Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

👑 The Beautiful Tyrant: Chapter 74 👑

Hours later, Crowley look at the empty coliseum, seeing that it was clear from guests and students. "Again...Another loss," he sighs. "I thought for sure that we'd beat them this time around!" He cries. "What were we missing? Where did we go wrong?"

Footsteps approach him, getting his attention as he looks at the new addition to the coliseum. He looks to see a man in a blue and white robes, with a white sash around both his shoulders, covering his chest. He had a small set of spectacles on his face, seemly out of place compared to the white moustache and short white beard he was adorning as well. The hat on his head matched the colors of his robe, proudly showing the Royal Sword Academy crest on the base of the hat and training a bit over his head, the tip of the hat drooping hanging. "Hello, Mr. Crowley," the man smiles. "It's been quite a while.

"Ambrose the Sixty Third!" Crowley exclaims in shock. "I didn't expect to see the headmage of Royal Sword Academy today!"

"Hoh hoh," he laughs. "The sight of youths engaging in friendly rivalry is a lovely one indeed," he says as he puts his hand to his beard. "Royal Sword Academy is taking home another victory this time."

Crowley was displeased with the affirmation. "Yes, so it would seem," he states, a hint of his emotion in the statement. "But only by a one-vote margin! That's within any margin of error you could name," he says with a strained smile.

"And yet, a victory it remains," Ambrose says with a smile. "We win, you lose! Oh hoh hoh!"

"Grrr...!" He growls. "We'll win the next one, just you wait!"

"Well, there's always the upcoming interscholastic Spelldrive games in May. I'm quite looking forward to that!" Ambrose states. "After all, Royal Sword Academy might earn their hundredth win there," he says with a smirk, making Crowley glare at him. "By the way, Mr. Crowley..." he says, getting his attention. "I've been picking up traces of large-scale magic all over the coliseum."

"And?" Crowley asks, confused at the statement.

"The sheer volume of magic was far beyond what would get used in a practical magic exam. Plus, I'm feeling traces of a mix of ancient and dark magic," he says as he looks at the empty coliseum. "What in the world transpired here before the SDC began?"

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," Crowley says in confusion with his words. "As headmage of the school hosting the culture fair, I can assure you that great pains have been taken to ensure the safety of this event. I'll grant that perhaps some students got a little rowdy during rehearsals..." He says in thought. "But I'm sure that's all it was. My students can be a tad quirky at times, but really, that's all part of what makes them shine."

"Hmmm..." Ambrose hums in thought. "If you say so, I suppose. I'll keep a closer eye on them tomorrow."

"My, my," Crowley smiles. "I could hardly ask for greater assurance than that. I hope you enjoy the festival as well, Professor Ambrose. I'll be going now," he says as he walks off, leaving him alone.

"..." Ambrose quietly watches his retreating figure in the distance, then looked at the center of the coliseum. "Hmmm...this magic..." He thinks for a moment. "It couldn't be...They've been extinct for a century..."

Back at the dorm, Grim and Angel were in the lounge, sitting on the couch. For Angel, she was lying on the couch, drowsiness starting to overcome her. The walk back to the dorm was troublesome to her, trying not to stumble into anyone, especially if they were from both schools. If that wasn't enough, Neige wanted to talk to her more, making her stay a bit longer than necessary. She wanted to pass out at the stadium and just let whatever happened, but if she did that, more than likely, the school and the group would have been discovered to the revelation of an overblot. She sighed in relief, at least happy that they made it back in one piece, despite the crowds of people rushing to buy whatever merchandise the school had for both Vil and Neige had. "Whew...This has been one rough month," Grim says as he sits on his pillow, with Angel silently listening to him. "I never did get my tuna bonanza. And all that hard work I went through as manager was for a big ol' load of nothin'!" he huffs, crossing his paws. "Myargh! I should be buried up to my eyes in tuna right about now!" He angrily exclaims, only to sigh. He looks around, seeing that everything went back to normal, at least as normal as the dorm could be. The two were silent for a while. "Now that the SDCs over and the guys've all gone back to their dorms, this place sure feels bigger, huh?" He asks.

The remark got Angel's attention. Now that it was just the two of them there, the place did feel a bit different. It was kind of hard to get back into the normal of the situation now that everyone was gone. It was hard to imagining not hearing Ace and Deuce bickering, Jamil scolding Kalim every now and then, even the Pomefiore guys doing their own thing in the dorm everyday. "It feels a little empty..." She says as she weakly looks around, almost hoping for a sign that they might come back through the door for one more night, just for old times sakes, only to get those hopes dashed. Would that be the normal if it was more than just the two of them in Ramshackle? She pictured it, having someone other than Grim and the ghosts living in the dorm, the lounge being filled with people, everyone having their own rooms to go in and out of, just hanging out with people. Just having people she could consider friends, not like the friends who always meet every once in a while, but friends that live together, like the others. Someone to just head down the hall to talk to compared to just texting someone to meet them to talk to them. She shook her head at the thought, knowing that it would be too nosy and she actually liked having a quiet place to live. It kept her grounded, reminded her of her situation, and best of all, kept her secrets from being discovered. It made her feel a bit lonely, for sure, but she felt like she needed to be alone. Maybe it was a trait from her past, but she felt comfortable being alone. No one could hurt her. No one could bother her. And the other part: no one could betray her. She blinked at the revelation. Has she always thought this? Where did it come from?

"Well, we're all cleaned up for the night," Grim states, bring her out of her thoughts. "We should get to bed," he says as he gets up from his pillow. "You look like you're gonna collapse at any moment."

"Yeah..." Angel weakly says as she slowly stands up. "Let's go," she says as they head to the bedroom.

A while later, Angel was tossing and turning in the bed, careful not to wake up Grim. Despite her exhaustion earlier, she only had a fistful of sleep, leaving her in and out of sleep. Could it be what happened earlier? She thinks, thinking about helping Vil with his overblot. Speaking of, she hasn't encountered Mentor after the event. Usually she did after solving an overblot, but it hasn't come yet. She's surprised that she's been awake for so long. Maybe if she focused a bit...She closed her eyes, trying to drift off to sleep. Her focus was soon interrupted by the sound of knocking, getting her attention. Though she could clearly hear it, it sounded faint, almost as if it was far away. "Is there someone at the door?" She mumbles, curiosity starting to overtake her exhaustion as she sits up in the bed, trying to locate the source of the sound.