——

NOTES:

If you didn't read the chapter before this, read it. That chapter is very plot important.  Yes, I know this ones name sounds far more enticing BUT YOU NEED TO READ THE ONE BEFORE THIS ITS VERY IMPORTANT.

Im saying this because I noticed a solid distinction in views, and I don't want y'all to be confused later.

Okay? Ok.  ONWARDS:

_____________
———-
𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 1-3 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑜
-----

Sneaking out of the coliseum ended up taking more work than it should have, since Ruggie up and dipped, or something happened.

He couldn't care less, really. Unless he wound up dead, the guy would come scrambling back soon enough regardless. It just pissed him off to take the roundabout.

It didn't help finding out the Ramshackle herbivore was fucking around with high tier fae magic. 

No wonder the Lizards Babysitter had his eye on her. One wrong move, and there goes half an island.

His original plan was to push her away from Savannaclaw as a whole. 

If one measly friend of hers getting their magic stripped caused the Heartstabyl shitshow, only the King of Beasts knows what'll happen if she ends up sniffing around Savannaclaw for too long.

But he got this nasty feeling she knew something he didn't.  And he was damn sure it involved him too.  Call it a hunch.

If thats part of what Diasomnia wanted to get their hands on, then their asking Ruggie to snatch her notebook meant the answer was already written out for him, all he needed was that notebook, and he might just as well have the Lizard's Weakness on a silver platter.

Weird thing was, he couldn't help but find her familiar. Damn sure he'd seen her somewhere before.  If it didn't sound so freakimg cliche, he'd say it might have been in a dream.

As he continued down the hall, a raven haired Pomfieore Student passed by, holding a mirror covered in Talismans, Tied on Prayer Beads, and Magic Reflectors as he entered Octavinelle.

He could smell that scent from back at orientation on the mirror. No, from inside it.

Honestly, it's not surprising that the celphopumk was gunning for the prefect too.  Hide it all he wanted, that Snake also had an eye on her, why, it was beyond him, probably had to do something with Sunshine for Brains, and he didn't care enough to find out.

It was almost pitiful though, Ramshackles Herbivore making herself into a top shelf pawn by complete accident.

Now it's just a race to see who could catch her in their web first. 

Rumor has it she's as much of a social anxiety fest as Shroud around new people, and there was only a few guys who could get her to crack.

This was going to be more work then he would of liked.  But 2 months was plenty of time.

So you can just sit back and watch the show, herbivore.  It'll be plenty entertaining, you can count on it.

——————————————

"Miraim. Color me surprised."

The Pomfieore student groaned, passing the full length mirror off to the left of the two eels.

"I could say the same.  It took 3 hours to catch all of him, and he broke out. Twice. Had it not been for Automi, I doubt it would have been anything near a success."

Pulling at the prayer beads, which tightly wrapped around the mirrors frame, the right of the eels then tore off a talisman, to the tired students dismay. 

"Whats all the fancy stuff for?"

"Keeping him from breaking out again. The Talismans were Moirai's Idea and Beads were Khnori's idea, but to speak honestly, both Moirai and I have my doubts whatever this..."

He gestured to the mirror, waving his hand loosely.

"...Thing is what you think it is. 
It wouldn't surprise me if he's just toying with us at this point, and playing at being a familiar for his amusement."

Reflective eyes glanced around the early closed lounge, then to the more sadistic of the twins.

"Well?"

Jade payed little attention, far more intrigued with the design, carvings, and protective additions to the mirror frame.

"Ah, my apologies. I'm simply admiring your handiwork. Would you be interested in allowing me to commission you for-"

Eyes sharping to a murderous degree, Floyd faced his brother.

"If you ask for a mushroom mirror, I'm thrown' you out a window with it."

The other chuckled, in no way fearing this threat as he fully ignored him, passing a bag to the now very irritated Pomfieore student.

"Perhaps we can discuss that later. As your contract is complete, heres what you requested."

———

Just the moment the boy left, the twins transported the mirror to the V.I.P Room.

As they entered, Azul made his way over, singling the other two to flank him as he knocked on the mirror, smirking as it rippled, proving its occupation.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I must apologize for bringing you here in such a manner, but it's just for a small chat,  I assure you."

No response came, then once more, he knocked, again to no response.

Clearing his throat, the opal haired glared at the mirror, masking his rage with a sly smile.

"I'm a very busy man, and I haven't got all day, you know. If you want to be released, I recommend not making us wait much longer."

While no image appeared, a loose hum reverberated around the room from each reflective surface, to Azul's personal terror, which he loathed to admit, followed by a disembodied voice.

"Hmm...Can't really blame a cat for not wanting to do as his cat-nappers say, can you?"

Finally. Wait...

The Mirror itself remained entirely empty, but the humming never died down. Unnerving, to say the least. It would be far more beneficial to know his physical appearance.

"If you'd like to discuss terms of being freed, I'd prefer to do so face to face."

He-They-She-It, Whatever this being was, it laughed as an invisible force tapped the glass, drawing out a smiley face gleefully, as if he was not a hostage at the moment.  It was its own way of showing it didn't feel threatened in the slightest.

"We already are. So if mew have any questions, I'll answer a few befurr I head off."

One of the two twins perked up, a strangely mischievous glint not very hidden in his eye.

"Oh? And here I thought you were trapped in there until further notice."

"Who knows? I could be, or I could pawsibly just be playing along, and this is all for the plot."

"Plot of what, dare I ask?"

"Ask what?"

"About the plot you mentioned."

"Plot of what?"

Jades falsely pleasant smile hid the horrific  atrocities he was sure the eel was dying to commit on this strange being, and Azul was about two feet from a migraine.

It was like a second Floyd, except with less mood swings and more cheekiness.

Speaking of Floyds mood swings, he had seemingly gotten distracted or bored, as he no longer resided in the room.

They were losing this mental tug of war faster than expected, so it was time to speed to the point.

"If I am not mistaken, you are the familiar of Ophelia Avillion-"

He swore it made a snort to that, but wrote it off as his imagination.

"You see, as a fellow housewarden, i'd like to know a little about her, and her homeland, before the ceremonial.

After all, I doubt we share many of the same customs, and I prefer to make a good first impression."

A brief silence passed, as if whatever resided in the mirror was debating on its next move.

"Servants and Servitude is a huge No-No."

Well that was a certainly...random thing to start with. Suspiciously leaning towards targeting his end goal of contracting the girl.

"Could you elaborate a tad more?"

"If meow're not being paid and forced to work anyway.  'Specially when the big guys up top don't treat you well, work mew to the bone and, or, won't letcha leave. Illegal everywhere you go."

"Even if one were to, say, be in debt to their employer?"

"Still a big nope. Even bigger nope if they're under 18."

Well, damn.

If it was anyone else, he'd be more certain about continuing on this plan on the format of "Difference in Law and Customs."

But then again, if rumor held true, the prefect successfully managed to stick Riddle Rosehearts himself in a legal conundrum, analyzing and comparing each and every Heartstabyl rule to the school rules, plus every legal system in Twisted Wonderland, and came up with over 1400 contradictions in just three days,  and, if the information from Jades check through held true, not a single one was incorrectly stated.

As Idia would say, she did a  "Solo Speedrun." of changing Heartstabyl's rules, permanently, just in the name of a friend. 

Even after the fact, Rosehearts had become surprisingly defensive of her, as he discovered upon Jade proposing the idea of taking revenge during a class they shared, even though it was really only to taunt the redhead with his failure, the lashback he received was far from expected.

Now, coupled with this creature that just oozed magic, her accomplishments in Heartstabyl, and somehow slipping into the inner circles of Ignihyde and Diasomnia, the two most secluded dorms, within only days,  part of him wondered if she was some form of Siren.

That, or just sat on the edge of each extreme of luck. A bloodline curse, maybe?

To his utter annoyance aswell, after a week of searching, no records of her existence, well, existed.  Nothing.
Therefore Blackmail was out of the question for now, and although his first plan was to offer protection, as she was an unfortunate soul in a new world, she now had amassed quite a group willing to do so without payment. Pity.

He had already pretty much lost most of the betting pool around her unconfirmed disguise, and now with Plan C slowly falling off the table, he was growing slightly irritated by her unintentional ability to slip through his fingers so easily.

It was a blessing Floyd had left the room, because Azul admittedly jumped as the lights went off, flickered a few times, coupled by glass shattering, and the room itself rumbling.

Just as soon as it started, it ended, anything that had been broken or moved was miraculously untouched where it had been before.

The mirror echoed the laugh from inside it, its sound making both clench his fists, and go mildly pale.  Its power far exceeded his expectation. How did someone rumored to be near as meek as Idia...nevermind.

"Was that necessary?"

"Nya-ot really, but somethings come up, so I gotta head off purrty soon. Any last questions?"

Jade was completely unshaken by all of this, calmly moving closer to the mirror with a sickening threat of a grin.

"I think you'd find it in your best interest not to toy with us. You yourself may be invulnerable to us, but I can assure you, any human companions of yours aren't."

".....Maybe not.."

In an instant, the same tremors laying waste to the room started up, along with the lights flickering.

However, now things had gotten...strange. His desk was upside down on the ceiling, along with the door, and the portion of floor he was seated on the became the wall. 

His heart near dropped when the latch to the safe spun around, followed by the mirror shattering completely.

A feline silhouette hopped out, briefly turning to the two before morphing into something horrifying beyond words. Yet still, it could speak, and it did, in a creepy sing song.

"But neither are you~"

With that, he simply popped out of existence, only moments before Floyd entered through the door, which still remained on the ceiling, carrying a bag of chips, glancing around at the gravity defying redecoration, then looking down, only to see he was now standing on the door.

"What the fuc-"

—————————

Now, the new prefect hadn't done a thing wrong.

But that cat?  Jade had plans. 

Plans fully intending to see just how far he could push it. Experiment with what havoc it was capable of breaching. Poke and Prod at each tiny weakness until it unleashed its full potential.

Can you blame him? That kind of chaos is hard to come by. A fleeting opportunity to be entertained by capabilities far exceeding his own. 

Magic wise, of course.

However, to get to that cat, which he had oh so mistakenly forgotten to mention was not a familiar at all, he needed to target the only confirmed weakness.

Perhaps he could see if Alien Blood had unique properties while he was at it. 

Shame, that would have to wait. 

For now, atleast, as they had just received an Emergency message calling all Housewardens and Vice Housewardens to Crowley's office.

——————————-

𝑁𝑜𝑤-𝑖𝑠ℎ
----

Clone or not, Cater.2 was sweating bullets as the not currently in the woods Housewardens and their Vices glared daggers into him and Ruggie, who was concerningly calm.

Jk, he wasn't. They were mutually scared shitless.

He took mental note of everyone they rounded up   and their states rn:

Leona (Wow, He actually came?)

Azul (He looked mildy horrifed for some reason?)

Jade (Smiling like the first result you'd get if you looked up Sadistic, #Sketchy)

Jamil (Looked two feet from murder and a couple grey hairs, yikes. Probs something to do with the fact Kalim was MIA)

Vil (Hot as always. Cay is still single , BTW.)

Rook (Talk about awkward, since they lowkey ditched him. Gotta throw Lilia under the bus for that one)

Tablet-Idia (Still don't know how Ophi friended him) + Ortho. (Looked Peeved? Thats new)

Autoni (Mira was totes Caters friend, but Miras BF? Nopeity Nope, Pretty sure he wants him dead)

Malleus (Please don't kill me, XOXO -Cay Cay)

Nevermore (Wait, when did he get back? He was with the totally screwed gang, like, a few hours ago!)

Grimmy (Ophi, your cat demon misses you, he definitely did NOT tire himself out from saying he wanted his Henchhuman to the point he fell asleep though.)

Anyway, It was definitely interrogation time for Cater and Rugs (Gally had gone... somewhere?)

(Oh nvm, he's in the corner, he got Love Lashed by Crowley for attempted theft)

———

"Diamond. Explain what happened. Now."

Shifting his weight, Cater (Clones Version) fidgeted with his phone charm to distract himself from the lethal stare down.

" 'Kay, I unfortunately was kinda not with the main gang, since we split up . I was in the Labyrinth with Trey, floor opened out of no where for us, and them too. After that, we all ended up back together, except for the Freshies-"

Ruggie was definitely NOT gauging how much he could get for certain knicknacks in Crowleys room when he interrupted.

"Wait, how many opened?"

"Hm, adding the whole Elevator thing with Lonnie and co. - Three."

From where he was in the corner, they heard the Seagull beastman tapping his feet excitedly.

"So thats what the levers did!"

That seemingly got the attention of literally everyone.

"Lever?"

Savannaclaws unofficial vice continuously made a "Shut up" movement, which went completely ignored by Gally.

"Yea, Three Levers and Seven Buttons. I tested them all, but the only thing it did that I remember was lock Rug and me in there.  I think I got one of the levers and buttons on me-"

Squirming in the constraints a few times, he tossed a rusted copper lever out of one of his bomber jackets pockets, and a shining yellow button out of another, to Ruggies absolute horror.

"You ACTUALLY took those?!"

"Yup. Mine now."

If they hadn't been in the Headmages office, Cater was 90% sure Ruggie would have tackled Gally, but he settled for a growl while the younger Shroud scanned the thefted pieces.

"Scanning for blueprint match..."

Ortho's eyes blinked with a glowy light for a second, before pulling up a screen.

"Match found.  Trap Lever 3 out of 3.  Connected to 3rd West Hidden Elevator in the Labyrinth, drops to the Prototype 4th year combat and Survival Final Testing Ground.
Project Cancelled due to One Hundred and Sixty Four Safety Code Violations, Thirteen Student Deaths during testing, Source Unknown. All Bodies remain unrecovered."

The looks of sheer horror did not stop him from pulling up the buttons blueprint.

"Match found: Dorm Blocker 2 out of 7, Yellow, Savannaclaw Verison, Blocks students connected to the matching Magestones from returning to Campus if off campus at the time, and those inside from exiting, lasts for unspecified amount of time, intended incase of Dorm Wide Revolution, infection, etc.

Each Button corresponds to a Different Dorm. Project Abandoned by....Headmage Dalt Wisney... Reason Unknown."

Ruggie practically choked, staring at Gally, who stared back in mortification.

"Whoopsies."

"WHOOPSIES?"

This time, the hyena did not hesitate to lung at him, and Jamil looked exactly four seconds from murdering them both, while Jade calmly (Homicidally, Def) , smiled.

"Kalim left on a whim five hours ago after hearing a friend was in town.  Do you realize what this means?"

"We also had an Octavinelle student currently retrieving a more.... intricate delivery from the docks aswell. Such a shame."

A crack of thunder nearly made Cater.2 jump. The glowing green eyes staring Crowley down did not help.

Rook had slowly loaded his bow, which also made this more terrifying. But the kicker was the door busting open. Literally, She kicked the door open in heels.

A woman with a long black bob, striped with grey, stormed in, she had a sword on one hip, and a firearm on the other.

"So that's why I've waited here for 4 hours to check on my little brother after you tried to scoot a major incident under the rug?"

Jamils head snapped up, while Leona and Ruggies ears flew down, both desperately trying to not make eye contact as the snake whisperer focused in.

"Cassidy? Is Hazel and Kalim-"

"They're visiting Bastion at Royal Sword. I have eyes on them, but thats not my priority right now."

Slamming a hand on the desk, she looked the Headmage in the eye, hand on her weapon.

"As the Head of Royal Guard,  Personal Knight and Retainer of Princess Hazel of Sollune, Tell me now:  Where. Is. Vyr."

She had the headmage now obviously terrified, the calmer look wiped off.

Sollune was known for the story of what had happened to their princess at a young age. The security of the castle is tight, the training is extreme, and they don't let just anyone around the princess, especially for long stretches of time alone.

In short, as this was not only the princesses PERSONAL guard and retainer, but also the Head of the Royal Guard....Yikes. Crowley was in for it. 

In his defense (and Caters profesh opinion) though, Vyr didn't exactly give the vibes of "My Sisters a Big Huge Deal." , more like only child vibes.
Judging off their appearances, they probs weren't biologically related, and maybe it was like an emotionally adopted or just adopted in general sitch, but y'never know. Cater was the LAST person who should be questioning about sisters.

When he zoned back in, he noticed Leona and Ruggie had both respectively made a break for it, probably in fear of the very menacing and pissed off woman.
The last he saw was the hyena dragging Gally with him, likely to berate him for causing this whole mess and maybe get a few favors out of it.

Nevermore was either admonishing Malleus or trying to calm him down in a very "tired of your shit"