Waves of Destiny (Twisted Wonderland)

Chapter 27

"Hm? Why's there somethin' soft and fuzzy nudgin' my face? Heh heh, that tickles! Ona, use that smartphone of yours to give us some light."

"It was confiscated, remember? But I'll turn on the light for a second." I found the switch and flipped it. I immediately recognized the room as the storeroom. Kalim's flying carpet hovered near Grim, poking him.

"Whoa, geez! You scared the daylights outta me! I was about to scream and everything. This is Kalim's treasury, huh? They don't lock up the treasure?" Grim appeared thoughtful. "Ooh, that's it! If you help us, we can shake off the patrols and get outside!" The carpet appeared curious. "Hey, carpet! I'll let you out if you carry us outta the dorm!" The carpet appeared to nod eagerly. "Great. All aboard, Ona! And goodbye, Scarabia!"

"I hope this is a good idea," I said as I climbed onto the carpet. I helped Grim up, and then we were off.

"WOO-HOO!" Grim cheered as soon as were outside in the cool air. "We made it! See ya, suckers! FREEDOOOOOM!"

"Ah!" shouted a Scarabian student. "Look over there—they're riding the housewarden's magic carpet!"

"First they break out, then they rob us?" said another student. "The housewarden will never let us hear the end of it if he finds out!"

"We have to seize them!" said a third. "Hold it right there, thieves!"

"Nyeh heh heh!" Grim taunted them. "If you wanna catch us, try learnin' to fly first!"

"By the way, how do you steer this carpet?" I said.

"Steer it? Uhhh, I think Kalim took hold of the corner tassels and tugged at 'em like this... Myah!" Grim grabbed the tassels, and the carpet jerked upward and all the way around. "Hey! Less with the 360, more with the fly quickly!" The carpet continued to fly in circles, making me dizzy. "GYAAAH! The world is spinning! Someone make it stooop!"

"Let me drive!" I pushed him aside and grabbed the tassels. Thankfully, we stopped steering and instead headed for a mirror... at full speed.

"They're going outside the dorm!" said a student. "After them, quick!"

"AAAH!" Grim cried. "We're gonna crash right into the mirror!"

"At least we'll go through it!" I said. We indeed flew through the mirror, and as soon as we were out, we headed for another one. Unfortunately, we were moving too quickly for me to figure out where we were going. At long last, we crashed to the ground and tumbled off the carpet.

"MroooOOOooow..." Grim groaned.

I sat up, clutching my head. "Where are we?"

I heard footsteps, and a light flicked on. "Well, well," said Jade. "What have we here? Patrons in search of a little midnight snack, perhaps?"

"Aw, maaan," said Floyd. "I was totally ready to squeeze any burglars here to nab our food supplies. It's just the little Shrimpy and the Seal. Laaame."

I looked up at them in relief. "Hey, guys."

Floyd frowned at me. "Why have you been ignoring us, Shrimpy? You said you would visit."

"Sorry. It wasn't my fault. I was held captive at Scarabia."

Something flashed in Floyd's eyes. "Captive?"

"Why is Scarabia occupied during the holidays?" said Jade.

"Well..." I started.

"Hold on," said Grim. "What're you guys even doin' here?"

"Didn't we already go over this?" said Floyd. "We can't go home over winter break because of ice floes, remember?"

"Wait, so we're in Octavinelle?!"