Chapter 20

Words: 2171

"Bwah?! Housewarden!"

Riddle was standing behind Ace, arms crossed and a frown covering the surface of his face.

Cater chuckled and started to nervously hold on to a strand of hair. "Hey, Riddle! What's shakin', pal? You're lookin' adorbs, as always!"

Riddle grumbled, and shifted to rest his right hand on his hip. "Hmph. Cater, keep runnin that mouth and you'll lose it- along with the rest of your head.

Cater quickly scrambled away from trying to lessen the situation. "Sorry, sorry! My bad!"

Grim jumped up after taking a better look at the Heartslabyul Housewarden. "Myah?! You're the guy who put that stupid collar on me at the orientation ceremony!"

"And you're the new students who were nearly expelled yesterday. I'll ask that you not refer to my signature spell as a "stupid collar". The headmage's habit of tolerating rulebreakers like you is going to send this entire campus spiraling into chaos one day." Riddle eyed you and Yuu specifically.

"Those who break the rules should have their heads removed immediately, without exception." He held his head up high, and looked down at your table.

"Dude seriously? This guy looks like a wimp, but talks like a monster..." Ace whispered to himself, holding his head down.

Riddle then turned his glare towards Ace. "The headmage may have forgiven you, but if you break any further rules, I assure you I will not."

Ace chuckled awkwardly, and smiled at his prefect. "So, uh, listen, Housewarden, sir... Any chance I could get you to remove this collar?"

"I had intended to remove it once you'd taken an opportunity to reflect upon your crimes. But I've not detected so much as a hint of remorse in the foolishness I've heard you spout today. So I think I'll let you keep that for a while." Riddle squinted his eyes, making Ace wince.

"Oof." You whispered to Cater on your right. He only responded with an, "Yep... Oof."

"Don't worry. The freshman cirriculum is more focused on magical theory than practice. And your inability to use magic will help prevent incidents along the lines of what happened yesterday." He finished his talk towards Ace, and then turned to the rest of you.

"Now, if you've finished your meal, you should quit gossiping and prepare for you next class. Rule 271 is quite clear: "One must leave the table within fifteen minutes of completing their lunch.". You DO understand what happens to rulebreakers I trust?"

Ace sighed. "More insane rules..."

Riddle crossed his arms with a frown. "I believe you mean to say, "Yes, Housewarden!""

"Yes, Housewarden!" Ace and Deuce both yelled.

Riddle nodded at the response. "Very well, then."

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them." Trey smiled at the red-haired boy who hummed in response.

"Hmm. As vice Housewarden, I trust you'll avoid any further indiscreet conversation. Now, as per rule 339... "The post-meal beverage is to be lemon tea with two sugar cubes." Thus, I must go to aquire my sugar cubes. Farewell."

With that he turned around. "Don't even get me started on their violation of running out of sugar cubes...!" He whispered aggresively to himself before walking away.

While walking away, you heard a small dripping noise. You looked up from your food, gaze following Riddle's leaving figure. Yuu was looking after him aswell, did he hear it too?

Before you could ask Yuu anything about it, Cater let out a releaved sigh. "Yeesh! That was terrifying."

"That guy...has some serious issues." Grim sneered while finally climbing away from Yuu, and back towards your lap.

Deuce frowned at Grim's words. "Hey, don't disrespect him!"

Behind you, you heard a voice mumble something. "Is the Housewarden gone?" You turned to find out it was a Heartslabyul student.

A fellow dormmate sweatdropped. "I totally just broke rule 186, "Never eat a hamburger on Tuesday." I don't know what I would've done if he'd caught me!"

The student that was the first to talk sighed. "... I wish he wouldn't come here so we could at least eat lunch in peace."

A sad look stretched over your face, your ears flopping down slightly. You felt bad for them. Sure, rules were there to be followed, you agreed on that. But some rules were just absurd.

Trey crossed his arms beside you, and spoke up again. "Riddle managed to secure the housewarden title before the end of his very first week at school. I know he can come off a bit harsh, but he's not a bad guy. Everything he does, he does because he thinks it'll improve the dorm."

"Would a good guy go around putting collars on strangers' necks?" Grim asked with a sarcastic tone.

This made both Trey and Cater chuckle awkwardly. "Heh heh..."

"That was your fault for causing trouble, Grim." Yuu said before stuffing the last of his food into his mouth.

"Yeah, you almost burned down that room." You agreed.

Ace snickered, and of course had to jab at Grim. "Until Y/n face-slammed you into the floor, of course."

Deuce snickered at the comment, and Yuu tried to hide his laugh.

Grim grumbled and glared at Ace. "Grrrr... But that collar really hurt, and it shut off all my magic! That's just rude!"

"It's also rude to burn down someone's school!" You fired back at the cat.

Cater leaned his elbow onto the table again. "Hm? You're curious about Riddle's signature spell?"

"That means, like... It's a spell that only he can cast, right?" Deuce interupted, just to clarify it's meaning.

"I doubt he's the only person in the whole world... But yes, a signature spell is a magical ability that is, generally speaking, unique to its user. You'll learn about them in class soon enough." Trey answered Deuce's question.

Cater continued on for his friend. "Riddle's signature spell allows him to temporarily seal away the magic of another. The spell is named... "Off with your head!" "

Grim shivered in slight fear. "Even the name is completely psycho!"

"To a mage, losing the ability to use magic is about as painful as losing your head completely. Which is why all of us at Heartslabyul House try hard not to violate Riddle's rules." Cater finished up.

Trey nodded. "And as long as you are following the rules, Riddle isn't so scary.

"So it hurts when you get collared? I wonder if it also works on my elemental energy." You muttered, glancing at the vision on your belt.

"Your elemental energy?" Cater asked, tilting his head to the right.

You nodded, and placed your vision on the table. "Yeah. This is my vision. It grants me the ability to use electro powers. Basically just purple electricity. I use it to enhance my bow and polearm attacks."

Cater's eyes gleamed slightly. "You can do that? That's so cool!"

"That is quite interesting. Is there a special way to obtain one of these, or can you just buy them in your world?"

"To receive a vision you need to meet certain requirements, and then also be recognized by one of the seven Archons. For example, if you want to get an electro vision like mine, you need to have an intense desire and ambition to go stronger and fulfil a dream or goal. And then you need to be recognized."

"Sound like a big deal. Do you just go visit one of these Archon people? What even is an Archon?" Deuce asked, acting up to his curiousity.

You smiled at his interest in your world, your tail wagging in glee. "An Archon is a god. There are seven Archons, and they all rule over their own nation. I live in Sumeru, which is ruled by Lesser Lord Kusanali, the god of Wisdom. She's the dendro Archon.

We also have Barbatos, the god of Freedom and the Anemo Archon. Morax, the god of Contracts and the Geo Archon. Beelzebul, or the shogun who is the god of Eternity and the elcetro Archon. Focalors, the god of Justice and the hydro Archon. Mavuika, the god of War and the pyro Archon. And lastly, the Tsaritsa, the god of Love and the cryo Archon."

Their mouths hung wide open. "You need to be recognized by a god to retrieve such a thing?!" Grim yelled out from your lap.

"Yeah. I got mine when me and my papa were being ambushed by fatui soldiers. I was so determined to grow stronger to help him, and protecting him was always one of my dreams, that mid-fight my vision fell down in my hand. I helped papa defeat the soldiers, and after we celebrated my vision."

"So you just got recognized by a literal god, during a fight, and this thing just flew down into your hand?" Ace asked, slowly trying to peace things together.

"Yeah that's basically it." You nodded at his discription.

"That's crazy." Cater muttered, now looking at you in a whole different light.

Yuu stared at you aswell. "And you were how old when this happend?"

"I think I was seven? My papa took me in when I was 5, so yeah. Seven I think."

"Wait, took you in?" Deuce pulled out the next topic.

You nodded. "Yeah, he says he found me somewhere in the woods. I don't quite remeber what happend, papa says it's because I was young, and my brain shut it out as a trauma response."

"That's crazy." Trey mumbled. "You were seven got recognized by a god and literally started fighting soldiers."

"I forgot about the fighting soldiers part." Cater hummed out.

You shrugged it off. "It was alright. I've had worse experiences."

"Myah?! Excuse me?" Grim turned his head to look up at you.

"I mean yeah, I got my shoulder clawed open by a Rishboland tiger once. It was scared tho, so I don't blame it."

Their mouths fell open once again. "Excuse me you got attacked by a tiger?!" Yuu yelled.

"Not intentionally."

Deuce stared at the table. "Holy shit, we've had it easy here..."

"I know right. We even have a proper roof above our head here at school." Ace mumbled.

He then turned back to Cater. "Speakig of which- are you still not gonna let me into the dorm until I buy a tart, Cater?"

Cater hummed a yes. "Don't @ me, but... yeah. That's rule 53, so my hands are tied. Also, Riddle always looks forward to having the first slice of a tart. So if you want him to forgive you, you had better bring a whole tart!"

Ace slummed back and forth in aggitation. "What happened to "We're all from the same dorm, let's try to get along?" Throw me a bone here!"

"That's one thing. This is another." Cater hummed happily.

"A whole tart has gotta be pretty expensive." Deuce added in.

Ace turned towards him. "Seriously? I don't have that much money!"

Cater then seemed to get a genius idea. "Then why not make one yourself? Trey made those three tarts by hand, after all."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Yuu had small sparkels in his eyes.

Ace's eyes widened aswell. "You made those tarts, Trey? That's incredible! That was like something you'd find at a bakery!"

Trey chuckled whole-heartedly. "Heh. I appreciate that. We do have most of the stuff you'd need, but... I'm afraid I'll need something from you in return."

"Heehehhh? You're gonna charge me to make it?! What kinda racket...?!" Ace looked extermely confused.

Trey laughed again. "Nah, I wouldn't take money from a freshman!"

"But you would take money from a sophmore, or junior?" You asked.

Cater chuckled at your question, but Trey ignored it. "But Riddle wants a chestnut tart next, so I'm gonna need you to gather a ton of chestnuts."

Ace sighed but nodded. "Like that's any less of a hassle. But... fine. How many do you need?"

"Well, it's for the unbirthday party, so... Probably two or three hundred?" Trey said in the most casual way possible.

Deuce and Grim both almost jumped back. "Did you say HUNDRED?!"

"And they're all gonna need to be boiled, shelled, and pureed." Trey continued on as if it was the most normal case ever.

"Alright, I'm gonna head out." Grim huffed and crossed his arms.

Deuce nodded. "I'm leaving too."

Ace frowned. "You heartless cowards!"

"Hold up! Haven't you even hear that food tastes bbetter if you make it with your friends?" Cater butted in before Ace could throw in anymore insults.

The orange head chuckled before going on. "This'll be a memory to treasure! It could even be your chance to make a splash as a cooking blogger."

"Don't tell Riddle, but chestnut tarts are at their tastiest when eaten right out of the oven. And the only people who get to experience that culinary privilege are the ones who make it." Trey added in.

"I don't know what a cooking blogger is, but I wouldn't mind helping out a bit. I went out to gather stuff with my father and sister all the time."

"Y/n, you're an angel from heaven!" Ace cried out.

Grim also heard Trey's last comment, and made a whole 180 in his mood. "Well, when you put it that way... Come on, humans, let's do this!"

Yuu snickered. "You sure changed your tune quickly."

Trey then went on. "I heard there's a whole bunch of chestnut trees in the woods behind the campus's botanical garden."

"Cool. Plan made. Let's meet at the botanical garden after last period." Ace grinned at your little group.

Grim was happily singing his words in a tune. "We're gonna be up to our ears in chestnuts!"

✿༺ 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓈! ༻✿

✿༺ Y/n lore drop go crazy.

·.★·.·'¯'·.·★.·

A/n: WAIT BEFORE YOU LEAVE‼️. I just want to give a huge thank you to Em0_L0S3R for creating this beautiful piece of art.

GUYS LOOK. I'M SO HAPPY I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT OMG. I DID A FEW HAPPY JUMPS WHEN I SAW THIS. This gave me motivation, so longer chapter. I love it so much, and I really appreciate it! Your support and comments make me want to continue writing. Again, thank you!💕🫶
-Kitz/Yumeko