A loud knocking came to the Ramshackle Duo's door before the sun hadn't even risen yet. Grim was the first one to wake up, surprisingly. He rolled to his stomach and stretched his limbs as the knocking became louder. "Who is that...?" he groaned as he flew toward the door. He unlocked and pulled it open, revealing a familiar white-haired senior.

"Can you keep it down?" Grim yawned, not afraid of how Mustafa's eye twitching in annoyance. "It's too early, yanno..."

"That's the point," he huffed. "We will be marching 10 kilometers to the East Oasis."

Grim's jaw dropped, all sleepiness had disappeared. "Ten kilometers of walking on a harsh desert?! Why'd we have to do something like that?!"

"The prefect order." He peeked into the room, noticing Jonah who raised his head from Grim's shouting but still in a daze. "He's not sick, is he?"

Grim turned to Jonah. His ears went down. "Not exactly."

Mustafa rubbed the back of his neck. "Then he'll be joining as well." Grim whipped his head to him, shocked by the lack of leniency. The Scarabia senior could only shrug. "Hurry or else Kalim will be mad."

He quickly left, not really wanting to get into an argument with the pissed-off cat. Grim huffed, slamming the door slightly harder than he expected. Glancing back to Jonah, he saw the boy scooted to sit at the side of the bed. He flew to the front of the boy's face. "You sure you'll be okay?" he asked, tapping Jonah's cheek to gain his attention.

Jonah grasped Grim's paw, breathing slowly before nodding. "I'll try."

-----

The resident of Scarabia gathered in the courtyard, all lined up in front of an elephant where Kalim sat inside the open palanquin on its back. Jamil stood at the very front of the line with a firey baton. Behind him, were the students on a horse while carrying a pole with a long ribbon-like flag, followed by the others on the with drums. Then came the marching band with giant tambourines, drums, even horns. Jonah was unfortunately got the line behind it with the flags, slightly grateful he didn't have to play any instruments (a terrible reminder of his not-so-great final score in music class), but unfortunately, he was separated from Grim, who got the last line with the dancers with feathers.

"Now then, let's begin marching towards the East Oasis!" Kalim shouted, somehow loud enough that Jamil could hear him. "Anyone who falls behind will be lectured later!"

"What did I get myself into..." Grim grumbled, fixing the giant feather crown on his head. What was he supposed to be? A peacock?

Kalim, somehow, heard that. "Stop talking and move those feet!" he shouted, making Grim jumped. "Let's go!"

The horn section was the first one to play their instrument, followed by the drums and tambourines. Jamil leading them, spinning his baton, while the flag holders slammed the end of their flag to the ground to follow the rhythm. The dancers leaped and waved their arms tied with a thin beautiful shawl (poor Grim, he tried his best to follow their movement). They walked nonstop with Kalim occasionally screaming when one slowed down. You can't really blame all of them. The Scarabia's desert sun was harsher than the regular warm sun if that was possible, not to mention, none of them got enough rest since the surprise announcement last night and the sudden change of moods from the prefect. It felt like hours until Kalim finally screamed.

"All of you, stop!"

Collective sighs echoed through the ground, some were leaning on their flag with the others collapsed to the sand, not even minding the burn. Kalim rolled his eyes at them. "Tired from just that?" he spatted. He climbed down the elephant watching the pathetic students. "It's because of that attitude that we couldn't place in the tournament and in tests! I was a fool for not realizing that I've been too lenient on all of you until yesterday."

Jamil wiped the sweat from his brow as he threw his baton to the ground. "We will be resting for 15 minutes," he announced, "And then we'll be marching back towards the dorm.

Jonah fell to his butt, panting as he pulled his hood back. The sun heat immediately hit the top of his head, which was as worse as being steamed with his hood on.

Grim was crawling on his stomach toward the oasis. "Water, water..." he cried. However, when he reached the pool, his eyes widened when he realized that the oasis was dry. There was not a single drop of water in the pool and the plants, palm trees and bushes were dead dry. "Wha-This oasis has no water! Not even a single drop!"

"Wa... Ter...?" Kalim mumbled, gaining Jonah's attention. He blinked slowly repeating the word. He nodded several times like he tried to stay awake, before he lifted his head again, eyes wider than the squinting eyes he had earlier. "Water... Do you want some water?"

"Of course!" Grim yelled. "My throat's so dry...!"

"Then I'll get you some perfectly cool and delicious water to drink!" he said, voice raised slightly in excitement. Skipping to the edge of the pool, he took out his magical pen and performed a small dance. "[Unwind on the hot sands. An endless party. Sing, dance]!" His pen turned into his staff before he spun it above his head. "[OASIS MAKER]!"

Pointing it to the sky, he summoned a giant magic circle. Rain poured down from the air and the Scarabia students were never been so grateful as right now.

"Whoa~!" Grim raised his paws. "Blessed rains, finally~!"

Ashoka laid on the now cool sand. "So good~!"

Yudhi cupped his hands, collecting a handful of water before splashing it to his face. "It's perfect for a weary body...!" he sighed.

Chandra tilted his head and opened his mouthed, shamelessly gulping the rain. "I feel alive again...!"

Kalim giggled, resting his staff on his shoulder. "Glad you like it! If it's water you need, I can create enough to fill the whole oasis to the brim."

Jonah, no longer feeling like he was being deep-fired. "Oasis Maker, was it? Is that your unique magic?"

"But 'making lotsa water' sounds pretty ordinary for a unique magic," Grim said. "There's a lot of water-summoning magic, too, right."

"Aw, don't be like that," Kalim pouted, but quickly returned to his smiling self. "Making lots with only a little energy and magic is my Oasis Maker's selling point. Being able to conjure lots of water during an age without proper water supplies and heating has its own merit, you know? Well, it is pretty mediocre in here, but back in my hometown, this was a blessing from dehydration."

"I guess Land of Hot Sands is like Scarabia, huh?" Jonah said.

"But somehow drier," Kalim looked up to the sky, letting the slowed-down rain hit his face. "Dad always has our door open for those who need water. Sometimes he takes me to fill the people's well too, especially during the dry season. I'm just glad I can help others with my unique magic in some ways."

"Now that you mention it..." Grim stuck out his tongue before smacking his lips. "You have a point. It's a gentle coolness and it's not really tepid at all. It's the kinda water that's really fresh and makes me wanna drink it non-stop, yanno."

"Can a monster differentiate between types of water though?" Jamil asked, looking at him skeptically.

Grim glared at him. "What?! You're just being rude! My palette is unparalleled, yanno!"

"Yup, yup~" Kalim knelt next to Grim. "I knew Grim would know the difference!" He dug inside his pocket before taking out a pack of dry crackers. "Here, have some cracker!"

"Wait! I'm not eating dry food right-AJKFNLKDMALFNL!!?!?!" He didn't get to protested further as Kalim shoved the crackers into his mouth.

Watching the cheerful exchange, Jonah couldn't help but frown. "The prefect is totally different from when we left the dorm," he mumbled.

Mustafa who stood beside him sighed. "You can never guess when he will change back to his usual self. It'll always happen in an instant."

"Still..." What caused him to switch personalities? Was it because of Grim's pleading? That couldn't be right. There must be a trigger or something...

"Kalim, the break's almost over," Jamil said as he tapped the prefect's shoulder. "Let's gather everyone and head back.

Kalim looked up at him. "Already? We can let them rest for a little bit longer, can't we?"

Jamil shook his head. "The sun will be at its peak if we wait a little longer. It'll be harsher on everyone if we don't move now."

Kalim looked to the sky. His rain had stopped and the sun was blazing down at them. "That makes sense," he mumbled. He nodded confidently before standing up. "Guys! We'll be eating when we get back, so let's do our best!" The students seemed to have higher morale than the last time, probably glad that their prefect was back to normal.

But still... Jonah watched Kalim climbed back to his palanquin. What was the switch?

-----

"Excuse us~ Little fairy~" Barret called as he and his two other ghost friends flew into the empty cafeteria through the window, carrying several logs in his arms.

There was no response. "They can't hear us without the fire lights up," Soo mumbled.

"Come on." Lou motioned the two of them to follow him to the giant fireplace in the room. Barret placed the firewood into the place as Lou arranged it. Soo had a box of matches in his hand. Flicking a stick of fire, he threw it to the log as an invitation. It didn't take another second for the fire to come blazing in. A little fae, with dress and hair blazing, came out from the fire. It opened its mouth, letting out a sound similar to a crackle of a fire.

"You're welcome," Barret grinned. "It's our job to keep you alive."

Soo smacked the back of his head. "Don't talk like they're going to die."

They waved to the fire fae before flying away, already finished with their important job, they headed to their home. The students they flew above waved at them (they had cleared them misunderstanding between them about the speculation of the three kids being some sort of cheeky log-stealing ghosts). When they were close to the Ramshackle Dorm, Lou stopped flying, causing Soo and Barret to crash behind him. Before they could protest, Lou pointed at the dorm's gate. "There's someone there."

It was true, a student was standing by the gate, back leaning against the iron, reading something with a piece of paper in his hand. Noticing the approaching ghosts, he smiled at them, fang peeking out his lip. "Good day there, children," he greeted, putting the card into his jacket pocket.

"Who are you?" Lou asked.

"Mine name is Lilia Vanrouge," he said with a hand on his chest, slightly bowing. "May I bid thou three a question?"

The three ghosts exchange a glance. Nodding to each other, they turned back to the boy. "Sure," Lou said.

"The sirrah whom stays hither," the boy, Lilia, glanced at the dorm, before turning back to the ghosts, "is he not back yet?"

"'Sirrah'?" Barret whispered to Lou.

"I think he means Jonah," Lou whispered back. He answered Lilia, shaking his head, "No. He's probably still in that training camp. But he should be back today."

"No, he's not," Soo pointed out. "The training camp got extended, right?"

Lilia blinked in surprise. "Oh, is that so?"

Soo nodded. "Yeah. A letter came in two days ago."

"May I see it?" Lilia asked again. The three ghosts glanced at each other again before nodding. Soo flew to the dorm, passing the door, before flying through the open window, carrying an opened envelope. Giving it to Lilia, the Diasomnia student took out the letter.

To: Parents of Jonah Argentum

From: Kalim al-Asim, Prefect of Scarabia, Night Raven College

First and foremost, I want to say thank you for letting your son attend the training camp that we are holding from the 1st to 15th December. Unfortunately, the last-minute agreement from us all, students of Scarabia, to extend the camp until the 2nd January. We will provide your son with the best service so they will be even more prepared for the next semester. We are really sorry for the sudden notice.

Lilia frowned. "Didst Young Argentum mention this?" he asked, looking up to the ghosts.

Lou shook his head. "No. Neither he nor Grim stop by."

Lilia sighed. "Well, this is unsettling." He gave the letter back to Lou before taking out his magical pen. He rubbed the gem in a circular motion, watching the green smokey light spiraled in it. It took him a while before the face of a familiar bird-masked man appeared.

["Sir Lilia?"]

"Dire. We may hast a problem."