Twisted Wonderland Book 4: Schemer of the Scalding Sands

Chapter 8: A Friendly Personality

Sometime later, after the training session, Kalim, Jamil, Briar, and the others begin to walk out of the dorm.

"Okay, training done! Now let's be off!" Kalim happily says.

He then grabs Briar by her hand and then runs off with her.

"Hey, wait for us!" Grim calls out.

We're coming!" Sereia says.

Trinket tinks in reply.

Soon, the Ramshackle Dorm group rush off to follow Kalim and Briar.

"Wait, you've got other work to—" Jamil calls out, but they're already out of his sighs.

Jamil sighs in reply.

A little time later, Kalim begins to give the RamshackleDorm group the tour of the Scarabia Drom.

Grim looks around and is amazed, "Maaan, this place is FAN-CY! Nothin' at all like Ramshackle Dorm."

"Or any other dorm for that matter," Jasper says.

"This place is amazing," Briar says.

"Is it really that impressive to you?" Kalim asks, "I know that back when I enrolled, Dad said he donated a bit to the school to give the place a fresh coat of paint, but..."

"Geez, how rich are you?! Are you some kinda prince like Leona?" Grim asks, in surprise.

But Kalim says, "The Asims aren't royalty, and I'm not a prince. I've got some relatives in the royal family, though."

"Wait, Asim? I thought your name was Al-Asim," Grim asks, confused.

Kalim explains, "'Al' means 'son' in the ancient language of the Land of the Scalding Sands. So we name families after the founders that start them. And all the men of that time refer to themselves as the founder's son. In my case, Asim is our honored founder's name, and 'Al' means son... So Kalim Al-Asim means Kalim, Son of House Asim."

"Huh, I never thought much about where names come from. Fascinatin'," Grim says.

"Very interesting," Tanzanite says.

"I hope that wasn't too in-depth for you? Anyway, feel free to just call me Kalim," Kalim says.

"This place really is a melting pot of students from all over," Briar says.

"It's amazing," Sereia says.

Then Kalim says, "You should pay the Land of the Scalding Sands a visit sometime! I'd be happy to have you as guest."

"I bet you live in some kinda fancy mansion that's halfway to bein' a castle," Grim says.

But Kalim says, "Oh, hardly. We only have around a hundred helpers.

"'Only'?" Grim questions, "In what world does that deserver 'only'?! I've only got five henchmen, myself..."

"Hey!" Sereia, Tanzanite, and Jasper shouts, not very pleased.

Not even Trinket is happy for being a henchman

Then Kalim says, "Well, we're a big family. We need at least that many people to look after them all."

"Sorry you have THAT many siblings?!" Grim asks, shocked.

"I didn't know you have other siblings," Briar says.

"Yeah, so many I quit counting. I do remember all of their names and faces, though. Aha ha!" Kalim says, and laughs it off.

"You guys do everything on a whole other level..." Grim replies.

Then Kalim says, "Jamil's mom and dad are among our servants. So Jamil's always around and looked after me ever since he was a young boy. And he is seriously amazing, believe me. He's smart, thoughtful, and most of all, he's a great cook!"

"The proof of that last one's in the puddin', for sure," Grim replies.

"You see? You should stay over for dinner tonight! Come on!" Kalim happily says.

"Uh, sure..." Grim replies.

Then Kalim walks onward.

Then Grim says to the others, "Yeesh, talkin' with this guy throws me off."

"You don't find people this nice at our school every day," Briar says with a smile.

"Maybe, but I'm just waiting to see what happens," Jasper says.

"Why's that?" Tanzanite asks.

"Because something has always happened to us," Jasper answers.

Just then, they hear Kalim calling out to them, "Hey, you guys! What are you hanging back and whispering for? Come on, this way."

"Okay," Briar says.

The group then follows Kalim down the hall and soon reaches the room. Kalim opens the door and walks inside. Briar and the others follow. Upon inside, and the lights turn on, everyone is surprised to see so many different kinds of treasures, coins, jewels, vases and even some fabric and carpets.

Grim is beyond shocked, "Sweet mother of loot! What IS this place? It's got piles of treasure taller than I am!"

This is all stuff Dad sent with me when I departed for school. I couldn't possibly fit it in my dorm room, so it's all kept here in the storeroom," Kalim says.

"Storeroom?" Sereia says, confused.

But Grim says, "This ain't a storeroom! This's a whole treasury!"

"Ooh, you know some big words, Grim. very impressive!" Kalim says. "My favorite out of all these treasures is, of course..." He looks around and says, "Huh. Where'd it go? Sometimes it moves around on its own."

Kalim walks around and calls out, "Hey, where are you?"

"Wait, did you say moves on its own? What sort of treasure are you talking about?" Briar asks, confused.

Meanwhile, Grim and the others are looking around the storeroom.

Grim is amazed, "Wooow... Huge gemstones just scattered on the floor, shiny golden goblets..." He then smirks and says, "With this much stuff, surely no one would notice if one little thing went missing... Myeh heh heh..."

Jasper turns to Grim and angrily says, "Don't even think about it, Grim!"

"Alright alright!" Gim says.

Suddenly, something sneaks behind Grim and pokes him on the shoulder.

Grim brushes it off, "Trinket, I'm kinda busy!"

Then something pokes his shoulder again.

"Yeesh, whaddaya want? I'm tryin' to—" Grim says, annoyed and turns to see who he believes is Trinket.

However, he comes face to face with a floating sentient persian carpet. Its collar is red, black, and gold yellow.

Seeing the carpet waves, Grim screams in fright, "GYAAAH!"

That catches everyone's attention.

Grim screams and panics, "Th-the carpet's movin' all on its own! It's been possessed by a ghost!"