Chapter 27

We endured one more hard day of training. Kalim returned to his happy personality when we reached the oasis. I tried to talk to him about the situation when we returned to the lounge, but he kept getting distracted. When I finally had his attention, he went off with Jamil, and when he returned, he was back to being a tyrant.

I still had my suspicions, but I had no proof and lacked the experience to obtain it. I really needed some help with this. I knew where to turn, but I first had to escape. So, Grim and I continued working on our hole when we were finally allowed back in our room.

"Whoa!" Grim exclaimed in the middle of his digging. "Ona! Hey, Ona!"

"Hmm?" I said, walking over to him.

Grim pointed excitedly at the hole. "Look. The hole finally reaches the other side of the door! I couldn't get it too big, but hey. They say as long as you can get your head through a hole, the rest follows easy enough."

"That's some animal logic right there."

"I'll go through first and pull you through second. Now, let's get this show on the road!"

"Right." I waited until Grim got to the other side before I attempted to squeeze through. To say it was difficult was an understatement.

"Phew... We finally made it out of that stupid room."

"I suddenly understand how pasta must feel going through a pasta maker."

"Okay, let's get back to Ramshackle Dorm while we can. Just gotta be niiice and quiet..." A loud growl sounded from Grim's stomach. "Mrow!? Ah, crud! I was diggin' so hard there, it made me hungry..."

"What was that earth-shaking noise just now?!" said the voice of a Scarabian student.

"It came from the Ramshackle students' room!" said another student.

"Whuh-oh. We're in trouble now!" said Grim. A moment later, the students rounded the corner.

"What do you think you're doing there?!" said the first student.

"Myah, they found us!"

"What are you doing outside?!" said the second student. "I know we locked that door tight!"

The first student bent down to examine the floor. "Ah! There's a hole in the floor! You really don't know when to give up, do you?"

"We've got runners! After them!"

"If they catch us, it's back to the life of a prisoner!" said Grim. "Cheese it!" I bolted down the hallway, away from the students.

"After them! After them!" cried the students.

"Let's duck into a random room and let 'em pass us!"

"Alright!" I said. I opened the nearest door and ran inside, slamming it as soon as Grim got in. I leaned my back against the door, my heart pounding.

"Where'd they go?" I heard the first student say. "Split up and find them!"

"Show yourselves, street rats!" said the second student. Their footsteps grew louder before softening.

"Phew..." Grim said. "I think they're gone."

"It's only a matter of time before they find us," I said.

"Maaan... There's gotta be some way to lose those guys! What room is this, anyway? It's too dark to see anything."

"Good question."

"Hm? Why's there somethin' soft and fuzzy nudgin' my face? Heh heh, that tickles! Ona, use that smartphone of yours to give us some light."

"It was confiscated, remember? But I'll turn on the light for a second." I found the switch and flipped it. I immediately recognized the room as the storeroom. Kalim's flying carpet hovered near Grim, poking him.

"Whoa, geez! You scared the daylights outta me! I was about to scream and everything. This is Kalim's treasury, huh? They don't lock up the treasure?" Grim appeared thoughtful. "Ooh, that's it! If you help us, we can shake off the patrols and get outside!" The carpet appeared curious. "Hey, carpet! I'll let you out if you carry us outta the dorm!" The carpet appeared to nod eagerly. "Great. All aboard, Ona! And goodbye, Scarabia!"

"I hope this is a good idea," I said as I climbed onto the carpet. I helped Grim up, and then we were off.

"WOO-HOO!" Grim cheered as soon as were outside in the cool air. "We made it! See ya, suckers! FREEDOOOOOM!"

"Ah!" shouted a Scarabian student. "Look over there—they're riding the housewarden's magic carpet!"

"First they break out, then they rob us?" said another student. "The housewarden will never let us hear the end of it if he finds out!"

"We have to seize them!" said a third. "Hold it right there, thieves!"

"Nyeh heh heh!" Grim taunted them. "If you wanna catch us, try learnin' to fly first!"

"By the way, how do you steer this carpet?" I said.

"Steer it? Uhhh, I think Kalim took hold of the corner tassels and tugged at 'em like this... Myah!" Grim grabbed the tassels, and the carpet jerked upward and all the way around. "Hey! Less with the 360, more with the fly quickly!" The carpet continued to fly in circles, making me dizzy. "GYAAAH! The world is spinning! Someone make it stooop!"

"Let me drive!" I pushed him aside and grabbed the tassels. Thankfully, we stopped steering and instead headed for a mirror... at full speed.

"They're going outside the dorm!" said a student. "After them, quick!"

"AAAH!" Grim cried. "We're gonna crash right into the mirror!"

"At least we'll go through it!" I said. We indeed flew through the mirror, and as soon as we were out, we headed for another one. Unfortunately, we were moving too quickly for me to figure out where we were going. At long last, we crashed to the ground and tumbled off the carpet.

"MroooOOOooow..." Grim groaned.

I sat up, clutching my head. "Where are we?"

I heard footsteps, and a light flicked on. "Well, well," said Jade. "What have we here? Patrons in search of a little midnight snack, perhaps?"

"Aw, maaan," said Floyd. "I was totally ready to squeeze any burglars here to nab our food supplies. It's just the little Shrimpy and the Seal. Laaame."

I looked up at them in relief. "Hey, guys."

Floyd frowned at me. "Why have you been ignoring us, Shrimpy? You said you would visit."

"Sorry. It wasn't my fault. I was held captive at Scarabia."

Something flashed in Floyd's eyes. "Captive?"

"Why is Scarabia occupied during the holidays?" said Jade.

"Well..." I started.

"Hold on," said Grim. "What're you guys even doin' here?"

"Didn't we already go over this?" said Floyd. "We can't go home over winter break because of ice floes, remember?"

"Wait, so we're in Octavinelle?!"

"Obviously," I said, sitting up.

"Yes," said Jade. "Inside the Mostro Lounge, to be precise."

Grim shot me an accusing look. "Did you steer us here on purpose?"

I held up my hands in defense. "Hey, you saw I had no control over that thing. Landing here was just a happy coincidence."

"Whatever. The important thing is... WE MADE IT! Finally, we've broken outta that awful prison!"

"A prison?" said Jade. "Care to elaborate?"

"And what's this rectangular flounder-lookin' guy?" said Floyd.

"It looks a lot like Kalim's magic carpet, actually..."

I chuckled nervously. "Well, you see-"

Footsteps thundered closer, and suddenly, two Scarabian students entered the Lounge. "There's no escape for you now, thieves!" said one of them.

"Surrender quietly!" said a second student.

"Gah!" I cried. "They found us!" I leapt to my feet and hid behind Floyd, clutching his jacket.

"Mrow?!" Grim exclaimed. He also ran behind Floyd and grabbed his leg. "You chased us all the way here?! You guys are seriously stubborn, you know that?"

"What's all the commotion at this late hour?" said Azul as he stepped into the lounge.

"You're Azul Ashengrotto, the housewarden of Octavinelle!" said the second Scarabian student.

"Would you care to explain what's going on here?"

"It's none of Octavinelle's business," said the first student. "Just hand over the two of them quietly."

"Now that I'm looking closer, would that be Ona and Grim latched onto Floyd like barnacles?"

"Yes," I said. "There's a story behind this that goes deeper than the sea..."

Azul stared at me, his expression unreadable. "...Hmmm."

"We are about to take care of the problem," Jade said with a scary smile.

"Yeah, no one threatens Little Shrimpy and gets away with it," Floyd said in a low voice.

"If you refuse to hand them over, you'll be party to their wrongdoing as well," said the first student.

"Hey, are you yankin' my tail here? Who do you think you're talking to?"

"No fighting of any kind is permitted in the Mostro Lounge," Azul said with an edge to his voice. "This is a place for gentlemen."

"What was that?" said the first student. "You're interfering?"

"Fine," said the second student. "We'll just do this the hard way!"

"Are these guys dumb?" said Floyd.

"Hmph. I think it's time we asked these ill-mannered patrons to leave," said Azul. "Jade. Floyd. Show them the door."

"Yes, sir," said Jade.

"On it," said Floyd. He glanced at me. "Stay back, alright? This will be over quick."

"O-Okay," I said. I released him and backed away as did Grim. "Uh, guys? Those students are under orders and are actually victims themselves. So, if you could, you know..."

"Go easy on them?" said Jade. "I cannot make any promises. We will use enough force as necessary to make them leave."

"Right." I could not find it in myself to care too much. Although Jade was much better at hiding it than Floyd, I still saw anger in his eyes, and it made me happy. The fight was over as quickly as Floyd predicted. The Scarabian students were soon scurrying away.

"Argh... Retreat for now!" said the first student.

"You haven't seen the last of us!" cried the second.

"Go on and scatter, you bunch of minnows!" Floyd called after them. "Aha ha!"

"We'll be eagerly awaiting your next visit to our lounge," Jade said with a sinister smile.

"Mya-HAH!" said Grim. "We did it! You see that?! That's what you get, you buncha jerks! Good thinking coming here, Ona."

I rolled my eyes. "You're welcome."

"Shrimpy, are you okay?!" Floyd said loudly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I-" Suddenly, I was pulled into a strong hug. All other thoughts left me as I relaxed into Floyd and enjoyed the feelings of safety and comfort he brought me. I missed this. "Thanks for your help."

"I do hate to interrupt," said Azul, "but... I'm afraid we'll have to bill you for repair fees for the tables and chairs damaged in that fight. Not to mention our own labor rates, since we were dragged into this affair."

"WHAT?!" Grim exclaimed. "You're chargin' us for that?!"

"It's not their fault," said Floyd. "Those guys were trying to make them prisoners again!"

"I have to agree," said Jade. "And we did make it clear that Ona could come to us for this sort of ordeal."

"Fine," said Azul. "At the very least, I would appreciate an explanation."

"Of course," I said. I gently pulled back from Floyd, and he let me go. "So here's the deal..." I told the story of the last few days, sticking with the facts and leaving the interpretation up to them. I made sure to include enough detail that they could come to their own conclusions.

"The housewarden of Scarabia is acting out of control, you say?" said Azul.

"Yeah!" said Grim. "Kalim's runnin' all his dormmates through the wringer every day, nonstop."

"I wouldn't have expected that from Kalim, of all people."

"I never knew the little Sea Otter had it in him," said Floyd.

"He's never given me that impression, either," said Jade.

"So, you agree something's off," I said. "I thought maybe a personality disorder..."

"It would not come out of nowhere like that."

"Vice Housewarden Jamil's got his hands full tryin' to deal with it," said Grim. "He's a decent guy, which is pretty rare for this school. I feel kinda bad for him. And we can't even reach the headmage in the middle of all this mess! That Crowley, I swear..."

"Jamil seems to have acted a little too perfectly in this situation, if you ask me," I said.

"I think you've had too much sun," said Grim.

"You have your doubts about Jamil, Ona?" said Jade.

"Yes," I said, "but I would like to know what you think of him before I voice them."

"Azul, you're in Jamil's class, right?"

"Yes," said Azul. "We also share a number of electives. Our paths are wont to cross often. Grim might be right when he says that Jamil is a rarity in this school. He's... demure and poised, you might say. He hardly ever ventures opinions of his own."

"Yeah," said Floyd. "I'm in the Basketball Club with Sea Snake, and he pretty much plays like a goody-goody. I never pay much attention to other dorms to start with, so I had no idea he was vice housewarden for Scarabia. Are you suspecting him of being behind this, Shrimpy?"

I nodded. "There's something that's off about him. It's hard to put into words. I just get the feeling that everything he does is intentional. He definitely has motive, but he because of his family situation, he can't just outright challenge Kalim. But if things keep going the way they are, he will benefit in the end. It's almost like he's subtly manipulating everything in the background."

"That is a bold accusation," said Jade. "Do you have any evidence?"

"No. I haven't figured out how to go about obtaining it. Everything makes sense though. I don't know how to explain Kalim's behavior besides magic. I've gotten quite good at picking up on hidden intentions, and I sense something form Jamil but nothing from Kalim. If Kalim really had a second personality, I'd think I would be able to pick up on something. He just seems so... innocent. More so than me." I frowned, thinking. "No, that's not quite right. I don't think I've change that much."

"Perhaps the word you're looking for is 'naive?'" suggested Azul.

I gave him a grateful smile. "Yes, that's exactly right. It took me less than a day to realize I have to be careful about people at this school because of hidden motives, but it's like that doesn't even register for Kalim. He's just open and... free. I like that about him, actually. That's why I want to help him. It seems like it would be easy for someone to take advantage of him, and I can't stand it. So, please, Azul, will you help me help him?"

"Now I know you've really lost it," said Grim. "There's no way he's going to-"

"Of course I will help!" Azul said.

I grinned at him. "Thanks!" Impulsively I strode over to him and hugged him. I felt him tense and mutter something incomprehensible. However, after a moment, he did hug me back.

"Hey, I'll help too, Little Shrimpy!" said Floyd. I smiled and went over to hug him.

Grim stared at Aul, dumbfounded. "Wha? Did you hit your head or somethin' when I wasn't lookin'?"

"Why, I never. I'll have you know the last incident forced me to reflect on my greed. I came out of it a changed man. Moving forward, I've decided to contribute to the school as a whole, in honor of the Sea Witch's spirit of benevolence. Now that Scarabia is faced with a crisis and my very own classmate is in need of help... I can hardly ignore them in their time of need."

"And we've got to figure out who's to blame for messin' with Little Shrimpy," said Floyd, finally letting me go.

"I am interested to evaluate your skills of perception," Jade said, looking at me with amusement.

I smiled at him and hugged him. He seemed just as unprepared as Azul, but he was a lot quicker to hug me back. "Thanks."

"It's just as well," said Azul. "I tire of picking at the same turkey dinner alongside the same faces every year. Why don't we pay Scarabia a visit tomorrow?"

"Seriously?!" said Grim. "We just broke outta that prison, and you want us to march back in? Count me out."

"C'mon, Sealie-O, don't be like that," said Floyd.

"Have some faith in Azul," said Jade. "I'm sure he'll make this a holiday to remember."

"It would be rude to visit empty-handed, of course," said Azul. "Jade. Floyd. Don't forget to wrap up our gifts."

"Yes, sir," said the twins. They smiled in an almost sinister way, their teeth showing.

"I could certainly think of worse ways to spend winter break than in a sweltering desert. I can already tell this is going to be positively delightful." Azul displayed a sinister.

Grim cast them wary glances. "Are you sure you trust them, Ona?"

I looked over the trio, carefully taking them in. "Yes. Don't worry. Things will be different with them around."

"Fine. I might as well see this through."

"Excellent," said Azul. "It is late, and we have a big day tomorrow. Jade, will you find them a spare room?"

"Certainly," said Jade.

Grim crossed his arms and looked at Azul suspiciously. "You're not going to charge us, are you?"

Azul smirked. "Why would I do that?"

"You can always stay with us," said Floyd.

"We'll pass, thanks," I said. "A spare room sounds great."

"Anything is better than being locked in Scarabia," said Grim.

I slept better than I had in days. A knock woke me, but at least it was not at six am. A second later, the door burst open. "Morning, Shrimpy and Sealie!" Floyd said cheerfully.

"Five more minutes," Grim grumbled.

I sat up in bed, suppressing a yawn. "Morning, Floyd."

"Azul said, if you make breakfast, he won't charge you for the room," said Floyd. "I might even help ya, but you better hurry before I change my mind."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll be out in a few."

As I got ready for the day, I reflected on how grateful I was that I did not have to march to the oasis today. I hoped the Scarabian students could hang in there. Grim was slower to get up, so I left the room alone and headed to the kitchen, where I found Floyd waiting for me.

"Hiya, Shrimpy," he said. "What do you want to make?"

I thought for a moment. "How about pancakes?"

Floyd stared at me blankly. "What are pancakes?"

I gasped. "You've never had pancakes before?" I wondered if they weren't common in this world or if it was because he was from the sea. "Now we have to make them! I'll show you how."

Floyd grinned. "Sounds good to me!"

First, I made sure all the necessary ingredients were available. Fortunately, they were all pretty common. There were even bananas and coconut flakes to give them a Hawaiian flare. Floyd listened attentively to my instructions and followed them enthusiastically. He seemed to have fun with it. I could not find any syrup, so I figured butter and powdered sugar would be a fine substitute.

"Just sprinkle it on like this," I said, lightly dusting the pancakes with the sugar.

"That's not nearly enough!" said Floyd, proceeding to dump a heap of powdered sugar on his pancakes. "Yours need more too." He flicked sugar in my direction, and instead of dusting my pancakes, it got all over my clothes.

"Hey! You're asking for it." I flicked powdered sugar back at him, getting it on his face.

Floyd laughed. "I don't think so!" I ran from him, and he chased me with the bowl of sugar. Soon, we were both covered in the stuff.

"What is going on here?" said a stern voice.

Floyd and I stopped our antics and turned to meet Azul's disapproving gaze. "I, uh-" I mumbled.

"Making a mess this early in the morning?" Jade mused, entering with Grim.

"No, it is not exactly what I had in mind," said Azul.

"I - I'm sorry," I said. "I just-" I glanced at Floyd. "I've been through a lot lately, and I really needed that." Floyd wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me into his chest.

Azul sighed. "Did you at least manage to make breakfast?"

"Yep!" Floyd said cheerfully. "We made pancakes."

"They smell good," said Grim. "Let's eat!"

"Very well," said Azul, "but you two are cleaning up before we head off to Scarabia."

"Fair enough," I said. I returned to the pancakes and grabbed my tray. Floyd picked up the other, and we headed out to the dining area. Everyone looked over their food before taking a bite. They were not bad! They reminded me of the pancakes my mom used to make.

"These are very good," said Jade.

"Yes," Azul agreed, "perhaps I should ask you to cook more often."

I smiled. "I do have more recipes if you're interested."

"You can come cook with me anytime, Little Shrimpy," Floyd said before stuffing his face full of pancake.

After breakfast, Floyd and I cleaned up, and then we all gathered around and discussed our plan. "Ona, I want you to focus on keeping Kalim and Jamil apart. No matter which is the problem, there is obviously an issue between them."

"Good idea," I said.

"And I don't want you alone with either of them either. You should make sure one of us is with you at all times."

"She should make sure I am with her at all times," Floyd said, putting an arm around me and pulling me to his side.

Azul sighed. "Floyd, that may not be feasible."

"You may not have a choice," Jade said with an amused smirk. "Although he does know she will be safe with me if the situation calls for it."

I gave Azul an innocent smile. He shook his head and said, "I'll trust your judgment on this, Ona."

I grinned at him. "Thanks."

"Then it is off to Scarabia," said Jade.

"I hope I don't regret this," Grim muttered.

"Just make sure you two act like prisoners," said Azul. "At least until we get inside."

"No problem," I said. We made our way to Scarabia, where we encountered three familiar students talking to each other.

"Hello, gentlemen," Azul said politely. "Mind if we pop by?"

"Good GRAVY, it's hot here," said Floyd. "Feels like the middle of summer."

The Scarabian students stared at us with wide eyes. "You're the Octavinelle guys who gave us a thrashing last night!" said the first student.

"What do you want with Scarabia?" said the second.

"Permit me to apologize for what transpired last evening," said Azul. "It looked as though you were bullying defenseless animals. I stood up for them on the spot, out of the goodness of my heart. But after I heard their story..." He cast me a sideways glance, and I did my best to appear downtrodden. "It became clear to me that the two Ramshackle residents were thieves who had made off with Scarabia's magic carpet. Once I realized my mistake, I took personal responsibility for the matter. I apprehended the criminals... And I came here to return the magic carpet to its rightful owner."

"Rgh... It ain't fair, I tell ya..." Grim grumbled, really selling it. The magic carpet appeared upset as well.

"W-well, uh..." said the first student.

"Thank you for the... help?" said the second student.

"Guys," Jamil said as he approached. "It's about time for morning training. If you're late, Kalim will..." He noticed my friends, and his eyes grew huge. "Gh?!" I bit my lip to hide my smirk.

"Why, Jamil!" Azul said. "Hello there. How are you?"

"Azul Ashengrotto...and the Leech brothers as well? What are you doing here?"

"Our home isn't the most hospitable place in the wintertime," said Jade.

"So we spend our holidays in the dorm!" said Floyd. "Aha ha!"

"Wh... What?" Jamil said.

"By the way, where might Kalim be?" said Jamil. "I'm here to return his magic carpet to him."

"Er, ah... If you need to deliver something, I'll take it to him."

"Oh, but I insist! This magic carpet is a legendary artifact on par with national treasures. If it were discovered to be damaged later, Octavinelle would be held liable. We can't have that, now, can we? I would prefer to hand it to Kalim in person and have him assess its condition firsthand."

"Kalim wouldn't care even if it was damaged. Let me take it off your hands, okay?"

"Worry not–I won't even ask for my standard twenty percent finder's fee."

"Consider that our way of apologizing for our uncouth behavior towards Scarabia last night," Jade said.

"We also brought a seafood pizza as a little present," Floyd said. "You wouldn't want it to get cold, wouldja?"

"The point is, I would MUCH prefer to deliver it in person," said Azul. "He's awake by now, I trust?"

"No, really, he's not feeling up for any..." Jamil started, but Azul ignored him and started forward. "Hey! You can't just barge in, Azul!" He immediately started after him.

"Shall we, Ona?" Jade said with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"You'd better keep up," said Floyd.

I smiled. "You bet."

"Yeesh, these Octavinelle guys are so pushy when they wanna be..." said Grim. We entered the Scarabian lounge to find the students gathered in front of Kalim, who I could already tell was in his normal personality.

"Oh, hey, Azul," Kalim said as nonchalantly as I predicted he would. "What brings you to our dorm?"

"Hello there," said Azul. "It's nice to see you, Kalim. Goodness me! Scarabia never fails to impress every time I visit. It's a veritable winter wonderland outside, yet in here, the sun's so hot that it might as well be midsummer. You would have vacationers coming in droves if you opened up a resort here. It's an ideal location."

"You don't say? I don't really have the savvy for business stuff, but thanks for the kind words!"

"At any rate, I'm here today because I caught your magic carpet. I'd like to return it to you." The magic carpet flew from Azul to Kalim.

"Really? It ran off again? I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

"Oh, it's no bother at all. By the way, is Scarabia having holidays in the dorm this year?"

"Yes, that's right. Is Octavinelle doing the same?"

Azul smiled. "Why, yes! Fancy that! In fact, what say we take this opportunity to improve relations between our dorms?"

"Wha...?!" Jamil said, stunned.

"It seems there are many things to be learned from Scarabia's unique studying style that was apparently adopted this winter."

"That's right!" Kalim said with a grin. "I would be positively honored to host Octavinelle's housewarden here in our dorm."

"...Kalim, I recommend against this," said Jamil.

"Aw, why?"

"The whole point of our current training regimen is to catch up to the other dorms. If we invite the housewarden of one of those other dorms to join us, we're showing the enemy our hand."

"Oh, please. He's hardly an enemy. Besides, didn't you invite the Ramshackle residents?"

I smiled. "Yep."

Jamil frowned. "Well, er... Yes..." He turned to my companions. "Look, Azul. I'm saying this for your own good."

"How nice of you to be so concerned for him when you had none to spare for me," I said. Jamil narrowed his eyes slightly at me as if he knew I was onto him.

"That was completely different."

"You're absolutely right, Jamil," said Azul. "Other dorms are always going to be, on some level, our rivals in the grade standings. I'm afraid we'd best take our leave, boys. Kalim, Jamil, best of luck with your training." He sighed dramatically. "Back to spending yet another holiday stuck indoors in the dead of winter, just the three of us. It's unavoidable, I suppose..."

"And after we worked so hard to capture that magic carpet and bring it back..." said Jade.

"And it made a huge mess outta the Mostro Lounge in the process..." said Floyd.

All three of them sighed and said, "Alas..." It took all of my willpower to keep from snorting in amusement.

"Layin' on the guilt trip a little thick there, don't ya think?!" said Grim.

"Whatever it takes," I said.

"Not so fast!" said Kalim, appearing saddened by the story.

"Here we go..." Jamil muttered.

"Azul is one of the top magicians in our whole school. I think Scarabia would benefit greatly from having him over! Besides, turning away esteemed guests out of hand would bring shame upon the Asim family name."

"Excellent decision," I said. "You won't regret it." I ignored Jamil trying to subtly glower at me. Floyd seemed to notice, as he moved to stand right beside me.

"Why, Kalim!" said Azul. "What a kind and generous soul you are! Naturally, I would be more than happy to share any insights I have with you."

"The two of us will be happy to assist with cooking and cleaning," said Jade.

"Yeah!" agreed Floyd. "We do it at the lounge anyway, so we're pretty good at it."

Kalim beamed at them. "That would be great! And it would ease Jamil's workload."

"I don't NEED any help..." said Jamil. "Ugh, forget it. You're not listening to a word I say."

"One more thing," said Floyd before putting his arm around me. "Little Shrimpy stays with me."

Kalim blinked. "Little Shrimpy? Oh, you mean Ona! That's fine if she's okay with it."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Kalim."

"All right, let's get ourselves ready for some special training! It's your dorm versus ours. Put your things away and come to the courtyard."

"Certainly," said Azul. "Do go easy on me, Scarabia gentlemen. Heh heh heh..."