Ninety-Sixth Spell: Bait-and-Switch

"Popuri-dono!" Haru exclaimed, seeing the face of the school's Healer lying on the ground where Warumo collapsed. "How did you get here? Where did Warumo go?"

The Dendes looked just as confused as Haru while Popuri slowly stirred. His breathing was painful and erratic, which deeply concerned Haru.

"I'm sorry, Haru," Popuri apologized. "Please, forgive me…."

"Forgive you?" Haru didn't understand. "What did you do?"

"Warumo, he…used my body to make you miserable, so you would join him," Popuri said, his voice growing weaker with each breath. "But to make sure you didn't know he was controlling me, he used…the Illusion Spell to…disguise me…as himself."

"Himself? You mean the way he looked before he disappeared?"

"Yes, but it's the same appearance he's used for the 40 years to…disguise the fact that he…uses different…bodies to…house his…spirit…."

After a painful sigh, Popuri's eyes closed. Then from his chest emerged a black mist that took the form of eight serpentine heads. But as they lunged toward Haru, a glowing dragonfly suddenly appeared blocking the serpentine heads which caused them to fly off in different directions out of the cavern. While this was happening, Haru felt feverish to the point of falling backward and passing out.

"Ryuji," said a familiar voice in Haru's ear. "Ryuji!"

Startled, Haru woke up. He was in the Healers' Wing with a midmorning sun pouring in from the windows at the far end of the room. To his right sat Anzu Dōmeki, who looked both tired and irritated at the same time.

"Dōmeki-sama," Haru muttered. "I thought you were in Tokyo."

"I was, until I realized the 'urgent business' I had been summoned for was a ruse," Dōmeki stated. "So I caught the M Line back to Mahoutokoro and arrived late last night."

"Couldn't you have just used the Body Evaporation Spell to come back?" Haru questioned, though Dōmeki's deepening frown made him regret asking.

"At first, she tried to use that spell," Maruhi Midorime interjected, appearing from Haru's left with a dampened washcloth. "But then she found out her wand had been tampered with, and so she had no choice but to take the M Line train instead."

Haru immediately remembered everything that happened, causing his breathing to become erratic. This made him feel worse than he already was, which Midorime noticed. She leaned down and used the dampened washcloth on Haru's chest. He realized the dragonfly birthmark was still present on his chest, only it looked more swollen than before.

"Where's Popuri-dono?" Haru asked. "Is he okay? What about Hikari? Rui? Nayu?"

"Your classmates have already recovered," Dōmeki said. "Fortunately, they only had minor injuries. But I'm afraid Popuri-dono didn't make it."

"Then he's…dead?"

"I'm afraid so," said a voice from the shadows, which turned out to be Sayuri Shō. "But his ghost told me some valuable information, as did your Manai family's ghosts."

"Does that mean Popuri is an Onryō too?" Haru didn't like the sound of that.

"It's common for a ghost to linger near its deceased body until the proper funeral rites have been said," Shō said. "You should know that from your early lessons in Necromancy, Ryuji-kun."

Haru wanted to argue with Shō, but he didn't have the strength to do it. Then he remembered the Jinsei Stone and checked his pocket. Unfortunately, all he was wearing was a white hospital gown with the front part opened slightly.

"Where did my clothes go?" Haru demanded. "I had the Jinsei Stone in my pocket."

"You mean this?" Dōmeki said, holding up the same green stone Haru retrieved from the shaft of light in the cavern. "And your clothes are being washed right now for being covered in dirt."

"I see." Then an idea suddenly came into Haru's mind. "Couldn't you use the stone to bring back Popuri-dono? I know the stone creates life, so maybe—

Before Haru could finish his sentence, Dōmeki used her thumb and pointer finger to crush the Jinsei Stone into pieces.

"Did you really have to do that, Dōmeki-sama?" Midorime said. "Now you're going to confuse the poor boy."

"And I thought you would know by now that I don't take the easy way to explain things," Dōmeki retorted, turning her attention back to the gaping-mouthed Haru. "That stone you found in the cavern beneath the school wasn't the real Jinsei Stone. It was a fake one that I had placed into the Gaikin Bank around the time Warumo kidnapped your birthmother Kiku while he was possessing the body of your birthfather Taka. But then he disappeared shortly after, so I kept it in there for eleven years until he showed up again and killed your Manai family.

"That's when I instructed Higa to withdraw the fake Jinsei Stone from the bank in case Warumo decided to break in. And he did, which naturally brought him to this school. Of course, I didn't suspect he had already taken possession of one of the school's faculty members and was trying to control you through Kotodama. But even though you resisted his power, you and your meddling friends decided to try finding the stone before he could—not realizing you were leading him right to the stone. If it wasn't for the ghosts of your Manai family and your birthmother's protective seal, he would have discovered the truth about the fake Jinsei Stone which would have put this whole school in danger!"

Unsure of how to process all this information, Haru solemnly lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, Dōmeki-sama," Haru apologized. "My friends and I were only trying to keep the stone out of Warumo's hands, thinking he was going to use it to either bring himself back from a death-like state or become stronger."

"You aren't too far off from the truth," Shō interjected. "According to Popuri's ghost, Warumo intends to gather all three Sacred Treasures to boost his power once he obtains his 'True Vessel.'"

"'True Vessel'?" Haru was confused. "Is that why Warumo possessed the bodies of my birthfather Taka and Popuri-dono?"

"Precisely," said another voice.

Haru saw Rakurai Higa emerge from behind a paper screen that separated Haru's bed from the one next to him. Apart from his unusually pale complexion, Higa had noticeable bags under his eyes implying he didn't get any sleep.

"If there's anyone who should be apologizing, it's me," Higa said before Haru could speak. "The reason I didn't speak about your parents' deaths in detail was because I didn't want to expose you to the truth for your own sanity. But after everything that's happened, I now realize you deserve a proper explanation."

Dōmeki didn't say a word as she got up from the chair, allowing Higa to take her place.

To be continued…