She opened her eyes suddenly after that turbulent dream. She tried to look around, but couldn't see anything but darkness, and exhaustion still clouded her mind. Assuming it was still nighttime, she closed her eyes to fall asleep again.

She didn't know how much longer she had slept after waking up for the second time. She yawned, rubbed her eyes, and stretched out her arms. In that, her hands collided with something that felt like a wall. She jumped in surprise and continued moving to realize that she was locked in some kind of box.

"Hello?" She asked, confused.

She was supposed to wake up in her room. Was she dreaming? If that was the case, that dream was too realistic and she did not like it at all. "Hello!?" She repeated nervously before hitting the wall in front of her. "Is anyone there? What's this!? Where am I!? HELLO!?"

She kept banging and screaming for a few more minutes like that, getting more and more scared with each passing second.

Finally, a student of a younger age than the rest was calmly levitating through the corridors on his way to class and stopped suddenly as his motion sensors felt someone moving with fear and agitation.

Curious and puzzled, he located its origin in the Mirror Chamber and approached there. "That's strange... The first period of classes is about to start, who could be there?" He wondered aloud.

He opened the door and was surprised to see one of the coffin-shaped doors resting on the ground in the distance, right in front of the Dark Mirror. Even from that distance, he could hear without the need for his advanced hearing systems distant pounding sounds and cries for help coming from inside.

He didn't hesitate on propelling quickly until he stopped in front of the door. "Hey, hey, hey!" He exclaimed insistently. "Please, calm down! Stop punching the door anymore or you'll hurt yourself."

After hearing a voice from outside, the girl calmed down and was finally able to breathe easily. "Oh, finally...! Someone's out there," she exclaimed between gasps. "Who are you? Who put me in here? What does this all mean!?"

"Calm down, I'm sure we will find an answer to everything," the young android said. "But first, you need to relax, I can detect that your body is producing a lot of adrenaline, and your pulse is exceeding 110 beats per minute. Please try to stop and take a deep breath..."

Feeling safe with someone close to her, she leaned her back against the back wall and tried to catch her breath. He could feel the strong beating of her heart calm down considerably. "I'm done, I'm calm now..." She assured.

The android created rectangular-shaped blue holograms to analyze her vital signs through the gate and make sure she was in good condition. "Scanning complete," he said in an automated voice before rejoicing at the good results. "Perfect! Now we can speak clearly." He made the holograms disappear and frowned at not being able to get a thought out of his head. "Um... If it's not too much trouble, could I ask you a question that may sound strange?"

She blinked a few times, surprised. "Yeah, I guess so," she answered. What was getting really strange was that dream.

"To put it in a simple way, I noticed some data that caught my attention while analyzing your vital signs. Um... are you a girl?"

"What?" She asked, confused. "Uh... Yes, I'm a girl. Why do you ask?"

He gasped loudly. "This is surprising! Well, I should have imagined it when I heard your voice, but I never thought there would come a day a girl would be found inside one of the gates."

"...Gate? What are you talking about? I'm not in a box?"

"Box? No, now you are inside one of the gates where students rest until they arrive at school, but they are supposed to be unconscious until these are open with a special key. How did you wake up?"

"That's what I would like to know..." She answered without trying to find a logic to that. "Wait, what do you mean with school?"

Repeating that word made her remember things she supposed she had dreamed: those voices that came and went from nowhere, those images with card-soldiers and talking animals, and... him.

She winced at the memory of him tearfully embracing her and claiming to have missed her. She began to seriously question if what she was experiencing was a dream or not, but whatever it was, she was clear about one thing: she had to find him. But first, she had to get out of there.

"Hey, I'm trying to get out of here, but I can't open this door. Could you help me?" She asked.

"Of course, I'll let the teachers know," Ortho assured. "Wait just for a moment, I'll be back soon."

"Wait! Tell me at least I'm not limited in oxygen inside here."

"Don't worry about it, the gates don't deprive the students of the necessary oxygen until they are opened."

"Okay, then I'll wait here. Not like I can go anywhere..." She sighed wryly before feeling a shiver. "Ah, ah... ACHOO!"

Ortho stopped at the loud sneeze and cautiously approached again. "Is everything alright? That was a strong sneeze."

"Yes, don't worry. I'm just cold all of a sudden..." She covered her mouth and nose with an arm. "ACHOO!"

The door wobbled, the boy shook his head in confusion before backing away a few meters from the door, just in case. She really had to be cold for her magic to get out of control like that.

"What the...?" The girl muttered before rubbing her nose uncomfortably and pressing both hands in the front wall.

A third sneeze was intense enough that the lid of the door was flung open, making her lose balance from leaning on it and trip on the floor. She sat on her knees and slowly opened her eyes. "It's open now..." She said, dizzy.

"Oh!" The boy exclaimed before seeing a pair of white hands peeking out from behind the lid. "My! Are you alright?" He asked with concern as he levitated over to see her, just as he guessed she was dressed in the school's ceremonial robes.

"There you are!" He exclaimed as he crouched down beside her. "Let me look at you," he asked as he lowered the hood to see her face and opened his eyes in amazement.

The girl had a cute complexion, her eyes were blue and her long hair was a deep black color. It had been a long time since he had seen a girl such as beautiful as her, at least one of flesh and blood outside of video games, anime, and manga his brother usually spent time on.

She returned his surprised look, she had assumed that the person who found her was a robot from the way he spoke, but did not expect him to be a kind, adorable boy about ten or twelve years old with amber eyes. His detailed body was made of white metal and his hair of adorable, blue flames, similar to the small one that originated from his left chest, right where the heart should be. What caught her attention the most was the strange, black mask that covered his mouth.

"Hello," she greeted him with a soft sigh.

"Hello!" He greeted back. Not showing his lips as he talked, the circumferences attached to his mask lit up with every word he said. "I'm so glad you're alright. How did you manage to open the lid that way? It's the first time I see something like that."

"I would also like to know that..." She murmured before noticing her sleeves. "Huh? This is weird..."

"What is weird?" Ortho asked.

She looked at the dark robe she was wearing. "My clothes... They're different!" She said while holding the cloth that fell over her legs. "I don't remember wearing this before."

"The Black Carriage grants the students the ceremonial robes for the entrance ceremony," he explained. "It is also used for other important school events."

Those were more words that sounded familiar to her. "Carriage?" She repeated.

"Looks like you're still disoriented by transportation magic, it sometimes happens. You must have a lot of doubts, but I'm sure we can solve them together. I'll help you the best I can! Can you stand up?" Her thoughts were interrupted when the boy offered her a hand to help her up. "My name is Ortho - Ortho Shroud. I'm in Ignyhide dorm. Nice to meet you! What's your name?"

The girl smiled slightly and accepted his hand, which although it was hard and cold to the touch, she was able to feel the kindness and reliance he transmitted. She said her name in a soft voice and stood up.

Ortho moved away a bit to get a better look at her - she was exactly seven centimeters taller than him. "What an unusual name," he commented. "I think I've never heard it before."

"Really? I also find your name curious, Ortho. It's the first time I hear it, too."

"He, he! I agree with you, my family had that intention," he said happily.

The girl looked behind her to see the door where he had woken up and got startled. "What's that? A coffin!? Why did I wake up in that? Am I dead!?"

Ortho blinked in confusion before bursting out laughing. "Of course not! Don't panic, the gates are shaped that way to metaphorically represent a student's rebirth into his new life as a magician."

"Oh, okay... I think understand," she murmured as she gave another startled glance at the "gate".

"Come on, let's start by looking for the headmaster, he should help us get to the bottom of this situation."

"The headmaster?"

"Yes, Mr. Dire Crowley. He is as clumsy and mysterious as kind, he'll surely solve any doubts you have if you talk to him," he gently pulled her hand to encourage her to walk with him.

The girl was certain that she had heard that name and the same description of the coffin gates.

"But before we go, I'd like to ask you if you rubbed your eyes when you were in there."

"Huh? Yes, I did. Why do you ask?"

"Because your eyes are stained with the eyeliner you have on."

The girl checked her hands and noticed small spots of black makeup on her fingers. "Oh, I didn't know I had this on..." She said with surprise and some embarrassment as she wiped them on her sleeves.

"Do you want me to fix it for you?" The girl nodded before closing her eyes and he gently brushed away the black spots around them. "There... Okay, we can go now."

As they made their way to the door, the girl looked surprised at how he moved by levitating with jets on his feet instead of walking by foot. She also looked around, it was the first time she was in such a huge, ornate place like that one. She glanced at the large mirror they were leaving behind. "What place is this?" She asked.

"The Mirror Chamber, here resides Night Raven College's symbol: the Dark Mirror, which sorts students into their dorms and allows us to travel to other places."

"I see..." She commented before remembering something and pinching herself hard under her armpit. "Ouch!"

"Eh? Why did you pinch yourself?" Ortho asked, puzzled.

"To make sure I'm not dreaming, but even with this..."

"Why would you think you're dreaming?"

"Because... Everything here is very strange. I mean, I just woke up in a coffin that opened when I sneezed, I'm dressed in different clothes and the last thing I remember is my brother hugging me. He looked very worried... But I'm almost sure that was an actual dream."

"It must seem strange to you, but I can assure you that everything happening now is real. For example, you just said you have a brother, right? Maybe I know him if he's in this school, which dorm does he belong to?"

"I'm... I'm not sure..." She wasn't completely lying, she had heard the name of a specific dorm several times, but was still processing whether what she heard was real or not. However, that didn't stop Ortho from wanting to help her.

"Then that is another question the headmaster can solve for us, trust me!" He assured her.

The girl sighed and smiled. Although she had many doubts in her head, there was at least someone who seemed willing to help her. "Okay, then lead the way," she asked softly.

Ortho held her hand again. "It will be better if we go like this, miss, the school is a very big place, and you could get lost if we get separated. Alright then, let's go~!" He exclaimed happily while lifting his free arm.

She laughed with the little boy's adorable enthusiasm. She felt like she was starting an adventure quest with him!

They finally walked out into the hallway, the girl stared in fascination at the architecture and the bright, green flames of the fire that lit up the place.

"This place is Night Raven College," Ortho introduced her. "Lots of young people from all over the world gather here since immemorial times to improve their magical ability. Both living and non-living beings are welcomed here."

As soon as they walked through that place, a couple of Heartslabyul students noticed them and looked at them in surprise.

"Hey, is there anything celebrated today that requires the robes?" One of them asked the other.

"Not that I know, the dorm leader or the vice-dorm leader would have reminded us. Maybe he's someone new, looks like the little guy's showing him around. I can't see the color of his magical pen from here..."

"A new classmate at this point? Then I hope he's sorted into our dorm!"

The girl was not shy, but she shuddered after realizing she could attract attention with those clothes - she had just arrived at that place and the least thing she wanted was to be the center of attention out if nowhere. "What do they mean by a magical pen?" She asked Ortho.

"It is the school's regulation pen students must carry their magical gem with. It not only serves to write and create spells better, but it also has an ID function. Look, you have yours right there."

He pointed at the magical pen kept in the golden case she wore hanging from her waist on a thin chain. The gem was colored in a light-grey tone "I didn't notice it was there until now..." She commented before feeling a small discomfort in her throat, and then coughed.

"Come on, the headmaster's office is on the upper floor. With some luck we'll find him there."

As they walked, they eventually realized that several students were looking at her, some of them barely showed discretion. It didn't take many seconds for the murmurs to be heard everywhere and discover the reason why, her clothes were not the only thing that caught the eye...

"Hey, is that a girl?" A Scarabia student asked his friend.

"Looks a lot like one, there's another classmate with adorable features in Magift club."

"Maybe she's someone's sister or girlfriend and she's visiting," a student from Octavinelle guessed.

"Then why would she wear the ceremonial robes?" Another from Diasomnia asked.

"Dude, she's so pretty! Is she maybe an actress or a model and came here for work?" A Heartslabyul student came to say.

"Wanna ask her?" His friend asked mischievously.

"Of course not...!"

The girl returned her gaze to an Ignyhide student that was looking at her, and he quickly looked away shyly.

It didn't take long for her to realize the reason for the tumult; the absence of girls' insight and the information of the voices she had just remembered made everything clear: she was the only girl present in an all-boys school.

She used her free hand to cover her face with the hood, squeezed nervously Ortho's, and moved closer to him. "Sorry if I bother you with so many questions, but is it so strange to see a girl around here?" She asked to make sure. "They're looking at me like an alien..."

"It is no bother at all, you can consult me whatever you want! The path is a bit long anyway, so it will be good for us to talk in the meantime. Let's go down this way," Ortho said before leading her down some stairs and sighed. "But yes... Since it is an all-boys school, Night Raven College does not usually have a female presence. To be honest, I was also surprised to see you were a girl, but didn't want to say anything because you seemed confused... But looking at it this way, it wouldn't be strange if people want to look at you, you're so beautiful that you look like a fairy tale princess!"

The girl averted her gaze sheepishly. Despite having an appearance she considered quite ordinary, her friends, her family, and her ex had said more than once good things about her physical appearance. Like many others, she was glad to hear that from people close to her, but that comparison took her by surprise. "You think so? Come on, I wouldn't compare myself like that...!" She muttered.

"Hehe! You aren't just pretty, but also modest! A lot of students around here would do well to learn that." Ortho laughed. "But you are safe with me anyway. If any of these guys dares to bother you, I will prepare a special, magical beam for him."

Not fully understanding what he meant, she smiled again. "Then I guess I have nothing to fear," she said before coughing for a second time and changing the subject. "Another thing I wanted to ask you, I noticed that the others had their magical pens in different colors. Does that have something to do with the dorms?"

"It does. The magical gems adopt the color of their respective dorm when students get sorted into them. For example, in Ignyhide's case, it would be an electric blue color. Yours isn't colored yet, so I'm curious which dorm the Dark Mirror would put you in. If you got into Ignyhide, we could spend time together! Do you think you have the necessary qualities to be chosen?"

"I don't know. What should I do?"

"Some of the most common characteristics are being good at combining magic with technology and being interested in advanced machines."

"Oh, I'm not familiar with any of those things..." She said.

"Really? Then that's really a shame..."

"Come on, don't be sad, Ortho. We can still become friends, right?"

Ortho's gaze lit up. "Do you mean that? Of course we can! We can do a lot of things together and you could be friends with my big brother too. Wait, let's go up here now..." He led her up some stairs. "Well, that would be hard, he is a very shy person."

"Then I could also introduce you to mine, I'm sure you'd love to meet him," she said before looking away with concern. "I hope he's okay, I'd like to see him after I talk with the headmaster."

"I can see you care about him, I would do it with mine too, sometimes he gets himself in trouble, and since he is our dorm leader he tends to get busy."

"Oh, that title sounds important," she said while hiding her surprise at hearing that term again.

"It is. I'm very proud of him!" Ortho said jovially. "He is very smart and has a lot of potentials. The only difficulty he has is communicating with other people, so I give him my support so he can give his all."

"I can tell you admire him," she laughed softly.

"Yes, I love him so much! He designed and made different bodies for me to give my fullest potential in school, like a new one with feet to run and walk he gave me recently. You should see it, it's so cool! I always use it for Physical Education class."

"Ok, I'll do it when we get the chance!"

"Great! We also spend a lot of time together when he's not too busy, we like to play video games and do 3D puzzles together. And what about your brother? We might see him around, how does he look like? Is he older or younger?"

"He's practically older than me by a few minutes, but we're the same age, we're twins," she explained. "He's a bit taller than me and we're very alike."

"Twins!" Ortho exclaimed in surprise. "Then it shouldn't be too hard to find him. Speaking of finding, there's our destination," he said while pointing to a lonely double gate.

They finished their approach and Ortho knocked on the door. Getting no response, he knocked once more. "Headmaster? It's me, Ortho Shroud. May I get in?" He called before knocking a third time. "Headmaster?"

"Maybe he's not inside," the girl commented before opening a bit the door and peeking inside with him.

The office was lit by the light coming through the windows and was adorned with purple curtains and several portraits of different figures that seemed important. They looked both ways, but there was no one inside.

"Empty..." Ortho sighed as he closed it again.

"What should we do now? Wait for him?"

"We don't know when he'll be back, and if he's not here he could be anywhere. Maybe some teacher knows where he is, we still have time before the next class, let's go look for one," Ortho proposed.

The girl nodded before coughing once more.

"Are you okay? You've been coughing for a while," Ortho noted with concern. "You're not sick, are you?"

"No, I'm fine," she assured. "I feel a bit tired, but it must be because I woke up a few moments ago, nothing else."

"Alright then..." He answered hesitantly before holding her hand again. "Let's continue, we have to go down a few more floors."

"You were serious when you said this place is big..." She commented.

"It is not strange for an old school whose dorms were founded by the Great Seven."

They walked for a while longer until they saw the second row of stairs they had to go down. That's when they came across a furry, black cat walking slowly towards them.

"Oh, Lucius! Good morning," Ortho greeted him.

The cat ignored the android, stared at the girl, and began rubbing against her legs.

"Oh?" She asked, surprised, before laughing. "You're sure kind!"

The cat mewed languidly and purred with a friendly tone.

"Look, he likes you! He's not usually this friendly with people he's just met," Ortho said cheerfully before crouching down beside him. "Does professor Trein know you're here, Lucius? He could be looking for you before class."

The animal gave him a sulky look before looking back at the girl, who laughed softly again. "Where did this kitty come from?" She asked before feeling a strange sense of familiarity from him and a small itch on her right shoulder.

"His name is Lucius, he's the History of Magic teacher's cat. He usually wanders around the school when he's not with him. Oh right, we were looking for the headmaster, have you seen him anywhere, Lucius?" The cat mewed as if he were giving a negative answer. "I see..." Ortho muttered with a small feeling of defeat.

"Do you really understand what he's saying?" The girl asked, amazed.

"Yes, I have a program that allows me to understand different animal languages," Ortho agreed before looking at Lucius again. "Do you know where professor Trein is then?"

The girl would have kept watching the curious conversation between the cat and the young boy if it was not for some kind of fighting sounds coming from the lower floor, near the stairs they had to go down.

At first, she wouldn't have strayed away from Ortho to satisfy her curiosity, but some of the voices were similar to those she heard in her dreams, so a hunch told her that figuring out the source of the noise would help her find her brother. "I'll be right back," she said before walking briskly to the stairs.

There she barely had time to react when she saw someone running up the steps two at a time at a high speed, straight at her.

"Hey, you! Move away, move away!! Argh!!"

"AAH!!" She didn't have any time to move away and the student crashed into her. Both lost their balance and fell to the ground.

"Ugh..." She complained before looking confused at the young boy.

"Hey! What's your...!?" The angry question stopped suddenly when he noticed her uncovered face and returned the weirded out look. "Huh?"

She didn't know what to say, she just looked at that boy with dark blond hair and big animal ears, and slowly sat up.

Lucius was startled by the scene and ran away, Ortho spotted the girl and gasped before quickly moving over to crouch beside her and watch the other student run away. "Hey, be more careful!" He reproached him furiously.

"Sorry, little Ortho! I'm in a hurry!" He said as he waved goodbye.

Ortho grunted in response before helping the girl to sit on the ground. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yes, thank you..." She said as she put her hood back on and patted her right shoulder.

"Where are you, Ruggie Bucchi!?" A high-pitched voice coming from someone who was finishing up the stairs exclaimed.

The hood made the girl not see clearly the people who had just arrived, but that voice sounded somehow familiar.

On the other hand, Ortho recognized them as the small, cat-like monster his brother found cute with Ramshackle's prefect and the other two were Heartslabyul students. It was clear they were chasing Ruggie, so he pointed the path they saw him go. "He went over there! I think he's heading for the inner courtyard," he exclaimed with an angered tone. "He just pushed this student to the ground!"

The three students gave them a surprised look since it was unusual to see an android and a person dressed in ceremonial robes without being required in the same place, but they did not stop their pursuit.

"Thank you!" The prefect of Ramshackle exclaimed as he ran away.

The girl widened her eyes when she heard that young boy's voice and tried to rush to her feet to call him, but the only thing she managed to do was feel a strong discomfort throughout her body and cough forcefully.

Hearing her, one of the Heartslabyul's students suddenly stopped and walked back to them. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked as he held out his hand for her. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, do you need help?"

The girl looked at him as she held her hood up to make sure it hid her face well. She shook her head, but thought about it for a moment and raised one of her hands to accept his and stand up. She could tell that he was taller than her.

"Do you need me to take you to the infirmary?" The young boy asked.

She didn't need to attract any unnecessary attention anymore, so she fervently shook her head in response instead of speaking and revealing her voice.

"Are you sure? That cough didn't sound good..." He insisted, showing he was actually worried.

Seeing that he didn't seem to want to just leave her there, Ortho put an arm around the girl's back. "Don't worry, sir! I'm already with her so I'll make sure she's okay," he assured.

The boy didn't seem to react to the fact that the student had been referred to as "she", likewise he didn't have much time to process it because he had to go back to the chase.

"Deuce, what are you doing!?" The other boy from Heartslabyul's voices was heard from afar. "We're gonna lose our heads if you don't come!"

The aforementioned boy gave them one last look before running at a great speed whose steps became increasingly furious.

The girl sighed in relief, but she became restless again as she quickly remembered the student that thanked for the directions.

"This is another reason I told you it's better for you to stay close to me," Ortho told her with a frown and tone that showed slight anger. "From now on, don't let go of my hand again unless it's necessary, understood?"

"Ok, I'm sorry... But we have to follow them!" The girl insisted. "One of them was my brother, I'm sure!" She said before coughing again.

Ortho stopped frowning. "If that was the case, he seemed busy, we didn't even have the chance to talk to him, nor did he seem to notice you... It will have to be for later."

The girl silently cursed putting on her hood at the most inopportune moment possible.

"But that student was right, you're coughing even more," Ortho noted. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the infirmary? Does nothing hurt after that fall?"

"Not much, I'm fine," she insisted. "But I don't know why I'm coughing so much..."

"Okay, but if you cough like that just one more time, I'll take you straight to the infirmary, do you hear me?" Ortho decided sternly.

The girl blinked bewildered at how strong her companion's insistence had become. "Ok, understood... If you're going to insist this much, I'll do it..." She said hastily. "But wouldn't that take up a lot of your time to keep helping me like this? I mean, I'm sure have to do a lot more than tagging along with someone you just met."

"Don't say that! I'm not going to leave you alone after finding you so scared," he insisted. "Besides, nothing happens if I don't go to class, my brother has gone without me more than once. I don't think we're going to take too long anyway, but I'll text him just in case, he should understand if it's to help someone."

He surprised her by creating a rectangular hologram and typed something quickly on the digital keyboard. "Sent. Back to the point, Lucius told me that professor Trein is going to teach in room 3-E, we can start there. And who knows, the headmaster likes to crash in the middle of a lesson from time to time to see how students are doing. The percentage probability of that happening today is... 48%."

"At least it's almost a 50%..." The girl sighed.

"It's a low probability, but with some luck, it will work in our favor and we will see him," Ortho said before pointing to the stairs they planned to go down. "Over here."

"Okay," the girl agreed, and she thought about what she had just told him. "By the way, I know it's still early to say this, but thanks a lot for the help, Ortho. Someday I'll make it up to you."

Ortho closed his eyes happily. "You're very kind, but it's my pleasure to help, you don't need to give me anything in return," he said before thinking better of it. "Well, there's one thing you could do: come play with me one day when you're not busy."

"Of course, I'll be happy to do so," she said cheerfully before covering her mouth with her arm to sneeze forcefully.

Ortho could have sworn he saw tiny sparks of light shoot out of it. Whatever it was that he lost his patience and tugged at her hand to go back upstairs with her. "That's it!" He decided sternly. "We're going to the infirmary right now!"

"What!? But I just sneezed, I didn't cough!" She reminded him while trying to stop him.

"I don't care! That sneeze has been as strong as the last ones, I wouldn't be surprised if you end up developing flu. We're leaving now!"

"OK, OK! I'm going, don't pull my arm so harshly!"

As if that last sneeze activated something inside her, the girl began to feel more and more tired as they walked through that corridor, her body felt heavier and her head was spinning... Fortunately for her, the new destination was on that same floor and they would not have to go through more stairs.

Ortho's impatient attitude returned to concern after seeing her in such a state. "Hey, are you ok? Sorry for making you walk so fast, the infirmary is close, let's go step by step."

"Thank you..." She murmured before coughing forcefully, making the surrounding students also realize that something was wrong.

"Is everything alright?" An Octavinelle student asked them. "Should we call a teacher?"

"Everything is under control, don't worry," Ortho insisted without stopping.

"What's wrong? Is he sick?" A Savanaclaw student asked as he watched them go.

The people who heard him moved away from both for fear of getting infected and because of the bewilderment of the situation.

"Hey, isn't that the girl from before?" She was recognized by a Heartslabyul student who had seen her before her without the hood.

"Ignore them, let's continue this way," Ortho encouraged her.

Violent sneezing, cough, tiredness, involuntary lack of control of magic... He did a quick search on the internet about diseases with the symptoms that he had been able to notice in her and the first results he got were flu and cold. It was already rare for a human to contract both diseases at the same time, he would only need to see more symptoms such as fever to have a clear result, but he really hoped that would not happen to her.

"Ortho... I need to stop for a bit," the girl asked before coughing once more and panting.

He stopped and let her lean against a wall so she could relax. "Do you feel better?" He asked when her breathing returned to a normal rate.

"I don't know..." The girl admitted, exhausted, as she put a hand on her right shoulder. "My stomach and right arm hurt..."

Ortho put her hood aside so he could get a better look at her face"You look pale..." He observed worried.

"Oh, but if it isn't the youngest of Shroud brothers," a friendly, familiar voice commented.

"Mr. Lilia Vanrouge!" Ortho alluded upon seeing him.

The girl used some of her regained strength to lift her hood slightly and look at the newcomer: an adorable, young man with big, red eyes and a green vest whose height was barely taller than hers. His pointed ears made her think he was an elf or a fairy.

"How strange to see you here by yourself, Ortho!" Lilia commented as he placed what appeared to be some papers under his shoulder. "I see you've made a new friend." He looked at her. "I'm surprised you're wearing the ceremonial robe, is something celebrated today? First I forgot to hand these documents about the tournament over to the headmaster in the last meeting, and now this." He sighed. "I guess one's memory fails with age..."

"No, your memory is fine, Mr. Lilia Vanrouge, but we don't have time to discuss that," Ortho insisted. "I have to take this girl to the infirmary, something is wrong with her and she has been getting worse!" He took her hand again. "Can you keep walking?"

For a second, Lilia thought he had misheard. "Girl?" He repeated before calculating the seriousness of the situation. In any case, he was able to sense something strange from the hooded person. "Is she sick? What is happening to her?"

"I think it's the flu but... Wait, what are you going to do, Mr. Lilia Vanrouge?" Ortho asked, seeing that he was approaching the girl, who took a nervous step back.

The fae magically banished the documents he was holding and lowered her hood, surprised to actually see a young girl. "Look at this, aren't you a lovely lady!" He said as a way of greeting with a big smile.

"No...!" She exclaimed as she made a move to hide her face again before coughing for the umpteenth time that day.

Lilia patted her shoulder gently to calm her down. "Shh, shh, shh...! It's ok, little one. I promise I won't hurt you," he said serenely before removing his right glove and placing his hand on top of her forehead to check her temperature.

The girl closed her eyes tightly because of nerves and the new contact, but Lilia's widened. "She has a high fever!" He said with concern as he put the glove back on.

"What!? Her temperature was stable just a few minutes ago!" Ortho exclaimed, but then he realized that he did not scan her vital signs since he found her; something had suddenly changed in the meantime.

"I felt hot all of a sudden..." The girl explained between gasps before putting a hand to her stomach since she felt an intense burning sensation there. "I... I don't feel well! I think I'm going to..." She was able to say that before coughing, but this time she ended up dry heaving.

"You need to throw up?! Ortho exclaimed, now frightened.

Without any doubt, Lilia took the girl's hand and pointed at the direction behind him. "You're in luck, there's a toilet over here. Quick, come with me!"

The three of them ran towards the indicated toilet.

A Heartslabyul student just came out of there, and Ortho rushed over to hold the door open. "Huh, what the...?" He tried to ask.

"No questions!" Ortho demanded as he let Lilia and the girl resisting the urge in and closed the door behind him.

Lilia guided her towards one of the sinks. "Here, you can take everything you need out," he said while holding her hair with one hand. "Do not be ashamed, there are only the three of us here."

"I'm taking paper!" Ortho said as he searched the cubicles for a roll with enough toilet paper.

The young girl squeezed her eyes shut and regurgitated a few more times before expelling whatever had formed inside her.

At first, Lilia closed his eyes as well, sensing her discomfort and to give her some privacy, but he eventually opened them and stared in horror at what the girl had thrown. "This is...!!"

She coughed when she felt there was nothing left to get out of her. She still hadn't opened her eyes.

Ortho came back to them with a small bundle of rolled-up paper in his hand. "Here, use this..." He was able to say before giving it to her and looking concerned at the new scenario.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" She said embarrassed as she wiped away the small tears that came out from the effort. "I don't know why this is happening to me, I haven't eaten anything all day... I really...!"

At least her stomach felt much lighter, but when she used the paper to wipe her lips and finally opened her eyes. They stared in dismay at what she had just thrown up...

The white sink was now stained and splattered with what seemed to be a thick, black liquid running down the drain. The girl slowly took away the paper she was cleaning herself with, in addition to the smudges of eye makeup she rubbed off along her tears, some wet smears of what appeared to be ink made it clear that the disgusting substance had come out of her. "AH!" She yelled scared as she dropped the paper.

"Please, calm down, miss!" Ortho asked.

"Don't be scared, we'll find an explanation for all this," Lilia assured her while making reassuring gestures with both hands. "But listen to me: it will be worse if you get nervous, you must stay calm. I am aware that this must sound complicated to you right now, but we're going to be by your side."

"That's correct!" Ortho said as he held her shoulder. "If that substance is what we think it is, it can be controlled if you avoid any negative feelings."

The girl looked at the black substance again and made an effort not to hyperventilate. "But what do you think that thing is? What will happen to me if I'm not calm?" She inquired.

"I've never seen it like this, but this substance known as 'blot' builds up in the body when excessive magic use is combined with intense, negative feelings," Lilia explained. "Did you use a big amount of magic lately, young lady?"

The girl gave him a confused look. "Magic? Of course not, I'm not even able to use it!" She said as she began to feel a strong burning sensation in her right shoulder.

They both exchanged a quick look, and Lilia held her magical pen for a moment and notice some wide, black spots.

"You don't? Then why...? Oh, does something else hurt!?" Ortho asked, seeing her pained expression.

She put a hand to her shoulder, but snatched it away quickly when she felt her clothes unraveling in that specific part as if they were burning with an invisible fire.

"What's that?" Lilia asked before moving closer and seeing a small, red glow emanate from her shoulder. "I'm going to ask for help, you stay here with her, Ortho," he indicated. "Make sure she is safe, I'll try to be quick."

"Understood," Ortho agreed.

In the blink of an eye, Lilia disappeared from there, leaving a cloud of tiny sparkles in his way. He teleported to his class, where professor Trein had just arrived. He explained the best he could what he knew of the situation.

"Assemble the dorm leaders in case it gets worse!" He told him before taking out his smartphone. "I'm calling the headmaster and Professor Crewel."

Lilia nodded and left. He had considered telling Malleus first, but what she needed most was to have her magic stopped as soon as possible. It made his hair stand on end to imagine that innocent girl's neck tightened with Riddle's collar, but couldn't think of anything better to help her in such a drastic situation.

[Published on 25/3/2022]