Chapter Text
“Life and death go hand-in-hand” a junior from Royal Sword was humming as she skipped along the path before stopping at the dark gates of Night Raven college, “It is a lesson we both know oh so well. Welp, I’m here, please let me in”
She is a third year from Royal Sword Academy. She has medium to short, light green hair with green, lively eyes and a little bit of a tan skin. She is wearing a green dress shirt and her white jacket tied around. Her emerald badge pinned on her shirt. She has brown pants with brown boots. Her belt held a shovel and bag. She has a blue hair tie and bracelet on her wrists.
“Ah! Wonderful!” she exclaimed as she happily skipped into the school.
She walked on the cleared paths as each step she took made the grass grow and flowers bloom. She walked to the hall of mirrors and grinned as she entered through the mirror to arrive in the Ignihyde dorm with a blue light flowing throughout the entire school. The sounds of locks locking the doors echoed throughout the school.
The Freshman Squad were already sitting in their desks and tables, waiting for class to begin. That is until they heard the doors locking.
“What just happened?” Yuu, a magicless, female student asked as she looked up from her phone to look at the door.
She’s the only magicless and female student at Night Raven College. She is trying to find her way home, but she’s made a life for herself here. She is shorter than some of her classmates, but she wasn’t too short. She has short, black hair, and brown eyes. She is wearing their school uniform. This consists of a black jacket, black vest, black pants, and brown shoes. She has a white ribbon in her hair.
They slowly turned to the door as one of their smaller friends, Epel, ran to the door, jumped on the handle, and tried to pull it open with all his might. He has short, purple hair and a pair of light, blue eyes. He’s more a fighter than he appears to be. However, he does know how to use young, pretty boy appearance. He is wearing the uniform with a purple vest and band wrapped around his arm. He is from the Pomefiore dorm.
“Foolish human! Let me handle this!” Sebek declared with pride as he took a running start and rammed his body against the door.
He has spiky, green hair that reminded Yuu of lightning. He has a pair of green eyes and has a green vest and band for his uniform. He is from the Diasomia dorm.
“Why is this not working?!” Sebek exclaimed in disbelief as Deuce cracked his knuckles.
“Let’s do this together!” Deuce shouted as he, Sebek, and Epel rammed themselves against the door and tried to break it.
Deuce is from the Heartslabyul dorm by having a red vest and band wrapped around his arm. He has a deep, navy hair color and light green eyes. He has a spade mark on his right eye. He has a pair of gloves on his hands as he tried to break the door down.
Yuu, along with the rest of the Freshman squad which consisted of Grim, Ace, Jack, Najma, and Ortho, were standing to the side and away from the trio.
"Should we stop them?" Ace asked unsure as he took out his phone to record them with a smirk.
Ace is a little taller than Deuce, but not by much. He’s in the same dorm as Deuce. Ace has a pair of brown shows and only one black glove. He has spiky, orange hair and a red mark of a heart covering his left eye. He has a pair of orange eyes.
"You do not have to" Ortho answered with a nod.
Ortho is a humanoid who has the soul and heart of a human. He is a robot built by his older brother, Idia. His big brother designed Ortho’s robotic body for the appropriate classes. Ortho is smart enough to change his own. He has blue, blazing hair much like to his big brother’s along with the golden eyes. His robotic has the appearance of their school uniforms and even has a blue band around his arm with headphones and mask. He is from the Ignihyde dorm.
"What do you mean?" Najma asked as she looked at the humanoid and put her magic pen in her blue belt around her waist.
She is Jamil’s younger sister and recent transfer to the school. She has her brown hair tied in a loop and hanging over her right shoulder. She has a headband holding her hair back with a white flower pinned in it. She has a necklace around her neck and golden bracelets around her wrists. She is from the Scarabia dorm and is wearing a similar uniform. Except she has a pair of black shorts up to her knees and a dark, red vest.
"My big brother did this. There is no need to worry" Ortho answered as everyone froze and slowly turned their heads towards him.
"Uh, did you forget that your big brother kidnapped, experimented, and nearly destroyed the world?!" Ace exclaimed as Deuce covered his mouth.
"It is not that. My big brother is having a guest over from Royal Sword. He does not want to be disturb when she arrives and meets with him" Ortho answered.
It was deathly quiet as the group registered what Ortho had just said.
“"SHE?!" the boys yelled in disbelief.
"Yes, she. A female" Ortho answered and appeared unfazed, "Why does this information trouble you?"
"Ortho! We don’t know many girls!" Deuce answered as he glanced to Yuu and Najma to answer nervously, "No offense"
“Not that we mind girls!” Ace added as he winked at Najma who rolled her eyes at him.
Jack asked, "Ortho, can you get the door open please? We cannot stay here"
Jack is beastman with gray hair and wolf ears with a fluffy tail. He’s the tallest and arguably one of the strongest freshmen in terms of strength. He has dark skin and dark, yellow eyes. He is wearing the uniform and has a yellow band around his arm. He is from Savanaclaw dorm.
"Why would you want to leave class so soon?" Ortho asked surprised as Deuce shook his head.
"We don't have a teacher" Sebek answered as Ortho understood and went to the door.
He hovered his hands before the door. The door shined a blue light as they heard it unlock and open before them. He hovered to the side with a bow as Ace and Deuce shared a smirk before running out of the room!
“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Sebek exclaimed in a frustrated manner as he exited the classroom.
"Going to meet the girl!" Ace replied with a laugh.
"We need to see Idia interact with her!" Deuce added with a grin
"Of course," Epel said in a deadpanned tone with Yuu, Grim, and Jack standing behind Sebek.
Ortho suddenly flew pass them and after the duo. Yuu and Jack shared a look and decided to follow them with the rest of their group behind them. Ace and Deuce looked around for the girl until they heard something humming behind them. They turned around and screamed at the site of Ortho coming right at them at such high speed! Both clung to each other as Ortho stood and aimed his canon at them.
"Why?!" Ace yelled as he and Deuce were shaking in place.
"You are going to disturb my big brother. I cannot allow that when she is visiting him" Ortho answered simply with his right hand changing into a cannon, "I will personally make sure you do not disturb them"
The canon powered up as the duo screamed until Jack picked up Ortho and suspended him in the air.
"You're not going to do that" Jack answered tiredly.
"And you're not going to disturb Idia" Yuu answered firmly to the duo.
"Why?/Don't you want to see what she looks like?" Deuce and Ace asked as Yuu shook her head.
"I must confess, even I am a little curious" Epel admitted with Sebek scoffing at the idea.
They remained silent, unsure of what to do. They were standing in the outdoor hallway and near the courtyard of the school.
"You know, next time you try world domination and trying to hit the reset button, please text me" a kind, hearty voice advised with concern.
"I know, but I didn't think of that route to choose. I am sure if I did, that ending wouldn't have happened" Idia's voice spoke unsure and laughed a little.
Jack gently placed Ortho on the floor as they turned to look over the corner to see the girl with Idia. Grim was on the bottom, Epel was beside Grimm, Yuu was above them with Najma, Ace was next, then Deuce, Sebek standing and leaning over Deuce, Jack was standing above him, and Ortho hovered above them.
"But still, I am glad you and the others are safe. Even little Ortho is doing better!" she exclaimed happily as she turned to face Idia.
Ace's, Deuce's, and Sebek's jaws dropped in utter shock, Epel's, Jack's, Najma’s and Yuu's eyes were wide. Grim fell and hit his face on the floor. She was the exact opposite of Idia! She has tan skin and was short, but a little taller than Riddle. She has lively, green eyes and short, light, green hair with some hair accessories in it. She wore a green dress shirt with short sleeves and a pair of brown pants. She has a pair of tough brown boots with a matching belt holding a few gardening tools.
"Damn…" Ace and Epel said in disbelief.
"Oh, did you continue the monster game? You got the other version, right?" Idia asked as he took out a handheld gaming device as she held hers!
Idia is Ortho’s older brother. He has long, blue, flaming hair with a pair golden, tired yet joyful eyes. His skin is very pale. He is the dorm leader of Ignihyde. What also caught them by surprise was Idia wasn’t wearing his uniform. He was wearing his dorm uniform. He was wearing a black jacket with blue pouch and collar. He has black pants and long, sturdy blue and black boots. He has a belt which holds his handheld consoles, screwdriver, and his magic skull.
"She's into video games?!" Deuce said in disbelief.
"Who is she?" Sebek asked with interest in his tone.
Idia and the girl walked to a bench where a tree gave it shade. She was standing in the sun while Idia sat on the bench and in the shade.
"A good question…" Azul, the dorm leader of Octavinelle, said annoyed as he, Floyd, and Jade were standing next to them.
"Ok, so we, my friends, are here because of freshman solidarity, right?" Ace said as the freshman agree before he turned to the Octavinelle members, "But why are you three here?"
Azul was wearing the same uniform and had a gray ribbon around his arm. He has a pair of glasses in front of his gray eyes and a mole on his face. He has shiny, silver hair and had a pair of black gloves and matching shoes.
Jade and Floyd are twin brothers and wearing the same uniform as Azul. Each twin had a pair of earing where the streak was, and a gray ribbon tied around their arm. Both have a pair of golden eyes, but their mannerism and personalities are different. Jade has teal hair with on black streak on his left side and neat appearance. Floyd’s appearance was sloppy. His jacket was open, his gray vest barely buttoned. His teal hair was unruly as his black streak was slumping forward with him.
"Azul wasn't too pleased to discover that Idia had a friend that is a girl and heir to the World Tree" Jade, the vice dorm leader, answered with a grin.
"World Tree?!" the freshman squad exclaimed minus Ortho, Grim, and Yuu.
Before Yuu could ask, they heard footsteps approaching! They slowly turned to see her and Idia coming towards them!
"Bail!" Ace yelled as they took off in different directions.
"I do not believe so!" she spoke as her badged shined to cast a spell.
Vines grew and wrapped around Ace, Deuce, Epel, Grim, Azul, Jade, and Floyd to prevent them from escaping. She then pulled them towards her while the rest walked up to them.
"Big brother, Pina, I am sorry. Sebek tricked me" Ortho said sadly as he hovered before them, lowering his head in shame.
Idia patted his little brother's head and reassured, "No, it is fine. I should've realized your friends would be curious. I am just thankful Malleus was able to not let my class know about this. As for you, Azul, why are you here?"
Pina, the girl in question and connection to the World Tree, blinked at the name as Azul adjusted himself and coughed. Pina gently placed everyone on the ground as Azul stepped up
"Well, I am your friend. I believe it was only right of me to introduce myself to her" Azul answered politely as he took a bow, "Hello, milady Proserpina Ver. I am Azul Ashengrotto"
There was a moment of silence until Pina drew her fist back and punched Azul square in the face! He yelped in pain as he clutched his face. Blood dripped from his hands as everyone gasped in utter disbelief. Idia sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her in the air.
"What in the name of the Great Seven?!" Azul swore as Floyd tended to him.
"That was so awesome" Epel confessed.
"Hot too" Ace added until he glanced at Idia who glared at him.
"That is what you get! I knew it was you! You were the one who took his voice and caused him to be in pain!" Pina exclaimed as she struggled in Idia's grip.
Azul blinked a couple of times until Jade laughed at the memory.
"Is she right?" Deuce asked nervously.
"It was one of our earlier contracts. Well, Azul's. He helped a merman walk on land to impress the land folk. He gave the merman legs, but Azul took his voice and made it painful to walk. The pain is described to be someone walking on knives and such. The merman did break Azul's contract by telling our parents and forcing Azul to break the contract" Jade explained with a distant sigh at the memory, "To clarify, this happened before we enrolled here. He had to start somewhere"
"That's messed up" Sebek whispered with Ortho nodding his head.
"And there's more where that comes from!" Pina yelled as Floyd glared at her.
"I believe we will take our leave before things escalate" Jade decided before whispering to Idia, "Do not introduce her to Vil for our safety"
With that, the trio departed. Idia sighed as he looked at Pina.
"I am going to put you down" Idia whispered to her, "Do not run off and beat him with your special abilities"
"Fine" she said as she stopped struggling.
Idia gently placed her on her feet and rubbed the back of his neck. Pina glanced to him and noticed that he was nervous. She understood and took a bow herself.
"Well, it is nice to meet you. I am Proserpina Ver. But please call me Pina. I am a third year at Royal Sword Academy" she said happily as she raised her head, "And I actually know all of you! Ortho emailed me a photo and went into detail about each of you!"
Suddenly, the freshmen felt worried about what Ortho informed her. She laughed at their reactions as she held her stomach.
“I’m sorry! Your faces! You look so sus! Oh, my us!” Pina exclaimed as she did her best to compose herself, “Anyway, I am just visiting Idia for the day. I did want to see Mal, but Idia said no”
“That’s because you want to fight him!” Idia exclaimed with his hair changing from blue to red in annoyance, "I do not want to step between you and Malleus in a fight! Stop trying to fight him!”
“Aw, but I am curious! I want to know how strong I am against him!” Pina whined in a playful manner as Idia sighed.
“Not strong enough even with the stat buffs and increased items” Idia answered simply as he chuckled at her.
They shared a laugh at their own jokes and gaming references, leaving the freshman confused, happy, or delighted for them.
“Well, we should head back to class” Yuu stated as she realized there was no need to hang around here, “Come on, let’s leave them alone!”
Ace and Epel groaned, but Deuce, Jack, and Sebek pushed them along. Najma and Yuu followed with Yuu carrying Grim in her arms. Ortho hovered happily behind with waving goodbye to his big brother and Pina. Idia sighed in relief as Pina leaned against him. Idia glanced at her as she then took his hand in hers.
“Come on! I want to play the new DLC for the horror game! I am so happy for her winning best actress!” Pina exclaimed as she turned froward, pulling Idia along with her.
“Ok, ok! Slow down!” Idia answered as he tried his best to keep up with her.
They walked through the mirror and then arrived in his dorm to then running to his room, excited. Idia realized that he didn’t clean his room! Well, she did drop in unannounced… Ah, that wasn’t an excuse. She’s nature and life. She needs to be in fresh and clean environments. Pina noticed Idia stopped moving and turned to see him thinking with his hair changing from blue to yellow. She then looked at his room and grinned in understanding.
His room was absolutely messy. His closet was opened, clothes piling out of it. Boxes of food, robot parts, and books were along the closet and open. His bed was unkempt with the dark blue blanket moved to appear as if he had just woken up. His desk was filled with papers, books, machine parts, and screens displaying results. The monitor and computer were off along with the giant rebuilding and updating chamber for Ortho which was to the right of the desk. His bookshelves were clean and filled with game guides, manga, engineering books, and other comics. On top of the bookshelf were his favorite pair of plushes he named Pain and Panic along with a few limited addition figures of video game characters.
She shook her head and hopped on his bed while pulling his arm to have him join her. She leaned her back against his shoulder as he raised a brow at her.
“Come on” she said softly, trying to calm her best friend down, “Let’s play a few rounds, ok?”
She held her handheld console and turned it on. Idia only smirked in reply before holding his and spending the rest of the day playing video games with her. Of course, Idia could play until 2 in the morning, Pina couldn’t. This was evident as she yawned, turned her console off, and closed her eyes to lean against him. Idia was surprised until he held a soft smile at her. He turned off his console, took his and hers to place on his desk, and gently let her fall asleep with him resting next to her. She placed her head under his and gripped his jacket. Idia was surprised, his hair changing to a light shade of pink before deciding to surrender and sleep with her. Besides Ortho, he and Pina were close friends since their parents introduced them at the company parties. He trusted her enough to let her stay close to him. He finally felt drowsy as he let sleep take him over.
“So, what’s the story behind Proserpina and Idia, Hornton?” Yuu asked as she and Malleus were walking around her dorm.
He is the tallest student in their school. He is wearing a similar uniform except with a green vest and green band wrapped around his arm. He is a fae and can transform into a dragon. He has long, black hair and piercing, green eyes, and a pair of horns on his head. He is one of the most powerful mages of their time, as well as a prince. He has a pair of black horns and green eyes. He’s the dorm leader of Diasomnia.
“She’s a good friend to Shroud” he answered as he chuckled, “She’s energetic and filled with life. Though, she’s stubborn and very strong. I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side. Hm, ah, right, you don’t know this, but she is the heir to the World Tree. Her family creates the plant life, fruits, and vegetables. They distribute it to everywhere around our world. What do you think of her, child of man?”
“She’s so lively…” Yuu answered, “Like a fresh spring breeze”
Malleus agreed with her as he noticed her fellow freshman were standing outside her dorm. He chuckled as Sebek stood at attention, Ortho happily waved to him, and the others jumped and kept their distance.
“Well, I believe it is your weekly sleepover. I shall take my leave. Have fun, Yuu and Sebek” Malleus answered before teleporting in green fireflies.
Sebek shouted that he would have fun as Yuu went to unlock the door and let her freshman friends in the dorm. They were sitting around in the living room. Jack was reading a book on the green couch with Epel drinking his family’s apple juice, Sebek and Deuce were making a midnight snack, Ace and Najma were exchanging photos and playing games, and Ortho was setting up the TV for their movie night with Yuu and Grim’s help.
“Hey! Ortho! Can you tell us a little bit more about Pina?” Ace asked curiously, “She’s kind of cool!”
Ortho finished turning on the TV before sitting before Jack and Epel. He closed his eyes as he pondered on her and nodded his head.
“She and my big brother have been friends before I was born” Ortho answered warmly, “They met at a meeting between those on the Isle of Woe. It was a big party! My big brother was sitting alone and keeping to himself, but Pina marched right up to him and wanted to be his best friend!”
“Aw, that’s sweet” Yuu commented as Deuce placed a plate of eggs before them, “What else can you tell us about her?”
“Hm, she loves turn base video games, video games with wonderful characters, stories, and music….” Ortho answered, “She’s very good at magic, history, and literature. She’s trying to understand business too. She loves to garden and grows her own crops in her room and at Royal sword!”
He noticed some of his friends were holding expressions of disbelief.
“What is wrong?” Ortho asked curiously.
“Nothing!” Epel exclaimed as Jack closed his book to answer, “She and your big brother sound like complete opposites. How come they get along so well?”
“They’ve known each other since they were kids and kept in touch through texts and emails” Ortho answered, “They’ve always kept each other in their thoughts. I know there is a myth about life and death, but they’re bond is much stronger! I hope she and big brother will be there for each other forever!”
Some of them grinned while others rolled their eyes at their humanoid friend. Regardless, they focused their attention on the TV for their movie night. They were grateful that tomorrow was the weekend as they stayed up late watching movies.
As for Pina, she woke up bright and early to find Idia still asleep. She grinned at his sleeping form which consisted of him drooling and hugging a pillow. She held a grin before holding a sad expression. She took off one of her hairpins and leave at his side as she gave it a kiss. It was a pomegranate charm with two green flowers on the sides.
“Do not worry” she whispered in a promising tone, “You will not suffer anymore, Idia. I will make sure of it with this prophecy”
She turned to quietly leave with a sad smile as she walked through the dorm and mirror to return to their home.