"Ready for me to un-paw-se?" Was the last thing said , before a Blue fired Hell reigned down upon them
—————
"WATCH OUT!"
Narrowly dodging the sapphire flames
She pushed the Scarabia housewarden out of the line of fire, as to save his rear from being set aflame , Accidentally knocking both of them down in the process, with her landing atop of him.
"Whoa! Are you ok?? That was a close one"
His turban was slightly disheveled, his eyes seemed to skim her for injuries , obviously in no way processing or paying mind their awkward position on the floor.
"Im not the one who's ass almost got set on fire, so I'm fine for now, lets get you out of here"
"Wait , but I need to help-"
Knowing the other occupants of the room had most definitely seen her knock over the Heir, she had a feeling if his retainer found out that she had protected him, only to let him go straight back into the fire,
Well, she didn't like her odds of her hope of not running into the Snake Charmer in the first place, and if she added that scenario on top, it wouldn't end well for her, and she mistakenly stated as such.
"And have Jamil fry me for dinner?
No thank you, now c'mon"
As the sunrise eyed boy took her extended hand ,however , he noticed her slip in her commentary before she could think of a cover up for it and questioned it, to her dismay.
"Wait, how do you know Jamil-"
Pulling him through the chaos , she attempted to dodge his inquiry as best she could, running down the hall to get away from the flames.
"For now , you don't need to know, and it would cause me alot of problems if anyone did know , and I don't intend to get you dragged along the Highway to hell and a pit stop at Hotel California with me and- shit , Ignore everything I just said"
She mentally slapped her forehead as she realized that not only had she said too much , Kalim wouldn't even get the references she made in the first place
"Uh..ok.... Oh! Your names Ophelia , right? I'm Kalim! Kalim Al Asim, its nice to meet you!"
𝑶𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒂, 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝑮𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒆𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆
"Yea , Ophelia ..uh Avillon..? Its nice to meet you to-"
She was muffled by a mound of fur
Her face had crashlanded into something extremely fluffy, making her almost leap in panic
"What are you pups doing here at this hour?"
𝑨𝒉 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕
---------------------------------------------------
After explaining the situation the best they could, Kalim being dragged off by a 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 pissed Jamil midway through while Ophelia hid in Crewels coat rack, and prayed the bodyguard didn't detect her existence.
After the duo left , she added in the whole "From a different world & can't go home so I've been resigned to Ramshackle " , "Campus Cleaner" and "Lack of basic Necessities" part to the explanation , even though it technically hadn't happened yet , this was her chance to weasel out of those burdens while she still could, and she wasn't about to pass up that opportunity.
Presently, she nervously shifted in the chair across from the Alchemy teacher as he clicked his tongue in disappointment
"Hmph , typical of that buffonish bird to fail to keep even a small litter of pups in of line, and try to use a lost and homeless pup as a campus cleaner to boot, Detestable. I will request for you to be put under my care for the time being,
That Fool isn't to be trusted with such important matters"
𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘
Taking out a notepad , a glossy gold backing with the with light red paper , black and white underlines still became filled with ink as a Dotted black and white quill danced across it
His voice was laced with a slight french accent , combined with bits and pieces of Polish tones
"I will make sure to discuss this with the rest of the faculty, and we will be going into town to shop for clothing, necessary items and general stock at some point in the near future.
If you ever are in need of anything , you are to come to me immediately, I will not be having a pup from my kennel disregarding their wellbeing, understood?"
Nervously fidgeting with the hem of her robes , she responded hastily ,almost jumping in her seat
"Yes....uh..Sir?"
"Professor Crewel is just fine, now."
Placing the quill back into its holder , he eyed her with a mix of concern and suspicion, as if trying understand what she was thinking.
"Are you completely sure you're content with staying in that utter eyesore of a dorm, pup? I can arrange-"
Waving it off, she attempted to act as natural as she could without gaining un-needed pity, straying as far as she could from cast members unless required was her go-to from now on.
"Hey, atleast its got a roof, right?
I've slept in worse, plus, I wouldn't have to worry too much about weirdos considering most people won't go near it"
"Since you seem so adamant about it, I'll approve it , but I intend to give it a much needed makeover sooner or later if you are going to stay. So-"
He stopped as he noticed she had somehow made it to the other side of the room and was attempting to quietly escape , now she just nervously held the doorknob , avoiding eye contact as best she could as he stood up abruptly, staring her down.
"Where do you think your going?"
Still holding the door, she quietly murmured
"Uh..to Ramshackle..? Its been a long day and-"
Crewel cut her off instantly, crimson eyes narrowed, somehow making his eyeliner seem sharper then it already was
"Not dressed like that you aren't. And your certainly not going without a guide, either"
Why can't anything here be simple
———————————————————————
After thirty minutes or so , Crewel had fitted her with a "Fashionably Oversized" hoodie, which he had somehow sewn in mere minutes, a cloud white with black spots decorating the fabric , he had also sewn in his signature on the back.
Along with that , she donned with a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, the latter at her insistence, and to Crewels disappointment, nonetheless.
Folded satin pajamas for the evening , clothes for the week, and a hairbrush next to a bag of general necessities laid dormant on her lap in a small pouch as she patiently waited for Crewel to finish talking to whomever had volunteered to be her guide to Ramshackle.
This is why the games have timeskips , huh
I can't believe I agreed to this
Suddenly, Plum & magenta fur entrapped her vision, oddly comfortable and soft to the touch, like Cotton Candy.
"Che'nya? Is that you"
As her sight became once more unblocked, she felt a small weight on her lap.
Looking down, low and behold, was the Trickster in question, nuzzling her arm happily.
However, he looked a bit...different then usual
"Mreowwwww"
A Mainecoon like cat seemed to be his form of choice, coloring a perfect match to the original Cheshire cat patterned on his fur, however, its facial features remained that a normal cat, for now, atleast.
With Che'nya, that could change very quickly
"What do you want? You shouldn't be here you know, you might end up as Crewels next scarf if he sees you!"
Citrine eyes only stared back at her with an emotion on its face she couldn't really name, but something between "You underestimate me" and "I do what I want"
Pawing her arm, lines of golden words appeared where he had pressed, like a press on Tattoo of invisible ink.
"What did you...?"
I'm here to earn you some favor with your guides , one is easily enamored by felines
Put in a good word for me , I quite like the eldest , he's quite intriguing, don't you think?
I might be able to pull an "A Whisker Away"
If I remember correctly, he quite likes that movie, so why not bring him a real life version? Oh but Its the purrfect opportunity, No?
The simple beginning sentence had put her mind into orbit , not processing much of the other text, before she could start spiraling, she began hearing two voices resonate from down the hall
"It won't be as bad as you think, Nii-san!"
The first of the voices sounded straight out of Vocaloid , yet somehow, she swore sure heard a slight Latin accent, which she guessed was Greek,
The second confirmed this theory, more or less.
The voice was much deeper, and not anywhere near as electronic. It sounded almost raspy , as if its bearer hadn't drunk water in days, and if a voice could sound depressed, this one surely did.
"No way. Didn't you see the footage of her and Mr.Sunshine? Next thing you know, she'll knock over a vase in the Monstro Lounge.
I only agreed to go because you really wanted to, ok? I doubt she'll even care about me being there Plus , She's practically the textbook definition of the whole "Random cute girl gets Isekaied into an all boys school where they all fall for her" trope. Protagonists like that are almost always-"
Muttering to herself , she quietly raged at the assumption, her distate of that trope running deep within her.
"I fucking hate that trope..."
Wait...was one of those voices robotic?
Curse her good hearing , she had heard them so closely the whole time that she didn't realize they had been opening the door when she had stated her distaste of the trope aloud, which, given how one set of Ambrosia eyes near shrunk with fear, did not go unnoticed
"Did you...hear all of that?"
Her face flushed with a lily tinted blush, Her embarrassment almost mirroring his own
"...kinda.."
As an uncomfortable prolonged eye contact made its way between the living teens , Ortho began looking back and forth at between them, obviously trying to process the situation while being oblivious to the awkward tension that surrounded it.
Thankfully, Crewel managed to get things moving, obviously not intent on extending the length of his overtime more then he needed to.
"If the two of you keep staring at each other, your eyes might just freeze in place. Now, its already quite late, so be off before I lock this office with you in it-"
Lifting his gaze from his purse to the trio, the blood red irises gave its own unspoken a warning, yet Crewel decided to say it aloud, just incase it wasn't clear them.
"And no funny business, especially from the both of you
Shroud, keep an eye on that little brother of yours . I better not see any disintegrated classrooms this time, or you will both face severe punishment, understood?"
The eldest made a combination of a mutter and a squeak of "Yep" in reply , whereas the younger imitated a sailors salute with a gleeful "Yes sir!", seemingly unconcerned about the mention of his past destruction of property
"Alright then , Off with you, and take good care of the new pup"
Che'nya floated to rest on her shoulder as they left the room , unseen by Crewel, luckily.
———————————————————————
"Its..nice to meet you both. My names Ophelia."
"Its nice to meet you too! I'm Ortho, and this is my Big Brother, Idia!"
The small boy looked at his sibling expectantly, obviously waiting for him to speak. The programmer awkwardly pulled his hood closer , obviously having no intentions of joining in, only to be met with a stern glare.
"Nii-san! You should atleast say hi!"
If he had a full face, she was sure he'd be Angry-pouting at the moment.
Barely glancing up, the eldest waved half-halfheartedly.
".........Hi."
Their communication pretty much ended there for awhile, leaving her even more anxious then before.
𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍, 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝑻𝒀𝑿 𝒐𝒓 𝑶𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒐'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆.
The dark halls seemed to drown in silence,
Blue fire giving the only light in the darkened halls, making it all the more eerie
The smallest of the group, be it not by much, was trying his best to break, or perhaps, melt the ice between the group, 80% of it coming from the two socially anxious members of it.
By sheer luck on his part, he noticed Che'nya, still in his cat form, lounging in her hood comfortably, and instantly had an idea, and attempted to initiate a new conversation with it.
"Your cat seems very trusting of you, Miss Ophelia. Your very lucky!
My brother always says he can't wait til the "cat distribution system" chooses him!"
Idias shy and silent composure seemed to flip itself around at the word "cat" , almost giving her second hand whiplash from how quickly he turned in her direction, eyes scanning for the feline in question.
"You've been here a DAY and you've already got chosen by a cat? You must be one of those lucky people who get SSRs without even trying to!!"
She recounted in her head the amount of times she'd gotten a Limited SSR when she simply wanted one of the SR's
"Oddly enough, I am. If you'd like, you can pet him. His names.....Shire."
Lifting Che'nya out of her hood, who was still slightly surprised at his new naming, she sidestepped around Ortho, and allowed the feline chaos maker to leap into Idias arms and settle down comfortably, snuggling into the fabric of the housewardens hoodie
A Robotic giggle filled the air, if its owner had a mouth, the smile on it would be blinding with childlike glee.
"See Nii-Chan, this isn't so bad! You've made a friend who not only has a cat, but plays video games too! Maybe, if you invite her over to play, she can bring Shire too!"
"Ortho......are you even sure she plays more then Gacha-"
Taking full offense to his incoming assumption, she responded before he could even finish his sentence, more or less out of spite .
"I'm up for any games you got, but I'm not all that great at Shooters or Tycoons.
If I had to place where I'm best, I'd be Story and Multiplayer RPGs , especially open world,
Retro Arcade games and Dungeon Crawlers.
Though, with some games, I have been known to get lazy and read the Manga if it has one, if not, the game script works too."
The Sharper of the two sets of Ambrosia eyes in the room ogled her in disbelief, his shock seemly mutual to Ortho's .
Even Che'nya, who had been in the process of moving onto Idias shoulder, looked somewhat surprised, as much as a cat can look surprised, anyway.
"You've gotta be kidding me.... YOU'RE a huge ass nerd? There's no way"
"Uh..yea I am? Why do you seem so surprised?"
"Most people I've met in this school actually have lives, y'know? So I didn't think it was too far of a stretch to assume that! Plus, you're the definition of a classic Isekai protagonist-"
In the middle of his high speed- rambling, he gestured one arm towards her frantically, then began counting on pale fingers.
"Isekaied here? check . Conventionally attractive design? Check. Animal Companion? Check Sticks out like a sore thumb? Check. Definitely has hidden lore? Check.
You're pure Main Character material , so that only added to the "Actually has a life" theory : Source: Me!"
Crossing her arms, she sighed excessively, mostly for dramatic effect, but part of it still retaining her current emotions.
"I have a life, its just a disaster. "
Now walking in between Idia and Ortho, she began scratching the off-brand Mainecoon behind the ears, doing her best to ignore how odd this situation felt to her in many ways.
"So video games and manga are my personally beloved escapes, and It gives me a way to bond with people from who knows where online, and it's less anxiety inducing when they don't know anything about you, unless you tell them."
"Tell me about it...., Chatting online is so much easier then IRL."
Ortho, who had been quietly petting Che'nya, quite literally lit up with an idea, his flaming hair turning a brilliant yellow momentarily as he turned to his brother.
"Nii-san, why don't we give Miss Ophelia the extra tablet? Since she isn't from this world, I doubt she has one with her!"
"You mean tablet Mom sent by accident?
Do you have it in your inventory?"
"Yup, Right here!"
Out of thin air, Ortho produced a thin, floating blue tablet. It felt as if she was looking at a device from 70 years in the future, straight out of a
SCI-Fi movie
"It hasn't even been set up yet, not a single byte used, still completely fresh!
Great for a new student, especially one with a brand new pet!
You can use a map or view security feeds if he gets lost, send videos and pictures of silly things he does to your friends-"
If a lightbulb could appear atop someones head, just like a cartoon, one would of appeared over Idia Shroud at that moment, as a wicked grin spread across his face.
"That gives me an idea...."
As she looked from the Automaton to its Creator , completely puzzled , she couldn't tell what the mental exchange here was, but she hoped it didn't include , in the words of Crewel :
"Another Incinerated classroom"
"Whats going on here? Is there something I'm missing?"
A gremlins smile creeped onto Idias face, as if planning evil, which was likely the case, as he cut her off
"You know, only a noob forgets their tech during alter-dimensional travel.
So, as a starter pack deal from a veteran of this world , I'll give you this tablet in trade for.........
......dun dUn DUN"
Lifting Che'nya into the air, , who simply mewed yet without protest, the Housewarden and felines posing mimicking the "Simba" scene near perfectly.
"Unlimited Cat Visitation Privileges!"
Part of her had predicted this outcome, but she was still left puzzled, and slightly suspicious, as he continued
"This also includes bringing him to me in Ignihyde if Ortho is AFK . Since you'll need special access to get around the dorm, you'll have to get Admin Privs, which unlocks some new level maps for you:
The kitchen, the library, VR room and soooo much more.
All for just the small price of shared cat custody, Pretty sweet deal right?"
All razor pointed teeth could be seen within his grin, fully aware she wasn't going to refuse such a good deal, he had spent enough time around Azul to learn a thing or two about negotiation
Ortho decided to chip in aswell, trying to sell his elder brothers proposal as best he could
"Also, way, you two can communicate even after tonight, and maybe even play some games together! Since your using a device connected to our families databank, you'll be able to play and watch almost anything you want!"
The younger brother was seemingly oblivious to Idias reaction of pure internal screaming at his former part of the statement as he joyfully floated around her to pat Che'nya on the head.
Turning her gaze to Che'nya, she looked to him to see if he was ok with it, to which he simply nodded, causing the slight jingle sound once more.
"Thats it?"
"Yup."
"I feel like that tablets too expensive for just having Shire visit every so often..."
"Nothing is too expensive for quality cat cuddles"
"Fair enough, Deal"
As they continued down the halls toward the main gates, Ortho helped her set up the new tablet in the beginning, ID, phone numbers and such, only for Idia to "borrow" it halfway and start adding features left and right after stating it was "normie-fied" by the default mechanics and settings.
a 3D map of the school, lists of recommendations for games and manga , "Extroverts: Who to avoid and Escape routes" and a ton of other high tech features and other nonsense she couldn't understand now resided on her tablet, including a levitating feature, which she was sure was going to give her a stroke from thinking she would drop it when she let it go to float in the air.
She was also 80% sure Idia set her ringtone to this worlds version of a Rick Roll
————————————————————————-
As they neared the school gates, Ortho boosted forward , floating gleefully as he waited for the bickering pair to catch up
"Rookie numbers."
"What do you mean "Rookie numbers"
Its worth 1 million in this world, and 100.000 in mine! Its an First Edition from 22 years ago!
I wasn't even born yet when it came out!"
"I've got cards worth 10x that in my collection, and 3x older. so compared to me, you've only barely breached SR tier card collector, so , still Rookie numbers in my book."
"Whatever, Hadestown."
Finally reaching the gate, she rested her back on the cool stone archway, fully ready to fall asleep at any moment, baited by Che'nya napping peacefully in her hood, as if taunting her
I need get to Ramshackle soon, or Grim might end up moving locations to avoid the leaks, and thats gonna screw up everything
Ortho, still beaming with joy, bounced over
"Miss Ophelia , Nii-san and I are trading off with another student, who should be here shortly, to lead you to Ramshackle.
They volunteered for Nii-san when he asked to split the time, because before we met you, he was nervous it wouldn't go well and wanted an escape just in case!"
Peeking over at his brother to check if he was listening, the person in question was doing something on his phone , the possibilities ranging from playing a game to hacking into classified government files
Realizing the coast was clear, the Little boy continued in a whisper
"Thanks for being a good friend to Nii-san.
He seemed to really enjoy hanging out with you, and I've never seen him get along with someone so quickly before, I barely had to say a thing!
I bet It'll be good for him to start the school year with a new friend, so be nice to him, ok?"
She nodded briskly, clutching the drawstring of her pouch tightly.
"I will."
Ortho narrowed his eyes, as if attempting to be scary, yet only reminded her of an angry baby bunny. However, considering what this tiny mech was capable of, making that assumption might doom someone who didn't know better.
"Promise?"
Sighing in defeat with a small smile, she reassured him wearily.
"I promise."
Glowing with pure joy, the little robot floated over to his brother, seemingly notifying him of something, causing the both to turn to her once more
"We gotta go now, but I'm sure he'll be here soon, Bye Bye, Miss Ophelia!"
Idia waved half-heartily, obviously not enthusiastic about leaving, mostly due to the departure of the feline.
"...bye"
As the pair walked off, she could hear Orthos excited chatter from down the hall.
"See Nii-san? You made a new friend! It isn't that hard! She's definitely an SSR tier too!"
"That was just a lucky random event.
Her Charisma stats must be through the roof,
or I rolled a NAT 20. A main character literally Isekaiing and choosing me as one of her first friends? Not a good omen for her future quests."
"Nii-san!! Be nice to yourself!!"
Watching the two banter, her heart felt a bit pained.
Ortho, you remind me so much of Carlos it hurts,
I hope he doesn't miss his big sis too much
Lost in thought, she was unaware of the Magenta bat that had perched right above her.
She was still facing the hall when she felt a tap on her shoulder, but when she turned, not a soul was there. Che'nyas quiet snoring from her hood was the only thing defending her from the barrage of ominous silence.
𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕?
Another tap , this time on the opposite shoulder, caused her to turn around once more, one more, only darkness greeted her once again, a familiar friend at this point.
𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕, 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
As she turned back around to wait for her secondary "guide" she was greeted by a small, pale figure, the form hanging upside down from the main doors, as casually as one can.
Blood red eyes paired themselves with choppy dyed hair and deep accent as he spoke, a mix of older Irish and a sprinkle or two of modern Russian lay rooted in his voice, as he greeted her with a sly grin from above
"Fufufu~ Good evening, young one."
—————————————————————-
END NOTES!!
IM SORRY THIS IS SO LATE
I was terribly sick , then faced writers block,
I survived, kinda
Its taking so much longer then I expected to set up dynamics, 10000+ words and we haven't even adopted Grim yet ...YIKES
The mention of "reading the script" was a bit of a joke on the fact I read the dialogue script of TWST before I actually played it
But these interactions are important for what I'm planning, especially our favorite (and only)
Bat Dad , which will be coming next chapter!
Speaking of Dads, I was telling him about TWST, and when I mentioned it being an RPG , his response was
" a Rocket Propelled Grenade?" , turns out, RPG is also a term used to alert people when you chuck that kind of grenade. The more you know
I've almost arrived at school, so Im going to have to free you all for now
FUN FACT: My principal is actually named, I shit you not :
"Mrs Crowley"
which causes me to mentally laugh my ass off everytime it comes over the loud speaker, for obvious reasons
ANYWHO
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Lilia and Ophelia (hey that rhymes) are going to have a deep conversation in the next thats EXTREMELY plot important so yea
There will be goofy don't worry
(Lilia will be Advertising Befriending Malleus btw)
OK FOR REAL NOW , GOODBYE AND HAVE A LOVELY DAY/NIGHT/FALLING INTO THE ABYSS
I hope to see you soon!