"He-! Hey, Hoshi! Wake up!"
Hoshi wearily opened her eyes and found herself staring at Grim with a couple of ghosts! Feeling as though she was drained, she got up dizzily before realizing she was drenched in sweat! Surprised, she looked around in confusion, "Um... this... What should I do now? Hm..."
She was drenched in sweat and was lucky she had decided to take off her robe before going to bed, but...
She looked down in her drenched outfit before shaking her head in confusion.
"I guess I should first find another shirt to change into or something..." She muttered nervously before turning to Grim, "Grim? You were calling earlier... Did I wake up too late or something?"
"Obviously!" Grim scowled, "Do you realize how terrible it was to be waken up by ghost first?!"
"Ahaha..." She gave a dry smile, "Sorry about that, Grim. But..."
Suddenly, a ghost entered her room bringing in an extra set of shirt much to her surprise.
"Oh! You're finally awake! I thought you were gonna fall into a very deep and dark sleep. Hehehe..." The ghost joked and handed her the clean shirt, "Here, I found this old school shirt and gave it a quick wash. We'll go easy on you just for today. I never seen someone drenched in sweat during their sleep this bad in a long time."
Mentally noting to purchase her own pajamas first on the list with a couple other essentials, she accepted the shirt with a surprised look before smiling kindly to him, "Thank you very much, sir!"
"Huh, why can't they give me some freebies too?!" Grim whined as she smoothed out her ceremonial uniform robe.
Hoshi patted his head soothingly, "Maybe next time. We got work today, remember?"
"Ugh, do we have to?!" Grim whined.
"We'll be forced to leave if we don't do something for out stay." Hoshi reminded him.
"I got it! I got it!" Grim scowled.
Hoshi thanked the ghost again for their generosity and quickly changed before she heard knocking on the door, "Have you finished changing?"
"Ah, headmaster! Y-Yes!"
She opened the door and the headmaster smiled, "Good morning, Hoshi. Did you sleep well?"
"Not at all! When I sprawled out on the bed, the mattress fell right through the frame!" Grim declared upset, "Exactly how ramshackle IS this dorm? And worse yet, we got woken up by ghosts!"
"I think I slept decently enough. Thank you for providing us a place to stay, headmaster." Hoshi responded politely as she tried to soothe out Grim's temper.
Surprised yet also delighted by her response, he replied happily, "I am delighted to hear that you've adjusted so well, despite being so lost just yesterday! Well, it's understandable you'd be anxious after being pulled into such an unfamiliar place. But the world can be cruel sometimes. So suck it up and move on!"
He cleared his throat and had them leave the room, "Now, speaking of moving on, let us discuss your assignment for today."
Sitting across from her with the properly cleaned sofas and table, Crowley began with a leg over the other rather fashionably with an air of calm authority, "Your job today is to clean the campus. That said, the campus is vast, and without magic, it'd be quite the herculean task to clean it all. Therefore, today I'll have you focus on the area spanning from the front gates to the library. Now, Hoshi..."
He turned with a glance at Grim as he stated firmly, "I do expect that you'll keep a close eye on Grim, lest he cause another incident like yesterday."
"I'll do my best..." She responded firmly. She already had this in mind the night she resolved to help the cat. It is important to be held responsible when raising a pet, afterall.
Crowley nodded approvingly, "Do not fail me. You may take your lunch in the cafeteria. I eagerly await the fruits of your labor."
With that, Crowley got up and left the room leaving a dust story behind the closed door.
"Hrmph. I ain't cleanin' nothin'!" Grim scowled as he declared this, "I'm here to study magic so I can be blastin' off spells left and right! Like BAM! POW! FWOOM!"
"After we clean, we can study in the library." Hoshi offered with a dry smile as she pondered if she would recognize the literature, "Let's… just head to the front gate for now."
"Hrmph."
.....
The two made their way to the Main Street after asking around. It was a clean paved road with seven statues lined up along the road. Four stood on one side and three on the other. The trees in the surroundings were calm as she examined the place carefully. As she did so, she noticed how there was not a lot of students around. If she remembered correctly, the students do not begin class till tomorrow. However, she felt that they were not alone and became more confused than she was worried. Thinking that, she was also puzzled by her own emotions. Shouldn't she be more worried if someone was trying to ambush her?
"Wow, so this is Main Street, huh? This is incredible!" Grim exclaimed in awe before pointing to the seven statues specifically the plump looking woman with a small crown on her head, "I didn't get to see it much yesterday. What's the deal with these seven statues? All their faces look pretty scary. Like, this lady here looks like she's got some reeeal anger management issues."
"You don't know the Queen of Hearts?"
She turned around in confusion and was met with a boy around her height with a head full of orange hair and a pair of red eyes looking at her playfully followed by a friendly smile. Not only that, he also had a red heart shape mark over his left eye. Grim looked to him in confusion, "Queen of Hearts? Is she some kinda big deal?"
"She was a queen who lived in a mazelike garden of roses long, long ago." The student responded, "She was a strict woman who prized order above all. She wouldn't tolerate a rose being off-color, or her playing-card soldiers being out of step. She basically ruled over a kingdom of madness, but not one of her subjects dared to defy her. You wanna know why? Because the punishment for breaking a rule was immediate decapitation!"
"Wah! That is seriously messed up!" Grim shuddered in horror upon hearing this.
"Pretty cool, right? I'm a big fan." The student replied with a wide smile much to her surprise, "I mean, who would bother to obey a queen that was kind all the time?"
"Yeah, true. A leader needs to be strong." Grim responded hesitantly before looking to the guy, "But puttin' that aside... Who're you, now?"
"Name's Ace. I'm a first year student here, as of... today! Pleased to meetcha!" Ace replied with a wide smile.
Hoshi opened her mouth, "I-"
"I'm Grim! I'm a prodigy whos plannin' to be, like, the greatest mage who ever lived." Grim intervened excitedly with pride, "That there's my far less interesting hench-human."
Shaking her head in dismay, she greeted Ace kindly, "I'm not anyone's hench-anything. I'm Hoshi."
"Hoshi? Huh. Name's got an odd ring to it." Ace stared at her curiously.
"So tell me, Ace." Grim ignored her as he curiously eyed a lion statue on top of a rock, "Is that lion with a scare in the eye a famous ruler too?"
"Of course!" Ace smiled as he started what seems to be a tour, "That's the King of Beasts who ruled the savanna. But he wasn't born into the throne - he had to earn it through hard work and elaborate schemes. When he became king, he decreed that the hyenas would be pariahs no more, and should live among his subjects as equals."
"Sounds like a great guy! Not everyone's able to look past social status like that." Grim exclaimed in awe before poting to another statue, "Who's the lady with the octopus legs?
"The Sea Witch who lived in an underwater grotto." Ace continued, "She basically devoted her life to helping troubled merfolk. If they were willing to pay the price, she'd help them change their appearance, find love, whatever! They say she was so good, there was no wish she couldn't grant. They also say the price was a tad steep, though. But she was granting wishes! Of course it was!"
"Myaha! So you're sayin' that once I'm a great mage, gettin' rich off folks will be a total cinch?!" Grim cheered before seeing another statue of a tall man with a snake staff and hurrying over on all fours, "Oh, oh! Do the dude with the big hat next!"
"That's the Sorcerer of the Sands. He was an advisor to a total dolt of a sultan. He was a smart guy. Really capable sort. He exposed this swindler once - some guy pretending to be a prince in order to trick the princess! After that, he got this magic lamp and became the greatest sorcerer in the world. Then, they say..." Ace whispered bringing in the tension, "... he used that power to become sultan himself!"
"Wow! Guess it's true that a mage needs to be an excellent judge of character, huh?" Grim noted in awe, "And what about this beauty over here?"
"She's a queen who was said to be the fairest in all the land. In fact, she used her magic mirror to check how she ranked on a daily basis! When it looked like her position was threatened, they say she'd do whatever it took to keep it. Can you even imagine the level of dedication it would require to keep a record like that? Also, they say she was a master of making poisons!"
Looking at the beautiful queen, Hoshi paused hesitantly. Something about this figure reminded her of the magic mirror from the prior night. However, she doesn't know why nor understand much about the history of the queen. Yet, each statue felt nostalgic to her.
"Geez. She's pretty, but that sounds kinda scary." Grim muttered nervously.
"You think so? I gotta respect the hustle!" Ace laughed.
"F-for sure... Sounds like she fought hard for what she believed in, and never gave up!" Grim smiled before hurrying to the next statue with fire depictions, "And the one there, with the flaming head? Now THAT guy looks scary!"
"That's the King of the underworld!" Ace explained, "Single-handedly ruling a kingdom packed with rambunctious spirits - that takes competence! He may look scary, but he was a straight shooter who worked tirelessly at a tough job he never even asked for. I mean, this is the guy who was ordering Cerberus, the Hydra, and the Titans into battle for him."
"Hmm. That IS something. T'think he could have that much power and not let it go to his head!" Grim muttered in disbelief before turning to the last one, "And that last one there, with the horns?"
Horns? She looked up in Grim's direction and was met with an overly familiar. Upon seeing a very tall figure of a beautiful woman with dragon horns on her head, a crow on her shoulder and a staff in hand. Something about this figure brought a sense of familiarity and comfort to her as she stared at it.
"That's the Thorn Fairy who lived on a mythical mountain." Ace explained, "She was noble and elegant, and a master of magic and curses - even by the standards of these seven! She commanded storms, covered the kingdom with thorns... She could use magic on a massive scale! She could even turn herself into a giant dragon."
"Ooh. a dragon! What all monsters yearn to be!" Grim admired in awe upon hearing this.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Ace sneered at Grim, "Not like some piddling weasel."