The King of Ithaca Falls Into A Twisted Reality

Chapter 3, Learning More

"Off With Your Head!" Was what Riddle yelled while casting the spell that put a collar onto the Grim, referring all the way back to what Odysseus first heard him say, makes a lot more sense than actually beheading his peers though. It greatly startled the Grim however, "MYAH?! What are you doing?!" The collar was rather large compared to the monster with an intricate design on it, the colours on it were similar to the boy who made it, being red and black. The creature seemed to be even more confused than Odysseus about the collar despite being able to cast magic itself, but Odysseus also greatly hid his confusion, only slightly tilting his head at the spell.

"The Queen of Hearts's Rule 23: 'One must never bring a cat to a formal affair'." Riddle responded to the Grim, it made sense as Odysseus had a similar rule in his own court, but it was more for all animals except Argos. The rest of the court did complain about the loyal dog always sitting in on meetings, but Argos was and still is a part of the royal family, therefore he had the right, same as Penelope and after Telemachus was born, he too. Riddle continued with his scolding "Your very presence here is a violation of order. You will vacate these premises immediately." The boy's tone was strict and enforcing, it made sense why he was in a position of power in this school, Odysseus never heard such a serious tone from someone of his age. The Grim had, however, protested this comment as well "But I ain't no cat either! Don't you try'n collar me! I'll burn it right off!" The monster paused for a moment before looking rather confused and then panicked "Huh... ! Wh-what gives? My fire ain't workin'!"

That made the redhead smile smugly, once again reminding the Greek of Athena, "Until I deign to remove that collar, you won't be using any magic. You're naught but a pet cat now." So the collar had the ability to stop something's magic, which is extremely useful especially with all that Odysseus already knows about this world. But now Odysseus has to wonder whether or not yelling out "off with your head" is a part of the spell or was an optional step, but it is better to yell that at your opponent than choosing to, I don't know, yell out your full name, home address, and occupation to them.

"M-meoWHAT?! I ain't nobody's pet - NOTHING!" The Grim yelled back to Riddle, but it was obvious that it was masking its fear with anger. To this Riddle looked back at it, a bit of disgust mixing with his visible anger, "Oh, you've nothing to worry about there. I certainly have no interest in having you as a pet." He took a breath, calming himself down a bit, "The collar will disappear once you're removed from campus." While what Riddle was saying certainly was intriguing to Odysseus, his brain stopped working for a moment when he realised exactly what the Grim had said, making him slightly offended that it would try and pull him into the argument, but he knew better than to take the unintended bait. (Get it, Nobody, get it... I'll leave)

However, Odysseus was pulled out of contemplation by Azul's smooth voice "Ha-HA! Good show as always, Riddle. Your signature spell locks down any and all magic. It's quite handy" the more the silver haired boy talked the more Odysseus could see himself, in his youth, in the kid. "I've just GOT to have it— ah, I mean, I've got to have respect for it" though Odysseus likes to believe he was a bit more slick than that, but it's still impressive. "Odysseus!" Hearing his name get called out like that really reminded him of his youth, Crowley was glaring directly at him, at least what assumed as glaring, "Was I not clear that you are expected to take responsibility for your familiar!"

Getting told that Odysseus realised he had never actually disputed that the Grim was his familiar, "Now discipline your—" this time it was the king's turn to cut off Crowley. "That thing is certainly not mine, I would never have such an unruly servant" this caused the feathered man to pause for a moment, tilting his head "What? It isn't yours?" Odysseus nodded, glad that this has finally been sorted out "Yes, this is the first time I've seen it before in my life" surprisingly Odysseus has yet to tell a lie while here, that's a new record. "Oh... Is that so?" Crowley seemed genuinely surprised at this, did it really happen often enough for him to be surprised? He coughed to cover up the shock, "Then I shall have it expelled from campus. I shall even spare it from being served as dinner." He said it with a smile, as if that was a gracious gesture, but Odysseus has been around enough man-eating beasts to know that it kinda was. "My, but I AM kind. ...Someone take this away, please" Crowley gushed over himself before gesturing to the Grim, which was quickly met with protest from the being "Noooo! Let me go!" It turned back to the student body, "You fools better remember my name! Cause I'm gonna go down in the annals of magic history! Just you wait!". Odysseus had seen this type of fire in men before, it was the pride that got so many soldiers killed during the war, it was pride that he himself had displayed and the same pride that had gotten to him all the way back at the Cyclops' cave, it was... pitiful, but Odysseus could no longer bring himself to feel such pity. The monster will either have to learn, or die from its own hubris.