Yuu's dream began like any other, memories of her beloved Anthony and images of what would have been her family danced beautifully, making her heart soar happily as she wished her dream would never end.
The dreamy pink sky darkened suddenly into an eerie green as the clouds began storm and Yuu turned to run to Anthony, her terrified gaze meeting his sad green eyes as he called out to her, reaching out as the ground split open beneath her feet.
Yuu tried to jump but to no avail as she tumbled into the darkness of the hole and she closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, Yuu couldn't make out much light as her eyes scanned over the rocky terrain. From over the corner, a yellow-green light emitted from a large, open space and she heard heavy, synchronized foot steps. Just behind the noise, Yuu could make out loud and high pitched cackling akin to that which she'd heard from the videos on hyenas.
Quietly, the young woman scrambled to the light, noticing an edge that overlooked a wide open space filled with hyenas that marched forward facing to their right.
"Marching hyenas?"
She followed their gaze, her sight landing on a familiar looking lion as he spoke loudly.
"This world is about to be turned upside down. Be prepared! A shining new era is near!" He announced earning excited yips from the hyenas.
A female hyena, much larger than the two males slunk forward, regarding the lion with a skeptical tone. "And where do we fit in?"
The lion lurched toward the hyena and he grinned, his emerald eyes glinting evilly. "Just listen." He chided as he returned his attention to the pack of hyenas.
"We are going to take out Mufasa AND his son!" The lion announced gleefully, an eerily childish excitement in his tone as he spoke about killing others. Yuu paled as some part of her mind recalled the names to be those of his brother and young nephew.
"In doing so..." The Lion stood tall. "I will be king!"
"Alright!" One of the male hyenas cackled excitedly. "Long live the king!"
The other hyenas joined, high pitched laughs and excited barks resounded in the cave as the hyenas joined in, chanting; "Long live the king! Long live the king!"
The Lion happily drank in the attention. "Stick with me, and you'll never go hungry again! I've got fangs and courage that none can match. So be prepared!"
Yuu looked on, horrified at the planning she'd just witnessed as the ground began to shake and her vision blurred.
"He's planning to hurt his family for this... Why did he want to be king so badly?"
.
.
.
"Another animal dream?" Yuu mumbled before she'd fully realized that she could not breathe properly.
Yuu stirred as she felt a familiar heavy creature sitting atop her chest. Yuu opened one eye and groaned loudly as she noticed Grim staring down at her expectantly.
"Oh, Yuu, you're up? Breakfast is gettin' cold! Let's go eat already!" He said, hopping off of her and allowing her to sit up.
Yuu stretched as she collected her clothes, deodorant, and brush before entering the bathroom and dressing herself.
Yuu washed her face and went to dry her face when she noticed the eye bags that were slowly becoming more visible over time.
"You'd think these dreams would at least allow for a little rest." She groaned as she brushed her hair out, attempting to pull it into a low ponytail (and failing) before finally giving up and settling for a half-ponytail.
After a few minutes, Yuu finally dubbed herself to be presentable and grabbed her jacket as well as Cater's (which she needed to return) and walked down the stairs to retrieve her bag, barely clinging to consciousness just as the door burst open, startling the young woman.
"Miss Yuu!" A familiar voice called excitedly as she turned around in surprise.
"Sir?!" She spluttered as she noticed the bird man walk in, holding several blankets and a bag full of rattling bottles.
"I have read that humans need extra vitamins when expecting! I was unsure of which to get, so I got one of each kind!" He cooed, placing the bag on the table.
"I- wow. Okay." Yuu said, carefully approaching the Headmage, eyeing the vitamins in surprise. "Thank you, but you shouldn't have spent this much!" She yelped as Crowley lined up the bottles.
"Nonsense, my little fledgeling! I've read that these shall help provide necessary nutrients that will help with the health of yourself and your child!" Crowley puffed up proudly, his mask's beak held high. "Oh, Crowley, your kindness truly knows no bounds!" He cawed as Yuu rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, thanks." She gave Crowley a warm smile, disregarding her previous bitter feelings toward his treatment of Grim. "I cannot express how grateful I really am for your help, sir."
Crowley smiled, this time a bit more sheepishly (clearly not having expected her reaction), a coo rumbling in the back of his throat as he regarded her warmly.
"We certainly must arrange the date of your first magi-scan soon! You haven't forgotten, I take it?"
"Forget something that important?! Never!"
The two smiled and chattered for a moment, tossing about several different days until the two reached an agreement and Crowley had to leave for the main building.
"I wish you and Grim luck on your investigations!" Crowley called out as he departed, Yuu nodding.
"We'll do our best." She assured, about to walk out as well when she heard a rustling coming from the cupboard where she kept Grim's tuna stash.
The girl's eyes widened in realization as she dashed back into the house.
"Grim!"
.
.
.
"I wanna say I'm shocked after finding you rummaging through the tuna, but that would be a lie." Yuu muttered as she walked alongside the cat, who looked genuinely pleased by his earlier actions.
"What? I was hungry!" He reasoned, looking at Yuu as he waddled on his hind legs. "By the way, did you go somewhere last night? I got up to warm up some milk. Was gonna see if you wanted some but you weren't there."
"Huh...?" Yuu stared blankly for a moment as she racked through her memory of the previous night and her eyes widened in sudden realization. "Oh, that's right. It was the weirdest thing..."
Yuu walked past the statues as she spoke, her eyes landing on the statue of the thorn fairy. "Yesterday night, I went for a walk cause you were loud and I was nauseous."
"Hey! I ain't that loud!" Grim retorted as Yuu continued.
"I met a random guy, he had these huge horns on his head and he was unbelievably tall. He's a pretty strange fella, but I told him that the next time I saw him, I'd let him in." Yuu explained as Grim giggled at the image.
"Huh! A weird dude with horns? Did this dude have a name?" He questioned the girl as she cradled Cater's jacket, and her bag (with her vitamins rattling around inside it).
"I asked him! But he told me to call him by a name of my choosing."
Grim froze, his blue eyes sparkling in excitement as he grabbed onto her sleeve. "Ooh, ooh, let me pick it!" He chirped, hopping as he tugged her jacket.
Yuu rolled her eyes, but smiled warmly. "Go ahead!"
"Howsabout... 'Hornton'!"
Yuu snorted as Grim revealed his name for her mystery visitor as she nodded. "That works!" She chuckled as she pictured the look of surprise on the boy and she scooped Grim into her arms.
"If Hornton's a student here, who knows when we might run into him? If we do, introduce me!" Grim said, scrambling up to her shoulder as he spoke directly into her ear. "I ain't never seen a human with horns before."
Yuu nodded in agreement, gently pushing Grim's snout away from her ear. "He's quite majestic. I'm sure you'll like him."
Her eyes landed on a mop of bright orange hair and she sped her walk to go greet him. Beside him, a familiar splash of crimson that belonged to only one person.
"Morning Cater, Riddle." Yuu called, placing the jacket into his hands, making him chuckle in amusement, Grim hopping off of her shoulders.
"Mornin', Yuu!" He smiled, putting his uniform jacket back on.
Riddle carefully walked over to her, his eyes trained on her neck for a moment as he hummed thoughtfully. "Your tie is crooked, you know. A disorderly uniform suggests a disorderly dorm." He said, reaching his gloved hands up. "As prefect, you should set a better example for your dorm members. Even if you only have the one."
Yuu chuckled awkwardly as Riddle fidgeted with the tie. "Sorry, Riddle. I was in a bit of a hurry to get here."
"Worry not, Yuu. I understand." Riddle nodded fondly as he secured the bow shape and adjusted it around her neck, stepping back to admire his work with a small smile.
"...There. All better."
Yuu nodded her thanks as Grim spoke up. "So, where's Ace and Deuce?"
"In accordance with rule 249, it's their turn to wear pink clothes and feed the flamingos." Riddle informed the group nonchalantly, Cater immediately moved to Yuu to show her the picture he'd captured.
The moment she caught a glimpse of it, Yuu had to physically fight herself not to laugh, only for it to come out a choked snort as she covered it with a cough.
"Print that out for me please, I wanna frame it." She requested as she regained her composure.
Riddle cleared his throat as soon as Cater agreed. "By the way, it seems there was another incident last night."
"Myah?! Really?!" Grim yowled, his tail flicking anxiously.
Yuu was also incredibly anxious as she looked at Riddle and Cater worriedly.
As if sensing her anxiety, Cater and Riddle both moved closer to her in a very awkward attempt to comfort her (granted, it was more crowding her than actually comforting, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them to move away.)
"According to a portrait who witnessed it, the victim was a sophomore from Scarabia House."
Yuu nodded, listening. "What's his name?"
"His name is Jamil Viper. It appears the accident happened in the kitchen."
"That's the dorm with red-and-gold armbands, right?" Yuu questioned as Riddle nodded, squirming before finally speaking.
"It's breakfast time, so he may be in the cafeteria. Let's go see."
"Yes please." Yuu agreed as the group moved away from each other, marching to the band.