Making her way up Main Street, Kat looked around.
Grim was perched on her shoulder, eating the crusts of her toast.
They'd found a cleaning cart by the front gates, complete with broom, trash can, rake, and one of those garbage-sticky stabby things. It bumped across the cobblestones, rattling as she pushed it along.
In the daytime, the campus really wasn't so bad... It was actually fairly pretty. Very stately, and not as creepy as it had looked last night in the dark.
Students were walking towards the building-- and yep, there wasn't a skirt in sight.
Not that all girls in school uniforms HAD to wear skirts, of course. In her experience, though, at least SOME of them preferred wearing them over pants.
These uniforms were pretty good, though... Way better than the polo-shirt-and-khakis combo from her Catholic school.
The main part of the uniform appeared to be black suit jackets and slacks, button-up shirts, and black-and-white striped ties that some kids had tied in a bow instead of a tie. Everyone wore colored vests underneath the suit jackets, and ribbon armbands on their left arms, with bronze badges holding them in place.
There seemed to be a lot of different colors, and the armbands matched the vests.
God, was this actually a Hogwarts House thing? Or were the different grades color-coded?
All in all, it was a pretty classy look... Honestly, she wouldn't object to wearing it if she had to.
Definitely beat polo shirts....
"Uwaaah-- so this is Main Street, huh?" Grim said, looking around with wide eyes.
"Amazing..."
A few crumbs fell out of his mouth, and she brushed them off her shoulder.
The passing students gave her sideways glances, some whispering behind their hands to each other.
She ignored them.
Like she cared what a buncha' teenage boys thought...
Okay, she kinda did, but not too much- just the standard level of social anxiety.
"I didn't get to see much of it yesterday," Grim continued, ears swiveling as he tried to take in as much as he could.
"Hey-- what's the deal with these statues?"
She looked up.
Sure enough, there were statues-- carved out of gray stone, several figures stood on top of short pillars, four on one side of the path and three on the other.
"One, two, three, four--" Grim counted. "Seven of 'em... Wonder why they're here?"
Kat blinked, tilting her head slowly as she frowned.
These statues....
She was sure she'd never seen them before, but...
"They've all got kinda scary faces," Grim continued, stuffing the last of the crusts in his mouth and swallowing.
"Like-- this lady over here... She looks pretty mad, right?"
He pointed.
Looking in the direction he indicated, she frowned.
"Huh.... Yeah, you're right."
The statue was of an older woman... How old, she couldn't exactly tell, forties or fifties, maybe?- with her hair in a bun.
While the expression on her face was theoretically serene, there was a patronizing, cloying feel to it, like it was entirely fake. She kinda had Karen vibes...
The dress she wore was pretty nice, though. It had an Elizabethan feel to it, with those blocky hip-pads and the high stand collar.
She also had an undersized crown perched on her head, and what was probably a short heart-shaped scepter or wand in one hand.
"You don't know the Queen of Hearts?"
Kat jumped.
Turning around, she blinked.
There was a student standing behind her.
About the same height as her, he had a cheerful face and a wiry build, with a messy mop of red hair.
His shirt was unbuttoned to just above his collarbone, with his tie done up loosely, giving him a casual air, and his vest was bright red, with a matching armband.
For some reason, he had a big red heart around the outside corner of his left eye. She couldn't tell whether it was makeup, a tattoo, or possibly some kind of really coincidental birthmark.
"Queen a' Hearts?" Grim repeated, tilting his head.
"Is she famous or somethin'?"
The student laughed, rocking back on his heels.
"A reeeeal long time ago, she was a queen who lived in a huge maze of roses," he informed them.
"It's said that she valued order above all else-- she wouldn't tolerate a single rose being the wrong color, or any of her playing-card soldiers being a second out of step. Basically, she ruled over a kingdom of madness... But not even one of these totally mad subjects even DARED to defy her."
Taking a few steps back, he waggled his eyebrows, crossing his arms behind his head.
"You wanna know why?"
Kat glanced sideways at Grim, then shrugged.
"It seems like you're gonna tell us anyway," she said flatly.
"HA!"
The student laughed.
"Okay, then-- it's 'cause the punishment for breaking even a SINGLE rule was..."
He drew a thumb emphatically across his neck.
"...IMMEDIATE decapitation!"
"Weh!" Grim yelped, cowering against Kat's shoulder.
"Y-Yikes! That's seriously messed up..."
Kat frowned.
Queen of....
She put her fingertips to her forehead, closing her eyes for a second.
Ugh-- it felt like she might be getting another headache...
"Huh, really? No way-- I think it's cool!" The student objected, hands on his hips.
"Actually, I'm a big fan! I mean... If a queen was all kind and soft-hearted all the time, nobody would bother to obey her, right?"
"Hmmm..."
Grim rubbed his chin, brows knitting.
"Yeah, I guess... A leader's gotta be strong after all, right? But, puttin' that aside..."
He pointed a paw at him.
"Who are you, anyway?"
The student grinned, rubbing the back of his neck.
"The name's Ace," he chirped. "I'm a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed first-year here as of... Today, I guess!"
He laughed again.
"Pleased to meet'cha!"
Grim jumped down off her shoulder, walking up to Ace with his paws on his hips.
"I'm Grim!" He announced proudly, chest puffing out.
"A magical prodigy who's plannin' to be the greatest mage who ever lived! Oh, and she--"
Here he gestured vaguely back at Kat. "She's my hench-human, Kat-- but she's not that interesting."
"Nice to meet ya, Grim!" Ace said, crouching down and shaking his paw.
"And..."
Standing back up, he gave Kat a curious look.
" 'Kat', huh? Name's got kinda an odd ring to it... Ah, not that it's BAD, though!"
He laughed again, putting his hands up. For some reason, he had a single black leather glove on one hand.
Kat rolled her eyes, waving dismissively.
"It's fine..."
Stepping forward, she extended a hand. "Nice to meet you-- but I'm not anyone's hench-ANYTHING."
She shot a glower at Grim, but he was looking the other way, pretending not to notice her.
Ace took her hand in both of his, giving it a hearty shake.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Kat!" He beamed, releasing her hand and stepping back.
"So," he added, hands in his pockets with a casual air.
"You're a chick, right?"
Kat rolled her eyes again, bending over the trolley and picking up the battered broom.
"Are you asking for my preferred pronouns?"
"Uh-- I guess," the redhead replied, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward grin. "I mean-- I'm a guy, and mine are, y'know, he, him... Got 'em when I was born and never really felt the need to change it up. You?"
Straightening back up, Kat brushed some hair behind her ear.
"Same here, I guess... I mean, I'm a girl-- well, woman, technically... So I use she-her and never felt like I needed to change mine, either."
"Cool, cool, cool," Ace nodded, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"...Say, how old ARE--"
"Hey, hey, Ace," Grim interrupted, tugging at the boy's pants leg insistently. "Who's that lion with the scar in his eye? Is he a famous person, too?"
Ace laughed.
"Of course! That there's the King of Beasts, who ruled the savannah."
Kat tilted her head, looking at the statue.
It was of a lion, sure enough, standing on the tip of some kind of cliff.
It was lean and slim, with a slinking sort of energy, and there was a scar cutting across his left eye.
"He wasn't BORN to the throne, though," Ace continued, leaning back to look up at the statue.
"He had to earn it-- through all kinds'a elaborate schemes, and lots of hard work. When he finally became king, he decreed that the hyenas-- who used to be hated and persecuted by all the other animals- would live among his subjects as equals."
Turning away, Kat started sweeping some leaves off the cobblestones.
It wasn't that she wasn't interested-- this was pretty interesting, actually.
But her ADHD couldn't sit through the whole spiel of backstory, so after she'd gotten a good look at the statue, she had to go and do something else for a while.
Also...
For some reason, the headache seemed to go away when she wasn't thinking about what Ace was saying.
"Woooow," she heard Grim say. "Sounds like a real stand-up guy! Not everybody could look past social status like that... So, what about this lady with the octopus legs?"
Kat looked over her shoulder.
The statue in question was of another woman, with a body type she thought Reubenesque might be the right word for. If she wanted to be less polite, though, she could have just said 'round'.
She looked a little older than the Queen of Hearts, with short hair, sticking straight up like she was underwater.
It looked like she was wearing a strapless dress, but instead of legs, her body ended in eight twisting tentacles, flaring out like a skirt. She was holding a scroll in one hand, giving a knowing smirk with half-lidded eyes.
"Ahhh... "
Ace nodded sagely.
"That's the Sea Witch, who lived in an underwater grotto deep beneath the ocean's surface. Basically, she devoted her entire life to helping unfortunate merfolk."
Kat's heart leapt in her chest.
M-merfolk?!
She glanced at Ace, trying to see if he was joking or lying. No way-- were merpeople real in this world?! Oh man, oh man-- she really wanted to see one....
Of course, a pretty mermaid would be preferable, but a merman, or just a plain old mer, would be sick, too... As long as she could see one!
Ace continued.
"As long as they were willing to pay the price, she could change their appearance, help them find love-- pretty much anything! They say she was so good, there wasn't a single wish she couldn't grant. Although..."
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he grimaced meaningfully.
"They also say the price was more than a little steep... If you know what I mean. But hey, for wish-granting, it'd HAVE to be, right?"
Ahhh... Kat nodded.
Yeah, a 'be careful what you wish for' situation, right? Like-- like...
A throb of pain interrupted her thoughts, and she staggered slightly, hissing through her teeth and closing her eyes again.
God-- was she allergic to this dimension's air or something?
"Nyaha!" Grim laughed behind her.
"So basically-- once I become a great mage, I can get rich, too?!"
Kat shook her head, opening her eyes again and moving a few feet away to the next patch of leaves.
Yeah, I don't think that's what he meant...
"Ooh, ooh-- do the guy with the big hat next!" Grim urged, and Ace laughed again.
"Sure can do!" He agreed, walking up to the next statue with Grim hopping at his heels.
Picking up some pieces of garbage, Kat looked over curiously.
This statue did indeed have a big hat... Well, maybe a turban would be the more appropriate term.
It was of a tall, thin man wearing robes, with a vaguely middle-eastern feel that she unfortunately couldn't quite place. Even if she could, would this world even have the same countries as hers in the first place?
He looked to be somewhere in his fifties or early sixties, with high cheekbones, a strong nose, and a skinny goatee that fell in a curl off his chin.
One hand was on his hip, and the other held a cobra-headed staff almost as tall as he was.
"That's the Sorcerer of the Sands," Ace explained.
"He was the most trusted advisor to this total idiot of a king-- uh... No, wait, I think it was a sultan, actually. Anyway-- what matters is he was a real capable guy, alright? One time, this guy came into the palace... Some kinda swindler or something, impersonating a prince to trick the princess! Well, the Sorcerer here saw through him right away, and exposed him in front of everybody! After that..."
He looked at Kat and Grim again, grinning.
"He got this magic lamp-- and became the greatest sorcerer in the whole world! Oh, shit--"
The broom clattered to the cobblestones. Kat staggered sideways, eyes squeezing shut. A throb of painful greenish light swirled behind her eyes.
"A--Are you okay?!" She heard Ace's voice ask, and felt Grim tugging at her pants leg again.
"I... I'm-- fine..."
Her hand found the handle of the cart, and she leaned on it, blinking hard.
"Are ya SURE you're okay?!" Grim asked.
He had both paws on her shin like he was trying to support her if she fell.
"Aw-- buddy..."
She laughed quietly, pushing her glasses back up.
"Yeah... I've been feeling kinda off ever since I got here, but I'm probably just a little iron-deficient again.... I'll buy some vitamins with our first paycheck, okay?"
She looked over at Ace, giving him an apologetic smile.
"Sorry... What were you saying?"
"Uh... Oh! Right--"
Clearing his throat, Ace shook his head, the smile reappearing on his face.
"Okay-- so after he got all that power, they say he used it to become the sultan himself! Cool, right?"
"Ho-ho," Grim nodded, one paw at his chin as he nodded pensively.
"So a mage ALSO needs to be an excellent judge of character, huh? And-- ummm....."
Looking around, he perked up.
"OHHH! Say, what about this person?!"
Dropping onto all fours, he skittered over, standing in front of another statue.
"Wow-- she's a total beauty! Whatta babe..."
Kat gave him a weird look, moving forward and looking at the aforementioned statue.
It was another woman, who looked pretty human, as far as she could tell...
Ace walked up behind them, hands behind his head.
"Heh-- good eye!" He grinned, waggling his eyebrows.
"Actually, she's a queen who was said to be the fairest in all the land."
Kat looked back at the statue.
"Oh, wow..."
Sure enough, the woman was breathtakingly beautiful, with an exquisite face and a model-like frame.
She wore a long, flowing robe-like dress with sleeves that reached the ground like a Heian-era kimono, with a hood or cowl... What was that called, a wimple?- over her head and neck.
A cape, also with that stand-up vampire collar, was fastened at her neck with a large round brooch, and a spiky crown sat on her forehead.
She was gazing out imperiously, one arm held out elegantly to the side. In her other hand, she held up a...
Kat squinted.
Was that a... Tiny jack-o-lantern?
"In fact," Ace was saying, "she used her magic mirror to check and make sure she was still the fairest, every single day! And when it looked like her position might be threatened, they say she'd go to ANY lengths necessary to keep it. Man..."
She looked back at him. He was shaking his head, eyebrows raised.
"Can you even imagine the level of dedication it'd take to keep a record like that? I mean, like-- the fairest in the whole world, that's nothing to sneeze at!"
He grinned again, putting his hands on his hips.
"Oh-- but don't think she was just a pretty face, though. Legend says that she was also a total master at making the deadliest poisons imaginable!"
"Oh, yikes..."
Grim shuddered, taking a few steps back while giving the statue an apprehensive look.
"She's really pretty, but that sounds kinda scary... N-No thanks."
"Really?" Ace said. "I think it's kinda cool... I mean, you gotta respect the hustle, right?"
"Huh... Y-Yeah, I guess you're right," Grim agreed cautiously, nodding.
"I mean-- fightin' hard for what's important to you and never givin' up is always cool, right? Even though the poison thing is still kinda scary.... Hey, speaking of scary--"
Standing up on his hind legs, he tugged at Ace's pants again, pointing at another statue.
"How 'bout that guy with his head on fire? He's TOTALLY scary, no matter how you look at him!"
"Heheheheh...."
Ace got a mischievous expression on his face, leaning over Grim and wiggling his fingers spookily.
"You've got that right.... That's actually the king of the dead!"
"Wheh!" Grim yelped, backing away with his ears down.
"N--No kiddin'..."
Kat looked over.
The statue was of a man in Grecian robes. He looked younger than the Sorcerer of the Sands-- in his thirties, maybe? Early forties?
He had a long, bony face with a prominent chin. Theoretically, he had a friendly grin on his face, but somehow it didn't look quite right. The fact that he had rows of big, pointy teeth, like a shark's, didn't exactly help.
That wasn't the only thing, though. Honestly, the more Kat looked at him, the more she felt like he was trying to sell her a used car...
Sure enough, his hair looked like fire.
It was high up on his forehead, giving him the impression of a receding widow's peak hairline, but spilled down the back of his neck like a mullet. One long, spindly hand pointed up to the sky, with a single carved flame at the tip of his index finger. His other hand was spread out to the side, one eyebrow raised like he was showing off a sleight-of-hand trick.
"The whole underworld's packed full of all kinds of rambunctious spirits," Ace said. "But he ruled over all of them and single-handedly kept them from causing any trouble-- that takes some real competence!"
Hands back in his pockets, he took a few steps towards the statue, then turned to face them again.
"Sure, he may LOOK scary-- but believe it or not, he was a straight shooter who worked tirelessly at a tough job that he never even asked for in the first place. I mean--"
He laughed again, shaking his head.
"This is a guy who could order Cerberus, the Hydra, and even the Titans into battle for him, right? But he still worked just as hard as anybody... Actually, probably even harder!"
"Mmmmm...."
Grim crossed his forelegs, nodding slowly.
"Yeah, that IS something.... Havin' that kinda power but not lettin' it go to his head-- I guess humbleness and diligence IS important no matter what, huh?"
"With great power comes great responsibility," Kat said under her breath.
Ace snapped his fingers, pointing at her with double finger-guns and grinning. "Exactly! Hey, not bad-- did you come up with that yourself, or...?"
"Huh? Oh-- uh..."
She grimaced awkwardly, putting her hands in her pockets.
"It's just a... N-Nevermind.."
Grim, meanwhile, was still running up the row of statues, coming to a halt in front of the final one.
"An' what about this last one here, with the horns?" He asked, jumping up and down excitedly.
Ace strolled over, hands in his pockets again.
"Ahhh... That's the Thorn Fairy, who made her home on a mystical mountain," he said solemnly.
This last statue was also a woman-- a very tall woman.
She was actually similar to the Beautiful Queen in a lot of ways...
For one, she was also wearing a flowing robe and a cowl.
Her face was also quite beautiful, with frankly stunning cheekbones and a kind of timeless aura that made it difficult to pinpoint her age.
She could have been anywhere from her thirties to a really, really good-looking sixty...
It did look like she had horns, but she couldn't tell if they were real or one of those weird medieval hats that ladies used to wear. She was also repping the Vampire Collar Gang, and held a tall staff in one hand. The jagged hem of her sleeves gave her a batlike, swooping feel...
Was she really a vampire? Or no, maybe it was more devil-y or dragon-y, with the horns?
But wait-- Ace had said 'fairy', right?
If she was, she must've been the scary, mythically-accurate Celtic or European kind...
"She was noble and elegant, and a total master of magic and curses-- even by the standards of these seven!" Ace was saying.
"She could command storms and lightning, cover whole kingdoms with thorns in an instant.... No matter how you look at it, she could use magic on a totally massive scale!"
Turning to Grim, he crouched down, leaning in conspiratorially.
"She could even turn herself into a giant dragon-- can you believe it?!"
"Oooohhhh..."
Grim looked up at the statue, mouth falling open with his eyes wide.
"Wow.... A dragon... The role model and idol for all of monsterkind!"
Ace laughed, putting a hand between Grim's ears.
"I know, I know," he agreed, giving him a friendly ruffle and standing back up. "Totally cool, right?"
He strolled forward a little, then stopped, turning and looking over his shoulder.
He was still smiling, but suddenly it didn't seem quite as friendly and fun-loving as it had before.
"....Nothing like some lame little raccoon I know, though."
_______________________________________
Ah yes.
Here he is.
My asshole son.
Deviantart recolor of Kaito Kuroba from Magic Kaito 1412/Detective Conan.
Also, can you tell I really like writing descriptions yet?
.....Really though, what ARE the Heartslabyul gang's face markings? ARE they makeup?
They have them on in their PE uniforms, so if they are, they must set and seal the everloving shit out of them to make them stay on during all that.
Is it only the card suit four who have them?
Riddle doesn't have any, and since the background characters don't really have much of a face, who knows if they have them too?
In their ceremonial robes, they're black, but since everybody wears makeup in their robes, they could have just traced over them with some black eyeshadow or something, so they could still be birthmarks or tattoos or whatever.
This is gonna be bugging me forever now.
I kinda wish we HAD gotten to stay in Heartslabyul during chapter 3, 'cause if they ARE makeup they'd probably take it off before going to sleep, right?
@Yana Toboso drop the lore.
Also the lore on how the mer-to-human potion works.
(MINOR CHAPTER 6 SPOILER)
When Azul is talking about it in chapter 6 he says that it's like a prescription and Floyd forgets to take his sometimes and keeps changing back, but how do they change back if they DO take it as prescribed?
Like the tweels in chapter 3 and 4, they seemed to be able to change back and forth as needed.
Are they water-activated?
If they are, how did Azul manage to keep his human form at the Atlantica museum?
Also, do they have to take off their clothes, or is it like H20 or Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch rules, where the clothes just vanish and reappear when they're human again?
GIVE US THE LORE, TOBOSO-SENSEI. GIVE IT TO US.