Pitch Black Grim

Chapter 3 - Venus Fly Trap

An old door creaked open, letting the two guards into a small office. Mary and Grim followed them without much delay.

Inside, a woman that looked to be in her early twenties glanced up from what appeared to be a bunch of paperwork. Next to her was a small plant, visually resembling a Venus Fly Trap, with a mango-shaped tongue that illuminated her features.

Her long, wavy red hair went all the way down to the middle of her back, with a few locks of hair tangling up in her slim shoulders and tight clothes. Her legs were crossed under the table, with only her bland shoes sticking out at the guests. Her tired head was supported by her left palm, with the nails painted a light pink hue on both hands, as her brown eyes glanced back and forth between Mary and Grim.

"What is it?" She sighed as she looked at one of the guards.

"They are here to enroll in school, ma'am." A guard leaned closer to her, and whispered.

"Both of them?" She quickly picked her head up and snapped at the guard.

"No." He shook his head, as the two men stopped at her left and right sides. "I'm afraid only the boy is."

The woman glanced at Grim, taking a long look this time around. The child had just finished his ice cream. His mouth closely resembled the catastrophe that is a kitten's chin after drinking milk out of a bowl for the first time. His hands were not in a much more recognizable state either. His innocent expression painted a really dumb picture.

"Why is he swimming in ice cream?" She turned towards the guard, as Mary and the boy had to listen awkwardly to their conversation. But before the guard could even attempt to answer, she snapped back at Grim. "Whatever." She leaned slightly closer to the boy. "Who are you?"

"Grim." He paused for a moment, searching for more things he could say about himself, with little success. "I want to learn magic."

She cracked up, covering her mouth with a hand gently. "Not a man of words, are you?" She handed a handkerchief to the boy. "Clean yourself up."

"Just hand us the papers we need to fill out." Mary stated in an unusually impatient manner.

"Hold on, Missie." She addressed Mary strangely, despite her age being half of Mary's. "Who said we're admitting him?"

Mary gasped at this revelation. Aren't they admitting anyone willing to join? she thought.

"Did you attend the RMS back in the day?" She looked at Mary with a confident, smirky expression. "You look like you did, but it doesn't seem like you've been keeping up with things since." She rested her gaze. "Things have changed now." She let out a big sigh as she got up from the table. "New regulations only allow a select few in." Her eyes looked down as she began walking towards Grim. "This isn't a magic school anymore. Not in the regular sense anyway."

"What do you mean?" Mary asked.

"Things changed after the war." Her eyes turned grayer as she stopped in front of Grim. "People turned away from magic, seeing it as a tool of destruction, a causer of pain, inflictor of mass suffering." She lightly grabbed the chin of the boy. "Many schools closed down; the rest became inaccessible, or restricted. Only a few attends these." She lifted the head of Grim until their eyes met.

"Do you really want to live a life like that, little man?" she asked Grim with a sorrowful expression.

How did I not hear of this? Her eyes narrowed in all sorts of emotions.

"Did Tokiko study here?" he asked after a short pause, with such a casual tone, it almost completely broke the tension.

"Tokiko?" The woman looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "I've never heard that name before. What user was she?"