*
"And the blade whistles down as you call out my line..."
**
Unknown "Nightmare"
Y/n fluttered her eyes open, only to see nothing but grey. "*groan*... Where...am I...?" she muttered. She sat up and noticed a piece of cloth over her eyes. 'Am I...blindfolded?' she wondered before trailing a finger over the cloth and felt a sticky substance. From what she could see from underneath the cloth over her eyes, the substance was a dark color and felt familiar. 'It's ink... it seems I'm not completely better...'
She then heard someone enter the room, turning toward that direction, only to be pinned down by a stronger force. "No need for you to get up, my Once Upon a Dream." a soothing voice says. Y/n thought the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint where or who was the owner of such a deep yet soothing voice.
Y/n widens her eyes to see a completely black figure from underneath the cloth. For some reason, she felt her whole body paralyzed with fear, unconsciously trembling. "W-Who...did something...happen...?" she meekly spoke.
"I've heard about the incident where you've used magic without your Heart of Aurora...even casting that dangerous Song Art..." The figure started off, emitting a deadly aura. Y/n pressed her lips down, narrowing her eyes as she adverted her eyes toward the direction of the door, sensing two familiar auras standing outside.
"Oh...I guess I did cast Lullabye...I've forgotten about that." Y/n bluntly says in a monotone, trailing off a little.
The figure grew silent, a irk mark forming on his face. "What...on earth were you thinking?!" he roared, causing Y/n to flinch and turned her head up back at him in surprise. "You know full well about the dangers of using magic without your Heart! I even heard you were on the verge of overblotting yourself! So why...why?!"
"I had too." Y/n bluntly answered, wincing as the figure tighten his hold on her wrist. The figure than pulled her up, seemingly staring at her as she felt his fingers rub against the cloth that had ink absorbed into it. She aura he emitted made her shiver go up her spine before being pulled into a warm embrace. 'Who is...this person...'
"If only I could have you for myself..." The figure says, his hand behind her head while the other head her tightly. She felt magic around her as she heard something sprout from the ground and surround her. She panicked slightly as she saw the shadows belong to thorny vines, uncaging her with this person. "If only...only my love would completely thaw your heart. But don't worry..." he says. Y/n saw a crazed smile form. "One way or another...you will belong only to me. I don't care about anything else. As long as you're mine and mine alone. My love is the only thing you need...it's all you need." he says, his voice sounding insane.
And that is when she realize who the person was. "Is that...you Ṃ̸͊̊̈́-Ṃ̸͊̊̈́â̸̠̋l̶̘̫͚͎̟̙̺̼̦͈̋̽̔... *hic*" her breath hitched when she sudden felt lips press against hers. The kiss was utterly suffocating due to how desperate it was with a hint of twisted obsession.
The heated kiss made Y/n feel a wave of drowsiness fall upon her. She then moved her head back a bit for air, gasping. "Ha...Ha...W-wait a moment..."
The figure then pinned her down against her bed as a wave of magic made her feel more sleepy as lips pressed against hers, this time tongue was involved. 'So...tired...but why...why are you crying....Ṃ̸͊̊̈́â̸̠̋l̶̘̫͚͎̟̙̺̼̦͈̋̽̔l̶̘̫͚͎̟̙̺̼̦͈̋̽̔è̷̛̗̳͚̙͇̘͍͕̊̑̿͘͜ų̷͕̙͚͖̲̱̐̒̀̆̎̈͜s̷̠͕̪̥͐̌?' she thought before falling completely unconscious.
The figure lifted himself up and stared at Y/n's beautiful sleeping figure, listening to each breath she took. He then smiled and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight my dear...I'll be sure to give Leona a good lesson he'll never forget and win...for you, my Once Upon a Dream." he says before he began to hum a small lullaby.
"Sir. It's almost time for Diasomina's turn."
"Of course. You guys go ahead. I'll soon be there." He says to the other. He smiled when he noticed that the light of his soulmate mark glowed a bit before fading away. "Goodbye my love. I will await the day you'll remember me."
*
School Infirmary
Hours later...
"My goodness, Grim..." Isfrid grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Not only did you pull such a risky move but you ended up knocking Y/n out unconscious! You need to be more careful!" he shouted as the weasel.
"Myaaah...! I said I was sorry!" Grim whined from all the scolding as he stood on the side of Y/n sleeping figure with Isfrid, Jack, Ace, and Deuce standing on each side of the bed.
"...Huh?" Y/n groggily woke up and noticed that she wasn't blindfolded anymore. She felt like she just woke up from a scary dream, unaware that what had happened to her was real. But it's not like she'll remember it anyway so what would be the point of pondering?
"Hey, Y/n's awake!" Grim greets her with a smile of relief. Y/n looked forward to see Grim ontop of her stomach and then at her brother, her two consorts, and Jack, all looking relieved that she awoke.
"What happened?" Y/n meekly asked, slowly sitting up with Isfrid's help as he placed pillows behind her back to rest.
"At the start of the second half, Grim threw the disc right at your noggin and knocked you out." Ace briefly explained as he sat on the side of her bed, gently caressing Y/n's hand. "You don't remember?" he curiously asked.
"Not really..." Y/n answers, shaking her head.
"I was tryin' to steal our victory with a shot from way downfield...like you and Isfrid had done." Grim admitted, feeling bad for giving Y/n more injuries.
"You amateurs gotta work on your disc control." Jack chastised.
"I'm just glad you're awake." Deuce smiled gently before kissing Y/n's forehead. "You were out so long that I was starting to worry the hit had caused some real damage." he worried says.
"Yeah, you even missed the closing ceremonies!" Ace pouted a bit, agreeing with Deuce.
"They should be taking everything apart right now." Isfrid says, checking the time on his watch.
"Which dorm won?" Y/n asked with her head jerked to the side.
"The grand champion was Diasomnia House." A familiar voice grumbled out. Y/n looked to see Leona and Ruggie laying on the beds across from her. Y/n was a little dumbfounded at how relaxed the lion looked while the hyena had his hands behind his head, both feeling sore all over.
"In the end, there was nothing we could do..." Ruggie groaned tiredly. "It certainly didn't help that we took a beating from every other dorm on the way to the finals. What a miserable tournament this year was." he grumbled.
"Reap what you've sowed." Isfrid crossed his arms with a grin. Leona let out annoyed grunts under his breath since Isfrid and Malleus did the most of all the beating but he couldn't help but feel that the two were targeting him the most. He didn't really complain though, since he kinda did expect this.
"Housewarden! Ruggie!" Jack exclaimed, standing up from the chair he was sitting on.
"Tch...Bein' stuck in an infirmary bed for anything other than a mid-day nap is about as lame as it gets." Leona scoffed, clearly annoyed. "Even more lame that I couldn't at least rest next to kitten." he scowled at the ceiling.
"And what's worse? Not a single Diasomnia student ended up here." Ruggie grumbled with a pouty expression, clearly annoyed about the situation.
"Such a shame..." Y/n monotonously says, earning a groan from Leona and Ruggie
"I'd heard the rumors, but man, seeing Diasomnia's housewarden and Isfrid in action...They both do NOT mess around." Ace says, sighing heavily. He was quite in disbelief from the whole game.
"Yeah, you guys were incredible." Deuce praised, his eyes glimmering in admiration. "You wouldn't have believed it, Y/n!"
"Now I get why everyone thinks he's invincible. I can't even imagine taking him down unlike you guys." Ace says toward Isfrid and Y/n, rubbing the back of his neck.
"And with that attitude, you never will. You've let him beat you before you even face him." Jack blatantly says with a huff. "I haven't, though. Next year, I'm taking Diasomnia down. And I'll win by givin' it everything I got." he smirked with determination.
"Does 'everything' happen to include your capacity for evil?" Leona bluntly intervened.
"That doesn't sound like remorse to me." Y/n says, giving Leona the side-eye.
"Remorse? Who says I gotta have remorse?" Leona grumbled in reply. "I'm givin' next year's tournament all I got, too. And I am gonna do whatever it takes to win." he vowed.
"Shyeheehee! There's the Leona I remember." Ruggie snickered mischievously.
"I can already tell this isn't gonna end well." Jack sweat dropped.
"Of course it won't." Isfrid and Y/n bluntly spoke in unison.
"Next year, I wanna be in the tournament for real!" Grim says, raising his paw in determination.
"We need to practice so we can make the cut too." Deuce added, also determined to play on the team.
"Yeah, no kidding." Ace nodded in agreement. "No way do I wanna embarrass myself in Grim's kiddie league and let Y/n score most of the points again." he huffed.
"Unca! There you are! I finally found you!" A voice called out. Everyone turned to see a little red-headed boy with lion ears and a tail standing at the door with a bright smile on his face.
'A cub...?' Y/n tilts her head.
"Myah? What's a kid doin' here?" Grim asked curiously.
"Unca Leona!" The red headed boy greeted which catched Leona off-guard as the cub excitedly ran up toward him.
"Baaah. The screech box found me." Leona groaned in annoyance. The cub happily swished his tail left and right as he stood next to Leona's bed.
"'Unca' Leona...?" Jack questioned, blinking in confusion as Y/n stared dumbfoundedly.
"That furball's my brother's son, Cheka." Leona says, watching the cub began climbing onto his bed but it was proven to be a struggle for the five year old. "You know...my nephew."
"Your nephew?!"
Y/n blinked in surprise as she too stared at the cub struggling to get onto the bed. "So this is who's next in line for the throne...?" Ruggie asked in disbelief, feeling a bit awkward.
Cheka, with the help from Leona, finally got onto the bed. "I saw you play, Unca! You were so cool! Next time I visit, teach me how to play!" he innocently says.
"Fine, fine. Just stop screamin' in my ear." Leona grumbled. "Where're all your attendants? They gotta be tearin' their hair out lookin' for you!" he scolded the cub lightly.
"I couldn't wait to see you, Unca, so I left them all behind! Hee hee!" Cheka innocently giggled.
"The guards would only slow me down...so I snuck out of the barrier."
Isfrid sweat dropped upon remembering the times where Y/n would sneak out of the palace to enjoy the festivals or visit other regions of the empire. 'This cub...reminds me oddly enough of N/n...'
"So...the source of all Leona's anguish..." Jack began to say in a mumble.
"Is this innocent angel?" Isfrid asked, blushing from Cheka's cuteness. (For fluffs sake; do not take this out of context.) Y/n stared at her brother, blinking in confusion. Despite his icy looks, Isfrid happens to be a sucker for cute and adorable things that remind him of his sister.
"The heck...?" Y/n stared at Leona with a dumbfounded expression. "Out of everyone else...?"
"The kid sure seems to love everything about him." Grim mumbled with a sweat drop.
"Shut up, all of you! And stop gawkin' at us!" Leona exclaimed in a growl, his face completely red in embarrassment, especially in front of Y/n.
"So when are you coming home to see us, Unca? Next week? And when's the next time after that? Did you read all the letters I sent you?" Cheka asked, bombarding Leona with numerous questions, causing him to internally irk.
"Look, I told you, I'll be back for the holidays - Ow!" Leona yelped, taken off guard when Cheka happily sat on his stomach, accidentally increasing the pain. "That hurts! Get otta my stomach!"
"He's riding Housewarden Leona like a horse...?!" Jack exclaimed in shock as Cheka only giggled innocently in response.
"I bet he was hoping for Y/n to be the one to do that..." Ace mumbled with a pouty expression. The boys, minus Cheka obviously, blushed brightly before both Deuce and Isfrid slapped the back of Ace's head in response. "Ouch!"
"Pffft...Ah ha ha ha! This is priceless!" Ruggie shouted while laughing. "So THIS is why you never want to go home to visit your family!" he says, wiping away tears.
"Are you all Unca Leona's friends?" Cheka innocently asked in a curious manner. It was utter silence before the boys began holding their laughter with great struggle.
"Heh heh. Yeah, sure we are!" Ace grinned with his eyes filled with mischief. "We're your Unca's beasties! Ain't that right, 'Unca Leona'?" he asked with a teasing smirk.
"U-Unca Leona...!" Ruggie choked out. "Ahaha - OWWWWW! Argh, it hurts so much when I laugh..." he whined, clutching his stomach.
"Go ahead, laugh it up. I'm gonna remember this!" Leona vowed.
*flash*
While eveyone was still laughing, they all turned toward the flash of light that came from Y/n who held the ghost camera that she always carried. Luckily it was on the bedside table along with her uniform jacket during her rest. "What?" she questioned. "Queen Mother always says to treasure these type of...precious memories."
"Oh please give me a copy of that picture!" Ruggie and Ace asked in unison, laughing more.
"Whooaaah! A pretty big sister!" Cheka awed as he excitedly hopped off the bed and onto Y/n's bed. He then climbed onto her chest and hugged her neck. "You're so pretty! I remember you when we visited winter land!" he bright smiled as he snuggled his face against Y/n. The boys snickered slightly from how adorable and puzzled she looked.
"I see...it's nice to see you...again." Y/n softly says before she patted Cheka's head, making him let out a happy purr.
"Something tells me that she doesn't remember them meeting..." Ace mumbled with a nervous grin.
"Of course she doesn't..." Isfrid sighed.
"Ha ha ha..." Deuce chuckled nervously in response.
"Pretty Big sister? Are you my Unca Leona's girlfriend?" Cheka suddenly asked, having the normal curiousity of a child.
"W-What?! S-She's not my...ur...she's uh..." Leona stuttered, not knowing what to say due to how flustered he got.
"Not yet." Y/n bluntly answered.
"Whoa! So would that mean you're soon to be my Auntie?" Cheka asked, his eyes sparkling so innocent and sweet.
"I guess so..." Y/n nodded meekly.
"Yay! Unca Leona and Auntie sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Cheka happily sang. "Hey! Maybe I can also marry Auntie! Right? Right?! And then we can do the kissing mom and dad do all the time!" he innocent asked. (Please don't think weridly about this. He is a child. Obviously he wouldn't know about these sort of things like damn)
Leona immediately hopped off his bed and picked up Cheka by the collar of his shirt. "THAT'S ENOUGH FOR YOU, TIME TO GO TO YOUR BODYGUARDS!" he flusteredly exclaimed. "AND SHE'S MINE. YOU CAN'T MARRY HER!" he clarified, causing Cheka to giggle as he left the infirmary with the cub.
The confession made the boys and Y/n dumbfounded before Isfrid, Ruggie, and Ace burst out in a fit of laughter, with Ace and Isfrid dropping to the floor. "BWAAAHAHAHAHA!"
"I can't....! *Wheeze* ...I can't breath! I think I might actually die from this!" Isfrid shouted as he clutched his stomach while rolling on the floor laughing and wheezing.
"Same! See you in the afterlife! Ha ha ha ha!" Ace laughed as he too clutched his stomach.
"Shyahahahaha! That was pure comedy gold!" Ruggie laughed as well.
"Shut up! Y/n is trying to rest!" Jack shouted, scowling at them as Deuce sweat dropped as he covered Y/n's ears who just jerked her head to the side in confusion.
*
Lumikuinen Dorm - Your Room
"Hmm? Is this coast clear?" Grim mumbled to himself, turning his head left and right to see if Isfrid or Y/n were nearby. Then, the weasel heard Isfrid scream from the lounge upon getting an unexpected jumpscare from the game he and Y/n were playing with two other gamers. The game was called the Mimic, an eastern horror game inspired by the urban legends of the east. "...Heh heh. Finally, the moment I've been waitin' for!" the weasel says as he shut the door behind him and took out a familiar black stone.
"I've been holdin' onto this baby since I secretly snatched it up at Savanaclaw House!" Grim says, already drooling slightly. "I wonder what these things are? Meh, who cares? Finders keepers, losers weepers! Down the hatch it goes!" he says, putting the stone into his mouth. "Mmmmmm... This one's got a real mature taste—slightly bitter yet tangy on the tongue." he tasted. "Those dumb humans don't know what they're missin'! Ahhhhh. Now that I'm full... I'm gettin' kinda...sleepy..." he says, walking onto the bed and immediately laid there. "*Snooore*"
*
After an hour or more, Y/n had slid open the shoji door before yawning tiredly after finally finishing the newest chapter of the Mimic, book 2 chapter 1 Jealousy. "Well, that was quite a day..." she says while entering her room and closing the shoji door behind her before noticing that Grim had fallen asleep on the bed.
"*snooooore* Mnyah mnyah mnyah... *snoooore*" Grim mumbled in his sleep.
"Good night, Grim." Y/n says before turning toward her closest. "Guess I should...*yawn* ...get to bed too." she yawned. She walked toward her closest and undressed herself, being careful and slow to not create any stress on her healing body. After that, she grabbed her night gown and changed into it.
Now that she was changed, she noticed something about the mirror. It began to glow. "Is the mirror...shining?" she muttered but immediately shrugged it off but that was before she saw something inside of the mirror.
"*snooooore* Mnyah mnyah mnyah... *snoooore*" Grim was completely unaware of what was going on due to him being in a deep sleep.
"What was the deal with that black shadow...?" Y/n mumbled in confusion before laying on the bed and placed her eyemask over her eyes and slept.
*
Octavinelle Dorm - VIP Room
"Sales at this year's Spelldrive tournament were up 12% compared to last year. Not a bad haul." Azul commented with a smirk as he looked over at the reports and ledgers. He sat with one leg over the other at his desk while Floyd sat on one of the sofa, resting his feet on the table and had his hands behind his head with his dorm hat over his face.
"Yeah, but this year we ended up closer to the bottom of the tournament rankings than the top." Floyd whined, pretty salty about their score but Azul just shrugged it off.
"Just so long as we weren't at the very bottom." Azul says, pushing his glasses up. "Let's not forget that Spelldrive is nothing more than a game in which students run around chasing a disc like dogs in a yard. Now, a school event more worthy of the full attention of Octavinelle House might be, say...Final exams." he smiled, quite eager for it.
"Manager." Jade says, walking into the VIP room. "We received an urgent message from a client. He wishes to speak with us tonight at the lounge, in person." he informed.
"Urgent, you say?" Azul says, before placing his quill down which was a fish skeleton. "Very well. Now, we'll have to prepare a special welcome for them." he smirked as he stood up from his chair. "I do look forward to learning more very soon. Heh heh heh." he laughed before he noticed a picture frame of a certain crown princess peacefully asleep on a tree branch. Birds were on her horns as some small animals laid on her lap with her wings sways with the wind.
The picture was obvious a very beautiful sight. Azul smiled widely in a twisted manner as a golden contract appeared, floating above his hand that was a very 'special' one saved for HER. "Ahh! My lovely Angelfish." he moaned as his eyes widen with a twisted obsession in his eyes. "Soon...you will be here in my warm embrace...only have me take care of you." he cooed, hugging the picture frame of the crown princess tightly.
"You mean 'us' taking care of Sea Angel?" Floyd boldly corrected, having a crazed look in his eyes as he glared at Azul who scoffed.
"Yes, yes. 'Us'." Azul rolled his eyes. "Jade. Floyd. Be sure to make final preparations for the tank. Make sure it's just as beautiful as she is." he ordered. "Oh...and tell the guest that I'll be with him shortly."
"Yes, sir." "Fine..." Jade and Floyd nodded in unison, before they did their own crazed smirk toward each other, eagerly awaiting for the day of her arrival.
As the twins walked out of the room to do the final prep, Azul let out another moan as he kissed the picture of HIS Angelfish. (Author chan panicking: What it the Shuu Tsukiyama?! Why do I hear you're voice.....?!) "I'll be the only who'll protect you...After all, just like under the sea...land is a cruel place for someone as ethereal as you. You will belong to me and me ONLY. Aha ha...Ahhh ha ha ha!" he darkly laughed madly as a blush formed on his face.
Unknown to the merman, his shadow smiled in amusement.
"With my help...you will receive the most precious heart of your love"
*
~The End of Book 2: The Usurper from the Wilds~
~Book 3: The Merchant from the Depths coming soon~
*