Chapter Text

Idia Shroud had never left the Isle of Woe before. His entire life was made of sterile hallways and beeping tech, the glow of technomantic magic reflecting in his eyes like shining gems. He was used to the cold, unfeeling walls of S.T.Y.X., the dull grey uniforms, the only color belonging to his family's accursed hair.

His eyes hurt to look at such a vibrant group of people.

They fussed over him, shouting and scolding, but he didn't think a single word had actually been directed at him yet. He'd already started to tune them out, overwhelmed by their loud voices and loud colors and loud personalities , his hands resting over his ears as he stared blankly at the floor.

An hour ago, his little brother wanted to go on an adventure. 30 minutes ago, his baby brother convinced him to turn off the security systems at S.T.Y.X. to help their escape. A second ago, he became an only child.

Just now, he blinked, only to open his eyes in a completely new setting.

Was he dead?

It was the only thing that made sense. No, he reasoned, no it wasn't, but it was the answer he really hoped was true. Because if it wasn't, if he wasn't dead, if he had to keep living without a brother, then he really didn't know what to do. There was nothing he could do, if that was the case. 

He can't be alone. He just can't.

He didn't realize he was hyperventilating until a hand touched his arm and he didn't have enough breath in him to scream. He gasped instead, ugly and desperate, the way Ortho gasped just a moment ago, and fell back. He hit the floor and it hurt, but he didn't let himself think it did, because what right did he have to whine about falling on the floor when his baby brother, who he was supposed to take care of, who he was supposed to keep safe, was dead because of him ?

He was older, he was supposed to know better! He was- he was -

The room got dark all of a sudden, and he gasped in another breath. It sounded relieved, this time, but he didn't feel relief. Still, it was easier to focus again, and through the sound of his own blood rushing in his ears, he could numbly realize that the loud conversations happening around him had stopped. Almost everyone was gone. Almost .

A man was sitting in front of him, his legs criss-crossed. He giggled through tears (and, embarrassing , he didn't realize he was crying, he was way too old to be bawling like a baby) because grown-ups didn't sit like that. They crouched down or knelt, if they had to be on the floor. If not, they always sat in chairs with straight backs and straight legs, like dolls or something. But the man in front of him was sitting like he and his brother when they were playing games or watching tv together. 

He had weird hair, too. Like Idia's, except it wasn't on fire, and it wasn't blue, and really wasn't anything like Idia's. It was different colors, so it was still weird. He knew old people got white hair sometimes, but only half of this man's hair was white - the rest was still jet black and, for all intents and purposes, normal. 

His coat looked comfy, though. Idia liked how big it was. He wanted a coat like that, he decided. A big and comfy coat that he could hide in whenever he got scared. Not- not that he got scared! Ever! He was a super cool big brother, and he was already 10, so he never got scared…but, if he did, then that sort of coat would be nice.

His hands were in his lap, now, and he was breathing normally again. Not normally -normally, his nose was gross and runny now because of all his panicking, but it didn't hurt anymore. He'd mimicked the man's posture, his own legs folded the same way, and it looked like that was the right thing to do, since the man was smiling at him now. 

"All good?" He asked. Idia liked that his voice was steady. Someone had to be, and Idia clearly wasn't. He nodded. "Good, good. Do you know where you are?"

That was never a good question to be asked. In the movies he and his brother watched, that always meant some real, high-level stuff was going down. But he wasn't anyone's MC, and he definitely wasn't some top-tier anime protag, so he didn't know why he of all people was being asked that question.

It was easy enough to answer, though. He shook his head.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do, since the old man sighed and shook his head back like the textbook example of a disappointed parent. He felt himself cringe a little, looking down as he fidgeting nervously.

"That's alright." That was what he said, but he sighed again, heavier, and mumbled a few curse words Idia was pretty sure he shouldn't be saying around a child but didn't have the courage to speak up about. "Okay. Do you know who you are?" 

Another one of those questions that Idia did not like being asked. He nodded.

"Good. We have that, at least. Can you tell me the last thing you remember?"

He froze.

'Does he know?'

If the man in front of him didn't know, and Idia told him, what if he started treating him differently? He was being so patient, what if he got mad? What if he got disgusted? He thought he was talking to a nice, normal kid, but actually, he was talking to a filthy murderer. Or an incompetent fool who managed to kill off his one and only brother. Either way, any way, there was no way he didn't hate Idia.

But then, if he did know, what if this was a test? And if he lied, and the man knew he was lying, wasn't that even worse? Not only would he think Idia is an awful, weak, useless little murderer, but a lying one at that. 

"I…" he hesitantly started, eyes darting back and forth as he searched for the right answer without a single guide or playthrough to follow, his throat stubbornly closing up as he tried to find something, anything to say, "I- um, I-"

"Let me rephrase. Can you remember what you were just doing, yes or no?" The man's strong, stable, steady voice cut in. He was starting to envy it, a little. He let that thought simmer for a second before the actual content of his words set it, and that bitterness was quickly washed away with a much greater relief. 

He wordlessly nodded, his hands curling together in his lap in an effort to stop them from twitching quite so much. If he kept radiating guilt like this, this whole farce wouldn't last longer than a game of checkers. 

"Then I'm guessing you know your name and age?" He nodded again. After another beat of silence, the man sighed, massaging his temple, and added, "Could you please tell me?"

"Oh-" He squeaked, his shoulders jumping up to meet his ears in shame. Stupid, so stupid, he couldn't do anything when it came to talking. That was all Ortho. He was a prodigy, sure, a genius when it came to machines , but his brother was the genius of people . He bit the inside of his cheek. "Um, I- I'm, my name is Idia," he said, not sure how much this man knew about him or the Shroud family but belatedly realizing that he might have been kidnapped and would be held for ransom, "Shroud. Idia Shroud. I'm, uh, I turned- I mean, I'm ten." He held up ten fingers. Just in case it wasn't clear. 

Another sigh. He wilted. He wished the ground would just open up and swallow him whole and maybe kill him a little bit too, for good measure. He was doing an awful job at being kidnapped, if that was what happened.

"You're eight years in the future," the man said, like that was a totally normal thing to say and not at all insane or the plot of at least five different animes of wildly varying quality. "You're a student at Night Raven College, currently in your third year, and you managed to mess up an assignment in my class so badly that you've reverted back to your ten-year-old self. Do you understand?"

Idia stared at him like he was crazy. 

What (and he knew he wasn't supposed to say this word, but if he didn't say it now he wasn't sure any other situation would be deserving) the fuck.

He snapped his mouth shut with an audible click that had the crazy old man wincing in sympathy. He looked down, starting to mumble to himself. Eight years, that would make him eighteen, so at least the man had his math right in him being a third year, assuming he didn't skip any classes (it went without saying that he wouldn't have been held back, he was still a genius). He'd heard of Night Raven College, obviously , and wasn't surprised at his ability to get in (again, genius, come on ), but he was surprised that he'd be able to go, what with all the curse stuff. Maybe he and Ortho should have just been patient, to go on their adventure- and maybe, that was a train of thought to go down later.

There was definitely a gap in his memories, even if it didn't feel like there was, because he still had no idea how he got here. Even magic would leave behind a memory, if he was somehow teleported away from the phantom and to this classroom at the last second, but he didn't even remember that much. He didn't fall asleep or pass out, he only blinked, barely a second could have gone by, so there was a gap . Completely unaccounted for. He'd normally assume that gap to be, at worst , maybe a few hours, but this man was claiming that gap was worth eight years.

Either way, he concluded, he was stuck here. He didn't know where, exactly, Night Raven College was on a map, and he didn't know how to get back home from here. And he had no information other than what was being given to him. 

He loathed to admit it, but he had to rely on this strange man for now. At least until he got his bearings. 

Eight years in the future… He looked up, startling the man, and asked, "Is my brother here?" 

The man grimaced, thinking deeper than Idia reckoned his question warranted. It was an easy yes or no. He'd asked it pretty clearly, too, no stuttering or nothing. 

He stood up, towering over Idia effortlessly, and Idia swallowed nervously. Had he overstepped? Did his patience finally wear out, was he going to just knock Idia out now and be done with it? He yelped when a hand came at him, arms flying up to protect his face (thanking years of fighting games for the experience he hoped he'd gained through osmosis), only to blink in confusion when that hand just grabbed his own and tugged him up. 

"I think we'd best go see the headmage for any questions," he said, looking like he'd swallowed a lemon. He didn't look like he wanted to go see the headmage. Idia could relate - bosses were scary, he'd watched his parents do their bossing thing and thanked his lucky stars he was their kid , not their employee (yet). "Can you walk?"

He nodded. He'd done enough to test this man's patience. He'd play nice.

For now.

…

If he'd been having any doubts before of this really being the prestigious Night Raven College, they were gone after walking through the halls with his hand, sweaty and shaking, tightly gripping the much taller man's thankfully gloved hand. He'd surely have shaken Idia off in disgust by now if he had to touch the younger boy's scraped and sweaty palms.

He didn't think the man had noticed, yet, the state of Idia. Or at least, he didn't comment on it. Maybe, if he wasn't lying about the time stuff (which was starting to seem more and more likely, if this was actually Night Raven College with its grand reputation and even grander mages), maybe he thought Idia's ruffled state was just a product of circumstances. He was still in the same clothes he'd had on before…all of this – still in the same dirty, wrinkled, and torn up state after sneaking around with Ortho and the subsequent event . His knees ached, and he was sure that if they weren't scraped and bleeding, they were definitely badly bruised. The rest of him wasn't much better – he wasn't exactly known for his athletic prowess, nor had he been given any reason to care about something like that with the life he'd so far led – but he hadn't gotten the chance to take stock yet.

His hands were in rough shape, since he kept trying to catch his falls with all the grace of a newborn gazelle already dying of pneumonia, or whatever it was gazelles died from. His face was tacky with dried tears, but that was easy to play off as a result of his earlier panic. 

He could probably skate by without any unnecessary fussing or attention, so long as he kept his head down and his mouth shut. He couldn't avoid attention altogether, but grown ups usually didn't want to deal with the messes of random kids, or so he'd come to learn. Sure, this man might be a…teacher, from context clues? But it wasn't as though Idia was his only student, and he certainly hadn't given Idia any reason to believe he wasn't eager to hand off this problem to whoever else was willing to handle it. 

There were other students, but he found they didn't care that much about their surroundings. It was easy for the odd duo of teacher and shrunken student to slink by raucous friend groups with nary a sideways glance. Maybe they'd seen weirder. He wasn't going to complain. He was a-okay with not being gawked at.

When they reached what Idia could only assume to be the headmage's office, what with the probably-teacher's talk of going to the headmage and the complete and utter silence afterwards that gave Idia absolutely no idea of where else they could possibly be going, there was already a sizable group inside. The door opened, and even though Idia tried his best not to stand out, all eyes narrowed in on him almost instantly.

He lasted all of two seconds before the prying eyes were too much and he hid behind the tall man's tall legs, letting go of his hand to instead hug himself in a poor attempt at self-soothing. 

It didn't work.

There was an awkward cough, he didn't know who it came from and he didn't care, and for a glorious moment the attention was off of him. He took the opportunity to breathe in deep, fingers clenching tight in the dull fabrics customary of S.T.Y.X. He closed his eyes, then immediately opened them when he realized that not seeing made him feel a little bit worse, actually.

"As we can see," an off-puttingly jovial voice said, cutting the tension in the room with those giant pairs of scissors movies had for those weird mayoral ceremonies, "the older Shroud is now the younger Shroud, for the time being."

Idia's eyes snapped to the source of the voice once he made sense of the wording, poking his head out from behind the probably-teacher-man. His eyes locked onto an…interesting man, to say the least. He was aware he didn't have much room to talk as far as odd appearances went, but in his defense, his was genetic. This man just… oozed eccentricities. He draped himself in Being Weird, from the weird crow mask to the even weirder outfit.

His eyes were the creepiest part – at least, Idia was assuming they were his eyes. The more apt description would be the ominous glowing dots from beyond his mask that stared into Idia's soul with all the warmth of a steel refrigerator. His movements were so lively and animated, it almost made up for the utter lack of humanity where his eyes should be. It freaked Idia out. He thought, briefly, of the monstrous form he'd been face-to-face with before waking up here. There were no similarities, really, he just…didn't like this man. He flinched when those soulless lights locked onto him again, grabbing onto probably-teacher-man's pant leg. 

The creep smiled wide, waving to Idia with a friendliness that made Idia like him even less. This did not deter the man. "Welcome in, young Shroud! We were just discussing what to do about housing you." 

He frowned – if he was a student here, wouldn't he have a dorm? Why wouldn't he be able to stay there?

His thoughts were echoed by the others in the room that he'd almost blissfully forgotten about. He couldn't make out any particular words, but the sentiment was clear: he wasn't going to be gracefully accepted by anybody present. This group was terrible with children. It was almost enough to make him cry, if he wasn't starting to dissociate.

"I don't see why he wouldn't be able to stay in his own dorm," a red-haired boy said, crossing his arms and looking at Idia appraisingly. Whatever he was looking for in the boy shaking like a leaf, he didn't find, the corners of his mouth ticking down in a slight frown. "He looks old enough to fend for himself. All his needs would be met easily enough by his dorm. I doubt he could be any worse at taking care of himself now than he does normally."

Another person, blonde and beautiful in a way Idia struggled to classify as either pretty or handsome, scoffed in response, a less-than-pleasant smile on his face. "I wouldn't hold my breath. That's too low a standard – it would be impossible for anyone to be worse with their health than a grown Idia."

"Aw, that sounds pretty mean, doesn't it?" A third chimed in, a young man with tan skin, light hair, and an air of frivolity about him that made Idia recoil further behind the pair of legs he'd taken refuge behind. "He's not that bad! 'Sides, he's kinda cute as a kid, isn't he? We could take care of him over at my dorm!"

"By which you mean Jamil can take care of him, no?" A man with glasses said with a smile that sang a song of business. He chuckled, and even to ears like Idia's, inexperienced in socializing, it didn't sound that nice. "I think the poor boy would shrivel up like a prune under the sun in Scarabia."

His eyes widened a little bit in curiosity, but his reaction went unnoticed. His entire being did, actually, his presence meaning nothing as the people in the room talked around him. 

"He certainly wouldn't do well in Savannahclaw either, by that logic," the blonde man said. He hummed as another man, intimidating with the cutest animal ears that Idia really wanted to touch now, growled under his breath. "What, did you want to take him in?"

"Hah, as if. He'd get ripped to shreds." Idia shivered at the wording, not doubting how literal the man might have been. "If we're gonna be yappin' about other dorms, though, then he sure wouldn't survive your pompous little posse. He'd probably cry meetin' your pet freak."

"I'm assuming you mean to say my esteemed vice housewarden -"

"I said what I said, didn't I?"

The headmage laughed nervously, clapping to cut them off. "Ahaha! That would be enough of that, now, wouldn't it?" He got two dirty glares that made him wither in his seat, but he kept going regardless. "One of you has to look after young Shroud, unfortunately. Not just because of his new challenges in, ah, self-care, but because we need to monitor his magic , yes?"

He got a few bewildered, confused looks, which made Idia feel a little better about not understanding what he was on about. The man laughed again, wringing his hands together.

"That is to say, we aren't entirely sure how his magic has been affected by this state, if it has been at all. Of course, a grown Idia Shroud's magic would completely overwhelm a significantly younger Idia Shroud, so we need to keep an eye on him to make sure nothing, ah, extreme happens. And I'm sure you're all well acquainted with that extreme, so you're all aware of the signs!" He cheered alone, ignorant to the unbelieving glares being sent his way. "What a thoughtful teacher I am! Yes, it's best for one of his fellow housewardens to keep an eye on him!"

"You just don't want to babysit, am I right?" The man with glasses ruthlessly asked, earning a pained sound and not a single protest or denial.

"We're bein' expected to look after him 'cause we overblotted ?" The lion-eared man rolled his eyes, jabbing a finger at the white-haired boy. "'Cause we've got an odd duck out in that case."

"But young Al-Asim was a key witness! Also we could not find Viper quickly enough."

"I wasn't really much help though…"

"I can hardly think of this as an acceptable solution, he should be left in the care of a professional if he must stay in the school-"

"Of course, the professionals that we have just lying around-"

"Like you're doin' anythin' to help either-"

"Um," a small, shaky voice piped up. All eyes in the room snapped to him once more and he flinched with a quiet ' eep ', but he valiantly did not shy away. He took a wobbly breath and shuffled out from his hiding spot, hand raised. With a tight grip on his own shirt, over where he could faintly feel his own heart beating, he cleared his throat. "I, um, can't overblot. If- if that's what the issue is…um, I mean, that's all- I had, to say…"

Silence. Deafening, all-encompassing silence. He wanted to die a little bit. 

"Is…that so?" The headmage slowly said, resting his head in his hand. "...right! Yes, of course, we did know that. Of course, I remembered that, aha!" He clearly did not know, Idia thought with resounding doubt. "Ah, but for your fellow housewardens, could you explain?" He mouthed the word 'fellow' to himself, glancing at the others in the room, but decided to file that information away for later. 

"Um, it's…I think, it's a secret…?" He bit the inside of his cheek, looking down. "We, um, we aren't s'posed to leave, anyways, so…um, I mean, it's probably obvious, but-" He brought his knuckle to sharp teeth to bite at, gnawing at his skin as he tried to decide whether to explain or not. They didn't know, obviously – if they had known, they clearly forgot, for one reason or another. Was he allowed to tell him?

…well, if he wasn't supposed to, then S.T.Y.X. would just make them forget anyways, right? 

"...my hair," he mumbled, grabbing a chunk of the cool-toned flames and fiddling with it as he spoke. "It burns the blot. So, um. I- I can't, physically, overblot. It all gets b-burned up." He stammered a little, sure, but that got the point across, right? So they wouldn't feel pressured to take care of him- in fact, he'd prefer if they didn't! He would be okay, more than okay, with being left alone. He could fend for himself, he'd rather , actually. 

The reactions from the room were…varied, to say the least. Only one of them looked shocked , honestly, the rest either reacting with curiosity (to put it kindly, he thought to himself as he caught the glint in the eyes of the spectacled teen) or plain indifference. One of them muttered a quiet " Fascinating… " but that was about it. 

…hang on a second. 

He looked up with wide eyes, staring at the teens in the room like they were ghosts - which, they should be ! They all overblotted? Or, most of them- even still, that was four people in one room who overblotted and looked….fine?! They were all anomalies, every last one, he couldn't even spot a scar or a lost limb on any of them. Four overblots was more than enough to shut a magic school down, how were they still operating? There was no way S.T.Y.X. didn't know about this! 

"At least one of you should be dead," he whispered to himself, horrified by the group of mages before him. "No no, two, at least . And witnessing an overblot, that's worse than overblotting yourself, how are you unscathed? That's such a plothole, you can't face such a mega OP SSR-type enemy and get out on the power of friendship or whatever. How is this school still functioning? Maybe I could overblot just by being here, are you all cursed or something? You- eep !" 

He was cut off from his frantic, half-aware rambling by one of them walking over and picking him up by the back of his collar. Feeling distinctly like a cat being scruffed, he looked up nervously at the lion beastman glaring down at him. He hadn't seemed impressed by Idia's hair, and now, he looked even less impressed by all his mumbling. He looked like the type of BBEG to click his tongue and grumble about cowards. Scary.

"Ya get why this might not be info we wanna share with the world, right?" He asked, and Idia got the impression he wasn't being asked so much as he was being warned . He didn't even get the chance to nod when the man continued, "So you're gonna keep all that mumbling to yourself, got it?"

He was proud of himself for not bursting into tears right then and there, to be honest. That was a feat he doubted many could accomplish. He nodded quickly, sniffling, as he hung limply in the beastman's grasp. 

"Do you have any experience with children?" The handsome man remarked, crossing his arms and frowning at how Idia was being handled. His captor scoffed back.

"More than you, that's for sure." 

"Octavinelle will take him," a voice suddenly cut in just when Idia was about to start worrying he was going to be used as a projectile. It was the teen with glasses again, impossible to read as he smiled (not like Idia was known for his ability to read people…). "We certainly have the resources to care for a child, and the funds to acquire more if need be. This may come as a surprise, but Floyd is quite good with children, as well! Of course, he wouldn't be left alone with the boy."

The headmage could not have looked more pleased if he tried, and he definitely seemed like the type to try. Before he could agree and send them all on their merry way, though, the teacher who had led Idia here cleared his throat. 

"If I recall, Ashengrotto was quite opposed to taking the pup in earlier." He didn't look mad, but Idia couldn't say for certain. He was still being held in the air like a ragdoll as he tried to turn his head to look at him. "What changed?"

"Well, we're clubmates, of course!" That was news to Idia, but then again, he supposed anything would be right now. "And he's been so polite, how could one not feel their heart open with pure generosity-"

"You want to get information out of him to blackmail Idia later, don't you?" The red-haired boy cut him off, raising an eyebrow.

"So little faith. Octavinelle is the dorm of the great sea-witch's benevolence, is it not?" He swept his arms out in a grand gesture. He was not shaping up to be the kind of person Idia could find much comfort in so far. "And if my dear friend felt like returning the favor after he's grown up again, who would I be to deny him?"

"Ah," the handsome man said as Idia was placed back on his own two feet, "so it's to get Idia in your debt, then."

"Who's to say?" He chuckled, and in the next second, he was kneeling in front of Idia, one hand over his heart as the other extended towards the child. Idia recoiled, glancing between the hand, the face, and the rest of the room. "My name is Azul, I'm a second year and the Octavinelle housewarden. We're in the same club, believe it or not!"

Idia stared at him with a noticeable lack of trust, fiddling with the hem of his shirt in lieu of shaking Azul's hand and looking away. "...Idia Shroud. NG+, I guess ," he mumbled, mostly to himself, frowning. He'd hoped he'd be left to his own devices - or, if he really had to stay with someone, that it'd be someone quieter than this. Then, unable to believe any version of him would willingly join a club that had someone like Azul in it, he skeptically asked, "What club?"

"The Board Game Club," he answered easily. If it was a lie, he told it quick and he told it well. Idia wasn't sure how far he could take his skepticism anymore. "For two years now, give or take a month or so."

…he could, begrudgingly, believe that. He frowned as he slowly nodded, radiating skepticism. He wasn't going to have much say in the matter, he was guessing, so he might as well save his energy and keep his protests to himself. For now. 

"Then Octavinelle will be charged with taking care of the youngified Shroud while we search for a way to fix him!" The headmage cheered, far too joyful to hoist his work onto a student in Idia's humble opinion. "I'll also ask that Ashengrotto bring the boy by for the sake of research. You are one of the top scorers in your potionology class, I trust that you'll be of great help to your hardworking Professor!" 

Idia caught the twitch in Azul's eye as he nodded to the headmage – the very picture of deference, if not for that single giveaway. "I'm happy to assist, headmage. I trust I'll be properly compensated for my efforts?"

"....ah, look at the time, shouldn't you all be getting back to class?!" The hadmage stood up in a flurry of motion and started shooing everyone out of the room while he tactlessly avoided the question. The hard look in Azul's eye told Idia the man wouldn't be able to avoid it for very long. "Ashengrotto, you have the rest of the day off to get Shroud all settled, okay? Okay! Goodbye!"

The doors slammed shut with everyone standing outside, still processing what just happened. Azul cleared his throat and turned to Idia with a hand outstretched. "Well, then, shall we?"

Idia looked at the hand before his eyes snapped to the ground and he started fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "....'kay." 

He could feel Azul's annoyance. He'd been so good earlier, he could tell the teen was internally seething, why was he causing trouble now? What was with the sudden attitude?

But Idia was tired. He didn't want to think about how he got here, or what was happening just before, or what he was going to do now. He was tired, and confused, and blinking the tears out of his eyes was taking up enough of his mental fortitude. He had nothing left to spare towards dumb, useless things like social niceties and being easy to take care of. He didn't ask for this, and he definitely didn't ask Azul to take care of him. 

He volunteered. Idia was his problem now. If he really knew grown up Idia, then he knew exactly what he was getting into.

Azul sighed, his outstretched hand moving up to instead comb through his hair, and nodded. "I will…lead the way, then. Follow me, Idia."

He wordlessly nodded and followed.

Chapter Text

Octavinelle was cold. 

The lights were dim, and it was cold. It reminded Idia of home.

He looked out the windows as they passed by, entranced by the seascape he saw in place of whatever view he had expected – his home only saw dark stone, and the place he'd woken up in had boasted a bright, cheerful sky that shone in through the glass. This was neither of those. It was in-between. He liked it.

He didn't realize he'd stopped following after Azul to press his hands against the glass in awe until he heard the older boy clear his throat. He jumped and whirled around, a stuttered apology already on his tongue before he took note of the amused, even proud expression Azul wore. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Azul said with a chuckle. He wasn't mad. In fact, he looked mighty pleased as Idia shyly nodded, glancing again at the otherworldly view. "Of course, it's nothing compared to the real sea, but it's still gorgeous in its own right."

Idia fidgeted as he gathered up the courage to ask, "Have- have you seen it?" At Azul's bemused, but nonetheless encouraging look, he looked down and elaborated, "The, um, the sea. Have- you seen, the sea?" Yellow eyes peeked through blue flames up at Azul, trying to gauge how stupid the question was. It sounded pretty stupid, now that he thought about it. Obviously Azul had seen the real sea, how else would he know which was better? Idiot. This was why he left all the talking to-

"I live there," came Azul's amused reply. His head snapped up, curiosity immediately overwhelming any anxiety or grief that had started to creep in, pulling another laugh from Azul. Silently, Idia congratulated himself. He was getting a good grade in talking. He was a genius, actually. He made someone laugh, twice . He was practically a god. 

He didn't make any move to actually ask, but the question he was buzzing with was not hard to guess, judging by Azul's raised brow and entertained smile. 

"You want to know how that's possible?" A rapid nod answered him, enough to give Idia a headache. "I'm an octopus mer, can't you tell?"

Idia stared at him, feeling awful that, no, he really couldn't tell. He was about to blabber out all sorts of apologies when Azul cracked with another laugh, shaking his head. Suddenly, he got the feeling he was being teased. He no longer felt bad, actually.

"I use a transformation potion, of my own design, to be able to attend school on my own two legs. Impressive, no?"

It was. Actually, it was beyond impressive. Suddenly, the headmage's comment earlier about Azul's potion-prowess or whatever it was he said made a lot more sense, if this was what he was capable of. Idia looked over Azul's incredibly human form with awe that he wasn't able to hide just yet. He wondered what his real form looked like. It was probably like those super cool, ultra, limited edition skins that had, like, a million buffs that came with them. He was an octopus person. That was so cool . 

Suddenly seeming a little uncomfortable with the full force of a young Idia's attention, Azul cleared his throat awkwardly and turned back around. "I take it you haven't seen the sea?" He moved back to Idia's original question, starting to walk again. Idia cast one more glance to the view beyond the windows before he scurried after him.

He shook his head – then, realizing Azul wasn't facing him and couldn't see, replied, "Um, no." He fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I mean, sort of? But not really. Not in person, I mean." Did that make any sense? He felt like he wasn't making any sense. 

"So you have seen pictures and videos, I presume."

"Yeah- yes, um. Pretty much. In games and…movies, and stuff…" It sounded even more pathetic when he said it out loud, and it had already sounded pretty pathetic in his head. "A lotta- a lot of animes, too, um. They have a lot of beach episodes, so…"

"Ahh, I do believe you've mentioned as much to me. Not you , of course," he said, apparently sensing Idia's sudden spike of panic as he tried to retrace their conversation, "but your older self. One of the first real conversations we had was because one of those shows you like had a special episode in the Coral Sea, and it came up during a club meeting." Then, quieter, as if Idia wouldn't be able to hear despite the total silence of the world around them making any sound feel amplified, " More like you wouldn't stop bringing it up, but that's neither here nor there …"

He hunched in on himself anyways, shoulders curling forward in shame at his future self's past(?) actions. He didn't want Azul to think he was creepy or weird for listening in on words he clearly wasn't supposed to hear, though, so he kept his half-stammered apology to himself. 

"I can't exactly bring you to the Coral Sea as you are," Azul continued, oblivious to Idia's self-deprecation, "but, I can show you something close. Would you like to see?" He glanced back at Idia and chuckled at the eager look on the child's face. He wondered if he'd be able to get a picture or two in before he got his clubmate back – it would make for some glorious blackmail. Ah, but it'd have to be analogue pictures, otherwise the self-proclaimed tech-genius would just wipe them from existence before Azul could even draft up a contract.

The kid nodded with more energy than his grown counterpart had expressed in all the time Azul had known him. Ignoring the grime on his face (presumably from the potion accident that got him in this state to begin with, though if it wasn't, Azul wasn't being paid enough to care) and the odd hunch he was already settling into at his young age, he could almost be called cute. If he were anyone but Idia Shroud.

…

Octavinelle was not supposed to have a pool. It certainly did not used to. However, if there was anything Azul Ashengrotto was good at, it was bullying the headmage into giving him what he wanted.

And so, Octavinelle had a deep pool, lit like an underwater grotto and supplied with enough plant-life and artificial sun-lights to let one imagine they'd somehow ended up in some cave or pond, and not a dorm swimming pool. 

It was normally empty on school nights, but today had been anything but normal, and that trend was continuing as Azul spotted two ever-familiar figures already in the pool. The two reasons for the pool's massive size, Jade and Floyd Leech, were lounging in the water with their massive tails fully unfurled. If Azul didn't know better, he'd think the two had fallen asleep in the water.

After their many years together, however, Azul absolutely knew better. 

The child wearing a face almost like Idia's was too busy ogling at the room itself to even notice the two eels. If he had noticed them, he might've mistaken them for decorations with how still they were being. It was unnerving. They were plotting something.

…Azul sighed. Nothing he could do there – those two were always plotting something.

The child got closer to the water, and he considered warning him, but figured Jade and Floyd wouldn't do anything stupid . Even if he had wanted to warn him, he would've been too late - as soon as the more tolerable version of Idia reached the pool and finally took notice of the two mermen, the twins sprung into action. 

Well, Floyd sprung into action. Jade, as always, hung back, watching his brother with unhidden entertainment. When Azul caught his eye, he only shrugged, as if to say there was nothing he could do. It was a lie and they both knew it.

Floyd was at the pool's edge in less than a second, grabbing onto the edge with a loud snap and shouting as he got in the child's face. He grinned wide, showing off rows of razor sharp teeth straight out of any child's nightmare.

Child Idia yelped, stumbling back and falling onto his back when he tripped over his own feet. Floyd giggled at the reaction as the boy's hair burned bright red, spiking dangerously like an unchecked campfire.

"That's enough," Azul tiredly called out, shaking his head with a beleaguered sigh. "I assume you both somehow got ahold of the news before I could tell you, then?"

"We only heard a few silly rumors," Jade helpfully answered in his infuriatingly vague way, smiling pleasantly. 

Floyd chimed in, "Yeah! Someone mentioned a teeny-tiny Firefly Squid trailin' after Beakfish, like a lost guppy!"

"I believe it was 'puppy', Floyd."

"Eh? Why would a dog be lost?"

Azul cut in before the two could get carried away with their bantering, walking beside the still-reeling Idia. "I get the idea," he said. "Then I assume you'll be more than happy to set up a room for Idia?"

"Already done," Jade said, all too pleased with himself. "I figured you would see the worth- oh, that is to say, the benevolence of taking in our poor upperclassmen. So, I took the initiative and had Floyd prepare a comfortable and safe room for a younger guest."

Floyd stuck his tongue out at Jade, likely not having volunteered to do that work, but his brother merely ignored him in favor of smiling at Azul. It all worked out in Azul's favor, anyways, so he didn't bother with doing anything but giving his vice-housewarden a thumbs up.

"Um," Idia's small voice weakly cut in, "are you- I mean, are they- um, friends?" He glanced helplessly between Azul and the twins, clearly confused on what relationship such a calm presence would have with such…not-calm fiends. Azul held back a grimace, thinking about just how calm he'd been during his overblot. Calm…probably wasn't the best word to use for Azul, actually. 

He shook his head, then remembering the question he was asked upon hearing two offended gasps, pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. "Friends is…a strong word. Our goals align."

"We stick with him 's long as he stays fun~" Floyd cut in with a lazy grin, resting his chin on his arms, leaning against the side of the pool. Idia inched further away from him, closer to Azul. 

"And he sticks with us so long as we stay helpful," Jade continued for him, inspiring no more positive a reaction in the child than his brother did. 

"It's a mutually beneficial relationship," Azul finished, clearing his throat and fixing his glasses. 

"So it's-" The boy squeaked when all three heads snapped back towards him, then shakily continued, "it's, um, symbol- symbiotic…?"

Odd wording, but he supposed that was a right enough word…He hummed, considering, then nodded. "You could say that, yes."

The boy muttered something about parasitism that Azul could not possibly begin to understand the leap in logic to get to, only to get cut off by the twins suddenly emerging from the water with a single loud splash. They looked at Azul with the same expectant grins, and he sighed, shaking his head. "Every time I tell you two not to waste the transformation potion, and every time you end its effects early for some…" He stared at them, trying to find a word that described anything the twins did, "...prank."

They did not appear scolded. He supposed it was on him for trying. He grinned back at them.

"Well, since we're partners, I'd be more than happy to give you the spare transformation potions I happen to be carrying on my person," that he carried at all times, in case of emergencies, " if !"

Floyd groaned as Jade instead chuckled. The young Idia seemed too confused to have much of a reaction at all. He smiled, generously , and continued.

" If you show our dear guest to the room you both so helpfully prepared!" Jade was perhaps the only soul in the room to look mildly pleased by the proposition, tiny Idia turning three shades paler (he didn't realize that was possible, considering the other's pallid skin even at 18) and Floyd groaning again, even louder. He suspected, somehow, that Floyd's issue wasn't with the task itself, but the fact that he was being told to do anything at all. Unfortunately for Floyd, Azul did not care. "I have some work to catch up on thanks to our illustrious headmage and his spontaneous meeting, so I'm heartbroken to say this is where we part."

"Wait, but-"

"I'll trust him in your care, Jade, Floyd." He dipped his head, not waiting for any of them to voice a proper concern or disagreement before he was turned around and walking away.

Oh, right. He chuckled and tossed two vials over his shoulder, unsurprised to hear neither touch the ground until the caps were popped off and discarded. He hummed a single considering note, and then he was already back to thinking about tomorrow's menu.

Tricky as they were, the twins were good at getting things done. He could entrust the small Idia in their care for the night with no worries.

…

That night, the dorm awoke to screaming.

Chapter Text

Floyd was going to squeeze someone. To death, maybe. He'd find out when he started squeezing. 

He didn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night. He especially didn't appreciate Jade, not even getting out of bed, annoying smile on his face, telling him to go check it out. He was the stupid vice-housewarden, whatever the hell that meant, he didn't know and he didn't care. The point was, he was awake, and somebody was going to be as upset about that as he was real soon.

He stormed down the hall, a deep scowl cutting into his face that only grew worse as he heard wimpy, whiny crying. Turning the corner, he was always cracking his knuckles, only to- pause.

There were two figures standing in the hall. Or, one was standing. The other was cowering pathetically, pressed against the glass wall looking out into a fake sea, quivering and shaking like a wigglefish. The figure standing was-

"Eh? Itty bitty Firefly Squid's here?" Rage completely forgotten in the face of the ridiculous scene in front of him, he cracked a grin, looking down at the wigglefish on the ground. Obviously one of his dorm members, but he couldn't be assed to remember who. Maybe a first year. He was pretty small. "Seriously? Are you serious? This li'l glowworm had you screaming?"

He brought a hand down to ruffle the tiny version of Firefly Squid's hair. He didn't even think he was using that much force, but the kid's whole body still moved with the motion, like a guppy caught in a riptide. He made some weak and sad little noise that would have made Floyd feel bad if he didn't know that the kid's hair would be eating his hand alive if he was really upset. Seriously, he watched that weird stuff get red, it was crazy. Firefly Squid would be way more interesting if his reactions weren't so boring. 

Man, he wanted to go bother that tiny red Goldfish, now that he was thinkin' about fire. His hair wasn't actual fire, sure, but the magic he hurled at Floyd whenever he got too close sure was. 

Oh, right. Whimpering roommate. He rolled his eyes and just started walking, directing tiny Firefly Squid to do the same with a hand still on his head. "Don't piss yourself. If ya already did, clean it 'fore Azul finds out."

He was pretty sure he got a sad nod in return, but he really couldn't be bothered to look over his shoulder to check. It didn't matter either way.

He looked down at the fiery head of hair beneath his hand - geez, this squidling was small. His hand could completely cover the top of his head. He laughed and bent down to look the teeny tiny Firefly Squid in the eyes, still walking. 

"So, spill." At the confused (and scared, but he was starting to think he was never gonna see any other expression on his face) look he got in return, he groaned, messing with his weird glowy hair some more. "C'moooon, don't be duuuuumb. What'd ya do that freaked him out, huh?"

"...um," the little Firefly Squid started, too quiet to hear. He leaned in closer, and earned himself a loud yelp right in his ear for his troubles. "I didn't…I didn't do anything?"

He didn't even sound sure of it, looking back at the scene of the crime with something like guilt on his face. There was something under it, though, that Floyd might not have caught if he were anyone else. Or if he worked with anyone that wasn't Azul. 

"Ya hate him?"

Firefly Squid jumped and quickly shook his head, as if Floyd didn't see the strong bitterness stewing behind his eyes just a second ago. "No! No, it's not like that, it's.." He frowned, a frustrated look he was used to seeing on Goldfish whenever he realized Floyd was near, and started to tug at the ends of his hair. "....my hair. Scared him."

Floyd raised an eyebrow. He didn't get it. The little squirt let out an irritated little sigh that made him laugh.

"It's cursed," he said, fueled by frustration, a long-time growing sense of suffering, and the fact that he couldn't be older than nine or ten and was up way past his bedtime. His own Mama would've had his ear for staying up so late, no wonder the guppy was so irritable. It was funny to watch. "This stupid hair, it's just scary, and- and weird. And Mom and Dad keep telling us that it's something to be proud of but they obviously hate it too, 'cuz they always wear their helmets, and all the other researchers- they whisper whenever Ortho or I walk by."

Floyd hummed, listening along with a surprising level of intent. He'd let go of Firefly Squid's head and moved them both to sit down against the glass, leaning against his knees as the bite-sized squid hugged his own close to his chest as he ranted. 

He could understand that. The isolation thing. There was a reason he and Jade only had each other, until they met Azul. They were freaks, plain and simple. Other kids looked at them and wet their metaphorical pants, crying and running for the hills because they smiled with a little too much teeth. 

He was pretty sure this kid had it worse, though. Like, Azul levels of worse. He and Jade never cared about the whispering or the pointing, the opinions of minnows were never important to them, but Azul was so obsessed with those opinions he overblotted. Cringe, but true. 

The mention of Sea Angel caught his attention, though. Didn't Firefly Squid, like, make him? Did he already build a whole dude so young? Crazy.

"And I- I thought, I guess, you guys are all weird." He kinda wanted to pop his head for that one, but he wasn't wrong, so Floyd just nodded. "So, I…I should be less weird, and- and less freaky. I mean, that's- like, people wouldn't think I'm-" He groaned, grabbing the hair closer to his scalp and pulling. Floyd watched impassively. "I thought nobody here would think I'm cursed, but it's the same no matter what! I thought- we thought- we thought the outside world was gonna be fun."

So much misery in such a tiny little body. It was like he got sent back in time to when he and Jade first met their crybaby octopus. He thought about it, tilting his head this way and that, before he picked the kid up. He squealed, making Floyd grimace with how damn loud he was for such a tiny guy, as Floyd shifted to tuck him under his arm like a football, or maybe a very lightweight sack of potatoes.

"What are-" The young voice squeaked, "Where-?!" 

Floyd just ignore the squeaking and squealing until they reached their destination: the lounge. He knew this version of Firefly Squid hadn't been, and honestly, the usual version probably hadn't either, weird little recluse that he was. He dropped him off in one of the booths, walking off before the squirt could even open his mouth to ask whatever thousands of questions he had running through that teeny tiny little brain of his. 

When he came back with two glasses of water and a leftover dessert he forgot he'd stored away, having immediately grown bored of it, the guppy was sitting cross-legged on the plush booth seat. His head snapped up to watch Floyd once he got closer. Like a paranoid little squid, ha.

He set the glasses and plates down, not meaning to be rough but not caring enough when they clattered against the table, and slid into the seat across from the tiny Firefly Squid. "Drink that first," he said, pointing at the water. "You're gonna shrivel up like an ugly little polyp with all yer whinin'." He stuck a fork in the dessert he'd brought over and took a bite, only to immediately grimace and shoving the plate at the kid. Yuck, way too sweet.

Firefly Squid, for his part, followed instructions at least. He was still sniffling and sniveling, but he was sipping on the water all the while. His eyes were glued to Floyd, watching him like he'd been watching the windows whenever he thought someone wasn't looking. Jokes on him, this was Octavinelle. Someone was always looking. Usually Jade.

"Eat that, too. I don't wanna deal with Azul's whining if I throw it out." He gave him the fork and leaned his face against his palm, elbow resting on the table as he watched the kid drink and eat. There might've been tears in the corners of his eyes, but he wasn't gonna shrivel up or starve, so that wasn't Floyd's problem.

…ugh, how'd he even get here?

…

The next morning, Jade came up to pat his brother on the shoulder, grinning that infuriating little grin of his. Floyd, in a worse mood than usual with bags under his eyes, glared at him. "Bad sleep, Floyd?"

"I'll eat you."

"I'd like to see you try."

…

Somehow, the night without sleep hadn't seemed to affect Idia at all. He was still the same wide-eyed, anxious kid he'd been the day before. After a full night without him transforming back, though, Azul had to face the music. This wasn't a potion that was going to wear off. Not in any reasonable amount of time, at least. He sighed, added the dessert he'd spotted in the trash that morning to Floyd's running tab of destruction and theft, and made his way to the lab with a shaking kid in tow.

He stayed in Azul's shadow, always at least three steps behind him, head on a swivel. He looked like every shadow was going to jump out and attack.

…considering the school's penchant for Overblots, maybe his fears weren't entirely unwarranted. 

Professor Crewel was already in the lab when they reached it, well before any classes were set to start. Any other student might have moaned and groaned about waking up to do work so early, but those were the students Azul woke up so early to help. He, of course, felt barely any change in his day-to-day schedule! He tried not to think of the paperwork almost certainly piling up on his desk as he monologued.

The teacher looked up, set down his pipe, and beckoned them over to a stack of books. "For now," he said, patting the topmost book, "we'll be researching how Shroud ended up like this, before trying to reverse it."

Azul nodded, a hand on his chin and stroking thoughtfully. It was the best course of action, considering the accident that resulted in the sudden drop in age was, after all, just that: an accident. Since they didn't have an easy formula to follow to the root and reverse, first they had to figure out the formula used in the first place. The culprit of the screwed up potion, unfortunately, had all the memories of a ten year old, so they had to go about this carefully.

"I've narrowed it down considering the ingredients we were using and the process, but I have no clue how bad Shroud f- messed up," Crewel said, running a hand through his hair. He was one of the more intense teachers, though the youngest students always seemed to think he was laidback thanks to his bad habit of smoking and his love for fashion. Azul, tryhard that he was, knew better than anyone how much work Crewel put towards teaching his students and, in unique cases like this, helping them clean up their mistakes. He was willing to bet the man had pulled an allnighter just narrowing their options down to the stack Azul could see. "I need to grade everyone else's assignments, so you'll be going through and noting what you can."

Azul nodded, biting back his complaints in favor of thinking about how badly Crowley, Crewel, and Idia were going to owe him after all of this. He was going to be rich in favors. He could open that second branch, if he played his cards right. With that in mind and putting a pep in his step, he picked up the top few books and brought them over to a seat. He cracked the first one open before remembering there was a small child with him.

He looked up and, with great relief, found the smaller Idia in exactly the same spot. He hadn't moved in inch while Azul and Crewel talked. He was really a very easy child to take care of, wasn't he? Leagues better than his adult counterpart, at the very least. 

"Come sit," Azul said, gesturing to the seat beside him. Idia jumped and looked around before he even got close, hesitating even more before hopping up to sit. He fiddled, almost distracting, but it was easy enough to ignore once he realized he was making noise and did his damndest to smother all the noise he could possibly make. Eventually, Azul sighed, earning a jolt at his side. "You can breathe, you know. I hardly bite." Floyd and Jade, yes. He lacked the sharp teeth and had just a bit too much dignity for that. 

"I meant to ask, how was last night?" Azul looked up at Crewel's voice, taking a second to process the question before he thought about it.

"It was perfectly alright," he answered with a pleased hum.

Except apparently, Idia didn't agree. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but shut it with a squeak, shrinking in on himself in a familiarly irritating way that reminded Azul of his grown self. He looked over at the quaking little thing and, sighing, made some vague motion for him to spit it out.

"Um," he started weakly, "I think I scared someone."

…Azul had heard a scream. He figured it was the small child having a nightmare and left it at that, thinking he could either sort himself out or find some help. Maybe he should have investigated it more. He nodded for Idia to keep going.

"I, um, I thought it- the dorm, I thought it was really pretty, and I have this…thing? I can't really sleep well, um, at night?" He fidgeted in his seat, refusing to look anyone in the room in the eyes. "Or anytime. But, um, so, I was walking around?"

He looked up at Azul like he was going to get in trouble for it. He could understand the sentiment, but he'd never told the child he couldn't explore, and he was someone who kept his word in a contract. Mostly.

"I– I think he was going to the bathroom." Then, glumly, he lowered his head and his voice to a grumble. "...he thought I was a ghost that was gonna kill 'im. Lame normies, stare on your own time, geez…"

Azul suddenly understood that this was, in fact, his clubmate's past self with that last comment. God, he could see the shrimp-like posture forming now. That self-proclaimed otaku glory was already in development.

Crewel sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Considering how little Shroud leaves his dorm, it's no wonder most students would have no idea what he looks like," he said, staring up at the ceiling. Azul wondered how many of his thoughts were regretting becoming a teacher. "Perhaps it's best if he does stay in his own dorm. Ignihyde seems to…respect him, from what I've gathered…?"

Azul frowned, but he supposed he'd gathered enough blackmail material. He was already helped more than enough to garner those favors, and seeing the mood Floyd had been in this morning, it would probably be best if Idia didn't stay any more nights in Octavinelle.

"I imagine Ortho is well-equipped to care for him," Azul said, keeping the snide comment of 'He already does on a normal day' to himself. He didn't notice Idia stiffen up beside him. "Speaking of, where has Ortho been? I would have thought he'd come make sure his brother was okay by now."

"He did nearly destroy the headmage's office, but once he learned of the situation, he backed down," Crewel professionally replied. At Azul's doubtful look, he sighed and glanced to the door before continuing. "You'd best not go tattling about this, pup. He said 'considering the circumstances of my creation, I will wait until my brother asks to see me-'"

"I want to!" Idia suddenly shouted, standing up and slamming his hands on the desk. Azul and Crewel both looked over with matching surprise, unused to hearing any version of Idia speak so loudly. The child's eyes were wide, wild, and his hair was flickering unstably. Dangerously. It wasn't quite red, but the color wavered, like it wasn't sure what it was supposed to be reflecting. "I want- let me see him, let me see him-!"

When Idia was near-screaming his demand, Crewel was already in front of him, pushing him to sit back down with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"That isn't how we ask, pup." Azul grimaced at the stern tone, usually reserved for the worst troublemakers of class and Floyd, directed at the shaking Idia. "Try again."

Idia sniffed, but didn't wilt, glaring up at Crewel with a shocking defiance. "I want to see my brother," he insisted, sniffing again as he tried to blink away the tears grouping up at the corners of his eyes. "Please."

Crewel and Azul shared a look, uncertain, before Crewel sighed. 

"...very well. Let's go see the headmage. Azul," he perked up, at attention when Crewel turned to him, "keep reading. I'll be back shortly. If I'm not, you're free to leave for class when the time comes. You will not be using this as an excuse to skip."

He nodded, he wasn't going to anyways, and Crewel sighed again. He held out a hand, but Idia ignored it, getting down from his seat and waiting for the teacher to lead the way. Azul watched the two walk past the door and wondered, faintly, if he should be worried. 

What was he saying? He laughed, reopening the top book. His only concerns in this matter were what he could squeeze out of everyone who owed him once all was said and done. With that, he started reading.