CHAPTER 01 : THE CRIMSON TYRANT PART 03

NORMAL POV

COURTYARD

"No way, no way! No way I'm going back to those boring classes!"

MEGACHOP

"FGNAAAH OUCH!"

"Knock it off, you little furball! You're not gonna be a great wizard if you keep acting like this!"

"Dammit! You're extra strict today!"

It took a while before the boys successfully captured Grim. As they were walking back towards the hallways, the little feline monster kept whining and struggled to break free from Ace's hold. It all ended once Himari used her signature move to silence the little creature.

"Now Grim," Tsukiko said in a motherly stern tone, "Neesan is right. You're the one who wanted to get into this school as an official student for such a long time. Now you finally have this opportunity, you shouldn't waste it by being impatient."

"But… but… those classes were sooooo boring!" Grim whined looking at Tsukiko with teary kitty cat eyes, "I wanted to learn how to use magic with a bang!"

"Hey, I agree the first classes were really tough…. And maybe a little boring" Himari said, muttering the last part, "but that doesn't mean you can go cause trouble for the rest of us."

"Hmph so says the one who fell asleep during history class…" Grim grumbled.

MEGACHOP

"OW!"

"Okay, okay…. I think we are all just grumpy because we haven't eaten yet." Hoshiko chirped in, trying to pacify the situation.

"Yeah, Hoshiko's right." Ace said handing Grim over to Tsukiko. "Let's head over to the cafeteria, besides… you three owe me a chocolate croissant!" He added giving a slight smirk.

"And an Iced Latte" Deuce added.

"Grrr… yeah! yeah!" Himari grumbled.

:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3

CAFETERIA

The 5 teens and Grim were already in the cafeteria, lining up to get their order.

"It's finally lunch time!" Grim cried out excitedly. He then eyed the food on display his mouth starting to drool as he said, "Wow! Everything looks so good here!"

The three sisters looked at the food and had to agree with the little monster. There were roast beef, fried chicken, noodles, three different types of soups, steamed vegetables, various sandwiches, pastries, and many more… it was like a grand buffet at a 5-star restaurant.

"It's pretty amazing, that they have a buffet here…" Himari muttered in awe. "Then again this is a fancy private school."

"Fluffy omurice! Grilled chicken and bacon egg tarts!" Grim said excitedly looking at one dish to another trying to decide what to order.

"Ugh… You're too loud!" Ace said, "You're only this excited during lunch….."

"Hey, hey, I want some grilled chicken! It's the last one!" Grim exclaimed already making a dash towards the dishes, "And omurice, too! Bread with jelly, too! Just take a bunch of everything! AH-"

In his haste Grim bumped into one of the students who was carrying a tray of food.

"Huh!? Watch it!" The student said in a gruff voice, steadying himself. His plate almost slid off the tray. He looked at his plate, frowned and glared at Grim saying. "Aaahh… because of you the egg in my pasta broke!"

Another student approached the two saying, "Woah, woah, woah~ Breaking the gooey egg is the best part of eating carbonara."

The student with the carbonara ignored his companion and yelled out angrily, "HOW DO YOU PLAN TO PAY FOR THIS?"

Grim gave a small eep before backing up a bit. The student smirked as he eyed the plate of grilled chicked that Grim was holding, "Tell ya what… I'll look the other way but in exchange why don't you hand over that grilled chicken as consolation."

"FFGNAA!? Heck no! This is my chicken!" Grim said defiantly, he placed a protective hug over his plate while still glaring at the student.

"Ah?" The other student said with a wicked smirk, "Not showing your senior respects as a freshmen? Come around back!"

"This looks bad…." Tsukiko whispered looking worried over Grim.

Himari frowned and was ready to step forward when both Ace and Deuce approached the two students.

"Wait a moment, " Deuce said putting himself in between Grim and the 2 bullies, "Settling personal squabbles with magic is prohibited…"

"Squabbles? This is just seniors teaching their juniors proper behavior!" The student snarkily replied cracking his knuckles. His companion saying, "Grit your teeth!"

"Hmph… more like looking for an opportunity to bully new students…" Himari grumbled. She wanted to step in but noticed Ace looking at her and smirked giving an "We got this." Look. The elder Akari sister just nodded before getting her lunch order and walking away saying, "Come on, girls. Let's grab a table over there."

"E-EH?!" Tsukiko said, surprised and looking back and forth nervously at her sister and the boys. "B-but Neesan… what about…?"

"Don't worry…." Hima smiled as she sat down at a nearby table. Hoshiko and Tsukiko also sitting down. Himari began to take a bite out of her pasta as she said, "Those three can handle it."

:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3

A FEW MINUTES LATER

"Grrr… You're better than expected…" The student puffed out, him and his companion looking rather beaten up.

It seems both of them underestimated the three freshman who proved themselves to be formidable trio.

"Ah! My pasta's getting soggy…." The other student exclaimed looking at his plate, "I'll let you off easy!" With that the two bullies ran off.

"Hooray! You guys did great!" Hoshiko cheered as Ace, Deuce and Grim walked towards the sisters table and sat down looking a little exhausted.

"Hmph! Those guys were all talk!" Grim smirked feeling proud of himself.

"Well… it was their fault to begin with…" Himari said, still eating but handing Ace his chocolate croissant, the latter gladly accepting it. "I mean they just wanted to pick on the newbies."

"Whatever, let's just eat." Ace sighed out as he unwrapped his pastry. "Even though I was full from breakfast, all the activities we did earlier got me so hungry, I'm gonna pass out…."

Deuce nodded as he accepted the iced latte that Tsukiko gave him. "We really have no luck. There are so many people trying to get into this prestigious school but they let in guys like that…."

"Never mind that! Let's get back to the task at hand! Let's eat!" Grim cried out excitedly all the while smacking and licking his lips before hungrily devouring the prized dish. "Om nom nom nom! Delicious! The egg around the omurice is light, fluffy and the center is filled with gooey cheese!"

"Geez…. You eat like a baby!" Himari said grabbing a tissue and wiping the monsters mouth that was smeared with cheese and rice bits.

"I am rather curious about something…" Hoshiko chirped looking at the two boys, "We got to see what your dorm's look like… I kinda want to know what the other dorms are like?"

"You know about the Great Seven statues displayed on Main Street, right? There's seven of them so there are seven dorms."

The 5 students and Grim look up to see Cater smiling at them. Beside him was another student, with spiky short green hair, golden eyes wearing black framed glasses and a black clover motif located under his left eye.

"Gah! You're the guy from this morning!" Ace yelped out.

"Ah, it's Cay-Kun! Hallooo~" Hoshiko chirped brightly giving a friendly wave at the red haired 3rd year, who smiled and waved back.

Grim huffed angrily, he stood up pointing at Cater and said, "You tricked us into painting those roses for you!"

"Saying I tricked you is so mean. I wasn't doing it because I wanted to." Cater shrugged. "It's just how things are done in our dorm."

"You were grinning all the while." Deuce muttered.

"Now now little Deuce," Cater said cheerfully, "Those rules are only for inside the dorm, so now I'm just your kind upperclassman."

"H-hey… D-drop the 'Little'?" Deuce sputtered out looking even more embarrassed. His took a secret look on Tsukiko and was relief to see her just smiling kindly as usual.

"Ha ha ha ha… that's how Cater shows affection." The student with glasses said in a friendly tone.

"So who's the guy next to you, Cater?" Himari asked nodding towards the said student.

"Oh my bad. I'm Trey… Trey Clover." The green haired boy said still smiling and giving a slight wave. "I'm a third year in Heartslabyul like Cater." He then looked at the Akari sisters and Grim as he continued, "And you four are the freshmen put in charge of that ramsh-"He paused before clearing his throat and said, "I mean… unused dorm, right?"

"Hi… I'm Himari Akari, " Himari said, "and these are my sisters Tsukiko and Hoshiko." Both of her younger sisters smiled and nodded. "And this little furball is Grim."

"It's the GREAT GRIM to you!" Grim huffed out. Himari just rolled her eyes.

"I heard from Cater." Trey said smiling apologetically, "Sorry about all the trouble these guys from our dorm have caused you."

"I'm sitting right here…" Ace sighed out.

"Oh… it's all right…" Tsukiko said politely.

"We should put that aside and make up." Cater said cheerfully as he took out his Magicam. "We're in the same dorm after all. Let's all exchange numbers!"

"Oh…. We don't have a phone." Hoshiko said looking slightly bummed out.

Cater gasped and got closer at Hoshiko in shock, "You don't have a phone!? That's crazy! You three are like an endangered species."

Himari's eye gave a slight twitch and a frown as she sees the orange haired guy getting a little too close to her younger sister.

Cater smile became more flirtatious as he said to Hoshiko, "I know a place to get the newest models for cheap."

"Really?!" Hoshiko squealed in excitement her eyes sparkling.

Cater nodded and got a little closer to the younger sister, placing his arms around her saying, "Yup… how about we go on a date to choose one?"

THUNK

All jumped at the sound and saw that Himari literally stabbed her plate of pasta. She then stood up walked between Cater and Hoshiko before giving the 3rd year boy a calm but very deadly glare.

"How about this instead, why don't you be so kind as to just tell us where to get those phones and we'll be the ones who will get it…. Right…. Kind hearted Cater – Sempai!" Himari said in an erriely sweet tone all the while her eyes look murderous.

Cater gulped as he started to sweat and laughed nervously saying ,"Y-Yeah… sure no problem." All the while he was thinking, "Yikes…. She's scaaary!"

Hoshiko just blinked before smiling apologetically at Cater mouthing off, "Sorry about her."

Trey smiling nervously pulled Cater away from the two girls. "Cater, look at the freshman, hold back a bit."

"Eh hehehe, Sorry, sorry!" Cater laughed nervously, (but looking at Trey with grateful eyes). He cleared his throat and looked at all of them again as he said, "We were talking about the dorms, right?" Everyone nodded and he continued, "Sounds good, a fresh convo! I'll tell you anything you wanna know."

Ace nodded and asked, "First I want you to tell us about our own dorms? The heck is up with those crazy 'LAWS OF THE QUEEN OF HEARTS'?"

"You know all about the legend of the Queen of Hearts, right?" Trey asked.

Again all the freshmen nodded as Trey continued, "She created a wonderland of madness built on strict adherence to her rules."

"Out of respect for the Queen of Hearts, those of us in Heartslabyul…traditionally wear red and black arm bands, just like her dress…" Cater explained showing the striped band on his arm. "As well as uphold the laws that she made."

"Sounds like a stiff place!" Grim said in a bored tone.

"How strict we follow the rules depends on the dorm leader. Last year's was pretty chill about it." Cater said.

"Riddle is the most serious of all dorm leaders." Trey added, "So he follows the rules to the max."

"Ugh…. What a pain…" groaned Ace.

"Hey, it could be worse," Himari shrugged. She looked at both 3rd years and asked, "So what are the other dorms like?"

"Like Cater just said, there are seven dorms each emulating one of the Great Seven." Trey explained, "Our dorm Heartslabyul is founded on the strict spirit of the Queen of Hearts. Next is Savanaclaw, the dorm founded on the fortitude of the King of Beasts. Octavinelle, the dorm founded on the benevolence of the Sea Witch. Scarabia, the dorm founded on the deliberation of the Sorcerer of the Sand. Pomefiore, the dorm founded on the strenuous efforts of the Beautiful Queen. Ignihyde, the dorm founded of the diligence of the King of the Underworld. And…. Diasomnia, the dorm founded on the elegance of the Witch of Thorns."

"Oh my… there's so many." Said Tsukiko looking really amazed.

"The names of those dorms sound really cool!" Hoshiko chirped in delight.

"Their names are too long!" Grim complained, "No way I'm gonna remember all of that!"

"Ahahaha," Cater laughed, "Just get the rough idea. You'll remember them eventually."

"Which dorm you enter is based on the judgement of the Dark Mirror, when it looks at your soul during the entrance ceremony…" Trey said.

"Oh, you mean that giant mirror with the creepy looking face?" Himari asked. "I was wondering why he was scanning us back at the ceremony."

"That's correct." Trey continued, his face looking a bit amused at Himari's 'CREEPY LOOKING FACE' comment. "Each dorm has their own quirks about them."

"Quirks?" Tsukiko asked

Cater laughed and said, "You're right about that. I totally see it."

"What quirks?" Deuce asked.

"For example…"Trey said, he looked around before nodding at somewhere, "Look, over there."

The 5 freshmen and Grim looked towards the direction that Trey was pointing at to see sitting in one of the tables was a muscular tanned student. The thing that caught the girl's reaction more was that…

"He's got DOG EARS?!" Himari gasped.

"Kyaaah… soo fluffy!" Hoshiko squeeled her eyes growing wider and sparkling.

Trey nodded and said, "That rugged look definitely means Savanaclaw."

"Totally!" Cater agreed, "That dorm has a lot of people good at sports and martial arts." He smiled and scratched his head as he continued, "They're the buff and gruff big bro types? Savanaclaw wears yellow and black armbands."

"Oooh… so they're like the jocks of this school." Himari said.

"Then what about the guy with the grey and lavender thing on his arm?" Grim asked pointing towards another table. There sitting and eating was a student with wavy silver blue hair and glasses.

"He's from Octavanille." Trey explained, "At the table in front of us, the guys with the dark, red and yellow are from Scarabia."

They turned to see two tanned students eating and conversing with each other. Seeing one of them Hoshiko exclaimed. "Hey I recognized that guy in the white sweater… He's the one who got his butt on fire at the entrance ceremony."

Tsukiko quickly covered her younger sisters mouth and pulled her to sit next to her whispering, "Sshh… Hoshiko, don't be rude!"

The younger sister just blinked before giving a slight shrug. Both sisters then turned back to listen to Trey and Cater as they continued.

"They say both of them are really smart." Cater said looking at Hoshiko cheerfully, "Those two dorms are in a dead heat during written tests. Though, the Scarabia dorm leader isn't that great at studying."

"We're getting completely derailed." Ace complained.

"You sure adapt quickly, "Trey said looking at his kohai, "Back to what we were saying, over there, practically sparkling are the members of Pomfiore. They have a purple and red arm band." The grouped looked over to see a couple of students that seem to emit a regal radiance.

"Whoa! There's a super cute girl over there!" Grim exclaimed.

"What? Another girl? At a boy's school?" Deuce said in a shocked tone.

"Idiot! This is a boy's only school. There's no way that's a girl…. Besides… the only girls here are those two" Ace said pointing at Tsukiko and Hoshiko.

POW

"Ow! Okay, okay I'm sorry… I was just kidding." Ace cried out, as an angry looking Himari smacks him on the back of his head.

"Hmph… well the moron is right about one thing… that definitely is not a girl." Himari said in a more calm tone.

"HUH!?" Both Grim and Deuce said in shock.

"Idiots…" Himari muttered shaking her head.

"If you wanna see more girls, the portrait in the west building, Roselia is a pretty high level." Cater chimed in, "I don't mind introducing you if you're interested. Should I set up a blind date?"

Ace grew slightly red and spluttered out, "I'm good! No matter how cute Roselia is, she's just a painting."

Cater chuckled and said, "Yeah… I understand… after all you two seem fortunate to have these lovely ladies with you." He smiled as he gazed at the 3 Akari sisters.

Both Ace and Deuce grew red and muttered in a low tone, "I-Its not like that…. We're just friends…I mean…"

Himari just rolled her eyes and looked at the Pomefiore table again as she said, "Well it's understandable why they mistook that one for a girl, they really are good looking people…."

"Anything goes if you're good looking," Cater said to Himari, "Pomefiore always scores high for looks and their beauty regimen is second to none. Their dorm leader is a Magicam-grammer with over 5,000,000 followers."

"Ugh… again with beauty regimen… is this really a magic school or a beauty school?!" Himari thought.

"Hey now," Trey said. "Don't focus entirely on their looks. Pomefiore has many members skilled at making potions and curses."

"Ohh… is that so?" Himari said now looking a little more impressed.

"Next would be Ignihyde but…"Cater looked around before shrugging and saying, "I don't see any of them around. They've got blue and black arm bands. Everyone in that dorm has their guard up at all times, not even I have any friends. They're the exact opposite of the extraverts in Heartslabyul."

"They're all dull?" Grim asked.

"Grim, don't be rude." Tsukiko said in a slight stern tone. Grim jumped at the tone of her voice before scratching it's head and mumbling apologies.

"Though they do have a very quiet image…." Trey said, " Many of them are good at building equipment that use magical energy or digital things."

"So… they're like Inventors or Scientists then…" Hoshiko giggled.

"On the…. Diablahblah dorm is left." Deuce said.

Ace smiked as he said, "You can't fool me with that straight face. It's Diasomnia."

The blue haired freshman grew red on the face as he sputtered out, "I bit my tongue, okay!"

"Diasomnia is…"Cater said scanning around before saying, "There…They're all shoved into that booth in the back."

The group turned to look at the far back area of the cafeteria was a group of students sitting together and eating quietly. The Akari sisters, Ace and Deuce could already feel a strong aura surround that table.

"Their symbol is their green and black armband." Cater continued to explain, "They're kind of like celebrities around here. They've all got this aura that makes it hard for us regulars to approach them." He then sighed out as he added. "Their dorm leader has MAX don't come near me vibes…"

Himari whistled in amazement… her mind wondering what kind of person their dorm leader was.

Ace then noticed something and said in a surprised tone, "Huh? There's a kid with them."

"You can skip grades and still enter this school." Trey explained, "But he isn't a kid. He's a third year just like…."

"Lilia…. Lilia Vanrouge."

All of them gasped out in shock as the student from Diasomnia magically appears behind Ace and Trey, hovering upside down. The student, Lilia smiled and turned his body right side up again while landing on floor. He smiled in an even more friendly manner.

"H-He just teleported right over there!" Grim cried out.

"Are you all curious about my age? Kufufufu… I have this baby-faced visage but… Like glasses said, I'm not at an age where one would call me a child." Lilia said cheerfully.

"Baby-faced…" Trey muttered in disbelief.

"There's no need to look on from afar. Just come up and speak with us."Lilia continued, looking more at the freshman students especially the Akari sisters. "Are we all not students of the same academy? We at Diasomnia will always welcome you with open arms."

Meanwhile the students from the Diasomnia table are silently glaring at the group.

"Those guys over there don't look like they'd be very welcoming…." Deuce muttered nervously.

"Kufufufu…. Apologies for dropping in on your meal." Lilia chuckled before looking once again at the Akari sisters. When his eyes landed on Tsukiko, for a sliver of a second his eyes narrowed before giving her a mysterious smiled as he whispered, "Until we meet again."

Tsukiko whole body flushed as her cheeks grew red, as the memories of their previous encounter from the entrance ceremony came back to her.

"Why am I blushing like this?!" Tsukiko thought madly. While Himari did not notice, Hoshiko on the other hand did and she gave a knowing smile at her elder sisters reaction.

With a slight bow Lilia once again disappeared and reappeared back at his table.

"Geh… our table is easily over 20 meters away from them… but you're telling me that he heard us talking? Freaky!" Ace whispered to Trey in shock.

Trey had to shake free from his shocked state before clearing his throat and said, "Well…. Let's just say that Diasomnia has many peculiar members. Many of their members excel in magic in general. Their dorm leader, Malleus Draconia, is counted among the top five wizards in the world."

"Wow….that sounds amazing…" Himari whispered under her breath… now more than ever curious about what that Malleus guy looks like.

Cater nodded as he said, "Honestly, Malleus, is like super super super crazy. Our dorm leader is his own brand of crazy though."

"So true." Ace huffed out looking rather annoyed, "All I did was eat a single piece of tart and he collared me. His narrow-mindedness is super crazy."

"Hmmm? I'm super crazy?"

If Ace was paying more attention he would already have noticed his classmate looking rather scared now, even Himari is mouthing and motioning him to stop talking, but the red-haired continued ranting out, "Yeah… he blew right past 'strict' and is just a tyrant."

"Ace…." Deuce whispered, "Behind you!"

Ace blinked before turning around to see standing a few feet from him was the head of the Heartslabyul Dorm, Riddle Roseheart.

"Ah! Dorm Leader!"

"Ohh boy…" Himari sighed out.

:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3

So another chapter has ended. I really hoped you like it. I'm posting a bit early as I will be very busy by next week… but will do my best to post the next chapter as soon as possible. I am already working on 2 new original screenshots and the fancomic stories as well. I also working on my original comic titles as I also plan to launch new chapters of my comics by August… so busy busy busy…. I am really glad I'm doing this though… given I easily get stressed out.

So till the next chapter. Continue to stay safe!

A special thanks to Guest 1995 for all your lovely comments and reviews 😊

If you want to check out my DA art here is the link:

lady-storykeeper/gallery/77202339/twisted-wonderland-sun-moon-and-star

TWISTED WONDERLAND CHARACTERS AND PLOTS BELONG TO DISNEY, ANIPLEX, and YANA TABOSO
Himari, Tsukiko, and Hoshiko Akari belong to me