Chapter Text
The Overblot, just thinking about it, gave Dally chills. Her shoulder was still bent all out of shape, the nurse told her it would never work the same way again. The spear had gone through a good chuck of her nerves and her then putting stress on it didn’t help either. Dally was on edge. On one hand this was her fault but on the other… She was right handed. Vivica was in crutches for a week and still can’t really walk well at all. Her limp is getting better and the black tint has started to fade. Yuumi had it worse and the others in her place.
Their bodies had to be retrained, physical therapy was a must for all of them. Then went five senses. The Blot had flooded them so much that they either needed something like glasses or lost it entirely. Yuumi was on the lucky side of things, her sense of smell and taste lowered, her voice also got more gruff. She was able to make it somewhat better but it would never recover.
For as much as Yuumi tried to hide it from them, Vivica and Dally knew it was bugging her. She spoke less, didn’t banter with Ace (no matter how hard he tired) and kept to her room most days. It hurt Dally because she couldn’t help Yuumi. It affected her more than she thought it would. The three had gotten closer after all but she was still missing something with Yuumi. Watching Yuumi suffer in silence was heartbreaking. Grim was such a good kitty, he would stay with them during nightmares. Vivica joked he could be a service animal making him yell back ‘The great and mighty Grim ‘services’ nobody!!’ It was cute and one of the rare times Yuumi laughed.
It was part of why them being late to class didn’t really matter anymore. They were walking slowly to homeroom. The bell was close to ringing when from behind they heard “I’M LATE!” Quickly moving out the way Deuce ran passed them muttering to himself. “Or at least I will be late if I don’t hurry! Not good! Not good at all!” Dally shook her head “Deuce! You shouldn’t be running! You have a concussion!” He stopped for a second, his legs still moving, hopping in place. “But- if I don’t make it to homeroom on time what kind of honor student would I be?”
“One that doesn’t end up back at the nurse?” Yuumi added her arms folding. “Well… that’s true.” he sighed and rubbed the back of his hand. “Anyways, good morning. I wish we could’ve had a nice, leisurely chat in the classroom, but here we are.” Vivica waved her hand. “It’s fine, plus we were going to be late one way or another.” Dally walked up to him looking at his back. “How are you?” He sweated “It’s okay, I just can’t really raise my arms- I can just not high-high.” She nodded “So, more reason as to why you shouldn’t be running.” “But class-” He persisted as Dally cut him off with a look. “Okay, okay you win…”
Walking slowly down the hallway, Deduce was looking out at the greenery next to them. He then asked “Oversleep too?” Grim grinned “Nothin’ like a good night’s sleep to cure what ails ya, myahaha.” V cut in “What he means is he overslept and we had to fight to get him up.” Grim just pouted. Deuce chuckled and then the bell rang. He slumped forward as V laughed at him “You’re okay, I think any teacher would let us be late with these injuries.” “Yeah but Ace-” “So? Let’s take our time slow and study wins the race.”
The day was okay, Dally wouldn’t call it great cause she did have to write with her left hand but it wasn’t that bad. At least she was learning to be ambidextrous? Yeah even she couldn’t really see the light today. But good thing it was lunch.
“Wonder what they’ll have out today!” Grim spoke with stars in his eyes. Deuce meanwhile as out of breath “Whew… I’ve definitely worked up an appetite after running around all morning.” He grabbed his lunch as a friend wavered them down. This friend Dally had yet to meet but by the way Yuumi waved back they must know each other. And- Dally was concerned? No, she couldn’t really give it the right word but she just knew she disliked it.
This young man? Could he even be called a man? She knew he had to be one based on the school but he was so pretty he looked like one of those porcelain dolls she saw in shop windows. The ones so priceless the one way she would ever see them was through a window. Yet here one sat waving her down. He had lavender hair with baby blue eyes and a soft smile. “Yuumi! Deuce! Care to eat with us?” Even his voice was pretty, though a bit country.
Next to him Dally saw a robot kid. Which was, something… a robot kid. He was wearing the uniform so…? He had fire-like hair, or was his hair actually fire? She couldn’t tell, he didn’t have a mouth and instead had bright yellow eyes. “Sure, why not. Oh, I don’t think you all know each other.” The pretty boy said “I know Yuumi we met last week.” Deuce nodded and Dally looked at Yuumi. How come she didn’t know about this?”
“Anyway’s I’m Epel Felmeir” He offered a hand and Dally took it, she felt awkward, her rough work hands touching his clean and untouched ones. The difference was immense. V went next and by the way her body flinched she must have felt the same. The robot kid went “I’m Ortho Shroud! I’m happy to finally meet you Ms. Dallas Bloodstone, Ms. Yuumi Suzuki, Ms. Vivica Melic and Mr. Grim the magibeast!” They all stopped. “How- how-” “How do I know your names? Oh, I know everyone's names, the school database isn’t as safe as it should be.” He winked. Deuce waved it off “He’s just- a little special?”
Sitting down, Epel and Yuumi matched right away. Dally also took note of the many apple themed foods on Epel’s plate. Apple pie, apple juice, even grilled cheese with apples. He had many of each thing as well, Dally wondered how such a little body could fit all that. “Me and Ortho were talking about a comic that just came out.” Ortho agreed. “It’s really popular right now and I thought Mr. Epel Felmeir might enjoy it.”
Epel then turned to Deuce “Oh, I heard something funny from Ace.” Deuce got a sour look. “I heard… You overslept and were late to class?” He got a wicked look on his face. Dally got whiplash. “I- I- I’m injured! Okay!” Epel only laughed at his suffering and Yuumi snickered.
“Crewel was a little mad at us…” Grim added looking down. “But he understood.” V said, drinking her juice. “Wait- all of ya’ll were late?” Epel’s accent got stronger as he burst out laughing. “That’s the funnest darn thing I done heard all mornin’!” Yuumi shook her head before stealing one of his apple juices. “Hey!” “What you get for being a jerk.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Dally looked back and forth between the two. She didn’t really like this, they were so close she could just take his stuff? When did this happen? Yuumi was in her room for the most part? But she did have a free period when they didn’t. Dally stared.
“-His face!” Grim shivered, breaking Dally’s thoughts. Epel turned his attention to Grim “Oof, I don’t want to even imagine it.” Epel clutches his hands to his chest. He was back to looking like a doll. Ortho eyes took on a puzzled look with a question mark in them. “Why would you oversleep? School starts at the same time every day? All you have to do is back calculate based on how long it takes you to get to class, and that’s when you wake up.” He then got an exclamation mark in his eyes. “You all got hurt in Mr. Riddle Rosehearts Overblot and it would then cause you to be slower. Still you should do as I instructed, it’s not good to miss class.” He closed his eyes and it looked like he was smiling.
V sweated “We’ll take that into consideration. Right, guys? “ She looked at the other Ramshackle members he was slightly shaking her head. “Are you okay Ms. Vivica Melic? Your head is moving ever so much. It’s about a .637° angle.” The others all looked as he was truly confused. That was fine. V just sat there. No one said anything for a good few seconds. “Anyways. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Deuce joked picking at his gloves.
“What? Hittin’ the books? AS IF! What were ya doin’?” Grim asked with a wicked smile as Epel leaned forward, his own smirk forming. “I was on the phone with my mom.” Deuce confessed. “I’m heading home to Clock Town this Sunday, so we had a lot to talk about.” Ortho spoke up “That’s a…” He paused, closing his eyes “... Small town in the south of Queendom of Roses right?” Nodding Epel added “It must have been hard to get permission to go. What’s happening on Sunday?” He shrugged confused.
“It’s White Rabbit Fest.” Deuce proclaimed with a dorky grin. Grim jumped up and over to Deuce “Did you say fest!?” Grim was in Deuce’s lap rubbing against him. “Calm down. It’s not really a big deal. Just a bit of fun for the locals.” His smile fell as he pet Grim. “It’s been years since the last time I went, but after Mom reached out…” Dally smiled (finally something that wasn’t depressing). “I decided it’s been long enough.” Deuce finished and V then joked “You are such a mama’s boy!” She rolled her eyes playfully as they all laughed.
“Fest? Event? Fun?” Grim had stars in his eyes as he looked up at Deuce. “There’s bound to be tons of good grub!” He jumped up and hit a happy pose. “Sure?” Deuce said, confused. “The local businesses set up stalls, and the restaurants make special foods.” It was then that Grim latched himself to Deuce’s head. “I wanna go! Take me with you, Deuce!” Deuce winced as Dally jabbed at Grim “Grim, off Deuce’s head.” The cat turned but went down “Sorry… I forgot.” Deuce shook it off.
Epel then cut in “Back to what you said Grim. He’ll never agree to that. It’d be too much of a hassle.” Just as Epel was finishing his point Deuce goes “Okay.” That got him and V to jump “Wait- really?” V rubber her temple “would’t that be too much? Especially Grim?” That got her a ‘what’s that supposed to mean?’ but she ignored it. “Sure! It's a festival, so the more the merrier, as my mom would say. You're absolutely welcome to come with, Grim.”
“Aw yeah, sweet!” Grim did a little dance on the table thinking of all the food he was going to eat. “What about you guys?” Deuce questioned the rest.
“I want to go!” Vivica waved her hand high up in the air.
“You sure it’s okay?” Dally asked as Yuumi just nodded along.
“Of course! C’mon no need to walk on eggshells” Deuce giggled
“I’d love to!” Epel cheered with a big smile.
“Me too. Going to a festival with school friends sounds just like what a normal student would do!” Ortho claimed. Dally was sure he didn’t know that sounded creepy. “I've heard a lot about the fest from my relatives who live near Clock Town. I always hoped I'd get the chance to go.” Epel clapped his hands together as Deuce blinked, happily surprised. “Whoa, I didn't know that! But maybe that's on me for never really mentioning my hometown before.” He sighed at himself.
“Anyway, I'll let Mom know I'm bringing six friends with me. I’m sure she won’t mind…” He muttered the second half under his breath.
“Deuce”
A silver haired individual was right behind Deuce, his hands came down hard on Deuce’s shoulders. Causing the poor boy to flinch and turn to see who was behind him. “Whoa! Wh-where'd you come from?!” The figure behind him kept a straight face as Deuce was having a mini panic attack. “H-hi there, Silver. What's up?” “Your name is Silver and you have silver hair?” Vivica asked, looking him up and down. He was tall, well not tall, tall but compared to everyone else he is tall. He also had one of those stoic faces; Dally did wonder where Deuce had met this guy.
The man now named: Silver nodded. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just happened to overhear.” Deuce apologized quickly after “Oh, sorry were we being too loud?” Silver shook his head. “No, it's not that. I have a request. Would you mind bringing back an alarm clock for me?”
“An alarm clock?” Dally asked. Silver rubbed the back of his neck.
“Yes. You see, I overslept this morning as well. And not for the first time. Professor Trein was rather angry with me.” Silver sweat dropped as he looked away embarrassed? Dally had to guess it was hard to tell with how little expression he seemed to show. “After some introspection, I've decided I need to add to my array of alarm clocks.” “Array?” Vivica asked again Silver made himself small. “And Father once told me that the clocks made in Clock Town are some of the best around.”
Deuce sighed “There are definitely a lot of clock shops.” He gave Silver a reassuring smile. “They must really be something if people have heard of them all the way in Briar Valley.” Epel smiled. “Brair Valley?” Dally spoke and this time one of them got answers. “Briar Valley is where me, my father, Sebek and Lord Malleus are from. It’s a kingdom ruled by fae, for fae, of fae.” “So you’re a fae?” Yuumi asked. Silver shook his head. “Well… no but I was raised there.” She nodded.
‘Ruled by fae, for fae, of fae’ Yet a human lived there. Professor Trein had yet to get to the War of the Roses. And by how he talked fae still didn’t seem to really like humans. So was Silver half? Or was there something more at play here?
“Yep, more reasons why it’s cool there that well known, ya know?” Epel grinned "Yeah, uh. Maybe?” Epel looked shocked “What do ya mean, ‘maybe’?” Deuce looked away as everyone turned to him. “I mean, there are a lot of clock shops and makers, but I don't know if they're particularly high quality…” Dally scratched her head “I would think someplace called ‘Clock Town’ would have good clocks?” She half questioned. “They must be. Why name it ‘Clock Town’ if not out of pride for your best products?” Epel crossed his arms.
“Yeah, you're probably right. Probably…” Deuce kept his head down “Probably? So you don't know ANYTHING about the clocks they make? Where's your hometown pride?!” Epel got a determined look on his face. He put a hand to his chest, and puffed out his chest. Was he trying to make himself look bigger? Dally was confused. This guy was barely taller than Yuumi, same for weight.
“D-dunno, kinda sounds like maybe you have it…” Deuce was luckily saved by Ortho who lit up with information. “According to my databanks, the town's timepiece industry is thriving, with many craftspeople who specialize in precision instruments. The timepieces are first-class and quality assured. A wide range is available, from luxury items to more affordable offerings.” “What are you Google?” V joked “Do you mean Foofle?” That’s Google? Foofle? “You can always count on Ortho to look stuff up!”
They had seemingly forgotten about Silver who was in fact still here. “Would you bring one back for me? I'll give you the marks, of course.” Ramshackle all lit up at marks = money. “You’ll pay us?” V said as Silver nodded. Deuce shrugged “Happy to, but what kind do you want? Or actually, why don't you come with us? Then you can just buy the one you want for yourself.”
“You don’t mind?” Silver was surprised, Deuce smiled “Not at all.” Silver happily nodded, “Oh, then I’d be happy to join.” Deuce nodded and counted on his fingers “Okay, so it'll be eight of us, including me.” He made a fist with a smile.
“Why are you so hung up on the exact number? it's not like we're staying overnight.” Epel said straight faced. “My mom said if I was bringing friends I should let her know how many. Last I told her I was coming home alone, so I bet she'll be a bit shocked to hear that's changed.” Deuce explained with a laugh as Dally smiled. He really was bettering himself.
“Oh, right. Your mom. I'm a little nervous to meet her, actually.” Epel folded his hands together, looking down with a nervous smile. “I'm curious about what sort of person she is.” Ortho eyes smiled. “Fest! Stalls! FOOD! I can't wait, myahahaha!” Grim cheered.
They were patient and all waited for the day. Well not Grim he couldn’t stop thinking about all the food he would eat. Vivica just wanted to get off campus and Dally agreed. They needed some time away from the school.
Finally the day had come.
The walk to the Hallways of Mirror was difficult for V. Her leg was acting up, they had to stop and start every now and then. “You okay?" Dally said helping V up, “Yeah, it just feels like it’s on fire. Like- like it burns to step.” Dally and Yuumi got her to the chamber and let her sit on one of the steps to Heartslabyul (They haven’t been back since).
“You’re 40 seconds late!” Ortho gruffed with red eyes as he stomped his foot. “So specific…” Deuce shook his head. “I was 20 seconds late and he yelled at me too. Once Silver shows up we can get going.
They waited
And waited
And waited
And waited
“...No sign of him yet.” Ortho sighed, his body slumped forward. “Maybe he's still asleep?” Deuce hopefully added. And just as he said that Silver came running in. “Sorry I’m late.” V looked him up and down, he had yet to even really dress himself. His hair was a mess, his shirt wasn’t tucked in and his tie was undid. He stopped to catch his breath.
“Oh, no problem. We only just got here. Hah, I was almost starting to think that maybe you'd overslept again. But of course you'd never let that happen.” Deuce said with a sheepish smile as Silver sighed. His face full of defeat.
“No, you had it right. I overslept. I had planned to arrive here 10 minutes early, but instead that's when I woke up.” He sighed, hurrying to fix himself. Dally took pity on the man in front of her. He was a mess right now, but she understood. She was a mess these past few weeks too.
Epel squeaked out “Th-that explains the bedhead. Which actually makes you look more approachable…” Vivica rolled her eyes “I think he just needs a whole overhaul but ya know, what do I matter…” She looked him up and down as he struggled to brush his hair down. “Sorry you have to see me like this. I thought four alarms would be enough.” Epel and Yuumi’s faces scrunched up “FOUR!?” Epel then shrugged leaning against Yuumi for support which drew Dally’s eye. “We'd better find him a REALLY good alarm clock, Deuce…”
“I-I guess so… Anyway, let's get moving!” With that the group