Waves of Destiny (Twisted Wonderland)

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"Kalim was in a pretty good mood today," Grim said that night. We were gathered with the Octavinelle boys in the spare Scarabian room, which we were told to share by Jamil.

"Agreed," said Azul. "That was the 'regular' Kalim I know."

"When he's in a bad mood, he narrows his eyes and gets this scary tone when he talks."

"Are you certain that's what's happening here?" said Jade. "I'm more inclined to believe Ona's interpretation."

"Whaddaya mean?" said Floyd.

"You're prone to mood swings yourself, Floyd. Kalim doesn't give me that same impression. I suspect a different root cause at play."

"Magic?" I said.

"Perhaps. Whatever it is, you are right that it is not natural."

"Jamil said it was brought on 'cause of their lousy dorm standings in Spelldrive and the exams," said Grim.

"Yeah, 'Jamil said,'" I repeated.

"Really?" said Floyd. "Since when does Sea Otter care about that?"

Grim blinked. "Sea what now?"

"He means Kalim," said Jade. "Floyd likes to give people nicknames based on sea creatures. In your case, Grim, you have a cute, round little silhouette. Which is why he calls you Sealie. It's a term of endearment."

Grim glared at the twins. "I ain't round! I'm full-bodied, thankyouverymuch!"

"Sea Otter's always bangin' on a drum with a grin on his face," said Floyd. "Reminds me of those fuzzy sea scamps."

"Aww, I love sea otters," I said. "That's the perfect name for him! It's very cute."

Floyd grinned at me. "I know, right?"

"He does have a generally sunny disposition," said Azul. "I can't imagine his demeanor would shift so drastically over something as minor as unimpressive grades. I agree that the root cause is likely to be something else entirely. If we want to get to the bottom of this, we'll need to get to know Kalim better. Jade, would you mind having a little 'talk' with him?"

"Consider it done," said Jade. "Jamil would be a harder target, but... Kalim might be willing to 'tall' openly with me."

"Then I think I'll play with Sea Snake in the meantime," said Floyd.

"Excellent idea," said Azul. "I'll join you for that."

"Their smiles ain't reached their eyes once this whole time..." Grim muttered.

"No one is going to get hurt, are they?" I asked.

"Of course not," said Jade. "We would never harm someone during an investigation."

"That's good enough for me."

Grim shook his head. "If you say so."

Jade went off to find Kalim while the rest of us crowded around Jamil's door. Azul knocked. "Good evening, Jamil," he said when the door opened.

"How's it hangin'?" said Floyd.

"Mind if we drop in?" said Grim.

"Sorry to disturb you this late," I said.

"Gh! What do you want?" said Jamil.

"When Kalim gave us a tour of the treasury, we spotted a board game I've never seen before," said Azul. "I asked Kalim to explain the rules, but it's still not quite making sense to me."