#thread of fate

She didn't get much sleep that night. The bed felt off, smelt off, and the sound of leaking water hitting the bucket she had placed in the room cancelled out the soothing sound of the rain. Her only comfort came from Grim who had curled up next to her to steal some body heat. The magical flames coming from his ears were pleasantly warm and certainly did more to stave off the cold compared to the thin blanket they were both huddled under.

Just as she was finally starting to doze off, Grim started screaming. Oyuki opened her eyes to see the ghosts hovering above them.

"Aren't the two of you supposed to be cleaning the school today?" One of them said.

"Go ahead, sleep the day away. You might not eeever have to wake up again."

"Just like us! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" The others chimed in.

They had a point. She dragged Grim out of bed, holding him like a sack of potatoes.

"We gotta get rid of those things for good..." he mumbled, still half-awake.

"Those 'things' were here before us. You need to learn to play nice." She chided.

She rinsed one of the pots in the kitchen with rain water from a bucket she had left outside last night and had Grim blow a controlled fireball at the fireplace in the lounge so they were able to heat the leftovers and have a somewhat warm breakfast.

Crowley stopped by the dorm to give her a set of the school uniform so she’d stick out less. The clothes were a bit big on her but not enough to complain about, she preferred her clothes a little baggy anyway. He also gave them their first job: cleaning the area of the campus between the front gates and the library.

"You may take your lunch at the cafeteria and once you're done, you may use the library to study and research ways to return home." he explained.

"Hrmph. I ain't cleanin' nothin'! I'm here to study magic so I can be blastin' off spells left and right! Like BAM! POW! FWOOM!" Grim grumbled after Crowley left.

Oyuki sighed, giving his head a light scratch, "After we clean, we can study in the library."

"Hey! Stop that! I ain't a cat!" Grim growled. Despite his protests, Oyuki didn't miss how his tail wagged.

After polishing the front gate, the two of them moved on to sweep Main Street, the large road that led to Night Raven's main building. Seven large statues stood on either side of the stone paved street, staring down at the students making their way to class. Oyuki recognized the statue's subjects, the first familiar thing she's come across ever since coming to this strange world. Grim approached the first statue, a statue of an imposing woman with a crown on her head standing in a field of roses. She was mid-curtsy with a heart shaped paddle grasped in one hand.

"What's the deal with these seven statues? All their faces look pretty scary. Like, this lady here looks like she's got some reeeal anger management issues."

"You don't know the Queen of Hearts?" A voice said.

A boy with a mop of orange hair and a red heart drawn over his left eye was standing behind them.

"She was a queen who lived in a mazelike garden of roses long, long ago. A strict woman who prized order above all. Not one of her subjects dared to defy her, you wanna know why? Because the punishment for breaking a rule was immediate decapitation!" He dragged a finger over his neck at the word 'decapitation'.

Grim yelped, “That is seriously messed up!"

The boy crossed his arms. "You think? I'm a big fan, personally. I mean, who would bother to obey a queen that was kind all the time?"

His laid-back tone gave Oyuki the impression he's never had to deal with strict parents before.

"Hey anyway, name's Ace. I'm a first year student here, as of... today! Pleased to meetcha!" he flashed her a heart with his fingers at the end.

"I'm Grim! I'm a prodigy who’s plannin' to be, like, the greatest mage who ever lived," Grim said proudly, "That there's my far less interesting hench-human, Oyuki."

Ace turned to her, "O-yu-ki?” he sounded out every syllable of her name. “You're name's got an odd ring to it."

She gave him a half-hearted laugh in response. "Yeah... Nice to meet you."

Ace and Grim went on to talk about the figure depicted in each statue. 'The Great Seven' Ace had called them, seven mages so powerful the dorms at Night Raven College were modeled after each of their most prominent qualities.

The Queen of Hearts' spirit of strictness,

The King of Beasts' perseverance,

The Sea Witch's benevolence,

The Sorcerer of the Sands' spirit of mindfulness,

The Fairest Queen's tenacity,

The King of the Underworld's diligence,

And the noble spirit of The Thorn Fairy.

Oyuki couldn't help but notice the jarring differences in the stories of these so called 'Great Seven' compared to the ones told about them in her world. But she decided to keep her mouth shut. Maybe things are just different here.

"Pretty cool huh? Not like some piddling weasel." The relaxed expression on Ace's face was replaced with a mocking grin as he doubled over with laughter, "I can't hold it back anymore! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

He laughed so hard he was clutching his stomach. "Come on, you're the ones who turned orientation into such a fiasco, right? The one summoned by the Dark Mirror who can't even use magic, and the monster no one summoned at all. It took everything I had not to burst into laughter right in the middle of the ceremony! And in the end, neither of you got admitted and now you're janitors? Ah ha ha! SO lame!"

"What did you just call me?!" Grim growled.

"Anyway, just thought I'd tease you a bit. And man am I glad I did. It's been a blast! You're both so clueless you don't even know who the Great Seven are. Not a one of them! Maybe before you try getting into the academy again, you ought to take a second crack at kindergarten?"

Oyuki tightened the grip on the broom she was holding. He mentioned two minutes ago that Oyuki was summoned from another world yet the thought of the Great Seven not existing in a different world never even crossed his mind. So he's either scatterbrained or downright stupid.

"Unlike you, I actually have classes to get to, so I'll let you get back to picking up trash. Bye!"

Ace was about to walk away but Grim wasn't about to let him go that easily, "Myuh-uh! You ain't walkin' away from me! It's too late for that, explodey-head! Myaaaaah!"

Ace had to dive to the side to avoid getting charred by a fireball. "Explodey-head?! You wanna throw down with me, shorty? You got some guts! You wanna talk hair, huh? I'm gonna shave you like a toy poodle!"

He pulled out his magical pen and summoned a gust of wind to deflect Grim's fireballs. The commotion that followed attracted a small audience who seemed less interested in breaking up the fight and more interested in placing bets on who was going to win. Grim fired another fireball which Ace redirected... straight towards the Queen of Hearts statue. There was a loud *FWOOSH* sound as the crowd scattered before they could be caught at the crime scene.

"What is going on here? Cease this at once!"

"Oh no! The headmage!" Ace yelled.

Both trouble makers tried to run away only to be caught by two swift strikes of the headmage's staff.

"As if the likes of you could ever flee from me!" Crowley sighed, "Grim! Did I not just warn you, 'no more incidents'? And now you've charred one of my statues?! It's almost as though you WANT to be expelled! And you, Ms McGuffin, you were specifically told to keep Grim under control!"

Oyuki bowed apologetically, "I'm sorry sir."

Crowley shook his head. "This will not do. And you!" he turned to Ace. "State your name and grade."

"Ace Trappola... Freshman," the boy mumbled.

"Then listen well, Trappola. You too Ms McGuffin, Grim. As punishment for today's infractions, you are hereby ordered to wash a hundred windows! You will meet in the cafeteria after class. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir..." They all mumbled in unison.

Ace was escorted to class by the headmage, leaving Grim and Oyuki in the now quiet Main Street.

"Ugh I just can't catch a break!" Grim exclaimed, sending a pebble skittering down the street. Oyuki picked up her broom and silently got back to work. It seems this long day was about to get even longer.

By the time the two of them finished cleaning the rest of Main Street and the area around the clock tower, it was already the end of the day. They headed to the cafeteria to meet up with Ace. Five minutes became ten, then fifteen, and before they knew it, they've been waiting for over half an hour.

"Grr! Ace is super late! I bet he up and bailed on us!" Grim said.

"Not if we have anything to say about it. Come on Grim."

"That's my hench-human! I don't care if we gotta drag him kickin' and screamin', he's washin' those windows!"

They peeked into one of the first year classrooms only to find it empty.

"Hey! Ace! Get over here! Try to hide from me, will ya!" Grim called out. "Huh... Maybe there's really no one here."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, I'm here." the voice made both of them jump.

"That painting just talked!" Grim exclaimed.

The woman in the painting rolled her eyes. "Yes and...? Is a talking painting really such an oddity at this school? As long as a painting has a mouth, why wouldn't it be able to talk?"

"I'm so sorry about him," Oyuki said, pushing Grim's head down into an apologetic bow. "We're looking for someone named Ace. He's got messy orange hair and a heart drawn on his face, have you seen him by any chance?"

The painting giggled, "Oh how polite! I know the one. A new student, I believe? I think he went back to his dorm a while ago."

"Myaaah! So it's true! He's tryin' to ditch us! Do you know which way he went?" Grim asked.

"The door to the dorms is in the eastern building." The painting said.

"After him, Oyuki!"

Oyuki gave the painting a quick bow of thanks before rushing after her partner.

They found Ace exactly where the painting said he would be. When he saw them, he immediately started sprinting towards one of the mirrors that circled the room.

"Outta my way!" He shoved past another student, a boy with dark blue hair and a spade drawn over his right eye.

"Please stop him! He's shirking his cleaning responsibilities!" Oyuki pleaded.

The boy's eyes widened, "What? That's not right! But how to stop him? Like, freeze his legs? Or bind him with a rope? Or maybe I could... Hmm... No..."

He seemed to be overwhelmed. All the while Ace was almost home free.

"JUST DO SOMETHING!!" Grim shouted.

"Anything?! Anything, huh... All right! Here goes anything! I summon thee... something heavy!"

The boy waved his magic pen and a large metal cauldron materialized in mid-air, falling right on top of Ace.

"Owwww! What are you bothering me for? You guys coulda just banged out the work yourself!" Ace complained.

Oyuki knelt in front of him, "There's no ‘banging out’ a hundred windows!" She said through gritted teeth, "Besides, this is what you get for being a jerk."

"Oh come on. I was just screwing with that furball a little... Okay, and the statue of the Queen of Hearts got a teeny bit charred. Sue me."

"You damaged a statue of the Great Seven?! No wonder the headmage flew off the handle at you! After you managed to get into THIS school, how could you get in trouble on the very first day?!" The other boy said while helping to pull him out from under the cauldron.

"Oh, shut up. Who are you, anyway?" Ace grumbled as he stood and dusted himself off.

"My name is Deuce, Deuce Spade. Don't you remember your own classmate? Uh..."

"You don't remember my name either, do you?"

"That's not the point! You shouldn't try to shirk an order from the headmage!"

"Yeah, yeah, message received... Fine, let's bang out the windows already. Hey wait a minute..." Ace looked around, "The furball! He's gone!"

"Ah ha ha ha! I'll let you two handle the rest! See ya, suckers!" Grim laughed before taking off.

Ace's jaw hit the floor, "Wh— Hey Juice!"

"My name isn't ‘Juice’. It's Deuce! With a D!" Deuce shouted.

"This is partially your responsibility, you know! So help me catch that little furball! Grim's useless janitor friend can't use magic. That means this is up to you and me!"

The two of them took off after the little direbeast. Oyuki followed close behind but she was nowhere near as fast as the two boys. It wasn't long until she lost sight of them but a large crashing noise from the cafeteria gave her a good guess on where they were.

She threw open the doors and froze. The large chandelier that used to hang at the center of the room was now lying on the ground in smithereens with Ace, Deuce, and a dazed Grim playing the blame game nearby.

"Deuce you complete and total moron! If the headmage finds out about this—"

"If I find out about what, Mr Trappola?"

Oyuki whirled around, Crowley was standing behind her. His eyes flew between Oyuki, Ace, and Grim before landing on the smashed chandelier.

"YOU. THREE. AGAIN. Burning a statue wasn't enough for you? Now you've destroyed a chandelier?! Enough! Everyone in this room is expelled!"

Deuce's face turned white as a sheet. He fell to his knees, prostrating himself in front of the headmage, "Sir, please give me a second chance! I can't get expelled from this school! I need to be here!"

"Then blame yourself for your own foolish behavior." Crowley said.

"I'll pay for the damages! However much it costs!"

Crowley stroked his chin, as if considering his offer. "This chandelier is a historical piece. Why, I would estimate its worth to be no less than a billion thaumarks. And you intend to repay that sum?"

Deuce let out a pathetic whimper.

"B-But I'm sure with your magical talent, sir, you could snap your fingers and fix it right up!" Ace nervously said, trying his best to flash a charming smile.

But Crowley just shook his head, "Even magic has its limits. Furthermore, its magestone - the figurative heart of any magical artifact - is cracked. A magestone cannot easily be replaced."

Ace buried his head in his hands, Deuce stared blankly at the wall muttering something about disappointing his mother, and Grim had passed out after falling off of the chandelier.

"But it can be replaced, right?" Everyone turned to look at Oyuki. Her face was unreadable and she spoke in an eerily calm and even manner, "You said a magestone can't easily be replaced. Not that it's impossible to replace. Tell us how to get one. We'll get one."

"Yes! We'll go find a magestone!" Deuce stood up like a solider called to attention. "With your permission, sir!"

"The magestone that powered this chandelier was mined from the Dwarf’s Mine. If you can acquire a magestone with the same properties, it may be possible to repair it. Even so, I should caution you that I cannot promise there yet remain magestones to find. The mines were closed quite some time ago. It is quite likely that all of the magestones have already been mined."

"Please sir! I will do anything to avoid expulsion, sir!"

A faint smile appeared on Crowley's face, "Very well then. I will suspend your expulsion for a single night. But if you fail to return with a magestone by morning, then all of you are expelled."

"I understand, sir! Thank you very much for this opportunity!" Deuce said while giving a 90 degree bow.

"Fine, then. Let's hurry down there, find a magestone, and get this whole thing done with." Ace sighed.

"You should be able to reach the Dwarfs' Mine instantly by using one of the gates in the Mirror Chamber." Crowley explained.