By the time we get back to the campsite, it's sundown, but I do get my notes in for what I'm going to write, and freshen up. Grim ate some plants, and some bugs, but he's not throwing up so I'm going to say he didn't poison himself. Which is good, because as I haven't seen Coach Vargas all day—I really don't think it's going well, after all.

But, out of nowhere the abandoning teacher appears!

"Day One of Camp has ended!" He bellows to the crowd, looking like he probably worked out all day or whatever muscle heads do when they're neglecting their oversight duties.

"Clubs, when I call for you—report your badges earned!" That's reasonable. "Equestrian club!"

"Three." Riddle responds factually, and casually.

Did they do this thing last year? It doesn't seem like it—at least, no one has said anything about last year's camp. Maybe this is brand new? Or have they done it many times before? Honestly, if I've been told I don't remember. I'm blaming my latest head injury. It aches a little, wee bit still.

"Track and Field?!"

"THREE!" Many members bellow out. I'm not surprised. They're all pumped, too.

No thanks.

"The Basketball Club?!"

"We have three… surprisingly." Jamil says, and he looks pretty worn out.

I wonder what happened…?

Well, Ace is part of that club, even if I don't see him right now. He's someone else's problem right now.

"Magishift?!"

Leona scoffs. "Of course we have three."

Didn't he nap all day?

"Wonderful! All of our participating clubs managed to survive and complete the first day's activities! Good! Though it is disappointing to hear that some of you barely passed…" Wow, Coach Vargas is as mean as our other teachers. Good to know. "Now, I would wish you all a good rest but the forest fairies will come to extinguish your bonfires all night long! Have a nice night!"

We're approached by the new-light-seen Coach. "Paper duo—come with me."

"Where are we going…?" Grim asks.

"Probably to be sacrificed to an ancient pagan god. I figured it'd end like this." I remark to Grim.

Vargas looks back at us, he's giving me quite a look. "That's an interesting imagination No Wei, but no, to the cabin. Headmaster Crowley informed me you refused to stay somewhere without proper plumbing."

"My anemia makes me throw up sometimes." I reply. "And I'm not throwing up in the middle of the woods, thanks. Or sleeping outside,

"Anemia… And an allergy to peaches, correct?" He clarifies.

"Certain bug bites give me hives, too." I add. "But I really don't know about Twisted Wonderland's insects…"

"Hm. And your scoliosis has off-set your hips, too. A shame." He shakes his head, disappointed. "However—your gymnastic abilities are quite a feat despite that! It must have taken many years of hard work and lots of stretching to maintain despite your skeletal issues!"

"Yeah… why ARE there so few sports clubs? I'd think we'd have gymnastics, swimming, baseball—I don't think American Football exists in this world, but what about wrestling, or tennis, volleyball…?" I ask, really curious.

"Oh, those clubs have been eliminated over the years! The four you see are the four left standing." Coach informs us.

"Oh. Wow." Grim remarks. "That's… wow."

"Mhm! Only the best survive at Night Raven College!" I guess so…

We arrive at the cabin, and I… uh. Hm.

"I've made sure there's a cot for you and Grim inside the cabin. Crowley expressed as your guardian you absolutely refused to do this without creature comforts." I'm getting a slightly disapproving look.

"No doesn't even sleep well in the first place." Grim points out. "It's annoying."

"He's not wrong. Grim, want to stretch with me before bed?" I ask, as I start to go through a stretching routine. I've picked it up fully since the Tournament, and honestly I've almost gotten back to where I used to be! It's pretty great how being sixteen makes you like, super flexible and able to function and stuff. I forgot how nice this was, seriously.

"No thanks! I can't bend that way!" Grim huffs.

"You could if you tried! You're a cat...ish! So you should be super flexible." I tease a little bit.

"I'm a monster!" Grim huffs.

Coach Vargas is going hard core on his routine, and in all honesty, I'm not entirely surprised he has some sort of pro-level workout. I don't disturb, instead, I stay on the other side and get through my stretches, and do a couple handsprings before I'm done.

Grim's asleep on a bench at this point, and Vargas comes and just—bench-presses it. I can't help laughing as he's startled awake.

"W-woah-uahahha?!" Aw, Grim… poor thing. "LET ME DOWN!"

I hold my arms out. "C'mon, jump!"

I am surprised when he does, but I catch him, and laugh. "Night Coach!" I go inside, setting my bag on the aforementioned cot, and go take a nice, hot shower and enjoy creature comforts. I'm so glad I cleaned this place up as I crawl into the cot with the already-sleeping Grim…

And I'm out.

I wake up, and I hear Coach Vargas. "UP! GET UP!"

Grim groans next to me. "Noooo!"

I laugh a little, he hates waking up. I yawn. "Mhm—yeah. Up. I'm awake." I have had my four hours, so life is fine with me.

"Hurry, it's time to wake the other campers! You have five minutes to join me!" And the door shuts.

I am in the bathroom, changed, brushed up, and hauling Grim and my bag under my arm in five. I yawn sleepily as I close the cabin door behind me and blink tiredly at Mr. Muscles.

"Good, four minutes. Excellent!" How is he awake and with so much energy? Evil, it's pure evil.

Grim is groaning in my arm as I lug him along.

"This is awful…"

Ah, poor guy.

It's worse for the campers because Coach Vargas goes to a ghost and directs them to loudly bang on a frying pan. The noise echoes so loudly across the campgrounds. It sends all the campers into a panic. It's kind of funny. I set down Grim, and get a couple good pictures.

There's a lot of super sleepy and unhappy campers around. But there's Coach, with a brilliant smile and perfectly-done hair. How? I don't know. I don't even care. I slept in a pretty comfortable cot and I'm feeling refreshed. I could use a nap, but honestly I hit my sleep needs.

I'm some sort of freak of nature, I guess. Hah!

"GOOD MORNING!" He bellows.

The gathered group of grumpy students grouch. And I think a few of them are sleeping standing up. I want that ability. It'd be useful.

Grim's leaning against my leg and mumbling off, too. He's not a morning monster-cat at all.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Nothing.

"If I cannot get a response, it will be grounds for disqualification…" Man's merciless.

"GOOD MORNING COACH!" The group shouts, but I know I heard iasshole/i peppered in there too.

They're right, though.

I'd bet money that was Leona, too.

"Now—let us get on with the missions! The first is a potion crafting for safety, a minor, quick healing potion that requires a native flower—the light flower—it lets off a faint glow you can see in the early morning and night. Your second mission is to secure more food—there is a predatory catfish that devours lesser fish in the lake, making a scarcity. Catch and cook as many as you possibly can, and eat it! The third, is to find a larger magistone. Two cubic centimetres and weighing seven grams. Your deadline is sundown, clubs! BEGIN!"

Well, that's…

Great.

Grim perks up a little. "What we doin' first…?"

"Hm, I guess we should pick a group to follow and rotate like yesterday? But what group should we go to…" Looking around, the groups are still discussing things. I catch a weird expression from Jack—and take a picture.

That's for my photo album.

"I'm tired…" Grim complains.

"Hey, hey there! Baby seal and lil' shrimpy!" That's one of the Leech brothers. I. Uh. Hm. It's too early for this. Which one is he?!

"Morning…" We greet.

The other is Jamil—he's… Vice Housewarden and Spelldrive player for Scarabia, if I recall correctly. "We just want to ask you—have you seen Ace? He never returned to camp yesterday."

Uh! Now I'm on high alert! "No—we haven't seen him. At all—when was the last time you did? Is he missing?" I look around—I don't see him in a sweep of the crowd, either. We should probably tell the coach…

"Hm… you shouldn't panic. He's probably slacking off somewhere else…" Jamil comments.

"He's not with Deuce—and that's where I'd expect him to be if he's slacking off, though…" The two gravitate toward one-another, after all. "Shouldn't we tell the coach?"

"But when you see him, tell Crabby I'll strangle him later!" Uh. UH. I AM. UH. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT EXPRESSION?!

I take a step back with my hands up. I do not want any trouble here. God almighty I am now awake. I was not before, but I am very alert and very much frightened, thank you.

"Later!" Immediately scary fucker just smiles casually and wanders off. UM.

I am LE SCARED.

"Eh, we'll find him." Grim shrugs. "When we do…"

"Let's keep him away from whatever Leech twin that was." I gulp. Oh, man, I do not like him.

Scary.

Too early in the morning for that shit.

"You're hat's a little skewed." I hear a voice—and see Leona approach. It's FAR too early for his shit, as he takes the brim of the hat, and turns it slightly. "You could at least wear it right, bunny."

"I'm so glad my new bestie's looking out for me." I'm awake enough to give a brilliant smile. "I really appreciate it, kitty cat~"

I hear Ruggie break out in rancorous laughter.

I leave Leona shocked, and appalled. Grasping Grim and taking off like the wind before we DIE.

WORTH IT!

It's not too terrible, actually, but we head off to follow some of the club members, and start to talk with them in their ventures. They're not having much luck, but it's apparently a pretty rare flower. I'm recalling the details of it. Something that needs a lot of nutrients, so it's not going to be in the underbrush with a bunch of competition. It's pretty, too, apparently—and it wilts like immediately when it blooms.

"Didn't we use this flower in the allergy potion?" I ask, not sure if I remember correctly.

"Yep. Then you drank it down and made DISASTER!" Grim recalls the YOLO incident. It's quite infamous… like everything else I've done at this school.

But when in Rome, do as the Romans do—or in this case, when surrounded by dumb boys, do dumb shit. It works too. I have seamlessly blended in here at Night Raven College. Or… uh.

We run into the trio we know from the Equestrian Club. "Heyyy!" Grim greets. "Did you find the flower, or are you struggling?!" Actually, that not-cat takes in a deep whiff of the air. Oh, right. He can smell this shit.

What a little asshole he's being.

"Yes… we're heading to it now." Silver gestures to the spot about… like, a hundred feet away or something? My judgment of distance isn't the best.

Boy, I'm not sure if he's upset, or sleepy.

"It looks like it's in the swamp over there… but how do we get to it?" Riddle asks. "It looks deep, and fairly dangerous."

"I mean, for short people like us, it is, Riddle." Oh I should've not said that aloud.

Riddle gives me a big, big frown too. His arms are crossed. "...You are right… it is more dangerous for those of shorter heights… ibut you could say it better, No/i." Ah, he's pouting a little.

"You're right. Sorry, Riddle." I apologize. He's sensitive…

It's weird, he's in that mood where he doesn't want to make eye contact again. I don't know what it's about, but it keeps happening. I guess I really did upset him… I'll… maybe I should bake him something later? That'll cheer him up. He's got a pretty big sweet tooth.

"I'll go." Sebek volunteers. And he just runs the fuck off into the swamp without another word or thought or consideration. I am in awe. I am absolutely in awe.

"Eh!? Is he really just going to go in there?!" Grim makes quite the face.

Riddle eventually gets over his shock and surprise. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SEBEK!?" He has an appropriate reaction to this. "YOU MIGHT GET CAUGHT IN THE MUD! WE CAN'T PULL YOU OUT!"

Sebek is already waist-deep in the mud. "Hah! As if I would get caught in the mud like a common human!"

"Silver, WHAT is wrong with him!?" Riddle is also, again, asking the right questions.

"He's fine." Silver replies. "Lilia trained us for these things." And Silver is just so casual about it too! He looks a little sleepy, sure, but at the same time I am amazed at how calm and collected he is about this, because Sebek's one good fall from being a bog body in five hundred years. Noting, I am not sure how long it takes for a bog or swamp to preserve a body to bog body status.

"What training prepares you for swamp walking?!" Riddle is a little more calm, but he's clearly displeased with this scenario. Fair. I'm.

I need popcorn for this, watching him wade further into the swamp like he's the swamp monster everyone should be scared of… huh. I wonder if there are swamp monsters—there are already fairies. So why not?

"Grim, are there swamp monsters?" Asking the local monster for details.

"Yeah." He replies casually as he gazes, fixed on Sebek's figure.

I take a picture.

And another as he steps out of the swamp, completing his trek.

"...The mud does nothing…" Riddle is amazed.

"I said he'd be fine." Silver reiterates.

"Unfortunately, it was not." Sebek sighs, crossing his arms as the mud slogs off of his form. Maybe the raincoat-combo wasn't an entirely bad idea—but now I want to hose him off.

"Pity." Silver replies.

"Sebek, I acknowledge you are perfectly capable of wading through a swamp, but next time would you please refrain?" Riddle's calmed down, but I can see he basically is giving Sebek the look he gives me fairly often. Problem child.

"It was no trouble at all. I would do it again if it means we will not be bested by Leona and the Magishift Club!" Oh, is he using the other form of Spelldrive? Whatever—but why does he have—ah, maybe… maybe he knows all the details about the plot against Diasomnia during the Tourni. Mmm, yeah. And Leona isn't even sorry about any of it, either. Riddle's had a lot of character growth since his Overblot and I think all that's changed is Leona is trying to mock me out of friendship but joke's on him.

I'm going to friend him SO HARD.

"Why are you dragging Leona into this?" Riddle, once more, is asking the correct questions.

"Don't worry about it." Silver, we need answers. "They argued before camp, and he's… still fired up."

Oh, so it's just Leona being Leona after all. Eh. Fair.

A student I do not know from that one dorm Octavinelle appears. "We—we have an emergency! The fairies came back to the bonfire! We need help!"

"We will defeat them again and again until they learn!" Sebek loudly proclaims, and rushes off.

Well… it's a good photo opportunity.

"C'mon." I say to Grim.

And off we go!

It's just—Sebek and Silver go in, blazing in battle glory. It's really short work before the fairies disperse again. I'm not entirely impressed, but it's more that I do not understand why the other students couldn't do this as well?

Maybe there's a big power scale going on here that I'm unaware of because, yes, that's right: I don't have magic.

"Well, that's over and done with." Riddle sighs, he seems a little disappointed too. "We need to find that flower."

Sebek declares loudly, "No matter what it takes, I WILL obtain that flower!" And there he goes.

Wow, I do not have that much energy to go after a flower.

However, I gesture to Grim and we of course follow.

"He really wants that flower…" Grim remarks.

"I think it's a pride thing." I remark in return.

"I SHALL GET IT!" He shouts, from far ahead.

We're back with the more reasonable people, letting him run ahead. Because this is task one of three. And maybe we're just walking leisurely because we're all a bit tired.

I had enough sleep, but I think maybe I'm getting hungry, and that's the issue here.

Grim hasn't complained about food, which… surprises and worries me. Maybe he ate under-cooked fish and he's getting sick? I hope not.

It doesn't get entirely weird until we watch Sebek stop before a cliff face. "THERE!" He declares, pointing at a ledge at the top of a cliff that's probably twenty feet or so high.

What's even more jarring, is that he literally grabs it, and starts hefting himself up the cliff side. No safety gear. No—no nothing.

"SEBEK!" Riddle calls, but it's useless.

He… he just hauls his own ass up that cliff, and hefts himself on the ledge, grasping, and pulling up the flower: roots and all.

Then he leaps down and lands in the super hero pose.

Yeah, I have photos, and I also clap with a well-deserved whistle.

"Wow… that's insane…" Grim is gaping in surprise, too.

"You… …" Riddle is just in shock, too. Yep, this guy is a beast.

"Now that we have the flower, let us return to craft the potion!" He is pretty excited about it, too.

Honestly, there's a lot of chatter as we return; but there's already a cauldron above the saved fire. It looks like the students keeping an eye on things knew they'd be successful. Good to know.

The more potion-capable students gather around, and I get to sit back with Grim and take a few pictures of them crafting—I even get to log this current stint of the adventure. It's pretty relaxing today—the worst part is just all of the walking.

"Is that smoke supposed to be black…?" Grim asks at some point, wandering closer to what the sophomores and other responsible members of the Equestrian Club are crafting.

Riddle gives Grim quite a look. "Of course it is—who do you think I am, Grim, some bumbling buffoon incapable of mixing a simple potion?" That was a dumb move, Grim. We might not get invited to the next Unbirthday Party for that—and I ilove/i those shindigs.

And just then it blows up with pink smoke.

UM.

"Perfect!" How giddy Mr. Strictness seems!

"GHOST!" Sebek could yell and I bet his mother can hear him even from here.

The Ghost appears, ghostly? I don't know. I'm feeling awfully giddy for no reason. But, the badge is once more obtained by the Equestrian Club—which means this part of our adventure is over.

"Let's head out, Grim." I suggest.

"Yeah!"

Because there's another squabble brewing between Sebek and Silver and the true American motto is iMind your business./i

"Oh, wait!" Grim stops me with a tug.

"Yeah?"

"That—that one guy, Jamil, he's COOKING! We should go there next." Grim's stomach leads him everywhere.

"Sure." Now that I know he's fine, I'm relieved. And… I'm a wee bit hungry myself.

"Sooo!" Grim leads in as he approaches Jamil. "What's cooking~?"

Jamil looks at Grim with an expression that reads clear as day: iI know why you're here/i. "Good, you can try this, Grim." He fills up a bowl, handing it over to Grim—who takes and snarfs it down without a second thought.

"Oooo! It was SO GOOD! What was it?!" He asks, holding out the bowl for more.

"Fish curry." He replies, dashing in a little more of something else.

"Curry… I've never had that. What is it?" Well, if food was just about school, Grim would have perfect grades.

Jamil wordlessly also hands me a bowl. "It has a variety of meanings, but usually it refers to a dish of a spiced sauce with meat." He explains very calmly.

"Thanks." I reply.

"There's different types of curry from all around the world… what I've made is something similar to what I could get from home… just not as hot as I like it." He replies.

"So—wait. You like it spicy?!" I don't know why Grim is surprised. "Ugh—No likes super spicy. He drinks hot sauce! For FUN!"

Guilty.

"Oh?" Jamil gives me a look. "So you prefer spicy food?"

"Savory." I reply. "Spicy is… well, in middle school, it was a contest for everyone of who could eat the spiciest thing—which basically meant we found the hottest hot sauces we could find and chugged them as a show of power." Small school. "I didn't build up my tolerance as high as I could have…"

"Why is that?" Grim asks.

"My parents died and I moved schools." Ah yeah.

Jamil and Grim are giving me frowns.

"Every story you have has someone dying, doesn't it?" Grim regards me with suspicion.

"No! That's just Ace and Deuce being suspicious or something…" I shake my head, but I do get back to food. It's so good.

"What do you think?" Jamil asks.

"It's good. Has a kick. Smooth. Flavorful. I like it." Ah, a pity that it's gone, too.

But I am definitely satiated. I get a good picture of Jamil, too, while I'm at it.

"Come back later. I'll be tweaking this a little bit." He instructs.

"Of course!" Grim whoops, and gestures to me. "C'mon No! Let's go to the lake!"

Is he trying to get more food…?

My mind spaces out as we approach Epel. Grim almost bouncing. "Ooo—you're doing pretty great fishing!" He calls out.

"Mhm! And this-" He tugs up the rod with a grin, a squirming, struggling fish on the end. "...is four. But we haven't caught the catfish…" He's a little disappointed.

"Using the wrong bait." I conclude.

And as I am, in fact, not listened to—my comment is breezed over easily, which is fine with me, and Ruggie approaches. "Gimme that fish, would you?"

"Sure." Epel hands it right over, no arguments. Nice to see a team get alone like this.

"Use it as bait." Ruggie replies and I feel both so ignored and so right all at once.

"I want some of that…" Grim says softly as he looks at the fish.

"You're only allowed cooked fish, Grim." I reply.

"You ruin everything good, No." Arms-crossed and pouting.

The fuck.

"Wow—that's an amazing idea, Ruggie-" I catch Epel saying.

"Thank me with stuff, not words—after I get the fish." Ruggie's making that laugh too.

There's the new, not-Grim-food bait added to the end of Epel's rod, and once more the line's out.

I'm doing my journalistic duty of taking pictures and not butting in, as I should.

But Grim's already to Ruggie. "I want the rest!" He huffs.

Ruggie laughs, tossing him a piece. "Just this—can't sacrifice more, you know, until we get the catfish."

Of course Grim eats the raw piece of fish fillet without a thought, licking his chops. "Sooo good!"

"If he gets sick, you're cleaning it up, Ruggie!" I call out to him.

He waves me off.

I really hope he has a stomach of steel.

For my sake, at least.

But now we're playing the fish waiting game, which is just an unfortunate thing, isn't it?

Though, with luck, Epel has gotten a bit bite! The chaos that ensues isn't surprising, either—because Epel's one person, and he's getting drug away! Ruggie rushes to gather the people and many members of the Spelldrive Club jump to Epel's aid. "DON'T LET GO!" Ruggie leads.

"No! Ready the camera!" Grim calls out; he doesn't have to get me twice. I've got a snapshot developing of them all grasping and dragging Epel. Hopefully I can catch it right when they pull out the fish!

But of course that's when the fairies arrive to stop the group, I guess.

A fight it is!

The members not holding onto Epel for dear life gather around, batting at the fairies until they go away.

But the fight for fish or for life (who knows at this point) rages on. A group of students haul Epel back as he turns the wheel to reel in the fish with all of his strength! The intensity is perfect to right about later, too! There's shouting, yelling—encouragement, and a strange presence of teamwork that is known to be rare at Night Raven College.

The pivotal moment arrives! The fish is pulled from the water! It's the catfish!

It's bigger than Grim.

"That's bigger than me!" Grim gasps.

"That's bigger than me." I emphasize, going over to take a picture. "Epel—yeah, hold it. Wow."

"It's—two meters, at least!" He's right, too.

"I want to eat it!" Grim declares!

And this time, a Ghost is already here with the badge.

Mission accomplished for them, at least.

"Well, we have to check the other teams on the way back." Ruggie says, looking at the group picking up to haul the fish. "So come by later, glutton."

Yeah, he's talking to Grim. "Fine, fine! Other clubs, No?"

"Other clubs." I agree.

The second day is off to a pretty exciting start.