Interdimensional Academy

Leaving the Fortress

The next day at the fortress, Mayu came up to Berdly's room with a mission for him and a strange item that almost resembled a crystal ball.

"What's that for?" Berdly asked. "Am I supposed to tell the future with it or something?"

"It's not a crystal ball. It's a draemon crystal. It's made for you to spy on those adventurers and see what they're planning next," Mayu explained. "They were originally designed by a draemon king so he could spy on his enemies."

"So what do I do with it, exactly?" Berdly questioned as he held the crystal, turning it over and examining the way the dim light of his room shone through it, giving it a faint, almost reddish tinge.

"Just hold it up to your eye and state what place you want to see," Mayu said. "Let me show you." She held it up to her eye and began to state that she wanted to see Captain Spaceboy's room, but was interrupted by Berdly.

"Why his room?" he said, confused.

"I'm showing you how to use it. If I do all the work myself and I use it for their dumb castle, it defeats the whole purpose of having you do it," she snapped.

"Why do you need me to do it?" Berdly queried.

"Because Rouxls is still working on the puzzles, SeeU is an idiot and so is Spaceboy, and Sweetheart would probably just use it as a mirror," Mayu huffed. "I've got to keep these idiots from doing stupid stuff every single day, and I'm burdened by also being the smartest one here. I don't need more work to do. Plus, I have to prepare for when Fukase and Flower and Lily's gang come here to see how things are going. We have to at least pretend that we've got our act together."

She picked up where she had left off with her earlier statement, and grimaced at what she saw in the crystal. "Oh-kay. Did not need to see that."

"What?" Berdly said, trying to get a better look at the image in the glass.

"You don't want to know," Mayu said, wrinkling her nose. "Seriously. Now take the damn crystal. I'm going to tell Rouxls to get back to work on the puzzles. And then I'm gonna go pour bleach in my eyes." She handed Berdly the crystal, which had (thankfully) switched back to its reddish hue, and then left the room.

"Uh...show me the adventurers at that star spirit place," Berdly said hesitantly as he held up the crystal. Sure enough, an image began to appear. Despite the small size of the crystal, the picture was as perfectly clear as if it was being played in a movie theater.

It showed Noelle's bedroom, where she was lying down on the bed, her head propped up on pillows. A small group was gathered around her, looking worried.

"Her injuries will still probably take a while to heal," said a woman who Berdly recognized as Lucoa.

"Can't Megami Raito use her angel powers?" piped up Kris.

"I don't know..." the angel admitted. "I tried using some, but they don't seem to be working very well...I don't know what's happening..."

"Injuries?" Berdly said aloud. He briefly worried that those at the castle would be able to hear him, but luckily, they did not. "Hey, crystal, can we see a clearer view of the bed?" He wasn't entirely sure if that would work, but it did.

The view focused on Noelle's face, tears streaming down it as Lucoa gently began to feed her some sort of healing potion from a bowl.

"It's okay...I know it hurts..." Lucoa said soothingly.

As Noelle continued to cry and Lucoa continued to feed her, Berdly noticed the injuries that had been spoken of earlier. Noelle's antlers were broken off, and the stumps were still bloody. Kris tried to clean them with a washcloth, but it only made Noelle cry even more, wincing at the touch.

"Who did this?" Berdly wondered. As he continued to watch the tragic scene, he noticed that the antlers had not been broken by a clean slice like the ones created with a sword or an axe. Instead, the breaks were jagged and uneven, as if they were created through a weapon like a club...or a mace...

"No..." he began to panic. "No way. Not her. Not Sweetheart." He didn't know what to believe anymore. He had been told by everyone that the adventurers were evil and had brainwashed his friends into joining their ranks, that his friends were beyond redemption now, that any violence against them was just and right, but it seemed to him that the very group he was allied with were the evil ones all along.

Lucoa's kind words were nothing like the harsh utterances Mayu spat at her underlings, or Sweetheart's constant screaming at Captain Spaceboy. These people were trying to help their friend, trying to help in a way that Berdly had never seen Mayu, Len, or any of the others do for each other.

"I've had enough of this," he decided, throwing the crystal to the ground. "I'm going to leave this place."

A short while later, Captain Spaceboy heard a knock on his door.

"Oh god," he groaned. "It's probably Mayu coming back to tell us off again, isn't it? Wasn't once enough?"

"It seemseth that would likely be the case," Rouxls agreed.

"Who is it?" Captain Spaceboy asked as he got out of bed.

"It's Berdly," a familiar voice came from the other side. "I need to talk to you guys."

"Come in," Captain Spaceboy said, opening the door.

"What is it that you needeth to discuss?" Rouxls said as he sat up.

"It's about the adventurers...I don't think they're really that bad after all..." Berdly began.

"But Sweetheart said-" Captain Spaceboy started to say.

"Sweetheart mutilated Noelle. She did that to one of my friends. Noelle did nothing to deserve this. Do you know what I saw when I used the draemon crystal Mayu gave me? I saw Noelle there. I saw her in her bed. If you could see what was happening...she was in agony...it was horrible..." Berdly said, tears forming in his eyes.

"I saw Sweetheart and Noelle fighting against each other...I didn't know it was that bad..." Captain Spaceboy gasped. "That's horrific..."

"We've been led to believe the adventurers are the bad guys...but they treat each other so kindly...nobody here ever acts that nicely..." Berdly continued. "I want to get out of here. I want to leave this place and make up for what I've done."

"I want to come too," Captain Spaceboy decided.

"As do I," said Rouxls.

"We'll leave tonight," Berdly said, beginning to make his plan. "We'll create a portal using a spell. There are books in the basement that tell how to make one. I've practiced it a couple of times, and I think it should be strong enough to get us to the castle."

"Tonight, then," Captain Spaceboy agreed.

That night, the trio met up in the basement, where Berdly had begun to prepare the things for the portal.

"Are we sure we have everything we'll need to bring with us?" he asked. "It's unlikely we'll be able to get our stuff back, after all."

"I have collectedeth all our belongings," Rouxls nodded, holding up a bag.

"Let's do this," Berdly said. He began the spell. A small blue portal started to form, spiraling out from in front of his chest.

The portal was nearly complete when familiar footsteps could be heard.

"It's Mayu!" Rouxls realized.

"You guys go!" Berdly shouted at Captain Spaceboy and Rouxls as the footsteps got closer. "I'll hold her off! Just go! The portal won't stay open for long!"

"We're not going to leave you behind like that!" Captain Spaceboy yelled.

"Just go get to safety!" Berdly replied, trying not to show them the fear he was feeling. "And guys...if I don't make it out of here...tell my friends what happened."

Captain Spaceboy tried to protest, but the portal was starting to close, and he and Rouxls saw the view of the basement slowly fade away. The last thing they saw before they were teleported to the castle was Berdly's determined face as Mayu approached. They tried to remain hopeful, but they knew deep down how this would end.