[I love this part of the song so much omg-]
~~~~~
Cafeteria
"I'm already exhausted from a full day on cleanin'. I can't believe we still gotta wash a hundred windows!" Grim groaned.
"We gotta suck it up and do it. After all, if you didn't attack him, we wouldn't be here." You rolled your eyes at the cat's complaining. "Hey! Do you want to fight me?!" The cat glared at you.
"Okay okay okay, calm down. Nobody here is fighting anybody." Yuuken tried to relax the atmosphere.
Grim clicked his tongue. "What's buggin' me is, Ace ain't even here yet! To make us wait after what he did... grrr!"
...
30 minutes later.
...
1 hour later.
"...and now he's super late! I bet he up and bailed on us!" Grim growled.
You banged your hands on the table and got up. "That's it! I'm going to find him and drag his ass back here." Before you could run off, two strong arms grabbed you and held you back tightly in a back hug. "Yuu, let me go!"
"Relax! We'll go after him, but calm down first! Also, language." Yuuken let go of you once you calmed down.
The three of you soon walked around school, going into an empty classroom. "Hey! Ace! Get over here! Try to hide from me, will ya!" Grim yelled. It was empty. "Huh, maybe there's no one here?"
A voice came from a painting. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. I'm here." You jumped. A talking painting?! What else, flying broomsticks? "Bwaaah! That painting just talked!" Grim almost lost his balance in shock while Yuu activated his 'protect Y/N mode'.
"Yes, and...? Is a talking painting really and oddity and this school?" The painting looked- well, er... sounded offended. "The lady in the portrait on that wall talks too. As does the gentleman in the portrait on this one. As long as a painting has a mouth, why wouldn't it be able to talk? Is that really so strange?"
"In fact, yes. Paintings don't usually talk." You replied to the painting with the old man. "Well, your 'usual' and my 'usual' clearly differ. Shall we agree to disagree on the matter?" The painting said. "Now, you seem to be searching for someone."
"We're looking for this guy named Ace. He's got messy hair and a heart drawn on his face." Grim tried to describe Ace. "And he looks like a clown, and is a jerk." You added. Grim nodded.
"Have you seen him?" Yuu asked.
"Ah, I know the one. A new student, I believe? Today was his first day at school. I think he went back to his dorm a while ago." The painting answered. Your eye twitched.
"Myaaah. So it's true! He's tryna ditch us! Do you know which way he went?" Grim growled.
"The door to the dorms in the eastern building."
"Let's chase after him!" Grim looked at you two. "Yes... let's..." Your voice had an obvious annoyed tone. But before you could run off with Grim, Yuu stopped you.
"Remember, Y/N. Don't kill him..." You rolled your eyes and sighed.
The three Ramshackle students then went to hunt for a certain ginger boy.
At the hall of mirrors, the certain ginger boy was casually walking to a mirror with a heart labelled "Heartslabyul" on top. "Yeah right, like I'm gonna wash a hundred windows. I'm just gonna go back and—"
"AHA! GOTCHA, PUNK!" Grim yelled almost at the top of his lungs.
"Oh no, they saw me!" Ace started running.
"Oh no you don't!" You chased after him straight away while Grim followed behind you. Yuu face palmed and eventually ran to catch you, not Ace.
"GAH! Why are you so fast?!" Ace yelped, seeing how quickly you got close to him. You smirked at him "Heh, can't run from me!"
A navy haired boy appeared out of the mirror Ace was going to. He had a spade drawn over his left eye and his uniform was the same as Ace's. They seemed to be from the same dorm. "...hm?"
"Outta my way!" Ace shouted at the navy blue male, pushing him in front of you to block your way.
"AGH!" The two of you yelled as you crash into each other falling on top of him. Yuu caught up to you and lent you a hand "Are you okay?" You took his hand and got up, dusting off your clothes. "Yeah, I'm fine." Meanwhile Ace stopped and stared at you and his classmate with his jaw dropped, he was not expecting his plan to go like this.
You turned to the navy blue male. "Sorry about that. Here." You held your hand out.. "Um.. you okay?" He looked like he'd seen a ghost, but his face was as red as Riddle's hair. "...hello??" You waved your hand in front of his face. "I think I killed him."
"Huh?!" The male spoke up. "Oh! You're not dead, good." You smiled. "Take my hand." You helped the navy blue male get up.
'Oh shoot, forgot I was supposed to escape!' The dumb ginger boy thought as he sprinted again.
Grim jumped in front of you and shouted at the blue haired male, "Quick! Stop him!" He pointed to Ace.
"You want me to cast a spell to stop him?! Like, freeze his legs? Or bind them with a rope? Or maybe I could... hmm... no.." The blue hair boy mumbled.
"Please, just do anything! It doesn't matter how!" Yuu quickly responded.
"Anything?! Anything, huh... all right! Here goes anything! I summon thee, something heavy!" Out of nowhere, a huge pot - cauldron - was summoned right above Ace, squishing him to the ground.
"Bwaaah?! Wha?! A pot?!" Ace shrieked in pain.
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha, look Y/N, look! That Ace guy got crushed beneath a giant cauldron! It squished him flat! Ah ha ha! That's what you get." Grim laughed at the 2d looking boy.
You had your hands over your mouth and eyes widened. "Holy shit... a cauldron?!" You muttered. "Language. Also, should we check on him?" Yuu glanced at you with worry in his eyes. "Yeah, best to do so." You nodded.
"A cauldron?! I wasn't expecting that. I may have overdone it this time..." The navy boy mumbled.
You and Yuu put all your strength to help get the cauldron off Ace. "What are you guys bothering me for? You coulda just banged outta work yourself!" Ace groaned. You stopped and glared at him, making the cauldron fall back in place. "OW!"
"There's no 'banging out' a hundred windows!" You ran a hand down your face.
"A hundred windows? What the heck did you guys do?!"
"Hey! Y/N, a bit of help here?!" Yuu groaned, still trying to get the cauldron off. You sighed. You grabbed one of Ace's hand, "Yuu, push the cauldron off when I pull him up." Yuu nodded. You pulled Ace up while Yuu pushed the cauldron backwards, careful not to hit himself with it.
Ace rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks flushing a bit by you holding his hand. "...than-"
"Yeah okay no problem." You quickly let go of his hand and went to where Yuu was standing.
"So, what exactly happened?" The boy with the spade marking asked.
"I was just screwing with this furball a little." You kicked his foot. "Agh! Okay... and the queen of hearts statue got a teeny bit charred. Sue me." Ace answered.
"You damaged a statue of the great seven?! No wonder he flew off the handle at you!" The bluenette yelled, raising his hands in shock. "After you managed to get into THIS school, how could you get in trouble on the very first day?!" He muttered.
"Oh shut up. Who are you anyway?"
"My name is Deuce. Deuce Spade. Don't you remember your own classmate?"
'Deuce.. Spade? As in two of spades? Okay... now this is very weird. Who would name their child that?! Even Lady Isabella wouldn't do that.' You thought.
"Uh.." You were snapped back to reality by Deuce's voice.
"You don't remember my name either." Ace said bluntly. Deuce shook his head in denial. "That's not the point! You shouldn't try and shirk an order from the headmage!" He crossed his arms.
Ace rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, message received... fine, let's bang out the windows already."
Yuu looked around. "Hold on..." everybody looked at him. "Where's Grim?!" He panicked.
Your eye twitched. "That little..."
"Hey, language." Yuu stopped you before you could say another word.
"Whaaaat? I was gonna say cat, not bit—" Yuu put his finger on your lips, clearly giving you the look that says 'shut up'. You took his hand off your mouth and softly chuckled.
"..."
"Oi! That furball disappeared! Stop being slow and find him!" Ace scowled.
"Hehe~ I'll let you handle the rest! Bye bye~" Grim snickered as he waved to the group and ran away. "You caught me so YOU could escape yourself?!" Ace exclaimed. "Hey! You there... uh, juice?" He trailed off.
"My name isn't juice! It's Deuce! With a D!" Deuce sounded offended.
"This is partially your responsibility y'know. So help me catch that little furball!"
"How is this my fault?!"
"Grim's useless janitor friends can't use magic. That means it is up to you and me!" You gasped and kicked Ace's knee. "OW! Hey, why do ya keep hitting me?!"
"I'll have you know I am faster than you, you even had to use Deuce to block me! So I don't need you dragging your petty ass and complaining when I can catch him myself!" You snapped, making everyone's eyes widen in shock.
"Hey... let's all calm down, yeah? Y/N, the more of us there are to catch him, the better. So come on, let's not waste any more time." Yuu stuttered out. You slightly rolled your eyes and tilted your head to the direction of the door, indicating to move forward.
The four of you ran after Grim. He soon ran into a dead end, but Ace and Deuce started arguing which annoyed you and you tried to shut them up while Yuu was calming the situation. Grim took this as his chance to escape and ran past them. Wide eyed, you groaned as you ran after him again with the guys behind you... but guess what? The same thing happened. All of you arguing, and Grim running away.
Soon, you all made it to the cafeteria.
"Argh! Stop jumping around like that!" Ace grumbled.
Grim giggled. "Catch me if you can!" He started climbing on the chandelier. Yes, a chandelier!
"No fair climbing on the chandelier, you coward!" Deuce yelled. You facepalmed, "If only you guys didn't argue... we could've got him! There's no way I can climb a chandelier."
"You were also part of the argument." Ace remarked. "And who's fault was that? Yours." You curled your lip into a frown.
"I haven't really learnt flight magic yet... hmmmmmm..." Deuce mumbled as he thought for a while. "Ah! Got it!" He brightened up.
"Did you come up with somethi— oh, hey! Stop! What are you doing?!" Ace panicked as Deuce pointed his magic pen at him.
You and your dormmate also panicked. "Hey hey hey, Deuce, chill. I know nobody likes him, but you don't gotta threaten him." Ace glared at you, giving you the look that says 'really?'
"What are you doing anyway?! Why are you pointing it at me?!" Ace asked again, in more of a panic this time.
"I'm going to launch you." Deuce answered candidly.
"No way does this end well..." Yuu muttered, praying for their safety.
"Are you kidding me— Bwaahh! Put me down! Seriously, do not launch me! Abort! ABORT!" Ace started being lifted off the ground, but what they didn't notice... was that you were right under the chandelier, not in the middle, more towards the end.
"Just make sure to grab him tight." Deuce ignored Ace's plea. "I've got him in my sights and... Go!"
"BWAAAAAAH!" Ace screeched as he was thrown directly at Grim. "MYAAAAH?!" Grim also shrieked.
The chandelier was broken and it came crashing down right at you. "Oh SHITTT!!" You screamed as you tried to dash forward to avoid getting crushed. But it was too late.
"Y/N!!" Deuce and Yuu blared in sync, rushing over to you.
They all coughed, but the three of you on the floor coughed more violently. [I actually just started coughing so hard after writing this😦]
"I cannot BELIEVE you just did that! And you hurt her too!" Ace coughed out, slowly standing up and pointing at your crushed body. Luckily, you weren't as badly injured since you weren't in the centre of the chandelier.
Deuce and Yuu were in heavy panic mode, pulling you out of the debris caused by the destruction. After you were finally out, Yuu held onto you securely.
"This was a stupid idea..." Deuce muttered. "Are you okay?" He turned to you.
"I'm—" You let out a harsh cough "I'm fine. I've faced worse." You rasped while trying to leave Yuu's grip.
"Stop moving. You are clearly not fine." Yuu said firmly, not letting his grip loosen. This was the first time you had seen him so... stern.
Ace stomped his feet. "You complete and total moron!!" He was still in disbelief of what Deuce had done. "We got Grim, but we broke the chandelier! If the headmage finds out about this—"
"If I find out about... what, Ace?" You all went silent, slowly turning around.
"Ah! Headmage Crowley..."
"YOU. FOUR. AGAIN. What have you done this time?!" Crowley was furious to say the least.
"Myaaah... everything's spinning." Grim finally regained consciousness.
"Burning a statue wasn't enough for you? Now you've destroyed a chandelier?! Not to mention you injured a young lady!" You smiled bitterly, although you were covered in small cuts by the shards of glass that shattered everywhere. The masked man sighed. "Enough. All of you are expelled."
"We don't even go here..." You muttered under your breath to Yuu. "Whaaaaaaaaat?!!" Ace and Deuce however, were aghast.
"Headmage, please! Give me a second chance! I can't get expelled from this school! I need to go here!" Deuce implored in despair.
"Then blame yourself for your own foolish behaviour." Crowley exhaled.
"I'll pay for the damages! However much it costs!" This caused Crowley to raise an eyebrow. "The chandelier is no mere light fixture." He shook his head.
"It is a magical chandelier. It's candles are powered by a magical energy source so it burns for eternity. If was created for us by a legendary artificer." He began. "Possibly their finest creation. It has been here since the school was established and I believe it would be here forevermore. Considering it's historical value, I would estimate that it's worth to be no less than a billion thaumarks. And you intend to repay that sum?"
'Thaumarks? What the hell are those?' You wondered, your face giving a clear look of puzzlement.
"A... a billion thaumarks?!" Deuce froze with his eyebrows raised higher than how far Neptune is.
"B-but I'm sure with your magical talent sir... you could snap your fingers and fix it right up!" Ace stammered.
"Even magic has its limits." Crowley replied sternly, crossing his arms. "Furthermore, its magestone - the figurative heart of any magical artefact - is cracked. A magestone cannot easily be replaced." Crowley shut his eyes- no... ORBS. "I fear the candles of this majestic chandelier will never burn again."
"This is bad..." Ace furrowed his eyebrows.
"What am I going to do? What am I going to tell my mother?!" Deuce mumbled abashedly. The word 'mother' caught your attention. You kind of felt bad for him... he wasn't really supposed to be involved in this mess anyway.
"There has to be... well, something, right?" Yuu looked at the headmaster, his eyes full of determination.
"Ah...! There may be one way. One tiny sliver of a chance to repair this chandelier." Oh no. That was all you had to think. You could just sense trouble stirring up.
"There is?!" Deuce yelped. Crowley nodded, "the magestone that powered this chandelier was mined from the Dwarfs' Mine. If you can acquire a magestone with the same properties, it may be possible to repair it."
"Then I'll go find a magestone. With your permission, sir!" Deuce gained a lot of adrenaline.
"I should caution you that I cannot promise there yet remain magestones to find." The headmaster warned. "The mines were closed some time ago. It is likely they have already all been mined."
"I will do anything to avoid expulsion, sir." Deuce admitted.
"Hmm... very well then. I will suspend your expulsion for a single night. But if you fail to return with a magestone by morning, all of you are expelled."
"I understand, sir. Thank you very much fir this opportunity!" Deuce exclaimed as he did multiple short bows to show his gratefulness.
Ace sighed. "Fine, let's hurry down there, fine a magestone, and get this whole thing done with."
"You should be able to reach the Dwarfs' Mine instantly by using one of the gates in the mirror chamber." Crowley informed. "But before you go anywhere, take her to the infirmary." He glanced at you.
The boys nodded. "...huh? But I'm fine.." You murmured.
Grim then woke up, and you all explained everything to him. The boys took you to the infirmary and got your injuries treated. They were only minor, since you dodged most of the impact the chandelier would've made if you were fully crushed. Finally, you all arrived to the mirror chamber.
"Maaan... how did I end up in this? I swear, I have the worst luck." Ace complained while you scoffed. 'Pff.. what could you know about having terrible luck?'
"We don't have time to explain. Let's go." Deuce commanded. "Dark Mirror, take us to the Dwarfs' Mine!" Before you could even blink, you were transported to a forest with a small but rusted cottage. It was almost as bad as Ramshackle. There was a small wooden bridge leading to the house. If the place was more... fresh (?) it would've looked like quite an amazing place to live in.
[Finally! Done with this chapter! Ngl i was a bit afraid it wouldn't be 3000+ words, but it turned out to be more than my last chapter! Also I'm not feeling well AGAIN. Istg there's something about Friday's which makes my immune system go weak. Anyways, hope u enjoyed this chap and look forward to the next one💙]