Chapter Text
The whole table fell into silence and the whole world with it. It’s as if time stood still at that exact moment. Ace’s heart beat steadily against his chest with bated breath.
“Well?” Riddle’s voice cut through the silence. “Do you have anything else to say, Trappola? Or did the cat catch your tongue?”
“I–” Ace started.
“Riddle!” interrupted Cater. “You’re looking pretty sharp today!”
Riddle whipped his eyes to Cater, staring him down with annoyance. “Keep talking like that and it’ll be off with your head too, Cater,” he threatened.
Cater laughed nervously. “Tough crowd…”
Zephyr looked at Riddle and recalled the entrance ceremony. It seems that his suspicions were right. The Dormleaders were the one who guided the first years to their assigned dorms that night. He didn’t think the boy that helped him avoid a scorch mark from Grim would turn out to be such a tyrant.
Riddle’s gaze met his. He swore the crease of his brows softened for a split second until he scowled with absolute disgust. “You two were the ones who desecrated the statue of the Queen of Hearts,” he spat. “If I were the Headmaster, I’d make sure you never set foot in this academy ever again.” He scoffed, “I can’t believe I ever risked my safety for a person as worthless as you.”
Zephyr opened his mouth for a retort but quickly held against it. He didn’t want to escalate the situation further.
“Those harsh words don’t match with his face at all,” muttered Ace before clearing his throat awkwardly. “So, uh- Dormleader! Can you get this collar off me now?”
Riddle narrowed his eyes on Ace. “I did go out here to remove it, but it seems you haven’t learned your lesson at all.” His lips curved into a smile but his eyes stood lifeless. “I’ll have you parade around like that for a while longer. There’s nothing to worry about. First year classes tackle more classroom courses rather than magic training.” He hummed in satisfaction, “That is my final verdict.”
Now if you’re eating, go to your next class,” he stated. “Rules of the Queen of Hearts No. 271: You must not spend more than fifteen minutes sitting at the table after you’ve eaten.” He sternly glared at Ace, “You understand what happens when you break the rules, yes?”
Ace rolled his eyes, “Another weird rule…”
“Answer me. Yes, Dormleader!” enunciated Riddle.
“Y-Yes, Dormleader!” repeated Ace.
Riddle nodded in approval, “Good.”
“Don’t worry too much, Riddle. I’ll see them off,” assured Trey, giving Riddle’s back a friendly pat.
Riddle merely brushed him off, crossing his arms. “You’re Vice Dormleader, Trey, you must set an example,” he reminded.
He then turned his heels and declared, “According to the Rules of the Queen of Hearts No. 339: After-meal lemon tea must precisely have two sugar cubes in it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I shall restock on sugar cubes at the school store. I shall take my leave now.” He gave the table one last nod before walking away.
As soon as Riddle left, the tension quickly followed him. A collective sigh of relief was heard from the Heartslabyul students that were trying to enjoy their rule-free time. They dreaded going back to their dorms when the last bell rang.
“Is the Dormleader gone?” asked one student.
“A rule totally slipped my head! I thought he found out!”
“Giving us a little freedom wouldn’t hurt…”
Cater and Trey heard their collected complaints, giving each other a pained look. No matter how much Trey wanted to justify Riddle’s strictness, he knew it wasn’t right.
“Riddle became the new Dormleader after the first week of school,” said Trey. “He’s a little strict, but he’s not a bad guy…”
Grim harrumphed, “Everyone heard him smack-talk Zephyr, right? That’s my job!”
“Thanks for sticking up for me?” Zephyr looked at the collar around Ace’s neck then back to the upperclassmen. “What kind of magic seals other magic anyways? It’s a bit contradictory, don’t you think?”
Cater hummed, “Do you mean Riddle’s Unique Magic?”
“Unique as in… Only Dormleaders can use it?” asked Deuce.
“You’re on the right track, Deuce,” complimented Trey. “You’ll learn more about it in class, but the gist of Unique Magic is magic that’s exclusive to one person.”
“Riddle’s Unique Magic is able to seal off a person’s magic for a given time. It’s called…” Cater cleared his throat and gave his best Riddle impersonation, “Off With Your Head!”
Grim shrieked, covering his neck just in case. Those precise words gave him flashbacks. “Even the name is scary!”
Cater laughed. “If a wizard’s magic is sealed off, then might as well consider your head chopped off~” he teased.
“Say…” Ace spoke up. “Am I gonna get chased out again if I don’t bring a tart with me?”
“Pretty much~ Rules are rules and no one’s exempted,” said Cater. “Riddle was looking forward to those tarts too… He’ll probably won’t forgive you if you don;t bring the exact one.”
Deuce tried to calculate the amount of madol they needed to buy an entire tart but he gave up not long after starting. “Isn’t a whole tart a bit pricey though?”
Ace grumbled, “I’m short on cash, man…”
Cater proposed an idea, “Why not make it then? Trey here baked ‘em all himself!”
“That’s definitely going to be a whole lot cheaper,” said Zephyr.
“You made all that?” asked Ace incredulously. “Those tasted better than the ones they sell here!”
Trey chuckled. “I’m more than happy to help out, but my talents ain’t free.”
“I guess everything has its strings around here…” dejected Ace.
Trey forced a pained smile. What a low blow. He shook his head, “No, no. The last thing I want to do is extort money from a freshman.” He took out his phone and showed an ingredient list. “The tart Riddle wants to eat has a lot of chestnuts. There’s a bunch growing in the forest behind the botanical garden and they’re all for free,” he explained. “If you could get at least three hundred and help me prepare them after school, I’ll take it as payment.”
“Th-Three hundred!?” stuttered Deuce. “Did I hear that right?”
“Ace is the only one in trouble, right? We don’t have to get looped in all this!’ reasoned Grim.
“You traitors!” scolded Ace.
“Hold your horses, guys!” Cater calmed the three. “It’s a bonding experience, y’know? It might even help you make a cooking blog for all we know.”
Trey fell to a whisper, “Keep it a secret from Riddle, a freshly made Mont Blanc tart is the best. The only ones who can eat it fresh from the oven are the ones who made it.”
Grim’s eyes lit up at the mention of the dessert. He could practically taste the chestnuts on his tongue. “Hey! What are we waiting for? Let’s start picking ‘em till we drop!”
“Well that got him motivated…” mumbled Zephyr. “Thanks for helping us out- ACK!”
Grim tugged on Zephyr’s collar, nearly choking him. “Hurry up! The sooner we get to class, the sooner we get outta it!”
“Okay, okay!” Zephyr stood up and Grim hopped onto the floor and continued to tug on his hand until Grim brought him out the cafeteria.
“Welp, there they go.” Ace stood up and stretched. “Guess we should follow ‘em, eh, Deuce?”
“Might as well. It’s close to the bell anyways,” Deuce sighed, cleaning their table up by stacking their used dishes together.
The duo waved Cater and Trey goodbye before following Zephyr and Grim.
“Our new freshmen are a lively bunch, aren’t they, Trey?” asked Cater.
Trey smiled, standing up from his seat. “They sure are… You’ve always read the freshmen better than I did.”
Cater stood after him with a laugh. “Oh please, don’t get me started on how exhausting it was to assign all those card suits to the first years when I was Dormleader.”
The after school walk to the woods behind campus was quiet. The busy voices of students slowly fizzling away the further they were from campus. Zephyr enjoyed the peace, taking in the sights Night Raven College had to offer. He didn’t realize how big the place was now that he wasn’t running around it.
The quartet continued walking until they spotted fallen chestnuts all over the dirt path.
Grim scrambled to get to the chestnuts first. “Look how much there is! At this point we can make an all you can eat mont blanc tart!” He rubbed his paws greedily, “Hehehe! C’mon, let’s hurry up and– Ow!”
Zephyr went to Grim’s side, kneeling down to check what he hurt himself on. “Oooof, you got pricked by one.”
Grim jerked his paw, trying to rid the thistle that clung on his paw pad. “Get it off! Get it off!!”
“Stay still!” Zephyr grabbed Grim’s paw and tore the chestnut away. The spikes dug into his palm, but he placed it gently on the ground.
Deuce looked around, “Looks like we can’t grab them by hand… It’ll be easier to carry them in a basket back too.”
“We’re close to the botanical garden, maybe we can find what we need there,” said Ace.
Zephyr stood back up with Grim slinked around his shoulders. “Might as well go there.” He sighed, “Grim’s being dramatic again.”
“Hey! How was I supposed to know those things fight back!?” Grim protested. “My paw’s achin’ here! Gimme a break!”
They made their way towards the greenhouse. The moment Deuce swung open the door, they were greeted by the earthy scent of wet earth and fresh fruit. As expected of a prestigious school’s botanical garden, it was filled with an assortment of different plants and flora. It ranged from small bushes to giant trees. Of course, there were the more obscure ones used in potion making.
“Whoa! We’re gonna need to have a map around here!” gawked Ace.
Deuce hummed. “Maybe we should split up?” he advised. “We’ll find the tools easier that way.”
“I’m goin’ right then,” said Ace.
“Then I’ll go left.” Deuce turned to Grim and Zephyr, “You two can check the inner gardens.”
Grim hopped onto the ground, by some miracle his paw injury healed itself. “C’mon, Zephyr! I smell somethin’ sweet up ahead!” He ran off before Zephyr could protest.
“Hey! You’re not allowed to eat anything!” Zephyr ran after Grim, leaving Ace and Deuce to their own.
“Grim! Grim?” Zephyr called out as he swiftly made his way in the garden. “Dammit- Where did he go now?” He spotted a glimpse of Grim’s forked tail in the corner of his eye and followed after the direction it went.
Zephyr found Grim patting a large figure laying down under a tree. He thought it was a sack of fertilizer at first, but the more he got closer the outline of a person became more clearer.
“There you are! You can’t just run off like that!” Zephyr nagged. “Crowley said to keep an eye on you so…” He trailed off, staring at the slumbering figure of a man with familiar lion ears.
Another person from the sorting ceremony, Zephyr thought. He looked back at Grim with a raised brow. “Why are you waking him up?” he asked in a hushed tone.
Grim crossed his arms. “Hmph! I thought he was the guy takin’ care of this place!” He pointed to the man’s tail, “He nearly tripped me too!”
“Keep your voice down,” shushed Zephyr. “It’s best not to disturb him. If he really did take care of the plants, he’d be more… Erm, awake?”
Grim hummed. “Huh, I guess you’re right!”
A whistle suddenly came from behind them. When they turned their heads, a young boy with hyena ears and dirty brown hair approached them. The boy’s uniform seemed to be at least three times bigger than him, needing to roll up the sleeves. It didn’t seem to bother him judging by the relaxed expression of his face.
“You found him!” he said. “Ya’ll did my job easier today, guess I should thank ya.”
“You’re welcome?” said Zephyr. “More importantly, who are you? In addition, who’s he?” he pointed to the slumbering man.
The boy blew a raspberry, giving himself a light bonk to his noggin. “Right, where’s my manners? The name’s Ruggie.” He gestured over to the man, “That over there’s Leona.”
“Tch, so damn noisy…” grumbled Leona, his voice deep and bellowing.
Grim flinched. He wasn’t expecting Leona’s voice to be so guttural. He hid behind Zephyr’s leg just in case Leona turned him into a snack.
“Aaaand he’s awake!” Rugged cheered. “Between you and me, I never know what to do with him. He already repeated a year and we’re gonna end up bein’ classmates if he keeps skippin’ class.”
Leona growled, “Shut it.” His dark green eyes glared at Ruggie. “I don’t need your nagging.”
Ruggie rolled his eyes, unfazed. “I don’t wanna nag ya either! You’re twenty one for Seven’s sake!”
Things were getting pretty personal and the last thing Zephyr wanted was to get roped into another drama without finishing Ace’s first. He chuckled nervously, “It’s great meeting you two and all, but Grim and I should really get going.”
Ruggie waved farewell. “See ya’ll around.”
Leona steadily watched the two as they walked away. “That was the herbivore who couldn’t use magic, huh?”
“Yep,” said Ruggie. “Should I target him or somethin’? He ain’t exactly much of a threat.”
Leona shook his head, “Leave him be. The last thing I want is the Headmaster on my ass.”
“Whatever you say, Leona.”
Out of coincidence, Zephyr and Grim found their way back to where Ace and Deuce were. The pair had found baskets and tongs.
“There you two are. We were just about to look around for you,” said Ace.
Deuce noticed the nervous looks on their faces. “Did something happen with you two? You look a little… tense.”
“W-We can explain while we pick those damn nuts! Let’s just get outta here!” ushered Grim.
With confused looks, Ace and Deuce led the way back into the woods. They spent the next half hour filling their baskets with chestnuts while listening to Grim rant about his encounter with a “big scary predator”. Zephyr made sure to correct some parts of the story, it wasn’t as scary as Grim had described it.
“He totally wanted to eat me!” cried Grim.
“No he didn’t,” corrected Zephyr, carrying one of the baskets of chestnuts as Grim picked them off the ground.
Ace snickered, “He’s twenty one and he still hasn’t graduated?”
“Everyone learns at their own pace, man,” said Deuce.
Grim placed one last chestnut on the basket. “Come to think of it, he was wearin’ a yellow vest.” He thought hard, “What was it again… Bananaclaw?”
“Banana…?” repeated Deuce. “Oh, you mean Savanaclaw?” He dropped the chestnuts he picked in the basket, careful not to make them overflow.
Ace wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead before carrying his own basket. “Alright! This should be more than enough for Trey to make into a tart! Let’s start heading back!”
Grim skipped excitedly. “I can taste it already!”
“Don’t forget, we have to help deshell these too,” reminded Deuce.
A collective sigh of complaint came from Ace and Grim. Nothing but more manual labor.
Ace was starting to miss having magic, he was born and raised a magician after all. It's all he knows. He glanced at Zephyr, happily carrying the basket as he chatted with Deuce.
Maybe he’s starting to understand how hard it is for him…
