Che'nya knew of Neige's...habits. However he had been powerless to stop this mess from happening. No one would believe him, and any attempts to get the teachers to intervene ended in failure.
The fact things had gotten to this point was unsurprising, and the second Vil was returned, he fully planned to transfer to NRC. He rather liked the atmosphere of Heartsabyl and it had felt more comforting than anything he had gotten from his current school.
Besides, he found Cater utterly fascinating.
Getting them into the Royal Sword Academy had been tricky, but since he had the permission of one of the teachers, they were able to bypass the security wards with ease.
None of them were dressed as NRC students, and today was one of the days that there were no classes. Other students were milling about, but after Che'nya explained their presence they immediately dismissed them as important.
The second they breached the wards, Rook's eyes went straight towards the direction of the building. However they had to be careful so that the teachers didn't know their real intentions.
Methodically, Che'nya lead them towards the general area of the building. Even Riddle, who was the least sensitive of the group was picking up bad vibes from it.
Lilia held Cater's phone. They were recording everything the second they left the visual range of the teachers. The second they heard Vil's voice, it took everything Cater had not to break out in a run.
Lilia's eyes narrowed. There was another reason Cater had come to him besides his level of experience. Anything Lilia managed to secure as evidence was more likely to be taken seriously due to his rank and position among Malleus' court. If they challenged his credibility, it was likely to piss off the royal family and bring all sorts of hell down upon the idiot responsible.
Cater broke down the door and saw red. Neige was lucky they were recording this, otherwise Cater would have happily killed him on the spot.
Vil looked like utter shit. There were all sorts of markings from some twisted bedroom play, and his wrists and ankles were rubbed raw. There was a candle nearby that had seen use, which really pissed Cater off because he knew how much Vil hated being marked for longer than a week at most.
Vil's eyes were dilated, as he was clearly under the effects of some drug.
Neige narrowed his eyes at Cater, barely even noticing the people behind him.
Outside the building...
Lilia dutifully recorded everything, and Neige didn't stand a chance against a pissed off fairy. He narrowed his eyes at Neige when he let it slip he was responsible for the accident that nearly killed Cater.
Lilia was not idle. He was keeping an eye out for teachers. Hearing people coming, he quickly vanished. Che'nya, not being an idiot, disappeared as well with Riddle since he was the lightest and easiest to hide.
Riddle wisely didn't make a sound, as Lilia was now recording the teacher's arrival. The headmage looked beyond angry, and within short order Cater, Rook and Vil were all escorted to another area. Orders were given to find the 'other two' and destroy the evidence, once Neige was taken to the infirmary.
Once they were safely out of earshot, Lilia cast a glance to Riddle and Che'nya.
"You get Riddle out of here. He'll need to contact Crowley and Trein," said Lilia. Che'nya nodded, as he fully planned to go as well. No doubts the headmage was going to be pissed in his part in all this.
"Think your headmage would mind if I crashed in Heartsabyl for a while?" asked Che'nya.
Riddle shook his head.
"It's too full. But I'm sure I could convince Yuna and Grim to take you in temporarily. Odds are Vil won't care if you borrow a room either."
Che'nya didn't need to ask what Lilia was going to be doing. Cater had explained why he had asked the vampire-like fairy for help. Lilia would be essential in getting enough evidence to convict Neige for what he had done.
And honestly, the thought of sharing a room after what he saw in there made him sick.
Lilia was quick to knock out the two teachers in charge of the side door. Riddle and Che'nya stayed quiet and followed his silent queues.
Lilia had already acquired enough evidence to have a rather solid case against Neige. It had to stay in his possession, since it was likely that the headmage would attempt to discredit the others.
It was one thing to discredit a student. It was entirely another to claim that the highest ranked general of the Briar Valley was lying, especially when he had little to nothing to gain from it. After all, the only reason his charge was even attending Night Raven was to give him some much needed social skills around others his 'age'.
Once they were safely out of the range of the wards, and well on their way back to Night Raven, Lilia decided to get up to some mischief. He doubted Cater would care and it would give the teachers something else to worry about besides the missing intruders. At the very least it would give the two time to reach the other school and get help.
Crowley was many things, but he was not an idiot.
Vil's kidnapping was bad enough, even if it didn't happen under his watch or on the school grounds. If word got out that he had failed to defend the famous model, it would be hell on the school's reputation. Besides, this was the perfect chance to get some petty blackmail on the RSA's headmage.
Lilia barely withheld his chuckle...he was going to have fun.
An hour later...
Crowley and Professor Trein were at the gates. Riddle and Che'nya were safe back in Night Raven.
Lilia merely nodded to them once they arrived.
"The boys are all being held captive in the headmage's office. From what I've been able to ascertain, he's been trying for the past few hours to make them sign an NDA. Vil is going to need a doctor at the very least...he didn't look too well when Cater found him."
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
"Thank you for that information," he said curtly. He allowed Lilia to head back to the school. Considering the large bag he was now holding, it likely contained evidence to insure the kidnapper and the school would receive their just punishments.
As they made their way into the school proper to retrieve the captive students, Lilia made his way back to Night Raven.
He would have to document each item he had collected, as well as send them for an official report to make the evidence stick. He knew of a few labs that could do the work, once they had the DNA to compare it with.
Add in the video evidence of the teachers blatantly trying to destroy Neige's little shrine to cover up what he had done, and it wouldn't look good for the Royal Sword Academy.
With Cater and the others...
He had never been so relieved to see his uncle in his life. Trein looked absolutely furious, and it got even worse when he saw the state Vil was in. It was beyond obvious the blond needed to see a doctor, so the fact they had delayed that in favor of forcing the to sign an NDA was inexcusable.
Cater and Rook supported Vil, who was still dizzy from blood loss as Crowley ripped the other head mage a new one. Trein stayed with them to insure they were not...delayed.
The second they got Vil to a hospital (riding Umbra as he was faster than most cars), the doctors made sure to document everything, down to the last injury. Cater and Rook made a point of staying by his side, even when his father arrived to see him.
Every injury the doctor documented made Cater's blood absolutely boil with rage.
Vil looked so weak with the IV in his arm. He had lost enough blood that he was somewhat anemic at the moment, and some of the burns were almost infected.
Rook was doing his part by making damn sure no one got a picture of Vil in that state. Vil's father Erik immediately put them on the approved visitors list, before he started making calls of his own.
Once Vil was stabilized and put into a healing sleep, he had a little...chat...with the two.
"How did you find him?" he asked bluntly. It was clear he was angry and concerned for his son.
"Rook's signature spell allows him to track anyone he's marked," said Cater. "He had difficultly finding Vil because the wards around the location he was at was blocking it, but he knew Vil was on the island. A student from the school in question was complaining about his roommate to my little brother, and I remembered that same roommate also happened to be at the set during the accident that nearly killed me."
Cater was an excellent liar, and fortunately enough of it was the truth that he could convince a skilled actor like Vil's father.
"Once we were inside the wards, I was able to locate Roi du Poison fairly quickly. As it happened, the roommate knew of the building. He took us on a fake tour to avoid arousing suspicion, and once we were there we did everything in our power to subdue the culprit and secure Vil," continued Rook.
"And I made damn sure that any evidence in that building is going to be useful in court," said Cater with a growl.
"What did you do?" asked Erik.
"I brought in a friend of mine...who also happens to be the highest ranked general of the royal family in the Valley of Thorns," said Cater. "Knowing Lilia, he's already preparing everything to be sent to a proper lab for full testing to use against the culprit."
Erik was glad his son had such thorough boyfriends. Anyone else would have likely charged in without a plan, but they had successfully insured not only his son's safety, but that the ones responsible were charged to the fullest extent of the law.
Vil regained awareness two days later. He looked visibly relieved to see not only Rook, but Cater there as well.
"You came for me," he said, his voice raspy.
Cater kissed him on the forehead.
"Sorry we took so long," he said.
"How are you feeling, Roi du Poison?" asked Rook.
"Tired," said Vil. "Thirsty."
Cater held up some water for him to drink. Vil did so gratefully, though he was still pretty out of it due to the painkillers they had him on.
"Neige is currently under house arrest," said Cater. He knew Vil was listening at least. "His roommate is already hiding in our dorm, since Heartsabyl is a bit too full and Ramshackle is too full of dust. He's the reason we were able to find you so fast and get you out of there with minimal fuss."
Vil could honestly care less about that at the moment.
"There's a full investigation, and thanks to Monsieur Curiosity, the teachers can't hide the evidence at the scene. He's already sent it to private labs for testing, to prove Neige is the culprit."
"How long?" asked Vil.
"You've been missing for almost two weeks," said Cater. "We would have found you sooner, but the wards around the Royal Sword Academy blocked Rook's spell enough that he couldn't get a good read on where you were. We knew you were on Sage's Island, but we couldn't exactly barge into the RSA without proof."
Vil was clearly tiring, so Cater pulled the blanket up a bit.
"Just rest. We can deal with Neige once you're back at the NRC. Your dad is helping to deal with the reporters and other idiots, and your schedule has been cleared up until this gets straightened out."
Vil let himself drift off to sleep gratefully, as he knew Cater and Rook would raise hell rather than allow anyone to take him twice.
Vil was glad to have Cater and Rook around. They were beyond protective without being cloying about it, and didn't complain once about his new nightmares. If anything he was relieved that Cater was such a cuddle addict, because he stayed by his side the entire night. Just having his wings wrapped around him when he woke up was incredibly comforting.
He honestly didn't mind that Che'nya was hiding from his headmage in his dorm. Since he was a key witness against Neige (and he had months of his own evidence against him), his name was being kept under wraps.
Crowley had quietly processed his transfer to Night Raven, and while technically he had been sorted into Heartsabyl, no one was going to say a thing about him hiding in Pomefiore for the moment.
To be fair, Heartsabyl was full to the brim since Riddle was adamant about the students keeping their grades up. That and it was likely that someone might talk about the oddball beastkin suddenly being part of their dorm.
Meanwhile Pomefiore was under strict orders not to post anything for the moment without approval from either Cater or Rook. The only thing they knew was that the cat kin had been the main reason they had their housewarden back, and was thus under their protection.
Cater however was wondering why Neige decided to kidnap Vil now, when he had apparently waited five years before snapping. And if there was some legitimacy to Yuna's comment of the 'butterfly effect' and how small changes can cause bigger ripples.