"Aaaaaaand....Finished!" Grim exclaims as he lays on the ground, exhausted from dusting. "Finally finished with cleaning these dusty rooms!"
Angel swept the last of dust with the dustpan and emptied in the bag, tying it up with a knot and looked around the room, admiring their work. "Yeah, it took a while," she agrees, seeing that the room they cleaned looked better than before their impromptu cleaning at the beginning of the year. After months of off-and-on again cleaning, the rooms in Ramshackle Dorm were a personal project for Angel, more like a personal hazard placed by many other friends of hers, seeing how the dusty and drafty conditions were more of a harm to health and wellbeing instead, the place looked a little more hospitable. With the ghosts' help, they were able to at least recover the furniture in the rooms, which the duo still couldn't believe had perfectly conditioned beds and other items underneath the piles of dust and grime, and wash any curtains and blankets, they were able to progress a little more quickly. They couldn't do anything about the other drafty conditions, but with the trash and dust put away, they were able to explore more freely, finding things they didn't notice before. They discovered that each room had a bit of a personalized touch, ranging from the simple things as pillow coverings to slight designs on curtains and bedsheets, thinking its was from the students who presided here before, at least before the ghosts decided to make their stay here a 'living hell' as they described with a smile. They even figured out how many rooms there was, exactly about 36, included the room they're staying in, which did explain a lot, considering that the dorm was way smaller than the other dorms. "It took a few months, but we're actually finished cleaning the rooms."
"I don't know why we needed to do it. It's not like anyone else gonna stay here besides us," Grim says as he stands up, walking around the room, only to flinch when he felt quick whips of air around. "If anything, the junk made the rooms warmer and less problematic to deal with before."
"You don't know that! At least it's more breathable to live here," Angel states as she takes a deep breath, enjoying the fact that no dust entered her airways and breathed out without coughing. "Though we might need to handle the musty smell, but otherwise, it's way better than before."
"Sure it is," Grim grumbles, not really liking the idea but at least know it's a good idea. "Anyway, what are we gonna do about the bags?" He asks as he looks at the three black bags in front of him. "We put all that junk in here so what are we gonna do?"
"Oh, you can take them to the trash!" Casper says as he appears in front of the two, making them flinch a little at the sudden appearance. "But, you can just leave them on the other side of the gate. There's some ghosts that handle trash that'll take it off your hands. Not a big problem."
"Well...I guess that's not too bad of a problem," Grim says as he thinks about it. "If we ain't gotta deal with is, then that's fine with me!"
"But, you got to take it outside at least!" Adam joins in. "Ghosts don't really intrude on places without permission after all."
The statement makes Grim groan. "Why we gotta take it out when it's THEIR job to take out the trash?!"
"Heh heh heh," Benny chuckles. "Gotta put in work to get rid of trash! Just like we did with the students!"
"Heh heh heh," the three chuckle and disappear, leaving the two alone.
Grim crosses his paws. "Sheesh, those ghosts don't know how annoyin' they are. How are they gonna give us a suggestion and not help us out with it?"
"They help out enough with the cleaning and taking care of the dorm," Angel states. Her eyes head to the bags, seeing three in the middle of the room. "But, it's not a bad idea to take it to the trash. At least it won't look as out of place as it does now," she says, seeing the clean room around them, only to see the bags of trash in front of them.
"Hmph. Fine," Grim says with slight annoyance.
"Now then, let's try to pick them up," she says as she put her hands on the bag. She attempts to lift the bag, hoping that it'll lift with ease, but was surprised when the bag barely hovered off the ground when she lifted it. She looked at the bag in confusion and tried again, hoping that with a little more force, she'll be able to pick it up, but contrary to her hopes, all she did was just lift a side, by not much. She pants and puts the bag down, looking at the bag in shock. "This bag is heavy!" She exclaims as she catches her breath.
"Heh," Grim smirks. "I knew that it was too much for you, Angel. Humans are so weak," he proudly says as he heads to the bags. "Let me show you how the future strongman of the world is going to do it." He puts his paws on the bag and attempts to lift, only grunting at the effort and giving up, the bag not even moving. "Myah! This is heavy!" He says as he looks at the bag. "Lucky for you, I know a way that get rid of this," he says, taking in a deep breath.
Angel looked at Grim in shock, a familiar scenario coming to mind. "W-wait, Grim! Let's not do that!" She says in a panic, hoping to calm Grim down, sighing in relief that it worked. "Maybe...magic? Not fire breathing magic, though."
"Hmm...." Grim hums in thought. "I guess it never hurts," he says as he looks at the bags. "Lemma see..." He looks at the bag, focusing on them for a while before slight movement was seen. After a few more moments, the bag started to lift off the ground, hovering in the air only to fall back on the ground, leaving Grim breathless. "Ugh...this is hard..." he complains. "Magic can solve everything, so why can't we get rid of trash?!"
Angel looked at the bags in thought. "We...might need more help with this than I thought."
"So, what are we gonna do about the bags?" Grim asks as they walk down the school hallway. "There's so many of them that we gotta get them out by at least two days from now!"
Angel thinks about the situation. Based on what the ghosts said, there's a set schedule for trash pickup, and to their luck, it's not that far, at least two days from now. It's a good amount of time, but for about more than 50 bags to take to the gate by that time with just the two of them is a bit overwhelming. It's enough that the both of them couldn't lift one bag but to try and take them in-and-out the dorm to the gate then back again to repeat is a bit too much. "We're going to need to ask for help."
"And who's gonna help us?" Grim asks skeptically. "We can't ask Ace and Deuce. Those guys look like they can't even lift half of one of those bags. Trey, Riddle, and Cater are out. Probably saying their too pretty or busy to deal with lifting a few bags. Not like Leona gonna help us either. He'll probably just ignore us."
"Hmm..." she hums. "Oh!" She exclaims. "What about Jack or Ruggie?"
"Ya know...that ain't a bad idea," Grim says. "Ruggie will do anything for a quick buck and Jack's so much of a musclehead that anything heavy is just a workout for him!"
"Then let's find him!" Angel says with a smile. "If we can find either, I'm sure they'll lead us to the other." Grim nods and the duo takes off, finding their targets.
"Whew, finally," Ruggie says as he walks down the hall, hands behind his head. "I'm sure Leona will be fine since he's satisfied for a while. Now...where can I find my next job?" He looks around, seeing students talking amongst themselves, overhearing about upcoming plans. "Hmph, these people are talkin' about plans yet they don't know how important money is for those plans," he sighs. "Lucky for me, while they wonderin' how to get money, I'll be the one to snatch it up before them. Shyeeheehee."
"Hey, Ruggie!" Grim calls out, getting his attention.
"Hm?" Ruggie turns around, seeing the two heading towards them. "Oh, it's you two. Whatcha want?" He asks.
"We need ya to help us with something at the dorm," Grim states with a smile.
"Yeah, no," Ruggie says, shocking the two. "I don't do charity cases. You both know that. If ya need my help, gotta have somethin' in it for me."
"Grrr..." Grim growls.
"Ruggie," Angel says as she heads closer to him. "I got something to help you out," she motions for him to lean down a little to whisper in his ears. His eyes light up at the information. She steps back and looks at him with a smile.
"Ya know somethin', there's a reason I like ya, Angel," Ruggie says with a smile. "Yeah, sure. I'll help ya out. Nothing beats helpin' a friend out. Shyeeheehee."
"Man, you sure are sketchy when you need to be," Grim comments. Ruggie snickers at the comment.
"By the way," Ruggie says. "How'd you get that money? I'm sure you don't get paid for cleaning duty."
"I get an allowance, that's it," she says with a smile. I won't tell Ruggie that for good grades, dad gives me 2,000 thaumarks a class.
"Alright, no need to tell me secrets. You got me as soon as you said you'd pay me," he says. "I'll meet ya after school then."
"Oh yeah! Ruggie, you know where Jack is?" Grim asks.
"Jack? Um...probably in the courtyard or field," he answers. "Your better chance is the field at least."
"That's good enough for us. Let's go, Angel," Grim says as he heads off.
"Thanks, Ruggie. We'll see you later at the dorm," she says as she runs after Grim, leaving Ruggie behind.
"Jack!" Sebek angrily calls out. "How dare you sidelined me during our match!"
"It's not my fault that you left the ball open," Jack replies.
"I do not need you to admonish my mistakes!"
"Then you should have kept your eye on the ball."
"HOW DARE YOU!" Sebek roars. "I demand a rematch! Lilia and Malleus will not allow me to lose against a mere beastman! I'll show you my true strength!"
"Fine," Jack smirks. "I'll take you on again." Sebek growls at the statement and prepares the ball.
"The first one to reach a goal, wins."
"Fine by me!"
The two arrives at the field, looking around for any sign of Jack only to spot the familiar wolfman along with Sebek playing soccer, intensively at that fact. The two could only watch the scene in front of them, seeing the soccer ball be passed to and from each other, with Jack taking the ball from Sebek and Sebek even maneuvering his way around Jack. "Crud, they playin' soccer," Grim says with a sigh.
"It'll be a while before they finish," Angel says. "Jack did say that sometimes him and Sebek gets serious after class."
"Well, I can make them stop!" Grim says as he heads towards them, but Angel stopped him just in time.
"Grim, I don't think you want to be in the middle of that," Angel says as Sebek quickly kicks the ball away from Jack, giving him a smirk as he run pass him and Jack growls and chases him. "They're both fast and I don't think they wouldn't look down if you were below them."
"Grrr..." Grim growls. "Then they need to hurry up! We can't wait on them all day!"
"Oh, hello there," a voice calls out and the two look to see someone familiar. "You're...Angel and Grim, right?" Silver asks.
"Oh, you're that guy from the Equestrian club," Grim says. "The one who fell asleep, right?
"Yeah, you can say that," he replies in a calm tone.
"Huh...you know something," Grim says as he looks at Angel and Silver. "Now that I notice it, you two look like twins."
"We do?" Angel asks in confusion and the two look at each other in confusion, or in Silver's case, a calm expression on his face.
"I don't really see it," he says. "I don't have siblings, so I doubt we're related."
"I don't think I have siblings, but I don't think we look alike," Angel says. "Are you just confusing us with Jade and Floyd?"
"Yeesh, clueless humans," Grim mumbles, astounded by their confusion.
"Anyway, are you two here for Sebek?" Silver asks. "I know you three are freshmen, so I thought you were here for him."
"Nope. We're here to ask Jack for a favor," Grim answers. "We need some help getting heavy things out of the dorm and Angel here is too weak to do it." Angel gives Grim a slight look with the comment.
"Oh, heavy things? I can help with that," Silver says, shocking the two.
"Why would you do that?" Grim asks.
"Lifting heavy things is essential for training," he replies. "I want to make sure I take advantage of other training methods to be a better bodyguard."
"Um, okay...?" Grim says in confusion, both confused by his reasoning. "Sheesh, this guy willing to help over some training...?"
"But anyway, we thank you for your help anyway," Angel says with a smile. "It's a lot of bags, so I hope you don't mind."
Silver shakes his head. "I don't mind at all. The more the better."
"Oh, hey, you two," Jack says as he approaches the three. "Didn't see ya there with Silver."
"HA HA!" Sebek chuckles. "I have emerged victorious! Now, I cannot bring shame upon Lilia and Malleus!"
"It's about time!" Grim angrily says, confusing the two. "You know how long we've been waiting?"
"Grim, it's only been about 10 minutes," Angel says, making Grim huff.
"It's still too long!" He retorts. "Jack, we have a question for ya!" The statement gets his attention. "Ya wanna help us clear some bags in Ramshackle? Angel here will pay ya well."
"Can't you two do it yourself?" Jack asks.
"Angel can't lift them," Grim answers. "Too heavy."
"Grim, maybe we should at least tell him the situation," Angel sighs. "You see, we've been cleaning the rooms and we got heavy bags of trash and we need to take it outside of the gate for trash pickup in about two days. We were wondering if you can help us carry it out since their full of trash, boards, and other stuff."
Jack thinks for a moment. "Yeah, sure, I'll help," he says, making two brighten up at the news. "Only because it'll be a good workout."
"Sheesh, just like Silver, muscleheads everywhere. You guys wanna help for the exercise," Grim mumbles and Angel nudges him.
"Wait, Silver is helping?" Sebek asks, and Angel nods. "If that's the case, then I will help as well!"
The declaration shocks the duo. "Myah?! Why would you wanna help as well?"
"Do not get me wrong," Sebek states. "It is not because I want to help you humans. It's just because I can't stand to see Silver get stronger without me getting stronger as well." But, aren't you helping anyway? Silver sighs at his words.
"We'll take it!" Grim happily says. "We got four people, Angel. That should work out."
"Four? Who's the other?" Jack asks.
"Ruggie," Angel answers.
"He'd do it for money," Grim says. "That guy is shameless."
"Ah! But don't worry, I'll pay you guys for your help as well."
"Don't worry about it," Silver says. "Just the experience is enough."
"Ah...well..." Angel thinks. "It doesn't feel right for you guys to help us for nothing...Maybe I can make a snack or something for you?"
"That would be excellent!" Sebek says with a smile. "I'm sure with the hard work, we will be quite famished afterwards."
"I'm fine with a snack," Jack adds.
"Great!" Angel happily says. "We're going to need you guys to help out after school, is that okay?" They all nod. "Thank you all very much then. We'll meet after school at the dorm then."
"Oh, boy," Ruggie says with a smile as he walks to the dorm. "I can't wait to finish this job and get paid. Good thing Angel there is terrible with money. Who knew she'd give me 200 thaumarks just for movin' some bags outta the dorm. Shyeeheehee." He continues walking, a thought coming to him. "Ya know, I didn't even ask who was helpin' me besides probably Jack. I hope he didn't ask for a piece of the profits," he grumbles. He approaches the gate and the sight surprised him, seeing the other three waiting for him within. "Huh, Jack, Sebek, and Silver. Weird combo of people to be here. You guys here for the job?"
"Oh, it's Ruggie," Silver greets. "If you mean for Angel and Grim, yes we are."
"Let me guess, you guys want a part of the profits as well?" Ruggie says with a pout. If that's the case then what am I here for? Well...though can't say no to money...
"Nah, not here for money," Jack answers, shocking Ruggie. "Only here to help out."
"What?! You're not here for money?!" Ruggie exclaims. "C'mon, money is everythin' yet you guys are talkin' like you're Leona..."
"We are only here for a meaningful exercise regime!" Sebek answers. "To better ourselves with training in order to protect our liege Malleus!"
"No thanks," Jack says as he scratches his head. "I'm all for better myself, but only for me, not for anyone else."
"Hmph. If you truly had a position like me and Silver has, then you would surely understand how important it is to better yourself. Malleus would truly appreciate it if we could find better ways to protect him, right, Silver?"
"....Huh?" Silver says as he wakes up. "Oh, yes."
"SILVER!" Sebek roars in anger. "How could you be asleep while trying to train?!"
"Yeesh, are we gonna be okay with this group?" Ruggie mumbles. Suddenly, the sound of a lock interrupted the potential argument and everyone's eyes went towards the door, seeing that it was being opened by none other that the person behind it.
"Oh, everyone's here," Angel says with a smile. "Please, come in," she says as she heads inside and everyone follows her to the lounge. Once they reached the lounge, contrary to most of their beliefs, they looked around to see it clean, and the smell of lemon permeating the room, thinking that she must have mopped the place. "Well, it isn't much but, there's some bags upstairs in the rooms on the second and third floor," she explains. "Me and Grim can't pick them up, but it's quite a lot."
"How much is a lot?" Sebek asks.
"Well, there's 36 rooms, including mine and Grim's room, and the bags are in the remaining room so..." She thinks for a moment. "About...70ish bags?"
"70 BAGS?!" Everyone exclaims in shock.
"You got 70 bags of trash?!" Ruggie asks. "Was the dorm THAT abandoned?"
"W-well, the dorm was abandoned about 70 years ago when people were still living here, so it's all junk and trash from 70 years," she explains. "We did our best to try and restore some of the items they left behind, but most of them are beyond any repair, so we threw it out instead. Depending on the room, there might be 3 bags but at least 2 bags in each room."
"I can see why you say around 70," Jack says with a sigh. "Why'd you make so many bags in the first place?"
"When we cleaned, we brought the bags to the rooms. We didn't think that we would throw away two bags worth of items so here we are...ha ha," she awkwardly chuckles.
"If that's the case, we would need to handle probably 20 bags each person," Silver states.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I know I said I'd help, but I didn't expect to do 20 bags worth of work!" Ruggie exclaims.
"I know, I know!" She quickly says.
"Heh," Sebek chuckles. "20 bag for a beastman should be an easy feat. Don't tell me you're not up for the challenge?"
"Hey, I'm not sayin' that I'm not up for the challenge!" Ruggie says with a sigh. "Just not my pay grade."
"I'll pay you extra, Ruggie," Angel says after thinking a bit.
"You can count on me!" Ruggie smiles, making Jack sigh.
"Always the opportunist," he says.
"Anyway, I can make you guys a meal and pay you for your hard work," Angel says. "I know that you guys don't want to be paid, but it doesn't feel right to me to just let you guys go through all this, so think of it as an added bonus, okay?"
"That'll be fine by me," Silver says.
"I am content with this," Sebek adds.
"Sure, I'm down," Jack says.
Ruggie look at the three then sigh. "Fine, but only for the money."
"Great!" Angel happily says. "Grim is upstairs waiting in front of the rooms. Just don't go into the first room besides the stairs on the second floor, that's me and Grim's room. All you have to do is take the bags outside the gate and the ghosts who handle the trash can take it from there. Oh, and don't break anything," she says coldly with a smile. "It's enough that I cleaned the place, and I don't want to clean up anything else. Are we clear?" She says with a slight glare.
Jack and Ruggie shiver with the look. "No need to worry," Sebek says with a smirk. "I will assure you that we never fail on a job. My liege wouldn't accept me if I did."
"Okay!" She happily says. "I'll be making hamburger steaks for you all, if that's fine. Just ask Grim for any help." Everyone only nods. "Okay, then, thanks again," she says as she heads to the kitchen.
"Man...Always need to avoid that look," Ruggie whispers to Jack.
"Yeah. I really don't want to get on her bad side, and I'm sure that after cleanin' the place for months, she's tired of it," he replies.
"Now then, beastmen, let us do our job!" Sebek says as he and Silver head up the stairs. Jack and Ruggie sigh and head up the stairs with them.
"Bout time you four showed up!" Grim says as he heads towards them. "Angel told you all the main stuff, so now ya gotta do it!"
"You just wanna push the work unto us, huh?" Jack asks.
"Hey, you guys offered," Grim states. "Anyway, this room here is off limits," he says as he point his paw to the room near the stairs. "That's our shared room, so there's no trash in here. All the other rooms have trash, so get it outta here!"
"Gladly!" Sebek says as he heads to a room, opening it and seeing three bags in the middle of the room. The three follow and look around, admiring the clean, or in this case as clean as it can get, conditions of the room.
Ruggie whistles in awe. "Whoa, I guess Angel went into overdrive tryin' to clean the place."
"Yeah," Jack says. "I guess cleaning duty really did improve her cleaning."
"So, these are the bags?" Silver asks as they approach the bags. "They look like normal bags to me." He picks one up, surprised by the weight of it but easily carries it over his shoulder, shocking Grim. "I can see why she had trouble carrying it. It's a bit heavy, but not too heavy."
"Myah?! Wait, you can carry the bags?!" Grim exclaims as he heads to the bags and try to pick it up, failing miserably. "Ugh, still too heavy."
"That's because you are just a measly feline," Sebek says with a smirk as he picks up the bag Grim had, carrying it with ease, making Grim growl at the insult. "This is obviously nothing compared to the training I went through."
"I'm not a cat!" Grim angry says. "I will not let that go sitting down!"
"All she said to do was to just pick up the bags and take it to outside the gate, right?" Jack says as he picks up the last bag. "Shouldn't be too much of a hassle, but I can see why you guys would need help considerin' the amount."
"Easy money to me then," Ruggie says, hands behind his head.
"Grr..." Grim growls as he watches Sebek, Silver, and Jack leave the room bags in tow. "It's so easy for them but I'll show them!"
"Yeah, sure, Grim, you do that," Ruggie sighs.
"Alright, since we took care of three, it might be easier to take care of the rooms by floor," Jack states to the three when they reconvened in the hallway. "We could split into two teams, so each team can cover a floor."
"That seems to be the best bet," Silver says. "That way it can save us a lot of time coming in and back out."
"Then it is settled!" Sebek shouts. "Ruggie, you will come with me."
"And why would I do that?" Ruggie asks with a sigh.
"Because, I want this to be a training regime for me and Silver!" He declares. "Besides, I will not mind to make this a competition to see who can carry the most bags outside and quickly. After all, we got about 70 more to go based on what the human said."
"That'll be fine by me," Jack says with a smirk. "I didn't feel satisfied with your earlier win, so I don't mind tryin' to beat you here."
"Then, I'll go with Jack," Silver says.
"Well, then, since we got the teams out of the way, what about the floors?" Ruggie asks. "I say we do the second floor. We already got one room down, that leaves about what, 17 more to go?"
"That'll be acceptable," Sebek says. "Though I would prefer it to be on the third floor, instead, I suppose the situation would allow it."
"Good, then we'll see ya outside," Jack says as he and Silver head up the stairs.
"Well, then, now that they're gone, we doing this, huh?" Ruggie says.
"Let's go, Ruggie! Our challenge awaits!" Sebek says as he walks into another room and Ruggie only sighs and follows him into the other room. The two see that there was only 2 bags, Angel's assumption proving right. "So, this room only has two bags," Sebek says. "I guess the room we went in before was one of the rooms with three bags. Hmph, at least the human was smart to guess that."
"Then a bag for each, right?" Ruggie says as he heads for the bags, picking one up, stumbling a bit. "Oh a bit heavy, but I can see it."
"Huh, though it is not much, I can see that you possess muscle compared to Jack and your housewarden," Sebek observes as he picks up the other bag.
"Hey, I might not be meatheads like them, but I got some muscles" he says as he leaves the room with Sebek following. "Odd jobs will help you gain muscles without havin' to train like you and Jack does."
"I see," Sebek says in thought. "I never noticed."
"Don't look too much into it, though. Not all jobs can help ya out, but, I get paid for this, shyeeheehee," he snickers.
"Oh, you guys coming down here?" Silver says as he looks at the guys heading down the stairs. "We got done with a room and heading back up for the other."
"Silver! I will not take that tone from you!" Sebek says. "I will not be beaten by you of all people at least!"
Silver blinks at him. "I'm going back up," he says as he heads back upstairs.
"Hmph! Ruggie!" He calls out. "If you have the muscles, then let us hurry up! I refuse to lose to Jack and Silver."
"Sure, sure, yeah, yeah," Ruggie says as they head outside. Man, I hope this doesn't occur for the whole time.
After an hour, with various breaks, the rooms started to look cleaner, with the piles of trash increasing outside the dorm. While they were working, Angel offered them drinks to take a break, which they gladly allowed to hold over on their meal. When they were finished at least half the rooms of the floors, they decided to pick up the pace, the fatigue or picking up bags, heading up/down stairs, and walking outside were starting to show, but glad that the task was halfway done. So far, based on the work done, Silver and Jack have taken care of 29 bags, while Sebek and Ruggie has taken care of 30, which Angel didn't mind, as long as nothing bad happened. "Whew..." Ruggie pants as he enters the third to last room. "I know that we're almost done, but man, this better be worth the pay."
"I must say, I didn't expect this to be time-consuming..." Sebek says as he looks at the bags. "But we are almost done!"
"Can't we just take a break first?" Ruggie sighs.
"Well, well, well," Grim says, getting their attention. "Looks like you need my help to get that bags out of here since you're too tired." He strides into the room.
"Grim!" Sebek yells. "If you are not helping, then stay away!"
"Hey, I'm here to help, don't worry," hee smirks. "Of course, Grim the Great will gladly help out."
"Oh boy. I am not liking that tone," Ruggie says.
"Watch and be amazed! While you guys have been using physical strength, I have improved on using my magic!" He says as he focuses on the bags, the bags starting to float in the air. "Hah! See?"
Sebek watches the scene, seeing that something off about the bags. "Wait a second...do those bags seem, tighter?"
"Huh?" Ruggie says as he look at the bags closely. "Now that I see it you're right. But why are they becoming tighter...?"
"Heh heh heh," Grim chuckles as the bags get closer to them, rising in height. "Now that I got the hang of it, I can carry the bags with ease! Watch and be amazed as I take them outside." He moved out the way, letting the bags pass them, letting them pass the doorframe, but as the bags were about to pass, they become stuck. "Huh? Why aren't they movin'?" He says as the bags become wedged in the doorway. "Let me just..." He focuses more on the bags, the bags becoming tighter as they try to pass through the door frame.
"Hey wait a minute..." Ruggie says. "What did Angel say was in the bags? We didn't ask and know since they were tied up tightly."
"Sebek thinks for a moment. "She said that it was junk and trash from 70 years ago, so it could range from clothes to anything else."
"Wait! Then that could mean...!"
"Aha! I almost got it!" Grim says as he strains his voice. As soon as he finished his sentence, the sound of a pop filled the room, and a cloud of dust filled the room, along with the sound of something big and small hitting the floor along with a crash. "Myah! I can't see!" Grim exclaims. The cloud made the three cough, closing their eyes to prevent dust from getting in then and the cloud started to tone down, giving them room to look. When they opened their eyes, they looked at the scene, seeing that part of the hallway was covered in dust and there was marbles, glass, and other stuff littering the room's floor; however, they didn't stop them from seeing the lamp that was on a table was on the floor, shards of glass scattered on the floor and the lampshade misshapen. "Yikes! This place is a mess!" Grim says as he looks at the dust.
"I had a feeling something was gonna happen," Ruggie sighs.
"Grim! Why would you use magic to force the bags out of the door?" Sebek yells.
"Hey, I wanted to give you guys a break, so I thought I could help out!" Grim shouts back.
"If you can't control your magic, then you shouldn't use it!"
"I'm not hearing this from the guy that can't handle slightly cold winds!"
"Guys, guys!" Ruggie interferes. "First this first, let's calm down about the situation." He looks to the two, growling at each other but calming down. "Second," he says as he looks at the mess. "We gotta clean this up before Angel finds out."
Grim shivers at the words. "Yeah, you're right! Angel's gonna find out and give us her world-famous stare if we don't clean this up!"
Sebek looks at them in confusion. "Why would you be afraid of a measly human? Ruggie, you are a beastman, and Grim you're...you. Surely, you two would be able to overpower her?"
"Whoa, Sebek, buddy, you don't understand," Ruggie says. "Though she's a human, she's scary when she needs to be. That cute exterior is only a cover-up for what's within."
"Her stare could make a monster freeze up in its paws," Grim says with a shiver. "She might be careless, but she's blunt when it comes to it, and when she's blunt, she's as cutthroat as a knife."
"And don't forget, she got people behind her," Ruggie adds. "Hate to say it but I'm sure that Leona and Riddle specifically wouldn't want anything to happen to her, and I heard that even Riddle is scared of her when she's angry."
"We've cleaned this dorm for months, and the fact that we gotta clean it up again, on top of broken items on top of it..." Grim says in fear. "We gotta clean it up, pronto!" Soon enough, the sound of footsteps fill the hallway. The three look at the source of the sound, only to see Silver and Jack.
"What's going on?! Did something fall?" Jack asks.
"Jack's ears twitched and we head up here," Silver calmly says as he looks at the three. "Good to see nothing bad happened."
"Nothing bad?! Don't you see this mess?" Grim exclaims as the two look at the room and hallway, seeing that there was a mess. "We gotta clean it up!"
"That's what you meant," Jack says with a sigh as he holds up a broom and dustpan. "We figured something like this would happen, so we asked her for it."
"So she knows?" Ruggie asks.
"Nah," Jack says. "I kind of forgot that she would believe anything, so we said we needed it to clear some webs from the ceiling and she just agreed to it, no questions asked."
"She believed that, even knowing that Jack's as tall as a mountain...?" Ruggie mumbles.
"Good! Then we'll clean up!" Sebek says as he snatches the broom and dustpan. "There will be no need to remind her of what transpired here, so we must continue our work without any other problems."
"Righ, can't miss out on any cash heading my way," Ruggie smirks. "I'll leave you too it Sebek. I'll get the rest."
"I'll help you," Jack says. "Silver, can you do the remaining ones and I'll join you later?" Silver nods. "Then let's go." Jack says as he and Ruggie head to the next room and Silver heads upstairs. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we could eat. I'm getting' hungry," he says as he picks up two bags.
"Yeah, the smell of meat sure it taking over," Ruggie says as he takes the other bag. "I can't wait to eat. Free meal while bein' paid is the best," he smiles as they leave the room. "Honestly, if Angel provided that everyday, I'd happy join the dorm."
"I guess it wouldn't be so bad living here," Jack says as he looks around the hall. "Aside from the conditions, it's a pretty quiet place. No wonder Leona sneaks off here to sleep."
"Yeah, I can see why. Quiet, breathable, good food, and-" Suddenly Ruggie started to fall, bag being thrown out of hand. "Huh?!"
"Ruggie!" Jack says as he drops the bags, trying to catch Ruggie, succeeding in catching him.
"Whoa, what just happened?" Ruggie says in shock as he tries to look behind him. "I feel like I tripped on-"
"JACK!" Sebek roars in anger, looking at him with a glare, covered in what looks like dust, trinkets, and blankets. "How DARE you do this to me?!"
Jack and Ruggie look at Sebek in shock, only for a sound of something tearing near the staircase get their attention, the two turning to see Silver glaring at them, covered in dust, feathers, and webs, only for the bags in front of him to be split cleanly into four, clothes and feathers littering the ground. He puts his pen away and look at the three, relaxing as he looks at the scene. "Oh, Sebek, you're covered in dust," he says, making Sebek angrier.
"You're covered in dust too, Silver! Why would you cut the trash up?!"
"It was coming at me, and I wasn't able to dodge it in time, so I was able to cut it before it hit me."
"Now there's dust and trash everywhere!"
"I must have dropped the bags on Sebek while you were falling, Ruggie," Jack says as he scratches his head.
"Then what I tripped on was..." Ruggie says as he looks back at Sebek, seeing that the rug of the floor was folded over, allowing for more dust to gather for the dustpan. "The rug," he sighs.
"The mess is everywhere now!" Grim exclaims as he looks around, seeing pieces of cloth, feathers, dust, and trash everywhere. "Oh man, if Angel finds out about this-"
"I found out about what?" Angel says as she walks up the stairs, and everyone freezes as she stops one the top set of stairs, looking at the scene in front of her, seeing Silver covered in feathers with Sebek covered in dust and clothing, only for Jack and Ruggie to freeze at the smile on her face as she looks around, seeing her hard work for the past month being covered in dust, the walls that was once clean, being stained in dust and ground that she spent hours sweeping and mopping becoming more grey and cluttered than before. She looks at the five with a smile, Jack, Ruggie, and Grim starting to feel their fur stand up. "So...you guys are doing a good job, right?" She calmly asks, but even everyone knew that something was wrong with her tone. "I see..." She says as she looks around, only to look at the five with a glare. "I'm sure that you guys will take care of this, right?" She emphasizes, making everyone shiver.
"I'm so glad that worked out in the end," Angel says with contented sigh as she sits on the couch. "I'm so happy I asked for help. Isn't that right, guys?" She asks the five, scrubbing the walls and floor of the hallway upstairs.
"Ugh...this dust is everywhere, even in the cracks..." Ruggie grunts as he scrubs.
"Ngh...I hate to admit it, but you two were right," Sebek says as he scrubs the wall. "She truly is a force to be reckoned with."
"Now I know why she was angry at us," Jack says as he tries to sweep the room, only for dust to settle in again. "I'd get mad too if something like this happened."
"So...sleepy...zzz..." Silver snores, stopping his scrubbing.
"Hey, no fair! Wake up!" Grim whispers to Silver, jolting him awake. "If she catches us slackin' she's gonna make us clean even worse." Silver continues to scrub, making sure to stay awake.
"I would like to announce that this is Ruggie's fault," Sebek declares.
"Hey, why is this my fault?!" Ruggie defends. "If anythin', I'm the victim!"
"If you just watched where you were going, this altercation wouldn't have happened in the first place!"
Ruggie sighs. "Yeesh...this is the worst clean-up crew ever." My poor money...
A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR YALL!!! 🥳🎉! I know I'm 3 days late but welcome to 2024, where hopefully the year will get better than last year! I gave up at the ending there but it all worked out in the end...right? 😅
ANYWAY! Following my post from a few days ago, things will be slightly delayed before I start writing Book 5, since there's going to be some changes in my life soon. I'm getting a new laptop soon so I'll have to transfer a lot of stuff over to that before I continue writing and the fact that I was accepting into nursing school is also a thing and scrambling to get things ready before the first day of class (more suffering for me I guess 🥲). So unfortunately Book 5 will probably start be releasing LATER in January or early February (gotta get acclimated to nursing school) before I can write and have a set schedule. I will be able to post more side stories later, but it might be in the other book, which means you're going to see some crazy chapter changes soon. I'll keep you posted with posts!
Also, if you guys haven't voted, remember there's the question I asked last chapter: who do you spend the holidays with: friends, family, or solo?
I want to thank you all for the support you gave me last year when I started out on a whim and here we are now in 2024! I hope to make you guys entertained this year as well, whether you read the story, watch streams, or even talk! Let's make 2024 a good year! (1/4/24)
PS: 4 days into the year and my luck is trash already but it'll get better...right? 😅