Hi everyone! Happy Friday!

We're finally getting to the climax of the story.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7:

They found the mine rather easily despite the overgrown path leading to it. Long forsaken, the cave walls were covered with vines and moss, and rocks and wood pieces laid scattered at the adit, or the entrance. A giant tree sat on top, its long roots surrounding it like thick spider web. A small broken railway track for mine carts led into the mine and was swallowed by the darkness.

"A-are we going in there?" Grim said, staring at the dark entrance.

"What's the matter? Scared?" Ace smirked at Grim's petrified expression.

"I-I'm not scared," Grim insisted though his ears continued to quiver. "I'll take the lead! You guys follow me!" He stomped on ahead as if the noise would scare anything inside.

Claire rolled her eyes in exasperation, but secretly, she was glad that Deuce and Ace were calmer about the situation. She can't imagine being able to venture out here this late at night for a wild-goose chase. She had seen enough horror movies to know what could happen when a group of people enter a haunted cave.

Just make sure you're not the slowest one, Claire thought to herself as she followed after the them.

Inside was no better. Without proper maintenance, the cave was pitch black with no source of light to guide them.

"I can't see anything!" Ace complained after stumbling over a large rock for the third time. His voice echoed in the tunnel. "We'll be tripping over everything at this rate."

"Grim," Claire said, "can you use your fire magic to light up this place?"

"I-I can only shoot them out," he admitted, "I can't just make it stay in the air."

"So useless," Ace said. Even in the dark, Claire could tell he was rolling his eyes.

"Hey! I'm not useless," Grim said, "Besides, what about you?"

"Never mind that! Just deal with it!" Deuce snapped.

"Are you nuts?" Ace objected, "What's the point of finding the magic crystal if we can't even see where we 're going!"

"Oh geez, here." A pool of light appeared from Claire's hand. "I thought with your magic, we wouldn't need to use this."

"How did you do that? You don't have magic," Grim said.

Claire held her hand up closer for them to see the flashlight. "You don't need magic to be prepared for something simple like this," she said patiently.

"Where did you get that?" Deuce asked incredulously.

"From my pocket," Claire pointed to her jumper. "Part of the job as the handyman of your lovely and friendly school. Honestly, I'm starting to understand why I was asked to come along." She shined the light around, and the cavern walls glittered with an assortment of gems.

"Wow!" She whistled in amazement. "This place is amazing!"

"Great, let's continue forward!" Deuce said, already walking again.

"Hey, don't think you can just order me around," Ace retorted. "If you hadn't done something so stupid, we wouldn't be here right now."

"Oh, you want to start talking about whose fault is it?" Deuce turned and snapped, his voice heated. "If you had just cleaned the windows, I wouldn't have to face expulsion."

"That's because this furball burned the statue!" Ace pointed down at Grim.

"What?!" Grim yelled, pointing back at him, "That's because you were insulting me!"

There they go again. Claire rolled her eyes to the ceiling as the three bickered like children. She was at the brink of getting an aneurysm with their antics and was in no mood to jump in and try to play peacemaker.

Needing to cool off, she tuned them out and inspected the walls and ceilings of the cave with her flashlight. Although beautiful, none of the colorful crystals here resembled to the one Crowley had showed them. Each gem was a small sliver and deeply embedded into the rocks. They probably weren't worth anything or worth the effort else they would've been stripped away long ago.

Maybe the headmaster was right. Maybe there were no magic crystals left. Claire flashed her flashlight at the dark tunnel which split into several smaller shafts and wondered if they should even bother continuing further. They could get lost in here without a proper map.

"Do you guys not understand the situation we are in?!" Deuce yelled. "We will be expelled by tomorrow morning if we don't get that crystal."

"Don't you dare patronize me," Ace yelled back, "It's really ticking me off."

"Guys," Claire interrupted sharply, "Do you hear that?"

In the faint distance, a low rumble echoed in the tunnel. The temperature suddenly dropped, and the four froze in silence and fear. Slowly, black mist started to form at their feet.

"What is this stuff?" Claire grimaced, taking a step back. She felt more irritated than scared. "Is this normal?"

"Won't…" a voice howled from deep within the mine. It was raspy but bellowed with such intensity that it made Claire's heart pound wildly against her chest. "Give… Wo… Wooon't."

"What's this voice?" Ace said hesitantly.

"S-stoonee… ssssss… Minnnnneeee…"

"I-It's getting closer," Deuce whispered. Grim tremble and squeaked in terror.

Hands shaking now, Claire guided the flashlight towards the dark tunnel where the mist and voice was coming from.

A giant monstrous axe appeared from the ceiling; it's sharp head was aimed straight at Claire. She screamed in frozen terror before Ace had the sense to tackle her out of harm's way. The spot where she had stood was cracked and turned into a pile of rubble. The flashlight dropped out of her hand and rolled on the ground, revealing a giant pick axe and its owner.

"A-A- a g-ghost?!" Deuce sputtered, taking a step back.

However, this ghost was nothing like the ones in Ramshackle Dorm. It was ten times larger and more monstrous in size and wore a bulging red tunic. In addition to the pick axe, the creature also carried a lantern that casted a haunting purple glow in its wake. Black ink was spilling out from where its glass face was supposed to be; it was like someone took a hammer and smashed it in.

"Le… ave… Leave… LEAVE! STONE… IS MINNNNEEEE!" The ghost roared and raised the pick axe high into the air again.

"RUN!" Grim screamed in a rather high-pitched squeal. All of them scrambled back to the entrance as the axe came thundering down again. The ceiling trembled as bits of debris fell from above.

"What was that?!" Deuce yelled. Out of the four of them, he was the fastest, and Claire struggled to keep up the pace. The ghost was surprisingly mobile despite its large and heavy stature.

"No one told me that we would have to encounter that thing!" Grim cried as he leaped over a large rock. "Hurry!"

"This is crazy!" Ace said as they reached closer to the exit before he realized something. "Wait, didn't that thing say something about a stone?"

"Stone?!" The four turned their heads at the ghost.

"Won't… ive… Give… STONE!" the creature roared.

"Stone? Could it be referring to a magical crystal?" Grim said in stunned wonder.

"Then, there is still one here!" Deuce quickly did a 180, heading straight back to the ghost.

"What are you doing?!" Ace yelled in confusion, skidding to a halt.

"I'm going to get that crystal!" Deuce called over his shoulder, "If I don't, I'll get expelled!"

"Nononononono!" Grim shook his head frantically. "No matter how much of a genius I am, there is no way I can win against that thing!"

"He's right! Deuce, we need to leave!" Claire yelled, but he was already charging back. "DEUCE!"

"Claire," Grim called out as she went after him, "Claire, wait!"

"Hey! Don't run off! Just leave that idiot!" Ace yelled, but they were already gone. He glanced back at the exit and cursed in frustration. "Damnit!"

He gritted his teeth and against his better judgement, followed them. By the time Ace caught up, Deuce was already face-to-face with the ghost. He must be panicking because nothing was coming out of his magic pen.

"Leave. Go… home… Go home… GO HOME!" The monster slammed its long arm against Deuce, knocking him against the tunnel's wall.

"Deuce!" Claire yelled before quickly ducking behind one of the large boulders as the ghost tried to swipe at her. "Deuce! Are you okay?!"

He groaned with response and clutched his ribs in pain.

"Stand back!" Ace pulled out his magic pen and aimed it at the ghost. "Take this!" He sent out a gust of wind at the ghost. However, the blast of air seemed to have only made it only angrier, and it turned its attention to Ace.

"It didn't work?" he said, stunned. He barely had time to raise him arms to defend before the monster sent him sprawling next to Deuce.

"No! Stay back!" Grim cried, sending fireball after fireball as he backed himself to the wall. However, the monster continued to come closer. "Why is it not working?!"

Suddenly, a short burst of light flashed from tunnel behind the ghost. From her hiding spot, Claire looked up and stared.

What was that?

"His back!" Ace said, noticing the light as well. He grimaced as he struggled to his feet. "Something is shining at the other side of the tunnel!"

"That light! It's a magic crystal!" Deuce said, using one arm for support against the cavern's wall. His teal eyes flashed with determination and hunger.

Claire stared incredulously at the situation and wondered how this could've happened. Maybe the crystal was reacting to all the magic they were using.

"NOOOoooOO! Won't give. WON'T GIVE!" The ghost raised its axe.

From the other side, Claire realized in fear that Ace, Deuce, and Grim were cornered against the cave wall with no escape. They were going to get killed if she didn't do something. Looking around, she grabbed a rock from the ground.

"HEY!" she yelled.

The stone sailed through the air and slammed against the deformed head. The move didn't knock the monster out, but it did turn its melting head towards her. She gulped in fear but held her ground.

"Over here!" she called out.

She threw another rock at its ink-spilling skull and moved frantically like she was dancing on hot coals. Lady Fortune was smiling down on her today for she managed to dodge the axe at the last second. It got stuck in the fissure that it made, and the ghost struggled to pull it out.

"Move unless you want to die!" Claire ordered as she sprinted to the exit. The others didn't need to be told twice and followed her.

The ghost gave a final howl of despair that echoed in the tunnel.

…

None of them stopped running until they reached the old abandon cottage they came across earlier. Only then did they collapse to the ground.

"Did we lose it?" Grim panted. The only answer was the gasps for air.

"Can we… please stop… with… with all this running?" Claire asked when she remembered how to speak between breaths. Her arms were draped over the fence that ran around the house.

"What the heck was that?!" Ace grimaced, rubbing his shoulder where the monster had hit him, "No one told us we would have to fight that thing!"

"It doesn't look like a regular ghost," Deuce said, frowning.

Claire glanced back down the path where they had just run from. Why was the creature so insistent on protecting that magic crystal? What purpose did it serve?

"Let's just give up," Ace said, getting up to his feet. He was already looking at the path back to the mirror. "I rather get expelled than fight that thing again."

"Are you joking?!" Deuce stared in angry bewilderment and leapt up to his feet, "I rather die than get expelled. Don't you remember that magic crystal we saw? It's in there for us to take! And you want to go home?!" He angrily pointed back at the path to the cave.

Claire and Grim looked at each other uneasily. They were more on the same page as Ace – none of them felt the need to risk their lives for a single crystal.

"You sure talk big for someone with worse magic than me," Ace jeered and waved his hand in disgust, "Go back there alone if you want. I'm done with this suicide mission."

"OH?! IS THAT SO?!"

Claire and Grim jumped as Deuce thrusted his face in front of Ace's until they were only just centimeters apart. Deuce's teal eyes were blazing with hot anger, and he looked ready to punch Ace.

"You're just going to stay there like a spineless coward?!" Deuce hissed, cracking his knuckles. It was like someone flipped a switch inside him.

"Huh? Coward?" Ace sneered, not the least bit intimidated. "Exactly who are you talking to?"

"Um, Deuce," Grim interrupted, "Did you switch characters or something? You're acting… strange."

Deuce immediately flinched, and his eyes widened in horrified realization when he saw Claire's frightened face. He hastily took a step back from Ace and cleared his throat. His ears were bright red now.

"My bad. I lost my composure." He spoke in such a soft and embarrassed voice that they almost didn't hear his words.

"Okay, before we start getting into idiot territory," Claire said, raising her hand and breaking the awkward silence, "Can one of you explain something to me? I mean, no offense, but why didn't your magic work against that thing? You guys just wave that pen of yours and presto, right?"

"Pretzel?" Grim said.

"It's not that easy," Deuce said, relieved for the change in topic. "Like the headmaster said – magic is not all powerful. If you can't imagine it, then it won't materialize. Complex or large-scale magic requires a lot of training."

"That's why we go to magic school," Ace added. "We need a lot of practice to just summon any magic we want. To put it bluntly, if you don't practice, you'll screw up more – especially if you panic easily."

"So, that's why everybody had just been using it haphazardly…" Claire said, recalling how rudimentary their attacks looked. Even if what they were doing was magic, there was nothing to be awe about – it wasn't flashy or anything.

"Well, magic that you're familiar with can be summoned almost instinctively," Ace said with a shrug.

"Is that why Grim can only shoot out fire?" Claire asked.

"Wha– I'm planning to learn more awesome magic!" Grim sputtered in embarrassment.

Claire leaned back against the cottage's wooden fence and glanced up at the tree branches covering the night sky. Everything she had learned was fascinating though it still didn't change the situation. Ace and Deuce were still clearly new to the whole magic thing and on top of that, took a pretty bad beating already. There was no way they can win against that thing.

The rocks she threw at the monster's face proved that it was able to react to the environment, but the stones she threw weren't big enough to do any damage. If only there was a way to lure it out of hiding and smash it with something heavier…

Wait a minute. Claire jerked her head up as a spark of a plan started to form. Yes, yes, this could work!

"Hey guys –" Claire said.

"Anyways, I'm going back in there!" Deuce said, chin up, "I'll figure out how to beat that thing and get that magical crystal."

"Guys…" Claire repeated.

"You're a complete idiot if you think that will work," Ace snorted with disbelief at Deuce. "You couldn't hit him the first time; how are you going to 'figure it out' this time? It's going to end the same."

"Guysssss…" Claire said.

"What did you say? You want a go?" Deuce snapped, cracking his knuckles.

"Guys, can you listen –" Claire said.

"I'm just telling the truth as it is!" Ace retorted back.

"Oh, boy," Grim rolled his eyes. "Here we go ag–"

"SHUT UPPPPPP!"

The three flinched in terror and turned to see Claire with a homicidal glare.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she roared, pointing at each of them. "I. AM. SICK of you all and your pompous attitudes! Quit acting like you are all big shots, you selfish brats! None of you stood a chance against that monster alone, and if you're thinking about going back and get yourself killed, I'll gladly save you the trouble and shove you all six feet under right here, RIGHT NOW!"

The forest seemed to tremble in fear as her final words echoed across the night.

The three idiots had enough sense to clamp their mouth shut as Claire breathed heavily with a seething glare. Even Ace was unable to come up with a retort.

"But what are we supposed to do," Deuce finally asked in misery, "I can't go back emptyhanded."

Forcing herself to calm down, Claire took a deep breath. "I have an idea how we can get that crystal without dying, but I need all three of you to work together with me to make it happen."

"You want us to work together?" Ace raised an eyebrow and snorted in disdain, "Lameeee. I can't believe you managed to say that with a straight face."

"Agreed," Deuce said, arms crossed, before Claire could open her mouth in protest, "there is no way I am working with this guy."

Claire stared at the two with boiling rage again, trying hard not to pick up a rock that was sharp enough to beat some sense into their brains. What was wrong with these people?

"You know," Grim mumbled, looking at the ground, "I feel like getting expelled on your first day of school is way lamer than working together."

The two guys immediately grimaced and looked away, unable to argue with that logic.

"Are you two ready to listen?" Claire asked, hands on her hips. There was a long painful silence as they begrudgingly nodded their heads.

"Okay, fine. We just have to work together." Ace sighed in defeat. "So, what's the plan?"

Claire took a deep breath and shared her proposal.

…

The Dwarf's Mine was the last place she wanted to return to tonight, yet here she was, standing at its mouth. All because of her stupid plan.

"Let's get the magic crystal, guys. It'll be great. There's nothing that can go wrong," Claire muttered sarcastically to herself, shaking her head.

Why was she helping them? She should have just convinced them to go back to school and avoid all of this. Sure, they would get expelled but at least she wouldn't be dragging their dead bodies back.

Claire took a shaky breath and clutched the rock tightly in her hand. One thing for sure, she was a complete idiot.

"What's with the stiff look?" Ace said, suddenly appearing, and slapped her back, "Take it easy, and let's get this over with!"

"Ace! Get back to your position. How can you be so upbeat?" Claire said, still feeling sick to the stomach.

"Well, I trust you," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides if things go wrong and we have to run for our lives, I'm pretty confident that I'm at least faster than you."

"Oh wow, thanks," Claire said sardonically.

"Don't worry, I'll carry you if you need it – princess-style too if you promise to pay," Ace teased.

"Oh, shut up and get back to your position," she snapped, but he merely grinned at her irritation and left. However, thanks to his antics, Claire felt slightly less nervous about the situation – something she will never admit to his face. She stared back into the abyss and took a deep breath. Even if she was scared, she intended to follow through with her strategy.

"Claire," Grim came over, "Deuce said he is ready."

"Okay, then, let's go wake a sleeping monster."

Author's Notes

Oh boy. It's a miracle Claire managed to get all of them working together. Hopefully they survive all this.

I will be cutting out the in-game battles that will add nothing the story, so the ghost battle in this section of the game is not here.

Also to note, for those who are also reading this story on A03. The new chapter is updated today instead of Saturday due to scheduling.

Thanks and I'll see you in the next chapter!

-JD