Cassandra could feel her eye twitching as she looked over the scene before her.
She, Griffin, and the rest of the tired looking Court stood in the mostly empty cafeteria. Ace and Deuce were trying to help Grim get out from under the chandelier that had fallen on top of him, by pulling the black cauldron on top of it off and trying to pull him through the metal bars of his makeshift cage. Said chandelier had turned two wooden tables to splinters with the impact of its fall, and all the lights on it had completely shattered. Cassandra wanted to scream.
"What in fucks name happened?", Cassandra hissed out as her eyes started to glow and she felt her face heat up in anger. Ace and Deuce, who had just managed to free Grim after yelling loudly and falling on their asses, flinched. Grim practically jumped and tried to hide behind the other two idiots in question.
"I-uh-well, you see, the thing is-", Ace started nervously, before he was interrupted by a resigned Deuce.
"We fucked up.", he said simply. Cassandra glared at him.
"You're damn right you did. Details, now.", she hissed out, fangs bared for all to see. This time, it was Ace who spoke after sighing in resignation.
"Well, it's kind of a long story..."
—--------------------------------------------
Twenty minutes earlier
Ace, Deuce and Grim had finished their personal shopping and had left their items with Griffin (aka, the designated 'keep people from doing stupid shit' person in the Court) and were now standing out in the humid air outside the shop (or in Grim's case, laying on Deuce's shoulder), bored out of their minds. Ace sighed.
"What the hell is taking them so long?!", Ace yelled out to no one in particular. It was Deuce who answered him.
"Cassandra is still talking with that Sam guy. Something to do with the new dorm she's making.", The spade marked man said with a shrug. Grim groaned.
"I wish she would hurry up! I'm so bored~!", Grim whined with a huff. Suddenly, the shop door squeaked open. The three looked back towards the noise, hoping to see Cassandra, and were disappointed to see Shorter and Griffin carrying everyone's personal shopping. Ace frowned.
"Where's Cassandra?", he asked, annoyed. Shorter sighed.
"She's still talking with Sam. She's likely going to be awhile, so we went ahead and had everything rung up, here.", Shorter said as he held out two large paper bags. The Heartslabyul duo noticed they each held their things and took their designated bag.
"You probably don't want to carry these around all day. Take them back to your dorms before your next classes, you should have enough time if you hurry. And before you start complaining, Grim, Ash is ringing up the groceries inside and is going to take those to the dorm along with your things.", Shorter said, quickly adding on the last bit when he saw Grim's furry little face contort in adorable anger.
"Sure.", said Deuce with a nod that Ace soon copied, and with that, the three began the trek down the dirt road to the mirror gate.
The walk was filled with a comfortable silence, and it wasn't until they climbed through the gate back to the mirror chamber from Heartslabyul that Grim broke it.
"You know, I've been wondering, when the hell are you two going to man up and confess?", the familiar asked slyly and out of the blue as the trio walked to the Heartslabyul gate. Both of the men in question felt their eyes widen as they turned back to the grinning creature in alarm.
"We-We have no idea what you're talking about.", said Ace, his voice higher than normal. He felt his brow start to perspire as he spoke.
"Ye-yeah Grim, confess what? What do you think we did, commit a crime?", stuttered Deuce, who began to laugh nervously, something Ace began to mimic. Grim looked unamused, forelegs crossed and eyebrows raised.
"You know what I mean. Why the hell haven't you two told Cassandra you have the hots for her?"
The Heartslabyul duo felt themselves jump as he said that. Shit, they were busted!
"How the hell do you know that?!", Whisper yelled Ace, not wanting anyone else to hear his confirmation despite the fact the mirror chamber was empty, save for the heart marked young man and his two companions. Grim smirked.
"Please, a blind man could see it! You both act and smell like two animals in heat when you're with her! So, why haven't you told her?"
The two jumped again, and Ace answered once again, cheeks burning scarlet and fists and eyes clenched shut in frustration.
"Because it's hard, okay?! There's a lot of things to think about, and you don't understand any of it! This is a human thing, so keep your thoughts to yourself, you damn cat!"
That last word made Grim widen his eyes, before he narrowed them in anger.
"'Damn cat'? Well, if you guys want to be jerks, then two can play that game! If you won't tell Cassie, then I will!"
Ace and Deuce braced themselves in alarm.
"You wouldn't dare!", Deuce said. He wanted everything to be perfect when he confessed, to be all romantic and stuff! Hearing 'Deuce loves you' from Grim was not romantic! Grim grinned evilly.
"Try me!", he said, flying over to the mirror gate to the store, only to be blown away from it by a gale force wind Ace cast at him with his magic pen thanks to some quick thinking.
"Wha-hey!", yelled Grim as he was blown into the wall between the Pomefiore and Ignihyde mirrors with a loud 'thump!', before sliding onto the ground comically. The familiar rubbed his head and growled, before he flew out the door of the chamber and down the stone corridor. Ace cursed.
"Crap! We've gotta catch him and shut him up!", Ace yelled as he started sprinting after the familiar.
"But what about class?!", Deuce yelled after him. Ace didn't even look back at him as he ran.
"This is more important!", the red haired young man yelled back as he rounded a corner. Deuce cursed as well, and after a moment's consideration, ran after his dormmate and his crush's familiar.
The three played cat and mouse for a while, dodging students and ignoring the yelling of teachers for them to 'stop running in the halls'!. Soon, they came to the cafeteria, which was now empty due to lunch being nearly over. Grim looked around frantically as he realized he had trapped himself. Ace grinned manically and Deuce glared at the panicking creature.
"Nowhere to run now, you little shit! Now, you're going to keep your muzzle shut about us and Cassandra, or I'm going to turn you into a parka!", Ace yelled out threateningly as he pointed his magic pen at Grim, with Deuce following suit.
Grim had to think fast. The two humans were blocking the only exit. He looked all over the place, trying to find a solution to his problem, until he glanced up and saw the large iron chandelier. He had an idea.
The familiar then grinned at the two evilly, confusing them until he flew up to the ceiling and perched himself on the rim of the chandelier.
"As if, Trampola!", he yelled out, before sticking his tongue out at the enraged duo below. Ace growled at the infernal nickname.
"Quick, knock him down, Deuce!", Ace yelled as he turned to the navy haired man, who looked at his dormmate lost.
"Why me?! And how am I supposed to do that?!", he yelled back. Ace groaned.
"I don't know! Throw something at him! And because I said so!"
Deuce grumbled at his friend and then tried to think of something to knock the cat-like creature down. It had to be something large and heavy.
'Something large and heavy... ah-ha!'
"I summon thee, cauldron!", the teal eyed man yelled out, and from above, a large, black cauldron fell. Grim barely had time to scream before the mouth of it covered him and sent the chandelier crashing down with a deafening 'CRASH!"
The crash destroyed two of the long, wooden lunch tables in the cafeteria. Glass and wood dust flew everywhere, and the two idiots who had caused the whole mess looked at the disaster before them with wide, unblinking eyes.
It was at this moment they knew, they had fucked up big time.
—-------------------------------------------------
"... and that's what happened.", finished Ace with a sigh, watching his fellow Court members and Cassandra look at him with tired and annoyed expressions. Even Skip was giving him the look!
Cassandra sighed and rubbed her temples.
"So let me get this straight. You and Deuce got into a fight with Grim. He ran away because he wanted to skip class, you chased him here, he climbed onto a chandelier, and you thought it was a good idea to throw a caudron at him to make him come down.", Cassandra said in a deathly calm voice, relaying the censored version of the story Ace had told so Cassandra wouldn't realize how he felt at the worst possible time. Grim hadn't said anything due to the fact he hadn't been serious when he told the guys he was going to tell Cassandra about how they felt. He had just been messing around with the guys he now considered friends, not to mention the fact Cassandra probably already knew how they felt. She was observant, and Skip's stories about her detective work had confirmed that. He hadn't meant to take the joke this far, but he had seen the look in the two first year's eyes and panicked.
Grim felt awful. This was all his fault.
Cassandra closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, then exhaled, before opening her brightly shining yellow eyes and letting her features morph into an angry snarl.
"What the hell were you idiots thinking?! I mean a cauldron?! Really?! Who the hell just throws a cauldron at someone to make them come down from somewhere! You could have killed someone! And Grim! Why the hell did you try to skip class?! If you had a reason for not wanting to go, you should have told me! We could have talked about it! I wouldn't have made you go if it was valid! And why did you climb up there in the first place?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is!? And Deuce, why did you just go along with this?! I mean really, this is ridiculous! You had no reason to do any of this! None of you!"
Ace and Deuce lowered their heads in shame, and Grim felt himself begin to cry as Cassandra yelled at him. She was still trying to be understanding, even when she was mad. It made him feel even more guilty for lying to her.
After a few more minutes of yelling, Cassandra finally stopped. She took a deep breath, and let her features soften as she saw the guilty expressions on Ace and Deuce's faces, as well as the tears streaking Grim's.
Walking over to the trio, she put her hands on the two Heartslabyul student's heads. The two looked up at her with surprised and guilty eyes as she touched their cheeks gently, before looking down at a hiccuping Grim, wrapping her arms around his torso, picking him up, and placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. After that, Cassandra turned Grim around in her arms so he faced her and looked him, Ace, and Deuce in their wide, glossy eyes.
"I'm more worried than mad. You guys could have seriously hurt yourselves, and I don't know what I would have done if that happened. I'm sorry I yelled, I just wish you guys would think before you act.", Cassandra said in a gentle, soft voice.
"We-we're sorry too.", said Grim, still sniffling and crying a bit. Both Ace and Deuce solemnly nodded in agreement. Cassandra kissed Grim, and to their surprise, Ace and Deuce on their foreheads before she stood up and offered them her hand with a soft smile. They both took it, first Ace and then Deuce, and dusted off their uniforms. Cassandra then turned to the rest of the Court and began to speak.
"Now we've just got to deal with-"
"What in the name of the Seven happened here?!", an annoying, high pitched male voice yelled out. Turning around, everyone saw it was their Headmaster in the now open doorway, an expression of shock and anger on his face as he seemed to start pulling at his hair. Cassandra internally groaned.
'Speak of the annoyance and he shall appear.'
As he stomped towards the group, Cassandra wondered how he knew about the incident already, before realizing he either had some form of security system or the crash was loud enough to be heard from his office. When Crowley reached Cassandra, he gave her a glare with his glowing eyes he probably thought was intimidating, but was really just mildly amusing.
"What did you and your band of alien miscreants do this time?!", he asked as he gestured to the disaster that laid before them. Cassandra looked at him unamused.
'Haven't even been here two full days and we're already being subjected to fantasy racism. Joy'
"My familiar and two of my latest Court members got into a scuffle and broke two tables and a chandelier. I sincerely apologize on their behalf and I intend to-", Cassandra started, only to be interrupted by the annoyance before her.
"I knew that familiar of your's was trouble! I never should have let it stay here!", the feathered annoyance said as he glared at an already very emotionally vulnerable Grim in her arms. Cassandra growled. Yeah, ok that was the final straw. Screw being polite, this guy was a Karen in an emo stripper outfit and he needed to go.
"Ok, first of all, we already established at the entrance ceremony that you don't have the authority to decide if he stays or goes. Second of all, his name is Grim, stop dehumanizing him. Third of all, he wasn't the only one behind this. The two newest Court of Miracles members I told you about are those boys over there,", she gestured to a nervous Ace and Deuce. "Who are just as responsible for this as him, so stop pinning everything on an intelligent, sentient being with the emotions and mind of a young child who is scared enough as it is, you xenophobic, pick-me boy, twink. And finally, if you had let me finish, I was going to say that I will cover the cost of the chandelier and two tables, so for the love of your precious Seven, stop yelling. No one likes the sound of your voice, it sounds like half a dozen alley cats having an orgy."
Cassandra finished that entire tangent in one, deep breath and started to inhale deeply once again as Crowley's shocked and horrified expression contorted into one of anger.
"Never, in all my years as headmaster, have I ever been so insulted! You and your little band of merry men just bought yourselves an expulsion!"
Cassandra glared up at her supposed better and started to debate the pros and cons of just ripping his heart out and burning his body, before deciding the last thing she wanted was to draw unwanted attention and instead, chose to take a different route.
"Then I propose a compromise, headmaster.", Cassandra said with an evil smile, hissing out the last word with as much venom as possible. She began to circle Crowley, something he nervously began to take notice of.
For all his bravado and arrogance, he could not deny that he found Cassandra Mikaelson utterly terrifying. She was like Mr. Draconia in aura and power, but with Mr. Kingscholar's instincts and views.
A truly terrifying combination indeed. One he hoped his status as headmaster of one of the most prestigious magical institutes in the world would keep him becoming a midafternoon meal for.
Unfortunately, that was proving not to be the case.
"A-and what would that be, Mrs. Mikaelson?", he stuttered out. Cassandra felt disgusted with both his cowardice and arrogance. Pathetic, his student gets a little upset with him and he loses his nerve. Truly, this man was one of the most detestable people she had ever met.
"I will pay you double the money I would have for the damages, and you leave us alone. Sound fair?", Cassandra asked. Nervous, dull yellow met brilliant, confident gold. Crowley glared at her with as much malice as he could muster through his fear.
"No, it most certainly does not sound fair. I, for one, do not believe you could pay me 2.5 billion madol just like that. No patron would give you that much money to pay for something like this, that is, if you even have a patron.", Crowley said imperiously. Cassandra glared harder at him.
"What?", she asked, feeling her blood boil in anger at being called a liar.
'Oh how easy it would be to make you suffer. I could just stare at you and have your blood boiling in your veins as you beg for the sweet release of death...'
Cassandra banished her murderous thoughts, albeit reluctantly. She had put on repeat the constant mantra of 'Remember why you're doing this' as she glared up at her headmaster. She did not want to leave this place, least of all the people here. The tribrid briefly glanced at Ace and Deuce, and then saw all the new faces she had met here flip though her mind's eye. Kalim's huge grin, Rook's mischievous smile, the sleeping face of the silver haired boy, Sebek's flustered face, Sam's crooked grin, Professor Crewel's small, proud smile, Lilia's intriguing smile, the dorm leaders, each so very interesting. Even Professor Trien and his small, nostalgic smile.
No, she wasn't going anywhere.
"I find it hard to believe that, in the span of a single night, you acquired enough money to cover these damages. I can believe that you fixed the dormitory with a powerful spell, but madoles have spells on them that prevent counterfeiting, so you need not keep up the act for the sake of attention."
Cassandra felt both her eye and her hands twitched. Oh how she longed to ring his scrawny neck. Taking a deep breath, she gave the headmaster a bone chilling smile paired with a glare as she continued her encirclement.
"Well then, if you won't take my money, what do we have to do to remain students?", She asked in a voice that promised death if he didn't come up with an answer. Thankfully, the idiot took the hint.
"I suppose you could retrieve another magic crystal from the dwarf mines. The crystal is the one thing I can't have replaced, so if you bring me another one by the end of the day, I'll repeal your expulsions.", Crowley said, smug in the belief they would never find one in the dried up mines. Cassandra raised an eyebrow, knowing this as well, but shrugged it off. Nothing was impossible, and where there's a will, there's a way.
"Very well then. You'll have it by morning light tomorrow.", Cassandra said with certainty, surprising the headmaster. He might have said something more, but a look from Cassandra told him the conversation was over. He then quickly left.
As he passed through the doorway, he did not notice the orange haired young man hiding behind one of the double doors, his green eyes wide after what he had just witnessed. This was worth being late to advanced potions.
Looking down at his phone, the young man flitted through the video he had just filmed. He had just caught the entire argument between the student and headmaster on camera. He couldn't believe what he had just seen, talk about tea! This Cassandra chick was something else, not to mention 'step on me' levels of hot!
Hearing the woman plaguing his thoughts start to speak again, the gentleman took this as his cue to get the heck out of dodge, jogging to class as he opened Magicam and started to type out a post with the video attached.
"Trouble on the first day, Night Raven College headmaster gets roasted by hot dom lady first year and first female student. #DragonVsRaven #RoastedBird #HeNeverStoodAChance #StepOnMeMommy #CallOut #WhoAreTheCourtOfMiracles? #NewDormRebels #FirstYearDrama #ProtectTheHoard.", the grinning young man mumbled to himself as he typed at record speed, reading over what he had written one last time before hitting the 'POST' button and giggling to himself a bit.
This was going to get him so many followers!
And so the plot thickens. Will the mystery man that we all know the identity of's post affect future events? Most likely. Will it get it's own chapter? Most likely. Will Crowley ever get a redemption arc? What do you think I am, a miracle worker? Next time, more talking and the start of an epic quest!
So long and Good night, Thackery Binx