It was a rather gloomy day as the students ran to the front of the museum to escape the rain and instead of Professor Khan leading the group, it was Professor Lispen.

Rood couldn't quite figure out why Dio glared so fiercely at him but he figured he could beat- ask Dio himself. Perhaps he had been scolded for sleeping during class, eating at times he shouldn't be, or even just for being too noisy in the hall. They were all very real possibilities.

As their group stood around in the museum's lobby, Lispen stood at the front, a clipboard in hand, next to Van who was there because they still had no idea why that demon was there. Better safe than sorry.

Everyone was grouped together with their roommates which were no different than the roommates in Opion. Easy grouping for a lazy teacher.

While it wasn't mandatory to stay in the group, Rood noted that his group stayed the same with the addition of Iel and Ibriel. With the order of not to do anything that was not allowed, the groups were set free. He couldn't help but notice that Van kept an eye on his group but that was likely because of Baldwin- no, Shicmuon. A second nature when you considered the personality of the man. Strange, odd, and frustrating.

The students got together in their smaller groups but the groups split into three larger groups to make it easier for the museum. Each large group had a guide that led them into separate parts of the museums. Rood's group was first led to the section of the museum in which the paintings were placed.

The base floor was filled with different paintings, each room a different type. They passed painting after painting, paintings of flowers and fields, forests and animals, with the last few rooms being filled with portraits.

In the beginning, it was paintings of random people before leading to the last room filled with paintings. This had been dubbed the room of Royalty. It was filled with portraits of the royal family members. It must have been hard to think up that name for the room.

One side of the room was generations of kings. At the very end was an empty frame.

"See this empty frame? This is for the next king which will be announced at age twenty like all the other kings in the past." The tour guide had gestured to the empty frame while looking at the students in front of him.

Almost no one noticed the scowl Shicmuon gave toward the empty frame. Rood had been too busy trying to convince Dio exactly why he shouldn't touch the painting even if he wanted to know how the painting felt himself. The person that did notice however was Lidusis.

Lidusis moved to stand next to Shicmuon but he didn't say anything. If he wanted to say something, then he would. He didn't. He only gave him a weird look and Lidusis was curious.

"What." Shicmuon asked, and Lidusis could only muse that his questions never sounded like questions only a demanded answer. He didn't mind.

He only shrugged.

"You don't like the Royal family? Or just the upcoming king?"

Shicmuon frowned at him. He had no idea what he was going on about or why he was even asking a question like that.

"I…. I just mean, well you scowled at the upcoming king frame thing and I was curious… I didn't mean to pry…" Lidusis hid behind his bangs. He wanted to befriend Baldwin not annoy him but he just got curious.

Shicmuon reached out and pinched Lidusis's cheek. It didn't really hurt. That being said, Van about had a heart attack. Someone was talking to Shicmuon and when they annoyed him, they didn't get hurt?! But maybe he was getting close to his limit.

"Then why ask. Who knows who the next king will be. Sounds like a pain in the ass to me. You're restricted and you have to do a lot of work, all while pretending to care about your subjects." Shicmuon let go of Lidusis's cheek and the grey-haired boy nodded, rubbing his cheek.

"I guess that's true… It's not something anyone could do. I wouldn't want to be king either…" It wasn't a happy view on it but it was honest and Lidusis smiles, just happy that he had replied to him. He knew that Baldwin had a habit of ignoring anything he didn't care about. Or anyone.

Van was also surprised and stopped as he was walking towards him. He hadn't expected him to reply so calmly. To think that he actually got friends and he hadn't just been teasing the boy. A miracle, truly. And not just one he noticed as Rood walked up, Dio following with a pout on his face.

"I'd like to know why I should care about stupid royalty and their portraits…" Dio grumbled, his arms crossed. Shic gave a nod but Rood shook his head.

"You should at least try to know what the current king looks like at the very least. He is the one ruling your country." Rood looked at the pouting boy who only turned away and muttered to himself.

"He doesn't rule my country…" Dio muttered but the only person that understood him was Shicmuon and at this point in time, he didn't really care. Then again there wasn't much that he cared about to begin with.

Shicmuon looked up at the current king and with a blank face raised a middle finger to the painting.

Now Van was horrified. Not that he raised a middle finger at a painting of the current king in the middle of the room that is about the royal family but the fact that this tiny boy, Rood, had immediately grabbed Shicmuon's hand and shoved it down. He could die. He really could, he was so tiny and Shicmuon never learned to keep his temper in check and everything was going to go haywire and he was going to be scolded by the chairmen and goddammit he just wanted a vacation day. Just one single day of vacation. Or an hour for that matter.

"I-is there something wrong?" Van smiled at the group but it was just slightly lopsided and he internally shuddered when he saw the auburn-haired boy give a smirk and raised his other hand. Rood grabbed his hand and smacked the top of it. Van was horrified and he couldn't keep it from his face.

Rood looked at Van and smacked the back of his hand again. He wasn't doing it very hard but Shicmuon's temper... the boy in question was only amused at the nervous look Van kept giving him. Lidusis gave a soft laugh and Dio wasn't paying attention. Again.

"I guess it's true that you have a nasty temper." Rood said with a snort before dropping Shic's hand even though his hand seemed to linger a moment, just holding the taller boy's hand.

"A nasty temper and a shitty personality." The tall boy said with a mischievous smirk. Van only sighed, he was far too wound up. They were his friends. Shicmuon as crazy as that boy was, he still wouldn't fight his friends.

"At least he knows," Chevel said with a grumble, a part of him still annoyed by the first day they met.

"Chevel Hadelio that's fighting words right there," Shic said with a mischievous grin, the grin only widened with his friend's wide eyes. Chevel crossed his arms with a huff.

"And get my ass handed to me? No thanks, Mr. Delinquent."

"You said you wouldn't fight in school…" Van said his shoulders drooping and only sighed when the auburn-haired boy laughed.

"And you believed me?"

"…No, not really. Just hoped." Van rubbed his forehead, the feeling of another migraine forming. Lidusis looked from Shic to Van.

"B-but one of those times he was helping me when I was being bullied!"

Van was surprised. So Shicmuon really did make friends.

"So you truly did make friends… my god, I didn't think I would see the day." The dog of the association gave a sigh but of relief for once.

The younger man scowled and punched his arm. If not for his high defense, Van mused that his arm would probably be broken. Shicmuon never held back with him.

Shic seemed to hesitate for a moment before looking at the others.

"….Friends?" There was a rare moment of nervousness from the boy and Rood laughed.

"Are you trying to make sure that we're your friends?" The short boy asked and Shic looked away with a huff but Lidusis stood up a little straighter.

"I consider us friends!" Lidusis looked through his bangs shyly but gave a smile and Dio nodded along quickly.

"You're a bit scary sometimes but I definitely consider us friends!"

"Wh- Dio," Rood scowled at him before looking up at Shic with a sigh, "Do you really think we would be hanging out with you if we didn't consider you as our friend?"

Shicmuon shrugged but it made sense. But hearing it from Rood had a different effect but he would think about that later. (He wouldn't)

"…okay." The only noticeable tinge of happiness was the slight curve of his lips. Shic looked at Van who was grinning and punched him in the stomach. Van barely blocked it. It hurt.

"Don't tell that old bastard."

"I'll try but if he asks, you do realize that I'm required to tell him right?"

Shic huffed and gave a slight pout.

"…Old bastard?" Rood looked confused.

"…My old man?"

"You call your dad old bastard?"

"….cause he's a bastard…?"

This conversation was going nowhere but the shorter boy only shook his head. Not like he knew his dad. Does Lidusis call his dad that too? Shicmuon had the same question.

"….Do you call yours that?" Shic looked at Lidusis who furiously shook his head.

"I call him father. I don't think I could ever call him that." Lidusis spoke.

"Father is so distant, I call mine, dad. Although if he's being annoying I might call him an old man to bother him." Chevel spoke out loud with a distinct feeling of being forgotten.

Shicmuon forgot that Chevel was there.

"Oh." He hadn't considered that it was weird. He tried to imagine himself saying Father. He snickered. He tried to see himself say Dad. He laughed.

"Fuck, I could never." Shicmuon could only laugh at the images and he could just see the shock on his old man's face if he tried that.

Rood had to cover his mouth the hide his amusement at the thought of Shicmuon saying dad. Or even, in the most hilarious case, Daddy. He wondered if he asked Van, then if he could see some baby pictures. Shic would hate that. He's handsome now so he was probably a cute little kid.

"Alright, let's go to the next room!" The guide called out and startled Rood. I guess it's time to go but his curiosity didn't dissipate.

"Now our next stop is a room of cursed items that have been used in older times." The tour guide continued to talk as the students went split up and observed each object, joking their friends of using it on the other.

"It sounds like a terrible idea to me. Leaving all these cursed objects in one room." Chevel spoke, standing next to Shicmuon, Ibriel, and Iel looking at a brush from the other side of the room.

He shrugged and looked around. In theory, it would be a bad idea but considering there is a larger amount of guards in this room as opposed to the last one, they would probably be fine. But a weird nagging feeling wouldn't leave

"…I guess." Shicmuon walked to Rood who was reading a plaque about a cursed book. He wasn't the only one who had a suspicion. Right?

"Shorty." Rood looked up at him with a frown.

"What do you want skyscraper."

"Something isn't right with the guards." He looked at the smaller boy for confirmation and he got it when Rood nodded.

"Yeah, I thought so too. Did you alert Van?"

He didn't think about that. He was the one that could possibly be doing something about it. Shic turned around and walked to Van. He ignored Rood's sigh. He was smarter than him or Van combined so he went to him first.

"Van. Did you notice?"

"Huh?"

"…Be on guard. Something's weird."

"Oh. Yeah, I know."

Shicmuon gave a nod and started to walk back to Rood when he noticed a person standing there, his eyes on Rood. And they stayed on him. The man shuffled past a guard and there was an exchange of a small object. It was a small yellow gem and to most, in the room, it would be just that. A small pretty yellow gem. But those that studied up on particular gems in Plairus, or just had a wide knowledge of many different things, one would recognize the pattern of what is effectively nature's version of a stun grenade.

Basically, not good.

Shicmuon was about to react but the man went into action immediately. There was a crack and a bright flash of light. The students shouted in surprise almost all being blinded with the exception of two students. Shicmuon, and Rood. Van was unlucky enough to not notice the transaction.

Shic ran forward and slammed into the mystery attacker who was going straight towards his target. Rood. The man stumbled backward into a display, knocking open a small chest. Shicmuon took a step backward himself, avoiding the man's outstretched hand. Rood moved to grab the guard that slipped the gem in but when he turned the guard was already pressed into the ground by Lispen.

"….Hey, short stack," Shic muttered, staring at the chest on the ground that had a murky purple fog coming out of it. Rood turned to him with a scowl but stopped at the sight of the box.

"…Shit."

The taller boy reached to grab the box but there was a loud screech that made him pull his hand back. Chests shouldn't screech like that. It's creepy. And an inanimate object. Without vocal cords and a thick fog coming out of it.

While students had started to focus their eyes again there was a sudden change. Their breath appeared in small clouds, the temperature having dropped. And then something changed.

People started to drop to their knees, both students and guards, not to mention the attacker himself. Some curled up, others had their hands over their ears, their whole body shaking. Nails dug into their skin, some curled into the fetal position and others even started to cry. The attacker was one of the last ones and loudly too.

But not everyone fell.

It seemed to affect certain people but that was the larger of the two. Let's just say it was easier to list those that weren't affected as opposed to were.

Shicmuon. Rood. Lispen, Van, Dio, Lidusis, Iel and the false guard as well as a random other guard and two random students.

"What- Baldwin shut the chest." Rood looked at it, his body frozen to the spot, unsure whether or not he should check a student or shut the chest himself.

"No. It screamed at me. That's creepy as shit."

"Are you fucking- ugh."

Shicmuon leaned forward in an attempt to close the chest but it didn't budge. He pulled it towards him, past the rope that blocked people from trying to touch the chest. He put his whole weight on top of the chest and pushed with all his might and there was a loud crack.

"What the fuck." The tall boy growled under his breath.

Rood stared at the chest. It was in perfectly fine shape. The floor, however, was not. There was a crack in the floor.

He tried one more time but it was useless. Shicmuon considered throwing it out the window when Dio shouted.

"ROOD! Shut the chest!"

Rood took it from the taller boy's hands.

The short boy pushed down and there was a loud snap. The chest shut with no resistance. How unbelievably anti-climactic if you asked him. There was a loud slam near him and his head snapped up. The short-tempered man had punched a hole in the wall. Rood sighed but a small part of his figured he would be just as pissed.

He looked at the chest's plaque.

Cursed chest of Plairus. A chest that gives people dread and horrid hallucinations dependent on how bad of things they have seen. The worse their life experiences have been, the less they are affected. Only people from Plairus can easily shut this chest.

Rood stared at the plaque and looked back at the unaffected people. Most he could assume. Some he was a bit curious about. Like Dio. But that wasn't what made him curious. Was he from Plairus or was that plaque a lying bitch that wanted to seem more interesting than it actually was. But it was something he would have to pry out of his brother's mouth. Or perhaps Dio's for that matter.

People started to snap out of it but more times than not they would have a hard letting go of what they saw. Friends checked on friends, and the moment Chevel snapped out of it he immediately checked on his sister who had Iel at her side. Admittedly not the most fun part of the trip. At least with the bus, they never had to interact with the monster.

As teachers and guards started to round everyone up and they gathered in the lobby. Another mess but with more disturbance from last time. The students sat in groups with their friends, the lobby was quieter than it had ever been with that many people in it or even half as much. More people from the Association arrived to round up the two perpetrators each having magic canceling handcuffs on and they were getting ready to be put in a car to be brought back to headquarters.

Shicmuon watched the group talk, trying to ignore the urge to go up there and join the conversation. Van said that he would tell him later but he wanted to know now. He glared at Van's back. He knew Van couldn't stand it when he did that. He looked over and noticed the pink-haired communicator who smiled brightly and waved with annoying enthusiasm. Shicmuon's scowled deepened. Wasn't he supposed to be undercover?

It bothered Rood as well. He wanted to know what was going on.

"Just go up there! I wanna know their conversation as well but you obviously have a connection to them so go!" Rood looked up at Shic with a frown.

"…They said they would tell me later. Buzz off." He didn't like people telling him what to do. Even if it was Rood.

Rood scowled and raised his hand, fully intending to smack his arm when Shic started walking to the group despite acting like he had no intention of doing so just a second before. Rood didn't think he would ever understand what was going through that boy's mind.

"Tell me now." Shic looked at Van who just sighed.

"We aren't entirely sure yet. But there miiiight be a connection with the monster from before. There hasn't been enough time to fully look into it." He could tell that the boy wasn't satisfied with that answer but that was all that he could really give him at this point in time.

"Okay, but what are you going to do with him, with them. He's not going to be satisfied with just that." Shic scowled and it deepened when Euren replied this time. He was far too friendly and he was supposed to be undercover.

Although Rood would argue that it was pointless and he failed the moment that he arrived at Helios.

"Well, we are going to interrogate them and then release the information that we get that will frighten the students the least. Leave it to my dear sister okay Sh-" Before he could finish that sentence, Shicmuon kicked him in the shin. Euren fell to the ground and held his aching shin, his eyes watering but he didn't complain.

Shicmuon ignored the muttering students when he noticed the fake guard that was sitting on the ground cuffed, staring at Rood with an intense look. It pissed him off. He placed his hand on the back of his head before slammed his knee into the guard's face and there was a satisfying crunch. Some of the students cheered. All were satisfied though even if Rood covered his face with his hand, shaking his head at the impulsive boy.

'Better not stare at Rood like some kind of creep.' There was nothing to it Shic would tell himself. He didn't have many friends. Or until recently, any at all and he was going to keep them safe.

The mood seemed to pick up after that and Euren and the others took the attackers back to Headquarters, Van staying back once again. The students murmured and laughed, trying their best to forget the haunting images. At least, for now, they would be forgotten, although only until they slept.

Lidusis knew he should be glad that he wasn't struck by the chest's curse but he only felt guilty. If it meant that no one else would have had to suffer then he would have gladly taken on the curse. And maybe he could help even if just a little bit. After all, he didn't think that this was going to stop anytime soon.

He took a step forward when he noticed Shicmuon staring at someone. Well, not really staring but more of a death glare that showed a rather dangerous amount of contempt. When Lidusis turned his head he noticed a boy around Rood's height that had mint-colored hair. The boy only smiled brightly at the boy who clearly hated his guts.

"It seems like something troublesome has happened. You ought to be more careful all things considering, huh?" The boy smiled mischievously and the only thing that saved him was Van moving in-between him and Shic.

"Meredith, I'm not sure why you're here but yes something happened. Everything is under control though so it doesn't really matter right?" Van gave a nervous laugh, his only hope was that he would leave sooner rather than later, especially with the particularly fussy boy that was very ready to punch someone. He would be scolded if he didn't find a way to deescalate the boy's temper. Luckily for Van, he wouldn't have to.

"Sir, it looks like we're leaving now." Rood walked up to Van, noticing the stiffness of Shicmuon's posture.

"H-huh? Oh, yes let's go then." An escape was always good and he was glad for it. The Tower was always a pain in the ass to deal with and it didn't help that the boy he often had to watch over had a particular distaste for them and by distaste he meant rage. Speaking of rage, when Van looked back at Shicmuon the boy seemed to contain his rage, his focus now on Rood. And a lot calmer for that matter.

"Come on we have to get on the bus." Rood gestured for Shic to follow and scowled when Shic huffed.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Yeah yeah… I know. Are you coming or not?"

"…I'm coming."

Van's eyes widened but he looked away so that Shic didn't see his surprise. He'd probably punch him. Again. To think he would actually listen even if he was doing it in a roundabout way. It made him curious.

Just as it made Meredith just as curious.