Author's Notes: This one is a little shorter but hope you can enjoy it.
Chapter 3:
The group of students attending the social were waiting in the Mirror Chamber for their leaving time to arrive. "The time is quickly approaching for you to set out. Are all of our representatives here?" the head mage asked.
"Yes sir!" Deuce said for himself, Riddle, and Ruggie.
"Present." Azul spoke for himself and Jamil.
"Wish I wasn't..." Idia said from his place between Rook and Epel.
"Of course. I've been waiting for hours." Malleus said from between Silver and Sebek.
None had noticed as another joined them at the mirror until Grim spoke up. "Yup, I'm good to go." Grim said cheerfully, having gotten much further ahead of Aster who was not even in the chamber yet. Silence from the groups before suddenly surprised shock came from the majority of them.
"What are you doing here Grim?!" Deuce asked.
"Well, you see... Grim has been badgering me to let him go on the trip ever since the raffle." Crowley said, deciding to start with his amusing and ridiculous reasoning first, before explaining his real reason. "Unceasing! Day in and day out! His yowls even began to echo in my brain..." Crowley dramatically exclaimed, getting an amused smile from his overly exhausted ward who was slowly approaching the group.
Crowley almost winces, knowing the boy hadn't slept the night before at all. He had barely been getting sleep in general with his nightmares. And Crowley had only informed the boy he'd be going on the trip roughly half an hour ago, forcing him to have to worry about packing instead of resting. He's almost certain the boy hadn't eaten breakfast yet either. Hopefully Trein would keep a watchful eye on the boy.
"So, you decided to let him go?" Ruggie cried. "You're the head mage of a prestigious school, and you caved to some pestering? What happened to 'fairest means possible'?" Ruggie gave the man an exasperated huff.
"If there's room for exceptions, we demand one be made as well. Let Lilia join the trip!" Sebek ordered loudly. Aster winced a little from the cacophony of noise everyone was making.
"That's far from what happened!" Crowley sighed, wondering why the only one to ever be amused by his eccentricities was his charge. "I was struck by a thought, you see. Nobel Bell College is normally off-limits to us. Perhaps such a place would hold the key to reaching another world or helping retrieve lost memories!" He said, obviously happy with himself.
It wasn't a lie but was only part of the real reason. Which was to hopefully relieve Aster of his nightmares.
"Lost memories. Then that means..." Deuce said spinning around to find their tired friend approaching them.
"Hey, guys." Aster told them with a small smile, small duffle at his side.
"Ah, if it isn't Aster. What brings you here?" Malleus asked before noting the duffle. "Though judging by the luggage you're carrying, I might know." he settled on.
Aster bowed to his friends, an apologetic smile on his lips. "I would have been here earlier to see you off, but Crowley only just told me I'd be attending with you guys half an hour ago, so I had to do a rush pack job."
"Sorry, I know this was probably the last thing you were thinking." He told them. They all shook their heads. Aster didn't need to apologize to them.
"Aster and Grim will be joining the group as attendants." Crowley informed the group, once they had all calmed down. He did not flinch under the looks they gave him.
Grim chuckled. "We'll be tagging along and taking care of you guys." The feline dire beast informed them a little smugly. "Which means partying it down, getting fawned over, and eating everything in sight!" Grim laughed again.
"Now I see, you used Aster as a pretext to get Grim off your back." Azul realized, with a faux sad frown.
"Some head mage we have." Jamil frowned at the man. In reality, they were happy to have Aster on the trip with them. But there was a need to give the head mage a hard time for giving Aster such a short notice despite every one of them, the head mage included, knowing the resident beast master had been struggling getting sleep.
"I don't see the problem." Idia didn't join in as he smiled. "Now we've got fuzzy companionship," he indicated Grim who backed a way just slightly, remembering their late-night encounter towards the beginning of their freshman year. "And valuable emotional support." he added, grabbing Aster and pulling him to his side. "Bring it on!"
"I'm glad you get to come along Aster." Deuce said with a smile, Epel nodding his head.
"This is a fine opportunity for you to see more of Twisted Wonderland. Let us enjoy this fun, educational trip together." Rook exclaimed.
"Good point." Riddle agreed. "I've studied up on Fleur City, Aster. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have that your own studies didn't answer, and I shall do the same." Riddle said with a smile. He knew that Aster had extra lessons with Professor Trein involving the countries in Twisted Wonderland and wondered what they had covered together.
"Though admittedly, this will be my first real trip abroad. I might not have covered everything we will encounter." Riddle sounded put out by that. "I wish we had a more experienced traveler with us. Someone familiar with the local history and culture..." Riddle trailed off, and Aster realized none of them had figured out the reason Professor Trein was present.
"We have that covered, actually." Crowley said just finishing up from his conversation to keep an eye on Aster with Professor Trein, who the other students seemed to have only just noticed. Trein contemplated having Vargas run them through some situational awareness drills.
"Are you all done chatting now?" he asked. They shared looks of confusion save Aster who just sighed tiredly at their obliviousness. Surely, they hadn't expected to go without a chaperone to an official school function, right? "I'll be your chaperone for this trip." Trein informed them, surprising the majority of the group.
"Professor Trein hails from the Shaftlands, and he's knowledgeable about various histories and cultures worldwide." Crowley said, amused with their reactions. "He used to do a great amount of fieldwork as well. I say he's the best possible chaperone you could have." Crowley looked especially pleased with himself when he added the next part.
"It's all part of my efforts to enrich your travel experience... Which is out of the pure kindness of my heart, of course!" Aster shook his head in amusement at the man.
"All right, everyone. I have some important words for you before we leave." Trein said, looking at them all sternly. "We are traveling to a faraway land. I understand that's exciting, but this trip is not all fun and games." he lectured, ignoring the unimpressed looks from part of the students, and keeping an eye on the ones who were actively interested in his words. But all of them were paying attention.
"Learn the history of Fleur City and Nobel Bell College. Rethink your conceptions of what a mage should be. Observe the other arcane academy students and examine what views your brethren hold. Approach the social with open minds, accepting the stimulating experiences it provides. These will nourish your future development." Trein said.
"Okay, uh... this is kind of over my head." Deuce whispered to Epel who could only nod.
"I wasn't expecting Professor Trein to be our chaperone..." Epel replied just as quietly.
"You must mind your manners at all times and never get distracted." Trein finished his lecture.
"I couldn't agree more." Riddle said with pride.
"Yes, absolutely! I'm extremely honored to receive a valuable learning opportunity." Azul added.
"Mm, yes, a most satisfactory response." Trein approved the two. "However, I'm worried... Quite worried, about Lucius." He sighed, having finished his lecture. Said cat approached them then winding around Aster's feet getting a hissed, 'My human!' from Grim, before jumping into Trein's arms and purring.
Trein cooed at the black cat. "You're willing to be patient and wait for me? What a good boy you are!" Trein praised his familiar.
"Oh, you're leaving Lucius here?" Ruggie asked. He and Lucius still struck up bargains every now and then. Other than Aster and Silver, Ruggie had the next highest grade in animal linguistics out of their group.
"I wouldn't want him to have an emergency in an unfamiliar place. I've asked Professor Crewel to watch him while I'm gone." Trein explained. "Normally I wouldn't dream of leaving Lucius in the hands of a dyed-in-the-wool dog person... But considering the other faculty, he was the only choice." Trein sighed.
"You mean Coach Vargas and Sam... Yeah, I get that," Ruggie agreed. No one even thought to consider Crowley as an option. Which Crowley wasn't upset with considering the cat always looked at him like he was a trying to figure out how best to eat him.
"While dogs and cats do differ, Professor Crewel still care for living creatures. I'm sure Lucius will be fine." Trein said, sounding like he was convincing himself a little bit.
"Indeed. He was most enthusiastic about teaching Lucius commands like 'stay' and 'place'!" Crowley said with enthusiasm, getting a kick out of Trein's displeased frown.
"Lucius, ignore everything he tells you." Trein told his familiar. Lucius's following meow sounded like understanding.
"Though I arranged the trip, I'll be remaining here. Don't worry about getting any gifts for me." Crowley said with a shameless smile. "As a side note, I prefer treats with subtler flavors rather than overpowering ones. But really, don't worry about it at all!"
"Oh, Head Mage..." Trein trained off in tired reproach. Crowley coughed lightly into his fist.
"Does everyone have their belongings?" Crowley asked, changing topic realizing the face appearing in the mirror. It was time to leave.
"Yes sir!"
"Then have a swell trip!" he said jovially.
"I'll bring you back some treats." Aster promised his guardian, as the reflective glass began to ripple.
Crowley watched them disappear, praying. 'Please be careful.'