Chapter 45
Malleus walked in what Roxana liked to call the Forbidden Forest, admiring the poisonous plants and flowers, this dark place reminded him of his own dorm and kingdom, he felt like home.
A tentacle like plant tried to grab him while making his way back to Slytherin dorm, he quickly blew green fire at it and watched at it retracted itself from him, the dragon fae continued to walk till he reached a red door once he opened it he was back in his lover’s dorm again.
Malleus paused. Lover… The dragon chuckled. I never thought that I will call someone that in my life.
Besides The Forbidden Forest, the moving stairs were his second favorite thing about this place, he stopped walking once he reached the fifth floor, he heard soft music, and from what he could tell it was Pop-music, something that Lilia listens to a lot, he knocked three times and waited.
The music stopped and the door opened, Malleus entered and found Roxana in her gym clothes.
“Training so late at night ?” Malleus asked before he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.
“Oh well, mornings are for Vil and his crew, I prefer doing my things alone without anyone looking.” Roxana said as she disappeared behind a door, she came back wearing her usual black dress.
Malleus smiled amused. “And yet you will perform in front of a crowd.”
“Hmm.” Roxana smiled. “Ironic.”
Malleus took out a box and gave it to Roxana. “This is for you.”
Roxana curiously opened the box and gasped at the beautiful necklace inside.
“Oh Malleus it’s beautiful !”
“The jewel reminded me of you, it is also my official respond.” Malleus said. “Let me help you put it on.”
Roxana blushed, turned around, and moved her hair out of the way.
“Would my lady waltz with me ?” Malleus asked while offering her a hand.
Roxana smiled softly and snapped her fingers starting the classic music for a waltz.
“I would love to, it been a while since we danced together.”
Malleus hummed along with the music as they danced.
Ah yes it was perfect !
But perfect things aren’t supposed to last forever.
Roxana walked back to her room she dodged Sally’s tail and accidently slammed herself into the table.
The witch sighed. “Oh goodness.”
Roxana grabbed the little things that fell on the floor, she frowned when she grabbed two of her tarot cards that fell.
I haven’t done any reading recently…Roxana flipped the cards.
The Dragon and The Sword.
“What ?”
Before she could think about it any longer she sensed her wards trigger, she quickly run downstairs, only to find Deuce, Ace, and Grim collapsing.
Ace tried to move. “B-body's...going numb...”
“Urrrgh... I can't stand...” Grim cried.
“What's going on?” Deuce panicked.
“Wait... Did you poison the food Roxana left on the table ?!” Ace asked.
Vil scoffed. “Heh. It's not poison. It's a curse.”
“A curse? How do you curse food...?” Deuce asked.
“It's my signature spell: Fairest One of All.” Vil explained. “It gives me the power to place a curse upon anything I touch. A curse so potent, not even I can lift it before its stated conditions are met. I imagine you'd like to know how I've hexed the food I confiscated from you today. Shall I tell you? "Any fool who partakes of this shall be immobilized until the next sunrise."
Deuce looked shocked. “Y-you can DO that?!”
“That's even more sinister than poison! It doesn't even taste any different!” Ace complained.
“I told you to avoid foods loaded with sugars and additives until the VDC show.” Vil said. “You clearly aren't taking your roles as ensemble members seriously! You can stay on the hard floor until morning as punishment.”
“But that’s the food Roxana put there for us to snack on ! She said it was okay to do so !” Ace said.
“And besides ! I didn't even take the food! Someone else shoved it in my mouth!” Deuce said.
Vil frowned. “No excuses! This is collective responsibility.”
*SLAP !*
Deuce, Grim, and Ace flinched.
Vil put a hand on his red cheek and looked at Roxana in shock.
Vil glared in anger. “Are you cra—!
Roxana gave him another slap harder than the last on his left cheek this time.
“Am not just crazy, am insane if that what you want to ask.” Roxana glared. “Who gave you the right to do this ? Put a curse on the people under my roof ? Who do you think you are ?”
Vil opened his mouth to speak but Roxana snapped her fingers making Vil’s mouth disappear.
“Zip it.” Roxana walked up to the trio and casted a ‘Finite’. “Your curse is weak.”
Vil flinched.
“Ugh, thanks !” Ace said as he stood up.
“Honestly, all this because of food ?” Roxana glared at Vil. “If you decided to use magic to investigate the food I left behind you will find traces of magic on them, you see this candy ?” Roxana said while pointing at the candy Vil cursed and took a red one. “This is a piece of apple that I transfigured into a candy so these idiots can eat something healthy at night, it looks like candy, taste like candy, but it’s not a candy.”
“You were tricking us all this time ?” Deuce looked hurt by that.
Roxana gave him a look. “It was the only way for you guys to eat fruits without complain.” She turned to look at Vil. “As for you…” She threw a Full Body-Bind Curse at him.
Vil’s arms and legs snapped together, and fell down on the floor, stiff as a board.
“Have fun sleeping on the floor for the night, you are lucky that this is the only punishment am giving you !” Roxana said before she walked back to her room, taking Grim with her.
“Should we…” Deuce said while looking down at Vil.
“YOU HELP HIM AND YOU WILL END UP LIKE HIM !” Roxana’s voice echoed from upstairs.
“I don’t know him.” Ace said as he run up to his room.
“Uh…sorry Vil-san.” Deuce said as he too run back to his room.
Vil will never forgive this humiliation !
*~*
To say Vil was furious was an understatement, oh he was more than furious ! He did not get a good night sleep, he slept on the floor THE WHOLE NIGHT !!
Curse that woman, the audacity !
Roxana smirked at his expression. “It’s not fun to get a taste of your own medicine is it ?”
Vil glared and said nothing.
“Oh come on, you sleep on the floor once and you get all dramatic, stop being so emotional.” Roxana rolled her eyes. “Go on the training isn’t going to start without you.”
“Evil witch…” Vil mumbled under his breath.
“I agree on that.” Roxana said.
Vil jumped, he said that out loud, great.
“I unlike you completely accept the fact that I am not a good person, and that I am in fact a villainess to the core, I don’t curse food for the sake of ‘discipline’.” She scoffed. “I do it for my own twisted version of fun.” She smirked before as she made her way to him. “Villains are better than heroes, because a villain never hesitate, a hero does.”
Vil frowned. “You’re wrong.”
Roxana gave him a smile. “You don’t know how right I am.”
*Slytherin Dorm – Ballroom*
“I see my potatoes are all present and accounted for.” Vil said. “Have you all memorized the song?”
Jamil nodded. “Yes, sir. Start to finish.”
Epel jumped. “Y-yes, sir!”
Vil gave Epel a look before he nodded. “Then it's time to try singing it together. Roxana, start the music.”
She witch snaped the finger and the music started.
Roxana observed. Not bad.
“Oh... Oooh... OOOOOH!” Kalim clapped. “GAH! I was so awestruck by the main vocalists that I suddenly forgot I was on the chorus!”
“Come on. You should know better than that.” Jamil said.
Kalim smiled at him. “That's just how good it sounded. My body kicks into dance mode all on its own!”
“Très bien! What a splendid harmony it was.” Rook clapped.
“I agree. Everybody was on fire there!” Deuce said.
Vil scoffed. “Hmph. It's hardly cause to celebrate. The performance was, quite frankly, a mess. The main vocals were off-key, and the chorus was much too loud and pronounced.”
“I sang my heart out there, and now you're telling me I'm not supposed to? Being part of the backup is harder than I thought. Maaan! I wish I'd gotten main vocals.” Ace sighed.
“Potato One. If you fail to grasp the importance of the chorus, then a shot at main vocals is further off for you than the seven jeweled hills. Any disruption to the harmony between the main melody and chorus makes a song sound worse. You would do well to remember that.” Vil said.
Ace pouted. “Yessir. I'll try.”
“We'll be dancing and singing simultaneously at the show. It's only going to get harder from here. Next up: dance rehearsal. Let's get started.” Vil said.
Roxana cringed a bit, Epel’s movements didn’t match the part his was singing, he moved too fast for it.
“Ugh! No, no, no! Stop the music.” Vil said.
“What's the matter, Vil?” Rook asked.
Vil turned to Epel. “EPEL !”
Epel jumped. “Y-yessir!”
Ace gave Epel a symbatic look. “Hoo boy, Epel's gonna get another tongue-lashing. I feel bad for the guy after watching this play out every day.”
Deuce was a bit nervous. “He's on main vocals, so I'm sure Vil expects a lot out of him, but still...”
“Every time I hear "stop the music," my first instinct is to cower with my tail between my legs.” Grim confessed.
Roxana shook her head. “He’s not that scarry.”
“Have you learned nothing from your ballet lessons?” Vil asked while looking down at the boy. “I told you to throw out your antiquated notions. I said nothing about acting so halfhearted! Don't just sing the words without thinking about what they mean. This song is more than mere lip service.”
“But this is the most "charming" I can sound…” Epel said back.
“Being charming is another matter entirely. Do you think that will be enough to take Neige down? Now, take it from the top!” Vil said.
This Neige person is becoming an obsession for Vil. Roxana thought before she frowned. But again I can’t judge when it come to the people a person hates.
Epel trembled. “...Nngh! I don't...I don't WANNA be cute!”
Vil was taken aback by that. “Excuse me?”
Epel glared at him. “I never wanted to be in Pomefiore to start with. And I don't wanna compete in the VDC, neither! I didn't come to Night Raven College to sing and dance! I came here to get stronger! I don't wanna be some dainty little flower. I wanna be BIG! And STRONG! And TOUGH!”
“Boys.” Roxana said under her breath.
“Unbelievable. Most of us grow out of temper tantrums by the time we're three.” Vil crossed his arms. “You speak of being "charming" and being "strong" as though the two are mutually exclusive...when in fact both of them are equally valid forms of power. As long as you fail to make that distinction, you will never be a match for me.”
“Oh, get off your high horse! I'm done with this. I'm out.” Epel shouted. “I'm quittin' the team!”
Deuce, Ace, and Kalim screamed. “What?!”
Vil raised an eyebrow. “Hmph. Is that a fact? Very well. I believe it's time for the usual, then.”
Roxana stood up from her chair and walked till she stopped beside Rook. “What usual ?”
“Don't worry, Roxana—” Rook said.
“Am not worried.”
“This isn't a fight.”
Jamil gave a look to Rook. “It's not? Looks like sparks are flying to me.”
“Just observe.” Rook said.
“Go on, Epel. Get out your magical pen.” Vil said while taking out his own pen.
“Today is the day I put you in your place!” Epel said while pointing at Vil with his pen.
“Uh, this is TOTALLY a fight!” Deuce said.
“More like a one way beat down.” Roxana said. “Epel won’t stand a chance, oh well, am out of here to do tell me if someone destroyed something so I can fix it.”
Roxana apparated into the garden.
The woman sighed. “At this point I will get grey hair, which should be impossible with my condition…I think now I understand when old people complain about kids, sure I do cause trouble myself and it’s fun, but when I watch teenagers doing stupid things I can’t help but get tired like an old grandma…that I should be.” She stayed silent for a moment. “I think am starting to lose my last marbles, am talking to myself."
“DEUCE AND EPEL AREN’T IN THE CAMPUS !!!” Grim screamed as he run up to her.
Roxana deadpanned. “Fuck it I need fire-whiskey…”