?"
Remy shrugged. "Maybe whoever runs the club? We didn't specify a time after all."
Yuu glanced at the clock. "But it's so late. Surely they would know to come before it got dark?"
The knocking sounded again.
Remy stood up. "Better see who it is."
Yuu reluctantly led the way. The light from the front porch showed a tall silhouette through the foggy glass. You reached out and opened the door.
Standing on the porch was a tall pale black haired fae with piercing green eyes. Atop his head was a pair of black horns that reminded Yuu of Maleficent. "Greetings, Child of Man, are you Yuu of Ramshackle dorm?"
Yuu could only stare in shock. He had noticed teachers and students that resembled Disney characters and villains but he didn't expect to see a male Maleficent. Remy poked Yuu in the back. "Yeah... I mean yes I am. So you must be the founder of the Gargoyle Research Society Club."
The fae regally nodded his head. "I am."
An awkward silence fell between the two with Remy nervously observing. He could feel a great power coming from this fae but it didn't feel as old or as bloody as Lilia.
Remy poked Yuu again. "Right! So, uh, this is my familiar Remy. And you are?"
The fae looked surprised. "Child of Man, do you truly not know who I am?"
Yuu shook his head. He really needs to start researching current events. Apparently there was too many famous people attending Night Raven Collage. "I'm from another world so if you're someone famous I'm afraid I don't know who you are."
The fae looked away for a moment. "Another world, you say? How odd..."
Another awkward silence before Yuu abruptly said "Where are my manners! Come in so that we may talk."
The fae looked shocked. "Child of Man, you are inviting me inside?"
Yuu held the door open fully. "Well, yeah. It would be silly to just talk out here." Yuu glanced up at the fae's horns. "Mind your horns."
The fae glanced up before tilting his head slightly to avoid scraping his horns on the doorframe. Yuu closed the door behind him and led the way to the living room. The fae seemed to be taking in everything he could see with almost wonder.
"Have a seat! Can I get you anything to drink? I got water or sweet tea." Yuu asked. Remy took his customary seat on his armchair while the fae carefully sat down on the couch.
"Sweet tea?" The fae asked.
Yuu started to explain. "I'm from Texas and we love sweet tea. You simply boil some black tea in a pot, pour it into a gallon pitcher with a couple cups of white sugar and fill it up with water. You can either keep it in the fridge to chill or add it to a glass with ice."
The fae thought for a moment. "I will try your sweet tea, Child of Man."
Yuu nodded. "Be right back!"
With Yuu gone, Remy decided to question the fae. "So why are you projecting that "fuck off" aura?"
The fae blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry, my what?"
Remy gestured towards the fae. "That aura of yours. It practically screams "go away leave me alone"." Remy placed his chin on his paw. "Do you really not know?"
The fae pouted. "I'm afraid I do not understand. I am not projecting anything."
Remy hummed. "Maybe it's your power that feels like you're projecting an unwelcoming aura." Remy grinned. "You might want to work on that. Humans are such sensitive creatures. They won't want to approach you if they feel that."
The fae looked disconcerted. "Is that why humans avoid me?"
Yuu walked in carrying a pitcher and a couple of glasses. "People avoid you? That's terrible." Yuu set down his burden and poured a glass for the fae. "Personally I can't feel anything from you. If anything your height is a bit intimidating at first," he added as he saw how sad the fae was starting to look. "Now that we're in a more comfortable setting you're less intimidating."
The fae perked up slightly as he picked up his glass. "That's good to know, Child of Man."
"Great, person whose name I still don't know." Yuu teased a bit as he took his own glass.
The fae stopped before he took a sip. "Ah! Forgive my manners, Child of Man." He bowed his head slightly. "I am Malleus Draconia. A pleasure to meet you Child of Man and your..." He paused as he glanced at Remy "familiar."
Remy snapped his fingers. "Aren't you Diasomnia's housewarden? I remember at the opening ceremony you didn't show up."
Malleus pouted. "I wasn't invited, again."
Yuu was confused. "But, you're the housewarden. Why would you need to be invited? Aren't you obligated to show up regardless?"
Remy quickly answered while Malleus looked bewildered. "He's a fae. You know their whole shtick about invitations. Nobody probably ever told him he didn't need an invite."
Malleus looked sad. "I didn't need an invite? This whole time?"
Yuu winced. "How long have you been housewarden?"
Malleus stared at his untouched glass. "This is my third year as housewarden."
Even Remy winced. "Ouch. That's rough buddy." He pointed at the glass. "Try some tea. That always cheers Yuu up."
Malleus absentmindedly nodded as he took a sip only to appear shocked. He coughed.
"Is something wrong?" Yuu asked.
Malleus shook his head as he set the tea down. "This is a bit too sweet for me."
Remy giggled. "I thought all fae love sweets!"
Malleus narrowed his eyes at Remy. "That's a bit of a stereotype. Not all fae species like sweet things. Especially extra sweet things. I myself like icecream."
Yuu blushed. "Sorry. I just realized I gave you my special tea."
While Malleus looked confused Remy grinned. "Yuu, how many cups did you add?"
Yuu turned redder. "Three..."
Malleus looked shocked as Remy laughed.
"In my defense" Yuu began to defend himself "I wasn't expecting company." He turned to Malleus. "What I said earlier was true it's just, personally, I add an extra cup to my tea cause I love extra sweet." Yuu suddenly jumped up, grabbing Malleus's glass. "Wait right here! I'll dilute it real quick." He ran out of the room.
Remy kept chuckling. "Sorry about my human. While he is book smart he tends to be a bit of a scatterbrain when it comes to other people."
Malleus nodded. He curiously looked Remy over. "I must say, I have never seen a creature like you before."
Remy smirked. "That's because when it comes to Remys I'm the only one!" He spoke-sang to Tigger's tune from Winnie the Pooh. He giggled at Malleus's confused look as Yuu came back.
"Here try it now!"
Malleus cautiously picked up the glass and took a sip. He must have liked it cause he drank most of it in one go.
Yuu sat down in his spot. "So, back to the main topic. Your club, tells us about it."
Malleus seemed to perk up. "Very well. The Gargoyle Research Society Club primarily studies the various gargoyles found at Night Raven College. The main school building alone has over three hundred gargoyles all of various shapes and sizes. No two are alike. Even this dorm has gargoyles. Before it was occupied I would come here often to admire the gargoyles."
Yuu was a bit bemused. "Why do you like gargoyles so much?"
Malleus looked away. "Historically gargoyles were mounted on buildings such as castles and churches to serve as protectors against evil spirits. Their appearance is frightening to people though they serve a noble cause as they also divert water away from the building." He spoke quieter. "I guess you could say I feel a kinship with them. People look at me and are scared of me even though I have never harmed anyone."
Yuu felt his heart hurt for the fae. Even Remy felt sorry for him. "Wow! That's fascinating!"
Malleus looked up with an almost hopeful look in his piercing green eyes. "Do you truly mean that, Child of Man?"
Yuu grinned. "Just call me Yuu and yeah. I personally never thought about gargoyles that much. We don't really have them where I live back home but you make them sound interesting."
Malleus smiled more genuinely. "I've even noticed some of the gargoyles switch places depending on the day of the week."
Yuu leaned forward. "Really? Have you actually seen them move?" He thought about the gargoyles from the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie.
Malleus sadly shook his head. "Not yet but I hope to witness it one day."
As Remy watched the two get animated about gargoyles of all things he couldn't help but to think "These two are giant nerds". Remy glanced over at the clock. "Alright you two. It's time for bed. Yuu and I have to get up early to watch a duel tomorrow."
Malleus deflated slightly. "Oh, I've forgotten humans are dirunal." He stood up. "I will be leaving then."
Yuu stood up as well to walk him out. "We can talk some more tomorrow afternoon. We should try to plan a schedule for the club then."
Malleus paused on the threshold. "You truly wish to be apart of my club?"
Yuu's heart throbbed at how hopeful the fae sounded. "Oh course! See you tomorrow afternoon, Malleus."
Malleus slightly smiled. "Until tomorrow, Child of Man." He suddenly vanished in a burst of green fireflies.
Yuu stood amazed by the beautiful show while Remy snorted. "Show off!"
Yuu fondly shook his head and closed the door. "So what do you think?"
Remy stood back while Yuu cleaned up. "One word: nerd."
Yuu hushed Remy. "There is nothing wrong with being a nerd. I know I'm one."
Remy rolled his eyes as Yuu finished cleaning up. "Oh I know. I've been with you long enough to know how nerdy you can be." They walked up the stairs, heading to bed. "I don't mind this one."
Yuu glanced back at Remy.
Remy elaborated. "Unlike all the other male friends you've been making this one actually has a brain. A nerdy brain but a brain regardless. I approve."
Yuu laughed. "Never thought I'd hear that. A genuine Remy-approval."
"Laugh it up and go to bed. You got an ass-whooping to watch tomorrow, remember?" Remy said as they reached their bedroom.
Yuu rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me."

Chapter Text

Dawn was fast approaching. Remy sat on the end of the bed glaring at the mirror. Throughout the night he thought he heard the voice of a young girl confronting someone over their unjust rules. The strange conversation Remy overheard ended again with an older woman screaming "Off with her head!". Remy kept glancing back at Yuu to make sure he wasn't being disturbed. Yuu just slept peacefully through the night. Same with Grim who still chose to share a room with them despite having to sleep on the cushioned chair in the corner.
Remy merely shook his head. The mirror was now quiet and the sun was slowly peeking over the horizon. Remy finally stood up and went to wake Yuu and Grim. It was time to get ready. Hopefully the day would go by smoothly but Remy couldn't stop the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

Yuu, Remy, and Grim entered the Heartslabyul mirror. On the other side stood Deuce and surprisingly Ace.
The Ramshackle trio and the Heartslabyul duo awkwardly stood facing one another.
Yuu sighed as he knew someone had to break the ice between them. "Ace, I'm sorry man."
Ace's head snapped up to look at Yuu in shock.
Yuu continued. "I was worried about you. I should have been helping you like Deuce was with preparing for the duel but instead I acted like a little kid and avoided you. Can we move on from this?"
Ace swallowed. "Naw man I'm the one who should apologize. I let the headmage get in my head and now I gotta duel Riddle in front of the whole dorm." Ace sighed as Deuce patted him on the back. "I can't back out now. Got my pride and all. But I'm still gonna show that Teapot Tyrant I'm not gonna be bossed around like everyone else."
Remy chuckled. "Ah, a man's pride. Many battles and wars have been fought due to a man's pride. In the end it always leads to chaos and ruin."
Ace winced. "Come on Remy. No words of encouragement? I thought you were starting to like me?"
Remy shrugged. "Not really, no. As long as my human likes you the most you will ever get from me is me slightly tolerating you. Nothing more, trump card."
Yuu elbowed Remy while Ace glared. "However," Remy continued, "if you truly want my advice... I noticed Riddle is a glass cannon. He may be powerful but he severely lacks stamina. If he has lived his whole life on a diet as restricted as Trey claims then he won't have the strength for a prolonged duel. You'll need to avoid his attacks and outlast him. Don't focus on attacking. The best offense is a good defense after all."
Ace, Deuce, and Grim all had shocked Pikachu faces. Yuu rolled his eyes. "Basically just run circles around Riddle avoiding his attacks. Riddle will wear himself out and that will be your time to attack."
Ace scratched his head. "That sounds cowardly."
Remy sighed. "All's fair in love and war, Ace. You weren't planning on just standing still while Riddle used his signature spell were you." At Ace's blank stare Remy facepalmed. "I'm surrounded by idiots."
Yuu gave Ace a light punch to the arm. "We'll be rooting for you Ace. Show your Housewarden what you are made of!"
Remy grimaced. "Speak for yourself, Yuu. At this point I'm rooting for the day to be over."

The newly reunited quintet arrived at the large yard which would be the site of the duel. Along the way, the group had heard various comments concerning the upcoming event.
"Did you hear? They say someone's challenged Housewarden Rosehearts to a duel!"
"Riddle Rosehearts? Seriously?! Whoever it is has gotta be outta his mind. Riddle will have his head off in five seconds flat."
"Still, it's the first challenge since Rosehearts took power. I'm pumped!"
Ace just gritted his teeth. Yuu patted him on the back while Deuce cracked his knuckles at his fellow Heartslabyul students.
The whole dorm slowly trickled out to surround the field. The low hum of their voices filled the air but was quickly drowned out by Crowley stepping forth. "We are about to commence with a challenge for the housewarden position at Heartslabyul House. The challenger is Ace Trappola. The current housewarden he has challenged is Riddle Rosehearts." Crowley had grandly gestured to each duelist as he named them. He was certainly enjoying this.
Riddle wore his Housewarden regalia proudly as he stepped forth. A cold almost bored look on his noble face quickly pissed off Ace who stepped forward as well.
Riddle glanced over at Ace. "I was surprised when the headmage informed me one of my dormmates was challenging me. But if you insist I will show you and everyone here why I am in charge."
Ace started to get heated. "Well someone has to knock you down a peg."
Riddle scoffed. He turned to Crowley. "Headmage, please give us the signal."
Crowley grinned as he lifted a small hand mirror. "When the mirror I've thrown shatters upon the ground, that is your signal to begin. Ready... Go!"
Ace, actually taking Remy's advice, jumped to the side as Riddle used his signature spell hoping to end the duel immediately. Riddle tsked as he tried again and again. Ace just kept jumping aside. While Ace wanted to go for an attack he kept to Remy's plan. Now Ace did not like Yuu's familiar. He thought Remy was an asshole who just so happened to be powerful. Kind of like Riddle. However, Ace could respect Remy who didn't unjustly use his power to force others to obey him. Remy just scared people a little.
Ace started to notice Riddle was breathing heavier and sweat was dotting his brow. Seeing an opportunity, Ace charged while finally casting his wind spell at Riddle.
Riddle dodged, somehow managing not to trip in his heels over his cape.
Riddle's face turned a bright shade of red. "ENOUGH!" He pointed his pen at the ground. Whatever spell he used shook the ground causing Ace to stumble. Vines sprung out of the ground, latching onto Ace. "Off with your head!" Riddle yelled as his signature spell finally landed.
Ace gasped as his magic was cut off. He collapsed to his knees as Riddle began to grin like a maniac. "Hmph. That was all you had, and still you thought to challenge me? You must be utterly humiliated. I guess my mother was right. A man who cannot follow rules is a man who cannot achieve anything."
The quartet ran over to check on Ace. He wasn't really hurt just humiliated.
Deuce sullenly glared at Riddle. "Tch... We agree that rules should be followed. But forcing others to follow nonsensical rules like the ones you've enacted is tyranny!"
Riddle looked affronted. "Then you agree that breaking the rules is wrong. And in this dorm, I AM the rules. Therefore, those who cannot abide by my decisions deserve not the heads they use to complain!"
Yuu trembled. He knew he shouldn't interfere. He wasn't a part of this dorm. But he was tired of seeing his friends get hurt. "You're wrong."
Riddle turned his glare on Yuu. "Excuse me?"
Remy subtly tried to signal for Yuu to keep quiet. As powerful as Remy is he still didn't know if Riddle's signature spell could affect him and he didn't want to find out.
Yuu ignored his familiar as he faced the Teapot Tyrant. "While I understand you wish to honor the Queen of Hearts she ruled over a land of chaos. She had to fight chaos with chaos. Her rules no longer apply in an orderly world. If anything, her rules now cause chaos and harm." Yuu gestured to the other Heartslabyul students. Many of them bore Riddle's collar around their necks. "Can't you see you're hurting them? You need to stop this before you go too far."
Riddle was trembling. Maybe a small part of him was trying to listen to Yuu but a bigger part that sounded suspiciously like his mother yelled louder in his head. "How dare you! My mother always emphasized how important all rules are. Clearly, you were born to parents with no great magical capability. And as a result... You lack even the basic education necessary to attend a school such as this. It's quite sad."
Everyone was stunned. Now, Remy didn't like Yuu's parents. But Yuu still loved them and he wasn't about to let Riddle get away with insulting his human like that. However, as Remy started to get more pointy looking Ace stood up.
"You shut your spoiled little mouth!"
Riddle jerked back as if struck. "What!?"
Ignoring everyone, Ace ran forward and punched Riddle right in the face. The Teapot Tyrant fell back, tripping over his cape and fell right on his ass.
Everyone gasped.
Trey and Cater approached Riddle while Crowley looked vaguely concerned.
Grim giggled as he punched the air with his little paw. "Bam! Right cross to the face!"
Deuce looked concerned. "Ace?"
Riddle clutched his bruised cheek. "That hurt! You... p-punched me?!"
Ace glared down at Riddle. "Kids aren't trophies for their parents to flaunt. And the accomplishments of a child aren't determined by the worth of their parents. It's not your parents' fault you became a tyrant - or anyone else's. You've been here a year and haven't even made a friend who will tell you you're outta line. And that's on you."
Riddle strangely looked more confused than mad at the moment. "What are you even talking about?"
Ace ignored him. "Yeah, maybe you had some rigid upbringing from a relentless helicopter-mom. Is that all you are? An extension of her? Can't you think for yourself? You call yourself the "red sovereign"? You're just a baby who's good at magic."
Riddle quickly got over his confusion as his face began to turn red again. "Baby...? Did you just call me a "baby"?! You don't know anything about me! You don't know anything about anything!"
Ace didn't care. "Nope, sure don't. And I don't need to. Your attitude tells me all I need to know - that you're nothing but a spoiled brat!"
Riddle finally stood, throwing his cape back. "Shut up, shut up, shut UP! My mother was right! And that means I'm right too!"
Trey finally decided to step in. "Riddle, calm down. The duel is already over."
Crowley also decided to finally do his job and intervene. "Mr. Clover is correct. The challenger has been disqualified due to physical violence. If you do not cease your conflict now, I'll have you written up for breaking school rules!"
The watching Heartslabyul students were getting riled up by what they were watching. One of the many collared students suddenly shouted "Ace is right, though! I've had enough of Riddle!"
Others piped up in agreement. Soon the crowd was filled with cries of being fed up with Riddle and his rules. Suddenly an egg flew through the air and hit Riddle on the chest.
Riddle stumbled back in shock. "Huh? Who did that? Who threw that egg?"
The crowd went silent.
Riddle began to softly laugh as he wiped egg off his uniform. His magic pen, clutched tightly in his fist, began to fill with a black inky color. "Heh heh... Ah ha ha ha! You say YOU'RE fed up?! I'M the one who's fed up with all of YOU! No matter how strict I am, no matter how many heads I remove, you keep breaking the rules! All any of you care about is doing what YOU want to do! If the guilty party won't come forward, then I'll pass judgment on all of you! Clearly, none of you value your heads! Off With Your Heads!"
The crowd of students cried out as each one suddenly sported a collar. Remy had pushed the group behind him and threw up an earthen shield to block the attack. Fortunately the spell couldn't pierce the dirt.
Riddle laughed louder, more manic, "Ah ha ha ha! How do you like that, hm? Now no one can do a thing to me! Do you see now? My strict adherence to the rules was clearly the correct path!"
Crowley shook his head. He was one of the few to escape collaring. "Cease this improper behavior now, Mr. Rosehearts. I expect better from you!"
Cater turned to Trey. Both of them were also collarfree. "Trey, if he keeps using his spell... This could get ugly, fast!"
Trey gulped. "Riddle, stop this!"
Ace peeked around Remy's wall. "Wow, way to totally prove me wrong here, pal! I call you a baby, and you immediately throw a temper tantrum!"
Riddle trembled. Black ink began to drip from his pen's magestone. "Retract your comment immediately, or I shall skewer you where you stand!"
Ace, feeling bold with the powerful Remy on his side replied "No way. I ain't retractin' squat."
Riddle roared in fury. The wind began to pick up and the sky slightly darkened. The rose bushes began to rip from the ground and float in the air. "Mighty roses, tear this brute to pieces!"
Ace gulped. Maybe he took things to far. Remy reinforced his wall, ready to take the hit when the rose bushes suddenly became playing cards. Everyone gaped as playing cards flew through the air tumbling down harmlessly to the ground.
Riddle looked confused before he snapped his head towards Trey.
Trey was pointing his magic pen towards Riddle. His eyes looked conflicted yet determined. "Riddle, stop this right now!"
Remy joined the others in peeking around his wall. He raised an eyebrow at Trey. He knew Trey's magic was overpowered.
Cater gasped for he'd always thought Trey's signature spell was just a parlor trick as Trey would call it. "Wait, is that Trey's "Paint the Roses"?! But... how?!"
Grim looked around. "All the magic-sealin' collars are gone!"
Trey swallowed thickly. "What did I tell you? My magic can overwrite characteristics for a short time. So I used it to make "Riddle's magic" into "my magic.""
Cater clutched his phone, shocked. "You can do that? That's some kinda loophole!"
Riddle shook his pen, playing cards shooting put. "N-no... Off with their heads! I SAID, off with their heads!"
Trey shook his head at Riddle. "Riddle, stop. Can't you see how you look right now?"
The now collarless crowd stared at Riddle in shock and fear.
"He... He was really gonna do it!"
"He is completely out of control."
"He's like some kinda monster!"
Riddle just stared at his magic pen, ignoring the ink spilling out onto his hands and the ground. "What? Was my magic overwritten by yours? Does that mean your signature spell is stronger than mine?!"
Trey shook his head. "Of course it doesn't. Riddle, take a deep breath and listen to us."
Riddle trembled. He could no longer think straight. "Are YOU going to tell me that I'm wrong too? After all I've done to protect the rule of law?! Do you know how much I've suffered for this?! I... I refuse to believe this!"
Crowley stepped in again. "Cease immediately, Mr. Rosehearts! Any further attempt to use magic will leave your magestone completely tainted with blot!"
Riddle began to grin. His mouth stretched wide as inky black tears began to pool out of his eyes like tears. "But... I'm right! I'M the one who's right! There is NO! POSSIBLE! ALTERNATIVE!"
Trey yelled "Riddle, stop!"
Riddle looked up once more at Trey as tears of ink fell down his face. He was unrecognizable from the Riddle Rosehearts they had all known previously. He suddenly grinned as his magestone burst. The concussive blast of raw magic knocked everyone down even Remy's wall. The sky fully darkened and lightning lit up the surroundings. A purplish black fog creeped across the ground.
Everyone looked up at hearing Riddle laugh but it sounded off. Like two voices were speaking at once.
As the fog cleared around Riddle everyone beheld a monstrous sight. Riddle, who had always been paler than was healthy looked even paler almost white like snow. His crisp white uniform was now a black and red dress like outfit. His gold crown was now black. Black playing cards hung together almost like chains draping off his skirt. From his right eye a red aura spilled out. Behind Riddle stood a beast similar to the beast of Dwarf's Mine except it closely resembled the Queen of Hearts with an ink jar for a head. It clutched a whole rose bush for a weapon wielding it like a hammer.
Riddle laughed "Heh heh heh... AH HA HA HA! You are fools to defy me! You are not welcome in my world. In my world, I am the law. I am order made manifest! The only response I will accept from you is "Yes, Housewarden Riddle." All who defy me will lose their heads! Ah ha ha ha ha!"

Chapter Text

Crowley was screeching. "Dear me, what have I done? I've allowed a student to overblot in my presence!"
Grim confusedly asked "Overblot?"
Crowley, ever one to hear himself talk, said "Overblot is a dangerous condition that mages must avoid at all costs. At the moment, he is overcome by negative energy, and has lost control of his magic and emotions."
Remy glared. "Wasn't the magic pen leaking black ink clue enough for you, crow"
"Okay, sure... but what does that mean?" Grim asked as he still didn't know what was going on.
Deuce agreed. "Please explain!"
Cater groaned. "To put it in layman's terms, he's in evil berserker mode!"
Trey nodded. "If he keeps releasing magical energy, we could be looking at a loss of life here - his included."
Grim and Deuce yelled "WHAT!"
Crowely backs away from Riddle. "The well-being of my students is my top priority. Therefore, I must evacuate them immediately. As for Mr. Rosehearts, we must restore his consciousness before his magical energy runs dry. For as bad as losing him would be, there are scenarios that are far worse… Listen well: I need all of you to seek help from the other housewardens and members of the faculty."
Ace, who had quietly observed what was happening, charged forward with a cry "Hiiiyah! Take that!" A blast of wind hit Riddle, knocking him back against the Overblot monster.
Deuce snapped out of his shock to quickly join Ace "I summon thee, cauldron!" A cauldron fell out of the sky but the Overblot monster smacked it away.
Riddle turned to glare at the duo. "What do you fools think you're doing?"
Cater was equally perplexed. "Um, hello?! 911? We've got an idiot emergency!"
Grim got a determined look on his face as he ran up to join Ace and Deuce in fighting Riddle. "You DID hear that part about how reeeal bad things are happenin' with him, right?!"
Deuce nodded. "That's why we need to stop him now! I don't want that on my conscience!"
Ace added "And I'm not givin' up till I hear him say "I was wrong and I'm sorry"."
Trey sighed. "All right, let's do this. I can overwrite his magic for a little longer. In the meantime, do what you can! Headmage, please evacuate the other students!"
Crowely kept backing up. "Wait! This is dangerous!"
Cater stared at his fellow third year. "Are you S-R-S, Trey? You can't beat Riddle!"
Ace yelled back "So what, you're not even gonna fight unless you KNOW you can win?"
Grim agreed. "Yeah, he's right. That's weak."
Deuce added "This is the only way we can think of to snap him out of this!"
Trey looked determined. "Yeah... I don't want to lose him. There're too many things I've left unsaid."
Cater moaned. "Ugh, I do NOT like or subscribe to this, but fine!"
Crowley stood back quite a ways from the battle. "I'll be back as soon as I've gotten the students to safety. Stand firm until then!"
Riddle glared as he floated high above them. "Such defiance, from every last one of you! I shall take all of your heads!"
Trey grimaced. "Riddle's body can't take much more of this. We need to stop him before it's too late!"
Ace agreed. "Yeah! Luckily for us we got a badass familiar on our side!"
Everyone turned to look at Remy only to see him and Yuu gone.

Earlier, when Riddle first powered up and Crowely started squawking, Remy had grabbed Yuu and ran them both away. With Yuu's mouth covered he couldn't make a sound. They ended up near the dorm mirror. "Ok Yuu, let's go."
Yuu pushed at Remy. "Go? What do you mean go? Our friends are in danger. Riddle could die! We got to go back."
Remy's paws shook. "No we don't! This is Heartslabyul business not ours! We should have never come here to begin with. Let's just cut our loses and run. I'm sure the others got it covered."
Yuu jumped back before Remy could grab him again. "What's wrong with you? How could you want to leave them like that?"
Remy tried to grab Yuu again. "Let's talk about this back at the dorm or we could go visit the fairies doesn't that sound nice?"
Yuu glared at Remy. "Tell me what is wrong! You tore that beast at the Dwarf's Mine apart like it was nothing. Why can't you do the same here?"
Remy stopped trying to grab Yuu. He lowered his paws and seemed to stare off into space. "The one at the mine... I didn't tell you something about it."
Yuu looked at Remy in concern. Remy looked more than scared. He was terrified.
Remy shuffled in place. Even this far from Riddle and his Overblot monster he could still feel the power. "That creature at the mines... it almost felt like an abandoned Imaginary Friend."
Yuu gasped. "An Imaginary Friend?"
Remy nodded. "Most Imaginary Friends eventually leave their kid. The kid grows up and "forgets" them allowing the Imaginary Friend to move on to the next kid. But when something bad happens to the kid, something really bad, the Imaginary Friend becomes what is known as Abandoned. Basically we become stuck to the area our child used to live in and we become feral. You cannot bargain with us, or communicate with us. We become a monster. A monster existing in agony and pain that wishes to spread that pain to others." Remy began to pace. "I once heard tell of a large group of Imaginary Friends whose children were institutionalized in an asylum. The children were given lobotomies." Yuu gasped in horror. "That caused all the Imaginary Friends to become Abandoned. Tied to that awful place."
Yuu slowly laid his hand on Remy's trembling arm. "What happened to the kids? To them?"
Remy sadly shook his head. "Sometimes... fires can cleanse the deepest stains."
They stood together in silence.
Yuu looked back to where they had left their friends. "But doesn't this mean we should do something?" Remy barley glanced over at Yuu. "If you had been abandoned wouldn't you want someone to put you out of your misery?"
Remy merely glanced down.

Ace leapt back as the Overblot monster almost hit him with the rose bush. His mind raced. He couldn't believe Yuu and Remy had left them. Even Grim looked shocked. Ace had been counting on Remy's help. Now the group including Trey and Cater were tiring out.
Riddle kept screaming at Trey as Trey would change each of Riddle's spells into something harmless. Ace could see everyone was on their last legs. The purplish black fog was draining their strength while Riddle seemed to get stronger and stronger.
Finally Riddle yelled."ENOUGH!" The Overblot monster swiped the group knocking them off their feet. Riddle floated above the exhausted quintet. "Any last words?"
A familiar voice shouted out "Surprise bitch!"
Riddle looked up as Remy appeared and grabbed him. He spun around and tossed him over the exhausted quintet and away from the Overblot monster. Remy grinned at the stunned group. "You guys listen to Yuu and handle Riddle I'll get the bloody big head herself."
Yuu ran up to the group. "You heard him, come on!"
Ace pushed himself up. "Where were you!"
Yuu shook his head. "Talk later fight now!" Yuu pointed at Deuce "Summon a cauldron to cover his head," Yuu pointed at Cater "Summon some flora and Ace" Yuu turned to Ace "create a leaf tornado with Cater."
The trio nodded and followed Yuu's orders. A cauldron landed on Riddle's head, blinding him and stunning him on impact. Cater used a flora attack which summoned leaves while Ace used his wind spell to whip up the leaves and shoot them at the blinded Riddle knocking him back.
"Grim use your body to trip him and set his skirt on fire." Yuu directed.
Grim ran forward toward the still stumbling Riddle and wound his body around Riddle's legs like a cat. As Riddle tripped he blew some fire at Riddle setting his skirt on fire.
Riddle managed to yank the cauldron off his head but started to yell and roll around as he realized he was on fire.
Yuu suddenly yelled "Keep it up! Someone summon vines or something to tie him up and gag him!"
Trey, who had gotten a little break since he wasn't needed since Riddle hadn't had time to cast any spell summoned some vines which wrapped themselves around Riddle's body. His arms and legs were bound tight. As Riddle yelled another vine gagged him. Muffled yells were all the group heard as they high-fived each other.
Behind them, a gutteral roar sounded.
Trey and Cater gasped in shock.
Fighting the Overblot monster was a large blue monster that vaguely resembled Remy. The blue beast stood as tall as the Overblot monster. Long claws ripped at the Overblot monster's dress spilling inky blood everywhere.
Trey gulped. "Is that Remy?"
Yuu nodded. "It's best not to anger Remy. No one wants that."
Cater clutched his phone like a lifeline. "Is this why Ace was saying we can't lose with Remy on our side?"
Ace nodded as Remy managed to grab the Overblot monster's arm and ripped it off. He then started to beat the creature with its own arm. "We saw something like this at the Dwarf's Mine. Remy tore that monster apart. We simply told the headmage that we worked together to beat it."
Trey absently nodded. "I can see why. Some people might see Remy as a threat if they knew how strong he is."
The sextet stood back as Remy went all out. The Overblot monster tried to retreat as Remy kept attacking it. It's dress was heavily stained black by its inky blood. It was missing one arm and its ink jar head was cracked.
Remy managed to get a hold of it and flipped it over his shoulder. The monster slammed into the ground, inky blood splattering far enough to hit the watching sextet. Before the beast could try to stand up Remy grabbed it and started to slam its head into the ground over and over again. More and more cracks appeared in the glass head. Remy gave one final roar as he lifted the beast up and slammed it one last time into the ground, shattering the glass head. The beast began to dissolve as Remy stood there watching. He was drenched in the beast's inky blood. When the Overblot monster finally dissolved all that was left behind was a black blot stone.
Behind them they heard Riddle cry out. They turned to see his eyes roll back in his head and he collapsed. His clothes turned back to normal.
Trey ran over to check on Riddle. Yuu gave a glance over to check on Remy. Remy had shrunk back to normal size and was pocketing the blot stone. Yuu looked back as Trey yelled "He's not breathing!"
Yuu froze for a moment. He shook his head as he ran towards them "I know CPR!" He ran over and gently lay Riddle flat, opening his mouth. He double checked and Trey was right. Riddle was not breathing. With no time to lose Yuu started chest compressions. He diligently counted to thirty before giving Riddle two breaths. As his lips touched Riddle's something stange happened. Yuu's vision began to fade. He went to give Riddle some more chest compressions when everything faded to black.

Chapter Text

Yuu stood in a fancy looking dining room. The whole world appeared black and white. There was no color except for Yuu.
"Happy eighth birthday, Riddle." Came a sugary sweet voice behind Yuu. Yuu turned around to see a beautiful red haired woman placing a boring looking cake slice in front of a young boy who must have been Riddle. Was Yuu back in time or was this a memory?
The woman continued. "This year's birthday cake is a low-sugar recipe made with nuts and lecithin-rich soy flour to improve your cerebral function." Personally Yuu thought that sounded nasty.
Young Riddle smiled but, to Yuu, it looked fake. Shyly he said "Thank you. But, Mom... Just once, I'd like to try one of those tarts covered with bright-red strawberries..."
Riddle's mother's face contorted into a scowl. "Absolutely not! Those tarts are monstrously unhealthy. I might as well feed you poison! Even just a single slice would exceed your recommended daily intake of sugar." She suddenly smiled again. "Now, dinner tonight will be a tuna sauté rich in DHA and omega-3 fatty acids. Now that you're eight, your caloric intake should be 600 kilocalories per meal, so don't eat more than 100 grams of it. Understood?"
Riddle looked defeated as Yuu looked disgusted. What ever happened to just letting a kid eat mac n'cheese or chicken nuggets. A child shouldn't be forced to eat such "healthy" food all the time. "Yes, Mom."
The world faded around Yuu. Older Riddle's voice sounded around Yuu, "I'd always wanted to try one of those tarts with the bright-red strawberries. The local cake shop had them in the window. They shined at me like forbidden jewels."
The world came back. This time they were in a child's bedroom. Bookshelves were filled with academic books. There were no toys in sight.
Young Riddle sat at a desk writing notes as his mother schooled him. "That's enough classical magic study for today. Your homework is to read the first fifty pages of the philosophy of language book referenced in today's magical philosophy texts. You may now have one hour of independent study before your potionology lesson."
Young Riddle, who wasn't even that much older then the last memory, said "Thank you, Mother."
Riddle's mother put away her teaching materials. "I need some time to prepare the lesson materials. I will see you in one hour, okay?"
Yuu watched Riddle's mother leave the studying child behind.
Older Riddle's voice sounded again. "I was studying every possible subject, scheduled down to the minute. When I didn't understand something, the lesson was extended until I did. That was my "normal"." A tiny knocking came from the window. Young Riddle looked up confusedly. "...Is someone knocking on the window?"
A young looking Trey and a young looking Che'nya appeared in the window. Young Trey gasped "Whoa, he heard us!"
The young Che'nya grinned. "Hey, come play with us!"
Young Riddle clutched his pencil. "Who are you?"
Young Che'nya waved. "I'm Che'nya, and that's Trey. Let's all play croquet! Oh, but it's LOTS of fun!"
Young Riddle looked down sadly. "I can't. I'm supposed to be doing independent study, and I have a lot of homework to do."
Young Che'nya scrunched up his little nose. ""Independent study" means you pick what to do, right? My grandpa says play is a form of study!"
Young Trey nodded. "Just play with us for a little bit!"
Young Riddle nervously looked at the two other kids. A huge part of him wanted to play with them. He had never played with other kids or even alone before. His life was study study study. "O-okay... Just a little, though!"
Trey smiled encouragingly at young Riddle. "Hey, what's your name?"
Young Riddle shyly smiled back. "R-Riddle. Riddle Rosehearts."
The world faded again as older Riddle's voice came. "I had the best time playing with Trey and Che'nya. We did so many things I'd never done before. They taught me lots of things I didn't know. After that, I snuck out of my room every day to play with them during independent study time."
The world faded back into existence revealing the three young kids laying on the grass under a tree not far from what could only be Riddle's house.
Che'nya yelled "Whaaat? You've never even tried a strawberry tart? They're out of this world."
Riddle shook his head. "Yeah. My mom says sugar is basically poison."
Trey looked confused. "I mean, you probably shouldn't eat too much of it, but calling it "poison" is kinda...yikes. You know, my family runs a cake shop. Let's go get a tart right now!"
Riddle looked uncertain "Really? But...I shouldn't."
Trey grinned as he stood up "Just one slice. It'll be fine."
Che'nya also stood up. "One slice for YOU, maybe. I want a whole one!"
The world faded once more. Older Riddle's voice said "A bright-red strawberry tart on a white plate. To me, it shined more brightly than any gem could. That first bite was so sweet. It tasted like nothing I'd ever eaten before. With each bite, I became more entranced... and completely lost track of the time."
The world faded back into existence revealing young Riddle sitting in a bakery eating the strawberry tart older Riddle had described. The strawberry tart was the only thing with color in this world. As young Riddle ate the tart he looked so happy. Happier than Yuu had ever seen. Suddenly the door burst open and Riddle's mother appeared her face bright red with fury. Riddle, who had looked so happy just a moment ago, suddenly looked terrified.
The scene changed to Riddle's home. Riddle's mother was pulling young Riddle through the house. "I cannot believe this! Not only are you cutting independent study time, but I find you eating a mountain of sugar?! Those two hoodlums must have incited this behavior. You must never play with them again!"
Young Riddle was in tears. "I'm sorry, Mother! I promise, it will never happen again."
Riddle's mother shoved young Riddle into his room. "Be quiet! You've broken the rules, and I'll not hear another word from you. Clearly, you're not able to handle the freedom of independent study. I need to keep a closer eye on you."
The world faded again. In the darkness older Riddle's voice said "Because I broke the rules, my favorite part of my day was taken away from me. I vowed to never break my mother's rules again. After all, she was the most accomplished mother in the city, and therefore, the most correct. But Mom... Why? Why does my heart hurt so much? I want to eat a tart! It's my birthday, so can't I have some just this once? I want to play outside all day long! I want to make lots and lots of friends! Tell me, Mom, please... What rule do I need to follow to make this pain go away?"
Yuu felt so sorry for Riddle. Now that he had witnessed all those memories he understood Riddle so much more. Yuu suddenly felt lightheaded before blacking out.

Chapter Text

Yuu slowly came awake to the sounds of shouting.
"If my human doesn't wake up soon, crow, I will tear you limb by limb!" Remy's voice deepened to a growl.
Yuu opened his eyes to see Remy practically strangling Crowley. The headmage dangled above the ground. Bits of feathers drifted down.
Yuu slowly sat up.
"Yuu!" Ace, Deuce, and Grim shouted as they dogpiled Yuu.
Remy's head snapped around. Dropping Crowley he ran over to Yuu. The trio jumped back to avoid Remy. Remy carefully touched Yuu. Remy was slowly turning back to his cute round self.
Yuu patted Remy. "Hey, bud. I'm still here. I'm fine."
Remy softly let out a breath. "What happened?"
Yuu shook his head. "Later." He turned his head to see Riddle waking up. Trey helped to support Riddle.
Ace looked over. "He's back!"
Cater sighed. "Well, it's about time... We were just about losin' our heads here - figure of speech, sorry - 'cause we thought both of you might never wake up!"
Riddle gasped. "What in the world happened...?"
Crowley stood up. He brushed himself off and then turned to Riddle. "Ah, Mr. Rosehearts appears to have regained consciousness. Excellent." As Remy turned to glare at the headmage Crowley added, "And prefect Yuu as well."
Trey gently patted Riddle's back. "Don't worry, Riddle. Just try to rest."
Ace looked at Trey in utter bafflement. "Yo, that's just the sort of coddling that led to him going nuts in the first place! Now the garden is tore up from the floor up, not to mention that we could've died!"
Deuce agreed "He's right. It was looking bad for a while there."
Grim gave his two cents too "For cryin' out loud. When you humans let that stress build up, the results sure ain't pretty."
Riddle looked down at the ground. "I don't care if the roses are white, or the flamingos are pink. And I prefer honey to sugar cubes in my tea, and I like milk tea better than lemon tea anyhow. And after a meal, I want to be the one sitting around talking with everyone..."
Ace looked surprised. "Huh?"
Trey hugged Riddle. "Riddle?"
Riddle began to sniff. "And I really wanted to play with you and Chenya more, Trey. *Sniff*... *Sniff*... WAAAAAAAH!"
Everyone stared in shock at Riddle.
Cater stood back. "Riddle Rosehearts, in tears... Hashtag #WOW."
Ace glared. "You think a few crocodile tears is all it'll take for me to forgive you?"
Deuce smacked Ace behind the head. "Give the guy a break, Ace."
Trey sighed. "I'm sorry, Riddle. I knew you were suffering, and all I did was pretend not to notice." He rubbed Riddle's back as he continued. "So I'm gonna say what I should have said earlier. Your way of doing things was wrong, and you owe everyone an apology."
Riddle nodded as he cried. "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry."
Ace stomped his foot. He was extra salty. "I know I've been saying I wanted an apology from Riddle, but now that I got one, y'know what? One stupid "I'm sorry" doesn't even come close to making up for what he did!"
Cater sighed. "DUDE! Way to be a capital-J Jerk!"
Ace tossed his head. "And proud of it! Have you forgotten how he made a total fool outta me?!
Have you forgotten how he collared me for days. That ain't something you can make go away with a few tears and a flimsy "I'm sorry"!"
Grim just stared at Ace. "Wow. I ain't never met anyone who was better at holdin' grudges than I am."
Riddle sniffed. "Then... Then what do you want me to do?!"
Ace thought about it. "Well, I guess you could make me a tart. By yourself! And no getting Trey to make it for you! Do that, and then things are square between us."
Remy helped Yuu stand up. Yuu rolled his eyes at Ace. "Ace you had plenty of help."
Ace waved off Yuu's comment. "Quiet from the peanut gallery! What do you say, Riddle? We clear?"
Riddle wiped his nose. "Yeah... we're clear."
Crowley clapped his hands together. "Ah, yes. Compromise is a beautiful thing. I believe that concludes this matter."
Yuu turned to Crowley. "Hey, where is the back up?"
Crowley turned to Yuu. "Hmmm?"
Yuu just stared at Crowley is disbelief. "Didn't you go to get the other teachers or the other housewardens? You know to help in case we failed."
Crowley stared at Yuu blankly for a moment before turning back to Riddle completely ignoring Yuu. "Now Mister Rosehearts I hope you have learned from this and will be more lenient with the rules? While I may allow housewardens to rule their dorms as they see fit I will no longer allow all this collaring. Dorm rules are only for the dorm. Do we understand Mister Rosehearts?"
Riddle nodded.
Yuu turned to Remy. "He's ignoring me, isn't he?"
Remy growled at Crowley. "The urge to strangle, Yuu. The urge to strangle."
Cater stretched. "Welp, looks like we got some cleaning up to do. All that work making the garden Magicam-worthy, and now it's a total tire fire. Laaame."
Trey stood up. "I'll help out."
Cater shook his head. "No, why don't you get Riddle to the nurse's office. That was a full-blown case of overblot. We need to make absolutely sure he's okay."
Crowley nodded. "Mr. Diamond is correct. I will go along with you."
Trey smiled as he helped Riddle to stand. "Understood. Thank you, sir."
Remy cleared his throat. "And what about Yuu? He passed out."
Crowley shrugged. "I guess he can go to."
Remy glared. Yuu patted Remy. "It's ok. Let's just go."
Ace suddenly yelled. "Wait who all is going to clean up?"
Crowley gestured at the group. "Why all of you of course. Now chop chop!"
The group groaned as Trey, Riddle, Yuu, and Remy left to head to the infirmary.

It was later that day. Master Crewel, it turned out, also worked as the school nurse. Clearly Crowley was saving payroll.
Master Crewel had commanded Riddle to stay overnight for observation while Yuu was only staying a few hours.
Yuu sat on the bed next to Riddle's. Trey had long been kicked out by Master Crewel leaving just Yuu, Riddle, and Remy.
Yuu was curious about something. "Hey Riddle, do you remember what happened when you were unconscious?"
Riddle's brows scrunched up. "I think I was remembering my childhood? Why do you ask?"
Yuu shook his head. "No reason, I was just wondering." Yuu had thought about telling Riddle he had seen his memories but he thought it might have made things strange between them.
Remy looked between the two humans. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "We gotta head back to the dorm, Yuu."
Yuu looked confused. "How come? It's still early."
Remy just cocked an eyebrow at Yuu. "Have you forgotten your club meeting?"
Yuu gasped as he bolted off the bed. "With all the excitement today I forgot!" He turned to Riddle. "Sorry Riddle, I gotta go. Hope you get to feeling better!"
Riddle merely nodded as he watched Yuu and Remy leave.

Yuu and Remy arrived at their dorm. As Yuu burst through the door the ghosts appeared. "Woah there! Where's the fire, Yuu?" Bob asked as he floated close to Yuu.
Yuu breathed deeply, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry guys. Has Malleus showed up yet? The fae with the horns?"
Ceasar shook his head. "Nope, haven't seen him yet. He usually only comes around here at night."
Yuu went to the kitchen to get a drink. "I told him to come back this afternoon. Hopefully he doesn't show up as late as he did yesterday."
Eleazar shrugged. "Can't really know with them fae. They tend to lose track of time if you know what we mean."
Yuu deflated a bit.
Remy rolled his eyes at Yuu. Turning to the ghosts, he asked "Could you go let him know Yuu's ready for their meeting whenever he is?"
The three ghosts glanced at each other. Finally, Bob said "I suppose we could go let him know. We tend to avoid the other dorms but for a kid like Yuu we'll make an exception."
Yuu grinned broadly at the three. "You guys are the best! Thank you."
The three ghosts blushed and looked bashful. "Shucks, Yuu, you sure love to embarrass us!" Ceasar said as the three vanished.
Remy shook his head as he watched Yuu make some sandwiches. "You sure have a way with wrapping people around your fingers."
Yuu glanced over his shoulder at Remy. "What makes you say that?"
Remy merely shrugged. "No reason."
The two fell silent as Yuu made several sandwiches. Yuu wanted extras for their guest.
Finally done, Yuu put the sandwiches in the fridge. "We'll need to make a visit to Ignihyde soon."
Remy looked surprised. "How come?"
Yuu stared at Remy in surprise. "Cause you got another blot stone?"
Remy froze. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the blot stone. Like the one before it was a dark black color that almost seemed to absorb the light around it. Remy stared at it for longer than Yuu felt comfortable with. To Remy, the feeling of rage was pulsating off the stone. He jumped when Yuu touched him.
"Hey, you ok?" Yuu softly asked.
Remy just shook his head. "I can feel emotions from these stones. Mostly rage. It is... strange to me."
Yuu leaned forward. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Before Remy could answer, a knocking came from the front door.
Remy put the stone back in his pocket. "Later. For now you have a playdate."
Yuu rolled his eyes as he went to the front door. "It's not a playdate. It's a club meeting."
Remy chuckled. "Whatever you say."

Chapter Text

Riddle had been released from the nurse's office. When he returned to his dorm Sunday morning he quickly realized how awkward his dorm was. All his dormmates had seen his meltdown. While Crowley had a media blackout concerning his Overblot that didn't stop the entire Heartslabyul dorm from gossiping about it amongst themselves.
Trey had suggested Riddle apologize to the whole dorm at once. Sunday night Riddle did just that though looking at his dormmates he could see most didn't believe him. He would have to work at earning their trust. Yuu had offered a few suggestions that Riddle planned to consider. According to Trey, Yuu's battle strategy had been what led to Riddle's defeat.
Riddle planned to give Ace his apology tart Monday after school. The quintet with Trey and Cater would attend.

Ace and Deuce led the way to the tea party spot in the hedge maze.
Ace groaned. "You're lucky Yuu that you got to get out of cleaning up the mess from Saturday."
Remy snorted. "Are you still complaining about that?"
Ace stuck his tongue out at Remy.
Deuce punched Ace in the arm. "Well, at least the housewarden recovered from his overblot without any complications."
Up ahead, Cater waved at them. "Isn't the garden Magicam-worthy once again! Hashtag #nofilter on this gorgeousness!"
The quintet all rolled their eyes at Cater.
"Blah blah blah! Let's just eat already!" Grim exclaimed as they approached the table. On the table was the tart Riddle made. To Yuu, Riddle appeared slightly nervous. It was oddly cute.
Ace stared at Riddle's tart. It was slightly mishapen but what could you expect from a novice. "So what happened to that tart, Housewarden?"
Riddle blushed slightly. "I made it for you, as I promised I would. Here: one strawberry tart, crafted by yours truly."
Trey smiled. "Nice! The shape's a little off, but I can tell you put a lot of work into that glaze. A fine job indeed, especially considering it was your first!"
Ace rolled his eyes at Trey's coddling. "Oh, puh-leeze. How about we actually TRY it before you start fawning all over him, Trey?"
Cater leapt forward, phone at the ready. "Hold it! Don't you start cutting that before I get my Magicam snap! ...Okay, got it!"
Ace clicked his tongue at Cater. "Tch. I see Cater hasn't changed a bit either."
Remy reached forward to smack Ace upside his head. "You're so salty you're gonna contaminate the tart!"
The others chuckled at Ace's expense. Ace rolled his eyes as Riddle passed out a slice to everyone. "All right, let's dig in!"
Everyone but Remy took a bite. Eyes widened and several people yanked their forks out of their mouths. "Salty!"
Riddle looked confused. "Whaaat!"
Ace rubbed his tongue on a napkin. "Err? This isn't KINDA salty - it's a full-on salt lick! What did you put in this?!"
Riddle looked at his tart. "But I followed the rules exactly, and measured everything precisely! Unless... Oh! Could it be... from the oyster sauce?"
Deuce sputtered. "Wait... did you actually use that Walrus-brand oyster sauce Trey jokes about?"
Riddle looked even more confused. "But Trey said that oyster sauce is an unlisted secret ingredient in all tarts! He said all the finest bakers use it..."
Ace just stared at Riddle. "And you actually believed him?! How could you not tell that he was joking?!"
Yuu rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend you didn't fall for Trey's joke too, Ace."
Cater, who didn't seem to have a problem with the tart, said "Even if you believed the joke, it was only supposed to be a splash. How much did you put in?"
Riddle was full on blushing at this point. "It's an unlisted ingredient! How could I measure it if he wouldn't tell me how much to put in?!"
Trey burst out laughing. Tears fell from his eyes as he clutched his abdomen. "Pfft... Ah ha ha ha ha! I can't believe someone actually fell for the ol' oyster sauce prank!"
Riddle started to grin. "Ha ha ha... Yes. Quite humorous indeed. I truly am a fool."
Deuce also laughed. "Ha ha! It really is so disgusting that it's actually kind of funny!"
Ace agreed. "Yeah, what else can we do but laugh?"
Grim took another bite. "You know, in its own weird way, I think it's actually kinda good!"
Cater nodded. "Right? It really isn't half as bad as you'd think."
Deuce eyed Cater. "Seriously? You're agreeing with Grim, Cater? He literally eats garbage off the ground."
Cater looked defensive. "Look, I'm not saying it's amazing or anything!"
Trey grinned. "But you like it because it's not sweet, right?" Cater froze. "You've never really liked sweet things, right?"
Remy nodded. "He was quick to suggest you use your signature spell after only taking a tiny nibble of the tart our group made."
Cater laughed. "Yeah, you got me. But how did you figure it out? I've never told anyone that."
Trey adjusted his glasses. "Because you casually bring up my Paint the Roses spell every time we're eating sweets. You hide it pretty well, but that was a giveaway."
Cater blushed. "Ack! My secret is out! This is so so embarrassing! Especially after what happened to you and Riddle. I should have learned by now that keeping your feelings on the DL is not a great idea."
Trey patted Cater on the back. "How about I cook up a quiche for the next unbirthday party?"
Cater grinned more genuinely this time. "That sounds totes amazing to me. Just make sure it's as photogenic as the tarts!"
Suddenly the group heard another voice. "Mm mm mmm! It's interesting to try a Riddle tart for once!"
Everyone turned to see Che'nya casually sitting with them.
Riddle looked shocked. "Che'nya?! What are you doing here?!"
Che'nya grinned at Riddle. "Why I came to check up on you and grab a little snack as well."
Grim jumped on the table to point a paw at Che'nya. "Hey! You're that weird semi-invisible cat guy from before! So you never told us - what dorm are you from?"
Trey shook his head. "Che'nya isn't even a Night Raven student. He's a student at our long-time rival school, the Royal Sword Academy."
Ace and Deuce looked shocked. Deuce asked "Whaaat? You go to a different school?"
Ace glared. "The frickin' Royal Sword Academy, no less?!"
Remy turned to Che'nya "Do you guys at least have a competent headmage?"
Che'nya grinned. "Ambrose LXIII is the best! He listens to us and always helps out where he can."
Remy turned to Yuu. "Is there a way to switch headmages? Ours sucks!"
Che'nya merely grinned. "Well, now that I've tasted some tart, perhaps I should see myself out."
As he vanished the one braincell trio ran after him to see if they could catch him.
Riddle sighed as he turned to Yuu. "The vast majority of Night Raven College students perceive the Royal Sword Academy as the enemy."
Trey added "No surprise, given that they've kicked our butts every year for a hundred years straight..."
Cater pouted at Trey. "Hey, stop harshin' the vibe! Besides it's only ninety-nine years in a row!"
The apology party continued happily. Yuu smiled. It felt good to be surrounded by friends.