Twisted Wonderland Book 6: The Watchman of the Underworld

Chapter 20: An Abrupt Collision

Being confronted by Crewel, Jack answers, "Ruggie and Rook asked me to check up on the guys in here. What about you, Professor Crewel?

"I heard a pair of pups from my class got injured. Really, how can these whelps be so foolhardy?" Crewel answers.

He then notices Sereia, Jasper, and Tanznantie's injuries, "Hm. On second glance, I see these three pups have some minor injuries. Come here. I can patch up simple scrapes."

"Which beds are Deuce and Ace in?" Jack asks, but turns to his right, "...Oh."

He notices Ace and Deuce are lying on the beds unconscious. Epel is sitting up on the bed after regaining consciousness and gets out of bed.

"They haven't woken up yet," Epel answers.

"Should you be up, Epel?" Jack asks.

"I'm fine. Still a little shaky, but that's all," Epel says.

"I analyzed the residual traces of the spell they cast on you. It was designed to stun. Unfortunately, you sustained greater injuries because of where you fought," Crewel says.

"What do you mean, Professor?" Epel asks.

"I mean, enemies and friendlies alike are bound to get hurt when you fire off magic in an old, derelict building," Crewel says, "Freshmen would have a hard time using attack magic while simultaneously trying to shield themselves from falling debris. Surprise battles require the coolest of heads. Otherwise, you'll wind up like they did."

"Heh..." Epel replies and lets out a small giggle, "You do have a point. I do remember a bunch of debris falling during the fight."

"Come to think of it, there were also a number of cauldrons falling from the roof..." Tanzanite says.

"Yeah, those spell blasts sent glass shards flying everywhere," Jasper says.

"We didn't even stand a chance against them," Sereia says.

"This is the problem with bad boys who act without thinking. I plan to train them all over again when they wake," Crewel says.

"But they did it to save Grim..." Epel explains.

"Not to mention Jamil and Vil as well," Jasper adds.

But Crewel says, "Their reasons are irrelevant. It's a trainer's job to scold pups when they do something phenomenally stupid. They got off lucky this time. What if those soldiers had cast lethal spells? Things would've ended much differently then."

Epel sighs, "...You're right. I'm sorry. Vil must've known that, which is why he ordered the freshmen to stay back...An' then Ah went an' made an idjit outta mahself. An' what do Ah got show for it? A big ol' whoopin', that's what. They hauled Vil and the others off, an' all Ah could do was stand an' watch..."

Jasper groans in frustration, "I felt so useless back there."

"We couldn't do anything to save them," Sereia sadly says.

Trinket sadly nods her head.

"...No one can do everything right out the gate," Jack says.

"Huh?" Epel and the others reply, confused.

Then Jack says, "The housewardens and vice housewardens didn't start out as amazing mages. They went through trials of their own, and that's what made them stronger. Moping about what you COULDN'T do isn't gonna help matters. What can you do NOW? That's what we should be focusing on. So quit your bellyaching... It's like nails on a chalkboard."

"Jack..." Epel replies, surprised.

"Nicely said, Howl. That's the right attitude," Crewel says, "The faculty will look into what we can do about our abducted students and the headmage."

Then says to the students, "Felmier, Sereia, Tanzanite, Jasper, Trinket, I expect you all to rest and recuperate for now."

"Yes, sir. I can walk now, so I'll head back to my dorm," Epel says.

"Okay sir," Sereia says.

The others nod in reply.

"I'm not seeing any Savanaclaw students here, so I'd best get back too," Jack says.

"Professor Crewel, please take good care of Ace and Deuce," Epel says.

"Please, don't insult me," Crewel responds, "These pups are under my supervision. Of course I'll take care of them. That goes for all of you as well...and Briar and Grim, of course. All the 1-A students are pups under the tutelage of the great Crewel. On that note, how DARE someone else discipline a pup from MY kennel. I'm boiling with rage!"

"Yeah! Ah'm real teed off mahself!" Epel says.

Then Crewel commands, "SIT. Listen, pups. The adults will figure out what to do next. So stay put and don't get any funny ideas."

"Yes, sir! We'll be going then!" The students say.

Later on Main Street,

Jack turns to Sereia and others, "Say, Jasper. Since Ramshackle's all busted up, where are you and the others gonna stay?"

"Well, despite the hole on the wall, everything else seems to be okay," Jasper says.

"As long as we have a roof over our heads, we'll be okay," Tanzanite says.

Then Epel says, "Hey, guys? You all should stay at Pomefiore until Ramshackle gets fixed up. That's what Vil would say if he were here... I think."

"Yeah, I could definitely see him saying that," Jack says.

Epel giggles, "Heh heh. Okay, then come on over to Pomefiore. I'm sure Rook will welcome you with open arms!"

Sometime later, after gathering their belongings, Sereia and the others follow Epel and Jack to the Hall of Mirrors to head to the Pomefiore Dorm.

"All right, catch you later," Jack says.

"Yeah, later. Thanks for coming along, Jack," Epel says.

"Bye," Sereia and the boys reply.

Jack then walks through the mirror to his dorm.

"IT's been a long day. Time to head back to the dorm, get a shower, and—" Epel says.

But then, someone rushes out of the Pomefiore portal and bumps into Epel and the others.

Epel yelps, "OOF—!"

The person bumping into Epel reacts, "Zut!"