The Fallen Empath - Welcome to the Villain's World

Chapter Seven: The Principal's Rule

 Grim looks over to Mr. Crowley, who has now reverted back to his usual appearance. "...Well?"

"Incredible...I've never seen anyone bend a monster to their will quite the way you have." Mr. Crowley looks at me slightly wide-eyed.

Does he think I made Grim listen to me?

"I must confess, my educator's intuition did sense something about you after that brouhaha at orientation, Solace. I could tell you had a certain animal trainer-y, beast master-ish quality to you. Oh yes. That said, I..." Mr. Crowley's voice fades and starts mumbling to himself.

Grim and I look at each other with questioning looks.

I cover my mouth with my fist as I let out a small cough. "Um, Mr. Crowley? Grim would really like to go to this school."

"WHAT? A monster, stay HERE?" He shouts, making me jump.

"Whoa, did you just...?" Grim looks at me with slightly widened eyes.

Though nervous, I continue. "Please? I feel like he really proved himself. He has real potential, don't you think?"

He puts a finger to his chin. "Hmmm... I suppose I cannot deny your plea. Very well."

We both look at him hopefully.

"Myah?! Really?" Grim's eyes sparkle.

"Let me be clear! Under no circumstances would I admit anyone to Night Raven College who has not been selected by the Dark Mirror—especially not a monster!" Mr. Crowley puts his hands on his hips. "Nor do I intend to allow you, Solace, to freeload until you're able to return home."

I expected as much for me, but I was hoping to get Grim in.

"Hrmph. Never shoulda got my hopes up..." Grim ears flatten in disappointment.

"Now, allow me to explain. It was the Dark Mirror that transported you here. Therefore this school does bear some responsibility for your well-being. So I will allow you to remain in this dorm, free of charge. However, you will need to pay for your own food, clothing, and incidentals. As to how you will do so, penniless as you are... Ah. Ah ha. Yes, a fine plan." Mr. Crowley smiles as he spreads his arms.

I gulp.

"You needn't seem so alarmed. I'm simply going to ask you to do a few odd jobs around campus." Mr. Crowley puts his hands back on his hips.

I sigh out of relieve. Okay, that isn't so bad.

"From what you've done here, Solace, I can tell you know your way around a broom." Mr. Crowley looks around. "So what do you say to you two working together as a janitorial team? If you agree with that, I will make a special exception and allow you to remain on campus. I'll also allow you to use the library, so that you may study and research ways to return home. How boundlessly charitable I am. Ah, but only when work is over, of course!"

He said 'you two', me and Grim, that means...

"Grim you get to go to school here! Technically." I smile down at him.

Grim looks less than excited. "Whaaat? What kinda deal is that?! I wanna put on one of those sweet uniforms and be a student, not sweep up people's junk!"

"If you're not satisfied with my offer, I can arrange to have you thrown out again." Mr. Crowley crosses his arms.

"Myah?!... All right, fine! Let's do it." Grim huffs.

"I'm okay with it." I give a small smile.

"Wonderful. Then I beseech you both... To work hard as the newest members of Night Raven College's janitorial staff." Mr. Crowley opens his arms as he smiles. "Oh and because I am so generous, here." He pulls out some pieces of paper and hands them to me. "I'll give you an early pay so you can get some necessities after you are done working tomorrow"

I look at the pieces of paper, they look similar to tickets, just about the size of a dollar bill and tan. There is an M printed on each one and the worth on the bottom right corners. If I'm counting right, he gave me fifteen dollars. "Oh, Thank you, Mr. Crowley." I smile up at him. It's not a lot, but I'll make due.

"Fifteen madols? That's not going to buy us anything." Grim crosses his paws.

I nudged Grim slightly. "I'm sure we can get a few things. Thank you."

"But of course! Now, I must be going, get a good night's sleep!" Mr. Crowley walks downstairs and leaves.

~ ~ ~

"Maybe we should come up with names for special moves you can do." I say as I raise my fork to my mouth.

Grim looks up from his dish. "What, why?"

"Well, If we ever have to fight together again, it will be a lot quicker than describing the move." I think. "Plus, it might be kind of cool."

"Cool, you say? Well, what did you have in mind?" Grim smirks up to me.

"Well, you know that move you used, the one where you aimed your fire at the ground and it spread out?" I tilt my head.

"Oh yeah, that was awesome! Maybe it could be called somethin' like death roar of explosion-y awesomeness!" He waves his paws around.

I chuckle. "Maybe something shorter and more inconspicuous?" I think for a moment. "Maybe something like flower?"

Grim's ears flatten. "That sounds lame."

I think some more as I take a bite of my food.

"OH!" I swallow. "What about blue lotus? It's simple and it might throw people off. It doesn't sound much like a fire move, so it would be a surprise when it is."

Grim smirks and crosses his paws. "Now that's more like it!"

"So, is that a yes?" I question.

He nods his head. "Yep, it is worthy of my greatness."

I chuckle again.

"Now, lemme have the rest of your food, I'm still hungry." He tries to reach for my dish.

"I already gave you half." I pull my dish back.

Grim crosses his paws. "Fine. By the way, where are we going to sleep for the night?"

"We can look for a somewhat intact room and I'll clean it up a little." I take another bite of my food.

"Alright, well hurry up then, I'm tired." Grim wines.

"Me too." I sigh.

~ ~ ~

We finally find a decent room and I start to clean it up a bit. There's a mirror over a fireplace and two windows that go from the floor all the way up to the ceiling on either side. Of course, there were some cobwebs in the corner and the wallpaper was peeling, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the other rooms.

Once I dust off the bed a bit, Grim jumps on it and I hear an audible crack and the bed dips a bit.

"Merow!" Grim flails.

I walk over and pick him up. "Hold on."

I flip the mattress off the frame, and sure enough, it's broken.

Letting out a sigh I start to pull off the broken boards. "Let me fix this really quick. I think I can get some boards from another bed." I go out and get the boards and bring them back to fix the bed.

"Huh, You're really good at fixing things." Grim notices.

"Thank you." I put the last board in and put the mattress back on.

We sit on it and luckily there were no cracks this time.

"How do you know how to fix things so well?" Grim looks up at me.

"I don't know, I just do." I look down.

"You don't know?" He moves to one side of the bed as I lay down.

I sigh. "To be honest, I can barely remember anything. I know who I am, I remember where I'm from, but I can't remember my home, my friends, or my family... I can't remember my life."

"That sounds scary." Grim says.

"...It is." I pull into myself slightly.

After a few seconds of silence, Grim comes closer to curl up to me.

I hold him close as we fall asleep.