"What in the--" Mr. Small gasped before collapsing next to the principal. Honestly, Nigel wanted to faint as well, but he resisted and ended up staring in disbelief at the frozen body of students in front of him.
The students were all coated in thick ice, making them frozen statues. Some were running away, some were talking and chatting, unaware, and some are glaring at Joe, who was in mid-freeze, smirking at all of them.
Behind him, Tina Rex's body was under the lake of ice now. Anais shivered as the icy cold air swept over them.
"What happened here?" Genevieve said, genuine shock flashing through her face.
"F-From my calculations," Anais speculated. "By how all the students seemed to be situated at, I think Banana Joe was the cause of this."
The large doors behind them opened and most of the Amirath students walked out and saw the catastrophe. Most of them gasped and glance at each other worriedly, some still looked blank, while others actually had a glimmer of joy in their eyes as they stared at the ice statues.
"What do we do now, Principal?" Anais asked Genevieve. She gave a speculative frown before glancing at her staff. Most of them nodded and headed off somewhere.
"Do not worry," She reassured Nigel, not even glancing at the pink bunny. "Your students will be just fine."
"But, madam," Mr. Sanders pointed out. He was one of the teachers that stayed behind to take watch over the Amiraths. "If one student had caused all of this, wouldn't this mean the Elmore is just a school full of . . . troublemakers?"
Genevieve just gave him a stern look. But Damien could tell from the fire lit in her eyes saying, Exactly!
Then Principal Simean cleared her throat before gazing out to the statue-filled garden again.
"Um . . ." The nurse perked up. "How are you going to get these up and about again?"
"Just heat them up and dry them off before they get a cold, then they'll be bundled up tight and be sent off to bed and everything will be back to normal again!"
No, it won't, Damien thought darkly.
But Nigel took a deep sigh and apologized, "I'm truly sorry, Miss Genevieve. Our students have always been like this. We can't control them! Only Lucy can--"
"Ah, speak not of my sister," Genevieve smiled coldly. "Because I am here now. And trust me, I will find a way to tame them down,"
"I have to trust your judgement, then." Nigel shrugged. Then he began to tremble a little bit as another wave of cold air swept. "Er . . . do you have anything to keep us warm?"
"Ah, yes, please come in."
Nigel shook Mr. Small awake and went inside the school, following the other principal with the Elmore staff and Anais in tow.
"Now, students, get back to your dorms," Mr. Sanders ordered, and everyone obeyed, no delays and interruptions, everybody did it with no noise, no chattering.
But Damien looked behind him and gazed at the statues of the new students again and he actually have this feeling he thought he'll never experience ever since he got here.
Hope.