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Chapter Text

Prologue

True or false?

Snakes are vengeful creatures when threatened or when their mate is attacked—false.

Snakes do not have the memory or intelligence to recall such an event, let alone act upon it. Nor do they hold such feelings of camaraderie.

True or false?

Snakes are powerful symbols and icons throughout myth and history—true.

Throughout numerous cultures, a snake would often be an emblem for ‘protection’ and ‘transformation’—as well as ‘destruction’ and ‘renewal.’

True or false?

Snakes swallow their prey whole—true.

Serpents don’t kill for sport or the thrill of the hunt. They either attack in the immediate defense or to feed. While some species of snake use venomous saliva to paralyze or kill their prey, others would constrict them until the bones snap and the breath thins.

To feel the bones shift unnaturally in the body…to just breathe seconds after the ribs have been crushed around the most vital of organs…to be aware of the torment raging from a broken body…the excruciating agony of it all…what a slow and painful way to die.

Was this how the Prince would meet his end?

The Prince couldn’t breathe. A long and strong body wrapped around his torso and hips—squeezing the air from his chest and the blood from his veins. His heart pounded frantically, clinging to life as the only sounds he could make were the grimace of pain and the desperate gasps for air to his suffocating lungs.

He didn’t want to die. He can’t! There’s someone who needs him! Someone he has to get to. Someone he has to save…

The Prince’s vision blurred, shifting between seeing clearly and only depicting the shapes and colors around him. Miles of a black and red striped scaly body filled the room he was trapped in, and a serpent’s hooded-head emerged from beneath the coils and curls. It inched closer as the black split-tongue slipped through razor-sharp fangs, tasting the Prince’s lingering blood in the air. The bones of the prince haven’t snapped just yet. Fractured–perhaps, but the serpent’s forcible pressure was merely to intensify the pain of already existing wounds before being trapped in its grip. Upon witnessing the Prince's suffering form, the serpent’s bright golden, vertical eyes shone with murderous glee; venom dripped like salivating drool from its fangs.

“I’ve waited…ssssssso long…for thisssss.”

It was clear this snake wasn’t crushing him to feed, but out of sadistic pleasure.

The Prince tried hopelessly to speak. “Ja-”

But the coil tightened and the Prince’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. The serpent’s wide mouth then curled into a sadistic smirk before opening wide over the Prince’s head. One more squeeze and it’ll be over.

“GENIE STOP!!”

The Monster serpent flinched and froze at the call. Its grip loosened when about to deliver the final clutch, so the Prince finally wheezed urgently for air. The rush of oxygen saved his heart, but the Monster serpent didn’t care. Its attention became solely focused on the one who dared to disturb its kill.

And she cried to it. “Genie…”

The Prince’s vision shifted again to darkness. The colors began to fade and shapes blurred despite his wishes, as his consciousness slipped. ‘No…Yu-’

…

…

‘Why was she here?’

“G-Genie, please. Don’t do this!”

The Monster didn’t move to the plea of the Princess, but kept its vertical eyes solely fixated on her.

True or false?

Snakes could recognize faces—false

Similar to snakes not taking revenge despite popular story tropes, they don’t have the mental compactness to process facial recognition and distinction.

However, the Monster wasn’t entirely just an animal.

It took pleasure in torturing the Prince. Trying to kill him out of a personal vendetta.

It recognized the Princess who called it ‘Genie,’ but was apprehensive to believe it.

‘She’s not supposed to be here! She’s not here…’

“...Yulla?”

Suddenly, the Monster shot forward.

Too quickly for her to react, the Monster circled its body around the Princess and raised its head to peer over her. The Princess had nowhere to run, but took small steps back while clenching her wrist over her heart.

“Hasss it been sssso long,” the Monster hissed, “that you fear the mere ssssight of me now?”

The round eyes of the Princess widened upon the question, and she shook her head. “N-No,” she replied. “T-The only thing I fear…is you would disappear should I touch you.”

The Monster held back its split tongue as it tilted its head.

Then from the top of its crown to the body surrounding the Princess, the Monster’s form turned a full red. It changed its solid form into a cloud that solidified and dispersed into red smoke throughout the room. For a moment, the Princess couldn’t see but heard the fallen body of the Prince landing not too far away. She tried to find him, looking around to spot any form of the short white-haired teenager. As the smoke thinned and the Princess located a distinctive white sweater, she reached out only for a black-gloved hand to grab hers instead.

Someone else stood before the Princess. Someone who was accompanied by the sounds of multiple hissings as scales dragged across the floor. A long tail only a third of the size of the Monster’s slithered around the Princess and the figure grew to stand between her and the Prince. Through the haze, six pairs of bright red eyes from black snakes–no bigger than garden ones–stretched forward for the Princess’s face. However, they didn’t hiss menacingly or threatened her in any way. Rather, their beady eyes stared fondly at the Princess before circling her shoulders and nudging against her cheeks and chin.

The Princess couldn’t help but chuckle as she instinctively petted one of the snakes. The scaly tail on the ground did not belong to them. As the haze cleared completely, the bodies of the snakes were attached to the head of a person…the creature in front of her.

The creature whose hand still held the Princess while caressing her cheek with a hesitant touch, and who wore thick golden wristbands that gleamed a warm light on the Princess’s face.

The creature who was the very Monster about to rip the Prince apart for taking what was always his.

“That was my fear,” gasped the Monster, feeling the softness of the Princess’s face. “That you had left. But you’re here. Oh my sweet, sweet girl.”

The Princess’ gasp sounded like a sob in response, but no tears gushed from her purple hazel eyes. She grasped the Monster’s hands, squeezing the talons with her soft fingers and hastily looking him up and down while prolonging the desires every fiber of her being wanted to act upon. However, the Monster had less self-control and pulled the Princess against him.

The Princess didn’t fear the Monster, nor felt discomfort when squeezed so firmly yet tenderly in his arms. She clung to the red cape on his back and a gasp for air allowed her cries to echo in this cold, dark room.

“WAAAAAAHHHH-AHHH-HHHAAAAAAAA!! Genieee!! Genie, Genie, Genie!!”

…

…

“This is the only way to be free!”

…

…

“G-Genie, I’m sorry.”

The Princess whimpered when all she could do–all that she was allowed to do–was watch.

Watch as the Monster collapsed to the floor. His arms shook and barely held himself up while his lower-serpent half flopped and twisted like a fish flopping on land. The snakes in his hair didn’t hiss but cried as a crimson steam emitted from the Monster’s body.

Floating and swirling into a tunnel, and being sucked into the black oil lamp in the Princess’s hands.

Then the Monster’s body began to convulse. Mouthfuls upon mouthfuls of black goop splattered on the stone floor at the Princess’s feet, and her legs gave out.

How could she just watch this? Her entire body quivered in horror at what she’s done to him. Of what she had to do… More of the infectious black goo rolled down the Monster’s face from his eyes, nose, and ears; and the Princess could barely stomach the sight of him.

Almost…just a little more…

‘But he’s in pain!’ The Princess reached forward to the Monster. “Genie, I-”

-SLAM-

The raven black-haired Princess jumped again, nearly dripping the oil lamp from her lap after the Monster slammed his fist against the invisible forcefield between them. His lack of strength, his loss of power, did nothing against the barrier–only stupefied the Princess to her core as his vertical eyes glared straight into her own.

With a single enraged look, her throat tightened into silence. The Monster was warning her. Daring her not to do this. Threatening her…

This was a betrayal. The Princess knew that. She didn’t need the Monster’s resentful eyes to confirm that.

But if this were to be the last time…the very last time…then there was one last thing the Princess needed to do.

After placing the oil lamp on the ground between them–but just in front of the barrier–the Princess crawled closer and pressed her palm in front of the Monster’s fist. “Thank you,” she heart-breakingly smiled, “for being my friend. For being there for me, even though you never wanted to.”

The Monster lost his glare and rasped to speak, but only more goo filled his mouth and scratched his throat too raw to resist.

The Princess pulled away, and the Monster hit the forcefield again. She stood up, and he tried once more. She turned around, and he tried to conjure magic in his palm to attack–but it only disintegrated and then sucked into the oil lamp.

The Princess walked away, and the Monster slammed his body against the barrier next. Still no change or damage.

The little snakes screamed for the Princess, their forms melting into the puddles of black goo. The Princess gripped her hand over the seven-charmed bracelet on her wrist as she started muttering under her breath like a prayer for comfort.

In the center of the space, seven candles were burning on the floor, each on top of a sharp point of a deeply-carved heptagon. The closer the Princess was to it, the more sounds she heard surrounding the space.

The crackling of fire…

…the murky simmer of heated poison…

…the pops of weakened suction cups…

…the roars of a trapped beast…

…and the slashes of a bone-slicing blade.

The Princess dared not lift her head–for even a glance would surely weaken her resolve and crumble her will. And that was not how she was raised.

An echoing clap of a heeled shoe silenced all other sounds. The Princess halted as the footsteps were growing louder until a pointed shoe stepped before the heptagon on the opposite side. The light of the seven candles wasn’t enough to illuminate the new arrival–only what was trailed alongside them.

“G-Grim?” the Princess shivered, covering her mouth in horror.

A large, grey cat with flaming blue ears was covered in wounds–blood crusting his open wounds and patches of missing fur. His paws dragged on the floor as each of his legs was broken or nearly severed. His tail was cut off completely and the bat wings were sliced to shreds against his body. Hearing the call of the Princess, Grim weakly raised his head, proof he was still breathing life, and his only remaining eye stared right at her.

“Yu-”

A bloodied claw grabbed the top of Grim’s head and snapped it to the side.

-CRACK-

-Spuuuuuuuuuuuurch-

The claw twisted the cat’s head to a full rotation before ripping it free from his mangled body.

The Princess didn’t scream.

How could she?

What would it do?

Grim’s murderer dropped his body before the heptagon, his blood filling into the carvings and the candle’s dim light changed from a yellow flame to blue.

“Yulla.”

While still holding Grim’s head in one talon, the other reached forward with an open palm—asking for the Princess next.

“My darling girl, come. Let me see.”

Chapter Text

For a child who constantly encountered the possibility of meeting death, Kalim learned not to fear his own. As the eldest child of an incredibly wealthy merchant family—honestly, a stupidly incredibly wealthy merchant family—Kalim Al-Asim was no stranger to kidnappings or having his life being ransomed for a fraction of his family wealth.

When a child and heir is needed for public appearances with trade dealings or social events, an attempted kidnapping was weekly.

A successful kidnapping was bi-weekly.

And the caress of a cold blade against his throat was a monthly occurrence.

For that, the question remained—why expose someone to the constant possibility of a dangerous encounter? Why not keep the seemingly important and innocent individual under strict house arrest with little to no exposure to the outside world?

For one, that would not be a healthy or ideal upbringing for a child. Let alone one who would one day inherit one of the most powerful trading enterprises in the world. Secondly, despite all of these precarious endeavors, there had never been a successful ransom transfer nor a formal introduction to Death for the child of eight years.

This was all thanks to the efforts and diligence of a close family in service of the Asim—ones who swore an oath of loyalty and servitude, to protect and sacrifice everything for the Asim’s own well-being and happiness throughout the generations.

This selfless family, the Vipers, had a son in similar age to Kalim. For him, Kalim feared death.

”I want to see Jamil!”

The servant crouching before Kalim—one servant out of the hundreds in his household—tried to appear firm as he replied, “Y-Young Master, you shouldn’t. The doctor has already done everything possible for the Viper boy. We can only wait for him to survive the night if there is to be any hope.”

While kidnappings were common in Kalim’s childhood, so were attempted assasinations—in some cases, poisonings. The Viper family were not only trained in martial arts and self-defense to protect the Asims from external threats, they were also the first in line for detecting poisons in any food offered to the merchants. The eldest son of the Viper family had been Kalim’s food tester for barely a year—having studied a variety of poisons, but his body wasn’t fully conditioned.

This night, there was poison in Kalim’s curry dish. One that had slipped through the smell and taste detection. Its effects were only slightly delayed—in which right before Kalim took a bite of his dish, Jamil collapsed with convulsions.

When Kalim dropped his food, Jamil was gasping for air.

When Kalim tried to ask what was wrong, the whites in Jamil’s grey eyes turned red as he looked up.

When Kalim was pushed aside by his personal guard, Jamil still managed to redirect an oncoming dagger meant for his master and then struck the assassin in the throat with his palm.

Kalim was pulled away and the collection of adult bodies blocked any sight of what happened next. The explosion of voices—mixtured cries of “Murderer!” and “Get the Master out of here!”—practically drowned out his own when he couldn’t see the Viper boy. He had been escorted along with his family to a safe room of their house and waited for what felt like hours until it was finally safe. Another member of the Viper family—the head of them, in fact—reported to Kalim’s father that the assassin had worked alone, was questioned and then ‘removed’ from the premises.

“What about Jamil?!” Kalim cried, having waited in terrified silence ever since the incident. His mother hushed him in her arms, and Kalim didn’t see an expression change on the Viper Head’s face as he continued to relay everything to his father.

With a nod, Mr. Asim said, “Alright. Then if nothing else, let my family retire for the night. My son needs his rest. I thank your child for keeping him safe once again.”

”Your words are too kind, my lord. It is my family’s honor and privilege to protect your bloodline.”

Then after a bow, he simply left and more servants came in to escort the Asim family to their rooms for the night. Kalim whimpered and sniffled while attached to his mother’s skirt, waiting for either of his parents to acknowledge his distress and answer him. But no such words came. Only those of comfort and relief from his parents that he was safe. That no danger will come to him tonight—and that his life was the most important.

But what about Jamil’s life?

If his parents would not answer him, then surely a servant would not dare to deny his request.

”His name is Jamil!” Kalim exclaimed. “And he saved my life! He should have the best care! He shouldn’t have to wait!”

The servant finally knelt to Kalim’s level and replied, “Young Master, you must understand. This humble servant only knows so much, but the poison that was used tonight came from foreign lands and there wasn’t an antidote found on the assassin. The only thing that could be done was to treat the effects individually, but the boy’s survival must be dependent on his own strength.”

Kalim pushed him as hard as any eight-year old child could as he yelled again, “JAMIL!! He has a name! What is his dad doing for him?! Why isn’t he doing more to save him?!”

“I-I,” the servant stuttered. Other than the masters of the Asim household, the Vipers were second in regards to respect and authority. For their skills and specialties outside of the domestic responsibilities, the members of the Viper family were both idolized and feared by the lower servants. “I only know, I only h-heard, that the Viper Head stated it would be his son’s greatest honor to have saved the future of the Asim.”

The members of the Viper family were idolized and above the other servants. But even to young Kalim, he knew that their lives were more disposable than the rest.

”NO!” Kalim cried again, his hands gripped at his side and his foot stomping in defiance. “Someone needs to help him! Someone needs to save him! Why must his life mean any less than mine?!”

Before the servant could reach to console the young master, Kalim knocked his hands away and rushed out of his room. “Master Kalim!”

Perhaps it was his own imagination, or a hallucination as any child his age would have when dealt with the extreme stress of his emotions—but the moment Kalim stepped out of his room, something fluttered past him and it was glowing. Clear and bright as the flame of a candle, it was no bigger than the size of a baby’s palm and it left behind a brief trail of shimmering light as it zoomed down the hall after Kalim saw it.

”A scarab?”

After this night, the young Asim would probably never really know what compelled him to do it. But before the servant could try to catch him, Kalim followed the glowing beetle. Like a guiding light, Kalim dashed after the scarab down the darkened hallways of his mansion home as quickly as he could. He turned corners when it did, and dodged the startled and unexpecting servants and guards that still wandered about.

Kalim didn’t question why he followed the insect. He had seen scarabs before, but they never bothered or interested him until that night. He also knew that scarabs never glowed on their own like fireflies would, and yet for whatever reason, Kalim believed it would lead him to where he wanted to go.

Despite how many people saw and recognized Kalim when he passed—and that his running speed wasn’t anything above average—no one seemed to follow or stop the young master. He followed the scarab without disruption or wavering until finally he reached the outer wing of his mansion where the Viper family resigned. Kalim turned at the last corner and the glowing insect stopped itself before a slightly open door. It hovered momentarily as though itself was peaking in before finally zooming inside.

Kalim had taken a brief moment to catch his breath before gasping, “W-Wait…!” He pushed himself forward and pulled the door more to look in—only to freeze at the more impossible sight before him.

Gasping and wheezing in the smallest breaths possible, the eldest child of the Viper family laid in his bed with the sheet over his chest. Sweat visible on his forehead, and red lines dripping down the sides of his face from the corner of his eyes, his nose, and the corner of his mouth. Kalim was only able to tell it was dried blood when a softly glowing hand just reached for Jamil’s face.

Hovering over the dying child, with the same shimmering glow as the scarab that led him here, was what Kalim could only describe as a divine being. A luminous female child with long cascading hair and big oval eyes reflecting every emotion Kalim had felt toward the boy who consumed his poison. The shock of seeing Jamil in such a state, the fear and confusion of what he must be going through, the worry if he’ll be alright, and the deep affection for him. When her hand finally touched his cheek, Jamil weakly opened his eyes.

”I…” he could only wheeze, worrying the girl above. “…can’t…breathe.”

The mysterious girl blinked once and then lowered her gaze down further. When she pulled her hand back, there was a dark and slim impression on Jamil’s neck—like an unforeseen rope wrapped around and squeezing the air out of him.

”It’s al…ways,” Jamil gasped again, but no more sounds came from his moving lips.

Kalim dared not step in. Before, he had been so desperate to find his savior. To be there as Jamil had been for him since infancy. To bring comfort and to show someone actually cared if anything happened to him. To ensure Jamil would not be alone. Yet there he was, unafraid or unquestioning why there was a fluorescent girl levitating above like an angelic creature. Whatever Jamil was saying to her, the luminous girl did not shy away from him. Nor did she appear confused or question what he was trying to convey. Rather, she reached to caress him again and her eyes shined with tears that dared not fall as she leaned her forehead softly against his like a soft embrace.

Then her lips moved, but Kalim couldn’t hear her voice.

She pulled back to meet his gaze, but Jamil closed his eyes.

The angel leaned forward again, and her hand helped open Jamil’s mouth just before hers.

….

….

Eleven years later

”Well you have a keen eye, my young friend. Find something you fancy?”

Lightly pinching the top and bottom with his index finger and thumb, Kalim lifted up the brooch from the table. Holding it up to the light, the nineteen-year old’s crimson eyes stared at every detail of its shape and golden hue as it gleamed in the sunlight.

”Half a scarab? Kalim, you are not buying that.”

Chapter Text

”Kalim, you are not buying that.”

Upon his words, Kalim nearly lost his grip on the brooch he just picked up. It slipped between his fingers and he quickly clenched it against his palm as he stared at his retainer tapping his finger over his crossed arm. Also at the healthy age of nineteen years, Jamil Viper stared with his sharp grey eyes expectantly at his master, waiting for him to quickly put down the brooch so that they both could move on through this street market.

”Um,” but Kalim doesn’t. With a shy smile, he pointed out, “you were staring at it first.” Jamil slightly flinched at that—since he has been.

Both boys were passing through the street, Kalim happily enjoying the cool heat of the sun that was much different than his hometown’s weather and Jamil casually walking behind while keeping an eye on him and their bustling environment. Honestly, it was hardly crowded. There were a handful of people strolling down the open market—much like them—with tables and stores set up with perishables and the occasional home decor or fashionable crafts to sell. Yet compared to the bazaars of Scalding Sands, Jamil could risk taking a breather while his master practically skipped down the street of Crane Port on the Isle of Sages. Then Kalim had stopped momentarily when he heard a call for fresh exotic juice for sale—which was actually coconuts from his own hometown. Hardly foreign for him, but the juice was always refreshing. He was about to ask if his retainer wanted to get one when they arrived at this very moment.

”Well you have a keen eye, my young friend,” the vendor spoke up as he was fanning himself. “Find something you fancy?”

His table didn’t have fruits, nuts, or anything edible for sale but rather a mix-match collection of ceramics, obnoxious jewels, and even fabrics belonging to various cultures. There wasn’t a collective theme to where items originated, but something did catch Jamil’s eye. Something he was staring at and when Kalim looked at it too, it held his complete attention.

An old golden brooch that was no bigger than Kalim’s palm with extensive details of a scarab beetle—much like the ones from Scalding Sands. However, other than it being gold that struck a memory to the heir of the Asim merchant family, the brooch was only a vertical half of the beetle. Kalim picked it up for a closer inspection, noticing that it wasn’t broken and the incomplete shape didn’t appear entirely intentional, but the disconnected edges could perhaps fit another part to it. Only because he stared too long did Jamil tell him no, leading to this moment.

”Urk! I was making sure it wasn’t real. You know I hate bugs,” Jamil tried to recover. “Anyway, put it back. You don’t need it, and it’s junk anyway.”

The vendor dramatically gasped to the insult before retaliating. ”I resent that, young man!”

”Aw, come on, Jamil. It’s not that bad,” Kalim smiled, clearly not denying his retainer’s statement either. Bringing the brooch closer for them both to see, “Don’t you think it’s neat? It’s almost like it came from our homeland. I wasn’t expecting to see something like this here.”

Jamil had to raise a slim brow to that. ”Your family literally trades with nearly every business across the globe, and you think it’s neat to find a cheap replica here?”

Now the vendor felt like crying. ”Please stop insulting my business, young man. I’m barely making ends meet as it is and you haven’t bothered to ask how much I was selling it for.”

Jamil didn’t bother to resist rolling his eyes at the vendor’s exaggeration. “I can tell exactly how much at a mere glance. Especially when it’s only half.”

He had a point there. “Excuse me,” Kalim asked. “Why is there only half? Where’s the other piece?”

”I was robbed!” The vendor actually sobbed.

”Of course you were,” Jamil muttered, and now Kalim started to feel bad for the bullying.

The vendor hid his tears behind his fan as he continued, ”You’re students of Night Raven College, right? You must've only come today or yesterday. Well we have been attacked and victimized by a monster ever since you mages left for the summer! A beast not even the magical enforcement officers on the island can contain. We’ve asked for the Anti-Mage Division to come and help us, but not quickly enough!”

”A beast?” Kalim repeated.

Jamil almost hummed. Looking down the street again, he thought, ‘That would explain why there’s not a lot of business today.’

”What happened? What does it look like? Do you know why it’s here?” Kalim asked.

”For what other reason than to destroy would a monster want with non-magical folks like us?!” the vendor replied. “At any time of the day, it would let out this hideous roar unlike anything you’ve ever heard before leaving nothing but destruction everywhere it goes! And there are those awful blue flames no amount of water can put out. It just burns until there’s nothing but ash—giving thieves the chance to take our precious goods like the other half of that scarab! As for what it looks like, it moves too fast for anyone to get a clear look, but it’s huge! Some people say it has tentacles like a giant squid, or claws like a lion, or even scales like some kind of serpent. I’ve already lost my main shop, my home, and my wagon to this beast. It leaves us broke and homeless with no hope of anyone putting a stop to it.”

‘So a giant monster with no consistent features is just running amok to lower the island’s main source of income?’ Jamil summarized, almost doubtful of this tale. Meanwhile, Kalim was obviously showing heartbreak to every word.

”How much for the scarab?” Kalim suddenly asked. Jamil tried to repress a headache to that—hook, line, and sinker.

”50 thaumarks.”

”How about 500? Would that be enough?”

Wait, how much?! Before Jamil could stop him, Kalim had already taken out five 100 thaumarks from a thick roll bundle he took out from his bag. Then after a thought, Kalim asked the vendor, “Actually, want the whole thing? To help recover what you lost.”

Before the vendor had the chance to respond—his eyes too fixated upon the loaded money Kalim was casually carrying around—Jamil snatched the 500 thaumarks, slammed onto the table as a distraction, and then turned Kalim around to push him as far away as possible.

“Heh? W-Wait, Jamil!”

”Y-Young man, come back!” With them both too far gone, the vendor softly clicked his tongue under his breath and sat himself back down. Picking up the bills, he counted his earnings. “Well this might just cover my wagon.”

~~~

“Ka-lim!” Jamil growled. “How many times have I told you to STOP carrying your money like that!? You know the headaches you cause when every trader and broker sees you with that kind of money?”

Yet his young master sipped on the fresh coconut water from the recently cut husked after its purchase. In order to distract him from going back to that vendor, Jamil pushed him straight to the coconut juice stand, bought one with his own discreet money, and then further escorted Kalim away down the street and down an alley way to hide from any other distractions.

After a refreshing gulp, Kalim tried to defend, “But I just wanted to help. Didn’t you hear that he lost everything from these attacks?”

To which his retainer countered, ”That swindler also mentioned he wasn’t the only one to have lost everything, and he already gave you an unreasonable price for that trinket. Which, of course, you’d offer ten times the amount. You do not need to run a charity for every person who gives you a sob story.”

Kalim pouted, with the straw in his mouth for another sip. This wasn’t the first time Jamil gave him a similar lecture about his spending habits. “Well,” he muttered almost cutely, “You did leave the money I offered anyway. Sooo, do you have the scarab?”

From the twitch of a brow and a finger, Kalim nervously chuckled knowing full well Jamil wanted to hit him. After a deep sigh first, the Viper boy reached into his pocket and took out the brooch. “Yes, I have it.”

Kalim’s face brightened up again, seeing the half-scarab in hand. ”Yay! You can keep it.”

”I beg your pardon?”

With a thumbs up and a wink, Kalim perked, ”I have a feeling it would be good for you.”

”Good for-” Jalim stopped himself to pinch the inner corners of his eyes. “Kalim, you know I would want nothing to do with this. It would just make me uncomfortable, and it’s only half.”

”We’ll find the other half, I’m sure! Or maybe it’s like that old story. You know the one we used to hear about as kids?”

”You mean the one you demanded to hear every night since we were nine? No enchanted scarab is going to lead us to riches and wonders if we’re worthy. Also, if the other half was caught in that blue fire that man mentioned, then it probably melted away to nothing.”

”Worth a look around, and we didn’t finish the market anyway. Come on, let’s find it!”

Before he stepped out of the alley, Jamil grabbed the back of his master’s collar to stop him. ”We are going BACK to school. Now, Kalim. If there really is some terrible monster, then what we need to do is return to campus where the school’s barrier will protect you from any more nonsense. Crane Port is no longer safe and Madam Asim would have a field day if she found out I’d let you just wander around knowingly. Not to forget, you are to be the new Housewarden of Scarabia this year. You should prepare to welcome the returning students and assess what’s needed for the up-coming freshmen.”

Kalim pouted on the straw of his coconut again. ”Awww, but we just got to the island.” With puppy eyes, he asked, “Can’t we look around a little longer before we have to stay at school for the rest of the year?”

Jamil said nothing. Just gave him one long and otherwise expectedly waiting glare for his master to know his answer.

“Alright, fine. But at least have a sip, then!” Stretching the coconut forward, Jamil had to lean back with the drink nearly shoved in his face.

With another sigh, the Viper boy reminded, ”I already did to check for poisons, Kalim.”

”Then have another, this time to enjoy it,” Kalim insisted with a beaming smile. “It’s super yummy and it’ll probably be a while before we have another like it.”

”Knowing you, if you just send a letter to Lord Asim, he’ll have them delivered to the school by the crateful.”

Kalim almost felt like crying at this point. ”Come on, please! Just one and we’ll march straight back to school. I promise.”

Jamil almost raised a brow to that, but a few slow blinks from Kalim’s pleading crimson eyes and the retainer wanted to groan before leaning forward to the straw. “One, and we’re leaving.”

Kalim instantly smiled. “Yes, sir!”

ROOOOAAAAARRRR

Chapter Text

ROOOOAAAAARRRR

Both boys nearly jumped at the roar. They darted their eyes around the area, trying to pinpoint which direction it was coming from. But the depth of its bellow resonated from all directions while it also shrilled though the air and vibrated in the walls.

”Wh-What is that?!” Kalim asked.

Then a dark shadow zoomed over their heads, and only Jamil glimpsed a large dark tail that crossed from one roof to the next over the alley.

A cry on the streets screamed, ”The monster! IT’S HERE!! RUN!!”

Then a light was caught at the corner of their eyes. Both boys turned down the alley as a sudden wave of blue fire was heading their way like a flood. It bounced off the walls and charged at them both, and Jamil was quick enough to grab his master and push him out of the alley. Pushing him against the wall, Jamil shielded Kalim’s body with his own just before the blue inferno imploded out of the alley.

After a few seconds, the fire stopped but when both boys opened their eyes, they saw snippets of blue fire everywhere—and shrieks and wails disjointedly sounded off around them.

”Run for your lives!”

”The monster! The monster!”

”Quickly, to the shelters before the fire touches you!”

”My wagoooon!!”

Just a few minutes ago, everything was peaceful. The faces of terror on these people were smiling with friends, having casual conversations, or enjoying the delectables of the market. All of that changed so quickly to Kalim, and all the stands and buildings he just glanced at were burning—just as the vendor before described. People were running and scattering past him, not even bothering to toss water or put out the fires; and anyone who had flames on their clothes were hastenly trying to discard them.

From one grasp on his arm, Kalim turned back to his retainer as Jamil demanded, “We need to leave, Kalim, now!”

”But what about the fire? Everything will burn!” he tried to say.

”Don’t you remember what that vendor said? Water doesn’t put these fires out. The enforcement officers will hear of this soon, let them handle it!”

“AHHH!! MY CHILD!!”

Across the street, behind a display table that was set for the open market, a woman tried to run into the building with blue flames covering the door and its sides. Before she could reach it, another woman grabbed her to stop.

”Wait! There’s no way in!”

”Waaaahh, Mommy! Mommy!!”

Hearing the cries of the child trapped inside, the woman tried to struggle free. “No! I have to get in!”

Without hesitation, Kalim pushed Jamil to the side and darted forward. His retainer tried to grab him again but with civilians still running down the street to escape the blue fires, he was just out of reach and Jamil then dived into the flow as well.

Dodging one person after the other, Kalim held his hand out in front and from midair, water swirled and collected into his palm into a ball. Its center held a soft glow, and one person stopped almost right in front of him before the building.

‘Please work!’ “Respite in the scalding sands…” Kalim had to stop behind the person just as they knelt to the ground. “…a neverending party.”

The person picked up something off the floor and reeled back their arm as Kalim stretched his hand up to the sky with the water orb and exclaimed, “Dance! Sing! OASIS MAKER!”

The orb of water shot up and stretched itself across the sky, multiplying in quantity, and the person pitched the rock they picked up toward one of the burning building’s windows. Jamil reached Kalim’s side just when the rock crashed into the window, knocking down the burning frame inward and the two women ducked to avoid any shattering glass.

The person who threw the rock was a girl with a long purple skirt and bare feet, and as soon as she threw that rock, she sprinted forward toward the building and the burning table in front. Both boys watched as the girl leaped on top of the table without fear, not touching any part of it where the blue flames were, and with a few more steps, she hurdled herself at the open window—raising her arms for protection as she flew right in.

Kalim gasped. “We gotta help her!” But Jamil caught him this time.

”The impossible blue fire, remember?!”

BAM

Both boys stared up again, another sound hitting the door from the building inside. Then another, and on the fourth, half of the door broke forward thanks to being weak from the fire. Before the flames moved to the back of the door, the girl who recklessly flew in rushed out holding a small child in her arms. Avoiding the flames as best as she could, she found a clear spot on the street and placed the little one down.

”Krissy!”

”Mommy!”

The mother rushed forward and her child met her halfway, crying in her arms as soon as she was held. The heroic girl stood up, watching the touching scene and Kalim finally got a full image of her. Long, unkempt black hair that just brushed against her hips. Under the smears of soot and ash after crashing into a building, there was also dirt smudged on nearly all of her visible skin—even a bit on her face as the water Kalim conjured drizzled down from above. The violet skirt she wore, Kalim could clearly see that it was tattled and torn on one side, but still maintained decency for her slim body. The short black shirt was also dirtied and had only one sleeve, and the spotty red/orange shawl had a snippet of blue flames at her side.

Wait, blue flames?!

”The fire!” Kalim called out, and Jamil moved forward first. By his cry, the filthy girl jumped and finally turned in their direction—only to be faced with Jamil nearly ripping off her shawl.

Tossing it to the side, the end of it was already curled and burnt. But under the drizzling water, the blue flames were getting smaller and smaller until it was completely gone. All attention was on the shawl—even when Jamil tried to inspect if any of the flames got on any other part of the girl’s clothing—and the mother-daughter civilians gasped at the sight.

”Excuse me!” the mother spoke up. “Boy, are you a mage?! Do you go to one of the schools here?”

Knowing she was referring to him, Kalim answered, “Oh, um, yes, ma’am. Night Raven College.”

”That’s it!” The second woman, the one who stopped the mother earlier and was still around, stepped forward and added, “Normal water cannot put out these cursed flames, only the ones produced by pure magic. Us normal people have to run for the shelters until the magical enforcers arrive to put out the fires themselves, but the buildings are half-way destroyed by the time they finish. I heard you recite an incantation earlier, was this what they call your signature spell?”

“Yep!” Kalim beamed. “I’m so glad that it worked. I honestly cast the spell without really thinking.”

“Yeah, without thinking,” Jamil repeated, before grabbing Kalim by the collar of his shirt and pulling him close. In a hushed whisper, he scolded, “You don’t have your gem, remember?! The headmage asked it from you ahead of time to be fitted for your new housewarden rule. What were you thinking using your spell without it?! This could have gone horribly wrong!”

”Um,” Kalim raised his hands in surrender and corrected, “But it worked right? My spell doesn’t need a lot of magic to create this much water.  Plus, are the fires going down?” He meant to ask that for Jamil to look around and tell him if the flames were disappearing or not, all so Kalim could pull himself out of the grip and step forward to the unkempt girl.

With a new person coming closer, the dirtied girl wordlessly took quick steps back as Kalim was half-way taking off his white sweater robe.

”Wait, I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to give you this.” Taking the robe off completely, Kalim wrapped it around the girl’s shoulders. She was stiff as he put it on, but stared at the boy of similar height as he adjusted it to fit around her. “Sorry about the shawl. Will this do for now?”

The girl didn’t answer. Rather, she pressed her lips together and her oval eyes barely hidden behind her mangled hair stared to the side as she let him put the sweater on—as though waiting for him to be done.

“Uncle!” The little voice of the child caught their attention, and she bowed first to Kalim with a smile. “Thank you for your magic.”

Kalim grinned back and replied, ”You’re welcome. Um, are you going to thank her, too? She saved you from the building.”

The child glanced up at her, but the teenage girl wasn’t returning the gaze. Rather there was a frown on her face and since Kalim stopped touching her, she adjusted the sleeves of the robe so she could fit her arms through.

Then the child covered her nose. “She stinks. And now I stink, too.” Kalim blinked his grin away at the response, and Jamil narrowed his grey eyes at the child—and the mother who placed her hands on her child’s shoulders.

”You should be a little careful and watch your pockets, sir. Beggars and rats like her usually come after disasters like this happen to steal what’s been left behind.”

Then the second adult woman tapped the mother’s arm and told her, “The monster could still come back, we should go.”

With nothing else more to say, the three of them left. While the water still rained down, there really were less blue flames in the area—leaving the three teenagers behind as the beggar girl still refused to raise her head.

”So much for the gratitude of the common folk,” Jamil muttered, to which Kalim didn’t argue.

Turning back to the beggar girl, Kalim tried to console, “Well I’ll thank you for saving that girl. What you did was incredible, and brave! My name’s Kalim Al-Asim, and this is my best friend Jamil! What’s your name?”

”Oi,” his retainer growled. “Don’t just blurt your name so casually!”

”Heheh,” Kalim slightly chuckled, “You worry too much about stuff like that. I think she’s safe to say.”

Then the beggar girl suddenly grabbed Jamil’s sleeve.

Gaining their attention again, the beggar girl had finally raised her head for the taller one between them and she quickly brushed aside as much of her clumpy hair away to fully see him. With it out of the way, both boys clearly saw her wide oval eyes staring dumbfounded at Jamil and the clear color of golden hazel sparkling within them. She didn’t want to face Kalim earlier when he was helping her, but she showed no fear when facing Jamil and instead gripped onto his sleeve tighter before covering her mouth with a shaky breath.

“Um, miss?” Kalim called.

Yet the beggar girl didn’t turn away. Her hand lowered off her mouth, and her fist closed except for the index finger and thumb that pressed together. Her lips parted, about to speak.

Click

The beggar girl suddenly took a short whiff and tensed for a moment. Then she turned toward the building she had flown in earlier and took another deep, obvious sniff of the air. Jamil and Kalim didn’t smell anything, but they heard that ‘click’ sound. All three peered inside the building, only to see that some of the blue flames managed to continue burning inside. Under the cover from the magical rain, they still burned and had spread from the burning frame the girl smashed in earlier with a rock. Further inside the building, the blue flames were dancing around white canisters—the same used for containing gas for barbecue grills.

”Shit!” Jamil cursed, and the beggar girl reacted first.

Against the table that was set up for the market—which the flames had drenched away by the rain—the beggar girl raised her leg and slammed the edge of it down. Meanwhile Jamil reached into his pocket and took out a black pen with a scarlet red jewel attached to the cap. In the span of a few seconds, the jewel glowed and just as water collected in Kalim’s hands, a gale of wind quickly spiraled around the three of them and the beggar girl turned to both boys and pushed them back.

Click-click

KA-BOOM

Thanks to the force of her push and table that was knocked to the side, it helped shield the three as the building imploded. From the force of the explosion, and the heat of the flames, the table took most of the impact and burned quickly to ash while the sphere of wind Jamil summoned completely sheltered them from any flames or debris.

In a split second, Kalim was flying backward with the girl’s skinny hand gripping onto his shirt. The next, he barely felt the impact of the floor thanks to the wind before he tumbled away from her hold.

The building spewed out the burst of fire like a dragon. Then it creaked and growled as its internal supports cracked and groaned as it deteriorated. It wasn’t long before the small building collapsed on itself and the blue flames burst toward the sky in a puff in response—the flames completely exposed for the magical rain to wash away.

Kalim wasn't injuried from the explosion, but any amount of tumbling would disorient anyone no matter how short it was. As he was told, Kalim laid on the floor for a second—making sure he didn’t feel any of the fire over him or if there was any more debris flying. After a moment, the wind guard around him blew away and Kalim felt no harm come to him.

Quickly, he sat up with a call, “Jamil!”

Only to find his retainer several feet away, and the beggar girl on top of him. While still wearing the sweater robe, she had her arms wrapped around Jamil’s head, as if she was protecting him instead of the wind shield. Then lifting herself up, Kalim froze as he watched them both when a long, distant image clicked in his mind.

Jamil was conscious and this time, he stared nearly dumbfounded up at the girl who then sat on top of him. The beggar girl looked him up and down, searching for any injury or harm that could have come to him—her hands searching his body as well, until one hand lightly touched the side of his chin. For Kalim, what if her hand was glowing gold? What if all around her, there was a golden hue engulfing her body? Her hazel eyes narrowed slightly at Jamil’s face, showing a similar expression Kalim could recall so clearly from his youth—the look of worry and fear for a boy who was once left alone to suffocate from a deadly poison.

Upon finding nothing on him, the beggar girl exhaled a breath she held out of concern and then leaned forward again. Pressing her forehead against Jamil with closed eyes, holding a closeness between them that sparked that same memory in Kalim—fitting the two images he was seeing to a near perfect fit, the one of the past and one before him now.

However, unlike then, Jamil wasn’t immobile from weakness. Grabbing her arms, he startled her by pushing her back. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Cling

The beggar girl glanced down to his side, and Jamil could just follow her gaze to a half scarab brooch that slipped out of his pocket. By a small inhale of breath from her, Jamil reacted quickly. He reached down for it and the beggar girl grabbed his wrist to stop him. With unexpected speed and action, the beggar girl planted her foot to the floor and used her strength and weight to lift Jamil over her. He let her but with his years of instinctive training when she was laying on the floor, he didn’t let her try to slip them again. He used his own strength to hold her down.

”Answer the question!” he snapped at her. “Who are you?!”

The beggar girl surprised him again. Tucking her legs inward, she bent them with enough flexibility to circle Jamil’s neck over his shoulders. By the squeeze of her thighs and with a full force turn, the beggar girl rolled him off of her. Having rolled closer to Kalim, Jamil recovered and pushed himself up with his arm stretched to the side in front of his master—only to see the beggar girl grab the discarded half-scarab.

With one last look their way, the beggar girl sprang herself forward and ran away.

“THIEF!! Get back here!”

Chapter Text

After the fire of Crane Port…

Lifting the dusty fallen curtain, the beggar girl pulled it off the wooden box completely. She stretched out the stiff cloth as though she were whipping the dirt out of its strands, but instead tossed it over her shoulder without looking at the broken mirror that leaned against a fenced wall. She paused, listening to the fabric and when it didn’t fall completely to the ground, the beggar girl tilted the wooden crate box towards her to peer inside. While using one hand to hold it up, she used the other hand to count the items inside with voiceless lips. When her finger pointed to the eighth and last item inside, she reached in before resting the crate upright as it was.

Then searching in the patched pocket of her purple skirt, the beggar girl took out the scarab brooch she snatched from Jamil. In the other hand—the one she removed from the crate—was the other half of the scarab.

Meow

The beggar girl glanced toward the call and approaching her with casual steps was a little grey cat—or half of one. It had the shape of a cat and the upper torso of one with the two front paws in black socks. However, the back two legs were not feline at all, but four-toed scaly talons like a reptile or a bird and its lower body was a cross between fur and scales. On its back were leathery wings like a back tucked against the full length of its body. Around its neck was a fiery blue mane, much like the little flames coming out of its pointed ears and matching its bright blue eyes, and under the mane was a necklace of tentacles like an octopus. For a final touch, its tail wasn’t normal but a cobra snake that stared up at the beggar girl, expectedly.

This wasn’t a cat at all, but a monster.

Yet, she was not afraid.

Putting the pieces of the brooch aside, the beggar girl turned to the monstrous cat and opened her arms for it. Without hesitation, the little beast leaped in and cuddled against her chest. The beggar girl softly smiled as she held it, the once horrible blue flames didn’t burn her or the clothes the beast leaned against.

The cobra tail then acted on its own, lifting its head and slipping its crossed tongue against the beggar girl’s cheek. She softly petted the serpent and nuzzled her forehead against it, before nodding gratefully with warm affection and in her forlorn eyes.

Meow

The beast softly called to gain back her attention, to which the beggar girl understood. Lowering the beast, it stayed on her lap as she picked up the brooch pieces again. Three pairs of eyes eagerly stared as she held the two pieces closer together until the two halves clicked as it perfectly fit with each other. The brooch was whole once again.

And nothing else.

The two pieces connected, and that was it.

The beggar girl flipped the brooch in her hand, turned it at different sides, and the three of them tried to find any part of it that could be missing or incomplete. But it wasn’t, there was nothing else to it—and the three of them let out a soft deep sigh as a result.

Then the beggar girl blinked as an idea came to mind. Reaching towards the wooden crate again, she rummaged through its contents again before pulling out a hard covered, deep-purple book. It had no image on the cover, nor words to claim its title. The beggar girl only opened the cover after placing it on the ground before her, revealing its pages to be a grey yellow in age, and then carried the scarab brooch closer in waiting.

“Yulla.”

The beggar girl gasped, nearly dropping the brooch in her hand, while the beast immediately clung its claws on her sweater-covered arm and growled. Even the cobra opened its mouth threateningly with a hiss as both heads were staring behind her. The beggar girl tensely peeked around as well, in the direction of the mirror she thought she had covered.

The curtain that was tossed had managed to cover only half of the broken mirror. The part that was still visible had a five-talon claw coming through it, opening its black scaly palm in recall for her.

”Yulla, my darling girl-”

Without a second to waste, the beggar girl reached forward, not for the claw but the curtain above it and quickly pulled it down to completely cover the mirror.

She dared not look up. Gripping the curtain, the beggar girl waited for that voice to speak again. The cobra stopped hissing but the beast still had a deep growl in its chest, as though in waiting. Only when the cobra lightly tapped its head against her chin did she shakenly peek her eyes up.

The claw was gone, and the curtain shielded the mirror from her.

She released the stiff cloth, and the beast stopped growling.

The beggar girl sat her butt completely on the ground as her shoulders lowered to relax. However, Yulla picked up the beast further up against her chest and nuzzled her face against its body—like a child seeking comfort.

…

…

Apparently when the heir of a powerful merchant family—and son to one of the richest, most influential families in the world—became involved in a monster attack and performed a heroic deed to help the innocent, it caused a stir. For one, it finally brought attention to the elite force that many people of Sage Island had begged for help and they finally decided to offer their services. They arrived on the island not long before the rest of Night Raven College’s student body, and they already set a perimeter around the campus as the Dark Coach brought its shipment of chosen first years. Surely with the elite force securing the island, it would only be a matter of time before the monster was caught. However, after only a few days passed, there had been no more blue fire incidents and no clue to the whereabouts of the monster. Still, the elite force’s very presence made the residents of Safe Island feel safe and all of Night Raven College’s students were accounted for.

As for Kalim in recognition of his good deed in lessening the damages of Crane Port, the island and the school wanted to give him awards; but the heir of the Asim family only wanted one thing.

”That girl that I saw, I want to find her!”

The first time he declared that, it stunned nearly all of the adults in the room and Jamil hastily excused them both before pulling his master to the side.

”You can’t be serious!” Jamil asked him in hushed tones. “You want to find that thief?”

”Jamil, she saved your life!” Kalim tried to reason.

But his retainer corrected, “I protected us when that explosion went off. She only saved that child, and what she did to us was steal. You don’t owe her anything.”

”But I do! And frankly, so do you.”

His statement caused a moment of confusion so Kalim spoke again to the adults and Jamil couldn’t interrupt him as he gave a description of the beggar girl—along with stating that she also showed braverism during the monster attack. The elite force captain commented they would keep an eye out for her, but their main focus would be the capture or extermination of the monster.

Only afterwards when the two boys were alone again did Jamil demand clarification for what Kalim had meant.

”It was her!” Kalim eagerly declared. “From the time we were kids and you almost died, she saved you.”

Rubbing the side of his head, Jamil tried to suppress the headache that might come. ”I would ask for you to be more specific for which incident you’re referring to, but if it’s the one I’m already thinking about-”

“That time when you were poisoned and unconscious for two weeks.”

”Okay, then I definitely know it wasn’t her!” With a short breath, Jamil eased his nerves to slowly repeat the words that had been spoken to his master many times in the past. “Kalim, you were told time and time again what really happened. My father worked tiredly to treat every symptom of that poison and I survived by my own will. There was no angel or a golden bug that saved me. You had imagined it because no one else remembers ever seeing such an insect when you ran off to see me.”

Kalim also tried to remind, ”You didn’t think it was my imagination then! You believed me before.”

”Because you wouldn’t shut up about it! I was entertaining you, like I’ve always had!”

A stunned silence filled the room and the space between them. Kalim’s crimson eyes were wide at the statement, and Jamil’s own grey eyes were equally so. Those words had slipped out too carelessly, much unlike how the Viper boy usually would handle his master’s tantrums.

‘That shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t have said that.’ ”Kalim-”

But the Asim boy raised his hand to stop while his eyes downcasted from his retainer, his brow furrowed as he affirmed, ”No, she was real then, as she’s real now. We saw her, and she saved you. I’m going to find her, even if I have to do it myself.”

Unfortunately for Kalim, due to the threat of the monster, all students were to remain on campus behind the protection of the barrier set once every student was admitted. Plus with the presence of the elite force enforcing the house arrest, all special permissions were denied until it was safe for any idle activity—especially for the heir of a powerful and ridiculously rich merchant family.

Once the year’s Housewardens were declared by the Headmaster, Dire Crowley, and the vice Housewardens were established by their respected firsts, the first-year orientation had gone through without a hitch. Then it was the first day of school…

Then the second day…

Then the third day…

The fourth…

The fifth…

And on the sixth day…a Dark Coach demanded to be let in through the barrier. It had been the buzz across campus when a handful of students heard the horses’ cry for entrance during class, and when a few more witnessed members of the elite force inspecting the carriage before the headmaster opened the barrier.

That evening Crowley called for an emergency meeting after class for all six of the Housewardens.

“I appreciate everyone for showing up so suddenly,” Crowley greeted, standing before the round table of the meeting room. “As I’m sure it has been the talk of the school, all of you have an idea as to why I called you.”

Since it hadn’t been a full week since the start of the school year—nor a full week since his new position as Housewarden—Kalim glanced around the room to all of those sitting at the roundtable, trying to remember their names and which dorm they represented. Actually, it was four other people—excluding himself—and a floating tablet with a clear sigil of their house-dorm on the back.

‘If Jamil was here, he would remind me,’ Kalim thought, keeping that fact awkwardly to himself. However, Vice Housewardens were not included and Crowley insisted on the meeting so suddenly that everyone was still in their black tux student uniform.

”Was that why you stated it wasn’t necessary to wear our ceremonial robes or why we’re not meeting in the Hall of the Dark Mirror?” a housewarden with light colored hair and glasses asked.

‘Shoots, what did I miss?’ Kalim snapped back to the present, and again wishing his retainer was by his side.

”Yes,” the headmaster replied. He was an odd looking fellow to Kalim—wearing a half-mask with a bird’s beak over his nose, long black feathers that sheened green in the light as shoulder pads, a top hat with a match feather, and gloves with sharp pointed finger attachments that almost looked like claws. Kalim recalled the headmaster having the same look his freshmen year and according to the third-years, Dire Crowley had never shown his true face to anyone. “Other than that, there’s one other fluke as well.”

‘I missed it again!’ Kalim felt like sweating in his chair while his grin cracked in blanking out again. ‘Stop getting distracted! New student! Late enrollment! Oh hey, that happened to me last year, too.’

Then an electronic voice spoke up, “The Dark Coach brought a girl?!”

Kalim no longer became distracted.

”Correct,” Crowley nodded. “As you can see, this could represent a problem for our student body—as we are represented as an all-boy’s school so that’s all we have here. For the Dark Coach to deliver a female is, well, unheard of in all of Night Raven’s history as it has never made a mistake in the past.”

“So a bug in the system,” the tablet ‘spoke’ again.

”In young ones’ terms, perhaps—the absurdity of it all the same. But she was summoned here so we must accept her like the lost little bird she is.” 

Adjusting his glasses, the light haired housewarden—‘Azul!’ Kalim remembered. ‘We’re the same year.’— he speculated, “So you called us here because you don’t want to deny this girl her destined enrollment? If that’s the case, then clearly the house she belongs in will have to make accommodations for her unique circumstance.”

“Better not be mine. Too much work,” Leona yawned, slouching on his chair. Kalim remembered him, having met his family a couple of times growing up—and it’s hard to forget meeting a person with a lion’s tail and ears on the top of their head.

The pretty one for Pomefiore—Kalim forgot his name—slightly sneered at the lion-man. ”I always thought lions looked after their pride?”

The floating tablet spoke—who was the one behind that one? “It’s always been survival of the fittest in that dorm, bunch of meatheads.” With one sharp stare from Leona, the tablet’s levitation dropped slightly. Did whoever control it get scared?

The Headmage took the attention of the room again by calling, “Come now, come now. Search for the kindness in your hearts to take her in, gentlemen. Whomever her housewarden shall be must look after and guide her in this new environment. Poor little bird, I’d dare say everything here would be an entirely new experience compared to where she was before.”

Where she was before? Where exactly has she been before coming here, Kalim wanted to know.

“Headmage,” the shortest of the housewardens, the one with strikingly red hair, called, “you asked us to gather quickly without our robes due to the fact she’s already awaken from her coffin. Now you’re insinuating she hasn’t been evaluated by the Dark Mirror.”

“A little hard to do that when she won’t stay still, Riddle-kun,” he answered with a brief scratch on his cheek. Kalim secretly thanked him for the name reminder. “You see, gentlemen, other than she awoke before being summoned by me and before I had the chance to summon the Dark Mirror, this little bird has um, well, tried to escape and attack a few of the faculty. Poor Lucius needed to be removed from the hostile environment, according to Professor Trein.”

There became a dubious moment of silence in the room, all except for Kalim. ‘It must be her!’

“Clearly a student for Savanaclaw,” the Pomefiore housewarden sighed. “Uncivilized, rowdy thing.”

Leona quickly denied, “Very clearly too much work, no thanks.”

“Then a student for Heartslabyul?” Azul suggested, before side-eyeing his red-headed seat-neighbor. “I’m sure it wouldn’t be too much of a challenge for the Queen of Hearts to bring order to an eccentric guppy like her.”

”Regardless if she is or not after she is seen by the Dark Mirror, I won’t tolerate any disregard for the rules here at school if she continues to behave this way.”

”Wait, Headmage!” Suddenly Kalim stood up with an arm raised, nearly startling everyone around him.

“Yes, Kalim-kun?” Crowley answered.

“This girl, did you get her name? Or what does she look like? Did she have anything on her? Like a white sweater or a brooch or something?!”

If the tablet had a virtual face, it would stare at Scarabia’s housewarden with a questionable expression of narrowed eyes, a frown, and a raised brow. “Those are oddly specific items.”

Clearing his throat as though to prepare himself, Crowley carefully started to say, “Kalim-kun, surely I shouldn’t be the one to tell you that there are more than just one female in this world—let alone on this island. How could my description of her undomesticity be a key trait to the one you’re thinking of?”

“Because she sounds like someone I know!” Kalim declared. “And I don’t think she’s as feral as you’re making her to be. She could be just scared and not sure what to do. If it is her, I’ll help her! I’ll happily support her and guide her here at school!”

”My, my,” Azul adjusted his glasses with an entertained smirk. “Perhaps you’re in the wrong dorm, Mr. Asim. You almost match the level of benevolence as befitting the Sea Witch. How generous for the heir of the Asim family to defend someone so passionately.”

Riddle gave Azul a slight glare, knowingly hearing the jeer in the voice of Octavinelle’s housewarden, before calling, ”Kalim, you’re not exhibiting your house’s quality of mindfulness. There are rules to be followed, and you don’t even know if she’s meant for Scarabia. Now sit down.”

Yet Kalim remained standing and asked, ”Headmage, let me see her! Maybe if she sees someone she’s met before, then she’ll calm down and listen to what we have to say. She won’t be afraid of this place and we can help her.”

Curling his finger in front of his chin, Crowley gave a hum. ”Hmm, it’s possible. But Kalim-kun, if it’s whom I’m assuming you’re thinking of, this is the same girl whom you stated saved a child from a burning building before stealing from you and Jamil-kun, correct? From those facts alone, how well does she really know you, or you know her?”

At first, Kalim did not respond. He closed his mouth and his hand balled into a fist against the round table. Similar words he’s heard for over a week, but the affirmation in his crimson eyes remained the same at every moment like this. With a steady voice, he answered, “She saved my best friend. To me, that’s all I need to know.”

Then someone called out with a deep murky voice. ”Headmage! Headmage!”

Instead of bursting through the doors, two wispy, translucent beings phased through them instead. Both of them were wearing equally nebulous looking top hats, but one had a more heavy-set form while the other had long thin arms like a skeleton. Nearly everyone wasn’t disturbed by their appearance, but Kalim blinked a few times to see actual ghosts in the meeting room.

The skinny one with the higher, shrilling voice reported in a frantic, “Headmage! We lost her! The new student! She ran off!”

“What?! What exactly do I pay you ghosts for?!” Crowley asked.

Nearly all the housewardens in the room also wondered. What exactly do you pay a ghost?

~~~

~~~

Jamil wanted to yeet his phone to the sun when he saw the message on the screen.

Text from Kalim: She’s here! She’s the new student! But she’s missing and is lost somewhere on campus! We have to find her!

At first, Jamil wanted to question the authenticity of these facts. How could the Dark Carriage summon a girl to attend an all-boy’s school? Never in Night Raven College’s administrative history has an incident like this ever occurred. Then secondly…Jamil internally raged, ‘Everything has been about this DAMN GIRL!!’ He raised his phone over his shoulder, rearing it back about to throw it, but after a moment of thought, let out a loud groan and dropped his arm with force.

With no one else in the hallway, Jamil could freely act without anyone witnessing his moment of unrestrained exasperation. For over a week, Kalim only wanted to hear news about finding this girl’s whereabouts. Almost as if he couldn’t be bothered with anything else if it didn’t involve her. Jamil even made the effort to reach out to the mayor of Sage Isle for any updates—which there was none—and Kalim still wasn’t satisfied. Not to forget that the young Asim heir has responsibilities as Scarabia’s housewarden, but Jamil had to play that part as well since his master would rather fret over a thief.

‘A thief he’s convinced is some divine insect!’ Jamil resisted the urge to pull his hair out to not ruin his braids as he paced wall to wall of the open hallway. ‘That idiot has no sense of awareness and would trust anyone after ONE act of heroics! He’s never on guard, which always makes my job harder, and even after proof of nefariousness, he believes in them anyway!’

Every once in a while a grunt or a grumble would come out, as his habit of holding back was something that could not be undone even in private. He still bit back on his words while his thoughts continued. ‘He’s met her once! There is no reason for him to be so trusting of her! And there is no reason for him to believe he’s been the only one thinking of her!’

Finally Jamil stopped and slammed the side of his fist against the stone wall. With long exhales and slow inhales through his nose, the Vice Housewarden of Scarabia sharpened his eyes at one unfortunate blade of grass of the courtyard through the glass-less window of the hall. If that filthy girl were to stand in front of him now, that glare would purely be directed into those hazel golden eyes.

”Even if she protected me now,” he whispered low in his throat, “even if she saved me all those years ago, I’d still have no reason to be kind to her.”

The blade of grass suddenly bent.

Not by a gust of wind or a visible object, but by something invisible. Jamil stared for a moment as other blades of grass were suddenly pressed down and a thick cylinder impression moved across the patch of grass. The form was long and bent, and kept moving side to side across the courtyard. Jamil straightened himself watching the form almost slithering through the courtyard. Staring closer, he saw no animal and the grass wasn’t tall enough to hide it, but no movement of wind would force grass to bend so much or move so eccentric.

Before Jamil could come up with solution, it reached the edge of the courtyard and the impression disappeared amongst the stone floor—only to see the heel of a shoe laying on the side. Was someone laying on the floor?

Jamil took slow steps forward. Through the skinny glass-less windows of the courtyard, he tried to see if someone was standing in that spot and hear if that person may have heard his earlier rant. With every step, tension in his abdonmen grew and his defenses were raised until he finally reached the intersection of the halls to find his spy.

Yet there was no one. Only a pair of discarded buckle shoes on the ground.

”What the?” Jamil exhaled, his form relaxing with caution. Approaching the abandoned garments, he kneeled down to examine one of them.

The shoes were new—so new that they still carried the fresh-out-of-production smell and parts of it still gleamed untouched of fresh leather. However, it wasn’t without scratches amongst the heel and there were light traces of dirt at the bottom—possibly from crossing this courtyard before being discarded. Yet, who would go around barefoot at school and leave their new shoes behind?

Jamil barely needed a second to come to a solution.

Because that thief didn’t have shoes when they first met her in Canes Port. And the shoes are new, as if just given by the Dark Carriage to wear with the ceremonial robe when being brought to school.

Now Jamil wanted to yeet the shoes into oblivion.