(I'm sorry if this story is all over the place right now, I didn't really plan out the plot and I'm just writing randomly after each chapter. I also apologize for the slow updates, I'm currently working on another book which I'll release later on, that or I'm just lazy.🥲)
Episode 7: New Encounter and a Surprise Tip!
The group found themselves walking along the dorm's rose maze. Ace and Grim were both pissed and angrily mumbling things while Deuce and Enma just stayed quiet as they were lost in deep thought.
"Rrrgh! I hate that little red megalomaniac! Does he think HE's the Queen of Hearts?" Ace exclaimed as he balled his hands into fists.
"Banished by the housewarden from my own dorm... My dream of becoming an honor student is slipping further and further away..." Deuce blankly said as he faced the ground.
"Stupid collar! It's so tight! Grrr..."
"You're really racking up those collars. Quite the impressive collection."
"BWAH?!" The three jumped in surprise by the sudden voice. Enma looked infront of them to see a floating head.
"A floating decapitated head?!"
"Oh dear. It seems I'm not all here." The head said as he revealed his whole body.
"What? Er, so you do have a body, then? Who are you?" Deuce asked.
"The name's Alchemy Alchemevich Pinka. Am I a cat? Am I a purrrson? A mimsy borogove, perhaps? A mome rath with a knack for magic?"
"Uh, look, Al... Alche... Run the name by me again?"
"Heh heh. People usually just call me Che'nya.
Let's just say I'm not from the other side of the looking glass."
"Yet another weirdo..." Enma mumbled which the boy named Che'nya still managed to hear.
"You think so? I'd say by the standards here, I'm no more mad than anyone else." He shrugged.
"What dorm are you from?"
"Hmm... Why don't you try to guess?" He answered with a playful smile.
"Oh, I know! He's got animal ears, so he's gotta be from... uh... Bananaclaw, was it?" Grim said.
"Bzzzzzt! Incorrect. Bananas grow on trees, do they not? I, on the other hand, am a cat."
"And besides, other dorms have students with animal ears, too."
"After the insanity that teapot tyrant put me through, I'm not in the mood for whatever this is. Just leave me alone." Ace gestured for the boy to leave, but of course he didn't.
"Riddle the teapot tyrant... Heh heh. Well, I can't dismiss that perspective as wrong. He's always been strict." He chuckled.
"Do you know something about him?" The four turned to him with curious looks.
"Perhaps there are things that I know, and perhaps there are things that I don't." His answer made the group sweatdrop.
"That's not an answer!" Grim exclaimed
"Is there something you wish to know about Riddle?"
"Yeah, what created such a control freak?"
Che'nya replied with an eye closed smile, "I believe his four-eyed friend may have the answer."
"Four-eyed friend? You mean Trey?" Deuce tilted his head a bit to the side.
"He's known Riddle since we were all little boys.
If you want to know more about Riddle, I would begin my quest there."
"They're childhood friends? I didn't really get that impression."
"If you're so perceptive, then what are you asking me for? Buh-bye!" He waved them goodbye before dissappearing.
"H-hey!"
"I tell ya, no one makes any sense around here." Grim sighed.
"Well, we're not going to be able to do much in the way of schoolwork with these collars on. So let's go see what Trey has to say, and then..."
"If you're gonna say "apologize to Riddle," you can forget it!" Ace angrily stated.
"Maybe we need to set up a little ambush... He is one tough nut to crack." Enma suggested.
Before the group could go and find Trey, Che'nya reappeared before them again. "Oh and before I go, you might also wanna try asking your new red-haired friend. I believe she knows more than us, but I doubt she'll give you an answer though. See ya!" With that, he left once again.
The four look at eachother in confusion.
"Red-haired friend? Did he mean Mira?"
"Is she his childhood friend too?" Grim asked.
"No, I don't think so. He did say she knew more about Riddle than him and Trey..." Enma placed a hand on his chin in a thinking manner.
"Then should we go ask her first?"
"Yeah, she should be easier to talk to than Trey." Ace said.
They fled the rose maze and went around the campus to find Mirana. About half an hour later, they finally found her in the school kitchen whipping something up. The group appraoched her with exhausted looks.
Kitchen
"Oh? Did you all run a marathon?" The girl asked as she placed down the mixing bowl and faced the group.
"Actually, we were looking for you. We have something we have to ask." Deuce spoke.
"Please be straightforward with us, what made Riddle into the tyrant he is now and is it true that you knew him since you were kids?" Ace questioned the girl who had wide eyes.
"Where did you hear that from?" Mirana asked.
"We met some dude named Che'nya back at the dorm." Enma replied.
"Che'nya.....?"
"Yeah, so could you tell us the details and what you know about Riddle?"
Mirana crossed her arms as she sighed. "Look, I'm not his childhood friend so I don't really know what information to give you."
"Huh? But he said you knew him since you were kids, doesn't that make you childhood friends?" Deuce asked.
"I did know him since we were children, but we're not childhood friends, our history together is far more complicated." She stated.
"Then what's your relationship with him?" Grim questioned.
"That is for you to find out in the future. Why don't you go ask someone else, I have my hands full for today, au revoir!" She replied with a smile as she ushered the group out of the kitchen before returning back to her work.
"In the end she didn't even tell us anything..." Ace sweatdropped
"Looks like Trey's our only hope now huh."
"Then let's hurry up, the sooner this collar is off the better." Grim stated.
Library
The group waited for the green-haired senior to arrive at the library. A few moments later he walked in as expected by the group. "Hello, Trey." Deuce greeted him.
"You four!"
"We figured that if we waited at the library, you'd show up to return your tart cookbook eventually." Deuce stated.
"We still got a problem with the way Housewarden Riddle is handling all of this." Ace exclaimed as Trey let out a sigh.
"Yeah, I thought you might say that."
"Come clean with us. What's your take on Riddle? Is it true you've been pandering to him since the two of you were kids?"
"Yeah and be sure to atleast tell us something, unlike henchman no.2." Geim said with crossed arms.
"What?! Who told you that?" Trey asked as he wore a shocked expression.
"A guy who called himself Che'nya." Enma replied.
"Che'nya... Huh. That explains it."
"What I don't get is, aren't you older than Riddle? Why haven't ya told him off already?" Grim curiously asked.
"I do when I need to. I don't think the situation calls for it."
"Why not?" Ace asked.
"These sorts of strict rules... They're what created Riddle. His parents were famous magical healers. Everyone where we're from knew their names. His mom was especially talented, and she really wanted Riddle to live up to her legacy. So, from the moment Riddle woke up to when his head hit the pillow at the end of the night... Every aspect of his life was planned, down to the minute, by the education program she made for him." Enma felt bad for the boy as Trey explained his past.
"Sounds pretty lame." Grim displayed a bored look, earning him a nudge from his supervisor.
"What he ate, what he wore, what soap he used, who his friends were - every last detail had been predetermined for him. And to please his parents, Riddle obediently completed every task they'd laid out for him. He mastered his signature spell by age ten. He's been the top student in all of his classes. I can't even imagine how hard he must have had it, especially since his dad ran away with his younger sibling when he was little."
Trey sighed. the last sentence seemed to catch the group's attention but decided not to question it and go back to the more important topic at hand.
"So it's his parents' fault he's like that? That sounds horrible... Though it seems more like his mom's fault." Deuce stated.
"Riddle sees the enforcement of strict rules as a service to his dorm members. In his eyes, being bound by rigid guidelines and by fear is a fast-track to personal growth. Because that's how it worked for him. And on the flip side, he sees the violation of those rules as an inexcusable offense."
"I guess that makes sense, since rules made him who he is." Deuce spoke.
"Look, I totally get why you see Riddle as a tyrant, and why you disapprove of his methods. But for me... I can't hold that against him, you know?" Trey said as he let out yet another sigh.
"...... All right, now I get it. It's YOUR fault Riddle's like this." Ace pointed towards the senior.
The others stared at him with pure shock. "What?!"
"Riddle didn't get to choose his parents.
But you know what his parents did to him, and you know it was wrong, right?" Ace questioned.
"I mean, yeah..." Trey replied with an unsure answer.
"Well, now Riddle's making the exact same mistake that his parents did. You're going easy on him because he had it rough as a kid? Don't you see where that's leading? You're letting him make a pariah out of himself!" Ace exclaimed while Trey could only look at him with guilt.
"........"
"Ace, man, come on..." Deuce tried to calm down the boy's mood.
"So why don't you say something? Are you just afraid you'll 'lose your head' too? That's pathetic! You guys are supposed to be childhood friends?! Then act like it." Ace finished speaking as he let out a scoff at the end.
"You there! Be quiet! You are in a library!" Crowley yelled at the group with an annoyed look as he approached them.
"You're yellin' louder 'n any of us, though!" Ace exclaimed.
"Oh! *Ahem* Yes, my apologies. But let us strive to maintain the library as a quiet place for reading."
"I'm sorry, Headmaster." Enma apologized along with Deuce.
"Well, at least you know better now. Incidentally, what are you all discussing with such grim faces?" He asked as he saw how down their mood was.
"Well, since you asked..." Deuce trailed off before he began explaining the situation along with Ace and Grim.
𝕋𝕠 𝕓𝕖 ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕖𝕕...