Author's Note: Here's the continuation of the last chapter. I hope you enjoy the changes if you've played the game. Though the explanation at the end is taken from Book 2, but it's out of the way now I suppose.
Confrontations
Yuukio and Grim approached the entrance of the mine with Ace and Deuce. "Are you sure about this plan, Yuu?" Grim asked his human. "Because I'm starting to get hungry, and I saw some tasty looking fish in that river back there."
"Yes, I'm sure this will work so long as everyone does their parts."
"That's the spirit." Ace and Deuce agreed. Getting a nod from Yuukio, everyone broke apart so they could carry out the plan Yuukio had come up with.
"Hey monster! I'm over here!" Grim shouted into the entrance, apparently alone. "And I'm going to get that stone!" Thankfully the little dire beast's voice echoed around the mine, leading the monster straight to the entrance where it growled angrily.
"Begone!" It snarled moving towards the little beast.
"He's coming our way! Yuu!" Grim cried. Yuu burst from the trees a little further to the side and further from the entrance.
"Right over here!" Yuukio shouts, getting the monster's attention.
"Thief is this way too?" The monster growled. "I will never give you stone!" he shouted at the human, swinging wildly at the two of them.
Grim growled lowly. "You're letting it get far too close with those punches." Grim scolded the human who chuckled in reply.
"We need to bait it." he whispered back. "Now, let's get him a bit further away." Yuukio and Grim worked around each other like a dance, taunting and baiting the creature into the center of the clearing.
"Begone!" he snarled at them again, a new emotion building into its voice. Annoyance.
"This should be far enough away!" Grim called out, dodging the swing aimed at his head.
"Ace!" Yuukio called, alerting the ginger to his part.
"You bet. I got this!" Ace called, pumped as he darted from the side of the trees. "One extra-large gust of wind coming up!" He called, sending a powerful gale their way.
"With a side of the loyal familiar's hell fire!" Grim hooted with glee, sending his cerulean flames at the monster and into the gale. The blue flames reacted and ignited stronger, and larger, engulfing the monster into a raging inferno.
"With my winds fanning them, even that runt's flames can have a bite to them." Ace shouted gleefully.
"Deuce! This is it!" Yuukio called over to the boy who was just noticeable at the tree lines.
"Just stay calm, aim carefully... and pull out the biggest, heaviest thing I can think of." Deuce coached himself before focusing on the dark shadow in the eye of the cerulean tornado before him. "Get 'em, cauldron!" He shouted in determination. A larger than normal black cauldron appeared in the eye right above the monster, pinning it to the ground right as the flames died.
"The plan worked!" Grim cried in excitement. "Look at it Yuu!" Grim told his human, releasing a strong purr of satisfaction.
"While it's distracted, let's make for the stone." Deuce urged. Nodding, the group rushed into the dark depths.
The monster noticed their departure into the mine. "Wait! No!" The desperation was so powerful Yuukio stumbled into the wall hard as the emotions struck him in a way that he had rarely felt them do before, leaving him unbalanced and off kilter for a moment. He groaned, shaking off the migraine that came with bashing his head on the stone walls. He pushed the boys ahead before they could properly comment on what had happened.
They easily found their way back to where they had first seen the stone. It was a beautiful mix of sky blue with more colors mixed into its surface. "That's it! That's the mage stone!" Deuce cried in relief.
"Then we need to go!" Yuukio ordered, keeping an eye on the pathway back. Nodding the boy quickly tucked it away into one of his pockets and they rushed from the mine, skirting around the still pinned monster.
"Don't touch that!" He roared at them.
"It's nearly wriggled free!" Ace cried in alarm.
"Deuce, add some more weight." Grim shouted.
"Right! I summon thee, cauldron!" Deuce cried, and in his panic, had summoned a total of three more cauldrons, resulting in four extremely heavy cauldrons crushing the monster into the ground.
"Is that the only thing you know how to summon?!" Ace cried almost hysterically as they ran back towards the gate at the farthest end of the pathway.
"Pipe down already! I'm worked up enough as it is!" Deuce growled back. Grim growled and shot a stream of blue flames in between them, hoping to avoid another fight.
"We got the mage stone. Let's get out of here!" He snarled, his fur puffing up in irritation, his fangs glinting in the light of blue flames.
"Right!" The two boys agreed, a brief echo of Yuukio's warning about the dire beast surfacing in their minds. And with that, the group ran even further. The monster's desperate cries still loud behind them. Those were quickly followed by the loud crash of metal tumbling. It had finally broken free.
"It's about to catch us!" Ace cried in alarm as they reached the cottage. Yuukio took a deep breath and came to an abrupt halt. Turning on his heel to face the quickly approaching monster.
"Then it's kill or be killed!" Yuukio snarled, whip unfurling with a loud, and foreboding crack that echoed sharply into the night.
"Fine! Let's smash it to pieces." Ace growled as they all came to a stop to face the large monster. "Try not to wet yourself Deucey." The ginger smirked at the blue haired boy.
"Same to you, Ace!" Deuce replied with a similar smirk.
"We'll show you why you should fear Grim and Yuukio!" Grim growled, voice taking on a rather alarming predatorial tone.
It was a brutal fight. The monster's pickaxe gave it some dangerous physical reach that almost got them on several occasions. Seeing the threat it posed, Yuukio used his whip to keep the tool from being an issue, putting all of his strength into immobilizing it. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of his own mobility. But that didn't stop him from calling out to the others when they needed guidance to either dodge or attack depending on what came there way.
The monster got particularly upset at not having full use of both of its hands and with a screech of anger, tossed the pickaxe aside, taking Yuukio with it. He crashed painfully into a tree behind the other three. "Yuukio!" They cried in alarm, only to grunt when a cosmic attack hit the ground before them, sending the other three sprawling next to the first boy.
Yuukio grunted in discomfort at the feeling of broken ribs but didn't let that stop him from checking on the other three. "Are you guys okay?" he asked worriedly, rushing to their sides.
"We're fine, what about you?" Ace asked in concern.
"A couple of broken ribs, but I'll be fine. Grim!" He called suddenly. And with a move that showed just how often this had probably happened, a wall of blue flames burst in front of them, disintegrating a sharp, thorny vine that would have hurt them a lot if it had hit. "We need to figure this out." Yuukio looked at the monster through the flames before gritting his teeth. "I'm going to immobilize it. When that happens, Deuce you summon a cauldron, but keep it in the air for as long as you can. Grim, heat it as much as you can with your flames. Ace, when it's as hot as it can go without melting, use a gust of wind to increase the speed of its drop."
"Doesn't that seem a bit more complicated than just smashing the glass?" Ace asked, taking full advantage of the brief break to catch his breath.
"The glass didn't break when the cauldrons landed on it earlier. My hope is that the extreme temperature difference from the cauldron will make it more brittle and give it that extra encouragement to shatter." Yuukio explained, noting how the fire began to dim. With everyone clamoring back to their feet, Yuukio nodded. "Let's do this. I'll keep it as immobile as I can for as long as possible. The rest will be up to you guys." He informed them before launching himself at the monster, whip at the ready.
Thankfully, the plan ended up working.
Yuukio got the whip to wrap tightly around the monster and its arms, keeping it in place with all the strength he could muster.
Deuce, seeing it was stuck in place summoned a large cauldron, trusting the other two to have his back as he concentrated on keeping it hovering in the air a good few feet about the monster's glass head.
Grim, from the branches of a nearby tree so he could reach it safely, shot a steady stream of fire at the cauldron. He watched as the metal began to glow with heat.
Seeing it was nearly ready to melt, Ace concentrated a powerful gust of wind, before swishing it down.
Ace and Deuce were in perfect sync as Deuce released his grasp on the cauldron at just the right moment to make Ace's wind even more devastating and effective.
The cauldron smashed into the glass, the sound of it explosively shattering filling the otherwise once silent night.
The group steadied themselves before glancing at the creature that had dissolved into a goopy mess before dissipating into the air. The group shared a look. "We won." Yuukio said, voice dazed. Like he couldn't believe they had succeeded.
"We won?"
"We won!"
"Woohoo!" The group shouted.
"Give me a high five!" Grim shouted, absolutely euphoric at their victory. With a celebratory shout, the four gave a loud, resounding high five.
"We took it down!" they celebrated, high on the adrenaline.
"And we only had to work together." Yuukio teased the boys who blushed furiously before they shared a look.
"We won, thanks to your plan Yuu." Ace admitted, swallowing his pride.
"Yeah. If you hadn't kept your cool and kept us on track, we wouldn't have gotten the mage stone. And now we won't get expelled, which is a huge relief." Deuce added.
Yuukio chuckled at their adorable displays. "It was a team effort. And no serious injuries. This was a job well done."
"No serious-? You have broken ribs, you reckless human!" Grim yowled. Yuukio yelped at his familiar's verbal assault, Ace and Deuce both laughing at the situation as they all collapsed to the ground to catch a proper breath.
Yuukio felt something dig into his back and frowned. He reached for it and pulled up a jet-black stone that resembled the ones on Ace and Deuce's magic pens and the one dangling from Grim's collar. "What is that?" Deuce asked curiously.
"Just something monsters like that leave behind. Here you go Grim." Yuukio rolled his eyes and tossed it to the monster who had been eyeing it with wide, hungry eyes.
"Yay!" Grim cried, chomping down on it.
"Is it okay for him to eat that?" Ace asked in disbelief.
Yuukio shrugged his shoulders, ignoring the flair of pain. "Eh, it'll be fine. He's made for eating those." Yuukio sighed and looked up, only to gasp in alarm. "It's almost time for the gate to close! We've got to hurry." Yuukio cried, urging the group up as they all yelped at the approaching deadline. They raced for the gate shimmering in the distance.
Night Raven College
Lilia Vanrouge had enough of waiting for his youngest to come to him. In fact, he's pretty sure the only reason he even fell for his white-haired child's asinine excuses was simply the shock of him being in front of him and covered in blood. He scoured the school's campus looking for the wayward child with his other three charges behind him. Unfortunately, even after checking around all day, wondering if he was just missing the boy, he had yet to find him.
His earlier annoyance was quickly turning into worry as he failed to locate the child. He rushed into the Mirror Chamber around sundown, the other three right on his heels. Lilia was set on demanding the location of his son from the Dark Mirror if he had to. Only for Lilia to come up short at finding Head Mage Crowley already there, pacing in front of the mirror worriedly checking his pocket watch. The mask in the mirror was watching Crowley with an unimpressed expression on his face as the man paced nervously.
"Where in Twisted Wonderland are they?" Crowley was fretting. "They've been gone for hours! They should have either found a mage stone or returned by now. And while I wouldn't be surprised if misters Trappola and Spade had gotten off task, that was the whole reason mister Yuukio and his familiar joined them." The head mage muttered, but Lilia heard him and was soon holding the other Faye by the front of his shirt. Much to the head mage's surprise. "Mr. Vanrouge?!" He cried.
"What do you mean, 'that was why Yuukio went with them'? What happened and where is my son?!" Lilia snarled at the man.
"Please, let me go and I will gladly explain the situation." Crowley tried to appease, a slight tightening in his voice indicating his being choked. Lilia let go, but the warning look in his quickly darkening eyes urged Crowley to explain. And to explain fast. "Yuukio and I came to a mutually beneficial business agreement last night during his time in the infirmary. Yuukio would do odd jobs for me around campus and in concern with the students, while I would pay him for these jobs. He would use these funds to renovate his new dorm and provide essentials for himself and his familiar."
"Why was I not informed about this? He is still a minor!" Lilia growled.
"Technically, as a 17-year-old, he has some independence over such things." Crowley replied.
"But why doesn't he just come to us or Lilia for the funds?" Sebek asked in confusion.
"While I can't go into all of the details, as that is for him to tell you, according to young Yuukio: It would be too awkward for him to get help like this from anyone, including his father, as he's been doing jobs and hunting bounties to make ends meet for the past five years." Crowley explained. The look on their faces encouraged him to keep going lest they turn their displeasure on him.
"Now, to continue. This morning, two young students got into an argument- misters Trappola and Spade. Freshmen Heartslabyul students. The end result was that they had scorched the statue of the Queen of Hearts on Main Street. I ordered them to wash 100 windows in punishment this afternoon so they could reflect upon their actions. According to the ghosts and paintings who witnessed them, one tried to shirk this duty and the other decided to hunt him down. This resulted in a confrontation in the cafeteria that Yuukio and his familiar were witness too. This time it ended with the destruction of one of this school's historical and ancient chandeliers." Crowley said, voice taking on an emotional edge throughout the explanation.
"I was all set on expelling them, but Yuukio requested mercy on their behalf. He insisted that the two students were truly sorry, so surely such a king and benevolent educator such as myself could give them a chance to make up for their actions." Crowley puffed slightly at those words, getting an annoyed twitch from Sebek who was only being kept from attacking by Silver's hand on his arm.
"And of course, I could not argue this fact. So, I sent them to the Dwarfs' Mine to try and possibly locate a mage stone to replace the one broken by their actions. That they went at all is proof of their repentance, so I shall of course give them merciful judgement should they have failed to retrieve one. Which is likely, as the mines were mined dry decades ago. However, they should have returned by now as I gave them just after sunset to return." Crowley finished, and turned his attention back to the shimmering gate that would close any minute.
"And if they don't return?" Silver asked, voice tightly controlled.
"Then I will fetch them myself." Crowley replied, almost offended at the insinuation that he would actually leave the students in the wilderness. Before they could reply, the gate shimmered, and three humans and a dire beast stepped through.
Before anyone could feel true relief, they were struck by the sight of the students covered in dirt, grime, and sweat. All three were beaten and bruised and that was definitely blood- as little as it was- caked on the side of Yuukio's head. Obvious due to its stark contrast against the white of his hair. A white that was coated in soot and dirt.
"We did it Head Mage Crowley!" Deuce cried, stepping forward and presenting the glimmering stone. "We got a mage stone!" The pride from all four was clear.
"What's this? You actually went to the Dwarfs' Mine and fetched a mage stone?" Crowley asked, taking on a complete 1-80 from his previous worry. It was enough to give all four Diasomnians whiplash.
"Uh, yes?" Ace and Deuce asked confused.
"My, I never really thought you would do it. Much less be successful. And to think, I've spent all evening preparing your expulsion documents." he mused.
"What?!" Ace, Deuce, and Grim cried.
"You mean to tell say, we were fighting a phantom for you, and you were getting ready to expel them!?" Grim yowled in anger. Immediately, Crowley's teasing halted as he and the other four looked at the four of them in alarm.
"Pardon? You fought a phantom?" The head mage asked.
"What's a phantom?" Ace asked Yuukio, who sighed.
"Perhaps we should take this to your office, Head Mage?" Yuukio asked, looking around the open room. He did flinch a bit upon seeing his family, but he was clearly indicating the possibility of anyone else showing up.
"I agree." Crowley said, motioning the group to follow him. "While we are there, I will give you all some healing potions I gave in stock in my office." he added. It was several minutes later, and with a potion down each of the four males' throats that they continued this conversation.
Night Raven College
"I'm confused. What is a phantom?" Sebek asked, getting them back on track. Even with his family, it had not been something ever brought up, meaning Silver was just as confused as the freshmen, minus Yuukio and Grim.
"Okay." Crowley breathed. "A quick lesson for those who are unaware. 'Blot' is a form of waste that is created as a byproduct of using magic. Just as cars run on gasoline, and in the process, expel dangerous gases as exhaust... Casting spells consumes magical energy, and in the process, expels 'blot'." Crowley explained. "It is terrifically toxic, and excessive amounts can wreak havoc on a mage's mind and body."
"So that's why my grandmother didn't like me casting spells in the house. I thought she just didn't want me to break anything." Ace muttered.
Yuukio snorted. "I assure you; she was more worried about her stuff than you building up blot." Yuukio informed the boy.
"Huh? What do you mean Yuukio?" Ace whined.
"Before we get to that, I suggest you two look at your mage stones, then look at any of ours." Lilia informed the ginger and bluenet, having already spotted the issue. There mage stones were already quite dull and grungy, as was Grim's. They would not be using magic for the rest of the night.
"What is this? It doesn't look very good." Deuce said, voice unsure and worried about the sight. He tried rubbing it away but failed to remove it. "It doesn't come off." He glanced at the clear, sparkling mage stone Lilia had provided for comparison. Lilia was also making sure Silver, Sebek, and Malleus were paying attention as well. All of them were looking between the three stained ones and the clear ones, noticing the obvious differences between them.
"Precisely. That inky black stain is the byproduct of spellcasting known as 'blot'. And considering how much magic you three used tonight, you will not be using any more for the rest of the night." Crowley told them sternly. They nodded shakily as the pens and stones were all put away.
"Is there a way to get rid of it?" Silver asked, worried about this lesson they were receiving.
"Of course. With sufficient rest, blot will vanish from your mage stone." Crowley soothed the worried looks. "This is why a mage stone is so valuable to magic users. Not only does it aid your casting, it also serves as a lightning rod of sorts, to prevent blot from accumulating within the caster." The man explained.
"So, when our mage stones start to get cloudy, that's a sign for us to lay off of magic for a bit?" Deuce asked.
"Exactly. Eat and rest and the blot will naturally fade away." Lilia ensured them.
"People vary greatly in their capacity for magic. However, save for a few key exceptions, there is little variance in most mages' tolerance for blot." Crowley continued.
"What does that mean exactly?" Deuce asked curiously.
"In essence, it means that those who possess a great capacity for magic must be meticulous in their efforts to avoid accumulating blot. Take Mr. Vanrouge or Mr. Draconia as examples." Crowley indicated the two Faye who nodded.
"So, folks who know their way around magic gotta lay off once in a while. Seems simple enough." Ace muttered.
"Correct." Yuukio said with a coo that made the ginger flush. "That's why I said your grandmother was more worried about her stuff than you accumulating blot." Yuukio gave the other a cheeky grin. "It isn't anything that mages at your current level need to worry about. How very fortunate for you!" Ace and Deuce flushed brightly before grumbling.
"I suppose it's only a little bit of an insult?" Ace asked Deuce who just shrugged unsure. This made Yuukio chuckle at them more.
"But what does that have to do with this phantom, or whatever, that we fought?" Deuce asked confused. The mood turned somber at that.
"The accumulation of blot is significantly affected by the sorcerer's mental state. Anger, fear, panic, sorrow... Harboring those sorts of negative energies hastens the accumulation of blot by a significant degree. This, in turn, leads to a dreadful state known as 'overblot'." Yuukio was the one to speak. "If a mage is not returned to their senses when this happens, they will be completely consumed by their blot and become what are known as phantoms."
"That was a person?" Ace cried in shocked alarm.
"Maybe once upon a time. Centuries ago, I'm certain." Yuukio sighed. "But no, Ace. That was not a person. Not anymore. It was a creature with a painful and pitiful existence that we put out of its misery when we did what we had to do. I wasn't joking or being dramatic when I said it was 'kill or be killed'. It was a statement of truth I wish you didn't have to have a part in." Yuukio gave them a sad, gentle, and sympathetic smile.
"Which begs to question, how you two know what a phantom is." Crowley shot at Yuukio and Grim who shared a grimace. Yuukio sighed.
"I fought my first phantom when I was 14. This was before Grim and I met. It was in an old cave when I was helping a flock of fairies with a problem. It was more animalistic... The thing about phantoms is that they weren't always mages. Sometimes dire beasts and more common monsters with magic can overblot, though very rarely. The one I faced for the first time was one of these non-mage ones."
Yuukio shifted uncomfortably at their shocked and horrified looks. "Apparently, it had happened sooner than the Dark Mirror had expected it too. But he also said it was a weak enough one to use as training." He told them.
"That makes it sound like the Dark Mirror is expecting you to fight a lot of these things." Deuce muttered uncomfortably.
"Well, apparently that's my future or something? He never does answer those questions." Yuukio huffed before continuing. "The next one I face was with Grim when I was 16."
"Was it this one that resulted in you winding up in that coma?" Silver asked, voice tight.
Yuukio nodded. "It was another one like the first, though I think it was a stronger one. Me and Grim managed to defeat it, but right as Grim had cast the killing blow, it managed to sink its teeth into me." Yuukio shuffled around and removed his P.E shirt. There on his right shoulder and covering down to his elbow were scars reminiscent of a large bite mark. Lilia touched the jagged marks with a slightly trembling hand.
This was the injury his son had been subjected to?
"In addition to almost bleeding out." Yuukio said, allowing his father to trace the marks. "It was also venomous, and the Dark Mirror had no choice but to place me into a coma so I could heal. It took roughly four to seven months for the venom to completely leave my system, resulting in another three months for the wound to properly close since the venom wasn't stopping my healing any longer."
Lilia removed his hands, allowing Yuukio to put his shirt back on. But not before they all noted the other scars that painted his torso like painful art. "I see." They all fell into a tense silence.
"Well, that is, I believe, it for this impromptu lesson. I will be escorting you four to the infirmary for a proper checkup before you're allowed to return to your dorms. Then I suggest you all sleep. Oh, but before I forget. Yuukio." Crowley dug around his desk and brought up a small, square camera in a tannish camera bag with a brown strap.
"This is for you. It is a ghost camera that should help you with your assignments." Crowley proceeded to explain about bond between the photographer and subject and how the deeper that bond was, the more animated the memory- as he called the photos- would be, replaying the memory focused on the photo. A brief example had been when Yuukio took a picture of his family, Grim, and the two boys. The result had been the family and Grim in the photo had become quite animated, while the Ace and Deuce in the photo had some movement to them. Which in turn showed that his bonds with his family were still strong, as was his bond with his familiar. But also, that he had in fact developed quite a bond with Ace and Deuce which made sense due to the life and death experience they had just been through.
Once everything was said and done, the four of them were given the clear. Ace and Deuce said goodbye to Yuukio who was left with his family while Grim went on ahead with the two Heartslabyul students.
Silence fell around the five of them as they walked the silent halls of that late night. Yuukio realized that he had nowhere to run. And it was finally time to face his family.