Into the World of Twisted Wonderland

🐙The Merchant from the Depths🐙 Chapter 4

As Angel and Jack follow the three, they eventually end up in the Hall of Mirrors, where them and other students are gathered, each with anemones on their heads. "Oh, it's the Hall of Mirrors..." Jack says. "The place that leads to every dorm." The two only hide and observe the other students, listening to conversations.

"I was so sure I'd make the top fifty!" A Heartslabyul student exclaims.

"Blast it all, I've been had! That cheating cephalo-punk!" A Savanaclaw student growls.

"My school life is doomed now. Doooooomed!" A Scarabia student cries.

As the two hide, they continue to hear other students complaining about their scores, each of them voicing their complaints, cries, and anxiety at each other while Angel and Jack hide. "Huh? It's not just the three stooges...There are other students here with sea anemones coming outta their heads," Jack says as he looks around, seeing the anemones on the top of everyone's' heads except for the duo. "I'm seeing some sophomores and juniors in here, too. And they're all going through the mirror leading to Octavinelle Dorm," Jack says, seeing that some students are heading towards the Octavinelle Dorm mirror.

"They're all moaning about their test placement..." Angel says. But who's this 'cheating cephalo-punk'...?

"Let's head over and see what's up," Jack says and Angel nods, seeing that the mirror to Octavinelle is cleared out. The two only approach the mirror, with what looks like to be tentacles around the frame of the mirror, with little bits of coral and shells on the base. Angel and Jack only step in, closing their eyes as they were welcomed by a sight they never seen before.

When they opened their eyes, they realized that they weren't on dry land, in fact, they were underwater, with bubbles, seaweed, and various amounts and kinds of coral surrounding the walkway, but that's not all there is. In front of them was the so called "building": with gigantic shells of different kinds making out buildings, acting as rooftops for other man-made buildings, making the two look at the sight in front of them in awe.

"Wow, the whole dorm is underwater!" Angel excitedly says as she looks around the area, seeing the bubbles floating upward as she speaks, wondering how in the world is she even underwater in the first place.

"For real?! Night Raven College is so cool!" Jack exclaims excitedly. He catches himself and clears his throat. "Just remember we're treading on another dorm's turf. Keep your wits about you," Jack says seriously, putting his hand behind his head to hide his embarrassment. Angel only nods and the two continue. After walking through the lounge, which was basically an aquarium that both Jack and Angel had to look through for a quick minute to see fish pass by, the two continued to follow the students, eventually ending up in another lounge of sorts, but compared to the lounge they were just at, this lounge seemed more like a bar lounge, with leather sofas and tables scattered about. They see that there was a bar counter, with stools on the one side and on the other side of the stools were jars filled with something Angel couldn't recognize. She sees that there was a tank a little off, though she wasn't sure if it will filled with fish since the other thing she could see different floral life in the tank. The two only hide behind a corner, with Angel in front and Jack behind as they see people gathered, each of them having the anemone on their heads as they try to make sense of why they were brought here of all places.

"Look at all these people..." Angel whispers, looking around the students to see about at least a few hundred people in the lounge. "And they all have anemones on their head."

"There's gotta be a hundred- no, closer to two hundred people here," Jack states, looking at the students. "What is this place, anyway? Some kinda coffee shop?" Jack asks, trying to figure out the place. He notices a sign beside the two and get Angel's attention, pointing to the sign. "'Mostro Lounge'? Where did Ace and the others go?" Jack says as the two looked into the lounge.

Soon enough, a snap was heard, and the lights were turned off, making everyone only panic at the sudden disappearance of light. In another moment, a single light was shown and someone walked into it, showing their features. They were wearing a black pants suit, with a grey overcoat hanging on their shoulders and with white gloves. They had a purple bowtie, tied neatly into a bow with a black fedora with a gray ribbon and a purple shell, decorating the ribbon. Angel felt like they knew the person before, since they have wavy light silver hair and eyes to match, with glasses. "Well, well. What have we here? A band of misfortunate souls who failed to break into the top 50," he says, looking at the people in front of him. "Welcome to the Mostro Lounge. I'm sure you're all WELL aware of who I am, but let's go over it again, anyway. My name is Azul Ashengrotto. I am the housewarden of Octavinelle Dorm, the manager of the Monstro Lounge café, aaand...as of today, you have to listen to everything I say," he says with a smile, shocking everyone in the room.

"Say what?" Jack whispers in shock.

"You made a bet with me, and subsequently lost. As per the terms of our contract, you are to devote yourselves to my service until such time as you graduate."

"Hey, hold on!" Ace speaks up, making Azul look at him. "This is all a huge scam!"

"You're...Ace Trappola, a freshman, if memory serves. Your accusations are insulting, frankly," Azul shrugs. "I upheld my end of the bargain and provided you with an impeccably flawless study guide for your exams. If you used it properly, you should have scored at least a 90."

"Yeah, and I did. I got a 92!" Ace angrily says.

"Why, that's wonderful news! I'm delighted to have been of service," Azul says with a smile.

"But you never told me you'd given the same study guide to this many other people!"

"Yeah, Ace is right," Deuce says. "No study guide could help us break into the top fifty when the deck's this stacked!"

"When everybody is scorin' over 90, even with my 85, my spot in the rankings is no different than when I was failin'!" Grim states.

Azul only looks at the three, arms crossed. "Have you boys never heard of client confidentiality? 'I want an easy way to score high marks. I don't want to flunk out. I want to goof off until the night before the test...' All of you fools-I mean, gentlemen-had your own reasons for seeking my help with your finals. Details such as who made a contract with me, what kind of contract it was, and why it was made...That's all privileged data. Who am I to divulge someone's personal information to a third party? I am a man of integrity, thank you very much," Azul smiles. "You will find this exact topic covered extensively in the non-disclosure agreement clause on page 127 of your contract. I simply abided by its terms."

The students are taken aback by Azul's explanation, not really expecting it to make sense. "O-okay, then, what happened to the fire magic I put up as collateral for the study guide?" Grim asks.

"Y-yeah! And what about my water magic?" A Pomefiore student questions.

"Give me back my signature spell!" A Scarabia student exclaims.

"What's this? Have you really all forgotten the terms of your contract?" Azul sighs and shrugs. "'I will provide you with a final exam study guide. In exchange, you will leave one 'personal specialty' in my possession. Should you earn a spot among the school's fifty highest achievers, your power will be returned to you...and I will continue to provide you with study guides for all exams until such time as you graduate. However, in the event that you do not earn a spot among the school's fifty highest achievers...you will act with absolute obedience to me until such time as you graduate.' As outlined in the contract, I now control every part of your beings down to every last hair on your heads. In order words, your powers are mine, to return or not as I please."

Ace only glares at Azul. "That ain't fair!"

"Ah...no wonder Grim and Ace weren't fighting with magic," Angel mumbles as she remembers Ace and Grim had abruptly stopped fighting. "But you can really leave your power with someone else...?" Angel turns around, seeing Jack baring his teeth, and walking out, with Angel following behind him staying out of sight as he only stands with the crowd, glaring at Azul and the other students.

"Y'know, I've been listening to this whole spectacle...and ALL of you disgust me!" He shouts and everyone only look at the two people. Ace, Deuce, and Grim especially didn't expect Jack and Angel to be there and exclaimed in surprise.

"J-Jack?! What are you doing here?" Deuce asks in surprise.