Chapter Text
Chaos surrounded Vil as he took in the scene. How had orientation gone so wrong? He was just lucky none of his dorm members were involved in the sudden twists that only continued to occur. He had tried to make a grab for the creature summoning blue flames after Riddle fell unconscious but the beast evaded him at each turn.
“Rook, I need to check on Riddle–” A few more thuds echoed through the room and Vil turned to see some of Riddle’s fellow Heartslabyul members on the ground next to their housewarden. “–and the others. Please try and capture that creature.” There was still the matter of the Dark Mirror’s sudden glowing but there was nothing to do about that at the moment. The student’s safety came first.
Another thud sounded and Vil directed his attention to the sound. Leona Kingscholar fhad joined the others in the land of sleep. While the sight of Leona sleeping was a common one, the unnatural way in which he had collapsed only further concerned Vil. Why were so many students collapsing all of a sudden? Was there a way to prevent it?
Two more thuds signified Jack and Ruggie falling at their housewarden’s side. Jack, too? He was just a freshman, why was he…? There was no pattern to the situation at all!
Azul, Floyd, Jade…all of them collapsed on the ground as well. With a cry of Jamil’s name, crouching next to his vice housewarden, Kalim’s eyes closed and he fell on top of his friend to join him in the realm of sleep.
“Roi du Poison! I have– Vil?” Rook’s voice drew closer with each word and yet they sounded as if they were muffled by water. Vil turned to look at his…his…. “Mon Roi? What is wrong?”
“I don’t–” Rook had to release his hold on the weasel-like creature in order to catch Vil in his arms. Vil figured he was likely afflicted by the same malady that caused the others to fall. “I–” He grabbed Rook’s hand and tried to hold himself up, tried to hold onto his consciousness, yet he fell just like the others.
A hand brushed through his hair as his eyes closed, held in the safety of Rook’s arms.
After falling asleep in Rook’s warm embrace, it was expected that he’d wake up in similar comfort. Vil sighed as he opened his eyes, fighting the call of sleep as Rook gave him a soft smile. “Good morning, Roi du Poison, though there is no telling whether it is morning or not.”
The events that led to their current situation flashed through Vil’s mind and he tore himself away from his vice housewarden. “What happened?!” He looked around the room, a random theater he’d never been in before. “Where are we?!”
“Calm yourself, beautiful Vil.” Rook’s calm demeanor only served to further stress Vil. “I’ll explain everything I know.” He certainly explained things. They were trapped with several other students, likely the ones who had all fallen unconscious, and there was no exit. Rook also helpfully informed him that nobody was able to use their magic.
The purple haired boy who had picked a fight was standing off to the side, sticking close to his fellow dorm members. Vil raised an eyebrow at the boy as Rook listed off the other people present, causing the shorter boy to shrink into himself.
“You’re telling me that strange light that appeared managed to make all of us fall asleep, even Malleus? That is…concerning.” Vil had never considered that there was a force in the world that was stronger than Malleus.
“Many of our peers are still sleeping, though they should be awake at any moment! There was but mere minutes between my waking and your own!” Rook likely meant it to be a comfort but Vil was still disturbed. Considering the strange magic that transported them there, this was no simple kidnapping. Who could have possibly used the Dark Mirror’s powers in such a way? Controlling such an ancient and powerful object was no simple feat.
Rook helped Vil sit down, though the assistance was unnecessary. “So we have to wait for everyone else to wake up before discussing our options?”
“Oui!” The hunter sat down next to his companion. “Surely, with all of us working together, we will find a way out!” Vil trusted Rook’s abilities so he forced himself to stay calm even if every nerve in his body was screaming ‘panic’.
The purple haired boy sat a few seats down from the pair, hugging his knees close to his chest. Vil couldn’t tell what he was thinking but he decided to keep a close eye on him, considering he was a freshman in his own dorm. The model felt a sense of responsibility for the boy’s safety.
His worries only lasted a few minutes before his attention was moved towards the front of the room. Kalim had finally woken up and was already hovering over his vice housewarden. Lilia approached the boy, speaking in a low tone that Vil couldn’t hear. He was likely explaining the situation to the red-eyed boy, they were clubmates so Vil supposed it made sense for Lilia to take on the task.
From what he could gather from Rook, the group from Diasomnia had been awake the longest, not including the strange fire spewing weasel and the magicless boy from orientation.
“Jamil! Jamil, wake up!”
The Scarabia housewarden grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him awake, Vil certainly didn’t envy the younger boy. The shaking mixed with the yelling caused Jamil to groan and open his eyes. His awakening brought a smile to Kalim’s previously worried and tear-streaked face.
“Jamil!” Kalim cried as he pulled Jamil into a hug. Vil watched the scene with mild curiosity. “I’m so glad you’re awake! I just woke up a couple minutes ago, apparently we’ve been kidnapped but we’re in a movie theater? I don’t know. A bunch of our friends and a few freshmen are here, too!” He wiped his tears as Jamil pulled away from his touch.
Jamil looked around the room, gathering his bearings, perhaps? Either way, it was hard to hear what the sophomore was saying when he responded to all of Kalim’s worrying. Rook could have heard but Vil wasn’t one to pry into matters that didn’t concern him, he’d allow the pair their privacy.
It wasn’t too hard to decipher that the pair were no strangers to kidnappings, one only had to spend any amount of time with Kalim to figure that out. For a person of such interest, he was very open with the dark and gritty details of his upbringing, always reciting stories from his childhood with a smile on his face despite the concerning content.
Vil watched as Kalim helped Jamil get to his feet. The vice housewarden grabbed his magic pen and seemed to try and cast a simple spell. He glared at the pen in his hand before frowning at his friend. He said something else, but once again, Vil couldn’t hear it.
The pair from Scarabia needed time to process their situation, that much was for sure. Vil turned his attention away from the two and instead allowed his gaze to return to the purple haired boy from orientation. Epel Felmier, if his memory served correctly, it was a touch difficult to remember such details after the chaos that had ensued right after meeting him.
“You, little spudling.” Epel flinched in his seat. “You need not worry so much. This situation may seem frightening and I am sure our earlier encounter doesn’t fill you with much confidence, but I promise that I will set aside our differences in order to get us out of here.”
“I don’t need help…” Epel murmured. “I’m not some damsel in distress.”
Vil sighed, taking deep breaths to keep his composure. “This has nothing to do with damsels or how fragile people assume you are, this is simply me doing my duty as your housewarden. I cannot in good conscience allow someone under my care to be harmed in any way.”
His words caused Epel to raise his head, meeting Vil’s eyes for the first time since they woke up. “I can still handle myself.”
“I’m not saying you can’t.” Vil could almost respect how stubborn the younger boy was, if only he wasn’t using such stubbornness against Vil himself. He had his work cut out for him if he was going to turn the boy into a proper poison apple once they made it back to Night Raven.