During that night in which the twins had had to sleep in different places for the first time in a while, they both visualized the mirror in Yuu's room, were introduced to it, and found themselves in that gray space they were so familiar with. They were both dressed in the same clothes as last time, him with the white T-shirt and blue pants and she with the blue dress and the bow in her hair.

"Yukiko. Did you arrive safely last night?" Yuu asked, not being able to wait for the following morning.

"Yeah. Those two were already gone when I got home."

The gray space turned black as night, and they held hands to ensure they wouldn't get lost.

"It's never been so dark before..." Yuu commented. Not even in Scar's cave was such an absence of light.

Just after mentioning that, a light appeared and revealed the long corridor of a cavern. Both screamed and backed away upon seeing some strange, elongated, grim-looking creatures with eyes and mouths at their feet and on the walls emitting screams of fear.

"What are those things!?" Yukiko shouted.

"Animals? No, wait... Plants?!" Yuu judged from their limbless bodies anchored to the ground.

But those creatures were not the only ones in that place because the beautiful red-haired mermaid that saved the prince just swam in, indicating they were under the sea, deep enough for the light not to reach.

Ariel also watched the plants with fear and confusion as she swam deeper. One of them suddenly wrapped itself around her wrist and pulled on her as if trying to stop her from making a mistake (this was supported by the behavior of the rest: some reached out to try to do the same and others shook their heads with fear and insistence). But she managed to free herself and move away.

"Come in. Come in, my child," a mysterious female voice echoed, turning out to be from a woman with white hair and lilac skin they had never seen before.

"Another mermaid?" Yuu commented out loud when he saw her in the light.

They knew of legends that spoke of mermaids of different species depending on the lower part of their body. The new mermaid didn't have a common fish tailfin like Ariel. She had instead eight strong black octopus tentacles that gave the sensation of forming a dress that waved underwater.

"Why do I know that her name is Ursula?" Yukiko wondered, but there was no time for questions because the images continued talking.

"Let's see, you are here because you feel something for that human, that... little prince," Ursula continued.

The images took an apparent time jump and changed to Ariel and Ursula on what looked like a stone platform that turned out to be a dark cauldron anchored to the underwater floor as the moray eels Flotsam and Jetsam kept swimming nearby.

"I'll make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days," Ursula explained and began to form images of light that came out of her cauldron, making it clear that she could use magic. "Before the sun sets on the third day, you must make the prince fall in love with you."

The images jumped again. The twins weren't sure what they could have talked about, but Ariel looked more uncomfortable now. Ursula formed a golden contract that reminded Yuu in an unnerving way of the one he had just signed with Azul.

"Oh, we haven't discussed the subject of payment. What I want from you... is your voice!" Ursula exclaimed. "Take a gulp! Take a breath! Go ahead and sign the scroll. You poor unfortunate soul!"

Finally, Ariel gathered enough courage to grab the pen and closed her eyes as she signed the contract. On the other hand, Ursula looked at her with satisfaction while the moray eels smiled evilly.

And then the twins couldn't see much more because the images disappeared the second the contract rolled up on its own and disappeared the moment it reached Ursula's hand. Everything went dark again.

"What was all that?" Yukiko asked, who had been quite confused, and touched her right shoulder, which should be shining with a blue light under the sleeve. "Didn't you get the feeling something was missing?"

"A bit," Yuu admitted, but something confused him even more: all that mess was very similar to what he had experienced hours before with Octavinelle's dorm leader. The contract, the pen used to sign, and even the position of the characters had felt very familiar...

But he didn't have the chance to tell her because they disappeared quickly, and when he slowly opened his eyes, it was already morning. He felt that hours had already passed since that second mermaid-related dream.

He wondered what time it was. Grim was still sleeping peacefully in the bed by his side, but Yuu adjusted his blanket in a bad mood. Going to bed so late and taking a while to sleep because his head was full of worries had taken away hours of rest, and he just wanted to continue sleeping.

Unfortunately for him, the door to Leona's room burst open.

"Hey! G'morning!" Ruggie exclaimed loudly and clapped his hands. "Time to get up, Leona. You too, Yuu and Grim. Get up!"

Grim grunted tiredly and rubbed his eyes. "Noisy... Morning already? Wait a minute, it's still 6:00!" He exclaimed after looking at the time on the clock they had brought from Ramshackle.

Ruggie was already dressed and seemed to be ready for the day. Why would he tell them to wake up that early? "We have morning Magift practice in Savanaclaw. As long as you're staying here with us, you'll have to join."

Yuu froze. He didn't want to play that sport ever again since he had been knocked unconscious by a blow to his head.

"Morning practice? Yuki never said anythin' 'bout that," Grim commented, curious.

"Yep. We've been doing it since the tournament, and Yuki doesn't have to do it until she starts doing better with her magic."

Still lying on his bed and grumpy at being suddenly woken up, Leona grunted in annoyance and covered himself with the blankets. "Hm... Shut up... Gr..." He growled and tried to go back to sleep.

Not happy with his attitude, Ruggie yanked the blanket off him in one fell swoop. "Leona, come on! Don't go back to sleep!" He snapped at him as she dragged him by his legs out of bed, catching the two Ramshackle residents by surprise.

"Wow, Ruggie is supposed to be Leona's underling, but he can treat him like that," Grim murmured.

"I knew you had to be tough in this dorm, but not THAT tough..." Yuu added, wondering if he could keep up with Ruggie in the next three days. But he found it impossible to talk to Leona that way and come out alive in the attempt.

Leona grunted and stretched lazily on the floor but still refused to open his eyes.

"Are you still sleepin' even like this?! Wake up! It was your idea to start training!" Ruggie exclaimed incredulously. "Stop makin' a fool of yourself!"

"Do you usually do this every morning?" Yuu dared to ask.

"Huh? Yeah, sometimes. But after getting up even earlier these days, it's been more frequent. As you can see, this is the type of guy you'll have to work for for the next three days."

A dorm leader difficult to deal with because of his grumpy personality and carelessness. They now understood why Ruggie was so eager to get some assistance for a few days.

However, there was something that worried Yuu even more: the countdown had just started.

"Three days remaining to complete Azul's contract."

He just wanted to get going as soon as possible to complete the mission and retrieve Ramshackle. However, he also felt they would not let them leave without first complying with their rules...

After changing into their sports uniforms, Leona, Yuu, Ruggie, and Grim headed to the large Magical Shift stadium in the dormitory.

It was still early in the morning, so the temperatures were still low, but the first rays of dawn were rising higher on the horizon, making the desertic air turn warmer.

Yuu recalled that awful first time he set foot there and the Overblot battle. At least he had the guarantee that this time no one would attack Grim or him.

When they arrived there, Jack and other students in the dorm were already doing stretching exercises to warm up. He was surprised to see the Ramshackle students there. "Oh, you're also joining today's practice?"

"Good morning, Jack," Yuu greeted him before covering his mouth to yawn.

"We wanted to keep sleepin', but Ruggie dragged us here, yanno?" Grim complained.

Ruggie, who had heard him, just smiled as he began to warm up as well. "Hey, since we're all here, how about we play a little game?" He asked Leona. "Let's make these first years sweat a bit."

Leona yawned and stretched again. "I'm gonna fall asleep standing up at this rate, so let's get started."

"Look at this guy yawning while challengin' us! I can't believe it!" Grim exclaimed, now ready to defeat him in a game. "If you're so tired, this'll be a cinch!"

In response, Leona only revealed his fangs with a slight smile. "Ha. I could take you on in my sleep," he boasted.

"We won't let you down!" Jack exclaimed, prepared for the game.

Grim jumped determinedly. "I'm gonna show ya my best moves! Hey, Yuu, when I catch the disc, pay attention to see if someone comes close."

"And when that happens, get behind me. I'll take care of the offense and cover you while you two run. Don't lose the disc," Jack told them as he squeezed his magic pen.

Yuu looked at him in surprise and nodded. He could say that a few more students of Night Raven College agreed to work as a team and form strategies to achieve a common goal. He hoped Crowley would eventually take notice and see the positive development he had desired at the beginning of the school year.

"Alright, but if I find some opportunity to throw the disc in a cool way, I ain't missing it, yanno?" Grim insisted.

"Come on, let's get started," Ruggie said. To your positions!

They threw the disc into the air, and Grim didn't take long to catch it. "Mine!"

"Good one, Grim!" Yuu exclaimed.

It didn't take long for them to put their planned strategy into action: Jack took the lead and started with simple attacks to push away the rivals on the ground and prevent them from getting close to Grim. Then he began to create small shields to avoid the easiest attacks and protect Yuu, who was trying not to push himself too hard so as not to get tired prematurely.

Things got more serious when the flying players appeared and shot beams of magic from their broomsticks, making Jack decide to increase the size of his shields.

Before the following flyer took to the air, Ruggie exchanged a look with him and jumped onto his broom, once again demonstrating his famous agility. As soon as he was above Jack's head, Ruggie hung upside down on the broom with one leg and created a hail of gunfire as his partner focused on maintaining his balance. Those were the same acrobatics he had displayed the first time they played against them just a month ago.

"Jack, watch out!" Yuu exclaimed, but he had already rushed to make the shield again. He had to keep it up longer, as the second-year student remained insistent on his offense.

Finally, Ruggie decided to get off the broom before he got dizzy from being in that uncomfortable position for too long and landed on his two feet with a loud thud, kicking up dirt in the process.

"Jack has been running non-stop all morning," he gasped as Leona approached him. "It's exhausting..."

"Not bad for a first year," Leona admitted and yawned while watching the three students run and nodded with approbation when Jack moved away a student who had tried to attack them with a spell. However, he was sure they would not avoid what he planned to do as soon as the morning tiredness left his body. Ruggie, pay attention: I want you to perform your special movement again and hold on as long as possible."

The match continued. Yuu wasn't used to exercising intensely right after waking up, and he was getting tired already. Thank goodness it wasn't the same case as Jack, who was barely starting to sweat.

"Grim, to your left!" The prefect shouted when he noticed two players running towards him. The monster jumped away to the opposite side, and Jack knocked them down without any problem. "Jack, look up!"

The wolf-boy knocked down another player riding a broomstick just when Ruggie took advantage of his lack of attention to hang on to his partner's broom again and fire off another storm of attacks.

Jack had no problem maintaining the shield again, but just as he realized that Ruggie was more insistent than last time and didn't seem to stop anytime soon... Leona jumped suddenly in his way and knocked down the three first-year students with a single movement of his magical pen, threw them to the ground, and stole the disk away from them.

Ruggie had distracted them to give Leona a chance. Poor Grim got dizzy when he hit the ground, and Yuu tried to get up to relieve some pain from the impact. Jack could stand up and panted as he looked at his two upperclassmen

The dorm leader smiled slyly as he looked at them on the floor, and Ruggie landed again on the ground. "As you can see, I've finally finished waking up," he said as he spun the levitating Magical Shift disk in the palm of his hand.

"Okay, that's all for today's training," Ruggie announced as he stretched and pocketed his magical pen.

"Thank you very much for today's training!" Jack exclaimed, tired but proud of himself for having shown his worth once again.

"What!? But I wanna keep playin'!" Grim complained.

"I don't..." Yuu muttered and accompanied the others to one end of the field to sit down and rest.

Jack looked at him with a raised eyebrow and handed him a bottle of water. "Are you already lying on the ground with just this? With all that extra training you do with Coach Vargas's Flying Lessons, you should've some stamina by now, don't you think?"

"It's not that. I'm just not used to this type of exercise so early in the morning," Yuu responded before drinking the water in gulps to quench his thirst. He felt much better after that.

"Well, we should do it more often. I feel great after trainin' first thing in the morning, yanno?" Grim said, invigorated.

Having someone who understood the same thing, Jack smiled and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. "Right? I usually get up an hour earlier to go for a run."

"Oh, right. You mentioned it when you stopped by Ramshackle that time," Yuu remembered.

"That seems like too much," Grim stammered nervously. He drank some water himself and watched the other Savanaclaw students resting or continuing to stretch. "So you've already started training for next year's Magift inter-dorm tournament, right? You're gonna make tough rivals at this rate!" He exclaimed with a proud smile and flexed his paws as if trying to show off his muscles.

Ruggie's ears perked up in surprise when he heard that. "Ah, that's right. We mentioned it to Yuki before, but you guys don't know it yet, right?" He questioned. There's a bigger tournament every May."

Yuu and Grim widened their eyes at that revelation.

"Fgna!? A bigger tournament than the inter-dorm's!?" Grim asked as he raised his forepaws, surprised.

"The Interscholastic Competition," Leona revealed, joining the conversation.

"Does that mean that other schools compete with each other?" Yuu guessed, remembering that there were more magic schools in that world besides the Night Raven College.

"That's right, Just like the name says, it's a Magift tournament between different schools," Ruggie confirmed.

"And ours plays against Royal Sword Academy every year," Leona added.

Grim's ears alight with blue fire perked up in recognition of that name.

"Oooh, we've heard that name before!"

"You're right, in Heartslabyul," Yuu said, being careful not to reveal Che'nya's name just in case. "We heard that they're Night Raven College's eternal rival."

"You heard right. There are a lot of different magic schools throughout Twisted Wonderland, but Night Raven College and Royal Sword Academy are so prestigious that they are considered "the two powerhouses," Ruggie explained.

"What kind of school is Royal Sword Academy?" Grim asked, curious.

Leona smiled a sly smile. "One that is full of pompous brats and spoiled princelings," he answered bluntly, making Ruggie laugh.

"Shi shi shi! I couldn't say it better. Their school buildings and even their uniforms are unnecessarily flashy."

"In what sense?" Yuu questioned.

"Because of the many clear and shiny colors. The uniforms are so white that any stains would stand out from a distance. I don't care how prestigious it is, I'd never go there even if they begged me," Ruggie admitted with a sigh.

Yuu knew that Ruggie was someone who did not miss opportunities to gain benefits, so his contempt towards that school had to be prominent if he could say that without any hesitation.

"But hasn't Night Raven College lost to them for the last 100 years in the interscholastic tournament?" Jack intervened.

For the first time all day, Ruggie flinched and drooped his ears, upset.

"Huh!? That's... We've only lost 99 times!! This year makes the 100th match, and we're definitely going to beat them!" He exclaimed insistently.

Seeing once again the ambitious determination of the school students to achieve their goals, Yuu smiled slyly. "Honestly, it would be really satisfying to see their defeated faces when they realize you took away their 100th victory to claim it as the first for yourselves."

Leona looked at him with some surprise. You would expect to hear that from Yukiko, but it was from the puny herbivore who now worked for him in exchange for taking up space in his room. Then he remembered that even the smallest animals could use their claws and fangs when necessary.

"Wow, so you actually understand!" Ruggie exclaimed. "I'm already looking forward to seeing how they'll react when we have the lead."

But Jack didn't seem very convinced with that. "Watching them play on TV, I felt that Royal Sword Academy's players were good individually, but... what was most impressive about them was their teamwork."

Yuu sighed in exasperation. "Oh, and that's why you never win..." He whispered. Every time he heard anything new about Night Raven College and its students, he understood even more why the headmaster found it essential that they learn to work as a team. It had reached the point where a lack of empathy and cooperation had cost them victory for almost an entire century.

"Huh? Hold on," Grim interrupted. "If it's interscholastic, that means other dorms can play against Royal Sword Academy and not just Savanaclaw, right?"

"That's right. Tryouts are held and the team is made of students from each of the seven dorms," Leona stated.

"The teams are made up of seven players. So a fistfight over a spot on the team is bound to happen, right?" Yuu sighed.

In response, Leona put a hand to his head and nodded, exhausted. "The team from last year broke into a brawl and they fought over the position they wanted, and the game hadn't even started."

"I called it..." Yuu thought disdainfully.

Grim raised his paws in a competitive feeling. "That's what I like to hear! You gotta fight for the position you want with all your strength, yanno! I'm sure I'm gonna be chosen for the team!"

"Grim! How many times must I tell you that's not right?" Yuu scolded him.

"No no. It's weird saying it out loud, but Grim's right," Ruggie intervened. "You may have guessed it by now, but you don't always get what you want in life with kind words and being a good boy. Sometimes you have to use force and get your way if you want to make it, especially at this school."

Yuu opened his mouth to say something and remind him of what happened at the tournament, but he stopped. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but he didn't totally disagree with Ruggie. He was already aware that life imposed challenges and -while it was not necessary to hurt people to achieve what one needed-, he should not stand still and let opportunities slip through his fingers or lose them to someone else's.

"I'm not too sure about what Ruggie said, but if you want to be in the team, Grim, you have to train hard every day to become a starting player and show off your skill," Jack said as he flexed his fist with determination.

To Yuu's surprise, Ruggie agreed once again: "This championship is way more broadcasted than the inter-dorm tournament, so it's a great opportunity to be scouted by the pro leagues!" He exclaimed enthusiastically.

"If you want to take down your rivals and get a place on the team, you better start thinking about how to do it from this very moment," Leona warned in a low voice with a sly smile.

"Royal Sword Academy..." Yuu murmured thoughtfully.

Until then, he hadn't heard much about that school since the Unbirthday Party other than the obvious rivalry and difference in principles. Of course, he almost froze when he looked at a map of Isle of Sages, where the school was placed, and realized that Royal Sword Academy was exactly on the opposite end, on the south! He did not even want to imagine the tension if two groups from both schools bumped into each other while walking around town or eating at a restaurant!

Now that this new information from Savanaclaw dorm further deepened the extent of that rivalry, he couldn't help but think about how interesting it would be to see a battle played out in a Magical Shift stadium, especially now that Savanaclaw looked more determined than ever.

After finishing training that morning, everyone cleaned up and prepared to start the day at school. Just as they left the dorm, they spotted Yukiko running towards the Vault of Mirrors. "Yuu, Grim!" She called them between soft gasps as soon as he saw them.

"Heya, Yuki. What's the rush? Did somethin' happen?" Grim asked.

"No, but I was thinking of getting up earlier to see you but ended up falling asleep..." She confessed, somewhat embarrassed. "Are you OK?"

"You slept more? Lucky you... But we're better than ever! We just played Magift, and now we're gonna eat breakfast, yanno!"

"Oh, you joined the Magift training? How did it go?" Yukiko asked, surprised. Although she was a little worried about how brutal a match could become, she was looking forward to seeing the method that Yuu and Grim had to participate in by using the latter's magic. She made a note not to fall asleep again.

Ruggie patted Yuu's shoulder a couple of times. "As you can see, Yuki, the Ramshackle kittens are still in one piece. No one dared to eat them under our watch, shishishi!"

"I ain't a cat!"

"We better hurry up, we still have to go to that museum to complete the contract with Azul," Jack urged.

Leona shook his tail in annoyance. "That reminds me: now that you're staying in our dorm, you owe us a few explanations."

It was still early in the morning, so there were still many free tables. After getting their food, Grim and the twins sat together on one side, and the remaining three Savanaclaw students sat on the other.

It didn't take Grim a second to gobble down his food. "There is nothin' better than breakfast after a workout, yanno! I craved meat so much!" He exclaimed delightedly before putting the sausages and bacon together and eating them in one bite.

"Chew slower, you're making a mess," Yuu scolded him as he handed him the napkin to clean the crumbs in his snout. But there was one thing he agreed with: doing intense exercise right after waking up made him feel even hungrier.

Ruggie laughed quietly upon seeing the prefect taking care of Grim that way, it reminded him a lot of a mother taking care of her rambunctious son.

"Well, now tell us: why the hell did you do something as stupid as making a deal with that octo-punk?" Leona growled, getting straight to the point. "Thanks to that my room shrank."

Grim swallowed hard and Yuu looked away awkwardly.

"Th thing is..." The prefect summarized for Ruggie and Leona everything from the last two days that brought them to Savanaclaw, from Crowley's request to the loss of Ramshackle due to no other collateral available.

When he finished, the dorm leader looked at him in utter disbelief and -to the surprise of everyone except Ruggie- snorted in a failed attempt to hold back his laughter.

"Ha! You made a deal to free all the idiots who signed contracts for the final exams?" He laughed out loud. "Ha ha ha! This is so good! You're sending chills down my spine."

Grim took a bite of his bread sheepishly, and Yukiko squeezed the fork between her fingers. "This isn't funny at all," she snapped angrily.

"There was a rumor that Azul's notebooks were the best of the best, so I can understand why they were in such high demand," Ruggie commented.

Hearing them again express his turndown of those notebooks reminded Jack of something he had on his mind since the anemone incident began. "So none of you made a deal with him to get good marks?" He questioned. "I supposed Leona would take the easier route..." He felt that he had gone out of line and stopped immediately. "Ah! Uh... Forget I said anything."

"Idiot. Who in their right mind would voluntarily make a contract with that cheating bastard?" Leona snorted. "I indeed made a couple of contracts with him when the situation required it, but the conditions weren't that crazy."

Yukiko remembered a conversation about a month ago when she was worried about her exams and magic training, and Leona had warned her about Azul's contracts.

"And that's why you told Yuki not to do it?" Grim questioned.

"I warned Yuki to ensure she didn't get in trouble. But we are nobody's babysitters or police officers. The one who makes the mistake of consulting Azul is the one who decides to do so."

Ruggie nodded and drooped his ears nervously. "Yeah, Azul is not the kind of guy you wanna rely on. But he's a truly skilled magician and makes even the most extravagant wishes come true like nothing," he added in a low voice, thinking about that powerful potion that helped him control an entire horde of people with his Unique Magic.

"When he makes a contract, he intends that the person who wants something is at a disadvantage," Leona continued and fixed his gaze on Yuu. "His trick is to get herbivores to fall into the trap and make them sign contracts without thinking about the consequences, and he has many ways to scam them."

Yukiko squeezed her brother's hand when she noticed him shaking. He already had enough of feeling guilty for losing his dorm. "Hey, it's okay. We're going to win this," she told him calmly.

"Very well, now tell me: what are the terms of your contract?" Leona questioned, assuming it wouldn't be a big deal.

Ruggie and Leona's expressions turned from serenity to maximum bewilderment as Yuu explained what they had to do to free the students and retrieve Ramshackle.

"Before the sun sets on the third day..." Leona repeated.

"You must sneak into the Atlantica Memorial Museum and take a certain picture from there..." Ruggie finished saying.

They stared at them for a moment in silence, not knowing exactly how to react to that complicated challenge until Ruggie decided to break it: "My deepest condolences..."

Yuu understood that he already had them as a lost cause that would not be able to complete the conditions, which lowered his confidence a little.

"Don't say that when the game has just started, yanno!!" Grim exclaimed offended.

"But isn't that museum underwater? How exactly do you plan to get there?"

"Azuk gave us a potion that will let us breathe underwater."

"When I returned to Ramshackle last night, I saw they left us a box with several bottles," Yukiko revealed as she used her fingers to remember the exact number of units. "I counted about 8 or 9, they must've given us several just in case."

"We don't know if that potion will work, though," Jack said suspiciously. Azul was good at tricking people and could have given them fake concoctions or ones with a different effect to sabotage their mission.

Thinking again about the magic enhancer, Ruggie shook his head. "It'll work fine if it's from Azul. I highly doubt his pride would let him make a subpar potion."

Listening to them, Leona flashed a slight, conspiratorial smile and grabbed his fork. "So what are you waiting for? You better get a move on. Time is money, as they say," he urged before continue eating.

Remembering they were against the clock, Grim ate the rest of his plate in one bite and stood up. "Fgna! He's right, Yuu. Let's go to that Memorial Museum of Atlantica right away!"

Yuu nodded and finished the orange juice he had bought for breakfast in one sip.

"You're right, we only have three days. There's no time to waste" Jack agreed.

Grim started running on all fours to go faster. "Let's go for Ace and Deuce, hurry up!"

"Wait! I'm going with you," Yukiko stopped them and finished breakfast in a few bites.

Jack looked at her doubtfully, they had just agreed that Ace and Deuce would accompany them, and he had not considered the possibility of Yukiko accompanying them. "I think you should stay here. We're already enough, and we don't know what could happen next, it could be dangerous," he murmured, feeling that she wasn't going to like that answer.

Yukiko stared at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me!? That's what you literally told me last night!" She exclaimed, annoyed, confirming his assumption. "And Jack, I'm not that weak. It's not like I'm going to melt under the water!"

Jack didn't know what to answer. That reaction also reminded him a bit of his little sister wanting to accompany him to do some activity in the mountains, only that her anger was more justified.

Yuu understood the frustration of being left out and hated the thought of leaving out his sister's help for the second time in a row. He was about to tell her to go with them, but the dorm leader got ahead.

"As much as I hate to say this, I agree with Jack," Leona interjected suddenly. "I'm definitely sure you can handle anything that comes your way, but first you'll need permission to skip class, and I'll bet my skin that the annoying, overprotective crow man will deny it."

"And if you are trying to steal something, the number of people should be small so as not to attract unnecessary attention unless someone offers themselves as live bait for a distraction," Ruggie added, knowing what he was talking about.

"We also have club activities this afternoon, I bet that will be more productive for your magic than getting soaked to the bone in the depths of the sea."

"And you'll also save yourself from the bad taste, the last potion I took tasted like hell."

"Okay, I get it! I'm not going." Yukiko screeched exasperatedly as she gave up, not knowing whether they just said all that to tease her or if it was better to stay. "You still need me to fetch the potions in Ramshackle, I'll follow you as soon as I finish drinking this."

"Okay, see you there," Yuu replied and patted her shoulder. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, but he had told him something similar the night before and ended up in the situation he was in.

"If you've finished talking, can we go now?" Grim questioned impatiently and everyone hurried to leave the cafeteria.

Watching them leave, Yukiko sat back down and hurriedly finished her juice bottle, being careful not to choke.

Ruggie made sure the three first years were far enough away before looking at Leona with a raised eyebrow. "Aaaaaand... there they go. You're quite evil, Leona," he whispered schemingly.

Far from flinching, Leona simply smiled suspiciously. "Ha. I've got no idea what you're talking about," he replied and continued eating as if nothing had happened.

Yukiko looked up immediately and placed the almost empty bottle on the table. "What the hell are you trying to do, Leona?" She questioned in a serious voice.

She wasn't supposed to have her guard so up around him, now that Leona was on more or less normal terms with her brother, but she was clear that she would not forgive him if he tried to hurt him again.

"Don't worry, I know you wouldn't let me see the light of another day if I did something to that dear brother of yours. Even if I were to plan something with him, I'd make sure not a single hair on his adorable head was damaged," Leona assured, without changing his expression.

Yukiko wasn't convinced at all, but for once she decided to let it go, knowing she wouldn't get a clear answer, and hurriedly left.

Moments later, once everyone was gathered in Ramshackle, Yukiko accompanied Ace, Deuce, Jack, Yuu, and Grim to the legendary Mirror Chamber. It was the first time she had set foot in that place since she had been made a student at Savanaclaw.

Each of the boys had on hand a conch-shaped bottle filled with a bright green liquid (in Grim's case, he held it under his arm as it was too big for his paws). While walking down the long hallway formed by dozens of benches towards the Dark Mirror, they mentally prepared themselves for the challenge ahead of them.

"You think this potion Azul made will allow us to breathe underwater?" Deuce questioned as he examined the appearance of his bottle skeptically.

It was normal to question the effectiveness of the effects; they did not know what ingredients it was made with, and it was from the same person who had forced them to work. Not to mention that their lives depended on its effectiveness since they were going to the middle of the ocean.

"Only one way to know," Jack answered as he uncorked his bottle. "We'll have to drink it and see for ourselves."

Ace nodded and did the same. "Alright, let's do it on three." He decided, and everyone agreed. "One, two...!"

They all took a long sip from their bottles and swallowed slowly. As soon as they did so, their faces immediately contorted into expressions of pure disgust. They coughed, put their hands over their mouths, and tried hard not to throw up. Grim even dropped to the ground.

"What's wrong!?" Yukiko asked, scared, and picked up Grim's bottle. She brought it under her nose and sniffed it, only to immediately move it away after noticing a repulsive scent. If the smell was already disgusting, she didn't even want to imagine how the boys must feel after drinking just a little.

"This flavor..." Deuce was able to mutter.

She calmed down a little. They learned in class that potions were very likely to taste bad if they had any strange ingredients, but it was something completely normal. There were some that the worse they tasted, the greater the effect was, just like with some medications. She had experienced it with a medicinal potion she got to make her fever go down more quickly. The taste wasn't bad enough to make her vomit it, though.

"Bleeeegh! It tastes like dried frog mixed with rotten mushrooms, yanno!" Grim exclaimed as tears came to his eyes.

Jack looked at him in disbelief. "What kind of comparison is that? Have you ever eaten something like that?" He questioned and coughed. "It's a pretty strong taste, though..."

Ruggie ended up being right by telling Yukiko that not going on the mission would save her from a moment of disgust. She had enough of having the possibility of vomiting just by practicing magic.

Ace put the cork back in his bottle. "Who was the idiot that decided potions should taste this bad? How the hell do adults put up with this?" He complained and regurgitated with the aftertaste of the liquid.

"The effect is more important than the taste..." Deuce replied and, hitting the nail on the head, put a hand to his neck and began to pant. "What...? Why is it so hard to breathe!?"

Yuu became scared when pressure increased inside his chest and throat as if they refused to accept air. It was the same case with the others.

"Does this mean that our lungs are adjusting to water?" Jack guessed between gasps.

Before the situation turned for the worst, Ace gasped and pointed at the Dark Mirror. "F*ck, this is bad. Let's just go to the ocean!" He exclaimed with the strength he had left.

Yukiko helped her brother hold Grim in his arms and moved away so she wouldn't be transported too by mistake.

"Dark Mirror! Take us to the Coral Sea!" Jack commanded.

The famous school relic shone brightly and the boys felt being drawn by a force that made them pass through it.

Now alone in that immense place, Yukiko stared at the space where she had seen the rest disappear with a slight feeling of emptiness in her heart. She hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye and wish them well...

She saw the bottle Grim had left on the ground. The others had time to put it inside a pocket of their uniform, but the little monster had no choice but to leave it behind.

She grabbed it and considered drinking it to follow the others, but immediately abandoned that intrusive thought and decided to leave it in the dorm before class. She considered putting on the white choker to take advantage of the walk and fix her magic but thought about the possibility of her feeling ill and wanted to practice in her Alchemy lesson during noon...

"Well, just for a minute," she swore before taking out her white choker and heading to the door.

As soon as they were dragged by the Dark Mirror, Yuu and the others felt themselves falling into the cold sea waters and being enveloped by them.

Losing his confusion and processing the situation, Grim became agitated and shook in an attempt to stay afloat. "Glubglubglubglub! We're underwater! We're gonna drown!" He screamed as his voice was toned down by air bubbles coming out of his mouth.

However, the others did not feel any danger because of the lack of air around and calmed down. Deuce was the first to notice and put a hand on his neck. "...Hold on. It doesn't hurt anymore," he noted. It was like the asphyxiation he had suffered just a few seconds ago never happened.

Grim stopped moving and found that the same thing was happening to him. "What? "Wait, you're right," he said surprised, calming down immediately.

Even though they were underwater and had to swim, they could breathe perfectly as if it were air thanks to Azul's potion.

"We're actually breathing underwater!" Jack murmured, amazed.

Once adapted to the new environment, they observed the place where they had been left. It was a little dark, but they were close enough to the surface for sunlight to reach the underwater terrain and see everything. They were in an extensive rocky reef with beautiful green algae of different sizes, coral barriers of various colors, and some curious blue plants that they could not recognize. They could also see fish with shiny scales swimming in schools around them or looking for food in hidden corners. There was also an ancient-looking sunken ship not too far away that must have been abandoned for centuries.

Seeing it made Yuu feel a warm sensation on his left shoulder and some sudden curiosity about what treasures he could find there. Exploring that world under the sea was a whole new experience he wouldn't have even dreamt of, and wished now that Yukiko had gone with them to see it, too.

"Wow! Look at this coral reef, it's an amazing view!" Ace exclaimed, admiring the landscape, and formed a rectangle with the thumb and index finger of both hands. "If Cater saw this, I'm sure he'd be all 'This one goes to Magicam' and be snapping pictures left and right."

"And the fish here too, they're so cute," Yuu commented when he saw a school of angel fish, and they, as if they had understood him, approached him happily and quickly revolved around him in a spiral, creating a trail of bubbles.

Yuu would have stumbled in surprise if he wasn't underwater. The others reacted open-mouthed at this surprising animal interaction. "Woah..." Deuce murmured.

"Huh. Do fish usually do that with humans?" Grim asked, curious.

"No, they don't? What in the world was that about!?" Ace wondered, utterly shocked.

"It doesn't matter, we're not here to admire the views or play with fish," Jack reminded them and swam forward. "Let's hurry and find get what we came for."

They all set off swimming, but Grim had difficulty keeping up with them, and he was already starting to get tired. "Fgnaa! It's so hard moving underwater!" He complained.

"Move your rear legs too, you'll propel yourself like that and swim better," Yuu advised him when he noticed he was using only his forepaws.

Grim heard him and managed to push himself more easily. "Eh... I was already planning to do that, yanno!" He insisted unconvincingly and continued swimming.

There was still no sign of the museum, but if the Dark Mirror left them there based on their purpose, that meant it had to be nearby. They swam for about ten minutes and finally saw the silhouette of some tall towers.

"Oh, I see something," Deuce pointed out.

They came closer and found a huge palace-like building with tall towers, surrounded by rows of pillars of different heights forming undulations and giving a sensation of sea waves.

"Isn't that the Atlantica Memorial Museum?" Ace questioned. It was the first time he was there, but recognized the place from documentaries on television and images on the Internet.

Grim pointed to some people wearing delicate, blue capes that were swimming around the place, surprised by their singular appearance: "Fgna! Look, there are tons of people with fish tails instead of legs!"

"Mermaids!" Yuu gasped, amazed. Even if he had dreamed about it along with Yukiko, he would have never imagined seeing in real life those beings he could only see in stories, artistic works, or movies.

"Mermaids, huh? I didn't know there were actually people living down here" Jack commented.

"You didn't? I read something about mermaids in history books not long ago. The Sea Witch was one, for example," Yuu commented, surprised. It felt strange to hear something like that in a magical world where fairies, human beings with animal characteristics, and more creatures he hadn't seen yet lived.

"I heard once that not everyone knows much about merfolk because it's not easy to travel to the bottom of the sea," Ace explained. "You need potions to breathe underwater, like us, or book a tourist trip. Or at least that's what I know."

They kept swimming in the direction of the entrance, but before they could get too close, two long, menacing-looking shadows swimming in a circle were projected just below them on the ground, making it clear that they were stalking them.

"Aaaaaah~ ~ ~ ! You're finally here, Little Shrimpy and friends!" Floyd's voice sounded delighted to see them.

"Greetings, everyone. Are you enjoying the world under the sea?" Jade's voice welcomed them formally.

The first years were stopped in their tracks, feeling a chill and becoming alert. Those voices had sounded right above their heads and seemed to have been waiting for them. "Those voices... the identical brothers!" Grim recognized them and pointed up.

"That's right~ !" Floyd sang as he appeared in front of them along with his brother.

The surprise of seeing them there was immediately replaced by bafflement at the completely different appearance of both twins. Everyone suppressed a scream.

Except for the white color and some markings, their faces looked the same as always. But instead of legs, each one now had from the waist down an elongated fish tail that must have been about two meters long. Their body skin was the same bluish-green tone as their tails, both had a toned white torso exposed and had four markings on each side of their sides that could be assumed to be gills. Instead of ears, they had two fins that looked like those on their arms and the one on their back. Another detail was that they had small membranes between their fingers, which ended in long sharp nails...

"You! What's with that look!?" Jack stammered. Not even he would have dared to imagine them like this, shadier than usual.

"What do you mean? This is how we always look," Floyd replied with an innocent smile. "We're mermen, after all."

"Mermen!? But you had legs at school...!" Yuu got the courage to exclaim, thinking about everything he saw in Monstro Lounge.  Did that mean they were never humans in the first place?

Jade swam up a little to better show off his tail. "We use magic potions to change into the form we use on land. After all, it would be impossible to walk on solid ground with our fins."

"Man, you're freaking long! How tall, I mean, how LONG are you!?" Ace asked, overwhelmed. If he was intimidated before by how tall they were at school, now he was terrified to see them with a body twice their length.

Deuce realized that they looked much more different than the mermen they had just seen swimming around the museum and remembered that there was more than one species among them. "Are you sea snakes or something!?" He dared to ask, hoping not to offend and make him angry.

"Nope, we're morays," Floyd answered happily as he put his arm around his brother and both intertwined their tails.

"I don't care what you are, what the hell are you doing here?" Grim demanded to know, impatiently.

Both twins smiled evilly as if they had expected that question. "Ah ha ha! Isn't it obvious? We came here to get in your way," Floyd revealed.

"What!?" Yuu exclaimed. He was completely sure that preventing them from fulfilling their part of the contract was against what was agreed upon. Or was that what Azul meant when he mentioned a challenge?

"I should have known," Ace said with a frown.

"We can't let you accomplish your goal so easily," Jade refuted.

Seeing that there was no other option but to start a battle, Deuce did not hesitate to get his magical pen. "Then I'm making the first! Come forth, ice! Take this!"

He opted for ice magic as it was more effective and easier to control underwater. He quickly created four crystals and fired them at Floyd, but they deviated in different directions just as they were about to hit him.

"That magic ain't gonna hit me at all," Floyd, who hadn't even moved from his spot, mocked.

"Wild pitch! Watch where you're aiming!" Ace scolded Deuce and held on to his magical pen. "Eat this!"

He created an ice crystal of considerable size and threw it hard toward Jade's face, but, just like Floyd, he did not need to move a single muscle to avoid it because it suddenly deviated to the other side without even scratching his arm. "Heh, heh, heh. Where exactly were you aiming?" Jade teased, shocking Ace.

"You were saying!?" Deuce pointed at Ace, returning the complaint right back at him.

Petrified at having failed miserably as his mate, Ace examined his magical gem, trying to find some reason for his misstep. "No way. How could I fail like this...?"

Losing patience at their incompetence, Jack clicked his tongue and swam a few steps forward. "Out of the way, I'll do it!" He created an ice crystal of considerable size, too. "Take that!"

He threw it with all his strength towards Floyd's face but, as if a force suddenly pushed it away, the crystal shot upwards before it could even reach Floyd a hand's breadth and burst into small pieces before Jack's confused gaze. This time it was too obvious that the failure had nothing to do with poor aim... "How!? My spell changed direction just before hitting him. This is...?" He murmured.

"Eeeh. So you're paying attention, Sea Urchin," an impressed Floyd commented, confirming that the detours had not been an accident.

"Land beasts have good eyesight, after all," Jade added.

Excited by their winning situation and the bewilderment of their opponents, Floyd smiled from ear to ear in a sinister way. "I'll tell ya why your spells don't hit us: this is my Unique Magic, 'Bind the Heart'," he revealed. "It gets in the way of your attacks so you end up missing. Ain't that fun?"

"No, it's not fun at all! That's foul play, you cheater!" Grim screamed furiously.

Floyd happily swam away, but Jade crossed his arms and sighed somewhat disappointed. "Floyd, I don't appreciate you divulging everything in detail about your Unique Magic to other people," he complained calmly.

"Who cares? It's not like they can stop it even if they knew," Floyd replied as if it was a trivial matter.

"Fine, fine. It's good to see that your magic is working perfectly today. If you're happy with that, then so am I," Jade replied, giving in with a slight smile and subconsciously wishing his brother would never change. "Although I must say that it is quite troubling, since it never works when you are not in the mood."

In response, Floyd smiled back happily.

Yuu would have found it heartwarming that the scary brothers were getting along just as they had shown the day before if they weren't in the middle of a battle. In fact, Floyd saw him and swam toward his group at full speed. "C'mon, ya better run while you can! If I catch you I will wrap my tail. Who should I squeeze first?" He laughed menacingly.

The first years quickly swam away. Floyd had shown great physical strength and they didn't even want to imagine what the result of combining it with her underwater speed would be like.

"They're just playing with us...! If we keep this up, they'll give us a good beating!" Jack sputtered in frustration, knowing that they had nothing against two marine beings in their territory who, on top of that, couldn't be defeated with magic or physical attacks.

Understanding the severity of the matter and that they needed a plan to face the new danger, Yuu grabbed Grim and urged him to swim in the opposite direction. "Guys, retreat!" He exclaimed and they all left as fast as they could.

Seeing that they had accomplished their goal of preventing their entry into the museum as quickly as they planned, the twins stopped and let them flee. "Ahahaha! Come back all the times you want! You'll never defeat merfolk in the sea with those simple legs of yours," Floyd laughed as he watched them walk away.

"We shall patiently wait for your next visit," Jade said goodbye with a formal bow.

Grim took one last look back and clenched his jaw, frustrated and humiliated at losing. "Damn it...! We'll remember this!" He screeched as he continued swimming.

They followed the path back to where the Dark Mirror had left them and returned to the Mirror Chamber, where they fell carelessly to the floor. The potion effect became undone as he crossed the glass and breathed air again.

Deuce got up from the ground with difficulty. "Are you guys okay?" He gasped.

"Somehow..." Ace muttered tiredly.

After sitting on the floor, Jack thought about the unexpected encounter they had with the twins in their true forms. "I still can't believe those two were mermen all this time," he murmured.

"It was like being chased by sharks! It's unfair that they can swim so fast, yanno!" Grim complained, still with wounded pride as the anemone on his head bent down.

Ace nodded in agreement. "There's no way we can beat mermaids underwater..."

"But we need to get that photo, or we'll have to say goodbye to Ramshackle dorm," Grim remembered with dread.

Yuu had nothing to say. The fear of losing his dorm and being forced to work for Azul had become more palpable now that Azul had made it clear that he did not intend to keep up his end of the deal the easy way.

"Anyway, we need a new strategy," Deuce concluded as he stood up and straightened his uniform.

"You're right. Cater has a network of info, so let's go ask him," Ace proposed.

Seeing that Yuu still didn't dare to stand up, Jack extended a hand to him.

"Come on, let's go back to Savanaclaw and ask Ruggie and the others too," he proposed.

The prefect nodded and accepted his help to get on his feet.

Dusk had set in Savanaclaw dorm when Jack, Yuu, and Grim had sat down at the dinner table with Yukiko, Ruggie, and Leona. They told them everything that happened in the Coral Sea, the ambush, and the immediate failure of the mission.

Yukiko's jaw dropped when they revealed the Leech twins' true identity, but Ruggie and Leona seemed stunned for another reason.

"Hold on, you actually went to the Coral Sea?" Ruggie questioned as if it were the only thing he got from the story.

"How stupid can you get?" Leona sighed with disdain.

Jack and Yuu were overwhelmed by the sudden insult while Yukiko and Grim became upset with him.

"Excuse you!?" Yukiko screeched.

"Fgna!?" Grim exclaimed at the same time and pointed accusingly at Leona. "But YOU told us to hurry up and do it!" He reminded him.

Leona snorted irritably at the high-pitched voice grating in his ears. "Hmph. Nobody said anything about jumping into the ocean like idiots," he replied. "You're short on time, what I said was to use your brains and think of alternatives to find the best solution. It's impossible to get into a fight with merfolk under the sea and come out victorious. It's like if you served yourselves on a platter."

The first years exchanged a confused look: he was speaking as if he wasn't the least bit surprised that the Leechs weren't human. "Wait a minute, Leona... Did you already know that those twins were mermen?" Jack asked.

"Pretty much," the dorm leader responded nonchalantly as he returned to focusing on his soup.

"I saw Floyd in his original form during a joint swimming lesson we had last summer, so I can definitely imagine how scared you were being chased by him in that form..." Ruggie revealed, feeling a chill just remembering that inhuman appearance and the speed at which the one moved beneath the surface. "If that happened to me, my story would be over!"

Yuu got angry at Ruggie and Leona for the first time in his stay there. They could have been warned of that risk and saved time thinking about how to get the picture.

"Then you should have told us that in advance!" Jack yelled, coming forward.

Leona shrugged and continued eating. "You were the ones who jumped in before gathering information first. If you had asked, I would have told you everything in detail."

Ruggie put a piece of bread in his mouth. "Yeah, you gotta be more careful. Shi shi shi!" He mocked. "I told you before: you gotta plan your next move or you won't last long in the savanna."

Yukiko ended up losing her patience. Were they for real!? "Oh, of course, how did we not think of it? We had to casually go and ask: 'Hey, guys, are Jade and Floyd merfolk and they'll be waiting for us under the sea to attack us and not let us go to the museum?'" She said sarcastically before slamming her fists on the table. "Are you sh*tting on us!?"

Ruggie almost choked on his food with the scare. "Hey, hey! Calm down, we got it," he asked.

"Yuki's right, you're big jerks as ever," Grim growled.

Yuu didn't say anything, but he, for once, felt the same as his sister and his furry friend.

Jack made sure that Yukiko had calmed down enough to continue speaking. "So that means Azul was already planning to interfere with our goal from the start?" He questioned somewhat restlessly.

"Obviously," Leona responded as if it hadn't been clear.

"The Leech brothers work for Azul and are well known for claiming collateral and compensation from the clients they do deals with. There's also the rumor they get in people's way and will do anything to stop them from keeping their end of the deal."

The first years exchanged glances again, this time in dismay and disbelief.

Now it was Grim's turn to slam his paws against the table. "Whatta bunch of cowards and cheaters!" He exclaimed before his voice broke. "If Yuu loses, am I gonna keep workin' to the bone for Azul forever?

Yuu didn't know what to do, the situation had become much more complicated than he thought and he was already fearing the worst. "We'll find a way... Maybe," he simply muttered, but in reality, he couldn't think of a single idea that could help.

After seeing them like this, Leona looked at the table and put a hand to his chin, thoughtfully.

"Somethin' wrong, Leona?" Ruggie asked him, surprised to see him suddenly so quiet.

Leona stared at Yukiko and then turned to Yuu. "Azul's Unique Magic is called 'It's a Deal'," he revealed. "If someone signs a special contract with him, Azul can take away an ability from them. And if the target breaches the terms of the contract, they will be forced to absolute obedience".

The twins' eyes widened. Was Leona actually helping them?

"It's amazing 'cause it's a difficult magic that requires great skill, but... that guy's pretty shady," Ruggie sighed.

"In what sense?" Yuu asked.

"Azul seals the confiscated abilities inside contracts and then uses them himself whenever he wants," Leona explained.

Thinking of the words "abilities" and "himself," Jack jumped and immediately thought of everything they had seen of Azul the day before: his beautiful singing voice, being fluent in feline languages, and even his ability to create a potion that wasn't taught until third year. Everything made sense now... "So all those skills and complicated spells we saw him do..."

Yuu understood what he was getting at and gasped.

"They were most likely collaterals he's taken from people who signed before," Ruggie finished.

And now it was Jack who stood up and slammed his hands on the table, furious and indignant. Not only did Azul encourage people to avoid working hard to show their full potential, but he took advantage of what he stole to appear much better than he was. "What a dirtbag! He's nothing more than a scammer and a fraud!!" He shouted.

"Come on, stop slamming the table... But not really, his Unique Magic is pretty high-level itself. A plain fraud wouldn't pull something so elaborate like that," Ruggie replied.

"I never put any of my magic or abilities on the line for our deals, so I can't tell you how it works," Leona admitted.

"That's right, you mentioned something about it," Yuu remembered.

Jack sat back down and gave him a curious look. "Eh? Then what did you give as collateral for his deal?"

Leona growled in annoyance. "Grr... That's not relevant. And don't remind me," he replied, refusing to give details. It must have been something very serious or irritating for him if he said that. "In any case, as long as he continues to have the special contract, the deal will stay in effect. So that's why he tricks you using deceitful language to make you sign."

"And that's the thing: he makes you sign accordin' to terms that can't be met," Ruggie finished.

"The only way to defeat Azul is... not signing a contract with him in the first place. Hah," Leona added, smiling because he knew it was way too late.

"Thanks for the advice, it was so useful" Yukiko replied sarcastically.

"Fgna... What should we do...?" Grim whimpered, becoming desperate again.

Yuu put a hand to his forehead. "We can't lose, we need a plan soon..." He murmured.

Leona looked at them disdainfully. "Idiots, use your heads a little," he pointed at his temple. "The key to defeating opponents stronger than you is in here." He stabbed a piece of meat with his fork and brought it to his mouth. "However, if I were in your shoes... I'd start by looking for a way to tear up that contract."

Yuu blinked in surprise at the thought, but Grim shuddered just remembering when he tried to destroy that contract at the restaurant only to be electrified and lose miserably. "But those contracts are impossible to destroy..." He groaned, thinking of Azul's harsh words.

And now Leona gave a long, indignant sigh: "You guys are seriously short on brain cells."

"Exactly the type of person that would fall for a scam or someone impersonating someone else," Ruggie added as he shook his head.

"Ffgna!?" Grim, petrified by the new insults.

"I mean, what made you guys believe Azul when he said his contracts are 'completely indestructible'?" Ruggie insisted while making quotes with his fingers.

"What? But our attacks had no effect on him," Jack remembered, thinking that not even an entire horde of freedom-hungry students could even touch the dorm leader and the golden paper he was holding.

Ruggie flashed a big smile. "Haven't you considered the possibility... that everything wasn't nothing more than a performance?" He asked and emphasized the last word by making jazz hands.

"All magic has its weak point," Leona declared calmly. "Take that little red brat as an example, even his famous Unique Magic of sealing magic has its holes. No matter how good a magician may be, magic has its limits. So the idea of ​​Azul's 'It's a Deal' being absolutely invincible sounds rather absolutely impossible."

It was true that "Off With Your Head" was a very strong and advanced spell, but was incapable of sealing or resisting large amounts of magic like when Leona was about to lose himself and fall in Overblot.

"If 'It's a Deal' has a weak point, that means we might be better off looking for it here on land instead of facing the Leech brothers under the sea. It's that... what you're saying?" Jack understood, but he frowned with concern. That meant they would have to fulfill the goal differently than what was agreed upon and felt they would stoop to the level of that dishonest Octavinelle trio if he went for that idea. "It smells like foul play to me..."

Ruggie sighed, starting to get tired of seeing him like this. "Jack, listen here: it's good that you have principles and high morals, but I remind you that you weren't even any match for Azul even on land."

Jack flinched in response and looked away in embarrassment. "That's..."

"Those scoundrels did not hesitate to deceive naive herbivores and take advantage of them to strip them of their possessions. There's no reason for you to be the ones who play fair," Leona pointed out and smiled a chilling, evil smile. It doesn't matter if you cheat or go against what was agreed, the victory will be yours as long as the contract is annulled."

Those words reminded Yuu of Ruggie's words that morning about getting your way to get what you wanted... However, this time he couldn't let himself ignore it. Did they already forget the tournament?

"Whew~ ! That's our Leona: rotten to the core!" Ruggie cackled excitedly, proud of his boss and dorm leader.

"Haven't you learned anything from last time!?" Yuu reprimanded for the first time without fearing a negative reaction from the dorm leader. "Your plot got you falling into Overblot and then took you to the infirmary, remember?"

Leona just shrugged his criticism off. "I told you before: I always use any means necessary."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I kinda agree," Yukiko intervened, surprising the others. "If Azul says he's not keeping his end of the deal, then neither will we."

Seeing that it was the best idea they had and he couldn't think of anything else, Jack reflected on what his dorm leader had just said about him. "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth..." He murmured and ended up standing up decisively. "Ok, then. We have two days left, so we'll spend them following Azul and aim the chance to destroy that contract!"

Yuu also stood up. "Alright, let's do it!" He exclaimed.

Assuming there was nothing left to talk about, Leona also stood up. "Very well, then. Do your best and have fun, newbies," he said dryly and prepared to leave.

"Wait, what!? You tell us all that but won't help us!?" Grim exclaimed in disbelief. Riddle had lent them his help before and hoped another dorm leader -a rather cunning and strong one- would do the same.

Leona didn't even turn to look at him. "Why would I? I already gave you some pretty good hints, you plan the rest. See ya."

"I'm also outta here. Good luck, everyone~ !" Ruggie said as he stood up to follow him. "Don't forget to clean up and wash the dishes, and then we'll have to pick up Leona's room."

"Heartless jerks!!" Grim screamed with dismay when he saw that not only would they not help them, but they were also telling them to work.

On the other hand, Yuu and Jack looked quite satisfied with the information they received. Now they needed to meet with Ace and Deuce to plan a strategy.

However, Yukiko had a bad feeling and waited for the two upperclassmen to get far enough away before she got up too.

"Hey! Where do you think you're goin', Yuki?" Grim demanded to know, still exalted. "Don't you try scaping somewhere else, 'cause I'm ain't wash your plate, yanno!"

"Don't worry, I'll be right back. There's something I'd like to ask Leona..." Yukiko assured before leaving slowly.

"Is everything alright?" Yuu asked him.

"It's nothing. It'll be fast."

She followed them to the walkways that led to the bedrooms, careful not to make any noise with her steps on the wooden floor. The only lights were from the hanging lamps and the moon through the immense glass that offered wonderful sights to the outside. Lacking corners, plants, and furniture to hide behind, she approached as best she could and crouched slightly in a shadow out of their sight to watch them from afar. She hoped they wouldn't notice her.

"That was unusual of you, Leona," Ruggie said suddenly, breaking the silence. "It's not like you to give out advice and info like that."

Yukiko gasped softly, Ruggie had the same question as her.

"Huh?" Leona questioned disinterestedly, pretending not to know what he was referring to.

Ruggie smirked. "Did ya perhaps become attached to those adorable and sincere first years?"

Leona stopped walking and huffed in response. "Moron. As if," he said dryly before smiling evilly. "If we use those newbies to our advantage, we'll find that octo-punk's weakness without lifting a finger. Not like I'm expecting much from them."

Ruggie stared at him in silence before chuckling again. "I see. I'd expect nothin' less from you, Leona."

He had been upset with him for a while after seeing him give up right before the tournament and immediately wounding him with his Unique Magic, but Ruggie felt relieved that Leona -the cunning and scheming man he had known since the previous year- was still the same even after those horrible experiences.

Leona continued without moving from her seat and looked disdainfully towards a corner. "And I didn't expect anything less from you either, Yuki. You've been feeling suspicious of me since this morning."

Ruggie's eyes widened, he looked around and finally set eyes on her. He had heard footsteps and felt someone's presence a moment ago, but shrugged it off as a student returning to his room. He felt a deja-vú, was it going to be common for first years to try and spy on their conversations? It was the second time already!

Yukiko cursed to herself and bent down awkwardly. She had been as cautious as possible and still got caught.

"Come on, get out of there," Leona urged. "I already noticed you a while ago; the sound of your footsteps is lighter than the rest here and there's barely any spots to hide here."

Clenching her fists and jaw in embarrassment, the girl walked towards them, illuminated by the moonlight.

"Shishishi! Did you like the idea of ​​spying on Azul so much that you decided to do the same with us? Or were you looking for a chance to get revenge and scare me from behind?" Ruggie laughed, although he was impressed by the fact that she had been able to follow them there without being noticed for a while. Being short had its advantages, it seemed.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?" Leona asked calmly. "It must be very important if you can't wait until tomorrow. What's bothering you this time?"

Yukiko looked away and swallowed her pride before looking Leona in the eyes defiantly. "I've heard everything. What do you intend to do with Yuu and the others?" She demanded to know. "And don't try to deny it this time."

Leona stared at her indifferently before crossing his arms and sighing.

"Oh, you hurt my feelings, Yuki," he said dryly. "I thought you trusted me a little more by now. You just heard the key information I just shared with you all."

Ruggie suppressed a light laugh, putting Yukiko on even more nerves: "Cut the crap! Alright, you've made it clear that you don't like my brother; but I won't tolerate you hurting him, he has more than enough with Azul. What are you planning to do now?"

As much as she accepted his advice to train her magic and did her best at club activities, Yukiko was more loyal to her family and friends than the Savanaclaw dorm; Leona was aware of that and knew that he would not change her mind or side with him, no matter the offers and advantages. "Well, since you still don't completely trust me, I don't see why I should share anything with you," he said austerely, and Yukiko clenched her fists in frustration. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want you to spill the most important parts to your dear big brother as soon as you hear it." Then he softened his gaze, still maintaining his firmness. "But to give you peace of mind, I can assure you I have no intention of harming anyone, not even him or his stupid raccoon. If I wanted to harm them, I would have done so already."

Yukiko's face relaxed, but she still didn't feel very convinced by that statement. "You can... 'assure' it?"

"It's up to you whether you decide to believe it or not, but I have way more important things than thinking about how to mess with a couple of herbivores just for fun. Didn't you think about it? Or must I remind you that I first refused to let them stay here?"

"They're also quite useful. Right now I could give myself a break by leaving the job of washing my dishes to them. Shishishi!" Ruggie intervened. "I'd be a shame to lose them early."

Leona smirked again. "That's right. Since I have two 'guests' occupying space in my room, I think I have the right to take advantage of the situation and use them to my favor and discover the weak point of a schemer like Azul, nothing more. This way we kill two birds with one stone: they discover it and get out of their deal, and I get interesting information I could use for the future. That's the main idea."

In the end, it wasn't as serious as the sabotage of the tournament, but there was something that still didn't add up to Yukiko. "But why are you so interested in knowing Azul's weak point? It's not like you have any debts with him," she questioned, now surprised. She couldn't think of what his reason for wanting to see his defeat could be.

"Ah ah. I already told you I'm not sharing any more details with you," Leona reminded calmly. "But I bet you're calmer, now that I've confirmed that I won't be the one sending them to the infirmary. It'll be up to them if they get into trouble."

Yukiko looked away for a second before staring back at him. "Okay, it's clear you don't plan anything else. But that doesn't mean I had my reasons to distrust you."

"I guess I can't blame you much for that, but let me give you some advice for next time," Leona continued: "If you really wish to protect them, instead of using your energy and distrust towards me, you should do it with the trickster who convinced your brother to sign the contract and also tried to do the same with you. It will be more productive for you and this way you will successfully achieve your goal."

"Oh! Words to live by," Ruggie murmured, impressed again by his dorm leader. "To be honest, it's good that you want to protect those who matter to you; I can perfectly understand that. But you shouldn't be distracted from monitoring your territory by chasing prey that isn't even worth it, or you'll lose more than winning advantages."

She looked at them thoughtfully. "Understood," she simply replied.

"I don't care if you tell the others about my intentions, it's not like it's going to change things. But hey, if that was everything, is there anything else you want to ask?" Leona questioned and Yukiko shook her head silently. "Good, then I wish you a good night."

"See ya, Yuki. Be careful on your way back to Ramshackle," Ruggie said goodbye and turned around with Leona.

Yukiko looked at them in silence for a moment, and when she was about to leave too, Leona suddenly stopped and turned to look at her again. "I almost forgot: Can I count on you for tomorrow's club activities if you feel healthy enough?"

"Yes, dorm leader," she stated before immediately turning pale and covering her mouth. "AH!"

Caught completely by surprise, Leona and Ruggie's eyes widened. "Wait... Am I hearing things or did you just address Leona as your dorm leader?" Ruggie inquired while slowly turning around again and revealing his fangs with a big smirk. He tried not to laugh.

"No, I didn't!" Yukiko insisted in her miserable attempt to deny it.

Leona also smiled mockingly. "Don't try to deny it, I heard it loud and clear. It's the first time you say it. Was this lesson so valuable that you're starting to accept me as your dorm leader? I'm glad you feel that way."

"No, it's not that! I heard it from Jack so many times that it must have slipped, it means nothing!"

"Something tells me you're as bad at hiding what you feel as he is. Even your face is red."

"I have nothing to hide! You know what? It's been a very long day for everyone, see you later!"

Yukiko hurried away before giving them a chance to say anything else; she heard Leona's soft laugh from afar, amused by the moment. She wasn't trying to deny anything, she may respect Leona to some extent as a prince and dorm leader, but she was far from liking him and even more from being on the same page.

He may have confirmed not having the intention of harming her friends, but she still had a hard time accepting that they needed assistance from someone with the same attitude and behavior as those miserable idiots, those who had harmed her and her family in the past, like that witch and that backstabber...

However, she remembered Leona's advice and stopped thinking about it to focus on what was important now. Surely the others were wondering why she was taking so long and they still had a lot of work to do if they wanted to destroy that damned contract.

[Published on 22/7/2024]