Chapter 15

"Hold it right there, Grim!" Ace said as we all walked down the hallway. "You're not gettin' off easy today, you hear me?!"

"Myeh heh heh! Maybe you shoulda put your name on it if you wanted it that bad!" said Grim, running away from the boy.

"Why, you...!"

"What is it this time?" I said with a sigh.

"Seriously, don't they ever get tired of this?" said Deuce, who appeared just as fed up as me.

"Hey, Ona!" said Ace. "You're the prefect, so do some prefecting! This lousy furball swiped the doughnut I bought and ate it! AGAIN."

"Bad Grim," I said in monotone.

"I didn't steal nothin',' said Grim. "I just saw a snack left abandoned on a desk and gave it a home outta the goodness of my heart."

"Ace, maybe you should put your name on all your food from now on."

"It's not abandoned if it's on somebody's desk!" said Ace. "If you're gonna keep runnin', I've got some wind magic up my sleeve with your name on it."

"Oh YEAH?" said Grim. "Try me! I've got fire magic ready to—"

Suddenly, they both stopped, looked at each other, and said, "...Erk!"

"Y'know what?" said Ace. "I think I'll skip the magic today. I don't wanna get sent to wash even MORE windows."

"H-heh. For once, I think you've got the right idea," said Grim. "I'd be embarassin' myself if I was the only one usin' magic, so I'll let you off easy this time."

"Both of you, knock it... off?" I said, looking at them quizzically.

"Wow," said Deuce. "It's not every day I see you two de-escalate one of your fights without outside intervention. Normally, you go at it until the classroom's blasted to bits and the headmage comes storming in."

"Hey, what kinda punk would I be if I started fighting with a weasel over one lousy doughnut?" said Ace.

"That's what I said last week," I said.

"Why do you always have to get in one last smart remark?" said Grim, glaring at Ace. I sighed and shook my head. If it was not one thing, it was another. Fortunately, their conversation was cut short as we entered our classroom and took our seats.

"It's time for class to start, whelps," said Crewel. "Get to yours seats. First, I'll pass back your tests."

"This is it—the moment of truth," Deuce said nervously.

"Myah hah!" said Grim. "Gimme! Gimme! I want that test, Prof!"

"Settle down, Grim," said Crewel. "Stay. STAY! I'll call you by your class number. Number one!" One by one, each student went up to retrieve their tests.

"SWEET!" said Ace when he returned with his test. "I got a 92!"

"I got an 88!" said Deuce. "I never thought I'd see the day I scored over 80."

"Check it out, Ona!" said Grim. "I got an 85!"

"You guys rock!"

"Now I won't get held back a year!" said Deuce. "What'd you get, Ona?"

"95," I replied.

"Not bad for someone who didn't grow up in this world," said Ace.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"You appear to have studied a great deal for this exam," said Crewel. "Yes... A great deal indeed, compared to your quiz scores. In fact, the class average has gone up to a degree one might call...unusual."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" said Ace.

"The average test scores across every level of potionology are over 90. Professor Trein has remarked upon similarly positive trends in his magic history classes."

"Say what?!" said Deuce.

"Mraaah?!" Grim exclaimed.

"Uh-oh," said Ace. "I don't like where this is going..."

"The school's fifty highest achievers will be posted in the hall," said Crewel. "You can look forward to seeing that shortly. Now, let us begin today's lesson. Open your textbooks."

Right after class, my friends and I headed out to check the highest achievers. "Okay, where am I in the top fifty?" said Grim, hopping up and down. I grabbed him and lifted him so he could view the postings.

"With an average score over 90, we've gotta be in there, right?" said Ace.

"First ten places...nope. Twenty...nope. Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty...nope. Wait a minute- I ain't in here at all!"

"N-neither am I..." said Deuce.

"Hooold up," said Ace. "There's a list of the total scores each top achiever got across all subjects. The top thirty scored perfect marks— 500 points!"

"PERFECT MARKS?!" Deuce and Grim exclaimed.

"Can thirty students really ace every test?" I said dubiously.

"B-but if I don't make it into the top fifty, that counts as a breach of contract!" said Grim. Confused, I slowly set him down.

"Wait, 'contract?'" said Ace. "Oh no. Grim, did you...?"

"Judging by the look on your face, Ace," said Deuce, "don't tell me you also-" I stood there, dumbfounded, as a sea anemone appeared on each of their heads.

"MYAH! What in the world?!" said Grim. "A sea anemone just sprouted outta my head!"

"G-Grim, you made a contract too?!" said Deuce. "You big cheater!"

"Yeah, whatever, Deuce," said Ace. "You're just as guilty, keepin' your friends close and your anemones closer over there!"

"I'll just give it a quick tug, and..." Grim said as he grabbed at the sea anemone. "OW! It's not comin' out!"

"What's with the influx of sea life?" I said, feeling totally lost.

"I came to see what all the commotion was," said Jack. "Why am I not surprised it's you guys? What're you doing?"

"Jack, did you make a contract too?" said Deuce. "Wait... You don't have an anemone!"

"So much for looking like a bad boy," said Ace. "You're more of a square than Loosey-Deucey over here!"

"Okay, what?" said Jack. "I'm completely lost here. What are you talking about, and what are those things growing outta your heads?"

"That's what I'd like to know," I said.

"Look, it's uhhh..." Grim started. "MROW?! What now? This dang anemone's yanking my head!" He appeared to be pulled to the right by an unsee-able force.

"Owww, geez!" said Ace. "It's gonna rip my noggin off!"

"So when he wrote 'absolute obedience,' this is what he meant..." said Deuce.

"AaaAAAaaaAGH!" all three of them groaned as they walked away. I stared after them in confusion.

"What now?" said Jack. "The way they were walking, it was like the anemones were pulling them in that direction. Is a picture that stupid still worth a thousand words...?"

"Let's get to the bottom of this," I said.

Jack looked at me with a frown. "Huh? Where do I come in here? This is none of my business."

"Are you scared?" I said.

"Who're you calling a coward?" Jack growled. I shrugged. "Tch. You're starting to fit in around here a little TOO well. Fine. I'll keep you company for a little while, at least. Let's get this straight, though— this is purely out of curiosity. I wanna see what caused this. I couldn't care less about those guys. Just so we're clear on that."

I smirked. "Sure. Whatever you say, Jack." We followed my friends through the hallway and into another building.

"Oh, it's the Hall of Mirrors... The place that leads to every dorm."

I looked around, noticing students from every dorm gathering together, all of them with sea anemone on their head. "I was so sure I'd make the top fifty!" said a Heartslabyul student.

"Blast it all, I've been had!" said someone from Savanaclaw. "That cheating cephalo-punk!"

"My school life is doomed now," said someone from Scarabia. "Doooomed!"

"Huh?" said Jack. "It's not just the three stooges... There are other students here with sea anemones coming outta their heads. I'm seeing some sophomores and juniors in here, too. And they're all going through the mirror leading to Octavinelle Dorm."

"Who's this 'cheating cephalo-punk?'" I said.

"Let's head over and see what's up."

"Right." Jack and I followed the students through the mirror, and we emerged in the most beautiful dorm I had ever seen. "Wow, the whole dorm is underwater!"

"For real?! Night Raven College is so cool!"

"I know!" I grinned as I turned around in place. "There's fish and everything!"

"We can sight-see later. We're here to find out what's going on, remember?"

"Yeah. My bad." I tore my gaze away from the scenery and continued following the students.

"Just remember we're treading on another dorm's turf. Keep your wits about you."

We followed after the students into a building attached to the main dorm. It seemed to be some sort of fancy dining establishment. And the place was packed. "I think we found where the Anemone Gang all went."

"There's gotta be a hundred- no, closer to two hundred people here. What is this place, anyway? Some kinda coffee shop?" Jack glanced back at a sign near the entrance. "'Mostro Lounge?' Where did Ace and the others go?"

"Well, well. What have we here?" said a guy at the front of the crowd. He wore classes and hat short, wavy light gray hair. "A band of misfortunate souls who failed to break into the top 50. Welcome to the Mostro Lounge. I'm sure you're all WELL aware of who I am, but let's go over it again anyway. My name is Azul Ashengrotto."

"So, that's Azul," I whispered. Cater had warned me about him more than once. Then I noticed the two guys standing behind him with their arms crossed as if guarding him. Floyd and Jade. I scrambled to hide behind Jack.

"What's wrong?" said Jack.

"I don't want him to see me," I said.

"Who, Azul?"

"No."

"I am the housewarden of Octavinelle Dorm," continued Azul, "the manager of the Mostro Lounge cafe, aaand... as of today, you have to listen to everything I say."

"Say what?" said Jack.

"You made a bet with me, and subsequently lost. As per terms of our contract, you are to devote yourself to my service until such time as you graduate."

"Hey, hold on," said Ace. "This is all a huge scam!"

"You're... Ace Trappola, a freshman, if memory serves. Your accusations are insulting, frankly. I upheld my end of the bargain and provided you with an impeccably flawless study guide for your exams. If you used it properly, you should have scored at least a 90."

"Yeah, and I did. I got a 92!"

"Why, that's wonderful news! I'm delighted to have been of service."

"But you never told me you'd given the same study guide to this many other people!"

"Yeah, Ace is right," said Deuce. "No study guide could help us break into the top fifty when the deck's this stacked!"

"When everybody else is scorin' over 90," said Grim, even with my 85, my spot in the rankings is no different than when I was failin'!"

"Have you boys never heard of client confidentiality?" said Azul. "'I want an easy way to score high marks. I don't want to flunk out. I want to goof off until the night before the test...' All of you fools - I mean, gentlemen - had your own reasons for seeking my help with your finals. Details such as who made a contract with me, what kind of contract it was, and why it was made... That's all privileged data. Who am I to divulge someone's personal information to a third party? I am a man of integrity, thank you very much. You will find this exact topic covered extensively in the non-disclosure agreement clause on page 127 of your contract. I simply abided by its terms."

"O-okay, then what happens to the fire magic I put up as collateral for the study guide?" said Grim.

"Y-yeah!" said a student. "And what about my water magic?"

"Give me back my signature spell!" said another student.

"What's this?" said Azul. "Have you really forgotten the terms of your contract? 'I will provide you with a final exam study guide. In exchange, you will leave one 'personal specialty' in my possession. Should you earn a spot among the school's fifty highest achievers, your power will be returned to you... and I will continue to provide you with study guides for all exams until such time as you graduate. However, in the event that you do not earn a spot among the school's fifty highest achievers... you will act with absolute obedience to me until such time as you graduate.' As outlined in the contract, I now control every part of your beings down to every last hair on your heads. In other words, your powers are mine, to return or not as I please."

"That ain't fair!" said Ace.

"No wonder Grim and Ace weren't fighting with magic," I said.

"Y'know, I've been listening to this whole spectacle," Jack said loudly, "and ALL of you disgust me!"

Everyone turned to look at him in shock. "J-Jack?!" said Deuce. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't draw attention to us," I whispered, moving to make sure I was hidden behind Jack.

"Oh, are you...?" said Azul. "No, I don't see an anemone on your head. I'm afraid we're having a staff meeting right now. If you don't have a stake in this matter, I must ask your leave for us to sort this out internally."

"Grrr... You think I don't have a stake in this?" said Jack. "I was planning on studying on my own and out scoring these guys in a fair competition. And now you've ruined that. I think I DO have a stake in here!"

I sighed. "This is the last thing I need right now."

"Ona, Jack?" said Grim. "Are you here to save us?!"

"Great, I've been spotted."

"Hey, it's Little Shrimpy!" Floyd shouted loudly.

I moved out from behind Jack and smiled slightly. "Hi, Floyd."

"A friend of yours?" said Azul.

"Yep," Floyd said happily.

"If you're such great friends, why don't you ask him to let us go?" said Grim.

"Sorry, can't do that even if she asks."

"Then how about you, Jack?"

"Don't get me wrong," said Jack. "I'm disgusted with every last one of you. Why would I side with the slimeball offering shady backroom deals OR the guys who chose to let others do their work for them?"

"What are you here for then?" said Ace.

"Actually, I think Jack's right," said Grim. "He's given me the wake-up call I needed. If you wanna win, you gotta snatch that victory yourself! In other words... If I can snatch my contract from Azul by force and tear it up, it's null and void!"

"Hey, now that you mention it..." said a student.

"Who needs specialties when we've got numbers?!" said another student. "GET HIM!"

"Speaking of principles, some folks around here could use them..." I muttered.

"Dear me," said Azul, placing a hand on his face. "I really didn't want to resort to violence, but alas. Jade. Floyd. Play with them for a bit."

"Understood, sir," said Jade.

"Oh man, I get to squeeze 'em all?" said Floyd. "Ha ha, niiice."

I widened my eyes. "Wh-what?" I backed up until I hit Jack's chest. He placed his hands on my shoulders to steady me.

"Stay here, out of the way," he said. "You don't want to get in the middle of that."

The group of students ran toward the trio and began to attack with magic. Azul, Floyd, and Jade attacked back, of course. Somehow, the students' attacks were deflected back at them. And Azul was able to use a multitude of magic like I'd never seen. Floyd seemed to enjoy the physical aspect of the fight. I knew that technically the students were the aggressors, but it still made me sick.

"Geez, what a bunch of wimps," Floyd said once it was over. "They're barely worth squeezing."

"It's like a whole school of feeble small fries," said Azul.

"How many kindsa magic can this Azul guy bust out?" said Ace. "I call shenanigans!"

"Did Azul's golden contract deflect all of your attacks?" Jack asked.

"Argh. This is just showing me how hard I lean on my specialty normally..." said Deuce.

"Without his fire magic, Grim's nothing more than your garden-variety weasel," said Ace.

"Myah... I ain't a weasel..." Grim said before being hit in the head with a golden piece of paper.

"You have all signed these golden contracts," said Azul. "An official contract is completely unbreakable, regardless of how many bodies you throw at it. No magic can harm this document in any way. Heh heh heh... As long as the sea anemones stay on your heads, you will have no choice but to follow my orders. Why don't you start by cleaning up the lounge? You can handle ingredient prep work afterward. Go on, now. On your feet and get to work!"

"Is this for real...?" Ace groaned.

"Jade. Floyd. You're in charge of instructing the new staff."

"Yes, sir," said Jade.

"Yessir!" said Floyd.

Azul turned to Jack and me. "You're... Jack Howl from Savanaclaw Dorm. And you're Ona from Ramshackle Dorm, I believe? I would appreciate it if you took your leave now. Why don't you come by as costumers next time? You're welcome whenever you like."

"Aw, don't make Little Shrimpy leave!" said Floyd.

Azul shook his head. "Didn't I just give you a job to do?"

"I don't care." Floyd ran to me, and I hid behind Jack again. He stopped in front of us.

"Go away," I said.

Floyd's smile fell. "What's wrong, Shrimpy?" He reached out a hand, and I backed away. "Are you... afraid of me?"

"No. I'm not afraid you, Floyd."

"Then what's the matter?" He appeared genuinely confused.

"I just don't want to be near you."

Hurt flashed on Floyd's face, but he quickly hid it with an annoyed look. "Come on, stop playing around." He tried to move closer, but Jack stepped forward, blocking him.

"Stay away from her," Jack growled.

"It's okay, Jack," I said. "He won't hurt me."

"If you know that, then what's the problem?" said Floyd, crossing his arms. "Nothing that you saw was personal."

"But it was personal to me. You threatened my ohana."

"Ohana?" He followed my gaze to Grim, Ace, and Deuce, who stood at the edge of the group of students, looking at me in concern. "They're the ones who-"

"Perhaps you should let her go for now," said Jade.

"But-"

"Goodbye, Floyd," I said harshly, turning away from him. "Let's go, Jack."

"Yes, we'll regroup," said Jack. Thankfully, Floyd made no move to follow us. I did not look back once as I left the lounge. We made out way to Ramshackle Dorm and took a seat on the couch. For a long moment, silence passed between us. Then: "Do you want to talk about him?"

"No. Let's talk about the others." I did not know what to make of my recent experiences with Floyd. Others had told me he had this side to him, but it was very different seeing it for myself. I was not ready to discuss it.

"Alright. I think it's safe to say that everybody with an anemone stuck on their head gambled on Azul's contract and lost. The terms of said contract were apparently to place in the top 50. But with the sheer number of students signin' on, most of them never stood a chance of getting in at all. That was Azul's game from the start."

"Talk about a racket," I said.

"I mean, c'mon! If you're gettin' good grades off someone else's work, what does that even prove? You're throwin' away a perfectly good opportunity to show others what you're capable of. Frankly, you're cheating yourself."

"If the rest of the student body here were as principled and tedious..." said Crowley, popping out of nowhere and nearly giving me a heart attack as per usual. "...I mean, as 'serious' as you, it would spare me such grief!"

"WHOA!" Jack exclaimed. "Headmage?! You startled me!"

"Glad I'm not the only one," I said.

Crowley sighed. "So transpires another year of me being unable to clamp down on Ashengrotto's little side business.'"

"What do you mean, 'side business?'" said Jack. "Do you know something about this, Headmage?"

"Azul Ashengrotto: Sophomore. Housewarden of Octavinelle Dorm. Much like Rosehearts, he is a highly capable student already running a dorm as a sophomore, but... He's a bit- no, I daresay QUITE a bit troublesome."

"Are you talking about him swindling people? Seems to me like one word from the headmage could put a stop to this whole thing."

"Ah, but it is precisely BECAUSE I am in a teaching position that I cannot prohibit his actions."

"I'm afraid I don't follow," I said.

"Here's the thing about those study guides that Ashengrotto handed out to the students. There was no illegitimate activity involved in their production. Nobody snuck looks at test questions or answers beforehand. It was crafted exhaustively by hand, after researching the past century's worth of Night Raven College exam questions and their patterns. In other words, it's an entirely legitimate study guide."

"A century's worth of test questions?!" I said.

"Huh. Well, I'll be," said Jack. "If he did that all by hand, the guy's got chops. Hm? Wait... So the problem is that there IS no problem with it?"

"You strike right to the heart of the matter, Howl," said Crowley. "As a teacher, I can hardly prohibit a student from crafting an exam study guide via honest work. Nor I can prohibit a student from 'kindly' sharing their notes with friends."

"If you did, you'd basically be tellin' students, 'no studying' AND 'no helping your buds.' Grr... Talk about a seriously briny pickle"

"That is most certainly is."

"But Azul's contracts force the students to follow his will," I said. "That's essentially slavery. I don't know how enlightened this world is, but in my world, slavery is never acceptable - even if it is freely chosen in the form of a contract. Any contract with that condition would be automatically deemed null and void by any court."

"Then I'm afraid we must not be very enlightened. There are no laws against it here."

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. Rights are rights no matter if they're recognized or not. No one deserves to be treated that way no matter how idiotic they behaved."

"I couldn't agree more. Alas, my hands are tied."

"Earlier, you said 'another year,' yeah?" said Jack. "Did the same thing happen last term?"

"Indeed it did. Of course, last year his study guides didn't have quite the reputation they carry this year. So the commotion was much more contained, relatively speaking. This year, on the other hand, rumors abounded throughout campus that if one wished to score well on a test, they should visit the Mostro Lounge."

"And I'm guessin' the nasty little caveat in the contract in the event of a breach stayed hush-hush because of that binding NDA."

"So it would seem. Thus did Ashengrotto have a steady stream of students lining up to accept his bargain this year. And the test average across all subjects and years has jumped above 90, much to my chagrin. Of Course, I would be even more chagrinned if all our subject averages were failing grades. But still!"

"The genie's out of the bottle, huh?" I said.

"Does that mean that there are guys from last year who lost the bet and still haven't gotten their powers back?" said Jack.

"Actually, he returned the powers he took from students last year as part of an arrangement he made with me," said Crowley. "In return, I granted him permission to run the Mostro Lounge on school property."

"WHAT?!"

"'Night Raven College is a historic and prestigious institution famed for producing the finest of magicians. Yet now the campus is replete with students capable of only minor feats of magic- a fact I'm sure you're none too pleased about, Headmage. Which is why I have a proposal...and it's one I think you will find to be quite beneficial.' That was how he framed it."

"Talk about brazen. I mean, blackmailing the headmage into a deal? No wonder Leona wants nothin' to do with this guy."

"And when he offered to contribute 10% of the proceeds to the school... Why, how could I say no to such a mutually beneficial arrangement?"

"Wait, so you're gettin' something from it?"

"Why am I not surprises?" I muttered.

"Dear oh dear," said Crowley. "I can only wonder what demands he'll make of me this year. Whatever he wants, I will undoubtedly be forced to acquiesce. What else can I do for our idiotic-ah, that is, our poor, unfortunate students? My immense kindness always gets the better of me. Ashengrotto 'merely' studies diligently, then shares his rightfully earned knowledge with other students out of the kindness of his heart... If wouldn't do for a teacher to discourage such earnest behavior. Why must every student in our school arrive with some amount of baggage to sort out?! Oooh, woe is meee!"

My eyes narrowed. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this..."

"And that's where you come in, Ona. Would you be so kind as to persuade Ashengrotto to cease this little game of his?"

"I don't think anybody could 'persuade' him to do anything!" I said.

"Incidentally, Ramshackle Dorm's food expenses have been mounting as of late, as I recall. You must be terribly strapped for cash... And alas, I'm so preoccupied researching a way to return SOMEONE to their home, I have so little time to address other problems... Oh but don't worry about me, really. I am, as you know, a philanthropist to the core."

"With teachers like this, no wonder our students are the way they are," Jack said, arms crossed.

"I'll do what I can," I said. Besides, it was not like I could just leave my friends at the mercy of that Azul guy.

Crowley brightened. "You'll accept my request, then? Wonderful, Eri! I knew I saw potential in this prefect! Then I'll be going now, as I am a very busy man. I'm counting on you!" He waved as he left the dorm.

"Boy, you never know when the headmage'll pop up," said Jack. "Okay, so what exactly is your plan here? Because you're kinda right - just going up to Azul and askin' him nicely isn't gonna get you anywhere."

"A good investigation starts with observing the target," I said.

Jack nodded. "True. A successful hunt starts with learnin' all you can about your target. You actually know your stuff. Besides, letting Ace and the others stew in the mess they made might help 'em learn something from this."

"One can only hope."