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There is a world where Ace’s pride is stronger than his sense. There is a world, where he suffers under Riddle, where he challenges him alongside Deuce, where they lose yet win in the most important way. There is a world where he is hurt, but forgive his Housewarden with nothing but a demand for an unbirthday.
This is not that world.
They stand in front of each other, offender and victim, Housewarden and student, he who was supposed to protect and the one he hurt.
“I can’t forgive you.” Ace says, and protests immediately erupt around him, mainly from Cater and Trey, but he ignores them.
(How dare they try to guilt trip him, when they were supposed to help, to protect the younger students, and only helped in their suffering?)
(How dare they, when they are part of why he wants to leave?)
“What can I do then?!” Riddle asks, and he sounds genuine, his eyes are brimming with tears, and Ace knows then what to ask.
The words fall from his mouth, and it is both a plea and a demand.
“Let me transfer to Ramshackle.”
Riddle’s tears fall as the hope in his eyes crumbles, and Ace does feel bad, but not enough to take his words back.
Deuce’s first week in Night Raven College has been hard.
First the mine, then everything with Housewarden Rosehearts, but the one ray of sunshine amidst everything has been the friends he made.
It sounds so cheesy, and the mere thought of saying aloud makes him blush, but it is the truth. Yuu and Ace have made him feel more at home than he has ever felt with anyone other than his mother.
(The friends he had before, those who encouraged him in his worst behaviour, who scoffed upon hearing his doubts and hopes to help his mother – he can’t call those people friends.)
And so, when the words escape Ace, when their Housewarden’s tears fall upon the ground, when his seniors turn toward him as if pleading with him to fix it, as if they aren’t part of it all-
Well, there’s only one thing he can say.
“Let me transfer too.” he says, and the look of betrayal in Trey’s eyes does nothing to change his mind.
In the end, it is done. Trey asks them to reconsider, Cater warns them not to be so reckless and careless, to think this through, and even the Headmage waits for them to repeat again and again that yes, they are sure, this is what they want.
Riddle keeps his promise, for all that it seems to break something inside him, and asks Crowley to give them the papers to sign. He reads them aloud, seated in front of the Headmage, Trey standing behind him. In the heavy silence of the office, once he has signed them, he gives them to Yuu – the new Housewarden – who doesn’t waste a second before adding their own signature.
And so Ramshackle gains two new members.
Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade walk alonside Yuu and Grim, and all four of them enter their dorm.
“At least,” Yuu muses, tired yet hopeful, “it’ll easier to clean this place now that you’re here!”
Ace groans and Deuce chuckles, but they both smile.
Jack Howl is the third to join them.
It’s not as dramatic or as horrible as it was with Riddle, but it’s still painful.
Jack sees them investigate, sees the people he admired cheat and lie and hurt, all for the sake of glory, and he runs to Ramshackle – because this is the kind of person he is, good and true and brave, and this kind of behaviour isn’t allowed in Savanaclaw.
His Housewarden mocks him, calls him pup and frosh and Jack is just so tired of fighting, of pretending and of lying. He's so tired of Savanaclaw.
He stays one night at Ramshackle, then another. He watches Trappola and Spade laugh and smile, and asks about Heartslabyul.
“It could have been home,” Deuce explains, exchanging a look with Ace, “but it wasn’t good for us. We’re better together.”
It wasn’t good for us. The words echo in Jack’s mind, and they haunt his nights.
During one of them, he asks a question to Yuu, who only smiles sadly and nods.
Leona overblots, hurts his own friend – but is Ruggie even his friend? – and they all end up in the infirmary.
The moment Prince Cheka leaves, Jack turns to the one he admired and bares his teeth.
“I want to transfer to Ramshackle.”
Cries of surprise echo around him, Ruggie’s voice louder than others as he asks if this is a joke, his voice betraying a hint of panic, but Jack only has eyes for Leona.
The Housewarden looks at him, face set in stone, as if searching for something, before closing his eyes. If Jack didn’t know better, he would say that Leona looks sad.
“So be it.” he says, and that’s it.
Things calm down a little after that, before heating up again with Octavinelle’s Housewarden, and soon winter holidays come.
It should be a time to rest, but Yuu sends them a message asking for help, and they come.
They don’t make it in time, but it’s still good to see that they’re okay.
A surprise awaits them once school starts again.
“I made you pups a uniform.” Divus Crewel explains, eyeing them with a frown.
The four of them lean down to examine said uniforms
“Thank you so much!” Yuu beams at them while the boys continue examining their new clothes, fascinated. Crewel scoffs.
“You’re becoming a real dorm, I couldn’t just let you wear your former uniforms and hand-me-downs.”
They all thank their teacher, who waves their thanks away.
“You better come to class well-groomed!”
Epel Felmier isn’t as much as a surprise, really.
When he first enters Ramshackle, it becomes rapidly obvious that he dislikes Pomefiore, that he wishes to be in another dorm – in Savanaclaw, which makes Jack hide a grimace – and that the only thing stopping him is Vil.
“Why did you leave?” he asks Jack, confused and maybe a little jealous. The beastman shrugs.
“It just didn’t feel right for me.”
Epel doesn’t get it until later, until he talks to Yuu then Deuce at the beach, until he laughs with the other first years and thinks I feel happy, I feel safe, this is right.
Anyway. Vil overblots, they defeat him, and suddenly Epel’s dream of transferring to Savanaclaw is within his reach.
“You defeated me while I was overblotting; while not a traditional duel, I am willing to count it… so do you wish to transfer?”
There is something behind Vil’s eyes, something too well-hidden for Epel to really see, but he notices all the same. Had things been different, better, perhaps he would have argued, saying it wasn’t a real win.
But Epel remembers Jack’s words and Deuce’s voice, and all he can think is this can be home.
“I want to stay in Ramshackle.”
Vil closes his eyes, and nods. The day after, Ramshackle gains a new member.
No one really expects Ortho – not even Ortho himself.
It is Idia who asks him, after the whole mess with S.T.Y.X, as they get ready to go back to school despite everything, if he wants to stay in Ignihyde.
“You’re starting over,” he mumbles, avoiding his gaze, “You can choose what you want.”
“I want to stay with you, Ni-”
“Not what I want,” Idia scowls, “What you want. You deserve it.”
The Idia from before would have asked him to stay, Ortho can’t help but think, warmth in his chest.
When they go back to Night Raven College, Ortho Shroud is not only a new first year, but part of a new dorm.
Sebek is by far the most unexpected.
It happens after Malleus’s overblot, and it is Silver, of all people, who points it out.
“You’re happier with them.”
It’s not a reproach, but Sebek flinches like it is.
“I am most loyal to Waka-sama!” he yells, but anyone who’s known him for a while can tell that he doesn’t sound as confident as usual.
Unbeknownst to them, Malleus hears them, and speaks to Lilia.
“You know,” Lilia tells Sebek, “Travelling and meeting new people really helped me grow stronger and wiser. Sometimes, it’s important to move away from those you love.”
The old fae examines him, a soft smile on his face. “If being with them helps you, we will support you.”
Sebek blushes and scoffs and protests, but they know him. Behind his indignant facade, hope shines in his eyes – and how could they ever deny him that?
Malleus and Yuu both sign the paperwork, and Sebek joins Ramshackle followed by smiles and screams of joy.
(Later, once they’re back in Diasomnia, Lilia hugs Malleus, who is still learning how to let people go, and whispers I’m so proud of you.)
In Ramshackle, students sleep, surrounded by happiness and safety they built themselves.
It could have been different, but in this world, they are part of this strange dorm and happier for it.