Chapter 37
“When I put my hand on that cat !” Roxana hissed. “And here I thought he learned to listen !”
Riddle followed by stepping inside Scarabia’s Mirror.
Roxana has to admit Scarabia is a beautiful Dorm but the environment…
Ugh, the temperature here makes want to shed my skin. Roxana thought.
They both stopped when they noticed Grim and the Scarabia students in what seemed to be a banquet.
“Grim” Roxana glared.
“HIEEEEEE !” Grim tried to run but got caught.
“You are searching for a beating young man !” Roxana screamed at him before she turned to look at Jamil in the eyes. “I am sorry about him.”
Roxana didn’t let any surprise appeared on her facial expression. Oho ? A mental defense, and here I thought the people in this world are idiots, it best if I don’t pressure it, last thing I want is for him to feel it.
“Great ! The more people there are the more fun it will be !” Kalim grinned. “Bring out more food and drinks. And kick the music up a notch or three! Today, we party!”
They all sat down to eat, Riddle just like Roxana didn’t eat anything, so when Kalim, Grim, and Jamil were busy talking with each other he turned to look at the witch.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“We just have to wait.” Roxana said. “We just need for the fish to bite.”
“Say, Roxana, Riddle !” Kalim said as he turned to look at the duo in their own corner. “I should give you three the grand Scarabia tour. I'd love to show you a few things.”
Jamil put a hand on Kalim’s shoulder. “Kalim, please! You'll be setting a bad example if you task the students with studying and then goof off yourself.”
Kalim pouted. “But it's not every day we get guests. Surely one day of slacking can't hurt.”
“...Kalim.” Jamil frowned.
Didn’t he complain about Kalim being strict a while ago ? Just what’s going on ? Riddle frowned.
“Erk... Okay, fine. Don't get mad. I'll do some defense magic training, then.” Kalim said. “A mock battle would make for a nice after-meal workout. Hey, could someone fight me?!”
“Yes, Housewarden!” Scarabia Students responded.
The mock battle didn’t even last a minute straight and Kalim stopped it.
“Okay, training done! Now let's be off!” Kalim said while jumping like a gazelle away from responsibility.
“Wait, you've got other work to—” Jamil didn’t finish what he was going to say and sighed.
*Scarabia Dorm – Hallways*
“Maaan, this place is FAN-CY!” Grim said. “Nothing like the fancy dark style of Slytherin but still !”
“Is it really that impressive to you?” Kalim smiled. “I know that back when I enrolled, Dad said he donated a bit to the school to give the place a fresh coat of paint, but...”
“Geez, how rich are you?! Are you some kinda prince like Leona?” Grim asked. “Or a gold hoarder like Roxana ?”
“And proud !” Roxana said with a smile.
Riddle shook his head. “So greedy.”
“Still proud”
“The Asims aren't royalty, and I'm not a prince. I've got some relatives in the royal family, though.” Kalim said.
“Wait, Asim? I thought your name was Al-Asim.” Grim said.
“"Al" means "son" in the ancient language of the Land of the Scalding Sands.” Kalim explained. “So we name families after the founders that start them. And all the men of that time refer to themselves as the founder's son. In my case, Asim is our honored founder's name, and "Al" means son... So Kalim Al-Asim means Kalim, Son of House Asim.”
Japanese is the universal language, English is like Latin for me it’s used for spells, and Arabic is now a lost language but still used for a bit. Roxana thought. This world is fascinating … if we ignore the Disney going around but still fascinating.
“Huh, I never thought much about where names come from. Fascinating.” Grim said.
“I hope that wasn't too in-depth for you? Anyway, feel free to just call me Kalim.” Kalim said with a grin. “You should pay the Land of the Scalding Sands a visit sometime! I'd be happy to have you as guest.”
“I bet you live in some kinda fancy mansion that's halfway to being' a castle.” Grim said.
“Oh, hardly. We only have around a hundred helpers.” Kalim said casually.
“"Only"? In what world does that deserver "only"?!” Grim said.
“Well, we're a big family.” Kalim said. “We need at least that many people to look after them all.”
Grim was taken aback by that. “Sorry you have THAT many siblings?!”
“Yeah, so many I quit counting.” Kalim said. “I do remember all of their names and faces, though. Ahaha!”
“I can’t imagine living with so many sibling” Riddle said to Roxana. “Just Ace and Deuce being in the dorm in enough headache and enough sibling experience for me.”
Roxana laughed.
Grim deadpanned. “You guys do everything on a whole other level...”
“Jamil's mom and dad are among our servants.” Kalim said.
Roxana frowned at that. Excuse me … ?
“So Jamil's always around and looked after me ever since he was a young boy.” Kalim said. “And he is seriously amazing, believe me. He's smart, thoughtful, and most of all, he's a great cook!”
“The proof of that last one's in the pudding', for sure.” Grim said as he licked his lips remembering the pudding.
“You see? You should stay over for dinner tonight! Come on!” Kalim said as he jumped to the next room.
“Uh, sure... Yeesh, talking' with this guy throws me off.” Grim said.
“I think he has ADHD.” Roxana said. “Which will explain why he’s so energetic.”
“Can’t be far from the truth.” Riddle agreed.
“Hey, you three! What are you hanging back and whispering for? Come on, this way.” Kalim said as he waved at them before disappearing in a room.
Roxana stopped in front of the door when she saw the gold. Hoard, hoard, hoard… wait no ! It’s not mine.
“Sweet mother of loot! What IS this place? I knew it ! You’re like Roxana with the gold, not another one !” Grim groaned.
“Huh what do you mean ?” Kalim blinked. “This is all stuff Dad sent with me when I departed for school. I couldn't possibly fit it in my dorm room, so it's all kept here in the storeroom.”
“This ain't a storeroom! This's a whole treasury!” Grim pointed out.
“Ooh, you know some big words, Grim. very impressive!” Kalim clapped. “My favorite out of all these treasures is, of course... Huh. Where'd it go? Sometimes it moves around on its own. Hey, where are you?”
“Wooow... Roxana look ! Look ! These gemstones are as big as the ones you have” Grim pointed out.
“Grim please don’t” Riddle said as he grabbed the cat monster in his arms.
“Hmpf, I have bigger ones than this” Roxana said while looking the other way.
Riddle sighed.
*poke**poke*
“Hmm ?” Riddle turned around to look at what poked him. “A…carpet ?”
“GYAAAH!” Grim screamed. “Th-the carpet's moving' all on its own! It's been possessed by a ghost!”
“No it’s not possessed you moron.” Roxana rolled her eyes. “It’s enchanted to move this way.”
“Ah, there you are! Go back over and curl up in your usual spot, would you?” Kalim asked the carpet who looked a bit sad at that request.
“What in the world is this?!” Grim said while pointing at the carpet.
“Pay attention when Roxana is explaining would you ?” Riddle said to Grim.
“This is a legendary treasure from Scalding Sands lore—a magic carpet!” Kalim explained. “The sultan that the Sorcerer of the Sands served used to love his flying carpet. This one's a replica of it. It's been in our family for generations.”
The Carpet nodded.
“You mean that carpet flies around like a broom?” Grim asked.
Kalim shrugged with a nod. “More or less. That's probably the easiest way to put it. It's getting dark, so why don't we go out for an evening ride in style? Come along, all aboard!”
“Really? Are you sure I won't fall off that thing?” Grim asked suspicious about the carpet.
Kalim grinned. “It's totally safe! Trust me.”
The carpet was big enough for all of them to hop on.
“And away we go!”
The carpet took off into the sky of Scarabia.
“Aaaaah! We're really flying'! This is crazy high up!” Grim said. “Look how teeny the dorm looks from up here.”
“How do you like the world above the clouds?” Kalim smiled.
“A whole new world” Riddle said with a smile on his face.
Roxana looked at him with a gentle smile. He’s having fun and…a whole new world. She laughed silently.
Kalim laughed. “Aha ha! That good, huh?”
“This totally rules!” Grim said excited.
“There's nothing quite like soaring through the sky. It shows you how little all your troubles really matter in the grand scheme of things.” Kalim said. Of course, Jamil always says I don't worry enough about things as it is...It wouldn't hurt him to take life a little easier.”
“Mrow! Check out that river over there! I ain't never seen a bird like that before!” Grim said while pointing at something in the desert.
“Ooh, good eye. Let's go take a closer look!” Kalim said while directing the carpet to fly down.
“I can make you your own magical carpet if you want.” Roxana said to Grim.
Grim looked at her with hope filled in his eyes. “Really ? You would ?”
Roxana smiled. “Sure why not, it been a while since I made a magical flying carpet.”
*Side Story*
*The Fan*
Roxana saw a lot of weird things in her life, a flying robot child was not one of them.
Until now that is.
“Hello ! Hello ! I am Ortho ! I hope you don’t mind but can I get your autograph ? It’s for my brother but he’s too shy to ask !” Ortho asked while giving her a pen and a book opened in a page where there was a photo of her cosplaying an anime character.
I…wasn’t expecting this. Roxana thought.
The page beside the one dedicated for her was a picture of another famous cosplayer and it already had an autograph of it own, Roxana took the pen and gladly accepted Ortho’s request.
Hard to say not to him when he was looking at her with those innocent eyes.
And he’s a child and she loves children. Even tho he’s a robot one … still a child.
“Thank you !!” Ortho said before he floated to the other side of the hall, the witch could hear a squeal, she raised an eyebrow but did not go to look what it was.