**
Headmage's Office
"I recognize that voice..." Riddle mumbled, his eyes still widening from shock as a familiar person walked inside the office and gained everyone's attention.
"Greetings, Headmage! My little imps! My precious Yuki Onna!" Sam waved. "You seem to be in a bit of a bind," he says with a friendly smile.
"Hello, Sam," Azul greeted. "Why am I not surprised you have an internal radar for desperate customers - ah, sorry, 'business opportunities'?" he asked with a closed eye smile.
"Neh he heh," Sam grinned with a wink. "My 'friends in the shadows' tipped me off, actually," he informed. "Let me guess, Headmage - is THIS what you're in the market for?" he asked, taking out a glass bottle with a wing mark in the middle and golden powder inside.
"A vial of golden power, hm?" Malleus observed. "I take it that's fairy dust,"
"Why, yes!" Sam beamed. "Good eye, my horned imp friend. Fairy dust is the source of power for the fairies living in the Faeland. The way I hear it? No dust, no flying, fluttering, or even floating for them. Faeland fairies keep themselves coated in the stuff at all times. Which means, conversely...Anyone with fairy dust sprinkled on them counts as part of the crew! With this on you could sneak into the party like you were planning!" he revealed.
"I hear the Faelanders treasure fairy dust so much, they appoint an official Dustguard to safeguard it," Malleus recalled, somewhat impressed. "And yet you have an entire vial of in your hand. How did you come to acquire it, Sam?" he asked in pure curiosity.
"Trade secret. I'm afraid. Neh heh heh," Sam chuckled.
"Normally I'd prefer to spare such expenses, but the Fairy Gala leaves me in no position to refuse. I'll be purchasing that fairy dust! Bill it to the school." Crowley says.
"Thanks! Pleasure doing business with you." Sam winked, giving the vial to Crowley.
"Well, that takes care of one problem," Crowley says in relief. "We have our means of disguising someone as a fairy. But this is a tiny vial. This must dust won't be enough to cloak every housewarden present. We'll have to nominate someone to infiltrate the Fairy Gala with Y/n." he informed.
"This event is a hotspot for fairy-world elites," Malleus reminded sternly. "Our nominee will need to carry himself with grace and refinement. He'll also need convincingly glamorous attire, of course." he listed.
"Indeed," Crowley nodded in agreement. "The ideal infiltrator will need to know his way around parties for the upper crust," he adds.
"Incidentally, I have it on good authority that the theme of this year's Fairy Gala is 'windswept'!" Sam announced.
"'Windswept,' you say?" Crowley hummed. "That sounds evocative of breezy, broad stretches of land. Hmmm..."
"...." Everyone would immediately turn their eyes to Kalim and Leona.
"What?" Kalim tilted his head in confusion upon noticing their stares. "Do I have something on my face?"
"Hey, don't look at me," Leona demanded.
"In the Faelander's eyes, I believe you two would have the most 'windswept' look," Malleus stated.
"Agreed. Savannas and desert environments certainly qualify," Vil noticed, agreeing with Malleus.
"As a poor excuse for nobility as he is, Leona IS a royal," Azul grinned. "And Kalim is the heir to the most prominent and wealthy family in all of the Scalding Sands,"
"Yes, I should think they'd both know their way around a gala," Riddle nods.
"Leona and Kalim get my vote. Are we done here? K, gg," Idia nonchalantly stated.
"I'm sure our two infiltrators will have many preparations to make, so this would be a good point to adjourn," Azul suggests, having a mischievous smirk.
"I wasn't invited to start with unlike Y/n here, so I'll just see myself out," Malleus mischievously smirked.
"I need to make preparations for the party..." Y/n says, standing up as everyone but Kalim and Leona quickly leave.
"My," Crowley sighed in disbelief. "How quick everyone is when they want to get out of something. And there you have it, boys. The continued peace and well-being of our school is in your hands,"
"Count me in! I'm all too happy to help," Kalim beamed excitedly.
"Well, count me OUT," Leona scowled at the Headmage. "Why should I have anything to do with infiltrating some dumb party? Let me be clear: I HATE schmoozing. Galas? Gag. Balls? Barf. Et cetera,"
"Kingscholar, consider the possibility that Asim fails in his endeavor and spring is not forthcoming," Crowley says, suddenly whispering as he got oddly close to Leona. "Wouldn't you be among those most affected by that state of affairs, as a feline beastman? A perpetual winter would sap you of your drive,"
"..." Leona eyes glared toward Crowley.
"Savanaclaw has many beastman students and I imagine that temperature changes do them no favors," Crowley continued. "They'd have trouble staying active. Your dorm's performance and energy would plummet drastically. Are you willing to accept that risk?"
"Tch. Fine, whatever," Leona had no choice but to agree as Crowley moved away from the lion, happy with the desired outcome.
"Woohoo!" Kalim cheered. "A fairy party! This is so exciting. Say, it is okay if I bring Jamil along for this? I'd hate for him to miss out," he asks.
"By all means," Crowley nodded happily. "In fact, I insist you do. I'd certainly rest a lot easier that way. You could use an attendant yourself, Kingscholar. Someone to keep you honest and prevent you from stealing away the moment I'm not watching. Hmmm...How about Howl, your fellow Savanaclaw student? He's diligent sort," he suggests.
"Are you serious? That's guy's the textbook definition of inflexible. And with him around- ....." Leona paused, his hand over his forehead. "Point is, I'm ruling him out. Make it Ruggie,"
"Bucchi? Are you sure your motive there isn't having someone who will follow your lead and enable you to skip out on your duties?" Crowley asked in suspicion.
"Do you trust me or not? If you don't, take me off the infiltration team," Leona smirked mischievously.
"How can a student of this school be so selfish when his home away from home is facing a crisis?" Crowley wondered in disbelief. "I'll assign your gopher - ah, I mean, a mediator who will report back to me in a timely manner. I've already called them over, in fact,"
"Could it be who I think it is?" Kalim wondered.
Then the door opened just in time. "What can I do for you, Headmage?" Y/n once more, entered the office with two others. Isfrid and Grim.
"I see yet another absurd assignment coming," Isfrid sweat dropped, having a popsicle in his hand as he sucked out it.
"It's as hot as a desert at Lumikuinen Minka! Y/n and Isfrid were forced to take shelter in Diasomnia!" Grim huffed, now comfortable with the cold temperature. "The whole place is gonna be uninhabitable for those us among the livin' if someone doesn't do something about this, STAT," he exclaimed.
"I knew it!" Kalim chuckled. "Y/n is back with Isfrid and Grim! You're getting in on the Fairy Gala too, huh?" he asked toward Isfrid and Grim. "I couldn't ask for better backup. Welcome aboard!" he happily welcomed.
"All these herbivores...I'm not gonna sheep dog, for the record," Leona groaned in annoyance.
"I'm not a fan breathing the same air as you, but where we are?" Isfrid huffed, crossing his arms as he smirked. "It's quite obvious you need a pet sitter to make sure you're doing your job," he mumbled, earning a growl from Leona since Isfrid purposely wanted him to hear.
"You don't have to be afraid, Leona. I'll make sure to look after you!" Kalim innocently offered.
"Excuse me?" Leona asked with a dumbfounded expression.
"I see a fight is brewing already," Crowley sweatdropped nervously. "All right, Isfrid, listen up please! Since Y/n is attending the gala...Your job is to keep an eye on our infiltrators and ensure they don't cause problems at the Fairy Gala along while keeping Y/n from exposing us,"
"Yes, sir!" Isfrid saluted.
"Why would I expose them?" Y/n asked curiously.
"It's because you'll soon forget about the whole operation..." Isfrid kindly explained.
"The success of this operation is riding on you!"
*
Lumikuinen Minka - Lounge
Jamil and Ruggie met everyone inside of the Minka lounge after Isfrid spread the news. Since the Minka was dangerously hot as Scarabia, Y/n and Isfrid were soaking in a frigid ice bath with multiple fans blasting cold air at them. Y/n was completely under the water, playfully blowing air bubbles while Isfrid sat in the front of the tub with one of the electric fans blowing cold air into his face. They didn't even bother in removing their clothes.
"KALIM," Jamil exclaimed. "Why, WHY must you always sign up for trouble on the spot?" he scolded. "How many times have I told you to say, 'I'd like some time to consider it' before agreeing?!"
"LEONA. You have GOT to stop dragging me into these messes," Ruggie scolded as well, also unamused. "You just wanna dump all your dirty work on me!"
"But everyone needs our help," Kalim bemoaned. "I'm sure if we all put our heads together, we'll do juuust fine," he assured.
"Oh, get over it. It's not like I wanna be here, either," Leona grumbled.
"But it's a fairy festival! Don't you want to see that at least once?" Kalim asked.
"Do you even understand what's at stake here?" Jamil asked with a deadpanned expression. "We're not going to sup bubbly and discuss the weather! ...Er, actually, we kind of are, but no matter," he sighed after realizing his own choice of words.
"If you want me in, giving at least ten thaumarks an hour for my time. Then we can talk," Ruggie demanded.
"Sheesh," Grim sweatdropped with a dumbfounded look as he stayed close to Y/n's cold bath to keep cool as Isfrid was just as dumbfounded. "All they do it bicker, bicker, bicker,"
"So damn annoying," Isfrid groaned before putting his head underwater.
"I hope you guys are all ready to get held back," Y/n bluntly stated as she raised up from her laying position, resting her head on the bath's edge. "And I'm not allowing whole student body to attend Northern Lights Academia either,"
"Grgh..." Jamil flinched. "That would be unacceptable. If Kalim got held back a year, it would be an embarrassment to the Asim family name. Unlike another royal family I shan't name, House Asim is a family of merchants that can't afford to have their heir get labeled as indolent," he said in annoyance.
"Hey. I heard that," Leona growled.
"Good grief," Jamil sighed. "You're right that we're just wasting time here. We're not in a position to say no at this point regardless. Let's do as Y/n suggests and get to work on a plan,"
"All we have to do is swap out the tiara, right?" Kalim asked. "Sounds like enough of a plan to me,"
"That's a goal, not a plan," Jamil corrected. "The tiara is sitting on the queen's head, right? We need to work out how to make the actual switch,"
"Can't we just use magic to levitate it all sneaky-like off her head?" Kalim innocently asked.
"Fae are much more sensitive to magic than humans are. Can't you tell that much from Malleus, Y/n, and Isfrid?" Jamil replied. "This is the queen of the Faeland we're talking about. We should assume they will immediately notice even the slightest use of magic,"
"Yep. You're right about that," Leona nodded.
"A bunch of mages that can't use magic at all. Cool. That's a right constraint right outta the gate," Ruggie sighed.
"Don't be thick. That's where you come in, Ruggie," Leona revealed with a sly smirk plastered on his face.
"How do you figure?" Ruggie asked nervously.
"You'll swap the tiara the queen's wearing for the fake. Directly. By hand," Leona answered, smirking more.
"Wait, WHAT?! ME?!"
~To be Continued~