Your pov...
Italics- thoughts
Walking down to the Main Street gave me time to look around the campus some. Mr. Crowley was right, this place is huge. For a person without magic, cleaning the entire campus is impossible, but with my Gift, I could easily get this place cleaned up and have it looking as clean as a museum for as long as it stands. I kinda wanted to dress the part for being a cleaning staff, so I wore a plain white button down shirt with a pair of tan capris. Once we hit the Main Street within campus, Grim and I stopped to look around.
"Wow, so this is Main Street, huh? This is incredible," Grim beamed. "I didn't get to see much of it yesterday."
"That's because you were kicked of campus," I giggled. Grim looked at me and frowned.
"Shut up, don't remind me," he growled then turned his attention to seven stone statues that were on either side of the pavement. "What's the deal with these seven statues? All their faces look pretty scary."
"They look oddly familiar to me," I observed. I looked between all the statues and realized that they were out of storybooks that my aunt used to read to me and Myrtle as kids. I believe I also seen the movies of them when I got a little older.
"Like, this lady here looks like she's got some reeeal anger management issues," Grim says as he gets closer to one of the statues. I look at it and try to remember who she is. The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland? Wasn't she a villain in the story? If she was, why make a statue of her?
"You don't know the Queen of Hearts?" A voice behind me asks. I turn around to see a male with ginger hair and a heart tattoo near one of his red eyes. He seemed to be wearing what I assumed was the school uniform that student wear here.
"Queen of Hearts," Grim repeated back in a question. "Is she some kinda big deal?"
"She was a queen who lived in a mazelike garden of roses long, long ago," the ginger explained. "She was a strict woman who prized order above all. She wouldn't tolerate a rose being off-color, or her playing-card soldiers being out of step. She basically ruled over a kingdom of madness, but not one of her subjects dared to defy her."
"I don't think that's how the story went," I interrupt. I believe she was more of a controlling tyrant who got mad when things didn't go her way.
"You wanna know why," the ginger continued. Grim was practically jumping in anticipation and I sighed. We aren't gonna get this cleaning done at this rate. "Because the punishment... for breaking a rule was immediate decapitation!"
"Wah! That is seriously messed up," Grim gasps.
"Pretty cool, right? I'm a big fan," the ginger says. That's so not cool. I remember all the times had to do things I didn't want to do because if I didn't, I would get sent to see her and it would be off with my head. Thinking back on it now, it was a pretty effective way to get me, my siblings and cousins to behave. "I mean, who would bother to obey a queen that was kind all the time?"
"Yeah, true. A leader needs to be strong," Grim agrees.
"I believe leader should be fair and just to her subjects," I voice out. "People shouldn't fear their leader."
"But puttin' that aside..." Grim ignores my statement and I huffed. "Who're you, now?"
"Name's Ace," the ginger greets. "I'm a first-year student here, as of... today! Pleased to meetcha!"
"I'm Grim! I'm a prodigy who's plannin' to be, like, the greatest mage who ever lived," Grim introduced himself then pointed over to me. "That there's my far less interesting hench-human."
"Huh," I snarl. "I ain't no hench-nothing! Keep talking like that and I'm gonna roast you up for dinner!"
"Eeek," Grim yelps and moves farther away from me when I pretend to launch myself at him. I regain my posture and look at Ace.
"My name's Y/n," I blankly say since I'm not one for introductions.
"Y/n? Huh. Name's got an odd ring to it," Ace says.
"Yea, well at least my name isn't a value on playing-cards," I commented.
"So tell me, Ace. Is that lion with a scar in the eye a famous ruler too," Grim asks. I look over to the statue of a lion. Scar from The Lion King? He wasn't a ruler, but he sure was evil. This song 'Be Prepared' was awesome so I can't really dislike him.
"Of course," Ace confirms. "That's the King of Beasts who ruled the savanna."
"No, Mufasa ruled the savanna," I whispered, agitated that Ace was getting his facts wrong.
"But he wasn't born into the throne—he had to earn it through hard work and elaborate schemes," Ace says.
"Nah, he killed the king- his own brother, and made the heir run away," I huffed. Man, can't he get it right? I thought about it for a bit and decided to keep listening. Something wasn't adding up right.
"When he became king, he decreed that the hyenas would be pariahs no more, and should live among his subjects as equals," Ace finished up.
"Sounds like a great guy! Not everyone's able to look past social status like that," Grim approves. This cat is stupid, but then again, these two are native to this world. Maybe the roles of 'hero' and 'villain' are swapped. Grim points to another statue, "who's the lady with the octopus legs?"
"The Sea Witch who lived in an underwater grotto. She basically devoted her life to helping troubled merfolk," Ace begins. Devoted is not quite the right word, but 'Poor Unfortunate Souls' kinda scared me as a kid. "If they were willing to pay the price, she'd help them change their appearance, find love, whatever! They say she was so good, there was no wish she couldn't grant. They also say the price was a tad steep, though. But she was granting wishes! Of course it was!"
"Myaha," Grim exclaimed. "So you're sayin' that once I'm a great mage, gettin' rich off folks will be a total cinch?" That's so not what he said. This is taking way too long. I should start cleaning. I walk a bit away from the two and start silently chanting. I learned that meditating while using my Gift was a way for it to be unharmful and invisible to the naked eye. I activate my black ice and it starts to slowly cover the campus. I also made sure to keep an ear out for Grim and was prepared to step in if the situation got out of hand. "Oh, oh! Do the dude with the big hat next!"
"That's the Sorcerer of the Sands. He was an advisor to a total dolt of a sultan. He was a smart guy. Really capable sort. He exposed this swindler once—some guy pretending to be a prince in order to trick the princess," Ace sighs around the last few words. Aladdin was just trying to be with the one he loved and to do that he HAD to be a prince. Jafar just wanted power and control. "After that, he got this magic lamp and became the greatest sorcerer in the world. Then, they say...... he used that power to become sultan himself!"
"Wow! Guess it's true that a mage needs to be an excellent judge of character, huh," Grim marvels. "And what about this beauty over here?"
"She's a queen who was said to be the fairest in all the land. In fact, she used her magic mirror to check how she ranked on a daily basis!" Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all. Yep, I still remember. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a classic. The Evil Queen was very pretty though. "When it looked like her position was threatened, they say she'd do whatever it took to keep it. Can you even imagine the level of dedication it would require to keep a record like that? Also, they say she was a master of making posions!"
"Geez. She's pretty, but that sounds kinda scary," Grim admits.
"You think so," Ace questions. "I gotta respect the hustle!"
"F-for sure," Grim stumbles over his words. "Sounds like she fought hard for what she believed in, and never gave up! And the one there, with the flaming head? Now THAT guy looks scary!"
"That's the king of the underworld," Ace explains. Hades from Hercules. The movie was based off of Greek Mythology, I believe. "Single-handedly ruling a kingdom packed rambunctious spirits—that takes competence! He may look scary, but he was a straight shooter who worked tirelessly at a tough job he never ever asked for. I mean, this is a guy who was ordering Cerberus, the Hydra, and the Titans into battle for him."
"Hmm. That IS something. T'think he could have that much power and not let it go to his head," Grim comments. I walked back over to where Ace and Grim were standing, for I had finished setting up the black ice all over the campus. The students and staff wouldn't notice the ice, for it had dropped the entire campus's temperature by a degree. "And that last one there, with the horns?"
"That's the Thorn Fairy who lived on a mystical mountain. She was noble and elegant, and a master of magic and curses—even by the standards of these seven," Ace grins. Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, another classic. She got upset about an invitation that she didn't receive and put a sleeping curse on the princess. "She commanded storms, covered the kingdom with thorns... She could even use magic on a massive scale! She could even turn herself into a giant dragon."
"Ooh, a dragon! What all monsters yearn to be," Grim awed. He sure seems excited about all this info... did he forget about our cleaning deal?
"Pretty cool, huh," Ace asks. Grim nods his head excitedly and Ace smirks. "Not like some piddling weasel."
"Myah?!" Grim gets offended.
"Pfft... Ah ha ha! I can't hold it back anymore," Ace laughs excessively. Grim's blood starts to boil and I feel a headache start to form. "Come on, you're the ones who turned orientation into such a fiasco, right? The one summoned by the Dark Mirror who can't even use magic, and the monster no one summoned at all. It took everything I had not to burst into laughter right in the middle of the ceremony!"
"H-Hey! You don't gotta be a jersey about it," Grim complained.
"So in the end, neither of you got admitted and now you're janitors? Ah ha ha! SO lame," Ace taunts while laughing. Wow, so much for a good first impression. I can't believe I became a laughing stock because of this dumb cat.
"What did you just call me," Grim fumes.
"Shit," I grumbled under my breath the called out to Grim. "Grim just ignore him. He's just an estúpido idiota que no es bueno!"
"And you're both so clueless you don't even know who the Great Seven are. Not a single one of them," Ace sighs. It's now my turn to get offended.
"¡Oye! No sé quién te crees que eres, ¡pero yo no tengo ni idea!" I shouted while getting up in Ace's face. He visibly paled and began to take steps back in fear. "Esos 'Siete Grandes' son villanos de películas para niños. ¡No te atrevas a hablarme como si fueras mejor que yo!"
"There's no need to get mad," Ace says. He looks at Grim, "Maybe before you try getting into the academy again, you ought to take a second crack of kindergarten?" Ace laughs again but this time he's a bit scared since I'm still close to him, upset. Grim growls and takes a defensive stance.
"Oh, no. Esto va a ser un desastre," I sigh and take a few steps back.
"Anyways, just thought I'd tease you a bit," Ace grins. "And man, am I glad I did. It's been a blast! Unlike you, I actually have classes to go get to, so I'll let you get back to picking up trash. Bye!" Ace turns to walk away but Grim goes and blocks his path.
"Myuh-uh! You ain't walkin' away from me! It's too late for that," Grim growls. Grim shoots his flames at Ace, who barely dodges them.
"Whoa," Ace exclaims.
"No one makes fun of Grim, Master of Fire! I'm gonna make that explodey-head of yours explode all over again," Grim declares.
"Explodey-head," Ace frowns. "You wanna throw down with me, shorty? You got some guts. You wanna talk hair, huh? I'm gonna shave you like a toy poodle!" Grim shoots his flames again. I go and stand by a few of the statues. Might as well watch to see where Grim stands on a battle field.
"Oh-oh! How do you like that," Ace grins as Grim's flames go off in a different direction.
"H-Hey! His magic winds are blowin' my fireballs off course! No fair," Grim complains. This is gonna be a long fight.
A/n-
Estúpido idiota que no es bueno- stupid idiot that is no good
¡Oye! No sé quién te crees que eres, ¡pero yo no tengo ni idea!- Oi! I don't know who you think you are, but I am not clueless
Esos 'Siete Grandes' son villanos de películas para niños. ¡No te atrevas a hablarme como si fueras mejor que yo!- Those 'Great Seven' are villains from a kid's movie. Don't you dare talk to me like you are better than me
Esto va a ser un desastre- This is going to be a mess.