CHAPTER 6: LAND OF THE DEAD

As soon as the NDA was signed by the overblotters and returned to Idia, Jill felt an odd sense of relief. She didn't know much about law, but if Azul said it was okay, then that cleared up most of her doubt. It was a shame she wasn't allowed to talk to her other friends about this, though. Everyone in Night Raven was likely panicking and asking questions that Jill and the others wouldn't be allowed to answer. How was Styx planning to explain this anyway?

I didn't get to see the ghostly trio, she realized. Or my clubmates, or my teachers, or Mr. Crowley, or… Ace…

She knew that Deuce, Epel, and Jack would be worried sick. They went above and beyond to support Jill, even stopping her overblot. But Ace, her boyfriend (the word still made her blush), would be feeling infinitely worse. She wished she could do something, anything, just to tell Ace that she was okay. But she couldn't.

"Okay, now we can start!" Ortho said excitedly. "First, you have to get sanitized and dressed—don't worry, we'll give you your clothes back when we're ready to go back to Night Raven."

"Are you suggesting that I'm unclean?" Vil asked sourly.

"Look, this is standard procedure for everyone. Don't be such a prima donna," Idia said, rolling his eyes. "Now just follow one of the researchers, and they'll set you up."

At his command, the doors around the lobby opened, and a number of adults walked in. They all wore identical grayish-white lab coats with triangular patterns around the hems, as well as plain pants and shoes. Jill was grateful that she was dealing with someone with a face instead of a robotic soldier this time.

One by one, the researchers paired up with the five other overblotters, leading each prisoner to a separate room. Two more researchers stood before Jill and Grim—an older man with white hair and a middle-aged woman with dark hair and round glasses.

"Hello there, sweetie. I'm Athena," said the woman. "You're Jill, right? I'm going to help you get ready for testing."

"Um, hello, ma'am," Jill greeted shyly.

"Sanitized? Does that mean I'm gonna get a bath?" Grim hid behind Jill's legs again. "Forget it!"

"I know this is all scary, little guy," the man cooed. "But it'll be over before you know it. I'm Apollo, and I'll be helping you with your tests."

"We're testing separately?" Jill guessed.

"After you're cleaned and dressed, you seven will be questioned about your overblot," Idia said. "Given how personal these are, I figured you would all want to be questioned separately."

"Right," Jill sighed. She tried to move her feet, but Grim was still clinging to her. "Grim, please let go," she said.

"No way! I don't trust these guys if they'll keep us apart! We have to stay together," Grim whined.

"We'll be together at home in twenty-four hours," Jill reminded him. "Please, I just want to move."

"But Jill—" Grim pleaded.

"Grim!" Jill's temper spiked up. "We're all stressed out enough, okay? I just want to get this over with! So stop being such a… a… whiny little baby!"

Grim pulled away from her, looking like he'd been slapped. He scowled up at her. "Baby? Well, fine then! I'm not gonna protect ya if anything bad happens! It'll serve ya right!" And with that, he reluctantly trotted up to Apollo, opting to walk at his side instead of being picked up. He stuck his tongue out at Jill as he and Apollo left the room.

"Goodness, that direbeast has appalling manners," Athena noted.

"Yeah, Grim's always been like that," Idia said. "Honestly, Jill, you have the patience of a saint to deal with him every day."

"He's not always that bad," Ortho reasoned. "Everyone is just feeling tense because of the atmosphere. Maybe I should find some games to play that will put our subjects at ease…"

Jill just nodded, with emotions of all types rocking through her. She couldn't focus on just one.

Athena led Jill through one of the vast hallways, into a women's locker room where the showers were much larger and had nozzles sticking out all over the walls. After briefly explaining that this was a washing and drying area, Athena set a Styx uniform onto a nearby bench and politely stepped out so Jill could have some privacy.

After removing her school uniform, Jill stepped inside the shower and tried to turn on the hot water… only for jets of fire-hot liquid to be shot at her from all directions. Then she tried to cool herself down, but being blasted with cold water felt so much worse. Finally, she shut off the water entirely and twisted the knob designated to dry, and she was surrounded by hot gusts of wind that roared in her ears. She turned the whole thing off, stomping out of the shower area so she could get redressed.

The Styx uniform was bland, almost offensively so. It had a near-white shirt with matching pants, gray shoes, and grayish triangle patterns around the collar and trim. It dawned on her too late that Hades had a similar triangular pattern to his outfit; it had been forever since she read about him or watched Hercules. The lord of death wasn't exactly the figurehead that Jill wanted to think about at the moment.

She walked out of the locker room, clean and dry and with her hair flat against her back. Athena was right next to the door, and she seemed delighted to see Jill in her Styx outfit.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" the researcher asked. "So much quicker and more effective than a regular shower!"

"I'll stick with regular showers," Jill grunted, and Athena just chuckled and promised to collect her school uniform to give back later.

Next, Jill was led into a small, bland interrogation area. Most of the room was taken up by a table and two chairs. The usual earmarks of Styx were here—blue lights, triangle symbols, a monitor on one wall, but there was no sense of unique style or personality. Jill was beginning to feel more and more drab to match her surroundings.

"Now please sit here and wait for the director," Athena said. "Would you like some water or a small snack to hold you over?"

"No, thank you, ma'am, I don't have much of an appetite…" Jill paused. "Wait. Idia's coming here? I thought you were questioning me."

"That was the initial plan, but while you were getting ready, I got a message from the director," Athena explained. "It seems that he wishes to speak to you himself."

Jill sat herself in the nearest chair, trying in vain to recollect her thoughts. Before she could really organize anything in her head, Idia Shroud himself entered the room and dismissed Athena. Then Idia closed the door and sauntered through the tiny room, seating himself on the opposite side to Jill.

"Subject G," he greeted quietly.

"…Please call me by my name," Jill requested. She glanced down at her slender fingers, watching them ball into fists on the table.

"Sorry, I have to be distant and unbiased for this," Idia said. "It's awkward enough that I have to deal with my schoolmates." He paused. "Hey, don't cry, okay? You're not scared, are you?"

"Shaken, I think, is the better word," Jill corrected.

She had just watched these invincible soldiers rush into her dorm and destroy it, she was kidnapped alongside several of her friends with no way to call for help, she just signed a contract stating she couldn't even talk about this to anyone on the outside (including her boyfriend), she knew that all of Night Raven was freaking out and wondering where she was, she knew that Idia Shroud was a potential target of Minuet-Hand and his blotting shenanigans… but she was expected to remain calm. Okay then.

"Look, I'll cut to the chase," Idia said. "Ortho already gave me all the information about your overblot, so that's not what I want to talk to you about. Rather, I want to ask you about your involvement."

"Involvement?" Jill finally lifted her head. "You don't… think I'm the cause of this, do you?"

"Of course not," Idia said. "There's no way you're smart enough to pull off something like blotting up your classmates. Even if you were some secret super-genius, you would've found a way to Royal Sword Academy instead of crashing and burning the way you did." He leaned closer, almost glaring at her. "But you're definitely at the center of this," he went on. "The only way Grim could eat all those blot crystals is if he was near those mages when their overblot forms were defeated. And Grim is at your side at all times. Well? Why were you two near five overblots?"

"I…" Jill bit her lip. "I promised the others I wouldn't talk about it," she said. "It's painful for them…"

"Withholding information isn't going to help you," Idia snapped. "If you want to prevent this from happening to others, you need to tell me everything you know about this."

"But…" Jill's voice faded. She knew that Idia was right. She may have sworn secrecy to the headmage and the overblotters… but maybe her silence was doing more harm than good.

"Fine, I'll talk," she said. "But first I want to ask one thing: where is Mr. Crowley?"

"The headmage? We escorted him to the TWMC headquarters," Idia said. "He's been covering up the overblots from the committee, and what's worse, he tried to pressure Ortho and me into doing the same after we cured Grim of his blot."

Jill recalled that Crowley wanted to speak to the Shroud brothers right before Jill and Grim went back to their dorm. So that was what was going on…

"Whatever you find about Mr. Grim, please keep it to yourselves." Idia quoted. "Those were his words. And sure, Styx might be independent, but we still work with the Twisted Wonderland Magic Committee. So when we got the order to bring you guys here, we knew that Crowley would get in the way… and we decided he should answer to the committee for letting this blot thing get so out of control."

So Crowley isn't on the Isle, Jill realized. And he's facing troubles of his own… he can't help me.

"…Jill," Idia said. "Maybe you hate me now and you think I'm a bad guy, yadda yadda, whatever. But I know your archetype—you're the plucky heroine who always wants to help people. So help me out here? Please?"

Jill finally looked at him properly. He was a little slouched over, his golden eyes flickering between her and the table, his fiery hair slowly waving around his head and down his back. For the first time since Jill's arrival in Styx, Idia seemed so… awkward and casual. The way he always was before. It put her at ease. Not that the truth would be any more convincing or easier to bear.

"Okay, Idia," Jill agreed. "To start off… I'll tell you about the Disney corporation. Because it involves all of us much more than you know."