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You stirred the contents of the pot until it was green.
“Okay, it’s green,” you let your group know. But of course they weren’t paying attention. Grim had fallen asleep, Ace was looking at something on his phone, and Deuce was reading something that probably wasn’t the assignment, “Guys!” You said in frustration.
That jolted their attention back onto you.
“What?”
“It’s green,” you repeated. Honestly, you felt like you were more of a babysitter to those three, “What’s next?”
“Uh…”
“Grim?” He was supposed to be reading the notes to you.
“Just give me a second,” Grim flipped through the papers trying to find the correct notes, “Okay, it says, ‘next to add the leaf of a mandrake.’”
“I’ll get it,” you said, “You three get it ready,” you gave them a look, “Make sure it’s ready by the time I get back!”
“Fine,” all three of them said.
You got up from your table to get the ingredient from the cabinet. You might had been the magicless prefect of the Ramshackle dorm, and the only female student at Night Raven College, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to get pushed into doing the potion assignment by yourself. Even if you were determined to learn everything you could about magic.
Potion making is probably one of the few things I can actually do here. Maybe there’s a potion that can send me back home.
You reached the shelf that had the potionology ingredients. Mandrake leaves… Mandrake leaves… Oh, there they are.
You reached up to grab the bottle, when another hand grabbed it and took it from reach.
“Hey,” you turn to see who stole the ingredient from you and scowled, “Oh, it’s you.”
“Long time no see herbivore,” standing there with the mandrake leaves was none other than the housewarden of Savanaclaw, Leona. With his usual bored expression.
“I don’t have time for this,” you mutter, “Give me the mandrake leaves.”
“Why?” He raised an eyebrow.
You glared, “So, my group can complete the potion and pass, why else?”
He suddenly smirked, “You think you need mandrake leaves for this one?”
“It’s what the recipe calls for,” you reached for the bottle, “Give it to me!” However, he held it above you keeping it out of reach. You cursed him for being taller than you.
“How about you check the recipe again. You really don’t want to add mandrake leaves to this potion,” he said smugly.
“Oh, what would someone who got held back a year know about-…?”
There was a loud boom and it came from your table. You leaned to your side to look past Leona to see your three friends on the ground, covered in green slime and the table appeared to have been destroyed. Your body shook in mortification.
“Guys?” You ran past Leona to check on them. You kneeled down and held Grim, “I was gone for less than a minute, what happened?”
Grim just moaned. You noticed he was still clutching the potion recipe he read from. You took it from him and went pale.
“Grim…” You began, “This… isn’t the potion we were making.”
Of course, Professor Crewel was not happy.
“You puppy’s have made a horrible mess of the lab!”
“Again professor, we’re so sorry,” you apologized, bowing your head, and forcing your group to bow their heads.
“As punishment, you four will clean this lab until it’s so clean, you can eat of the floors, is that clear.”
“Yes sir,” the four of you said.
“This is so lame, myah,” Grim complained.
“This is your fault,” Ace said as he scrubbed the floors, “You got the recipes mixed up.”
You sighed as you moped up the green goo. At this rate, you’d never find your way home.
You heard a snicker. You looked to see Leona leaving the room. You scowled, what was that jerk’s problem? It seemed like ever since you two met, he’s made it his life’s mission to irritate you.
Yes, you did step on his tail when you first met, but it was an accident and why was he napping in the middle of the garden anyway? Even after the Overblot incident, he was still a jerk. Granted he didn’t intimate you as much as he did before, but it seemed like he would mess with you with every chance he got.
During the anemone incident, you stayed at Savanclaw for three days. But he would only let you stay there if you did chores for him. Even after that he seemed to go out of his way to find new ways to make you mad.
There were a few times at lunch when you were about to eat your homemade meal when you notice your desert is missing. Only to find it half eaten by Leona!
You would answer a question in class, then Leona would interrupt, ‘correcting’ it. It was like he went out of his way to remind you of how little you knew about the world.
P.E was the worst. Whenever you had to run on the track he would run ahead of you, running backwards. He could easily run miles ahead of you, but always stayed just a few meters ahead, mocking you. Calling you, ‘slow herbivore.’
This latest incident was just another one of those incidents.
He knew that the potion your friends were making was wrong and didn’t say anything. That was one of the most irritating things about him. He was lazy, but he was probably the best Spelldrive player in the school. He was held back a year, yet he was probably smart enough to pass the seniors graduation exam. He was brilliant yet, but he was so smug about it!
You put all your frustration into scrubbing. You were certain if you kept this up, you’d wear a hole in the floor though.
Leona couldn’t help but smirk at the though of you cleaning up the mess your group of idiots made. The look on your face when you heard the inevitable explosion of the failed potion, was priceless.
Honestly, it was your own fault that you were so much fun to tease. You reacted to everything like a little kid. Playing keep away with the mandrake leaves and seeing your reaction was fun. You actually had got more pluck after he… kind of Overblotted. But there was no point worrying over that.
“Mr. Kingscholar.”
Leona stopped when the Headmage suddenly appeared. The old man seemed pretty excited. Leona tried not to show it, but he was curious why.
“Hm?” He asked bored.
“I have something to tell you.”
Stupid Leona. Stupid stuck-up, lion prince!
You mentally grumbled as you and Grim went home. The monster cat rested in your arms as you carried him back to Ramshackle.
You slowed down a bit when you realized you were about to cross main street. Where the statues of the great seven stood. You paused for a minute when you saw the statues of the seven the school idolized. Honestly, the statues creeped you out, especially at night.
Just keep moving, don’t look at them.
You forced your eyes to stay forward as you passed the statues. Sometimes it felt like the seven watched you go by, watching you, judging you. You never heard of them before coming to this world. You often heard of the stories. How they were great figures, leaders, and sorcerers…
However, you had… dreams. Dreams about the seven. In those dreams they weren’t exactly great. Your eyes went to the King of Beasts. In your dream, he murdered his brother and tried to murder his young nephew. That was just… horrible!
“I’m so tired,” Grim complained.
You sighed, “It’s the weekend Grim, just be happy about that.”
“Oh yeah, let’s eat tuna to celebrate.”
“Homework first,” you said as you entered the dorm. Ramshackle certainly wasn’t as spectacular as the other dorms, but it was much now than when you first moved in. You worked tirelessly to clean and restore it.
“Aw, but I don’t wanna,” Grim complained.
“Do you wanna stay up all night Sunday finishing it?” You asked. Honestly he was just as fussy as your little sister.
Sissy.
The brief memory of your sister made your chest tighten.
“Come on Grim. The sooner we finish, the sooner we relax.”
After homework and dinner. You went to bed. Though the thought of your family kept you up for a little bit.
It’s been months now. Have they… given up looking for me? Did they declare me dead?
Your parents, your older brother and little sister. You missed them more than you could say. You wished you could at least get them a message, tell them you were alive and trying to come home.
You turned to your side and saw the mirror hanging over your fireplace. That mirror had been the source of a lot of dreams lately.
There was… you weren’t sure it was a dream, but it seemed, unreal. The mirror was glowing and you thought you heard knocking, like someone was on the other side of a window, asking you to open it. The shadow was weird.
It kinda looked like a mouse.
%%%%%
You yawned as you stretched your body back to life. It was Saturday. No classes, no homework, and NO Leona to get on your nerves.
You got up quietly to not wake Grim. It was weekend time, so you thought he deserved at least one day to sleep in during the week without you having to drag him out of bed and carry him to class.
You went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
Your plans were as followed. Fix up the dorm a little more, study some magic, then make a tasty treat to reward your efforts.
It might had sounded boring to someone else, but making the dorm more livable was the best you could do at the moment plus the ghosts were more willing to help now, they actually became your friends in such a short time. And the more you studied, the better you understood magic and hopefully somehow found a way home.
Crowley, kept forgetting he was supposed to find you a way home, so you decided to embrace the old saying, ‘if want something done right, you have to do it yourself.’
Granted, you were magicless and would most likely remain magicless. But something brought you here. You didn’t think it was the dark mirror like Crowley thought.
If that thing couldn’t send you home, how could it had brought you here in the first place?
With your teeth brushed, you decided it was time to get dressed and brush your hair. You exited the bathroom, back into your room. But just as you passed your bed, you stopped.
You could not have just seen what you thought you saw. You looked to your right and blinked.
He was still there.
Laying on your bed, sleeping, was Leona. The lion prince, the housewarden of Savanaclaw, Leona Kingscholar.
It took you a minute for the shock to wear off. Finally, you turned walked towards the bed, grabbed the mattress, then yanked as hard as you could screaming, “Leona, what are you doing here?”
You successfully had thrown the beastman off your bed and caused Grim to wake up with a startled, “Myah!”
The prince groaned when he sat on the floor to look at you annoyed, “What was that for?”
“Wh-what was…” you were taken aback by his attitude, “Don’t give me that crap!” You snapped, “Why are you in my dorm, in my room, and more importantly in my bed?”
“Leona, when did you get here?” Grim noticed the lion prince finally.
“Oh,” he stood up and looked at you, “I need to hide here for today.”
You felt your eye twitch at his nonchalant attitude, “No! Get out of my dorm!” You pointed towards the door.
“Don’t be such a hardass,” he said, “Think of this as paying me back for letting you stay at Savanaclaw.”
“Payment?” You snapped, “That was ‘paid in full’ when you had me clean your room like a maid!” You reminded, “It’s bad enough that I have to deal with you during the week, I’m not putting up with you during the weekend.”
“What she said,” Grim agreed.
Leona just smirk, “Who’s gonna make me?”
You trembled in frustration, before grabbing your phone, “Just wait a minute,” After dialing the number, Jack picked up.
“This is Jack.”
“Jack,” you nearly yelled into the phone, “Your lazy ass housewarden is in my dorm. Get over here and take him back to Savanaclaw he’s your problem over the weekend.”
“Jack can’t help you,” Leona said in the background.
“Be quiet,” you snapped at him for a minute before going back to the phone.
“So that’s where he is?” Jack asked, “Sorry, but I can’t.”
“Why can’t you?” You asked.
“It’s his orders,” Jack said, “Leona’s family is visiting today and he wants to avoid them.”
You gave Leona a look, “Is that so?” You hung up before turning your full attention to Leona, “You’re here just to avoid your family?”
“Yup,” Leona shamelessly admitted.
You seethed, “You know, there are a lot of hiding places on campus.”
“No one would think to look for me here,” Leona smirked, “They’d think it’s just abandoned dump.”
“What, you seriously can’t handle a visit from your brother,” that’s when you realized, “He brought Cheka didn’t he?”
He slightly grimaced, “Yeah. Every time Falena visits he brings the screech box with him.”
You frowned, “How can you say that? Cheka’s so cute.”
“You wouldn’t say that if he woke you up in the morning,” Leona grumbled.
You couldn’t help but giggle at the thought of a little Cheka bursting into Leona’s room begging him to play.
“Unca Leona!”
“Sissy!”
The thought made you remember all the times your little sister would wake you in the mornings. How you would play with her and how her face lit up when you gave her a freshly baked treat.
“I love your cookies sissy.”
Leona noticed that you stopped giggling. He saw your expression fell as your gaze became distant. You looked like you were ready to cry at any moment.
“Nice jammies by the way.”
“Huh?” Leona’s words snapped you out of your thoughts. He was smirking and pointing at you. You looked down. That was when you remembered that you were still in your pink cat pattern pajamas.
You were standing, in your bedroom, with a boy, in your pajamas.
You felt your face grow redder and redder until finally.
“Get out of my room!” In your haste you shoved both Leona and Grim out into the hallway and slammed the door shut.
When you were alone you huffed angrily. Seriously, who did he think he was barging into a girls room like this? You didn’t even have a chance to change. You sighed.
What a jerk.
That was when you noticed, you weren’t feeling sad anymore.
You shook your head. You still had a lion sized problem. If Leona was planning to hide in your dorm the entire day, it might make you go crazy.
Wait, maybe this was a chance for just a little payback for everything he’s put you through.
You grinned, Leona might had been Savanaclaw’s housewarden, but this was Ramshackle, you were the prefect. You were in charge. You were the queen of this castle! If he wanted to hide there, then he was going to have to pay the toll.
You tried to make an evil laugh that resembled Ruggie’s. This day was going to be fun.
After getting dressed, you went down to the lounge.
“Why’d you kick me out?” Grim asked, “It’s my room too.”
“Sorry Grim,” you looked at Leona who had made himself at home on the couch, “It was a kneejerk reaction.”
That smug, lazy, overgrown house cat! So he thought you’d be easy to push around did you?
We’ll see about that.
Leona released a small, “oomph,” when a bucket and mop was suddenly placed on his stomach. He looked to see you standing over him with Grim on your shoulder, looking smug.
“If you’re going to stay here today,” you explained, “You’re gonna help us clean.”
“Huh?” He asked.
“You heard her,” Grim said, “Get moving.”
“No way,” Leona tossed the bucket and mop to the side.
“You’re helping,” you demanded, “That’s the price for staying here.”
“Why should I?” He yawned as he tried to go back to his nap.
You smiled. You were so glad he asked. You walked towards the nearest window and opened it. Then at the top of your lungs you shouted, “Hey everyone! Guess who’s staying at Ramshackle today? It’s none other than Savanaclaw’s very own- mmph!”
A hand slapped over your mouth and you were suddenly pulled away from the window, poor Grim fell to the floor, his place on your shoulder so rudely removed.
You suddenly found yourself seated on the floor, your back pressed against Leona’s chest.
“Be quiet herbivore!” Leona growled. But you didn’t back down, Leona didn’t scare you like that anymore. You grabbed his hand, pulled it away and looked at him with a smug smirk of your own.
“If you want to stay hidden here for a day,” you said, “You’ll help us clean, otherwise I’ll make sure the whole campus knows you’re here and little Cheka will be knocking down the door to play with his ‘Unca Leona.’”
It was fun watching his eye twitch for a few minutes until, “Fine.”
Grim cackled at the victory.
However, it was in that moment you realized your position. You were sitting in Leona’s arms. He was really close and he was holding your body like…
You looked ahead to hide the fact that your face was red and quickly scrambled to your feet.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” You said quickly.
The three of you went to room you had planned to clean that day, “Don’t worry about it Leona,” you said, “We’re just going to mop the floor and wash the windows in one room and that will be it. You can go back to your nap afterwards I promise.”
“This is so stupid,” Leona muttered.
“Hey, you put us to work when we were in your dorm,” Grim reminded.
You smiled. You bet the high and mighty prince didn’t know the first thing about cleaning. You saw how messy his room was, and you bet he had maids taking care of his room back home. He was bound to be a mess at cleaning and you were all for watching it. You imagined Leona, getting wet with a bucket on his head.
You opened the door to the room. You managed to clear it out the previous weekend, now it was time for a clean down.
“Leona, start moping. Grim, dust the shelves. I’ll clean the windows,” you ordered.
Leona glowered but complied. He couldn’t risk getting caught. He didn’t want another lecture from his brother and he wouldn’t survive another playdate with Cheka.
Moping was a simple chore. It was annoying, but simple. He glanced at the herbivore. You had a lot of nerve making him do this.
Your back was turned to him as you washed the window. You were standing on your tip toes trying to reach the top panes. Leona raised an eyebrow, didn’t you have a stool or something?
You grunted trying to reach the top of the window. This was always one of the hardest things. Normally you’d have one of the ghosts to help, but they were cleaning the furniture that would go back into the room once you were done.
“Watching you is painful,” a gloved hand took the clothe from yours and easily reached the top of the window. You looked to see Leona was right behind you. His front was almost pressed against your back again.
You felt your face getting warmer.
“Leona you- you’re supposed to be moping the floor!”
“I’m done,” he simply said.
“What there’s no way that’s…” you trailed off when you saw the sparkling floor of the room. A shocked strangled noise left your throat.
Seriously, was there nothing this guy couldn’t do?
“What you got something to say?” Leona said with a smirk.
You turned to look to yell at him, but stopped, his face was an inch from yours. He was way too close.
Then, suddenly dust fell from the sky covering you both. You looked up at the shelf next to you, to see Grim.
“I got the shelves cleaned.”
Half of you was annoyed at Grim, but the other half was grateful.
“Grim, I’m covered in dust thanks to you,” you quickly got out from between Leona and the window, “I need a shower.”
“What about me?” Leona asked.
“There’s a shower room on the second floor,” you called, then you gave him a look, “I shouldn’t have to say this, while I’m showering, keep out or die screaming!”
As prefect, and the only human student in the dorm, you got your own bathroom.
You stood under the spray, getting the dust cleaned off you. However, your mind was in a tizzy.
Seriously, how could that lazy lout be so good at cleaning? Where was that cleanliness when you were forced to be his maid? Not only did he do a good job he finished sooner than expected and even started to help with the windows!
You felt your face grow warm when you remembered the proximity. The feel of his chest against your back, how close his face was to yours.
He was so close I felt his breath on my face!!!
You placed your hand over your mouth as you felt your body shake. Dear God if Leona noticed your reaction you’d never hear the end of it.
It was bad enough that he was smart and athletic… to top it all off, he was probably one of the hottest guy you had ever seen. Lean yet strong build, angular jaw line, piercing green eyes, wild long dark hair, the lion ears and the scar just enhanced his handsomeness.
Yes, Leona drove you insane, but you weren’t blind.
But it wasn’t like you had a crush on him! He was a jerk; no amount of hotness would make you like him. You weren’t shallow!
But there might had been a few times, after P.E you would glance at Leona, as he aired out his shirt, trying to cool off. Him being sweaty after a good workout!
Focus!
You gently slapped your cheeks.
“I won’t let him get to me, I won’t let him get to me,” you chanted over and over again.
When you finished your shower you got dressed in some clean clothes. Now that the cleaning was done, it was time to make lunch. The dorm had a kitchen and Crowley had supplied you with plenty of food. He wasn’t the most reliable when looking for a way home, but he did make sure you were fed.
You reached the bottom floor where the kitchen was.
“You shouldn’t have stood there,” you heard Grim clearly arguing with Leona.
“Don’t be such a pest,” you heard Leona growl, “It took forever to get that dust out of my nose.”
You sighed, you couldn’t leave Grim alone for ten minutes could you.
“Guys, calm down,” you looked into the lounge, “Look I’m about to make lunch and…” you trailed off when you saw Leona… was shirtless. You hid behind the door embarrassed, “Leona why are you… where’s your shirt?”
“The fuzzball got it dirty remember,” Leona reminded, “It’s drying.”
“Well use magic to make it dry faster,” you demanded from the other side of the door, “You can’t walk around here without a shirt, this isn’t your room!”
Leona didn’t really think it was a big deal to not have a shirt on, but clearly you thought otherwise.
When he realized you were embarrassed, he smirked. He couldn’t resist himself.
“What’s wrong?” He teased, “You don’t like what you see?” He approached the door, “You know I heard from coach Vargas that we’re going to start swimming lessons next month,” he peered around the door to find the blushing herbivore, “You might want to get used to seeing a bunch of guys being half naked.”
You’re face became bright red when you saw Leona again and began to stutter, “P-p-put something on or-or I’ll let you starve,” you bolted for the kitchen away from the smirking Leona.
That was fun.
You were gasping on the floor of the kitchen. At this point Leona was just being sadistic. You took in a breath, you needed to make lunch. If you didn’t Grim would probably go steal someone else’s- wait. Was Leona being honest about swim lessons?
It was bad enough that you were the only girl in school, but if you were surrounded by guys in trunks, wearing nothing but a swimsuit?
No, no, calm down. He was probably just pulling your leg again, besides Crowley would have…
Note to self, ask Crowley about it later just in case.
You decided to make a pizza. With pepperoni, sausage, and bacon. A real meat lovers pizza. Since you had a lion over, you decided to make something with a lot of meat. Sometimes you were too nice.
Once you placed it in the oven, it was time to study.
When you returned to the lounge, your were thankful to see Leona was fully dressed. Plus, he was sleeping on the couch again, so he was bound to be quiet for a while, finally.
You had your textbooks in your arm before going to your favorite chair. Grim apparently had also decided to take a nap. You had half a mind to wake him. One of your plans to get home was to make Grim a powerful sorcerer so he could send you home somehow, but Grim didn’t have a strong attention span and forcing him to study never turned out well.
You sighed; you would study on your own for today. You’d try to make Grim study tomorrow.
You opened the textbook and began reading. You didn’t mean to, but you kept glancing over at Leona who was sleeping on the couching. His arms were under his head acting as pillows, his tail hung over the couch twitching every once in a while.
Here he was napping, avoiding his family. You couldn’t help but feel bitter. You’d do anything to see your family again. You sighed and went back to your book.
Did he honestly hate his family so much? That question made you remember the dream about the King of Beasts and what he did to his family.
Would Leona…?
You shook your head at the thought. Of course he wouldn’t, Leona was a jerk, but he wasn’t evil. Surely he wasn’t capable of killing his brother and nephew for the throne?
But he was capable of hurting other students, so he could win the Spelldrive…
That thought made you still.
Sure, none of injuries were too serious but, students fell off stairs. That could have turned into something really dangerous, even deadly.
Leona said, he didn’t feel remorse, you liked to believe it was just bravado, but what if…
“What’cha reading?” You gasped and looked to see Leona standing next to your chair, he saw what you were reading and smirked, “So, you’re brushing up on your potion skills. Good idea, since you’re hopeless in class.”
“Listen you…” You trailed off.
“What?” He was expecting you to fly off the handle again. Instead, you just quietly went back to your book.
“Don’t bother me when I’m studying Leona,” you murmured.
He raised an eyebrow. He didn’t expect that.
You tried to focus on your book. If Leona really was like the King of Beasts, if he was capable of hurting his family… You didn’t want to think about that.
You flipped to the page about ingredients. Leona managed to figure out that you were making the wrong potion, from one ingredient. You had to get that good somehow.
“You know,” Leona didn’t leave, “You could get better if you asked someone to tutor you.”
Was he offering? Even if he was, you weren’t going to bite.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” you muttered, not taking the bait.
He frowned, this time he leaned down and rested his elbow on the arm of your chair.
“What, tired herbivore?” He asked.
You looked at him. Now that you noticed the clock, the pizza should be done. You closed the book and got up, “I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Thankfully, Leona didn’t follow.
The pizza was done. Carefully you pulled your lunch out of the oven and set it on the counter to cool. As you stared at the pie, your mind drifted back to Leona.
You remembered little Cheka, how he was so excited to see him, how much he loved him. If Leona was capable of hurting Cheka… it would be heart breaking.
Maybe it would be best if you managed to isolate yourself from Leona?
Your phone began to ring. You answered.
“Hello?”
“(Y/N), is Leona with you?” Ruggie’s voice asked.
“He’s still in my dorm,” you answered.
“There’s a problem,” Ruggie said, “Cheka’s missing.”
“What?” You asked. You instantly became worried for the young boy.
“Yeah, you need to tell Leona.”
You froze at the request, “Uh… can’t you just call him on his phone?”
“I tried,” Ruggie groaned, “He turned off his phone.”
Of course, he did. He probably didn’t want anyone to disturb him.
“Alright, I’ll… I’ll tell him,” you quickly hung up. You turned towards the door that led to the lounge, but stopped.
Should you tell Leona?
You didn’t want to believe Leona was capable of hurting his nephew, but if he was, and if he found Cheka with no one else around… You remembered how he almost killed Ruggie, how the hyena beastman’s skin cracked as he was being slowly turned to sand.
You shook your head. You turned and went out the back door. You had to find Cheka and make sure he was alright.
%%%%%
Leona sat on the couch. What was your problem? You didn’t act like your usual self. You were quiet when he tried to tease you. Actually, you almost looked afraid. Why?
Sure, you got off on the wrong foot when you stepped on his tail, but he was over it. He wasn’t going hurt you. He knew you were weak and magicless. If he or anyone in Savanaclaw or anyone in Night Raven College tried to hurt you then it would probably kill you.
Though you never seemed to remember that. Whenever you stood up to someone stronger than you, or tried to help the overblot cases, like him.
“Something smells good,” the furball woke up, and he was right. There was delicious smell coming from the kitchen.
Grim jumped to the floor and scurried to the kitchen. Leona feeling hungry decided to follow Grim. When they arrived, they found a large pizza, covered in all kinds of meat. The sight was enough to make Leona’s stomach growl.
“Oh boy pizza!” Grim got excited, “It’s great having a henchhuman that cooks.”
Leona watched Grim climb onto the counter to cut a slice, “She made this?”
“Yeah, (Y/N) makes all the food in Ramshackle,” Grim explained.
Leona found himself looking around the room. Now that he thought about it, before (Y/N) came, Ramshackle was just a rickety building that was falling apart. Nowadays, it began to look more and more habitable.
“She also fixed up this building.”
“Yeah,” Grim sighed as he cut him a slice, “She made Crowley give us supplies to fix up the place. It was hard, but the roof doesn’t leak anymore.”
She fixed up this rickety old building, without any magic. Speaking of which…
“Where is the herbivore?”
“She left,” a ghost suddenly appeared.
“Myah!” Grim jumped at the ghosts sudden appearance, “I told you not to do that.”
“What do you mean she left?” Leona asked.
“She got a call,” the ghost said, “Apparently a kid named Cheka has gone missing.”
Leona’s eyes widened before pulling out his phone. He turned it on to find several calls and messages from Ruggie. All of them saying the same thing. His nephew was missing.
%%%%%%
You ran through the campus. Where would Cheka go? You didn’t like the idea of a small boy being alone here.
He wasn’t at Savanaclaw, the fact Ruggie called you proved that. You had to assume that a majority of Savanaclaw students were from the Sunset Savana and were currently looking for the young crown prince. They must have scoured the pocket dimension for him.
Actually you were pretty sure every student would know what little Cheka looked like. That wasn’t good. If someone like Azul found him it could turn out bad.
“I wanna see my Unca.”
“All you have to do is sign over your kingdom and I’ll help you find your uncle.”
“Okay.”
You shivered. You needed to make sure no diplomatic incidents happened on your watch.
Think, where would he go? He was probably looking for Leona. Would he go to the stadium thinking he was practicing for Spelldrive? That would be far for a five-year-old. Did Leona mention anything to his family, about what he did or where he liked to hang out on campus.
Wait? If he did, then maybe… It was worth checking.
You entered the botanical gardens. Leona liked to come here for naps. Not that you blame him, this place was beautiful. Sometimes you like to come here to read.
“Unca!” You gasped when you heard the voice, “Unca, are you here?”
You quickly followed the voice and found Cheka. He was wondering among the plants looking for Leona. You sighed in relief.
“Cheka.”
The small beastboy looked to see you and smile, “I remember you, you’re Unca Leona’s friend.”
Well, friend was a strong word.
“Cheka,” you tried to take a friendly tone, “You shouldn’t have run off. Your parents are worried about you.”
He pouted, “But I wanted to see Unca and he wasn’t there.”
Your chest tightened at the mention of Leona.
“Well he-…”
“You jerk!” The sound of shouting drew your attention. You saw two students were fighting, “Quit pushing.”
“What are you gonna do about it?” The other challenged.
He raised his hand, “Come forth flames!” The student shot a ball of fire towards the other. Said student jumped out of the way, but the attack hit a tree instead, causing it to fall. It began to fall toward, “Cheka!”
The young child could only stand there frozen. You shot forward trying to get to the boy in time, but you knew you wouldn’t reach him. He was going to die.
“I am the one who hungers. I am the one who thirsts,” a blur shot past you towards Cheka, “I am the one to rob you of your future, King’s Roar.”
In an instant, the tree turned to sand creating a pile of dust.
I gasped, that spell, I recognized it.
Erupting from the sand, was Leona holding a crying Cheka.
“Unca, I was so scared.”
“Is that… housewarden Leona?”
Leona turned a terrifying glare towards the students that almost killed his nephew, both students ran like their lives depended on it.
“Cheka,” you ran to see if he really was alright, “Is he okay.”
Leona looked at you. He looked mad, “Why didn’t you tell me that Cheka ran off,” his tone startled you, “We could have found him faster if you told me, I know where he’d go.”
You looked at Leona and at Cheka.
This would had been the chance. This would had been an accident. He could have just let it happen and the throne would had been his…
But the way he yelled at you, and held the frightened Cheka proved your fears completely wrong.
Leona, despite his attitude… truly loved his family.
Guilt and self-hatred began to weigh in your heart. How could you have ever believed that Leona would hurt his nephew?
“I’m sorry Leona,” you said honestly, “You’re right. I should have told you.”
“Cheka!”
You looked behind you, to see a beastman and beast woman enter the gardens.
“Mama, papa,” Leona let Cheka down to run to the two people. You gasped, these two, must had been…
“Keep an eye on your Falena,” Leona complained, “He almost got crushed just now.”
“Is that true, Cheka.”
You watched the family look over their child and your guilt increased. Leona was standing next to you. He was the one you needed to apologize to.
“I’m sorry Leona,” you apologized again.
“Seriously, (Y/N) what’s your deal?” Leona asked. First you acted weird then you didn’t tell him. Knowing you, you would have run into the lounge, telling him that Cheka was missing and then would have dragged him out to find the child.
You gripped the hem of your shirt, “I thought… After what happened during the Spelldrive tournament… I thought you would do anything to become king… even…” Leona looked at you shocked, “I was worried for Cheka and… I see now I was wrong…”
You kept quiet, if Leona was going to yell at you and call you all kinds of things, that would be fine. You deserved it for thinking he could hurt his family. You flinched when you heard a low growl and closed your eyes, waiting for the verbal assault.
“I… I guess I get why you’d think that,” this time it was your turn to look at him shocked, “Look. The Spelldrive… I made sure everyone could recover from those accidents, but since it did cause me to… overblot, I can see why you’d think I’d be an asshole,” he looked at you, “But I’m not that big an asshole. So do me a favor, next time something like this happens, tell me.”
You couldn’t help but smile, “But… I thought you didn’t want to be bothered with my stuff.”
He scoffed, “It isn’t fun, but,” he smirked, “If it makes you owe me, then I’ll put up with it.”
You looked at him surprised, “Owe you?”
“You didn’t tell me my nephew was missing,” Leona grinned, “So now you have to make up for it.”
“I just explained why I didn’t,” you argued, “Now what, you want me to… make you lunch for a month?”
“I think two months would be more appropriate,” Leona said, “And if you don’t do it, I’ll just take bites from the lunches you bring.”
“How about you make your own lunch you jerk?” You snapped.
The sound of laughter caused you both to stop bickering, then you remembered, you were in the presence of a royal family.
You looked to see the Kingscholar’s had gotten closer. Nervously and stiffly you tried to… curtsy? Bow? You weren’t sure what you did, but you were sure it was wrong, “Uh- your majesties,” you could hear Leona suppressing his laughter next to you, “I am… (Y/N) (L/N) of… Earth?”
The king chuckled, “It’s nice to meet you miss (Y/N). I heard so much about you. I heard you saved my brother.”
“Hey,” Leona snipped.
“Oh uh, that… I-I didn’t do anything,” you said, “That was all my friends, they… they actually have magic,” you laughed nervously. You had no idea how to talk to royalty.
“As fun as this is,” Leona grabbed your arm, “I need to take her home. The Headmage will lose it if she goes missing.”
“Right, we’ll see you later Leona,” Falena said, “It was nice to meet you (Y/N).”
“Likewise- I mean, it was my pleasure, s-sire…”
“Let’s go herbivore,” Leona dragged you away. Once you were out of the garden, you could finally breathe.
“I thought I was going to melt,” you said.
“How come you never get that tongue tied talking to me?” Leona asked, “I’m royalty.”
You shot him a glare, “You’re a royal pain in my neck.”
“Say what you want, you still owe me lunch.”
You groaned, “Where’s Grim?”
%%%%%%
Leona sighed when he returned to Savanaclaw. He couldn’t hide from his brother now, thankfully it was nighttime, Cheka had to be in bed by then.
“So, you finally arrived,” Falena said with a knowing smile.
“Yeah, yeah,” Leona crossed his arms, “So, did the Headmage talk you into another donation?”
“We’re still discussing it,” Falena said, “but I’d rather ask you about that young lady you were with?”
Leona went to a vending machine and got a drink, “What about her?” He brought the drink to his lips and began to take a sip.
“Well, how long have you been dating her?”
The question forced Leona to spit out the drink and look at his brother, “She’s not- we’re not- It’s not like that!”
“Oh?” Falena smiled.
“It’s not,” Leona said, “Me and that herbivore? Being king must be driving you crazy.”
“Leona, you were teasing her.”
“So what, it’s not my fault she overreacts to everything!” Leona denied, “It’s not going to happen, for a lot of reasons.”
“Like what?”
“She’s a magicless herbivore for one thing?” Leona said.
“Does that actually bother you?” Falena asked.
“Eh…” Actually it didn’t.
“She’s not from this world,” Leona said, “She’s trying to go back and when that happens, I’ll never see her again. Plus, after what happened during the Spelldrive, she thinks I’m an asshole.”
Leona knew that was true, so why did saying that out loud kind of hurt?
Falena hummed, “And here I was hoping you were actually putting effort into something.”
“What are you talking about this time?” Leona asked.
“It sounds to me,” Falena said, “Like you’re just making excuses again.”
“What do you know?” Leona asked, “You got a wife that loves you.”
“I had to win her heart first, just like any other man Leona,” Falena explained, “Can you honestly say there isn’t anything about her worth fighting for?”
Leona actually thought about it.
“Well,” Leona looked around, making sure none of his dormmates could see or hear him, “Maybe,” his cheeks actually dusted red a bit, “Maybe, she’s a little cute when I tease her.”
Falena smiled, “Leona,” he placed a hand on his younger brother. I can’t promise you it’ll work out, but sometimes it’s better to try anyway.”
%%%%%%
Monday came and Leona walked to campus. He was planning to skip the first class, he didn’t see a point in hearing a lesson he already learned.
“Leona.”
He stopped and looked to see you standing behind him. Your face was red. You walked up to him and shoved a boxed lunch into your hand.
“Here!”
He looked at it, then at you, “This is?”
“It’s a lunch,” you said red faced, “It’s… an apology for not telling you about Cheka… And that’s all you’re gonna get, so at least for today,” you ran past him, “Leave me and my lunch alone!”
Leona was surprised to say the least. He was only kidding about you making him lunch, but you actually made him something.
“…sometimes it’s better to try anyway.”
His brother’s words echoed in his head. Leona tried not to let anyone tell him how to live, but as he watched your form disappear into the school. He thought that maybe, just once, he should listen to Falena’s advice.