CHAPTER 4: IF YOUR WHISTLE'S WEAK

That very same morning, the housewarden of Ignihyde also received his new outfit. A cardboard box with Idia Shroud's name appeared in front of his room, and though he wanted to ignore it, Ortho saw the box at once and brought it in front of Idia. Upon Idia declaring that there was no way he was opening that box, Ortho proceeded to do it himself.

"Idia, your Starsending Robes look so cool!" Ortho said excitedly. He gently took the robes by the shoulders, holding them up for the two to see. The patterns on the robe resembled little suns and stars, the golden crown had both stars and moons, and there was even a crescent moon necklace that would dangle over the chest. "I wish I could have Starsending Robes too, but I can't wear clothes," Ortho noted with envy.

Idia scowled and rolled over, pulling the bedsheets over himself. "You can have them. I'm not wearing them."

"Idia, I know you hate social events…" Ortho trailed off. "But… maybe you'll like this one? If you try…"

Ortho was only fooling himself; Idia wasn't doing this no matter what anyone said. The elder Shroud brother didn't even attend the previous two Starsending Ceremonies, or most school events for that matter. He spent nearly all his time inside his room of his own choice. When class time came, he used one of many indestructible technomantic tablets that could hover in the air. These tablets let him connect with the world outside, and he would then email his classwork to his teachers. The only class he couldn't cheat out of was P.E., which was always a waking nightmare for Idia.

Idia didn't even attend the school orientation in person, using a tablet instead. Ortho often wished that his older brother would get out more and have fun with friends… but it would take more than a miracle to do that.

Idia turned around, his gaunt face softening. "Listen, bro… I know you're just looking out for me. But I hate doing things IRL. Crowley knows my deal! Why didn't he get an extrovert to do this?"

"I don't think Headmage Crowley deliberately chose you to make you uncomfortable," Ortho suggested. "Not that I truly understand the 'horoscope' thing he was talking about. But if you really are unwilling… I can take care of the Stargazer duties for you. We're considered to be two halves of one student, so it shouldn't break any rules."

"You don't have to do all that," Idia said, hating himself more than usual. While a small part of him did want to go out… he just wasn't the right character for this event.

"It's fine, I want to do it," Ortho assured him. "I think collecting wishes will be fun! Look, we can start with our own!" He held up two blank Wishing Stars, one for each of them.

"Ortho, c'mon… you gotta know that wishes don't come true, right?" Idia asked. "The last time I wished for something… I…" He seized up, his mind wandering away from that memory. Anything but that.

"This will be different, I promise!" Ortho assured him. "I'll start! Um… I wish that Star Rogue had a sequel!" And his Wishing Star lit up.

"Star Rogue… oh, that's such a great game!" Idia grinned. "We beat it so many times, yet it never feels boring!"

"I know! And the developers were making a sequel, but it got cancelled years ago," Ortho reminded him. "But if we wish for it, maybe it'll happen! …Or not, but either way, what's the harm?" He put the remaining Star in Idia's hand. "Your turn! Go on, wish for something!"

"Like what?" Idia sighed. It was so childish. Ortho was smarter than this, and Idia would know because he created him! No matter what would be written on this Star, it wouldn't change the threads of fate.

I wish this stupid event would just be cancelled, he thought. But he couldn't say it aloud, not in front of Ortho.

"I… I wish… that everyone else would be happy," he said quietly.

The Star lit up, but it was such a weak wish. Ortho knew that wasn't really what Idia wanted, that his true desires were locked up in his heart under top-level security. But he couldn't press it. Idia might break if anyone pressed him too hard.

"Alright, I'll put these Stars on the tree," Ortho said. "I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Got it. Thanks for taking care of this, bro. I'll pay you back," Idia promised. He opened his laptop and scrolled through his connections. This allowed him to use the tablets that he had secured around campus, under the teachers' supervision.

Ortho floated out of the room, carrying the burlap sack that Idia was supposed to collect wishes with.

Idia sighed and stared at the ceiling, hating all the stars for this entire fiasco.


For the remainder of the day, Jill Bones was collecting Wishing Stars for the ever-growing collection inside her sack. Some students were eager for the chance, flagging Jill down or even running up to her so she could collect their Stars. Others were irritated when Jill approached them, but gave her their wishes anyway so she would get out of their hair. And others still just blew Jill off entirely; she would have to try again later.

Grim tried to keep up with Jill throughout the morning, but the direbeast eventually grew exhausted and decided to just let Jill collect the Wishes on her own. Which was good, because Jill didn't want to risk Grim fighting anyone, despite Crowley's permission to do so. After all, last time Grim tried to fight someone, he broke a magestone from a chandelier and got Jill, Deuce, and Ace in big trouble.

During lunchtime, Deuce and Jill were appalled to see a blank Wishing Star sticking on top of a garbage can. The two did some digging, and learned that quite a few students had thrown away their Wishing Stars, and not just in that particular can. So not only did they have to gather all the wishes, but they also had to dig through garbage?! Everyone was right, this job was the worst!

The duo gave the information to one of the custodial ghosts, who assured that none of the staff would ever let a Wishing Star go into the dumpster. Whenever a Wishing Star was spotted in the trash, a custodial ghost would then give it to one of the Stargazers so they could track down the ingrate whom the Star belonged to. The names written on the blank Stars made it easy to track down whoever didn't make a wish yet… but confronting them was the hard part.

One such person was Cecil Seymour, the same Octavinelle first-year who had heckled Jill earlier. She found him lounging outside the main building between her Potionology and Algebra classes. The pale skin, darkish hair, hazel eyes, and freckles could belong to a lot of students. But the white trim to his outfit and the matching magestone pen in his pocket—the markers of Octavinelle—made him unmistakable. Jill wasn't even looking for this jerk, and now she had come face-to-face with him! And since Grim and Ace were taking another route to class, that meant she had no backup.

"Well, the little princess now has a pretty dress," Cecil sneered as soon as he saw her. "No knights to protect you this time?"

Jill took a deep breath, composing herself. "I'm here to collect your wish, since you accidentally dropped your Star in the trash." She held out the blank Star with Cecil's name.

"I don't want any stupid wish!" Cecil said. "Wishes are for babies who don't know how the world works."

"I get what you're saying, but this is school tradition," Jill said with all the patience she could muster. "Every student must take part."

"You think you can boss me around just because you're a girl?" Cecil asked angrily. "You're just like my mom and my sisters, stepping all over me!" He moved forward, and Jill jumped back, taking out her magic pen.

"Fr-Fright Master!" she chanted. Her signature spell enveloped Cecil in a brief cloud of blackish smoke, but it quickly dissipated. Jill's heart pounded frantically, her usual burst of adrenaline lost when she realized that her bully wasn't deterred in the slightest.

"That's your best shot? Cute," Cecil snapped. "Too bad for you… you're not scary!"

He took out his own pen and shot icy pellets at Jill, hitting the girl square in the chest. Jill fell over, dropping her pen and Star. Before she knew it, Cecil was kneeling over her. He grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up; she tried to push him away, but she lacked the strength.

"You invade this school and start barking orders…" Cecil prepared to throw a punch. "Can't stand people like you, you stupid little—"

"…Excuse me."

Cecil turned around to see a boy with bluish-white hair and glasses, wearing the same Octavinelle school uniform. He had a bitter scowl, and upon seeing him, Cecil dropped Jill like a sack of potatoes. "H-Housewarden Ashengrotto! I…!" he gasped.

Jill couldn't say a word. She was crumpled on the ground, shaking all over and trying not to cry. Azul Ashengrotto quickly crossed the distance, kneeling down in front of her.

"Are you alright?" Azul whispered.

"N-No…" Jill whimpered.

"C'mon, I didn't hit you that hard—" Cecil protested.

"Enough," Azul growled. He helped Jill to her feet, then glared at his fellow Octavinelle. "You're picking a fight with a Stargazer? For shame," Azul said. "The Starsending Ceremony is an annual tradition. Refusing to take part would bring shame on Night Raven College… including our dorm."

"I-I'm sorry, housewarden! I didn't mean—" Cecil pleaded.

"You clearly don't know how to treat a lady. Perhaps I should have you speak to the Leeches." Ashengrotto gave a sadistic smile. "They'll be happy to teach you some manners."

"Leeches"? Was he threatening to put Cecil in leech-infested waters? Whatever the threat was, it drained all the bravado out of the bullying student.

"No! Please, not the Leech twins!" Cecil begged. "Please, sir! I'll do anything!"

"Then give your wish to the nice Stargazer, and apologize for the trouble you gave her," Azul demanded. "Do this, and I might forgive you for this embarrassing display."

Cecil grabbed his Wishing Star, quickly said, "I wish for good grades!", and then shoved his gleaming Star back into Jill's hands.

"And?" Azul prompted.

"I… I'm sorry, princ—um, Bones," Cecil stammered. "I won't bother you again…"

As long as I'm being watched, was the untold threat. Cecil quickly nodded to his housewarden, then ran off. Azul shook his head, then turned to Jill.

"Sorry again for this terrible encounter. I've been offering him counseling, and yet he keeps refusing." Azul sighed. "I hope this doesn't give you a bad impression of our dorm," he said lightly.

"N-No, of course not…" Jill's hands and voice were still shaking. "Thank you for helping me."

"Well, I'm afraid I must make haste to my next class, so we can discuss these issues next time." Azul nodded. "I've already given my wish to Trey Clover, so there's no need to worry about me. I bid you a good day, Jill." And then he took off, leaving Jill standing there in awe.

The poor girl was this close to having her lights knocked out… and Azul stopped that bully in his tracks without a single punch or magic spell. Why couldn't Jill have that kind of power or authority? She was a housewarden, too! Her dorm represented Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King, the scariest monster of all time! Why… why was Jill such a weakling…?

Trying not to cry, she scooped up her magic pen and shoved it back into her pocket. She dropped Cecil's wish into her sack and stormed away, ignoring all the sympathetic looks from faraway bystanders.

You have to do better, Jill, the goth scolded herself.

Author's Note: I know it may be somewhat cliché, but a lot of character vignettes do have the main students deal with bullying. I think being the Smurfette of the school and breaking some long-standing traditions would get a lot of feathers ruffled, and I like the idea of Jill proving herself as a Night Raven as the year goes on.