My Dream

🐙 Enter the Benevolent Dealmaker

Jack and Gwen followed the three to see a large crowd.

"This is... the Hall of Mirrors that connects to all the dorms." Jack realized.

Gwen realized that everyone in the giant crowd had anemones sprouting from their heads. They were all from different dorms as well as being from different years.

"I totally thought I'd make it into the top 50 this time!" A Heartslabuyl student complained.

"Dammit, he tricked me!" A Savanaclaw student roared. "That cheating octopus bastard!"

"This totally ruins my school life!!" A Scarabia student whined.

"What the!?" Jack's ears flattened in shock as his tail stiffened. "There's a whole bunch of other guys besides those three idiots with anemones on their heads!" Jack, who had a much better vantage point than Gwen, examined the crowd. "There's some 2nd and 3rd years too. And they're all heading to the mirror for Octavinelle dorm."

"They're all complained about their test ranking." Gwen realized. "Who's this cheating octopus bastard?" She wondered. "A-are they talking about Azul?"

"Let's go take a look." Jack said. Still keeping a tight grip on Gwen's hand, he led the way as the two followed the crowd through the mirror.

Gwen had been in the Octavinelle dorm before, but it was still an amazing sight. "This place is the opposite of Savanaclaw." She said. "I still can't believe it's underwater."

Jack had not seen this dorm before, and looked very impressed. "You're kidding me!" He said. "Night Raven College is amazing!" He coughed, looking embarrassed. "We're taking a step into another dorm's territory. Don't get distracted and keep your guard up."

Jack and Gwen followed the crowd all the way into the Mostro Lounge.

"All the anemones are gathering here it seems." Gwen noted. "There's a huge number of people."

"100... no, looks closer to 200 people." Jack counted. "But what is this place? Looks like a cafe..."

"It's the Mostro Lounge." Gwen explained. "It's run by Octavinelle as a way to make money."

"Mostro Lounge?" Jack repeated. "Where'd Ace and the others go?"

Suddenly, all the lights went out. A single spotlight shone on the stage, illuminating Azul Ashengrotto.

"Well well." Azul looked out over the gathered crowd. "You poor, unfortunate souls who couldn't make it into the top 50 for test scores. Welcome to the Mostro Lounge. I am sure you all are more than aware of who I am but allow me to introduce myself again. I am Azul Ashengrotto. I am the dorm head of Octavinelle, the boss of Mostro Lounge, and... the man who will be your master from this day on."

"What now?" Jack asked as the lights all came back on.

Gwen giggled at the dramatics. Azul was taking this so seriously, which only made it worse!

Gwen's giggles drew Azul's attention over to her. She's here! Everything's going to plan! He allowed himself a victorious smile, before returning his attention to the crowd.

"You all challenged me and lost." Azul continued. "In accordance with the contract, from now until you graduate, I will have you work yourselves to the bone as my servants."

"Hold up." Ace cut in. "This is straight up fraud!"

"I believe you are the first year, Ace Trappola." Azul looked down at him from the stage. "Calling it fraud is rather rude. The notebook I gave you as my part of the contract should have had a perfect plan for taking the tests. If you followed it to the letter you should have had no problem scoring over 90 points."