CHAPTER 39: HUMAN AGAIN

Jill opened her eyes.

She was in her room, lying on top of her sheets. Someone had laid a quilt on top of her, and when she threw the quilt aside, she found that she was wearing a ragged Royal Sword outfit.

Memories and dreams came flooding into her mind. So it was true—she did try to run away to Royal Sword. But she was foiled. So she overblotted and attacked her friends, Ace proposed a relationship, Jill was defeated, then she was in some strange forest with the Pumpkin King, and then she remembered her grandfather's last words to her. She learned that there was a dark side to Daniel Bones, a figure named Minuet-Hand who sent Jill to Twisted Wonderland out of sheer sadism…

Jill sighed and thought back further, to the various overblots… was that Minuet-Hand's doing as well? Overblots were supposed to be rare, yet mages were blotting left and right, including herself. Was it coincidence? Was Jill used as a puppet, or was this mess truly her own doing? Either way, she needed to get her affairs in order and set things right.

She sat up and looked over herself, glad to be alive once more. Her skin, blood, and muscles were all back where they belonged. As she gratefully traced the metacarpals of her hands, she came across an unpleasant realization.

"Oh no!" she cried. "It's Monday!"

Her phone was set on her nightstand like always. She turned it on and checked the time—it was six o'clock. The sun was already up, and the birds were singing their first tunes of the day.

"Oh no oh no oh no!" Jill panicked. "Classes start soon, and I didn't do my homework, and then I have a shift at the Mystery Shop, and… oh geez, I'm dead meat!"

She got dressed in her school uniform, brushed her teeth, and sprinted downstairs. As she rushed, she heard familiar voices, but she didn't really register it until she entered the kitchen. She had company.

"Guys!" she said happily. "I'm sorry for worrying you."

There was Grim and the ghostly trio, Rook, Myron, Deuce, Jack, Epel, and Ortho. All of them seemed relieved to see her in the flesh, and they gave their varied greetings and good mornings.

"Mademoiselle Citrouelle," Rook said. "It is good to see you again. I apologize for not being able to attend to your hour of need."

"I was hoping my premonition was wrong," Myron muttered. "But it happened, huh? I'm really sorry for not being able to prevent this…"

"Guys, it's fine," Jill said. "You were all trying to help me, so please don't think you did anything wrong."

"Well, some of us helped more than others," Jack said, giving a look to the three ghosts.

"Look, we were only trying to make Jill happy!" Gregg defended. "We didn't know her plan would go awry like that!"

"You still enabled her," Deuce accused.

"Yes, we did…" Philip acknowledged, bowing his head. "We can't apologize enough."

"I knew that whole Royal Sword thing was a bad idea," Ezekiel grumbled. "I felt it in my gut…"

"Jill…" Grim said at last. His blue eyes were brimming with tears. "Last night, I had one of the worst dreams ever! I saw the Pumpkin King tryin' to take over Christmas, only for a missile to hit his sleigh… and when I woke up, you were still out like a light! I thought maybe you were in a coma or somethin'…!"

"Grim—" Jill tried to say, but the little direbeast hugged one of her legs.

"It's all my fault!" Grim sobbed. "I let ya down, and then ya almost died! It's no wonder ya said that ya don't see me as your boss!"

"Grim…" Jill sighed and bent down to pick him up. "I'm sorry, boss. I wasn't myself—I didn't mean to say such harsh things to you. You know what it's like to lose control, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah…" Grim slowly calmed down.

"You guys are all okay, right?" Jill fretted. "I didn't hurt you too badly?"

"Nah, we've been through tougher scraps," Epel said. "It was actually kind of fun to go head-to-head with you! I didn't know you had that kind of strength in you."

"Neither did I," Jill admitted. "Seriously, I didn't know that 'Fright Master' drained magic! That makes me feel like a vampire…"

"Yeah, you scared the daylights out of all of us," Deuce said.

"I know I've caused you a lot of trouble," Jill admitted. "And I'm very sorry for all of it. If there's any way I can repay you, please let me know."

"Well, we were thinking of a punishment for you," Ortho said, chuckling a little. "But we're still deciding on it."

"Not to worry, we'll make sure it's not cruel or unusual," Myron added.

"Great," Jill winced. Oh well… at least it would clear her conscience somewhat. "Whatever you'll plan, I know it won't be as bad as the teachers' punishments," she said. "I broke my broomstick, and I didn't do any of my schoolwork for today…"

"Oh, you have the day off," Ortho told her. "The ghosts told faculty that you're not feeling well."

"We had to buy some time for you to rest and do your schoolwork," Ezekiel explained. "And we have to get you a new broomstick before Coach Vargas knows that yours is busted…"

"Don't worry, we'll bring you a copy of tomorrow's assignments," Deuce promised. "But you have to take care of today's assignments, too…"

Despite everything that just happened to her, Jill felt overwhelmed. "Thank you, all of you… for everything," she said quietly. She didn't deserve friends as kind as these, even if she would be taken to task later. But as she looked over everyone, she realized that someone was missing.

"Where is Ace?" she asked.

"Ace decided not to come over," Jack said. "He said he didn't feel like it. I can understand if he's mad at you, but refusing to check up on you? That seems pretty cold."

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like Ace," Grim said. "Especially since he was holdin' Jill last night…"

"I believe Monsieur Heart is working through some complex feelings," Rook said with a smile. "I suggest we leave him be for now."

"Right…" Jill's own heart squeezed at the thought. Was Ace upset with her? Did he really mean what he promised last night—that he would be her card soldier? Or was he just distracting her for the fight? She was afraid to ask…

"I think it's about time we got to class," Myron announced. "We'll talk to you later, Jill. Glad you're doing better."

"Yeah, see ya!" Grim said, and he jumped out of Jill's arms. He grabbed the little Grim-sized backpack resting on one of the kitchen chairs and pulled it over his shoulders.

"You're going to school without me?" Jill started to fret. "Will you be okay, Grim?"

"Of course. Because unlike you, I found time to do my homework," Grim bragged.

"Grim's taken a lot of responsibility lately," Ortho said. "He didn't even eat your blot crystal!"

"He didn't…?" Jill smiled at the thought. "That's good to hear!"

The guests gave their goodbyes and left the dorm, through the pumpkin patch and past the metal gates to the main campus. Jill watched them leave, then sat in one of the gravestone-shaped chairs in the guest room. She sighed deeply, gazing up at the ceiling.

Everything was the same… and yet everything had changed.

She now understood why she was here, and the looming threat that remained in this world. But then she remembered what Daniel told her—he fought with his own headmage, who wanted to steal the Skeleton Key. Was this headmage Dire Crowley, or someone else? And either way, what if Crowley tried something similar? What if he claimed the Key so that Jill couldn't use it to go between her family and friends? That thought alone made Jill want to avoid him like the plague.

But last she saw it, the Skeleton Key was in Crittenden, with the rest of Daniel Bones's inheritance. Her parents couldn't have used it, otherwise she would've seen them by now. And of course, she didn't know how to contact her home.

So she might need Crowley's help after all. And this time, she wasn't going to back down.