Yuu went on with his routine. He left the small cloth bag safe in the bedroom, hurried to change his clothes and ran back to the castle. He did it all silently, feeling sullen all the way.
The change in his mood didn't escape Ace and Deuce's eyes. Especially Ace, since the boy could be a terribly assertive devil when he wanted to.
''Oi, Yuu… What happened to you?. And where is Grim? We haven't seen him at all''
Yuu didn't want to talk about it. His face crisped before he could realize it. And his friends' expressions changed, too.
It was a serious issue. And Yuu forced himself to speak about it. And the missing part, too.
His friends hadn't seen Grim at all. It was as if his companion was erased from the face of Earth.
They went to class. Strangely, some professors didn't seem to care, while others asked about Grim's absence and reminded Yuu about his role as Ramshackle prefect. The boy didn't like it at all. But mostly attributed Grim's absence to his mischief and went on with their classes.
Grim didn't appear at all. He didn't show up later, and nor did he appear for lunch either.
The boys were worried.
They used their free time to scan around the school and had to avoid the Leech twins inquiring about their acts. Leona Kingscholar made a strange comment, too. But if they weren't to help, then Yuu decided it would be better to ignore it.
After classes ended, the trio moved to search around the bigger terrains around the castle. It was cold and the wind froze their bones. They searched around until it was late. New buildings appeared on their way, some seemed very old. There were some benches, too. Some tables were painted with chess boards, similar to public parks in Yuu's world.
They gave up, feeling tired.
There were no signals of Grim. And there was homework to do, too.
To thank them, Yuu invited the boys over to have supper at Ramshackle. He didn't have much food there, but the idea of returning to the school was exhausting for the kids.
And it would be better to not enter his dormitory in alone, Yuu secretly thought.
The boys boiled hot water and poured it inside instantaneous ramen's cups. They sat by the fireplace and chatted about their days, the schoolwork, Riddle's violent mood swings and gossip. Deuce had heard that a wounded student had been taken to the infirmary the previous night but stopped talking after he realized it was Yuu whom he was talking about.
And for the first time that day, Yuu laughed.
It was full of irony, but it helped relax his shoulders.
Ace and Deuce made him feel less alone. They decided to start working on their homework and to have a sleepover at Ramshackle: Riddle Rosehearts didn't mind his students sleeping at other places at night as long as they obeyed the Queen's rules and kept good grades.
The boys watched movies: horror and vulgar comedy. Some frat humour stuff. One of the actors even resembled Jack Black.
Yuu wished he had his own movies, video games and books to share with his friends, but he knew it would be impossible. He would have loved to show The Witcher and Game of Thrones and World of Warcraft to Ace and Deuce. Same with Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden music.
They eventually went to sleep. Blankets and pillows were distributed around the room and they rested by the fire.
That night, Yuu had a very strange dream. It was different from his visions about the dormitory founders and those creepy flashbacks about a carriage entering the school at night.
A strange feeling wrapped itself around him, it was as if Yuu was seeing the real events developing around him and not at the same time. The sensation was of wetness and softness. And something dark behind his shoulder.
Thorns and rocks and darkness were disappearing around him as if night hours were an illusion. The warm colours of the country landscape slowly started to appear around him. Yuu saw a scared man above him. He was looking at a deformed mantle below and Yuu was seeing it all from the points of view of the black mantle and the man. Above and below. There was green fire and purple and black smoke.
Fear. Pain. Daze. Confusion. Violence. Hatred.
It was late, very late.
Night on one side, weak daylight on another side of the sky.
But the thorns remained below. A precious silver sword stood alone, its tip nailed to the black cloth of the mantle. The fabric was shredded at the borders.
The pretty metal of the sword became all black. So did its pommel.
It was corruption.
Yuu instinctively understood it.
The idea came naturally to his head.
A cliff. The man got on a horse and left the place accompanied by three tiny lights of different colours*. He didn't bother to recover the sword: it would have been too dangerous with the thorns around it. It wasn't worth the effort.
The closer thorns started to disappear.
It all seemed like a dream.
Yuu looked at the shredded black fabric. He felt something sad and very lonely inside him.
Yet, it was dangerous and disturbing at the same time.
A feeling of anxiety grew in his chest.
Yuu decided it wouldn't be wise to remain there.
The sword was corrupted.
The silver sword was corrupted.
But it looked so antique and elegant and flashy...
He was woken up by Deuce.
The boy was grabbing him by the shoulder but Yuu only saw grey. And the dream was so calm and persistent…
He let himself go back towards it.
Yu woke up again. But it was morning now. Ace and Deuce gave him strange sights.
''What is going on…?'' he slurred.
''Yuu… look at your side''
The boy did it.
Grim was asleep on the same couch as Yuu, snuggled up to his side. Like a calm pet, an innocent kid.
Yuu distractedly caressed him.
Then came the memories. But they seemed unreal.
That was the authentic Grim: asleep by his side, without a care of the world. Like a real cat… if it weren't for his size, that is.
Deuce and Ace started to yell and move and speak at the same time. Yuu asked them to low their voices but it was useless: Grim woke up.
He then proceeded to complain about the noise. It was still early for school…
Aced grabbed him by the collar and demanded explanations about the violence.
How could Grim dare to attack Yuu like that? And to disappear for a whole day?!
Grim looked at them dumbfounded.
He never did those things. He only tasted the delicious black stone and… and…
Grim couldn't recall what happened later. He only woke up at night by the woods and then returned to Ramshackle, angry at his friends who abandoned him all alone in the cold.
The three boys didn't know what to do.
Yuu requested Grim to stop eating the black stones, but Grim only answered praising their delicious tastes, and how each one differed.
There was a lack of light in his eyes.
Grim looked like an addict talking about his drug.
Yuu understood that Grim would not stop seeking them.
Deuce and Ace explained everything that happened to Yuu to Grim but he didn't believe anything. That couldn't have happened. Yuu looked fine and Grim remembered none of it.
It quickly became a mess of hot-headed people. Blue fire, cauldrons and yelling. The ghosts floated to the living room, eager to join the quarrel.
Yuu had to yell at them to stop. His mouth opened and everybody stared at him, looking slightly scared.
The boy had flashbacks of that time when they saw their first Overblot in the creepy forest. It had happened months ago but it felt terribly distant. Yuu ignored the déjá vu and told his friends to stay quiet.
Ace then proposed an idea: Grim would have to do their homework for the very next week as compensation for the problems he caused them. Grim refused but Yuu agreed to it, under the condition one of them would have to accompany Grim on the activities.
Yuu didn't like Grim's addictive behaviour and decided it would be a good measure to keep him distracted… long enough.
Yuu kept his uneasiness and fears for himself.
For the boy understood very well that he lacked the resources to help an addict. Yuu knew a thing or two about addictions and withdrawal symptoms from reading, but that was all of it.
Yet, the light in Grim's eyes slowly returned. And the boys realized it, so they changed the topic of conversation even if the wariness didn't leave their minds. They talked about schoolwork, about the comments of the teachers and about the activities they would have to do that very same day.
Grim complained about the improved schedule and his disappointment for his friends' abandonment of him. All the three boys reminded the monster of his mysterious absence. And, no, they didn't leave him: he disappeared on his own.
And Grim got mad, so the fight started again. And Yuu felt very tired, so he yelled at them. But this time, something felt dry inside him. His voice went out as it always did the few times the boy lost his patience. Yuu felt particularly tired that morning.
And his companions listened to him.
Deuce commented it would be a good idea to arrange the living room. The ghosts made disappointed comments about 'the lack of fun' and floated back to the insides of the building.
The boys silently started to clean the place. Yuu watched how Grim joined them without complaints.
He really had changed.
*Yes, it's a reference to this scene from Sleeping Beauty: watch?v=JmM-XX8atlQ after Phillip and the fairies defeat Maleficent.