vii, viii

Parts vii, vii

wc: 2.8k

A Tradition Lesson: 989

The Legendary Eight: 1.8k

A/N: two parts for this chapter but 4 chapters next !!

Please cut on this line: ✄ ╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍

vii: A Tradition lesson

"Woah, didn't know you had that in you..." The first delinquent said as he held his arm in pain.

The second delinquent was attempting to keep his comrade from falling to the floor. "Look, I'm only gonna let you off the hook this time, but only 'cuz I don't want my pasta gettin' cold."

[N]'s eyes went back to normal right before they started to laugh. "All bark and no bite! That felt more like a beat down than a fight!"

"Pffft!! I knew you were all talk! You better hope I never see you again!" Grim said with a smug expression on his face.

[N] realized the situation at hand and just sighed. "I guess this is my life now."

"Can we just get some lunch already? I missed breakfast, and I'm about to collapse." Ace said as he let his chin rest on [N]'s shoulder.

"I can't believe this." Deuce said with a sigh. "Textbook bullies at an academy that's supposed to be famous for producing exceptional mages..."

[N] shrugged. "Bullies are people who want power they know they cannot have in certain spaces. We're freshmen, of course they're gonna use their status as upperclassmen to hold power against us.

>> ROSE RED TYRANT

"Aw, get over it already. It's time to chow like the wind!" Grim said before stuffing his face with food from his and [N]'s plate.

"This omelet is as fluffy as a cloud, and practically burstin' with cheese!" Grim exclaimed with a smile on his face.

Grim continued to eat as he asked the two Heartslabyul boys a question. "So, I saw your guys' dorm, but what are the other ones like?"

[N] perked up at the mention of the other dorms.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the statues of the Great Seven?" A voice said from behind the freshmen.

Upon realizing it was Cater, he spoke again. "Night Raven College has a dorm themed after each one."

"Oh it's–" [N] was cut off by a surprised Ace.

"Bwah! You're that guy from this morning!" Ace exclaimed a bit.

Grim's face held a strong frown. "You tricked us into paintin' those dumb roses!"

"'Tricked' is such an ugly word. Do you think I wanted to spend MY morning painting roses?" Cater said.

Cater's face went back to normal as he held his cheek slightly. "It's dorm policy! I was just following orders."

"And grinning like a fiend all the while." Deuce said with his hands out.

Cater spoke to the blue haired freshman. "Now, now, Deucey."

"Outside of the dorm, I don't care what rules you follow. Here, I'm just a friendly mentor figure!" Cater said with a closed eye smile.

Deuce recoiled at the nickname. "Please. Do NOT call me Deucey."

The upperclassmen with green hair and glasses laughed. "Ah ha ha. That's how Cater shows he cares."

"And who are you?" Ace asked the boy with glasses.

"Ah, I should introduce myself. The name's Trey." Trey said.

"Trey Clover. I'm a junior at Heartslabyul like Cater here." Trey said as he crossed his arms.

Trey turned his attention to [N]. "And you must be [N], the new prefect from that dump of a–ah, I mean, the 'rustic' dorm."

"You wanna say that again with honest feelings pretty boy?" [N] said as they let their chin rest in their hand.

Trey's face held a small blush as he coughed a bit at the sudden compliment.

The junior regained his composure and cleared his throat. "I heard the whole story from Cater. Thanks for looking out for our boys yesterday."

"I don't recall inviting you to sit with us..." Ace said with a frown.

"Hey now, we're all from the same dorm, right? Let's try to get along. Here, gimme your digits." Cater said as he pulled out his phone.

[N] held a nervous smile. "No thank you, I'm good."

Cater went behind [N] and started to massage their shoulders. "What is up with you, [N]? You look so tense! It's okay, baby! Relax! Relaaaaaaaax!"

"Hey! Stop feeling up on [N]!" Ace said as he shoved Cater away from the prefect.

Cater laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna steal them from you!"

"I bet you're the type that's awkward IRL but can text up a storm, huh? Just give me your info already!" Cater said as he wiggled his way in between Grim and [N].

Trey spoke up as he noticed how uncomfortab;e [N] looked. "Cater. You're freaking out the freshmen. Maybe take it down a notch?"

"Ha! Sorry! I can get a little extra sometimes. What were we talking about... the dorms, yeah?" Cater said, which made the freshmen start to listen intently.

Cater let his hand rest on his hip. "Ah, what fun to mentor new students! Go ahead, A-M-A.

"Before you get into the other dorms, I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about ours." Ace said.

"Like, what's the deal with all this 'Queen of Hearts rule number whatever' junk?" Ace said with his hands on his hips.

Trey started to speak but [N] had let themself get lost in their own thoughts.

The mention of the Queen of Hearts made them have a vision.

₊.°.⋆💭•˚₊‧⋆.

My Queen, you can't be serious–!

If the only way to keep your memory is to take something of yours, then I will gladly take it.

My Queen, please...

Do you love me?

I do! I really d–

Then you'll realize that me taking your HEART is just one way of showing me you truly love me.

₊‧.°.⋆💭•˚₊‧⋆.

[N] was surprised by an image of someone who looked strangely similar to them on some kind of throne room floor clutching at where their heart would be, only there was a pitch black hole in its place.

"Bleh. Just my luck..." Ace frowned.

Grim then spoke. "So what are the other dorms like, then?"

viii: The Legendary Eight

Grim then spoke. "So what are the other dorms like, then?

"As Cater mentioned earlier, the dorms of this school are themed after the Great Eight." Trey said.

"We have our dorm, Heartslabyul, modeled after the strictness of the Queen of Hearts."

[N] nodded along to Trey's words, still thinking about the vision they had a few minutes prior.

"To run the rest of them down for you, we have..." Trey trails off a bit.

"Savanaclaw, based on the persistent spirit of the King of Beats."

"Octavinelle, based on the benevolent heart of the Sea Witch."

Scarabia, based on the mindful personality of the Sorcerer of Sands."

"Pomefiore, based on the tenacity of the Fairest Queen."

"Ignihyde, based on the diligence of the king of the underworld."

"And finally..."

"Diasomnia, based on the noble spirit of the Thorn Fairy."

[N] nervously chuckled at the abundance of information thrown at them. "Hah... that's so much to take in..."

"But wait," [N] spoke again, catching Trey's attention. "You said Great Eight, not Great Seven. What's the eighth dorm like and who is it based on?

Trey sighed in defeat. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that."

"The eighth and final dorm, Tenebrae dorm, was based on the loyalty of the unknown time hopper."

Everyone at the table had perked up at the mention of the time hopper and leaned it to hear more.

Trey spoke again. "But the dorm had disbanded many years before we enrolled, so we've never met anyone that has matched that same loyalty.

"All those names are way too long! How's anyone supposed to remember 'em?" Grim asked in surprise.

Cater laughed out loud. "Ah ha ha! Well, you get the idea. Want to or not, you'll learn them soon enough."

"At orientation, the Dark Mirror picks a dorm for you based on the essence of your being." Trey said with a smile.

"As a result, each dorm ends up with a distinct sort of... flavor, we'll call it."

[N] huffed before eating a piece of their [F/F] pie. "Seems to me you're scared of anything that is remotely different from you. Just say you find some of them weird and go."

"Heh heh..." Trey chuckled nervously a bit before going back to what he was saying.

Cater chimed in. "That is sooo true. I totes see it."

Deuce questioned. "'Flavor,' huh...?"

"For example, look at that guy." Trey points out someone from afar.

It was a tall boy with white hair and wolf ears adorning his head. He had an black and gold armband and a gold magical pen.

[N] nodded with a smile. "Good stuff. This school has hybrids."

Trey readjusted his glasses. "That rough-and-tumble vibe he's got going on has Savanaclaw House written all over it."

"No doubt, That dorm is full of scrappy guys who are into, like, working out and fighting." Cater said.

"How should I describe the vibe...? Macho dudes? Gruff big brothers? Something along those lines. The black and gold armband is another giveaway."

Grim nodded. "Huh. All right, so what about that guy with the grey and purple cord wrapped around his arm."

It was a boy with light gray hair and glasses. He had a mole underneath his mouth and had a gray magical pen.

"He's gotta be from Octavinelle House," Trey said. "And the student sitting at the table in front of him has a red and gold armband – Scarabia colors."

There were two boys. One had on a cardigan and the other had the school blazer over a red hoodie.

"Those dorms are for the smart students. They're always neck-and-neck in the academic rankings." Cater said.

"Ah, but the current housewarden of Scarabia doesn't seem to be all that great of a student..."

Ace speaks up. "And here Cater goes, off on some tangent."

"Ha. You learn fast. Let's get back on topic." Trey's face held a smile.

[N] shook their head.

Trey pointed to another table. "You see the flash one with the purple and red armband? Those are Pomefiore colors."

There were two boys. One had a blonde bob and a brown hat with white feather on it. The other had purple hair with an asymmetrical bowtie.

"Whoa! The girl with the potion books, I really like her!" Grim said.

"What's she doing here in a boys' school?!" Deuce asked.

[N] clasped their hands together on the table before turning their attention to Grim. "That is a man. You are calling a man pretty, Grim."

Ace speaks up. "Yeah! You two are morons. There aren't any girls officially enrolled here."

Grim and Deuce spoke at the same time. "WHAAAAT?!"

The boy with purple hair looked  over to where all the commotion was. "...?"

"Speaking of girls, there's a portrait in the west hall who's a real beauty. Name's Rosaria." Cater had said.

[N] looked at Cater like he had three heads. The boy spoke again. "If you'd like to meet her, i'd be happy to introduce you. Maybe we can set something up?"

"A painting? Hard pass! I don't care how cute she is if she's two dimensional!" Ace said in surprise. "Besides, I have my eyes on someone else anyhow..."

"Hmm? You say something Ace?" Cater asked.

Ace shook his head profusely. "Nope! Nuh uh! Who said anything?"

"Anyway, they take vanity pretty seriously at Pomefiore. It's basically a dorm full of models." Cater said, making a sort of side eye to [N] who had wind blowing through their hair? They're inside!

Cater turns his attention back to the rest of the table. "Their housewarden has 5,000,000 followers on Magicam."

"Hey now, they're not all  just pretty faces." Trey spoke up. "The students at Pomefiore are among the best at potions and casting curses."

"Heh, heh. True dat." Cater said.

"Next we have Ignihyde... their armbands are blue and black, but I don't see any around here." Cater said as he looked around the cafeteria.

"They tend not to be the most outgoing of students. I don't have a single friend from that dorm."

Cater crossed his arms. "They're kind of the polar opposites of us sunny, fun-loving Heartslabyuls."

"So... hikikomoris?" [N] nodded as they thought about.

Cater blinked at the word. "What?'

[N] looked up and saw everyone at the table looking at them. "A hikikomori. Someone who doesn't leave their home for months or years on end."

"T-those guys aren't that extreme, I promise you! They just don't leave their dorm to interact with others all that often!" Cater said as he waved his hands around.

[N] nodded slowly. "Uh-huh..."

"So they're gloomy and miserable?" Grim said.

"Hey, no need to put it like that! They just have a reputation for being quiet and serious is all." Trey said. "That dorm tends to attract magical energy engineers and students who are good at tech."

Deuce speaks. "And that just leaves... Diahonyalara, was it?"

"You were off to a good start, and then you rammed right into the guardrails. It's 'Diasomnia.'" Ace said with a frown.

"I know that! I just misspoke, alright?" Deuce said in defense.

"Diasomnia House is, hm... ah, look over there. Those guys in the special seating area." Cater pointed all the way on the other side of the cafeteria. "You can tell from the neon green and black armbands. They're basically campus celebrities."

Cater kept his gaze on the students from afar as he spoke. "The vibe they give off makes it real hard for regular schmucks like us to even approach them."

"I am not a regular person, so I don't know who you're talking about." [N] whispered to themself as their irises went fully onyx again.

"And their housewarden is that times a thousand." Cater said with a sad smile.

There were three boys. The shortest one had black hair with pink highlights. The second tallest had silver hair and purple eyes. And the tallest one had green hair.

"There's a little kid in that group!" Ace said in surprise.

[N] shook their head. "The shortest people are sometimes the oldest."

"Ah, we do get some child prodigies here." Trey said. "But that guy there is no kid. He's a junior like us. Name's–"

"Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge."

. . .

"BWAH?!"

"H-he just teleported!" Grim said.

[N] looked at Lilia, sensing some kind of connection to him.

"I understand my apparent age interests you? As this bespectacled fellow accurately noted..." Lilia spoke with a smile on his face.

"Despite my fresh-faced, boyish good looks, it would be inaccurate to call me a 'child.'"

Trey's eyebrows furrow. "'Fresh-faced,' he says..."

Lilia spoke despite Trey's words. "You need not gawk at us from afar. You may feel free to speak with us directly."

"We are schoolmates, are we not? All of us at Diasomnia House welcome you without reservation." Lilia's smile held nothing but humbleness.

The boy with silver hair said nothing as he stared at Lilia interacting with the Heartslabyul boys plus Grim and [N].

The boy with green hair also did not say a thing.

"And yet, those guys over there aren't exactly rolling out the red carpet in terms of approachability..." Deuce said.

Lilia chuckled. "Forgive me for appearing above you during your meal. I do hope we can speak again."

"Especially you, Umbra of Tenebrae." Lilia had appeared behind [N] and whispered in their ear before going back to his own table.

[N]'s eyes went back to normal after that.

"Their table has got to be over twenty yards away from ours. And they overheard our conversation?" Ace had said quietly. "That's WAY creepy!"

"Well... Diasomnia house does have a bit of a reputation for having lots of special students." Trey said with a sly smile. "Some of them are extremely talented at magic."

"Their housewarden, Malleus Draconia, is considered to be one of the best five mages in the world."

Cater chimes in. "Malleus is reeeeeal bad news. Though I suppose the same could be said about our own dear housewarden."

"No kidding! He collared me for eating one slice of tart! All his rule obsession is outta control.

[N] shushed Ace. "Shut up! He could be nearb–"

"My 'rule obsession' is 'outta control,' is it?" A new voice could be heard from behind Ace.

Ace speaks again, not realizing who just spoke. "You bet it is. Riddle's just a petty tyrant who leans into the whole 'rules' schtick as a pretext to keep everyone under his puny thumb!"

[N] puts their hand over Ace's mouth. "Shut up. Please shut up."

"Ace! Behind you!" Deuce said, making Ace turn his head.

Ace was confused at first before realizing who had come up behind him. "Huh? Bwah?! Housewarden!"

Riddle Rosehearts was a short boy with red hair and grey eyes. He had a bowtie on that was symmetrical and had a crown pin on it.

*YPID ALERT*

The current increases/decreases goes as follows:

L. VANROUGE: UDF → 4%

T. CLOVER: UDF → 8%

C. DIAMOND: 0.1% → 7%

A. TRAPPOLA: 15% → 25%

D. SPADE: 5% → 7.3%