That same afternoon, after finishing with the main street of the school, Yuu and Grim arrived at the cafeteria with two buckets full of water, cleaning spray, and two rags.

"I'm already tired of cleaning all day... And now I have one hundred windows to clean," Grim complained.

"If you hadn't fought with that Ace we wouldn't be here," the human reminded him.

"Did you really expect me to do nothing after telling me all those things? He even made fun of you too!"

"I know. But look what that got us to do..."

"Hey! At least you have escaped from punishment!" He yelled in frustration before turning his gaze into one that seemed to show regret. "By the way, how are your arms?"

Yuu rolled up both sleeves to reveal his bandaged arms. That morning he had listened to the principal and went to the infirmary just before cleaning the main street with Grim, who had not said anything about it until that moment.

"They don't hurt that much anymore," he told him. "I've been told that the burns aren't serious, so in two or three days I'll be better.

"I... I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear," Grim lamented.

"I know, but I hope you see why it's wrong to attack people impulsively."

"Still," Grim interrupted. "Why did you offer to accompany me in the punishment even if the headmaster said that you don't have to? Anyone in your place would be furious and leave me alone with that idiot..."

"Because I'm still responsible for you and I have to watch you. Besides, despite the chaos you've caused, I still don't think you're a bad guy. That's why I'm not mad at you, I really mean it."

"Oh..." Grim commented, not sure what to reply to his kind comment. "Hey, speaking of idiots, that Ace is taking a long time to come here. Who does he think he is making me wait!? I'm tired of waiting!"

Yuu had a bad feeling, but he stared with Grim at the entrance of the cafeteria with expectation.

Fifteen minutes passed, and they kept waiting. Twenty minutes passed, and they were fed up.

"I don't care what might have happened, there's no way he's this late! Unless... He's trying to escape?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it were that," Yuu replied.

"I'm not gonna let him leave the punishment to me. Come on, henchman! Let's find Ace and make him clean the windows all by himself!" He said before starting off.

"Okay, let's go find him," Yuu agreed. "And I already said I'm not your henchman!"

They decided to enter one of the closest classes and Grim strode inside. "Hey! Where are you, Ace!? We ain't gonna let you escape! Huh? Nobody's here!?" He said upon seeing the empty class.

"No, I am here," a high-pitched voice near them sounded.

Yuu looked for the direction of the voice, but Grim reacted faster and screamed in horror: "The portrait is speaking!!"

Yuu noticed the portrait of a man in ancient clothes and a black beard whose eyes were blinking and his mouth moved again.

"What's the matter?" The man in the painting asked, surprised by the stupefied looks of both newcomers. "It is not uncommon for paintings to speak in this school. The lady on the wall over there, the gentleman on this wall, we can all speak because we have mouths. It's normal, you know?"

"Normally paintings don't speak," Yuu commented, trying to make a point. "Are you by any chance friends of the ghosts we met yesterday?"

"Rather than floating non-stop all day, I have stood still for more than fifty years on this wall. And what is 'normal' for you is different from what is 'normal' for me because of our different circumstances, don't you think?" Yuu nodded. "Leaving that aside, are you looking for someone?"

"A guy named Ace," Grim replied. "He's got a heart-shaped mark on his face and scaled hair."

"Ah, I know who he is," the painting replied. "He is one of the new students who started today, he went back to his dorm not long ago."

"What?" Yuu asked indignantly.

"Whaaaaaaaaat!!??" Grim yelled angrily. "So he's really tryin' to get away! Where did he go?"

"To the building west of the school entrance," the portrait replied.

"Come on, let's go get him!" Grim said before starting to run.

"I think I've seen that building before. Thank you very much for the help, sir!" Yuu exclaimed before following his partner.

The indicated place was a circular building near Ramschackle, in the distance, they could see Ace enter it.

They hurried and managed to catch up with him. In the place, there were about seven mirrors that gave the feeling of being doors with what seemed to be the shield of their respective bedroom on top of each one.

"You!!!!" Grim yelled furiously.

"Agh! They got me!" Ace exclaimed.

"Stay there, you jerk! I'm not gonna let you be the only one to escape!" Grim exclaimed again. "I also wanna skip the punishment!"

However, Ace smiled. "I'm not waiting here!" He exclaimed. I'm outta here!"

He ran to the mirror with heart details, from which coincidentally emerged another boy with blue hair and a mark shaped like a black spade symbol in his right eye. He was surprised to see the unexpected scene and stood still in front of the mirror.

"Outta my way! Get out of my way!" Ace exclaimed.

The boy looked confused. "Don't let him get away, please!" Yuu exclaimed as he ran towards them.

"What!? Magic to capture someone!?" The boy asked aloud before thinking of a few possible ways. "Maybe I should freeze his legs. No, what if I just paralyze them?"

"I don't care! Just hit him anyway! Hurry!" Grim pressed him.

"Any way!? Okay," he said, pulling his pen out of his pocket to hold it up in the air. "Anything is good for me. So come on, something heavy!" He formulated.

In less than a second, a huge cauldron of black metal materialized and fell on Ace.

"What is this!? A pot!?" Ace asked in horror and pain. Yuu gasped at the scene, he would have laughed if it weren't for the situation. But Grim, on the other hand, cracked up with laughter.

"Gya, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Check it out!" The monster yelled as Yuu approached the trapped fugitive. "Ace is squished like a pancake under the cauldron! That's so pathetic!"

"Thank you very much for helping us," Yuu said to the stranger before approaching Ace and trying to move the heavy cauldron off of him. The burns on his arms didn't help him in the complicated process and he gritted his teeth in an attempt to hold back the burning sensation. The blue-haired boy noticed this and the bandages sticking out of his sleeves, so he helped him.

"I didn't think I'd get a cauldron," he commented upon seeing Ace. "Did I overdo it?"

The cauldron magically disappeared the moment it was tipped over to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Yuu couldn't help asking when he saw Ace still lying on the ground.

The young redhead got up slowly. "Man, that hurts..." He murmured still in pain before looking at Yuu with a frown. "You should be fine without me. I'm sure one hundred windows can be cleaned in a flash."

"Are you serious!? That's not something someone can do 'in a flash'! Much less in my condition!" He said raising an arm in an attempt to remind him of that morning. "Besides, these are orders from the headmaster that he imposed on you two," he said, gesturing at Grim with one hand. "And I have to make sure you fulfill the punishment."

"Clean one hundred windows as punishment?" Asked the blue-haired young man. "What the hell did you do?"

"I got into a fight with this furball and we maybe ended up burning the statue of the Queen of Hearts a bit," Ace explained, completely forgetting Yuu's arms.

The three of them were so deep in conversation that they didn't realize that Grim was slowly slipping away with a wicked grin.

"You ruined one of the statues of the Big Seven!?" The stranger asked in horror. "That would definitely piss anyone off!" His expression changed to one of disbelief. "You're accepted into a prestigious school, and the first thing you do is something like that, and on the very first day..."

"You shut up," Ace snapped angrily. "Besides, who are you?"

"I'm Deuce. Deuce Spade," he answered before returning the annoyed look. "It won't hurt to remember at least the face of a classmate, don't you think? Um..."

If he had said that, they should have seen each other before, Yuu thought, but Deuce stared at Ace as if trying to remember his name.

"You don't remember mine either," Ace replied indignantly.

"T-that doesn't matter!" Deuce stammered. "If the headmaster told you to do it, you have to take it seriously."

Yuu was relieved to see that there was at least one responsible person in that place.

Even Ace seemed to give up on those words. "Ok, ok. Fine..." He finally said. "We just have to get it over with." He looked up to search for Grim. "Huh?"

Yuu realized that Grim had been too quiet all that time instead of making mocking comments and had a worse feeling than before.

"Eh?" Ace asked as he glanced toward the entrance, still open. "Ah! That furball's gone!" exclaimed in horror when they saw Grim running away.

"He, he!" Grim laughed out loud. "I leave the work to you! Bye, bye!" He yelled before running away.

"Grim!!" Yelled Yuu. "Come back here right now!"

"Stupid cat!" exclaimed Ace in frustration. "He trying to make me take his place! Hey, you!" He turned to Deuce before trying to remember his name. "Umm... Juice?"

"It's not Juice! I'm Deuce! With 'Deu'!" He exclaimed annoyed.

"You're partly responsible for this, so help us catch that furball," Ace told him.

"Eh? Why me?" He asked no less annoyed than before.

"Exactly, Ace!" Yuu told him. "He doesn't have to be drawn into this, so leave him alone!"

"Because this guy is incapable of using magic, so he doesn't count," answered Ace to Deuce's question and pointed at Yuu without bothering to listen to him. "Come on, let's go!"

He started running after Grim. Yuu and Deuce exchanged a look before following him.

The three managed to find Grim and follow him inside the school.

In the chase, they were about to capture him with their magical pens twice but lost both opportunities because both young magicians fought over who should attack and Grim took advantage of the distractions to escape again. That frustrated Yuu a lot.

They ended up returning to the cafeteria, where Grim had somehow climbed onto the huge chandelier that hung from the ceiling.

"Grim!! Get down from there right now! You're already grounded with no cans of tuna for the whole week, don't end up now with broken bones if you fall!" Yuu exclaimed.

He only laughed in response: "Come and catch me if you can, losers!"

"We haven't learned flying magic yet," Deuce lamented. "We have to think of something..." he muttered to himself before exclaiming: "Ah! I know!"

"We need a good idea," Ace commented before becoming concerned when he saw Deuce. "Eh? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait! Why are you pointing your pen at me!?"

"I'm going to throw you up!" Deuce replied, convinced that his idea was going to work.

Yuu didn't like how that sounded either. "Eeeeh!? Stop it! It's not a good idea!!" He insisted.

"You're kidding!?" Ace exclaimed, but Deuce was already concentrating on his pen and managed to lift it into the air. "Don't make me float! Are you really going to throw me?! Stop it!!!"

Deuce didn't listen to either of them. "Make sure to grab him when you get up," Deuce told him. "Aim... now!"

Ace screamed as he was thrown into the chandelier. Seeing them from above, Grim also knew immediately that it was not going to end well.

As it collided with the chandelier, it fell from the ceiling and fell to the floor with a loud crash that echoed throughout the cafeteria...

Ace coughed at the great cloud of dust that rose with the impact. Grim meowed as he collapsed in Ace's arms from the great impact. Yuu and Deuce stared in horror at the disaster that had occurred."Oh, no!" Deuce exclaimed. "I didn't think about the landing," he told Ace.

As Yuu took Grim from his arms, Ace angrily glared at him for about three seconds before yelling: "ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?" He looked at the new disaster. "I've caught Grim, but if the headmaster finds out we've destroyed the chandelier..."

"If I find out what?" The voice from the one they didn't want to hear just behind them said sternly...

"Did I find out about what?" Said angrily the voice they least wanted to hear at that moment."Ah, Headmaster..." Ace muttered in defeat.

"But. What. Exactly. HAVE YOU DONE?!?!?!?! Crowley yelled more fiercely than ever.

"My head's spinning..." Grim muttered after regaining a bit of consciousness from the scream.

"It wasn't enough to destroy the statue and now you go and destroy the chandelier!? Crowley continued. "I'm not going to put up with this a bit longer! You are all expelled!"

"WHAAAAT!?" Ace and Deuce exclaimed at the announcement.

"No, please! Forgive me!" Deuce pleaded. "I still have a lot of goals to reach in this school!"

"You have nothing to blame but your stupidity," Crowley replied calmer, but still coldly.

"I'll do whatever it takes to be forgiven!" Deuce insisted. "I'll even pay for the damages!"

Yuu felt sad for Deuce, he could feel the despair in his voice. Even if he was the one who threw Ace towards the chandelier, he wouldn't be in that mess if he didn't follow them to chase Grim.

"This isn't just any chandelier, it's a magic one. "And the candles were supposed to be lit for eternity," Crowley explained. "It is a masterpiece that was built by a former magical maester and has been here since the school was founded. With such historical value, this chandelier shouldn't be worth less than a billion madol. Do you really think you can afford paying something like that?" Deuce was horrified by the impossible price and looked away.

"But can't it be fixed with magic, headmaster?" Ace asked in an attempt to save themselves.

"Magic is not all powerful, it wouldn't be enough," Crowley replied while he took something from the ground. "The magic crystal, which was the heart and power source of the chandelier, is also broken. And the magic crystals are always different. The chandelier may never be lit again," he commented sadly.

"It can't be..." Ace muttered.

"Damn it, but what have I done?" Deuce wailed. "What am I going to tell my mother?"

Yuu didn't know what to say. The headmaster had told him that he would take responsibility for him for the incident with the mirror, but what if she changed his mind now after all that? Was he included in the expulsion? The fear of being kicked out of the only place that could bring him back to his homeworld completely paralyzed him...

"Oh, right, there is one way. The chandelier can be fixed," Crowley commented.

"Eh?" The three young boys muttered with a little bit of hope.

"This magic crystal was collected in the Dwarf's Mine," Crowley added. "If we had one similar to the previous one, it can be possible to fix the chandelier."

"I'll go get the crystal, please let me go!" Deuce asked with determination.

"I don't think there are many crystals left in the mine though, it has been closed for a long time and there may be just a few left," added Crowley.

"I'll do anything if it means not getting expelled!" Deuce insisted.

"Fine, I'll give you one night," the headmaster said. "Bring me a crystal before morning or face expulsion."

"Understood! Thank you very much!" Deuce exclaimed.

"Wow, I guess there's no choice." Let's find that crystal and get this over with," Ace mumbled.

Yuu glared at him with annoyance.

"Use the Dark Mirror to take you directly to the Dwarf's Mine," Crowley pointed out.

"Yes, sir!" Deuce exclaimed before running off.

Grim, still in Yuu's arms, finally regained consciousness."Ah!" What happened? What did I miss?"

"You might've been happier staying unconscious," Yuu replied. "I'll tell you everything now, and you better not complain!"

It was clear that he was not dreaming, but that ridiculous situation was just like a nightmare...

He realized that the headmaster was looking at him, got worried, and left before fearing more things. Ace followed him.

They crossed the corridors to reach the Mirror Chamber and stood in front of the Dark Mirror. "Aahh... why did it all end like this?" This isn't my day..." Ace complained again.

"I wonder why..." Yuu muttered with irony.

"This is not the time to complain! Let's go!" Deuce exclaimed. "Magic mirror on the wall! Take us to the Dwarf's Mine!"

The mirror lit up and Yuu squeezed his eyes tight as he felt his body being dragged away.

When he opened them again, the four of them were in a dark forest in the night. The atmosphere was lonely and gloomy, and he could feel Grim's tension in his arms.

"So this is the Dwarf's Mine," Deuce explained, "it used to be prosperous thanks to gems and crystals mining, but..."

"Uh... I feel like something is going to jump suddenly..." Grim muttered frightened.

"Look, there's a house there," Ace pointed in the direction of a nearby cottage. "Let's go ask about the mine."

They approached and Deuce knocked on the door before entering. "Good afternoon..." He greeted. "It seems to be abandoned, it's a mess in here."

The place seemed to have been abandoned for years, just like the Ramshackle dorm.

"Blegh! I've got a spider web on my face," Grim said in disgust, trying to shake it off and Yuu tried to him the best he could.

"Have you noticed that the table and chairs are small? Maybe did children live here?" asked Ace and started to count them. "One, two... Seven! There's a lot!"

After hearing that, Yuu felt the same burning sensation in his left shoulder he got that morning, this time much lighter and accompanied by a strange feeling of sadness.

"You said this place is called Dwarf's Mine, right?" Yuu asked. "Maybe some dwarves did live here and that's the reason for this small size?" He asked as he stroked his shoulder, careful not to squeeze Grim too hard.

"That's possible," Deuce replied. "This place must have been very lively during better times for the mine."

"They did what they had to do, since the crystals were in the coal," Ace commented. "Now let's look at the mine."

Yuu took one last look at the house before leaving, puzzled by what he had just felt.

The four of them walked for a few minutes until they reached the entrance of the mine.

"D-do we really have to go into that dark tunnel!?" Grim asked nervously.

"Are you scared?" Ace asked maliciously. "Lame."

Yuu glared at him with another bad look.

"What did you say!?" The little monster exclaimed angrily. "I'm not scared at all!" He let go of Yuu's arms and walked with a determined step on his two legs. "I'm going to take the lead! You follow me!"

The three boys exchanged glances before entering the mine with him.

"There are several gems here," Yuu commented. "But they don't look like the ones we're looking for, do they?"

"What do you think?" Ace asked him without much tact.

"Well, I don't know. I've never seen a magic crystal in person. That's why I ask," Yuu replied without hiding his annoyance either.

"Wait," Deuce stopped them nervously. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ace asked before paying attention around him.

"Here's something!" Deuce exclaimed just before two gray-cloaked ghosts appeared in front of them.

Grim squealed in horror.

"Hee, hee, hee, hee! We finally have visitors after ten years," one of the ghosts laughed.

"Make yourself at home," the other one said. "For eternity!"

"Not! Please, no more ghosts!" Yuu exclaimed. "Everybody, run!"

The four of them ran through the labyrinthine paths of the mine while Ace and Deuce launched attacks at the ghosts as they could to try to repel them.

They were finally able to lose sight of them and stopped to catch their breath. "We weren't told that this place is also inhabited by ghosts!" Ace exclaimed between gasps.

"We don't have time to deal with them. We better go!" Deuce urged.

"You're right, let's go," Yuu agreed with him.

"Don't think you can order me around," Ace replied to Deuce. "If you hadn't done something so stupid we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Do you really want to discuss who started it?" Deuce asked in annoyance. "This is all because you wouldn't clean!"

"That was because this furball burned the statue of the Queen of Hearts!"

"Fgna!" Grim exclaimed indignantly at the mention. "That's what you got for making fun of me!"

"Both of you!" Deuce yelled, causing Yuu to flinch. "Do you remember our situation? We'll be expelled if we don't go back in the morning with a magic crystal."

"Leave me alone! You're really ticking me off," Ace exclaimed.

In the discussion, Yuu heard what sounded like a growl. "Guys, calm down!" He insisted. "I think I heard something."

"Do... not give..."

The four of them were startled when they heard that low, deep voice.

"W-who said that?" Ace asked.

"Stone... ssss... mine..." The voice growled more intensely.

"I-I think it's getting closer..." Deuce muttered.

A kind of faceless, threatening creature emerged from the shadows. Its head seemed to be made up of a kind of glass vial filled with a black liquid similar to ink, protruding from a large crack on the surface. He was dressed in a burgundy robe and on the cork of the lid of the bottle, he wore a small brown cap. His entire body seemed to emanate a terrifying dark aura. In his right hand, he carried a gas lantern that emitted a purple light, with his left he was dragging a giant pickaxe that did not give the impression it was for working in the mine.

In his sixteen years of life, Yuu would never have imagined such a thing.

"The stones ... ARE MINE!!!" The creature cried in a guttural tone.

[Published on 19/6/2021]